The Leaves

We had a great day on Sunday. Church, time with the fam, some furniture shopping with Julianne, and dinner with J's family. Delaney decided to rake the leaves in a pile for the boys to jump in. They loved it. Perfect Sunday!

I am now officially starting my busy season at work (until the end of November) and I am trying to just be grateful that I am part time for most of the year. It is really hard to leave these boys!

Happy Fall!

Fantastic Fall

So happy to be home! Mom came home from Haiti 10 days early, the leaves are changing for the Fall, and my boys are as cute as ever. Awesome.

Week in Florida

I started this post on Thursday night when I was still in Florida, but didn't get around to posting it, so just pretend it is Thursday night...

Well, I officially spent a week away from my boys. In the early morning, I will be heading back from a weeklong a trip to Florida.

I have been planning on this trip for a while, to attend a work conference in Orlando. I was really looking forward to a break from all the insanity in my life, including a little break from my kiddos. As much as I love them, and miss them when we aren't together, a break from them where I could focus on relaxing and hanging out sounded really nice to me.

So, I flew into Orlando last Friday, and spent a few days with my awesome extended family. I got some quality time with my aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. Spent some time on the beach and just relaxing. Then on Monday, I picked up some work friends from the airport and we checked into our resort, which happens to be a really nice Disney resort. Tuesday was mostly spent by the pool, and Wed/Thurs we were in conference meetings.

I am so ready to be home, but enjoyed every minute of my trip. So thankful that I have a husband who supports me enough to watch the kiddos for a whole week and really take great care of them. He is such a great daddy! Here are some pics from my adventures.

Awesome Gramma

Had some lunch on the beach with my aunties.  Love these gals.

A little friend on the beach

Taking a little rest on the hammock

Going for a ride on the Gator with some fine folks

Aunt Rose, driving her tractor in platform heels. Farm girl fashionista.

Beach friend

Rastafarrrrrriiii

Planet Hollywood at Downtown Disney.  Pretty impressive.

Relaxing at the pool, on a weekday, in October.  Pretty Awesome.

Best meal ever! This was Florida Grouper on top of spinach,  cherry tomatoes and artichokes, topped with homemade guac and a little sprout garnish. SOOOOOO GOOD!

this is where the Grouper came from. Yum!

Some of my work friends. At Downtown Disney waiting for the water taxi. Fun adventure. 

"insert good title here"

We had a great weekend with our life group friends at the lake.  It was very relaxing and low-key, but I am so exhausted tonight I will be going to bed asap.  This evening we went to celebrate Autumn's 16th bday.  Autumn is my awesome sister-in-law. We love her. I feel like I had other randomness to share tonight, but am too tired to think. This week promises to be a bit of a crazy one (aren't they all?) so its bedtime.  Here are a couple pics I LOVE!

This photo was on J's Grandpa's camera, so I just got it tonight.  It is Delaney as Freshman homecoming attendant, escorted by Ian. I can not believe how grown up these "little kids" are. Delaney wasn't even born yet when J and I started dating. And Ian was a little toddler, about Benny's age. Weird.

Justin with his pretty momma and 4 siblings. AWWWWWWW.

Benny Boo is Two

I wasn't really blogging during the period of Benny's birthday, and I really want to do a quick post to honor his second birthday, which was in May.  Just some pics from his first 2 years of life. This child is cuteness personfied, and has brought so much joy into our lives! When Hunter was born in September 2008, I became a mother, which was a pretty amazing thing.  But when Benny was born, I truly felt that we became a family.  We had a family before, even when it was just the two of us, but when Benny came along, something changed and it truly felt like we had what we needed.  I don't know if our family is complete or not, but I do know that it was most definitely not complete without this little guy.  Both of my boys bring so much joy to my life, and my greatest blessing is watching them interact.  They truly love each other so much, and are best friends. Benny's personality is so adorable, he is a little daredevil, but also so snuggly.  He loves to sing and dance, and is usually in a happy mood.  He is loud and very tough, but so so sweet. There is truly nobody like Benny Boo.

My mom took this picture in the nursery at the hospital within an hour of his birth.  So cute, right? - May 2010

Just floatin' away. (with me sitting literally 1/2 inch from him) - July 2010

So happy on his baptism day! - November 2010

Our first Easter, Benny is wearing a suit, and looking mighty fine. - April 2011

He really made a mess out of his first birthday cake - May 2011

Benny's first trip out to the river. He was born to be outdoors! - June 2011

First experience with Silver Dollar City Christmas.  Hunter was showing him the ropes. I was in heaven. - December 2011

Balancing on his rocking horse. - February 2012

Such a cool dude - May 2012

Chilly lake day

We are relaxing at the lake today with some of our friends. What a great, relaxing day. Lots of eating, napping and fun! We took the kids fishing this morning, but it is very cold outside, so that didn't last long. Some fun pics.

So...

I haven't blogged in a little while, so I was thinking it was time for some randomness...ready?

1. Mom is still in Haiti, there have been some Internet issues. I miss her. Finally got to Skype tonight. Yay!

2. Yesterday, I was feeling sort of sick. Probably just allergies, and I feel much better today. However, I had just received my bike helmet in the mail, and was dying to try it out. I have "now" syndrome, also known as chronic impatience. It's a problem. Anyway, I went for like a 6 mile bike ride, but I went on this route that was EXTREMELY hilly. If you know where I live, I basically biked to turners and back, sort of. Mountainous I tell you. After I was done I felt so exhausted+sick+awful that I went to bed. 7pm, people. On the night of the pres debate! I'm a big nerd and love the debates, so that tells you something. Justin has provided me with some wise council about which direction my next bike ride should go.
Maybe I should stick to running, or watching tv.

3. Right now I am waiting outside the theatre to watch our local production of Les Mis. I am way excited, but decided to do this at the last minute (by myself) and the only ticket left was standing room. They told me I might get a real seat, though, so I am waiting to find out. I love theatre, especially this show, but usually do stuff like this with my mom. So it's weird. She is in Haiti, the specktacks there are a bit different from les mis, but still good theatre. That was a joke. If you haven't seen an espwa specktack, you won't get it. (Edited to add: I did get a real seat, and it is a good one. It's intermission now, and the show is great!)

4. The other day a stray dog showed up at our house. We really liked that dog (including me...weird enough) so we named him Cocoa. He went back to wherever he came from, so we don't have him anymore. No big deal, except it was weird that I liked him...I'm not a real big animal fan.

I could ramble forever, but I Gotta go. You're welcome.