Vacation Rewind - The Beach

My vacation got off to a rough start, and by rough I only mean that it didn't start at 5:00 on Friday as I had bragged and hoped it would.  It started when I left work at 7:30 that night, and arriving at the beach house at 9:00.  Christopher ended up having to work that evening so our plan for him to haul all our goods and Bella to the beach house early were thwarted.  Needless to say, by the time I made it to the beach house, I was ready for an ice cold beer.  I got everything unloaded, checked the new place out, opened my cold beer and caught up with my sister-in-law Keri.

I will admit it took me a couple days to finally relax, unwind and not feel so tense.  My dear friend Lauren came out Saturday and Sunday to hang with us.  I loved having her there.  I think my family was surprised I had a friend because I never really have friends come out to the beach house. I really shocked them this year because my friend Callie came out for a bit Sunday and early, early Sunday morning before everyone woke up, honey joined us as well.  Was excited that both Lauren and Callie were finally able to meet honey.  I've talked about him enough.  Honey stayed until Tuesday morning after breakfast and then had to head back for work. Sigh.  Having him there for two full days was so nice.

The week went by pretty fast.  I cooked, read a little, baked a little, sat on the beach a little, searched for shells a little and just really tried to enjoy my time away from work and the stress of it all.

One of my first trips down to the beach...chilling with my brother :)

Photographic evidence that honey was there.  

Poor guy, when he left, his belly looked like a lobster.  

The two littlest monkeys buried in the sand.  I've never heard so much giggling before.

One of the few pictures I captured of my son.  He wasn't into the beach that much this year.  We suspected it was because Paul wasn't there.  When we asked him about later in the week, that was his exact response, I miss Paul.  Poor kiddo.  I know he misses you too. 

So our beach house neighbors were out fishing Monday and caught this sweet little hammerhead.  I have never seen one up close and personal so I asked to hold it.  They were a bit shocked but I thought it was totally cool.  Honey snapped this picture.  

My sweet girl ready for the beach. She got a little red the first day on the beach.  Note to all awesome moms like me...if you have a bottle of sunscreen that has been unopened and you're not sure how long you've had it, then its probably been too long and its no longer good.  #lessonlearned #expired

Makenna and Bella ready to hit the beach!!  

This is my favorite picture I captured that week.  Brady, Bella and I went walking one evening looking for shells.  We were walking back to the beach house and I snapped this picture of them walking.  

No filters y'all.  Just beautiful.

Independence Day & A Birthday

Today is Independence Day and my mommy's birthday.  She would have been 76.  

She has been around us a lot lately, especially last Saturday.  Cindy and I had a garage sale at her mother-in-laws house.  We were sitting in the heat waiting on our customers when Cindy says, "Look, a cardinal, momma is here"  I didn't miss a beat with my reply, "she's not going to miss out on a garage sale".  And the cardinal was a female.  She flew around us all morning.  Later that evening when Bella and I were at the fireworks, she was there again.  This time through music and fireworks.  While the fireworks were going, you could tune into a radio station and listen to music.  Lo and behold, "God Bless Texas" came on.  That was one of her favorite songs and she loved Texas and fireworks.  I love it when she makes her presence known.  I know she is with us all the time, but when little things like cardinals appear, its reassuring and comforting in a way.  

Happy 76th Momma!!  We love and miss you every single day. 

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 3rd of July

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Today is a good day and its a Monday!!  LOL!!

Nothing significant going on, I'm just in a decent place.  I feel good today and I'm happy.  This is huge for me because I feel like I have been in a funk for a long time now.  

Me and my sweet girl one morning last week.  She almost always gets up before I leave for work to see me off.  She says, I just need to see you and hug you before you leave.  #ohmymeltingheart

 We are down to less than a week before my vacation begins and I cannot wait.  I'm ready to chill out and relax for a glorious 12 days.  We will hit the beach for a week with the family and then shift to the river for a few days.  My vacation begins this Friday at 5:00 p.m.

I've pulled out most of my red, white and blue decor.  I did snap a picture of this area that welcomes you when you enter our home.  Remember those magnolias from Canton?  Those are it in my watering can.  I picked up Uncle Sam on clearance at Hobby Lobby last year. I had seen him early on but didn't want to spend the money.  Deanna, Kristian and I ran to the Hobby Lobby in San Marcos last summer when we went to the river.  There he was for only $7.  Couldn't pass that up.  My Family, Friends, Freedom sign is a few years old. I think I got that at Kohls but I'm not certain.

My children ended up spending the weekend with me.  Christopher had to work Friday and Sunday. He is a cook at the Chili's in town. So proud of him.  He is enjoying it, although he would rather not make salads.  hahaha!  Bella and I went to hang out with my friend Lauren from work Saturday evening.  We went up to the fairgrounds and watched fireworks.  They were awesome.  We sat with Lauren's brother-in-law, sister-in-law and their boys.

Bring on the fireworks!

Sunday, Bella and I went to pick up a few groceries but first we made a drink stop at Sonic.  She found her sunglasses in the car and had me take her picture.

And yes, that is a blanket on her.  I may have had the A/C blowing really cold in the car.  ha!

This is a little cross stitch project I've been working on since last weekend.  Bella loves flamingos.  She found this one and asked me to make it for her.  Its coming along.  

That's about it for us.  Mommy has been working every day and the kids have been chilling at home.  Lucky kids.  When Chris has to work, Bella stays with my sister or daddy.  They have been kind enough to help me out with her this summer so I can have a break from daycare costs which has been wonderful.  

Hopefully we will get off work early today to begin our July 4th holiday.  I will be off tomorrow but back to work Wednesday for a short 3 days and then.....VACATION!!  I may have previously mentioned that but I wanted to make sure y'all didn't miss it.  :)  

Have a great week!!

Wasn't The Plan

I didn't plan on ignoring my blog for almost a month but that's what happened. Truth is, work has been crazy busy that I'm mentally exhausted whenever I get home that I just want to relax and not think about anything for at least 30 minutes, or longer. The last few weeks of school were a blessing because Bella had no homework (thank you Jesus) so other than making sure Christopher had all his work turned in and was prepared for finals, it was relatively easy. These last two weeks of work has had my anxiety and stress levels at an all time high. I finally hit a breaking point yesterday. Thank goodness for co-workers who were willing and able to jump right in to help a girl out.  I actually left work on time yesterday thanks to their help.  I came home, ordered pizza for supper, grabbed an ice cold beer and sat outside for a while with my sweet kids. I'm out here again tonight for a bit. It feels too nice to be inside, although we need to spray the yard because those pesky mosquitoes keep finding us.

My vacation time is just around the bend and I can't wait to be off and relax for a good 12 days. Other than maternity leave, this will be the most time I have ever taken off from work. We will start out at the beach house this year and end at the river. Momma can't wait. The kids are pretty anxious too.

Speaking of the kids, they are happy to be done with school, well Bella is. Christopher has to take 3 weeks of summer school to get a half credit in English. He failed the first semester, past the second but not enough to pass for the year. I'm not even going to get into this because I have talked and cried enough for everyone and then some. He will take care of business these 3 weeks and go into his senior year ready to kick ass all year. Bella ended the year with the A/B Honor Roll. She has already checked out books to read for the summer and almost done with summer reading program where she can receive a free book, just for reading 10.  Of course Christopher thinks this is nuts. Can you say night and day?

Well I'm going back inside because although I have sprayed, the mosquitoes still love my legs. Hope y'all are all well and enjoying your summer.

Love & hugs!