Life Lately through an iPhone Clean-Out

Just for the record, 9 days go by super fast lately. I'm not sure why, but I feel like it has been maybe 3 days, and then I look at my last post and it has been 9. Wow. I'm thinking it has something to do with the gorgeous weather, the fact that the pool opened May 2nd, and that whole end-of-the-school-year push that keeps you hitting snooze 10 times before you wake up. Oh wait, pretty sure I do that anyway. ;)

Lots of livin' goin' on here lately. We're leaving for the beach soon, so I decided why not clear out some photos on my phone, and load them up on here instead?

One of my favorite workout partners ;)

The kids got to meet a pretty special person on our way to Kyle's softball game. He's kind of a big deal around here!

all the ladies love him. ;)

 

Pool day! Love getting to go when we have it to ourselves!

Preston and Jocelyn. He thought she tasted good. Love our pool days with the Boyett's!

The big girls saved their money to buy boogie boards for our beach trip. Char wanted one too, but I successfully convinced her into getting sand buckets instead.

His new favorite way to sit in his bouncy seat. Sweet boy!

I've said this a million times. How could I ever say No to him? Those puppy-dog eyes?! Those cheeks?! Those lips! Well, I'm sure he'll do something that will make it easy, but for now, it is so hard to imagine!! :)

Had fun going to Logan's Graduation!! Aunt Candy and Preston hit it off immediately. 

Pool Pizza party after the graduation. We were trying to get Charleigh to sit with all the kids for a group picture. She wasn't happy with me because she knew we were about to leave. :)

BaBa & Pop and all the Grandkids! Happy Graduation, Logan!!!

Early morning snuggles with a squishy baby and a messy faced 3 year old. Love my littles!

All this gorgeous weather has us outside a LOT!! This one loves riding her toys around the driveway.

Guess who has his first tooth? He won't let me get a pic of it yet, but he is gnawing away on Sophie the Giraffe, because the second one is cutting through as well!! Praying after this one comes in he'll magically begin to sleep all night.

my little look-a-likes :)

Callie's last day of Pre-K!!! Love this big girl so much!!!

I am so proud of what all she has accomplished these last 5 months. 

My gigantic, smelly 5th child, Ollie. 

Stopped by to SURPRISE visit my Granny!! 

We all went out for an ice cream treat. The whole time we had her, Granny just kept saying, "This is just such a treat. You just don't know how much of a treat this is" referring to us surprising her. So thankful I can make these special visits with all of my kids on a random Thursday in the middle of the day!!



To close things out, just for laughs, if you don't already, go visit Boo Mama over at www.boomama.net. She is such a funny, southern Mississippian, and I can't get enough of her podcast with Big Mama. It is like listening in to one of my daytime phone calls with friends, except way more southern and way more funny. She has a couple books and they are a fun read as well!

A {Wednesday} Weekend Wrap Up!

Nothing like wrapping up the weekend and finally posting about it on Wednesday, right? :)

This weekend (I can't believe it is May already!) we enjoyed a good balance of having fun and relaxing. We spent Friday morning having a play date at Lauren's and the weather was absolutely gorgeous outside!! The kids loved running around and soakin' up the sweet sunshine!!

Friday night, Kyle attended day 1 of the men's conference at our church, so it was a girls (and Preston) night at home for the rest of us! I let the girls play outside until dark and we ordered pizza for dinner (so thankful Johnny's pizza has gluten-free AND delivers). After I put the girls to bed, it was Legally Blonde, laundry, and some hall closet organizing for me!

I actually love those kind of nights! Having a chick flick on and being productive without feeling like I'm missing out on something else, ha! The best!

