Over the boots, bring on the flip flops already!!

It's so funny how things work out sometimes. We want what we don't have and often don't want what we do. It's obviously not the way to be, but I know I wouldn't be truthful if I said I wasn't guilty of feeling this way - at least every now and again. Well, this winter we sure have gotten what we wanted...or so we thought! Lots of snow...more snow...ice...melting ice...more ice again = couped up this past week. I was so thankful to go back to work!! lol Anyway, we have sure enjoyed the snow this year, both times...even as it is still present in our yards a week later it is still beautiful to look at. We sledded with the neighbors, had snowball fights, made snow angels and attempted a snowman, but failed b/c it was too icy! The boys...well, we all had fun playing together! Here's a glimpse at our Winter Wonderland!!

Needless to say - some good snow gear might be a good investment for next year! We were totally unprepared. Even thinking a snow shovel and ice scraper will come in handy too! Who would've thunk it?

Anyway, I can honestly say that as much as I love all my new boots...I'm ready to stop wearing them! I want sunshine, some flip flops and days of hanging out in the backyard and grilling out to hurry up and get here!

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Ahhh!! The warm, sunny beach. Can't wait to see you again in May!!

2011

Been a while since I've blogged. I'm still up in the air about why I really do this...ya know, expose me and my family in a very intimate and personal way? Honestly, I think I'm doing this to document our life. I think it would be amazing years from now to look back, not only at pictures, but at the stories that are behind it all...memories. I also find this theraputic. So here goes...

Let's see, quite a lot of things have happened since I last wrote. The holidays have come and gone and it's now 2011! How crazy does that sound!? As cliche as it is, time really flies by, especially when you have kids. December 5th was a huge day, first of all. It was the day that I was baptized. A defining moment it was for me. It was like the beginning of a new life...truly a symbol of how I felt inside and in my heart - being able to finally show my family and friends the importance of my faith in Jesus was something I'll never forget. It was one of the most incredible moments of my life! The fact that Maddox got to witness ME being baptized is also something that I'm thankful for. I'm glad he was there. Now he is starting to ask questions about it and saying he wants to be baptized! Grateful for ALL that were able to be a part of that day with me.

We went to our Christmas Eve candlelit service and our Bobbi and Mimi joined us. We all sang Christmas carols and it was yet another amazing service at West Ridge. I had goose bumps the whole time and cried like a baby through all the songs. Geez, I'm turning into my mother, arent' I? Inevitable I suppose! Ha. The boys had the best Christmas ever. I'm telling you what, there is nothing greater than experiencing the laughter, smiles, eyes lighting up and pure excitement on Christmas morning with those two boys. We tried to scale it down this year with presents. I was so adamant of not going overboard...the boys already have everything...yada yada...well, whatever. I think we ended up doing the complete opposite of what I intended to do! Either way, making them happy, seeing them both giddy as ever is something that absolutely makes my heart melt. So be it. I just don't want them to take their things for granted like I did growing up, unfortunately. We did make sure to pick out the perfect toys for the kids that were coming to Hope for Christmas this year at our church...they were very excited to do that and not once asked about buying themselves something. Their Mimi also took them to buy items for Toys for Tots and they really enjoyed picking out those toys too.

A little cool news about Maddox: he started his first day of Target last week! Words really do not express how that makes you feel as a parent...so very proud of him!! It was weird b/c I hadn't heard ANYTHING about it after they had done the testing and the next thing I know I'm reading his "Welcome to the Gifted Program" letter. When I told Drew the news, I think he even got choked up a little bit.

Work is going really well for me and I'm getting the hang of everything. I work with a really great group of women and I couldn't be happier with where I am. I don't think I've laughed as hard as I do when we're all together! Laughing is seemingly an important part of my life...thank goodness I'm married to the biggest goofball ever who makes me laugh every day!

