Happy

This coming week we are going to be enjoying some much needed R&R as a family. Even Billy is going to be taking a "break" and will only have a few meetings during the week. ;) This will be his first "vacation" in two years, so it's much needed even though he is still going to be working. 

I'm going to attempt to "rest" myself...if that's possible with 4 kids. So this blog will also be taking a vacation for a few days. But I can assure you, I will do as little laundry, dishes, and general mom-type activities as possible. Well, other than playing with some ridiculously cute kiddos. If a picture is worth 1000 words, I think this picture does a good job of expressing how excited I am for some down time with the fam. 

Lat and Lo

I'm not usually a big jewelry person. When Billy asks me what I want for a birthday/anniversary/Christmas or whatever, it's usually some type of gadget or clothes or something. Jewelry isn't usually top of the list. But I have recently seen these bar style necklaces, they have different things on them, but some of them have coordinates inscribed on them. I thought that was such a cool idea that it beat out "gadget" when  asked what I wanted for our anniversary. (You know, besides that dream trip we are so thrilled to be taking in August.)

This one particular company, called Lat and Lo, is where Billy got this necklace from. You can obviously pick whatever coordinates you want put on the necklace, so Billy had the coordinates for Bora Bora put on the necklace. It's always been the place we've both dreamed of going, so it's a fun little reminder of what's to come, and will be an even more special memento once I've actually been there.

So, over the next 62 days, I've got this to remind me of what's to come. And after that? It'll serve as a reminder of what's to come as part of this team I'm half of...dreams and hopes not yet lived but looked forward to. It'll also be a nice reminder on these long Summer days with 4 hooligans, when I think I won't survive another second if I don't get a vacation.

Nutsy

While that term technically describes our local baseball team's mascot, I think it also applies to the shenanigans involved in taking a bunch of hooligans to see said baseball team play. After Merrick got into baseball this Spring and loved it, we really wanted to take the kids to see an actual game. Not like they actually spend much time watching as opposed to asking for cotton candy, kicking various baseball fans, falling down bleachers, and looking for the mascot who REALLY needs them to hug him.

They actually lasted through the whole game though! I think it was helped by the fact that some of their favorite friends were with us. They kept each other entertained...it's always more fun to fall down bleachers with your friends, right? ;) Which means I actually got to sit and watch of the game. They ate plenty of snacks and drinks, hugged the mascot (he definitely needed it), and were thoroughly disappointed that no one hit them a foul ball. Next time, guys.

This season playing baseball was surprisingly more fun than I thought. I was always like "please not baseball...just any other sport", because of all the sitting. You just sit there for so long and watch kids throwing dirt. But I survived, and Merrick had a blast (and improved a lot! so proud of him!), so it was definitely something I'd do again. Apparently Merrick has his eye on Fall ball...so maybe I'll be doing this again sooner than I thought.

Case of the Thursdays

Sometimes it's not the Mondays that getcha, it's the Thursdays. Obviously.

I never did figure out what specifically was bothering him. But he did eventually get over it and manage to come downstairs without growling. Hope your Thursday is going better than Jericho's! ;)

Crazy People on Clearance

Amaryllis is really starting to get too big for her baby carrier. I need to get her an actual carseat now that she's sitting up and doesnt really need the carrier. I've put it off for this long because she is so good about napping in her seat, and will just fall asleep in it when we are going about our typical crazy schedule. When you are the youngest of 4 you learn fast that if you want a nap? You take a nap. Who cares where you are.

We had run by Target the other day on the way home from church, and instead of putting her into the cart still in her seat like we usually do, we put her in the actual cart. The older hooligans love to rave over all the little things she does. (They lost their minds when she started standing up. I'm sure you will hear them celebrating all the way at your house when she starts walking.) It's pretty cute of them to be so supportive. ;) Anyway, they flipped out that she was IN the cart with them. You'd have thought she won a Nobel Peace Prize.

I needed a picture of course, and this is what I got. It looks like I picked up a bunch of crazy people on clearance. I'm thinking I should put at least a few of these back. That one right in the middle is a little fancy after all. Not sure I can afford it even on clearance. ;)