It's My Birthday!

Today is my birthday! =)



I have a fun day ahead of me...

Lunch date with my hubby at one of our favorite Cajun restaurants.

Then off to an afternoon getting a massage and being pampered.

aaahhh...I am relaxing just looking at this picture =)

Then finish off the day with a little shopping.


Hope that everyone has a fun day...I know I am going to! =)

Wordless Wednesday

Back To School Shopping!

I simply can not believe that our school will start 2 weeks from today! My goodness where has summer gone??? (summer is still here with our 100+ temps) I have seriously been in denial all summer that my little boy is going to "big school" How can it be that I have a kindergartner???? It is time for me to face it because he really is about to start. The thought of him being away from me all day is just a bit too much, but I know that it is time and he is ready. He has completed K4 and K5 programs but they were just half days...this is all day. Like I said he is ready for this. Actually he keeps telling us that he wants to go to 1st grade. And really he could, but being an August baby we just want to give him a little more time to mature and I know the set-backs that we could face when J leaves. So I just want him to enjoy this year as much as possible and meet lots of new friends. (I do want to say that this is our decision as to what is best for our child and I am no way suggesting that everyone do this) (=

So yesterday, we took the kids to do some Back To School Shopping! I think I was looking forward to this as much as Jackson! So I armed with our list (very short list...think crayons, markers, glue, scissors...that's about it)and a camera set off down the aisles to find the perfect supplies. We were done in less than 5 minutes (I know it will get much more involved over the years) The longest part was Jack deciding which lunch box he wanted. J and I were trying to convince him to get a metal lunch box since that is what we grew up with, but that is not what he chose =)You will see in the last picture which lunch box he chose.


My little helpers. Jack loved picking out all his school supplies. (I am pretty sure he had as much fun as I did) Madeline "helped" out too by putting lots more in our buggy than we needed.


All of our supplies plus some of the things on the teacher's wish list. I still have a couple more wish list items to pick up (like candy and treasure box items, but I will get those at the Dollar Tree) And I am also looking for a different zipper pencil case. I was not pleased with the selection at the store so I will look somewhere else. I made sure to pick up extras of everything just in case =) And of course Jack chose the Iron Man lunch box and cup.

Visiting Family

The kids, my mom, and I went for a quick overnight trip to visit family in Tennessee. It was so great! We got to see my grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousin. I am so glad we were able to go and have the family time. Wish we could go more often! It is always nice to just get-a-way even if its a quick trip. It's almost like I was able to stop thinking about this upcoming deployment for just a moment...but just for a moment though.

Below are some pictures of our visit:


Jack, Madeline, and cousin Micheal playing outside in the treehouse. The kids had sooo much fun with Micheal! I wish we could see them more often.

My uncle and I both have birthday's next week...one day apart...so my grandmother picked us up a yummy cookie cake. It was funny listening to everyone sing us happy birthday. (and that my sweet son was letting everyone know I will be 32...thanks a lot kid!)


The kids with my grandmother...their great grandmother. They had a blast at her house! Of course who wouldn't when you get to eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner???


My grandmother and me =) This lady is a HOOT and has taught me a lot about cooking and cussing in Italian lol! But seriously, she has taught me a lot about being a military wife and surviving deployments. She survived deployments back before internet, emails, skype, messenger, and phone calls...I just can not imagine...not to mention she had 4 children and could barely speak, read, or write english...now that is amazing to me.


My mom and her mom (aka Mamaw)

We were suppose to visit with my Mamaw Beth, but she came down with the stomach virus the very day of our visit. I am thankful she let us know before we got there. Mamaw Beth, I know you will read this as soon as your feeling better. We are sorry we missed the visit, but will be back very soon to spend some precious time with you! We love you!