In more serious matters, Drew went down to see his dad after Thanksgiving after not seeing him in quite some time to say goodbye as he knew the day was coming near as he had been very ill. Well, his father ended up passing away on December 27th from his battle with this horrible disease that has already taken the lives of many of our loved ones, especially over the past few years. The funeral was this past weekend. It was probably one of the single most difficult things I've ever experienced. Seeing someone you love having to go through something like this and there's not a thing in the world that you can do. I hurt for Drew. It killed me to have to listen to the stories and hear about a life that was lived over the past 12 plus years where Drew was barely a part of and what seemed as an after thought when mentioned at all.  He was a man he didn't know at all, that our boys didn't know. Something that was said was that if you didn't know Jerry, you truly missed a blessing. And all I could think was, well, if you don't know Drew and the person he has come to be, then you're missing a blessing. He is a great father, husband, friend to many, hard-working and successful man - a man of God - and not just a 'great baseball' player.  I truly wish that Jerry had  been an abundant blessing in Drew's life. If that were the case, then he would have gotten to know our insanely cool little boys. He would have known that Maddox has the cutest little lisp and a smile and dimples that instantly steal your heart forever. He would have known that Hudson never lets you forget that he loves you because he says it non-stop every day and that he says 'soos' instead of shoes. All we can do is believe that God is in control. We don't always understand why things happen, why people are the way they are, why they do the things they do or don't do for that matter - or why people that we love dearly hurt us so. We just have to know that life's experiences serve some greater purpose. All I know is that my boys have the most amazing father in the world who would bend over backwards for them and will love them and be there for them until the end of time. At the of the day, Drew will be a better person because of this and continue to place his trust  in the great Lord we serve. May Jerry rest in heavenly peace.

As we enter this new year, may we all never let a day go by without letting the ones who are near and dear to us know that they are loved. For love is what sustains us.

Fall Fun

Fall is by far one of my favorite times of the year. I haven't always "loved" fall. I think it's just something that happened after I had Maddox. There's just so much fun to be had and not to mention, the beautiful leaves, the crisp cool air, pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, pumpkin bread, pumpkin candles...okay, well, pumpkin anything - the list goes on. Here is just a glimpse of what we've been doing this fall...

North Georgia State Fair

Pumpkin Patch

Trick or Treat Village at Paulding Meadows

Georgia "Scaryium"

Orioles baseball comes to an end

Halloween

Our super cool pumpkin

A snapshot of our family photo shoot



In other news, lots of changes have been happening and lots of prayers are being answered. Drew is continuing to love his new job and is doing very well there. We both couldn't be more thankful of the company he works for, the people he has been surrounded with and the opportunities he has been given. I, on the other hand, have steadily been looking for a job for quite some time now. I don't want to say that I had given up on the prospect of looking, but it certainly hasn't been my focus lately. However, I am proud to announce that yesterday I was extended an offer to work for a great company - and the icing to the cake - it's a Christian based company AND only 1.6 miles away from the house! Paperwork has to be processed and "okayed", but I should be starting within the next couple of weeks. On top of all this "stuff", Drew and I recently made the decision to become members of our church - and I made the decision to be baptised. I just honestly don't think I have ever been happier in my life. I could seriously shout for joy - Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Isn't God just so very good? All of these blessings are because of Him and Him only. I am just so comforted in knowing that I can trust in Christ no matter what...His love is all I need.



 





So thankful for my many blessings

Over the past few weeks I have been overwhelmed - overwhelmed with how much I love my sweet boys. Sometimes I fall guilty to getting caught up in the "hustle and bustle" of life that I forget how blessed Drew and I are. With Hudson going through these "I do not give up until I get my way or I will yell as loud as I can no matter where I'm at" and "If I'm awake I will be talking" phase or terrible three's or whatever you want to call it AND Maddox going through his "I know everything b/c I'm a first grader" stage, it has definitely been a tad difficult coping with trying to be the best parents we can be - and knowing how to be the most effective in dealing with this funky behavior that's been going on. The fact is that they are BOYS. They are strongwilled, wild and silly BOYS. There is rarely a quiet or dull moment. So - we'd better get used to this I suppose! It's funny b/c we had Maddox's conference yesterday and we were discussing how extremely different boys and girls were. This year Maddox's class somehow has 14 boys and only 8 girls. Needless to say, his sweet teacher that has three girls of her own has had a major adjustment to all the excitement in the classroom. It is just so true. Boys will be boys and that is something that I am slowly just learning to accept. What do I know? I've been a girl all my life! lol I have definitely reached out to Dr. Dobson! I need all the advice I can get...

Speaking of conferences, Maddox's went really well! It makes me tear up to even think about how proud I am of him and his accomplishments and just how incredibly smart this kid is. His desire to learn just amazes me everyday. He also is very priviledged to go to such a great performance school - the fact that Maddox comes home telling me all the things he learned in Spanish is just so cool to me. When you hear about all these budget cuts, etc. and your school is doing a fundraiser to raise money for a Spanish teacher for the following year, it just makes you appreciate where your child is.

