We're back!  Some combination of our family has been at the beach for two weeks.  And the kids and I could just move there.  Of course, I died when we came home.  I didn't realize how tired I was until I was home, but while we were there...I was living like Jimmy Buffet.  It was 5:00 somewhere all the time!

This beach trip was unlike any other we have taken.  Just like every beach trip in our future will be.  The kids are changing and so are our family vacations.  These kids.  Oh my!  These kids were at the top of their game ALL. TWO. WEEKS. LONG.

Russ and I really found our groove and worked so well together!  We haven't always done so.  [Full disclosure.]  I got the kids ready in the morning and packed the wagon, Russ did the sunscreen most mornings and packed the cooler.  We strolled our crazy family down around 10:00 every morning.  Russ and Smith were pretty ready to come up for the day for a shower and nap around 2 or 3-ish.  Leaving Millie Janalee and me down soaking up the sun and the fun.  I'm working really hard to teach Millie Janalee that we don't go up to the room til the chairs go to bed.

Tired?  Nap on your chair.  Hungry?  Look in the cooler.  Hot?  Sit in the kiddie pool for a while.  Gotta tee tee?  Walk out to the ocean.  LOL!  I had a fix for every problem and never had to leave the sand!

I think it is safe to say that the kids loved the beach.  And by the end of two weeks they had made themselves at home.  Including Smith giving in and napping on the beach a few times.

Most importantly, there was lots and lots of cousin togetherness.  And you know what they say - the family that matches together...

One thing we learned very early on was that Millie Janalee must have been a fish in her former life, because the child never wanted to leave the water.  Poor Pawpaw for being the main ocean escort.

Buck may have gotten the killer eyelashes batted in his direction, so he took her out a time or two as well.  My kids love their Buck and She She!  They also love their Kay Kay and Uncie Lee.  Well, heck.  They love the whole family actually!

Never a shortage of attention for anyone!

The summer beach nights were full of family and togetherness.  The kids played and fought and fought and fought.  The adults laughed, refereed, laughed, talked, refereed, cooked, laughed, refereed.  That's pretty much how it went at night.

But, y'all.

My summer never starts until I put my feet in the sand and listen to the waves 24/7 outside my bedroom.  Many memories were made, and complete uninterrupted family time was enjoyed.  My love tank is full!

On some beach somewhere.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a very Happy Mother's Day!  I'm doing my best to keep up with our May, but it has been quite busy!  Starting off my Mother's Day week, Millie Janalee's preschool class had a Mother's Day Tea for their moms.  It was such a sweet tea!  The tables were decorated with things the children made for us and the inevitable fill in the blanks about their moms.  That's what I was most nervous about!  Haha!  You just never know what they will say!  In the center of the tables, there were small bouquets of flowers and precious teapots filled with tea.

The children began by lining up in the front of the room to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing a couple of Mother's Day songs for us.  They ended by singing a sweet blessing over our tea party.  The children had worked to make monkey bread for us, and we had strawberries with powdered sugar.  And, of course, we poured tea from the cute teapots!  All the while…Smith was walking around trying to eat everyone else's food.  By the end of the party, all the moms decided I needed the monkey bread recipe.  He was a fan!

Millie Janalee's teacher, Mrs. Becky, gathered the children as they finished their food to read I'll Love You Forever.  I had this book when I was growing up and can probably recite it myself.  But I still found myself in the back of the room blubbering like a baby as she read to the class.

Our time is just too precious.  And I am so guilty of wishing the minutes away and waiting for the next nap.  THESE are the days I will want to have back.  The innocence of toddlers and preschoolers.  Oh, they are so precious!

Millie Janalee is the one who first made me a mama.  After years (6 to be exact) of waiting and praying and hoping and crying…she entered this world and brought nothing but pure JOY to our family!  I really do not know how she got from that 6 pound 13 ounce baby to this 3.5 year old preschooler.  Why does it sting to think about it?  I do love watching her grow and learn, and each stage has been so much fun as we experience it together for the first time!

This Mother's Day, like every Mother's Day, my heart was full of joy and heartache.  I am reminded on Mother's Day, more than any other day, of the privilege I have to narrate these babies' loves stories.  It is one of my greatest joys in life!  A love story that involves two mamas.  One who carried them in her belly and one who carried them in her heart.  Twice loved!  What a testimony and gift God has written for their lives!  What an honor to be their mother!

After church, Russ and I ran into his mama on our way out.  I am forever thankful for this woman...for her sacrifices and love raising her own family.  I am grateful she raised Russ to be a caring, thoughtful, and humble man of God.  I married way over my head, and he knows I will  never live up to who his mom was as a young mother.  But he loves me anyway.

My mama had already left church to work on lunch for our family.  And THAT's what happens a lot.  She's busy taking care of things behind the scenes and rarely gets the spotlight or makes it into the pictures.  I am thankful for my mom and the lessons she continues to teach me about life.  Mainly - enjoy it!  And own your pitfalls.  Laugh it off and move on!  Life is too short.

Life is good.  And it is nice to be reminded of that from time to time.  Us moms can get into "the trenches" of life with littles and forget to soak it in.

Happy Mother's Day to all of us!