Saturday was pretty low-key. After Kyle got home from day 2 of the conference, we spent the evening at the pool with friends and then had mexican food for dinner afterward. Of course I forgot to take ANY pictures, I was probably too busy runnin' my mouth! ;)

Saturday night I decided to run out for a quick trip to Ashley Park (shopping!) after we put the kids to bed and Kyle was cutting the grass. I picked up Lana and we made a mad dash for a whopping 35 minutes of shopping before the stores closed. She bought me a belated birthday gift of a watch and a bracelet and I LOVE it! Will post a picture when I wear them next. :)

We ran to the grocery store (going with my other mom friends is always more fun than alone!) to grab a few items for the weekend and saw that the Friend coke's are back! Look what we found while glancing at all the names! ;)

Sunday morning was worship with this handsome little fella ;)

Hi, my name is Erin and I take too many pictures of my baby BOY! :)

He doesn't last too long before finally giving out for a little Sunday snooze sesh.

We came home for a new family favorite recipe! I made BBQ Brisket Quesadillas. 

Thanks to Shay at one of my favorite foodie blogs for this idea! Definitely a delicious meal and easy to throw together! We enjoyed it so much we have been having the leftovers throughout this week. You just can't go wrong with a slow cooker, we have so much left over every time!

Sunday afternoon was spent rocking on the front porch as long as we could. We even captured Preston's very first laugh during that time! I love a relaxing Sunday afternoon with the fam!

Now that Summer is in full swing for us, we are putting pool days on the books left and right and packing our bags for our upcoming beach trip! I am so in love with May- breezy warm weather, perfect for relaxing outside or splashin' in the water, and the start to those long summer nights of playing outside until you can't see anymore. :) Happy Summer! 

Closing out April!

I had to. I laugh every. single. year. I really miss 1998.

I can't believe it is April 30th! April was a month full of celebrations and enjoying a very rainy month of Spring!

Last week was Camryn's first day of horseback riding! She was over the moon excited and I was too for her!! She is the perfect child to be around animals.



Last week we also ended our school year with our academic Co-Op. The girls really enjoyed participating in their Presentation Night!

 

 

They worked so hard all year and we are so proud of them.We closed out our school year with an End of the Year party at Camp Southern Ground. The girls had fun playing and the weather turned out to be great!





After the party we came home and made gluten-free Mickey Mouse shaped sugar cookies for Charleigh's birthday the next day.

After the party Saturday, we spent the rest of the day at home working on the project that never ends tree house with Kyle's parents, and getting ready for worship on Sunday.

Finally got up all four walls! So close to being done!

Aunt Sarah and Logan came to visit us on Sunday for church & lunch at Green Ginger since it was Charleigh's actual birthday. Sarah spoiled both me and Charleigh with birthday presents and we loved getting to catch up on hugs! :)

One of the many gifts she received from Aunt Sarah! Her favorites were the dollar tree sunglasses and cup though. So funny!

She loves Aunt Sarah!!

a very pretty birthday girl.

Sunday night was a celebration at church for the kids Lads to Leaders program that they participate in every year. Our good friend Mr. Chris made it super special by having everyone sing happy birthday to Charleigh.  A perfect way to end her birthday!!

Monday was our season one dinner finale event for Becoming. As usual it was a lot of work in a very short amount of time, but so rewarding! I am so grateful for my team and everything that this ministry has brought to our church family. I will write more on that soon. :)

Tuesday Cam had her second day of Riding Lessons that afternoon.

 The little girls and Preston really enjoyed getting to watch her and all of the horses. They even let Callie hop on for a short ride. 







I am feeling really good with our decision of where we chose for her to take lessons. It has worked out really great so far!!

Wednesday was back to school and back to normal, finally!!! After nearly a month of all kinds of breaks here and there for various reasons, it feels so good to know that here on out all through summer we are doing relaxed schooling (reading & math only) mixed in with a whole lot of homemaking! I already got back to organizing, starting with Preston's clothes- he's growing so fast! Now that we are done with our main curriculum and Becoming is on a break until Fall, I am truly looking forward to just focusing on our family and home life with no other to-do's for a while. I've never been more excited to meal plan! The neighborhood pools open up this weekend so I'm also excited to join our friends at the pool each morning while everyone else is still in school ;) #perksofhomeschooling

May is going to be relaxing and exciting! We are officially counting down the days until our family beach trip, Preston's first trip to the beach!! Can't wait to see his little baby toes in the sand. The rest of May will hopefully be spent outside soaking up the last of the nice not-too-hot weather outside before summer hits and the Georgia Heat takes over!

