Currently. {Vol. 2}

Here's to another installment of the latest and greatest happenings around the house. Enjoy!

Whoa. Audio books. My boys have discovered the greatness of audio books. Austin goes down for a nap at some point (remember I gave up on those), and the headphones (similar - the point is that they are noise-limiting) go on. And all is quiet. It is glorious. Glorious.

Yep. I made a minion. It was so much fun, too! I especially love the banana candies. I mean, hello? You HAVE to have bananas if you are going to make a minion. So, the cake was a banana cake with a banana cream cheese frosting. Yum! Speaking of that... I have some cake in the fridge...

Here comes the sun. And, you know what that means, right? The zoo!! Of course, everyone in the state of Alabama stole my idea... Not cool. We didn't stay long. I got them to leave with the promise of ice cream. There were just WAY too many people. Can't wait for Spring Break to be over here... We want our zoo back. Ha!

So, for now the backyard will have to do. There seem to be a few creatures of interest back there. In fact, Austin found AND CAUGHT a grasshopper. On the first try, people. You don't even want to know how many time it took me... He just went in there and grabbed him. Little explorer man, that one. Anyway, hopefully, we won't be in this backyard for much longer. Soon, I hope to share our new home with you. Keep the prayers a-coming! We really do appreciate them!!

I can give you a sneak peek though! This is my new backsplash that will be installed soon!! The gorgeous granite is already in place. Y'all. I cried when I was sent the photos of the new kitchen. It was even more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I cannot wait to cook all kids of goodness in there for my family!!

For now, while we keep the house as clean as the day we first moved in, this will do for now.

Beach Week!!

Yes, beach week!! Austin and I tagged along on Jason's business trip last week to Panama City Beach. And, y'all. It was fabulous. Sure, it might have been Spring Break for the kids...which apparently, I am not... Wow. I mean, like, wow. There are no words. But, luckily, I figured that most would still be in their hungover slumber in the morning, which is perfect to hang out at the beach. It was GREAT! My husband is great! He knows exactly where to take me when I need to relax...

The beach... I love the beach. The sand, the waves, the sounds, the salty air. A piece of heaven.

Anyway, here is a look at all the fun Austin and I had in Panama City Beach and Destin. Oh! If you are reading this in an email, you may want to click through. Also, turn it up! Enjoy the beachy goodness!

Wondering where Andrew and Alex are?? No worries! They headed to Camp Nana-Papa. See? Told ya. I am one relaxed mama!

Have a great week, y'all!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Places we loved:

Uncle Ernie's Bayfront Grill
Captain's Table
The Oaks by the Bay
Pier Park
Fudpuckers - Destin
Camp Helen State Park

House Happenings

Well, this was quite the week at the House!! Alex is learning to ride his trike, Andrew is done with school and moving up to PreK-3 in the Fall, and SUMMER is here! Eh, calendar schmalendar... Summer is here when school is out. That is just how it goes. Though, I'm sure you'll hear me say, "What?! School?! The summer isn't over until the calendar says so!" Gotta love it. Anyway, we are gearing up for a super fun Memorial Day Weekend. Hope yours is a great one!!

{Sunday}

 Check it out! Alex has a set of wheels! His favorite color, too - Green!! And, the best part? $20 on Craigslist. I saw this exact one at the toys store. They wanted $160 for it...um, what?! Are you kidding me? I don't think so. Andrew has been using his for about a year now and he is ready for big boy bike. Maybe for his birthday? We will see. He is very particular about which one he wants. LOL Boys and their toys, right? Anyway, $160 is just ridiculous for the amount of time that he is going to use it. And, he loves it. Just look at that face!!

{Monday}

 Check it out. We are ready for the summer with a book full of awesome coupons. Woot! I remember having to sell these kinds of books for school fundraisers (which I hated - but, now that I'm a mom...where are the kids selling these? I had to get mine online. At least it was 1/2 off because 1/2 of the year is gone now). These are based on city - so grab one!

{Tuesday}

 Last day of school!!!

Top: Breakfast surprise! I left each of them a Batman toy at their spot on the table. Alex will get to start school next year, so he got one, too. 

Middle: Ice Cream treat after school!!

Bottom: Hot dog sprinkler party for dinner! 

Mud-putt golf, anyone?

 

 

Sprinkler fun before dinner

 While Andrew was at school, Alex and I ran the rest of our errands, got lunch, and headed to the park. He LOVED climbing all over the "big big big" rocks.

{Wednesday}

We played outside all morning and had our lunch outside. There was a so-called "chance" of rain for the afternoon, so we picked up and headed indoors the rest of the day. Where was that rain? Never came. Interesting...

