time away

Matt and I took one of his two weeks of vacation time and spent it on ourselves - no children!

I felt guilty, but the time together is definitely a gift to our children, too.

Simon just explained to everyone that we were on a really long date.

We brought our bikes with us which was a lot of fun - and lots of fun to be in Matt's fun red car and not the minivan!

We bought the bikes on our second anniversary - and this year was our tenth!

We were blessed with the chance to spend a week in St.Petersburg and a lovely and clean place.

You'd have to know me well to know how much it meant to me to feel 'safe' as far as clean and organized. As I age, I am becoming more aware that I might have a disorder of some sorts -- maybe o.c.d. but really I hear everyone has a little o.c.d.

the view from the breakfast table!

garden area one tenant created

throughout the week, I kept telling Matt that St.Petersburg was reminding me of India.

Then I realized why - plastic chairs!

I had never seen so many plastic chairs as when we were in India!

Here is Matt trying to decide on a movie to watch -

We applied ourselves and watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies while we were there.

Exploring Carrollton's Rainforest Pool

The kids and I had a great time last friday at the public pool in Carrollton.

It was our first time to go and having friends to meet there made it all the more fun.

There's Simon exploring the lazy river - a couple of time he went around in an intertube.

He was a little timid at first, but by the time we left (and with no encouragement on my part - I was too busy socializing) he was a pro at the lazy river and had even gone down the slide a couple of times.

I'm thankful I put a sunshirt on him - it was overcast so I forewent the sunscreen and Simon fared fine w/ his sunshirt and baseball hat BUT I had a borderline tan/burn and Evie officially has her first tan line!

So cute - but we'll try to stay away from those!

That is the slide Simon went down AND..... EVIE!

I couldn't believe she went down it - I was at the bottom to quickly get her out since she landed face down in several inches of water .... but she loved it, I think!

Oh, on Saturday night, I saved a child's life.

Just a normal day in the life of an every day citizen.

Well, I'm not sure if I am over-dramatizing the story or not ... the details get foggy with time but I did jump (okay, step) into the pool (not in a swimsuit) to get little three year old Andrew who had slipped out of his floatie and was struggling. My friend Maray has given me permission to exaggerate the story with time :)

I did have to spend the rest of the evening wrapped in a towel while my skirt dried in the Brewer's dryer ... and I did reach Andrew about the same time Chris did, so it's a little blurry as to who gets the lifeguard medal :)

Jenna coaxing Evie to the water - before Evie went wild with confidence!

Library WiFi

Warning: these pictures are disjointed and I only have 20 minutes before the library and its free wifi closes!

We had a super fun weekend. The picture above is from Saturday night - Simon made placecards and set the table outside for the children's table - and us parents all ate inside!

I wish I had taken pictures of the slide and sprinkler set up and our hand crafted slip n slide, or a picture of Matt and John grilling the turkey burgers and veggies for salsa.

Saturday morning the porch was home to candles in mason jars, music from a record player, sweet breads, sweet tea,, and several ladies celebrating the birthday of one of our favorite southern ladies :)

Today (Monday) I took Simon and Evie and some friends to the Arboretum.

This month on Mondays they had free face painting, a small petting zoo, and of course the sprinklers are always a favorite with the older children.

Doesn't Andrew look like he is having a blast?

That's Simon w/out a shirt on and no sunscreen - I didn't win any parenting awards in regards to sun protection today!

That's Peter Rabbit in the background.

Before Nap: I had to take a picture of Evie's face painted - so cute with all of the other fabrics and prints.

After Nap: Well, I didn't take a picture and her face looked great but somehow it was a health dept disaster as she had a dirty diaper and took it off and tried to change her own diaper in her bed ... well, you can imagine.

Our living room now has an exercise/dance studio!

So fun for the kids and so practical for me!

Simon riding a fourwheeler with Mr.Eddie in Mississippi!

Simon so excited about the road trip to Mississippi that he was ready and by the back door when I woke up that morning!

He has all his necessities!

Fast Road to Sanctification - Being a Parent!

Happy Father's Day!

These first two pictures are courtesy of the Rizzos.

I am currently loving the old show Leave it to Beaver.

