Dauphin Island, AL

Well, we are back but we aren't happy. Our brains are stuck in beach mode. I think I am having withdrawals or something. We had such a restful vacation at Dauphin Island, AL. We stayed at the Whale House. The girls loved it. Never a complaint about the beach. I didn't really even have to discipline much since they were occupied with fun and family. I guess that is why I was at peace- the kids were content. I didn't get as dark as I had hoped but any tan is a good tan for me. June was scared of the waves so she kept her distance. Luckily, there was an area where the ocean spilled over and provided us with a baby pool- pee included. Bay ran through the water with some little friends she made. Uncle Trae and Aunt Tiffany let the kids fly a kite. That was a first for my kids. Daddy spent most of the time fishing either off the beach or on a pier. He thoroughly enjoyed it. We took our flashlights and went searching for crabs one night with the kids. They loved it. Tony and I spent our 5th yr. wedding anniversary while we were there. We went out to eat and then headed to the beach to star gaze. The cool breeze felt so good. It was the most comfortable weather I think I have ever experienced. I almost fell asleep it was so comfortable. Someone shot fireworks off on the beach near us. That was cool since we got free entertainment on our anniversary. I thanked Tony for planning that ahead of time, ha ha! It was really good to just hang out with family. We hope to add more family next year and we probably will end up at Dauphin Island again or somewhere near it. And here is Bay and June in action:

Ballerina Bay

Today, I took Bay to her first dance class. It is an intro to dance called Mommy and Me. It only lasts 30 minutes. There were probably 6 girls and their mommies there. Her teacher is Mrs. Connnie. When we arrived we saw our friends Holly and her daughter Jordan. We chatted with them for a little while and then Bay saw the studio. She started to go in and said "I am ready to dance". Unfortunately it wasn't time yet since classes were changing. When it was time she went in and began dancing all around the room as if she had been waiting forever for this moment and she was finally "home"(see video below). Her leotard and her ballet shoes are a bit too big but that didn't stop her. The ballet shoes we purchased from payless start at size 7 and she needs a 6(she will grow into them). All the little girls were so cute in their ballet attire. They all lined up and followed instructions from their teacher. The little routine they worked on was to the song "Bipity Bopity Boo". I was very proud of Bay. She listened and followed instructions well . I hope this behavior continues each week. Sometimes she can be very hard on herself if she can't do things perfect. I always tell her she does great. After all their hard work they got stickers. Bay said, "I am thirsty and hungry" She had worked up an appetite. Some of the girls began playing ring around the rosy. It was cute to watch the girls interact and dance together. When I told her the class was over she became very sad. She did not want it to be over. We took some pictures with her friend Jordan before we left. We will miss next week due to the beach vacation but I can't wait to go with her again.

Drift wood/Falls of the Ohio

Grandma and Mrs. Andrea came to visit us. My mom has an interest in drift wood and I knew the perfect place to get some. Big ones too. We went to the Falls of the Ohio in Indiana. It is a rocky area where there are many fossils. We went to the beach area right before it. It was hot but cool in the shade. I brought the beach toys since there is sand to play in. This was the second time Bay has played in sand. All went well with that so our beach trip to AL should be great. There are so many trees down and drift wood everywhere. Someone had put a long board over a down tree and made a see-saw. So I see-sawed with the girls. Drift wood was collected and hauled to the truck. We then had a picnic overlooking the river and let the kids play on a playground. Naptime was coming quickly and they were very fussy and tired so we headed home.

Do you ever think," need to post about that..." and then you get busy and by the time you sit down to blog about it you don't want to? Well, it happens to me. I haven't blogged in a few weeks so let me catch you up on our life. Our garden is doing great!

I am doing two Bible studies right now. awesome. It is good to be in the Word. One is a marriage study. The other is Beth Moore's Esther. I am working on my resume and will begin emailing it to places Sunday or Monday. One great place is hiring that I have always wanted to work at. I have been struggling with the idea of this new life change and how it would affect everyone in our family since I have always stayed at home. It is exciting and scary. I suppose I will have to do it sooner or later so I might as well start looking now. I am watching a 10 yr. old from 8-5:30 everday while his mom is taking some classes out of town. He is my step brother in law. I know, a bit confusing. It has been interesting to have an asian 10 yr. old boy in the house. He speaks english very well. He plays LOTS of video games and computer games. I try to get us out of the house to avoid too much of that. He has got me watching those kid shows like ICarly and Drake and Josh. And I can't seem to cook those potstickers and dumplings right.The chinese/english directions are vague and don't tell me how long to cook things. I bet he thinks this white girl is dumb and crazy.Apparently, I say, "Here we go" a lot about everything. When I find what I am looking for or when I am showing the girls something. He asked me why I say that. He is a good boy but talks way too much for me. He has not been raised in a christian home so I hope for him to see something different aboout us. Three more weeks of that. Then it is vacation in AL. wooo-hooooo. I am so ready for the beach. Bay is too. She sings the Dora song using Dauphin Island- "Where are whe going? CLAP CLAP CLAP Dauphin Island!" Over and over and over again. I just hope the ride down there goes smoothly. I think I will cry when we leave the beach.