 While the boys were taking a nap and having quiet time, I worked on Andrew's photo book of all his projects he did this year. If you are interested in seeing it, let me know. I will share the link with family and close friends only, however.

 {Thursday}

Another day of playing in the sunshine!

{Friday}

Hello, Memorial Day Weekend sales! We headed out to the outlets today. Check out Alex's favorite purchase - new sunglasses!

 You know, cuz his future's so bright! ;)

 Daddy came home early as we were just getting ready to go outside. And, yep. ALL of us were trying to get that rock out. Still. I swear...the boys have been working on getting that boulder out (where Jason is digging) for about 1 year or so now. It's pretty big...I don't know if they will actually get it out before we end up moving. Too funny!

After dinner treat? Frozen GoGurts!! Yeah!! 

Time to get ready for the weekend!! We hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day!!

Good Day, Sunshine!

Last week started off fabulous with a relaxing, but super fun Mother's Day!! Here is a look at what we did that Sunday and the rest of the week. Enjoy!

{Sunday ~ Mother's Day}

Sunday was such a great day! At first, we didn't really have plans other than attending Mass and going to lunch at Salsarita's. But, after an afternoon with FULL sunshine, we headed to Academy to get our much-need, long-asked-for market umbrella. It was on sale (Thanks, Rachel, for telling us!!) for $30 + base for another $30. So, $60 for a good quality 9 foot market umbrella sounds much better than other prices I have seen. Anyway, after grabbing my awesome umbrella, we headed out for dinner at Five Guys, followed by dessert at Coldstone Creamery!

As you can see, the boys LOVED the ice cream :) 

 

 {Monday}

 Another day of perfect sunshine in the shade of my umbrella! 

 Apparently, it was sports day. Lots of golfing, baseball, and football going on in our backyard! 

{Tuesday}

 

 After we got Andrew to school, Alex and I headed to the doctor. We were a bit early, so we waited in the car. He watched The Cat in the Hat (the PBS show) on my iPod while I read some email. Once we got in to see my doc, he couldn't wait to "see" the baby. Only, I tried explaining we weren't going to see the baby, we were going to hear the baby. Of course, he was hoping for a pic...me, too, haha! Anyway, he giggled when we heart the baby's heart and seemed to enjoy that. After some griping from me to my doc (he loves me haha), I finally found out that we will know if this is a boy or a girl the 3rd week of June. YAY! 

 After some errands were taken care of, we headed back to school to get Andrew. And, look was we saw on someone's van!! AND, it was a Toyota Sienna...one of my top 2 choices, by the way! You know this mom is AWESOME. I wonder where she got those decals. They are just too cool! You know you are loving it, too!

 

These two were snuggling together while I was making dinner. I had to see what was going on because they were just too quiet and, well, you know... Quiet usually is not good if kids are awake. But, they were just watching Mickey Mouse together in Daddy's chair just as happy as can be. Love them!

 {Wednesday}

Another day of glorious sunshine!! And, since it was nearly 90 that day, we broke out the sprinkler!

 

 Boys, water, dump trucks, and mud...

 

 Such dirty little boys and their dump trucks... They loved every minute of it!

{Thursday}

 

 Playing circus in the living room after school!

{Friday}

When we ran out to get lunch after a morning of cleaning up, we saw a Mama Turkey with her babies!! The boys were so excited I had to turn around and go back in the neighborhood to get a better look - and a picture.

{Saturday}

While folding laundry most of the morning, I hear the funniest sounds, loud giggles, and trains on the other side of the house. Here's what I saw:

 I know... Not the best quality picture, but I was trying to be sneaky about it. That is Andy's toddler bed and the two chairs lined up to make...a train, of course!! 

Another fun week!  Coming up soon --

Andrew's last day of preschool for this year. He moves up to PreK-3 next school year. And, Alex will start preschool, too! 

We are ready for a super fun summer!!

Easter Week Recap

We hope everyone had a fabulous Easter Sunday with their family and friends! We had a great time with our friends last night. Having a fun, simple Easter is perfect for us. No fussing with travels, no need to bother with packing, no worries about anything - except the menu, of course.  Jason and I are so glad that we chose to keep Easter ours. Another one of our "Best Ideas Ever." I should have a post on those things. They may come in handy for some of you out there. Anyway, we had a wonderful week and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

{Monday}

Obnoxious weather strikes again. In the word of Sally's brother, from the Cat in the Hat book:

"Too cold to go out. Too wet to play ball.

