I love that we were able to explore lots of different places in a week's time. We took a day trip to Hilton Head - it was definitely much more touristy than Tybee Island, but we found some fun shops and we had a great time at Lawton Stables!
The only bummer was that Hudson was too little for the horseback riding and Grace was too big for the pony rides so we couldn't ride like we wanted to - boo! But we had fun feeding the horses nonetheless!
"He's so slobbery and drooly but I really like him!" ~Hudson, 6
Even I got in on the action! First time to feed a horse!!
Of course, the moment mama says, "Let's take a picture together," all bets are off! hahaha
{Could they be any more thrilled???!}
Grace, the Horse Whisperer...
She fell in love with this horse and was so sad when it was time to leave. She was so gentle. You could totally see the horse relaxing around her.
And then there's Hudson and the chickens...
This pic pretty much sums it up.
After our Hilton Head adventure, we headed back to Tybee and decided to go kayaking. A first for the littles and me. Lance had been, but not recently.
Hudson - normally all chill and laid back...
...was not too sure about the whole thing!
He said he was bringing "provisions" (aka Gatorade) in case "we get stranded on that island over there and have to survive". #ohmy
This is my We-better-get-a-family-pic-in-case-something-happens-to-us-out-there!!!!
And we're off! Kayaking across Tybee Creek to The Triangle (mouth of the inlet to the ocean side) to Little Tybee! We didn't dock at Little Tybee because the thought of gators (creek side) and sharks (ocean side) had my belly in a knot!! Not to mention some certain little ones who kept insisting on paddling and who were too wiggly for comfort!
But I'm so glad we did it. Definitely a thrill! When we got back to AJ's Dockside, the guy said, "Did your kayak flip??" Apparently we had an unacceptable amount of water IN the kayak - hahaha!
A few more beach pics of those three that I'm crazy about...
Smile, Grace!
Smile, Hudson! he he he
{I love that God gave me both a girl AND a boy to keep things interesting!!}
This sweet girl is always dancing...
Hudson really got into riding the waves this year...
The beach is indeed our happy place!
A little funny for today...
Me: Talking about May Day and what not.
Hudson: "...and there was a pole with ribbons and people danced around it??? That's just weird! I'd rather just hit a piñata!"
I can't believe it's May already!!! This year has flown by for us. 15 days of school left - oh my!!
I teach First Grade PSR {Parish School of Religion...Sunday School in the Catholic church} with 3 amazing, godly women who I just love to pieces. They make the stories of the bible come alive for our little first graders and I love that they say yes to my craft projects. Love using the creative talents God gave me for His glory!
Along with being creative comes messiness - ha! And late nights. And lots of tweaking of projects to see if they'll work for little hands. I saw the idea for this one while searching online one day, but I've lost the link, so if this happens to be your original project idea, please let me know so I can give you proper credit!!
So I prepped 20 of these and finished 3 so our first graders could give them to the priests at our church.
I wanted them to swaddle baby Jesus themselves, so I attached a mini wooden craft ball to a tiny popsicle stick and just added a drop of hot glue to attach the string of yarn to the back of the popsicle stick and they did the rest. They drew baby Jesus' face and some even added a halo.
I used a mini cupcake liner to place baby Jesus in. Tissue paper and crinkle paper and brown cardstock and glitter and clear cups. Chenille stems finished it all off. Some kids wrote the message themselves and some asked us to help them so it would fit on the little strip of blue paper.
But this is what made it all worthwhile...
"My mom is going to LOVE this!" from one of the sweet boys as he worked so hard to put it all together.
The girls loved making smiley baby Jesus ornaments. My favorite: "Close your eyes mama, I've got a surprise for you!" just as she was about to hand it to her mom.
This particular Sunday, Lance was in Wisconsin for work so it was just the littles and me. Crazy chaos trying to get everyone ready and out the door on time. Yelling instead of patience, I'm ashamed to admit. But then Hudson said, "Grace, you look pretty!" and it sure put us all in a calmer, more appreciative mood. Never underestimate the power of your words.
Noonie and Papa J invited us to join them for lunch after church. I tried to get a pic of the littles with them, but as you can see........................
So in all the chaos of the holiday season, let us {ME!} remember what it's really all about. Jesus. Plain and simple!
Want to know how to make an ordinary Monday not so ordinary? Pull out the halloween decorations and surprise your littles with a fun Boo Bash after school!
I dropped off two unsuspecting littles at school...
Rushed home to set it all up...
And as soon as we made it home, I made them cover their eyes...
{wanna guess who my usual peeker is?? he he he}
Ummm...Grace...I don't see any surprises...
But this made it all worthwhile!
They couldn't wait to check out all the goodies...
I love giving the littles their halloween treats early so we can enjoy halloween jammies all month long. I'm a little behind the game this year...I usually do it on October 1st! But they didn't seem to mind!
Just little trinkets and what nots, but it was the silly putty that she loved most!
Meow! he he...
I love that their buckets will double as trick-or-treat buckets come Oct. 31st!
This little fella was pretty excited about the bone-shaped chalk and the glow-in-the-dark pj's!
And I was most excited by this little friendly ghost. Anyone remember Casper??!
And then the treats!!
Fun place settings for my two favorite goblins...
Marshmallows for my resident princess...
...and chocolate ghosts for my favorite little guy!
Yum!
"I just ate the ghosteses' mouth so he can't spook us, Grace!" {be still my heart!}
Milk just tastes better when it makes cute jack-o-lantern faces, doesn't it??
They're only little for such a short while. I want to always remember them like this...side by side, giggling, laughing, enjoying an ordinary Monday...being the best of friends...
And later that night...all cozied up in their halloween jammies!
So break out all the orange + black goodies and make it special...not fancy, just sPeCIaL!
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, a special after-school treat...your choice...it doesn't take much, but they'll remember it! That I can promise you!
Have fun!
