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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Disney Bound!

We decided to tell them last night because we have to be at the airport at 5:30a to catch our flight...and well...let's just say, I'm not the only one around here who isn't a morning person *wink*.

So we went out for dinner and then had Noonie come over for the big reveal..."Close your eyes and wait for Daddy to hand you a clue about where we're going."
We handed them their autograph books from {our trip} last November...their reactions were PRICELESS!
Yep, we're going to DISNEY!
And Noonie doesn't know it yet, but we're also celebrating 6 months cancer FREE!  Praise the Lord!
Keeping it ReAL...
When we told Hudson, he said, "But I don't want to go to Disney, I want to go to the beach."  I think he thought we had traded our beach vacation for Disney and he was not liking that trade.  But seriously, what kid doesn't get excited about Disney?????

Off to make new memories!  Catch up in a bit!Photobucket

Monday, July 22, 2013

back to school shopping

For a pint-sized fashion junkie like myself, not doing any major Back-to-School shopping is a first!  I'm only slightly mourning {just kidding folks, take no offense}.
Reality is both of my littles have plenty of clothes to get them through the hotter-than-hot first couple of months of school.  It is soooooo warm here in the South that "Fall" clothes really don't get worn comfortably until way into October {if we're lucky}.
So other than first day of school outfits for both and a couple of pairs of shoes , we are skipping the usual BTS shop-a-thon
{Livie & Luca}

And instead..............we're spending our last week of Summer freedom at the beach!
{via here}  
{Steven Brooke via here}
{via here}
{via here}

A fun surprise from the hubby!  He's taking us to Seaside, FL!  Woo hoo!  I've never been but have always wanted to visit - it looks like my kind of quaint little town!!  So if you have any recommendations or must do's, I'd love to know!

Now...if I had only started that diet earlier...*sigh*
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Sunday, July 21, 2013

what we've been up to... {summer 2013}

Crazy couple of weeks it's been! These are all phone pics...I've been lazy about taking out my big camera...need to remedy that!

Right after I hurt my back we had VBS and I was one of the two leaders for First Grade, so no way was I going to skip out on it! I LOVE VBS and we had the BEST group of first graders!! I'm so excited that lots of these same littles will be in our Sunday School class come Fall!
Hudson's first time at VBS!  He LOVED it, especially since his friend Maddie from MDO was there!!
They made cards for the troops overseas...love the one Grace made!
I bought this adorable Tilly Top from {Ollie & Mae} as part of their Tornado Relief project back at the beginning of June and when it came in it was love at first sight!  Love, love, love!  I'm *slightly* pocket-obsessed so I talked Noonie into adding this sweet little pocket for me! :))
The cutest little twins around celebrated their first birthday!  They had the sweetest "Two by Two" Noah's Ark birthday party.  We loved celebrating with them!!  Happy, Happy Birthday Anna & Ava!
We gave them these cuddly ladybug pillows and I think they really liked them!
 The little pumpkin had her school's summer camp.  This year's theme was Safari.  This was Day 1...
Day 2:  Duck Dynasty Day...wear your camo! 
This was as much camo as this girly girl would go for and she only agreed because it was a skirt.  And yes, we had to buy this skirt at Target because we don't own any camo!
Day 3:  Superhero Day!  Enough said.
Day 4:  Hunt down your favorite holiday!  She went as the "First Day of Spring Fairy" who likes to moonlight as the "St. Patrick's Day Fairy" {read:  we recycled last year's halloween costume...I had to come up with something!!}
Day 5 was Spirit Day and they wore their camp t-shirts.  I forgot to take a pic! :(

I had to sit through a torture of a technical class for work...8 hrs. of pure misery.  I was so grumpy when I left there, but when I got home, this greeted me:
She prepared a little picnic for me, to help me feel better.  She is SO my daughter!! :) 

This little fella had his 4 y/o immunizations this past Friday.  He was SO BRAVE!  We had a little Mama-Hudson lunch date afterward to celebrate. 
As soon as we got in the car he crashed!  Bless his little heart!  But tired or not, he was still clinging to his reward.  That $10 Lego worked like a charm!!
We have been doing LOTS of baking!  A little someone looooooves being my assistant! he he he
This little one has had a runny nose all week. Such a blessing to have a pediatrician grandma who can make house calls! Hudson always insists on checking Noonie after she checks him...
We have been missing our school friends!  It's been nice to catch up a bit here and there with playdates!
We spent the better part of Saturday cleaning and sprucing up around the house {read:  Lance and I cleaned while trying to stay one step ahead of the little tornadoes...I'm sure you can relate!}  I changed up things a bit in Grace's room {my baby is growing up *boo hoo*} but one thing remained the same...this sweet, sweet, sweet picture of my grandma Tata meeting Grace for the first time!
 Last minute sewing!!  THanK yOU, Noonie!!
We leave for Disney in TWO days and the littles DON'T KNOW!!  I have to go for work and Noonie is coming with me so I can take Grace & Hudson.  We're staying several days longer and turning it into our annual {Mother-Daughter-Grands Trip}.  They are going to be soooo excited!!!  Love these two!
Happy Sunday!
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Saturday, July 20, 2013