So we sat in the house and did nothing at all."

Seriously. Quite annoying that the weather was just not cooperating....

{Tuesday}

No rain, but too cold... What is going on here... ? I LIVE IN THE SOUTH!!!

Alex and I did have an adventure after taking Andy to school, though. We went to the Target of ALL Targets. It was amazing. Parking deck! It was nice and clean (since it is brand new) - it held that "new store smell" LOL! And - escalators that don't just carry people.... Oh, no. Escalators that carry YOUR CART full of goodies from Target. Oh, my... Oh my. Oh my.

 

 And, hello?! A cup holder for my Starbucks?! This should be required at ALL Targets. Why is it not? NO other Target in the area has these. What is going on in the world? 

We really did go to the new Target for a few reasons. Alex and I got all the grocery shopping done for Easter. And, look! I have a fabulous deviled egg plate! YAY! Sad. We have had - what? Four Easters at our home and this is the first time I have had this specific plate... Always made deviled eggs, but never had the plate until now. By the way, best plate ever. The little spots for the eggs are deep enough that they don't roll out. Nice. 

After getting home with the groceries and Andy, it was time for some quite. Alex went down for a nap and Andy worked on his railroad. I was reading a book on the sofa and just happened to look up at him while he was working away.

I love watching his little mid work. I don't know what his future holds, but this kid is going to be amazing at whatever he does when he grows up.

 {Wednesday}

 Another day of cold, but it will get better the next few days we hear... 

 The boys finished up their Lenten crafts. We have been decorating springtime shapes with stickers to count the weeks of Lent leading up to Easter. The frame is covered with their creations and palms from Palm Sunday Mass. 

 This is their new favorite spot to hang out. They get to watch all the birds come out to our feeder. The even let me know when I need to fill it up again. This is a quiet spot, too. You don't want to scare the birds, do you? ;)

{Thursday}

 The weather is finally cooperating with the calendar!! It was gorgeous outside!!

 Alex woke up before Andy did and got breakfast going for everyone. Such a cutie. 

 Since it was Holy Thursday, there was no school for Andy. Awesome. Love Catholic school. 

Andy picked a flower for me. So sweet. 

 Snack time. My goodness... 

 Um, when did he start looking like a big kid...??

My silly monkey, Alex.

After coming in (so we could get dinner started), the boys got cleaned up and suddenly there were some strong men in the house. What funny guys! They crack me up!

{Friday}

Another beautiful day!!

 While in the living room listening to some news bits and sipping my coffee, I was watching something so sweet. Two brothers that are best friends having some sort of breakfast conversation. It was so sweet to listen to them talk with each other - even if it was about how cool their cereal straw bowls are... 

The boys played outside for a good while. And, then Jason came home early! I love that his company let everyone off 1/2 day for Good Friday. I love when he comes home early - especially when I didn't even know it! I had forgotten that they do that for their employees. Awesome. 

 

 Watching the boys dig for gold. Maybe they will find some one day ;)

 After a little while more, I got everyone a snack and we sat on the picnic table to read through the Stations of the Cross. This book is great for little ones if you are looking for something like this. Anyway, I'm so proud of Andy. He knows most of the stations now and what the different holy days mean. We talked about it all week. So, by this day, he was telling Alex what was going on in the pictures. Love it!

Stay tuned!! Our Easter celebration will be coming up later today. Until then, check out what this German farmer came up with when he was denied permission to build a barn for his horses. Awesome. 

focusNjoy #116: Go out of the box

 

Spring Break & the Weekend Rewind

Spring Break.

Warm weather, sunshine, and fun!

Well, I guess we will only get 1 out of 3... The Groundhog forgot what he told us, I suppose... Not even Florida was warm. What is going on here?! Global warming...what a joke...

Anyway, back to Spring Break. We did have a lot of fun. I got over the plague (finally) and we spent some time at Grandma and Grand Daddy's while Jason got some work done at yet another plant. I even got a mini impromptu project done.

So, here we go! We hope everyone had a lovely (hopefully, warmer) Spring Break!

{MONDAY}

 

 We headed out to get some fabric to make shorts, but I couldn't find what I wanted. The boys did though... Andy and Alex spied Lightning McQueen from the other side of the fabric section. So, I gave in and bought a 1/2 yard and 2 zippers to make some pouches for them. They used them on our trip to Florida to keep their special toys with them. At home they are using them to keep their stash of Hot Wheels. Such cuties! 