Vacation Part 2

Day 4: A stormy day at the beach...so we decided to take the kids to eat and see Toy Story 3. That evening everything cleared up so we took the kids to ride go-carts

Eating lunch at Margaritaville


My mom and me


Jason and the kids waiting in line to ride the go-carts


The kids and I ready to ride


Jack got to ride the kiddie go-carts this year but Madeline did not (she is not quite tall enough)


Day 5:

Jack and Madeline ready for another day


The kids and me


The kids and daddy



Jack loves to get buried in the sand


Love that sweet smile


Boy, that was a lot of fun to clean up


Daddy's turn to get buried


The kids are so proud


YUCK!


Madeline's turn


Madeline splashing around in the water


Jack was so proud of his skim board. It took him a few tries (and lots of falls) but he got it! He had so much fun riding this!


Day 6:

Ready for another full day of fun


Daddy and Madeline


Daddy and Jack


It started to storm...so we went to the outlets...which were very crowded


Madeline before we went to eat at Captain Anderson's


Jack before dinner


Headed out for another night swim


Day 7:

Our last full day on the beach...and the sun finally came out


Lil Miss Playing in the sand.


Jack very proud of his sandcastles


The kiddos made some friends on the beach and had the daddy's build a boat in the sand.


Our last night at the beach, going out on a date

Day 8:

The kids on the morning we left to return home.


Whew...finally caught up on vacation...I have so many other blogs to post before I forget them...hope to have those up soon =)

Vacation Part 1~Beach Fun and a Trip To The ER

Day 1:

Look at that beautiful water! We have not been to Panama City in over 11 years! So we chose this year to return. It has changed so much! The water was beautiful...no signs of oil (but lots of oil spotters on the beach looking for it) Other than really rough waters and lots of rain, our vacation was great =)


Jason and the kids all sunscreened up and ready to go out to the beach (while I am stuck inside unpacking)

Day 2: Only 1 of our 2 days with no rain

Love that little smile


I wonder what that little mind is thinking...hmmm..."what can I get into?"


"CANNONBALL!!"


I think she is letting me know that she got water up her nose.


Jackson practicing his dive.


Madeline doing her prissy jump in the pool.


The kids and I ready to head back out to more fun in the sun =)


Day 3: Jason's birthday. The rain had set in. Luckily it was just rain and we did not let that slow us down from playing in the sand.

The kids digging in the dirt.


Jason and Madeline


Jason and Jackson


Jack splashing around on his boogie board


Madeline playing in the sand...love the bandage??? At the end of this post is the story behind what happened.


Jason pulling Jack


Jason pulling Madeline


Now he is pulling both kids at the same time...who ever said vacation is for relaxing????


Cannot go to PCB and not eat at Angelo's! It is a must for us =) Jason picked to go here because it was his birthday...there was no objections from us.

After the birthday dinner, we went to play putt-putt. That is always a fun adventure with a 5 and 3 year old. Below are some pictures from putt-putt

Jackson


Madeline


Jason


Me

On our 2nd day at the beach, we already had our 1st injury. We had just finished up dinner in the condo. I was cleaning up and Madeline was climbing up on the bar stool because she wanted to watch me. I had already told her to get down because she would fall. So she jumped off...landing on her feet...She climbs back up at which time she is told again to get down. This time she jumps and instead of landing on her feet, she lands chin down on the ceramic tile floor. It was not a pretty site at all...lots of blood..ick...so I get a rag to apply pressure to it and check her teeth to make sure none were loose (thankfully all teeth were ok) while Jason calls the local ER to get directions and we are off. Below is a picture I took with my Iphone of Madeline in the car on the way to the ER.

She was such a trooper! She finally quit crying by the time we arrived to the ER. Once inside she asked me for lipstick...and she put it on herself. Silly child...a girl has her priorities! She must look good even when in pain =)
We were taken back pretty quickly and received good care. We opted for glue and I am glad we did. Everything has healed very nicely and now we are keeping scar cream on it to reduce the scar. Madeline is very proud of her chin and will show it to anyone that will look at it. She did learn her lesson though...she told us she will not climb the stools again. ha!

That is all for today...I will post part 2 (days 4-8) of vacation soon!