Beach Trip 2012!

We just got back from a great and relaxing week at Holden Beach, NC.  My parents were so kind enough to invite the whole family down to hang with them at a house on the beach! 

Holden Beach from the causeway.

 The boys got to hang out with their cousin Hannah and I got some quality time in with my cute preggers sister.  I have tons of pictures, so I will spare the poor blog server, but we mostly spent our entire days jumping waves, building sand castles and eating.  Lots and lots of eating.  My little fam will need to go on detox this week from all of the snacks and food at all times of the day and night.  Nothing but chicken and broccoli this week!

We found some cool hole-in-the-wall places to eat and J and I had some romantic walks on the beach.  My idea of a great vacation.

Ty loved washing his feet off in the outdoor faucet/shower.

Ty and Hannah really played well together.

Grandma getting some kisses.

Eeyore!

Shrimp burger from Provisions Co was so good!

Hannah and B also raced some Go-Carts, B's favorite thing we did.

Ty broke bad with a little miniture golf.

Pregnant lady in a candy store!

Grandaddy and Ty.

The boys had fun playing with a plastic sailboat in the water.  Both boys really got into the jumping the waves this time.  I was surprised and very happy how comfortable they looked in the water!  B was a huge improvement from last year and Ty had very little fear. 

Daddy and Ty.

Had an amazing time with my family on vacation this year!  I can't wait to get back to the beach.

My Wild Man is 3!

Tyler turns 3 today!

We had his birthday party last night.  We had so much fun decorating the night before his party.  Normally I would come home from work the day of and try to do everything so Ty would be surprised when he got home.  I always imagine some kind of amazing reaction and surprised look on his face.

This year, I got over it.  It was so much better just having the whole evening to decorate and straighten up the house!  B even helped me with the decorations.  He did the clouds. 

Ty was so cute when he saw the letters hanging up.  He started going through his daycare class, "T is for Tyler, H is for Hayden, D is for Demi..."

It would be pretty embarrassing if I misspelled something and hung it up.

B kept wanting to know what the green pom poms "were supposed to be."  Since we had clouds and letters, he wanted the pom poms to "be" something specific.  Oh, my little engineer.

And I am so pleased with how the cake turned out!  Its kind of my thing to make the kids cakes for their birthdays.  I love the challenge of coming up with ideas and its just fun for me.  Can you guess the movie theme? 

I didn't try to go overboard this time and get stressed out.  I chose a simple pizza dinner so I can be with guests and the birthday boy instead of running around prepping food. 

The clouds make me happy!

B wrapped his gifts for Ty in paper lunch sacks.  Thats what I had on hand.  He decorated them and I put on a little ribbon and its so cute I may start wrapping all gifts this way!

The tissue paper pom pom things were much less expensive than balloons.  I bought a thing of tissue paper for $1.97.  And I don't have to worry about the dogs attacking them.

Just proved to myself that I can have fun doing parties without going overboard and getting obsessive and stressed out.  Thank you Jesus for helping me with balance!

Please remember this for the next party, Me!

More birthday pictures later, we are packing for the beach!

Giving Thanks for My Weakness!

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  2 Corinthians 12:9

Not only am I supposed to recognize and accept my limitations, but also to praise God and be thankful for them, since His power and glory is seen through it!

Boy, I sure do have a lot of weaknesses.  That's an awful lot of opportunities to praise God.

He has recently laid it on my heart to wake up in the early morning and start the day with Him.  I have been praying for more balance in my life, and searching for peace in the wrong places.  I can exercise and feel great, and then the stress and worry comes back.  I can take a few days off, but the minute I walk back into the double doors at work, the tension in my shoulders return.  I talked to my Mama Stone about it and she says I'm definitely predisposed for these hurrying and worrying habits. 

"Each morning you listen to my prayer, as I bring my requests to you and wait for your reply."  Psalm 5:3

So God wants me to not only continue my quest for healthy living, but to use the first minutes in the morning sun talking with Him.  He has given me the book of Psalms to go through daily.  Not all at once, Miss Overachiever!  He just wants me to read one Psalm each morning.  I also am using my laptop to discover some history of the scriptures.

Me, struggling with perfection, is working on not expecting instant peace and balance with this addition to my day.  If nothing comes of this but me being obedient to God, then it is successful.  I thank Him for even wanting to visit with me.

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?"  Psalm 8:3-4

He has showed me so much already!  I don't expect to be 100% perfect in waking up these mornings.  I'm embracing my imperfection and taking it day by day as He is showing me to do with my life.

And as my Great Uncle Louis would say, I need to get outside before other people wake up and breathe all the good air!

Hello, Summer!

Hello, Summer!

Hello, swimsuits and little bare feet!

Hello, backyard picnics!

Hello, little boys and water fun!

Hello, picking strawberries out of the garden!

We missed you, Summer!

Welcome back and glad to see you!

Father's Day, some swinging and conquering fear

Happy Father's Day to my sweetie!  He is the best father to my two boys.  We gave him his gifts Sunday morning before church since the rest of the day tends to be more for our Dad's than my hubby.  The boys gave him a poster for work with lots of pictures of my three guys and some other little things from school.  They were really excited.

Saturday we got to celebrate our nephew's 2nd birthday.  The weather was beautiful and we stayed outside as much as possible.  Tyler tore it up on the swing set. 

Waiting for a push.

The war cry!

B played some football. He is such a big boy now, its crazy. He spent the night with Pops and Ve Ve this weekend and when I saw him the next day I could have sworn he grew more over night!

While B was having fun with undivided attention at the grandparents, we got to have a little one on one with Ty. We took him out to dinner and jut enjoyed his little personality. He talks to everyone and ordered his own dessert. "May I have a brown, please?" (A brownie)

Ty woke up on Saturday morning as an only child.  He got to watch his Backyardigans without having to negotiate for the remote.  He watched his Samurai Pie episode while practicing his Ninja moves with his wooden spoon.  (The "Go Braden" sign in the background is leftover from the last day of school)

This is his final bow at the end of the episode.

B-man has decided he wants to conquer riding a big bike this summer, so this weekend he started practicing on his little bike. We got it for him years ago and he's never been into riding it. So we told him if he mastered the little one, we would move on to a bigger on like his friends. 

He did awesome on it on Father's Day.

We finished the day off at Grandma's with some watermelon and scooter/bike races.

I'm really pulling for B-man. I'd love for him to conquer the bike thing over the summer. Its a big deal to overcome a fear. Like Ty finally going down the big enclosed slide at the playground on B's last day of baseball. B really wants to be in control and when he isn't, a lot of time he gets frustrated and quits. I want him to get this. Such a good lesson in working for something you want over a bit of time. I can't wait to cheer and see his face when he rides that bike down the street for the first time without J pushing on holding.

Will be a great victory for a 6 year old boy this summer!