Coming up next on my little blog... more of In Case You Were Wondering, more about Becoming, and as I promised last week, my favorite weeknight dinner recipes and as a little bonus, my favorite desserts I've been whippin' up lately for local activities. Happy (almost) May!!!

To my Charleigh, for your 3rd Birthday.

To my Charleigh...

My sweet Char. Where to even begin.

Tomorrow, April 26th, will be your 3rd Birthday. We have had three whole years being your parents. I have had three whole years of being your mama. Each of your siblings hold a special place in my heart, and birthdays always remind me of where I was in my life when God gave each of you to us.

You were the most beautiful baby ever. I partially named you after our sweet friend Leigha, who was a big part of our life when you were born. Leigha was sick and went to Heaven since your last birthday, and while we miss her dearly, we know she is one of your guardian angels. :)
Since your last birthday, we got to have a sweet visit with your "milk mama" Anne and "milk sister" Millie over the summer last year.

These two will always hold such a special place in our hearts, and I love knowing that you and Millie will be bonded for life over such an amazing God story. You may only be turning three, but you already have more tangible evidence of a loving, heavenly Father, and are such an amazing example of a precious testimony for Christ and His love for the little children.

Your health in the beginning of your life brought a lot of challenges our way and unfortunately, those challenges also brought some heartache along as well, but your birthday is always a reminder of the strength that we have within us from Christ, and what all we have overcome together as a family.

 Since your last birthday, you were diagnosed with an auto-immune disease and while it has been a struggle at times, I know that you feel so much better now that we know how to treat it. You have been so brave while we were trying to figure it all out, and you continue to amaze me in how you handle it all. I am so proud of you sweet girl!! We joke that you are going to grow up and be a vegan that eats bacon. You LOVE bacon, pancakes, biscuits, goat milk & cheese, and "apple sauce" which is what you call juice boxes. You rarely ever argue with me about what you can't eat if it will hurt your tummy. You love dinner time around the table at home, and making us all laugh at your silly ways. You love saying the prayer for us. 

Your favorite prayer that you say the most often is always, " Dear Dog. neh neh neh neh neh. MEN."

You finally have hair!! :) 

Just as a typical daughter of mine, your hair finally is starting to lose the baby-hair look and you have more of a short hair style. It still has a long way to go, but we are excited that we can play with it, braid it, and brush it each day just like your big sisters.

You are, in true third-child fashion, fierce when it comes to what belongs to you and what does not belong to others. You make us laugh daily with the way you cut your eyes at anyone and anything, regardless of how you actually feel about them/it. You are such a tough little cookie, yet you are probably our most emotional child yet. You don't really throw temper-tantrums as much as you get heartbroken over the smallest things and therefore punish us by hysterically sobbing about it for about 30 minutes.

You love to change your mind. A lot.

You love your Daddy so much. So, so much. You love to announce when he's home as soon as you hear the garage door opening. You love to run and play with him, and tell him all about your day.You love climbing all over him and letting him make you cackle over and over. You like telling jokes with him and riding places with him any chance you get. You love to sit in his lap in the big chair and goof off. You also know that you can sometimes get away with more from Daddy, so you like giving him a visit or two every now and then after bedtime. :)

You are eager to be just like- AND polar opposite- of your sister Callie. You love to compete with her, you love to beat her in competition, and you ask for her a dozen times a minute any time she's not with you.

You always to refer to her as "Cow-ey Wedders!!" any time you're bossing her around.

You love for Camryn to protect you, help you when you need it, and also stand up to Callie for you, in case you're losing in the current competition.

