Giggles By Candlelight

We lost power tonight, and although the temperatures were rising quickly inside and we were missing the olympics, the kiddos made the best of it.

Cade made the girls a fort and they took turns telling stories.  I'm so glad I grabbed my camera because I absolutely love these pics!  What sweet memories were made tonight :)







Then they got Dad in the fort to tell them a story. He came up with a story about a princess who lived in a castle that glowed pink at night. Ends up, it was the fire breathing dinosaur (yes...he said dinosaur) that made the castle glow. :) The girls were totally into it every single second. So cute!

A Fresh Start

This year, the beginning of school represents a fresh start for me.  Last year, at this time, I was frantically packing to leave for China, leaving behind 4 children...right as school started.  We left on Aug. 13, just a few days after the boys began another school year.  I don't know about your house, but here, that's a very busy time for us.  The boys are adjusting to new teachers, homework, a new schedule and we are all working out the kinks of carpools, dinnertime, extra-curricular activities, etc.

(leaving for China)


By the time we got home from a physically exhausting trip, that adjustment phase had happened without me...I was not adjusted!!  My focus immediately needed to be on Gracie's adjustment to a new "everything" and Wesleigh's adjustment of not being the only princess in the house anymore.  There was never enough time for homework, cooking, cleaning, or talking.  That seemed to set the tone for the entire year.  In addition, Richard has recently started a new company, which is always stressful and time consuming.  Just thinking back on it all makes me cringe.  Of course, we got through it, but I felt the entire school year that my boys were totally fending for themselves.  I was doing everything I could to meet everyone's needs, but failing.  Thankfully, I have an amazing husband and parents who totally had my back and helped with meals, tutoring, babysitting, taxi-ing kids, etc. and we made it!  The end of school was a huge victory for me and an enormous sigh of relief.  I felt that I could finally catch my breath...and I have.

This summer has been busy, but mostly because having 5 kids moving around in the same house is always busy.  We finished a not-so-enjoyable baseball season which has lifted a ton of bricks from my shoulders.  I find myself motivated and excited to start this school year in a non-stressful way.  Braden and Cade are both going to a new school this year, and Bryce will be a junior!  I so want them all to have amazing school years, and I want to be present.  I missed so much of Bryce's sophomore year, simply because there wasn't enough of me to go around.  I will not let that happen again.

There are lots of exciting things beginning this week:  Bryce gets his license when he turns 16 Tuesday!!!  This will be a great help because I will not need to be his taxi service anymore!!  Braden is coming back to our local school and he and Cade will be in the same school this year (which starts Thursday!).  Cade is going to jr. high!!  Cade is also playing football for the school, so he will practice after school instead of during dinner time :)  Also, the girls are starting gymnastics!!  They are so excited they can harldy stand it!  I know Gracie is going to thrive in this sport and the olympics have totally fired them up.

For the first time in a long time, I have the urge to tackle some "extra" projects like gardening (the flower beds have been neglected too!), exercising and painting my bedroom.  These are things that I used to enjoy, but have been on the back burner.  I will also pick up the pace on my blog again.  I have always gone in cycles with the blog.  Sometimes I love it and have a ton to say.  Other times I don't think anything in my life is blog-worthy or I just can't make myself do it.

Overall, I am happy to have this year behind me.  There is no doubt in my mind that adding Gracie to our family was exactly what God had in store for us, but adding that little cutie was like bringing a tornado into this already crazy house!  She literally makes my head spin!  She has come so far, and I will have a big 1 year post for her when that date rolls around in a couple of weeks.

So...Happy New Year to me and all you fellow stay-at-home moms who are about to send your children off to school, as well!  I'm praying for a great year! 

Alright...if you read all of that, you deserve some pictures! Here are some pics of my little tornado riding the waves. She is so funny. Sometimes she is so brave and adventurous and other times she's a scardy cat. She got flipped a few times and got right back out there!

Look at all the sand in her hair :) She is such a hoot!

Catching Up

I seem to be getting back on track this week :) We are already in the countdown to school around here!! The boys go back on Aug 9! It's hard to believe.

I still have more beach pics to post and then some baseball pics to :) I'm going to try to get through those pretty quick so I can move on!

 











This is the closest thing I have to a family picture this trip.  The boys were never all in the same place and I didn't chase them down this trip.  Looking through the pics, I don't know if I have one picture of Cade (except baseball)!  Oh well...he was way too busy to worry with his mom :)


Braden and part of his crew.  I remember the days when all Braden did at the beach was put on goggles, grab a net and search for creatures in the water the entire day.  Now, all they want to do is walk the beach and search for cute girls :(  Yuck!  Give me the sea creatures any day!!


The girls taking turns with Paw Paw.


Cade is at church camp this week and he is having a blast.  He has been excited about this trip for the entire summer!  I am so happy that he was able to go.  I have realized this week that Cade is alot of work!!!  He always wants attention and must say my name a million times a day...most of the time, just so I'll look at him!!  I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying this little break :)  Of course, I will be happy to get him back :)

Ugh!

Yep...this is the kind of week we've been having! Not for any real reason, I'm just feeling old this week :) It will pass. I still have lots of beach pics to post, and haven't even uploaded baseball pics :( I have got to get myself together!! I mean, seriously, what else do I have to do with 5 kids running around ;)

Beach Days

We are home. We were in Orange Beach for Braden and Cade's world series baseball tournaments. Usually, our beach trips fly by. This one seemed to last forever. We had a great time on the beach for a few days and then crammed 14 games into 2 days! It was lots of fun and a good end to the season. I can't say I'm sad for baseball to be over this year...some years are better than others, and this year needed to be over :)

As you can imagine, I have tons of pictures to go through. I'm going to start sharing some of them. I took the girls out 2 different evenings to take pics. The first time, both girls were totally into it. The second, Wesleigh decided she'd rather not. Stinks because the lighting was so gorgeous that second night, and the dress she had on looked amazing on the beach!!! UGH!! Anyway...here are some of my favorites!











I love this one! If you look close, you can see her monogram on her bloomers :)













I'm afraid you'll be seeing pics from this trip for a while :)  I cannot wait to have some of these shots printed on 8x10 canvas'.  I'm going to do a collage with them :)

I made the boys bring clothes they could wear for some pics, but unfortunately, that never happened.  I hardly saw Braden and Cade because they were always running around with their friends.  I'm having some family protraits done soon, so hopefully I can get pics of the 5 of them before long.

Our Toes...

....are in the sand!

(Gracie Joy's cute piggies)

Wesleigh's New "do"

We did it! I have been wanting to for a while...we've had the appointment set for weeks, but that didn't keep me from almost freaking out when she made that first cut! I don't get that nervous when it's my own hair! She looks adorable and is so proud. She kept looking in the mirror and saying "it's so cute" and "I so fancy". She is feeling super sassy today :)







Wesleigh is growing up so fast.  She is usually the sweetest thing, but when she decides she doesn't like what you're doing or telling her, she can lose it pretty quick.  I know you don't believe me, but she can be quite a turkey sometimes!  She has recently stopped sucking her finger, which was her self-soothing method as a baby in China.  It makes me so sad :(  I'm thrilled that she no longer needs that finger, but I hate it all at the same time :)

Wesleigh is all about learning how to write her name.  She practices constantly and switches from her left hand to her right hand after each letter.  I am a lefty and both Wesleigh and Gracie look like they're going to be leftys too.

We are heading to the beach in a few days....my happy place...and Wesleigh's happy place!  I am hoping that it becomes Gracie's happy place too!!