 We saw the sun break out for a bit and the ground was pretty dry (it had rained early that morning) so we attempted to go outside. That lasted about 20 minutes. I swear to you the sky was BLUE and then within minutes it looked like tornado weather! CRAZY. Andy (bottom pic) was pretty bummed. He knows Mommy's rule - 1st rumble of thunder and we are inside. I was a lifeguard in the Lightning State - aka Florida. Mama doesn't play with thunder/lightning. Fuss about it and you go to time out. Poor guys...they were so happy to be outside. The weather has been mean to us lately...

The weather was so bad out power was flickering and we lost the tv for a bit. So, it was time to practice our tracing. These Leap Frog toys are AWESOME.

{WEDNESDAY}

We arrived at my parents' house just after lunch. Andy cracks me up. Last week he was really annoyed with me because we weren't going to Grandma's house for her birthday. He thought she was having a party and I forgot or something. So, my mom - the party queen - said, "We are having a party!" Well, that meant chips and dip and snacks, etc. Andy asks, "Where's the cake?! Let's make one!" So, he and Grandma made one! LOL So funny!! 

Hanging out on the back porch before dinner. And, still cold here, people... I was chilly in that tank top...

 Time for bed after a fun day. Andy is so big that he no longer fits in a pack-n-play :( Really?! So, I brought along our twin airbed for him. Alex is getting too big for his pack-n-play, too.. But I think we can get a few more uses out of it for him. We will see. 

{THURSDAY}

 

 Hanging outside enjoying some sun shine and a tiny bit of warmth. The boys thought this little bench was pretty nifty. Taking their picture in it was another thing...

 

 William and the little guys playing basketball and frisbee. Andy thought he was the same size as William. So, tackled him over and over again during a quick game of football. 

 Having some quiet time before dinner - coloring and learning about monster hunters from Sean. 

 

 Alex and my dad having a serious discussion about trains. Love this pic :)

 Hmmm...what's that band-aid extravaganza on Andy's forehead... Grrr.. Well, after dinner, we headed out for a walk - something that my family has always done (as soon as the weather start cooperating here we will start doing that again here). Anyway, my mom has these stepping stones that Andy and Alex had been jumping across the entire time we have been here. Well, Andy took a wrong hop and cut his head. But, he is fine! Dad and I took him to CVS and got him some fancy butterfly suture strips and M&Ms. He made sure that we got some for Alex, too. Such a sweet big brother. Well, after quite a mess and band-aid applied he was back to his happy little self. All is well. 

Note: I changed his band-aids Sunday night and his cut looks so much better! It is healing quite well :) 

{FRIDAY}

 We came home and I broke out the special bag of items from my mom's friend, Denise. These guys were pretty happy to be in their kitchen "cooking" up some fun. Thank, Denise!

  Once I got all the unpacking/unloading done, I ran out to grab the mail and YAY!! Look at what I got! It is so exciting to find a box from Random House at my doorstep. This is the newest book that I will be reviewing soon. I'll start reading this tonight. I'm super excited about this one! I love Father Barron!! The show, Catholicism, aired last year (I think) on PBS and it was wonderful. He has a YouTube Channel, if you are interested in hearing what he has to say about the important topics that arise in today's Church.

{SUNDAY}

 Happy Palm Sunday! After Mass, we headed to lunch. I'm in a Chinese food mood these days and my sweet hubby took us out to P.F. Changs!! Love him!! The little guys loved the kids chicken fried rice and our waitress was amazing with them!

 This is our book of the week for the boys. This is a brand new publication - just released in February. It is a great book to share the Stations of the Cross with children. We read about Palm Sunday and will continue on Thursday with the Last Supper. The illustrations are great and the wording in just enough that it isn't baby-ish and they lose interest. But, it isn't so much that it is pretty easy for them to understand. If you don't have some Stations of the Cross book for children this is the one to get. I got mine on Amazon, but it may be available other places.  (No affiliate links here - I just love this book and wanted to share!)

Hope you all had a great Spring Break and are staying warm. That is just so weird to say in the South... Come on sunshine!!

{Some Things to Share}

Please keep my husband's grandfather in your prayers. He is recovering in the hospital from a heart attack. Stay healthy, Dave! We love you!

  Something cool to watch over and over again:

Remember Wile E. Coyote had those crazy contraptions and such to get the Road Runner? Well this video reminds me of that. So cool!!
OK GO - "This Too Shall Pass"

Something funny to watch:

My brother-in-law, Justin, told me about this guy in Paris dressed up like Mario and riding around town playing "Mario Kart" in real life. Wow. Andy and Alex thought this guy was hilarious!
Mario Kart Paris

 Enjoy and have a fabulous week!!