Oh yeah, our 3yr old dog Gibson is finally neutered! The S.N.I.P. clinic was running a special called Hooters for Neuters. That's right I had to take Gibson to Hooters Restaurant. Then they took him to the clinic for surgery and I picked him up the next day at Hooters. I was even on the news. How embarrasing. He pulled his e-collar off and pulled all his staples out so we had to take him up to the clinic to repair the damage. He has to keep that dumb e-collar on 7-10 days. Oh and it better be healed in 7 days because I have so many bruises on my legs from him running into me with that thing. We did all this so he could get licensed. Turns out they charge you a late fee for every month he was late. He was suppose to be licensed at 4 mths. He is 3 yrs. Yeah. I wrote a fat check for that one. But at least he is all fixed up now. No pun intended. ha ha. nails trimmed, neutered, rabies shot, and licensed. Notice in the pic below all the dents in the collar. He runs into everything. Kinda funny but mostly painful (for me).

Strawburied

That's right-strawburied. I LOVE strawberries and I never thought I would get sick of them. We went to Huber's Farm and Orchard to pick strawberries. I have more than enough now. We rode with our friends Bill and Joyce (AKA Meme and Poppy). This was the first time I have ever let the girls go without a planned nap and it maybe the last. It is a 45 minute drive there so I knew they would nap at least a little bit. They did pretty good. They cried as we left but that always happens when they have had fun. They went to bed an hour early that night. Way too much crying and fussing for me. But it was fun. The girls picked the berries and I actually had to tell them to eat them. Once June had the "Okay" she went at it. She stuffed the whole strawberry with the stem and leaves in her mouth. We then ate an early dinner and ended everything with some ice cream. Yum.

Running again!

Tony and I got married July 23, 2004 so I was running the spring and summer right before that. I have never ever been athletic in any way(except in 1st grade-softball) in my life up until then. It took me two months to run a mile. pathetic, I know. So after that, married-moved-school-a bit of wonderful yoga-and then KIDS. No running. I was basically pregnant for two years. Can you imagine how eager I was to just run after had June? Just to b e able to move and chase my dog around the backyard was great. We have a beach trip coming up at the end of July(hopefully, if money allows). We say we are going. We will make it there somehow. So the pressure is on to lose about 10 pounds. Not too big of a deal but it will take work. Actually, I don't feel too bad about my body considering this is the first summer in a while that I haven't had a huge pregnant belly. I have started jogging in the early morning before Tony goes to work. I am not an early bird but that is the BEST time for me to go. I really enjoy it. Cool, no one around, no kids to worry with. A great way to start the day. This time I ran a mile the fourth time I went. awesome-for me. So now that I have done it, there is no turning back. A mile is a must. Now I just have to figure out how to stop eating so much. I love the taste of food and will continue to enjoy the flavor way too long.

Summer Garden '09

So I built this raised garden bed while Tony went on a camping trip. It was a lot of hard work. I borrowed some tools and a truck(for the load of dirt). The picture below was my method of transporting the dirt. I put the baby pool under the crack of the tailgate to catch the dirt that fell. I needed all the dirt I could get. never waste a thing. It took me about 3 hrs(the girls' naptime) to get the frame secure and level in its place and fill it with dirt. I followed directions from http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ on how to build it. I added top soil and cow manure/compost. Then when my mom visited us, we planted everything. A couple of weeks later we had good bean sprouts.

From left to right: Green beans which will hopefully grow up the twine, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, Bell Peppers ( green & yellow), broccoli, and zucchini up front right.

Everything is doing well so far. I am not sure the broccoli will last but it is doing good now. The zuchini will take over that whole right corner. I am hoping to guide it off the edge if needed. I have a flower garden also. I have lavender, sunflowers, and poppies. I rushed planting the sunflowers and poppies in the mud. mistake. I will have to try again with the sunflowers and some other flower from seed. I will also buy some soil to help.