I'm almost done with the first season (I get a disc at a time thru NetFlix.)

Formerly, I had no real opinion about the show,

but as Simon is getting older I am finding Wally and the Beaver cute, funny, and charming.

I literally laugh aloud SO MUCH during most episodes.

And, I can clean the kitchen while I 'watch' them!

Our kitchen has never been cleaner.

Here is Evie playing with her shadow at the Rizzos.

Evie has charmed us, for sure~!

Matt and Simon surprised me with this white coffee table and plant one day.

I was trying to refinish and then paint an old coffee table white.

Matt and Simon saw my distress and completely surprised and blessed me when I came in one Saturday. They'd been to IKEA and Simon loved surprising me .... and Simon got to ride in the front seat since that the only way they could get the box into Matt's little red car was to have Simon sitting in the front seat.

Our little container garden area

We're going on almost a month without internet at our home.

It is nice to have more time for other things and to weed out so many of the other voices and distractions.

We think it's probably just for a season (at least two months for sure to recoup the cancellation fee). We've definitely had more of an appetite for things we'd rather have an appetite for as of late, and we've been surprised at how easy some things have been.

We're going on almost two months for (basically) no tv/games for Simon. Simon says he loves not having the tv and video games, and he is so much more creative and interactive. Discipline is easier b/c I'm not timing the tv or video game for thirty minutes and then having to discipline if the kids weren't 'happy and obedient' when we turned it off.

The tv is in our kitchen now, which sounds weird, but it fits in there better for us because if the children are allowed to watch something, I'm right there cooking or cleaning or folding laundry.

The kitchen table is uncomfortable for becoming a 'couch potato' and if we do watch something, we can multitask so much easier than just plopping on the couch!

It seems like we all have been convicted/led/impressed upon to give up something lately - Matt the xbox, Me facebook, and Simon tv/game time.

Okay, Simon wasn't really 'led' but he followed well.

I love how God knows what is best for us in each season and how He is faithful to work in us both to will and to do what pleases Him.

Internet has definitely been the hardest to let go of, but when we both felt it was the obedient thing to do for the time at hand, it was easy to let go and to call Verizon.

And what's funny about it is that what we thought would be so hard is actually so nice!

summer snapshots

A couple of weeks ago Matt and I tried out the newest yogurt place in Carrollton. (These places must be making a killing since everyone is trying it.)

We took a picture worthy of the FAIL blog (the dumpster smelled like rotten fish b/c of a sushi place next door.)

BUT, actually, unbeknownst to us, this was the back door that we walked into.

The front of the store was quite charming ...

I was treated to a girls evening and sleepover at my friend Kellie's house last night.

Evie liked having her toenails and nails painted.

On Simon's list of things to do this summer was to plan a video game party/playdate.

He made invitations and planned a video game playdate at Chuck E. Cheese.

It's a great inexpensive and cool (temperature) playdate - they open at 9 or 9:30 and all the games are one token (plus there are great online coupons for token deals) AND if you pack a picnic lunch and a promise to stop at a park, lunch is at virtually no cost as well!

I didn't get any cute pic of Evie (this is Eva - not confusing at all, right? You should be there when Evie, Eva, and Ava are all together.) Evie LOVED it though ... the kid section has lots of fun rides her style as well. Mostly she loved sitting in the Bob the Builder car and every once in a while I would pop a token in there for her.

Simon really wants a pet. He has cried for a dog and it almost breaks my heart, but we are holding strong so far.

He currently has several roly-poly(ies) in his bedroom in a glass container. They die rather quickly.

He told me one day that the roly-polies think that he is their Daddy. And, at bedtime, he'll ask me if we want to go check in on them together.

Since they are usually dead, he is prompted to think critically regarding their care.

"I don't understand, Momma. I gave them everything they need. Maybe I accidentally gave them poisonous leaves? Maybe they didn't like the bread .... or the raisins."

Simon has also been more aware that his red hair is different than most children.

He explained to us regarding the Kinder program at his school that some children get to stand and talk ... he didn't.... BUT he "thought they would want me to because of my red hair."

Also, Matt took him to the dentist (I know my limits) and Matt said it was really funny that in the middle of his cleaning he asked the hygienist, "Do you like my red hair?"