Documented - 5/18

Life This Week:

We had a good week.

Nothing flashy, just your run of the mill good week.

We settled back in from our quick beach trip, celebrated Mother's Day, and had a surprise trip to the zoo.  We spent Andrew's days off alternating between being completely lazy and getting some yard work done.  Both were glorious.

Fake pouts.  But I'm sure real ones happened immediately before or immediately after.

School This Week:

We had a good school week.  I was super organized so everything went smoothly.  Our normal book work is cruising right along.  We started a new read aloud (Mrs. Piggle Wiggle) that we love.

In more exciting news, our caterpillars are snuggled into their chrysalis's!  They changed while we were at the beach last week so there were lots of squeals when we checked on them.  This has been so fun to watch.  By next weekend we should have butterflies!

And since we are enjoying this insect study so much, I ordered ladybug larva.

Y'all, my mail lady thinks I've lost my mind.  And when I saw how gross these ladies look at this stage of life, I had to agree.  They are now in their ladybug house and we are watching to see what happens next.

Going & Seeing:

Well, last week I talked about how we were staying home more and enjoying it.  This week we went nonstop and enjoyed it too!  Maybe I should stop making declarations about our methods since they change every week.

This week was hectic, but fun.  We had Livi over all day Monday and than went to her house for dinner, Tuesday we had to get groceries and Josie had her last ballet class, Wednesday a friend invited us to the zoo and we had church that night, and yesterday Josie had dress rehearsal for her recital.  Today is her recital and Parent's Night Out at church and tomorrow I am going to dinner with friends for a birthday!

Next week is shaping up to be just as busy.  I have book club Monday night, Josie's AWANAS Awards Night on Wednesday, and Andrew is officiating a wedding next weekend for a kid that was in our youth group, which makes me feel old.

Welcome to Crazy Town people!

Thankful For:

I am so incredibly thankful to get to be these little people's mother.  They teach me something every single day.  It usually includes grace and fresh starts.  Sometimes it's new ways to clean play-doh out of carpet.  I love them big.

We had a laid back Mother's Day.  

We went to church, had a glorious nap, and a really nice dinner with Andrew's parents.  Josie took charge of setting the table and she did an excellent job.  The ladies (herself included) got flowers at their spot and everyone got a name card.  After an emotional week, this really blessed me.  She is growing into a pretty amazing lady.

I miss my own Mom like mad on Mother's Day.  They all got together at my brother's house and it took all I had not to cash in our 401k and hop a plane up to Minnesota.  We decided to celebrate together the next visit we have.  We FaceTimed and that made me feel better.

Looking Forward To:

A trip to Florida next week to watch my little sister graduate from high school!  She actually did double enrollment so she graduated with her Associates Degree a couple weeks ago!  We are super proud of her and excited to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma!

Momming

I've worn a lot of name tags in my life.

It's somewhat of a running joke in my family that I had 7 jobs in my 16th year of life.

Waitress at Tasty Pizza, Check Out Girl at Cub Foods, Chinese Food Scooper at Leeann Chin's.  From there I moved on to a Summer Nanny Job before an impressive 3 day stint as a Sandwich Artist at Subway. I wrapped the year up with another try at waitressing at Baker's Square.  I could never remember the names of all the pies and the gig didn't last long.

But for the last five years, I've worn a more permanent name tag and I'm pretty sure my job hopping days are far behind me.

I'm a Mom in every sense of the word.

I spend my days, all of them, catering to the needs of tiny demanding people.

And I love it.

Even the times when it feels like a thankless, never-ending job.  Even when the memory of sitting alone with my husband for long enough to watch an entire season of 24 sounds so, so great.  When they pee on things and tell me they are going to runaway and when they won't eat the (kinda) gourmet meal I slaved over.

I love it.

And I won't get all sappy, but really, these kids almost weren't mine.  

I mean, they weren't mine and now somehow they are.  And y'all, that's an ever loving miracle.

We don't do big celebrations on Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Usually a meal with Andrew's parents and some sort of cake.  Which is more than enough for me.

But this year?

This year I got spoiled.

Josie spent the past two weeks showering me with gifts.  I got a heart necklace with a matching bracelet, a book written just for me, a bouquet of lovely flowers, and another necklace.

She made breakfast AND lunch the whole week before.  Lucky for me, she makes a mean PB&J and can pour granola like nobody's business.

She wrote me songs and performed ballets dedicated just to me.

And even if she was totally over it by the time Mother's Day actually rolled around, I felt loved.

Yea.  I think I'll keep this name tag.

Springing

The weather here in Georgia is being, well, it's being Georgia Weather.

Acting temperamental.  Flopping between 80 and 45, rain and scorching sun, all in the span of 7 days.  It's one of those things that makes me giggle.  It happens every single year, yet we all act shocked and angry when it happens.

It's Spring folks, and it's doing it's thing.

hanging at the house: jean jacket - gap; tan t - target; black maxi skirt - target

date with my dude: cream top - target; black tank - target; jeans - gap; heels - consigned

confession: didn't get dressed until literally seconds before andrew got home...at 4pm

entire shebang: target

we drove to the beach this day.  i won't assault you with the awful outfit i wore, but need to show off my early mother's day gift from josie.  love my necklace!

roadtrip to the beach: leggings - target; commitment day t - lifetime fitness

beach day: dress - old navy; necklace - josie original

day trip to charleston: tanks & coral shorts - target; necklace - josie original

mothers day: dress - old navy; jean jacket - gap; necklaces - josie originals

Gluttonous

Last Tuesday Andrew called to say he wanted to go to the beach on his off days.

And I was all, "eeehhhh, we just got home from the beach and shouldn't I stay home for at least one month in between vacations?"

I mean really, it's getting a tad bit gluttonous.

But you know what?

Life is short.  Really short.

And work schedules are crazy and my kids are growing up way to fast and my son has a sick, unpredictable heart.  I want to go on long road trips just for the heck of it.  I want to skip naps and get my hands dirty (not really, I hate dirty hands).  I want to work hard when it's time to work and than play just as hard when it's time to play.  I want to live my life really, really well.

So we scoured Priceline for a good deal, threw together a cooler full of food and a duffle bag full of clothes, and hopped in the car.  After six hours of excellent, nearly uninterrupted conversation, we landed in Myrtle Beach at the Ocean Reef Resort.

We labeled it a Mother's Day Trip, a little reward for all the nearly single parenting I've done this past year, but it was really just as much for Andrew and the kids.  They missed each other.  We had the best time.  Skipping naps and getting our hands metaphorically dirty.

Living.  For real.