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.

The Bieb Has Invaded Our House

Ready for some Oregon Park baseball!! Drew is taking his very first team for the fall so we are pretty excited to be back up at the ball field...especially since it should be cooling down some for the games. Their first practice is tomorrow!! Didn't summer tournaments just end though??

While "Bubba" was at school yesterday I was at Chuck E. Cheese having a blast!

Nothing like hangin' with my cousin Lucas and playin' all day. I must say, it was actually a nice time (I know, sounds crazy). It wasn't busy. We had coupons and lots of extra tokens. They were able to just kind of do their own thing and be independent for a bit while the sisters got to visit. It was a good day. I wish I got to see my sis more.

What a stud. Happy first day of school.

And this has been played with EVERY day since. Will the novelty EVER wear off???

The cousins (minus Max and James) at Stevi B's for Maddox's birthday

I'm thinking that it will definitely be appropriate for Maddox to be able to sing "All I Want For Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth" right in time for December 25th. He lost his second bottom one while at White Water and had no idea it had even fallen out!!

Definitely swallowed it. Ha. Thankfully, it was safely recovered by the tooth fairy.

I would also like to add that the day this picture was taken, Maddox came home from school singing something to the tune of "Babay, babay, babay, oh" over and over again. So it is official. I have a true boy in the making that wears silly bandz, is fascinated with the sound of bodily functions, has smelly arm pits, says "Mom, O-M-G", said "Dude, you are totally freaking out" to Hudson yesterday, describes girls on TV as "hot", wants to know how he can get a credit card, all the while forcing ME to not be able to get Justin Bieber lyrics out of my head!! So now I've been singing "Babay, babay, babay, oh" non stop. Lovely.

And just because they're cute - hanging out while Daddy was working on Mama's car.

July 4th in downtown Powder Springs

I love this picture, but wow...that really is a big earring.

Sheena

As I was watching the finale of  So You Think You Can Dance tonight I got rather emotional when "Fix You" choreographed by Travis Wahl was performed again. I couldn't help but to think about Sheena - and how so badly we all just wanted to "fix her". When she first told me her cancer had returned, I never thought that her life would end so suddenly or that she wouldn't be able to beat it this time around like she did the first time. I talked to her the day before she went in the hospital to have her transplant and although she was so scared and frightened, she never stopped being brave. Whenever she returned my call from earlier in the day, I was not in the mood to talk at all. I personally was having a bad day. After I saw that it was her, I just asked myself how could I be so selfish. How could I be having a bad day? The last thing I said to Sheena was that I knew everything was in God's hands and that it would all be okay. I told her I loved her and we said goodbye. Being able to talk to her and say those things to her, I am forever grateful for. Losing a close friend is nothing I've ever experienced and it's truly one of the most difficult things I've ever faced. It is something that sometimes I still can't believe really happened...like it's just all a bad dream. Sheena was such a great person and friend, always had a smile on her face, always laughing and was one of the strongest persons I knew. Goodness, I miss her dearly.

Sheena Michelle Kachelmeier

12/3/84 - 4/20/10

A birthday boy!

So the first few days of school have gone well. I must say that first grade seems like a huge adjustment already. Even the take home folder is a bit intimidating for me! Our kindergarten folder was just that...a folder. Not this one. This new take home folder has slots, pages, dividers, tabs, the whole nine. With each new morning M has to get up, the more he asks to sleep "just a little longer" - bless his heart. You know, the whole "5 more minutes" thing? I probably did that ten times each morning to my poor mom...and probably all the way through the 12th grade, to be quite honest. Not so sure we will have to worry about Boo though. He is up and ready to tackle the world and eat hot dogs around 6:30-7:00 a.m. EVERY morning, regardless if he napped or what time he went to bed. So needless to say, we will enjoy our naps as long as we can. : )

This past Sunday Maddox turned the big 6! I think this was his best birthday yet. We had our first "spend-the-night" party with a few of his buddies and his two cousins. They did the slip n' slide, watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid and they attempted to camp out in the backyard. After about two moths in, they were all in a pallet in the living room watching Air Bud. I am still recovering and it's Wednesday. They really all had fun and overall it was pretty easy. For his birthday present from us we decided to take a leap into the "gaming world" and bought him (and his brother) a Wii. He was very excited to say the least. However, I'm not so sure whether he showed more excitement for the Wii or the two little Star Wars Mighty Beans that Hudson picked out for him. Which brings up the fact that Hudson picked out this really cool Star Wars Mighty Beans container that I thought supposedly was packed with 40 Mighty Beans. I mean, this container was in the shape of a big ol Darth Vader Mighty Bean and it had the number 40 on it. Well, poor thing opens it up and there are only TWO inside this huge "holder that contains up to 40 beans" - oops. Oh, well. It was a super fun weekend and Mom and Dad have been enjoying the Wii a bit too. Life is good.

Well, this is my second attempt at keeping a blog...surely this time around I will stay committed to it. It is just a really great way to document and reflect on all of life's blessings. Sometimes the smaller, but wonderful things get forgotten - whether it's what one of the kiddos said or what they did...but if it's all written down it can't ever be forgotten! So here goes to blogging on our crazy, but good life!

Today was the first day back to school for Maddox. Big first grader!! Sooo hard to believe. I'm not usually a big cryer, but these past few days I have done nothing but cry! Sheesh. Pass the Kleenex please. It has just really hit me that the boys, especially Maddox, are growing up and just a bit too fast for me. Maddox doesn't even want me to take him to school anymore. He wants to ride the bus, but if I have to get in the car to take him to the bus stop, I might as well just take him on up there. It's literally just two minutes up the road! Yesterday my awesome mother-in-law watched the boys for me so I could get some stuff done around the house and run errands. Well, I am proud to say that I FINALLY finished Hudson's first year scrapbook (which I boo-hooed all the way through) and have all of my pictures organized and ready to be ordered. Man, I sure let the pictures get away from me. Phew, so glad that's done! I guess that's about it for now. Can't wait to pick Maddox up from the bus stop and hear about his day! Wait, who am I kidding? I'll ask him questions and he'll give me one-word answers. Ah, the lovely communication of a BOY!!