 You love for Cam to read to you, braid your hair, and help you get water from the fridge. You love to let her kiss your boo-boo's, you love to hold her hand, and you love to have her sleep right beside you in your bed, between you and Callie, on your Friday Night Sister Sleepovers. :) 

Oh, and during those sleepovers, you love to make her scratch your back until you fall asleep. ;)

You don't mind one bit being the youngest sister. You loved having the baby in the family role for 2.5 years, but you have embraced being a big sister to Preston and very well. You still have a bit of the baby role, as you are the youngest of the big girls, so you haven't struggled being jealous. We are so proud of you!!

You love to climb up on the chair in his room and talk to him in his crib.

 You love to call him Bud Bud and rub his head while you kiss him a thousand times. He looks the most like you, and I have a feeling you two are going to be best friends one day. 

He loves it when you sing the mickey mouse clubhouse theme song to him (the only song you're ever willing to sing period) and he loves it when you say to him " It's okay Bud Bud, it's okay..." if he's crying. You are such a sweet sister!!

You love Mickey Mouse. Since about November, you have said to us about ten times a day, " Hey mama! Guess Shwat? My Birt-day is MICKEY!".

You also love Clifford. And dogs, cats, and animals. You love to say " Oh, SO CUTE" when you see one.

You love our dog, Ollie. My, how you love him. You love being his boss and loving on him, and playing with his tail.

So today you were over the moon excited to have a Mickey mouse birthday party at Truett's Luau. Nana made you a cute " I can't keep calm, it's my birthday!!" t-shirt and you loved it. 

You loved having your friends Jackson, Logan, Isabelle, Brennen, and cousin Titus there to celebrate your big day. 

You loved all your presents, and your favorite present was from mama and your family. It was a boys red Mickey Mouse t-shirt. You insisted on changing shirts right then and there in the restaurant. 

You loved your Mickey & Minnie sugar cookies and you loved playing with your new guitar.

You have grown so much over the last year, Charleigh. The little girl who quietly rode in the middle row of the car by herself, separate from her big sisters, has quickly changed into a big girl who insists on riding in the third row right in the middle of both of them, so you can't miss a beat of conversation.

You love to chat and repeat what we all say. You love to politely say "Mama, pwease turn it up." over and over and over again until I do.

You are so polite and well-mannered for a girl your age, and you rarely get into something that you haven't asked to do first.

You love to ask me, " Mama I need to hold you!!!" if you want me to pick you up. You love to come up and tap me real hard on my arm if I am sitting down somewhere or feeding your brother and you want to ask me something.

You are quiet and we have to check on where you are- a lot. You tend to wander off pretty easily and we have to check often where you are. You love to not answer back when someone is calling for you, leaving mama always wondering if you've escaped the house or not. We usually find you playing quietly somewhere when that happens, knowing we were calling you, but just choosing to ignore it. :)

You have the longest, most beautiful dark eye lashes, and your bright blonde hair makes your eyes pop even more. You are beautiful.

You love to tell us " I love too, mama." when you give the biggest hugs in the world.

You love pointing out colors and shapes, and you love shouting " I DID IT!" every time you go potty.

You are a wonderful blend of both of your big sisters and we LOVE seeing the three of you play together so well every single day.

I am writing this after having said goodbye to the two-years-old Charleigh when I put you to bed. I am really going to miss her. I have loved seeing the wonder in your eyes as you've taken in and experienced the world so quietly up until this point. Your little life has taught me so much in such a short amount of time. I am so thankful for your individual spirit, and it reminds me daily that no two of my children are the same. You made me feel confident as a mother. You helped teach me to always listen to my own intuition, to trust my inner-voice, and the important lesson in the power of prayer. You are my visual as a constant, daily reminder that God is with us and you help drive me to always have a heart of gratitude, and to praise Him in the good times and in the bad times.  I am so thankful that God trusted us to be your parents.  I am thankful that God gave us you when He did. You have been such a joy to raise from a baby until now, and I am so excited at what kind of little girl you are going to become over the next year of your life. We love you, Char!!!