US tour {Lulu & Co.}

Thank you for all the well wishes - I DO feel better!  And I hope through some specific exercises to be back 100% really soon. 

While I was lying on the sofa, I stitched the hours away which helped greatly to get my mind off the pain.  I made shirts with so many different states it sort of made me feel like I was on a US tour - ha!

Here are some of the shirts I made, to give you ideas for future orders.  By the way, I plan on taking more orders once school starts mid-August...

Ohio with the heart over Sandusky...
Louisiana...
Texas...
Tennessee...
Louisiana...
North Carolina...with hearts over Raleigh and Wilmington...
North Dakota...with a made-to-match Lulu wrap...
Missouri...
Matching tanks for two sisters visiting New Orleans this Summer - FUN!
Arizona...
And a couple of mama shirts...a patriotic Texas tank...
...and a fun Louisiana tee!
And finally, one special little hat for a sweet little girl celebrating her 5th birthday with a "Grinchmas in July" party...Happy Birthday, Reese!
I had fun making these!  ThANk yOU to everyone that ordered a custom Lulu & Co. tank/shirt/wrap/hat! I'll be sure to post an announcement here on the blog once I open back up for orders!

Hope you're having a great Summer!
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

a little detour...

This past week was one of THOSE weeks.  You know the kind.  We went from this {July 5th}...
...to this!
Sheer AGONY.  No other way to describe it.  I hurt my back...wish I could say I was skiing or zip lining or something else, but I have NO CLUE what I did to hurt my back!!! All I know is the day after 4th of July it started bothering me and when I woke up Saturday morning I couldn't stand straight or bend or squat or do anything else.  Horrible feeling!!
{Sweet get-well picture Grace drew for me}

I took a hot shower and headed straight to quick care to see if they could help me.  When the PA asked me to describe my pain, I told her this...

"With my daughter, the epidural never took completely, I had back labor, she was born "sunny side up" meaning posterior (face up instead of face down as with most babies).  With my son, I had a bruised pubic bone/slight separated pelvis.  I would gladly go through both without any type of anesthesia 10x over than deal with the pain I'm having right now." 
{All etsy orders have been shipped!  Hey, I had to do something - anything - to get my mind off the pain!}

A bunch of x-rays and 2 injections later, I was sent home with a prescription for pain killers and instructions to "rest" and "ice it down".  I think they forgot I said I was a MOTHER because rest/ice when you have littles around goes about as well as oil and vinegar.  Not to mention, I'm not much of a "resting" kind of person.  But I did heed the advice and hung out on the sofa most of the weekend.  Had no other choice.    
{I did manage to make "magic potion smoothies" with the littles to break up the boredom of couch life!}

Two visit later to the chiropractor {there's a first for everything!} and LOTS of prayers and ice packs and I'm now feeling much better.  Hated the Lortab, the Advil did nothing.  What helped was Bayer Back & Body Extra Strength {found this by accident...went to Target and the 3 rows for this medicine were all out, except for the one lonesome bottle, so I took that as a good sign!} and some exercises a PT friend recommended.
{My sweet helper folding the laundry for me. Love her!}

I'm still not 100% pain free...have developed some numbness between my right hip and right knee that I'm working with and probably need to see a doctor about.  But I'll take it over the condition I was in!  Yes, ma'am, I will!
{Thank goodness for a doting daddy to give the littles a break with some fun activities!}

Oh and the pics of me in a swimsuit...yeah, I would have never in a million years posted those - I'm so NOT in shape where I want to be, but my littles took those while we were playing in the backyard having FUN, and after the week I've had, a certain little friend called PERSPECTIVE has decided to pay me a long-time visit and the reality is IMPERFECT body and all, I feel BLESSED to be WALKING around again, so vanity has for the time being taken a hike.

{taken today}

I'm starting on a HEALTH JOURNEY that involves every part of my life and that I hope will leave me in a much better place so that I can enjoy my DEAR FAMILY and this PRECIOUS LIFE even more than I already do and I thank my CREATOR for the awakening.

So here's to catching up in the next few days...
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