We are also very proud of the little one too! I think the biggest thing right now is he has learned to say his "L's". He's not perfect with it by any means and is still accustomed to saying, "I wuv you" - but we have been working hard at mastering this sound and the correct "L" sound can actually make its way out of his little mouth. Oh, the little things that excite us! He has been doing swimming lessons the past month and is officially a little swimmer with NO floaties. I knew he'd take to it b/c he is certainly not afraid of the water, but I never expected him to be swimming almost immediately upon getting in the water the first day. When I saw him doing it that day, it was all I could do to not burst out into tears. This feeling came over me and I just got so warm and fuzzy inside. This rambunctious 3 yr old can actually stay still and be quiet long enough to float on his back from one side of the "deep pool" as he calls it to the other. I'm thinking the more swimming the better...for all of us! Haha!

There is nothing better in this world than being a mother (or dad)! If there's anything that I've ever done right, it's certainly my boys.

Oh, Sandy!

I took Hudson to do some pre-Christmas shopping last week at Toys R' Us to let him pick out the things he liked. Not sure if pointing at just about everything he saw helped, but hey, he's easy to please I guess. : ) He was adamant about getting a stove like his daddy (grill) though. The boy definitely loves anything to do with music, so he was drawn to this special guitar. He chooses to burst out into song dedicated to Sandy. Couldn't quite make out exactly what he was saying, but something along the lines of "Oh, Sandy" this and "Oh, Sandy" that. Too cute. He looks like a natural already! Can't wait to put him in guitar lessons when he's older...

Boo Noodle doing what he does best...being silly!

The milkshake apology

Ok. So yesterday definitely wasn't the BEST day ever. We all have those days. Well, for some reason yesterday I was just a bit off...little silly stuff, but still...glad today (Friday) is here not only b/c it's a new day, but b/c it's one day closer to being able to put my toes in the sand, listen to the sound of the waves and all the little boys running around laughing, read on the beach, and enjoy time with my family! Ahhhh. Anyway, I had a hair appointment yesterday afternoon so I was running around beforehand trying to get laundry done, clean a bit and organize and pack things for our trip to the beach. With that being said, I lost track of time and before I knew it, I had like two minutes before the bus came to drop off Maddox. We hopped in the car and floored it and got to the stop which takes only 20 seconds literally and pulled up behind the last car...only to see the bus door shutting and eventually driving off! They didn't see me! Of course she is running a couple minutes early when I'm running a couple minutes behind! My stomach sank and there was not a thing I could do. My first thoughts were, Maddox is probably crying so hard and loud right now that he's probably freaking his poor bus driver out and Maddox probably thinks that I've forgotten about him. : ( We just drove to the school and there he was in the office all splotchy and red which equals heavy duty crying. He came up and gave me the biggest hug ever and held on tight to the entire walk out to the car. So we're driving to meet Bobbi at Chik-fil-a and he says, "How about a strawberry milkshake for an apology?" in the sweetest, most scratchy little voice. If you know me, the boys don't get a whole lot of those so he knew just the way to my heart and sucker me in. It worked and needless to say that nothing says "I'm sorry" like a good ole milkshake. However, the first thing he does when we see Bobbi is tell her, "My mom left me on the school bus today." Fantastic.

Gotta love that boy!

Shootin' the Hooch

This past weekend we experienced our first ever tubing trip in Helen. Needless to say, it was such a fun time. The only thing that I would change about it would be the temperature of the water!! Holy cow, was it cold. I laughed almost the entire time watching Drew attempt to save us from getting stuck on a rock - and in three hours we got stuck on many a rock. The water was very shallow in some areas and at one point, Drew got out to pull the rafts...then he lost a flip flop and had to run back to get it...then there me and the boys go in a pretty fast current down the river without him. The kids were freaking out, poor things. Trying to run on river rocks and other sharp objects with tons of people in rafts around you just isn't easy. Fortunately, the Shewbert crew rescued him and let him hitch a ride on Lucas' tube (big guy, small raft - very funny) while I was holding onto the slimiest rock for dear life so they could catch up. Hudson was even grabbing the monkey grass as hard as he could. It was too cute watching him work hard for his Daddy.

Getting back home after a weekend with your family makes you realize how important your family is. I am so grateful that we were able to spend a great weekend with everyone (Kayla, we missed you!) - I think we all needed it. We decided we were going to start a tradition of doing something like that together every year which I am already excited about. It is so fitting that I ended up going to see Eat, Pray, Love Sunday night...one line that stuck out the most to me was that "The only thing permanent in life is family" - and that is so very true. At the end of the day, your family is all you have. Sometimes the whirlwind of life sucks you right in and we forget what we care the most about. So I'm going to hold onto my family as tight as I can. Sidenote: Of course, spending a weekend away with your family equals lots of food. Lots of food equals over eating. Now I feel gross...like I am going to buy a juicer this week and use Dr. Oz's green juice recipe gross. Blah! I want veggies and fruit please.