Any time you need a "pick me up"...pull up this post!

It's Friday night and I'm a little tired, but it's been a few days, so I wanted to share a quick post. I was thinking about what I could share for the day.....then this came to mind! I still laugh everytime I see this video. What better way to end my evening with a chuckle and smile on my face, so I hope it does the same for you....enjoy!

Thank you....again!

My sister and her boyfriend, Matt, came down for a visit this weekend and, as always, Matt was once again lending a helping hand with computers, pictures, or whatever he could help out with. However, this time he graciously agreed to take some family photos of our little family on the beach, which I've been wanting to do for quite some time. He took almost 400 great pictures and I certainly don't have room to share them all, but I thought I would share a few favorites (although you may eventually see a shot or two of these in our Christmas cards this year).

A family favorite:

A funny, but natural shot....Todd getting impatient and Jacob just saying "let's get on with it...take the darn picture." (Double click picture to get a better look)


A favorite of the kids...


or another one of the kids where I so feel the love that Jacob has for his sister (you might as well
put a mannequin arm around Ellie):



A few of my favorite little man:



A few of the little princess:


And just a few personal natural favorites:






Well, folks, I could go on and on, but I guess I'll stop for now. AGAIN, a big, heart-felt thanks goes out to Matt, who is always offering, without any hesitation or skipping a beat, to help out in any capacity. It's been a great pleasure having you around and getting to know you more with each new visit.

If anyone needs a good photographer....Mathis Mullins Photography...I'll get you the number.

XOXO

Today was another "first"...

day back to school. The kids had a rough ride to school with Daddy this morning (that's a whole different post, but let's just say Todd had a crazy lady driving behind him on the way to school which totally freaked the kids out), but after arriving safely to school, they had another good "first" day. We kindly asked the big brother to walk his little sis to class, or at least to her hallway, until she feels comfortable, but Jacob said she turned down Manatee Hall and never said "goodbye", never looked back and just kept on walking with strong confidence that she knew where she was going. I guess she doesn't need big brother's help after all. I'm still so amazed on how well she's adjusted and how different this experience has been with her versus Jacob's first year.

In any event, Ellie got 3 more of these...

for positive behavior and quitely raising her hand and answering questions in class. But, then she decided to give one away to her friend because "she hasn't gotten any yet." What is with my kids giving away their Bobcat Bucks?? Jacob has done this in the past too. At first I was a little irritated, but I guess their kind hearts and giving generosity gets the best of them, so can a Mom really complain about that?

Short and simple post for Angie.

How do you like my new artwork?

What is a Mommy to do when...

her two little darlings are staying the night at Grandma's and her husband is at work? I honestly cannot remember the last time this happened. I'm not even sure if it has ever happened since Ellie was born. Or, perhaps it has, and my little memory just fails to recall. I went and got a pedicure, ate some dinner, took out the trash...what now? No little ones to bathe, no stories to read, no loved ones to tuck in and kiss goodnight, no adult conversations with my husband despite the fact that there are no screaming children running around...what is one to do? I'm sure you can probably think of a million things, but it's WAY to quite and feeling a little strange around here, so I guess I'll watch my show and go to bed.

XOXO

It's not over yet...

We went to bed thinking things would be better this morning, to only wake and find that things were actually worse....no work or school again today, yeah! Here are just a few more pictures to share:

Our poor neighbors had a foot of water in their garage...thank goodness their house is on stilts. They even had toys floating around in their yard.

And here are the kids having a little more fun playing in the street....Ellie still in her P.J.'s:




The kids are getting a little antsy and restless from being cooped up in the house for the past two days, so hopefully the remnants of Fay will soon be over and we can get back to our normal activities.

Tropical Storm Fay

School and work were canceled today, so Daddy's vacation didn't start as planned. I've always enjoyed sleeping in the rain, and today was no different. I should of taken advantage of being off and taken the opportunity to get some work done around the house, but that didn't happen. Our streets were flooded, so the kids had a little fun, but I didn't think about taking pictures until later. Jacob went surfing on his boogie board in the ditch, a few of the kids down the street went tubing down a little canal behind the neighbors house and Ellie just ran around playing in the puddles. Here are a few shots that I did get of them playing in the street (sorry, but I didn't get any of Jacob because he was in the house changing into his 3rd outfit for the day):

Then we took a drive on the golfcart down to the bridge and river. The picture to the left is the street just before the bridge. The picture to the right is a house on the river. It's a little hard to see, but the water was up to their house: Then the kids decided to do this, in the rain I might add, to splash some of the water out of the pool, at Daddy's request:





That's about it for our day. Unfortunately for Daddy, school is off again tomorrow, so his vacation will be delayed for yet another day!

It's that time of year again...

Today was the first day of school for the kids and as Daddy says, his vacation has officially started. The first day of school went off without a hitch. Both kids came home with smiles, good stories, new friends and Bobcat Bucks for good behavior...what more could a Mom ask for?

Here is a picture of our big 5th grader:

Yes...you read that right....5th grade! As I've told a few already today, a lot has changed in the last 5 years since Jacob started kindergarten. It was 5 years ago I had to walk him to class for a week watching the tears roll down his face. Today, he ever so politely told me I couldn't walk him to class. I jokingly insised I was, but he kept insisting..."no your not!" Needless to say, he walked to class alone and I simply got a little comforting pat on the back to let me know it's okay.

However, I did get to walk this little cutie to her first ever kindergarten class:

What a strong soul she was today....quite different from my experience 5 years ago. No tears, no "Mommy I'm scared" and no nervous bellies....simply a brave face who walked with quite surprising confidence up to her new "big girl" school. I could tell Ellie was a tad nervous, but who wouldn't be walking up to that big school with lots of kids running around? As I picked her up today, she said, "Mommy, I was kind of ready to come home, but kind of not." She met some new friends...Riley, Madison, Ruby....got quite a few nice complients from her teacher (one for eating all her lunch) and she even got to pick out a surprise from the school gift box (according to Ellie, she was the only one) because she sat "Criss, Cross, Applesauce" and quitely in her PE class.

Wow...we are off to a good start. If today is any indication, we are going to have a wonderful year with many more treasured memories.

XOXO