Nine

Today Mark and I celebrated our 9th anniversary! WOW! Has it really been 9 years already?!?

Let me start off by saying what I’ve told numerous people this past year. When they ask about the stress of being somewhere new, still not selling our house, moving 3 times to temporary locations; the next question usually is “how are you and Mark?” My answer: “While everything in our life pretty much sucks, Mark and I are great!” (Pardon the word choice, but it’s pretty accurate.)

Mark and I are doing great. Don’t get me wrong, we by no means have a perfect marriage, there is no such thing. I still annoy him with my list making and he annoys me with his lack of punctuality… but usually it’s little things like those. In the big scheme of things, it has been a good year for us. When everything has gone bad we have hung on to each other for dear life because really there was no other option. God has indeed used this time to grow us up in our relationship and our love for each other.

So today we celebrated! It was not anything big, just fun! He got up early and made me omelets and muffins. YUMMY!! I could get used to that.

We don’t usually do gifts but I had been wanting to make this clock for his office for awhile (thanks Pinterest) so I gave it to him this morning. He loved it. If you can’t read the top wording it says, “WHATEVER, I’m late anyway.”

This afternoon the girls and I picked him up at his office and headed to the beach. We stopped and picked up Chinese take-out to go with our bottle of cheap wine and enjoyed a “date” of sorts, ocean front.

We fed the girls their picnic first and then banished them to play with their toys. They played together and left us alone for over 30 minutes. I was amazed and glad to get to enjoy some time watching the sunset and talking to my husband in peace.

It’s been a great day and an amazing 9 years! Even today, I know he is the ONE… and I can’t wait to see what is in store for us ahead.

Performing Debut

Tonight was the end of year children's program for the groups that meet on Wednesday nights. She is in the "Mission Friends" group which ranges from 3 years old to Kindergarten, so she is definitely the youngest in the group. Each week they learn Bible verses, songs, and about what missionaries do.

Many of you may remember the singing in church fiasco that occurred on Mother's Day. (If not, click HERE.) As to not have a repeat, we have been working up to tonight for several weeks now with the following steps:

1) Talking about her "program" and practicing songs daily.
2) Upon drop off tonight, we were sure we weren't visible to Madeline until she was already up on stage.
3) A reward!! For participating in the program we would go out for ice cream wherever she wanted afterwards.

And tonight we had success!! We were in the very back watching as her teacher had to push her up on stage, but when she got there she seemed okay. I moved up to take some pictures and she never would have seen me except that my Tagalong Loudmouth. named Audrey. She kept pointing and saying "Madeline." Yup, our cover was blown. But instead of the frightened Madeline we saw scale the church pew a few weeks ago, she gave me a HUGE grin and a big wave!

She still has quite a ways to go with singing in groups, as she did more standing on stage that actual participating, but that was okay!! We were just glad she made it on stage. YAY Madeline! Here is the end of their performance if you would like to see it. Please be sure to listen to Audrey in the background cheering her on and for the sweet ending. 

Audrey was SO proud of her BIG SISTER!!

And afterwards... ice cream at Frosty's it was; cotton candy ice cream with sprinkles! 

This was one little girl that was super proud of herself!

Madeline and I both learned some important lessons from our "on stage performances" this month and we talked about it before bed tonight. I was certain to tell her how proud I was of her, but even if she still hadn't been able to get up there with her friends to sing tonight, I would have been just as proud because she is my daughter and I'll always be her biggest cheerleader. She smiled REAL big and hugged my neck as she said "I love you mom!" 

Now that is a perfect ending to any day in my book! 

Fairy Garden

Opa and Oma always have fun surprises for the girls when we go to visit and this trip was no exception.

Almost as soon as we arrived they got to work on their Fairy Garden! Opa had been busy collecting pieces to make it just perfect for fairies and my girls both thought this was the most fun project EVER.

     

Didn’t it turn out so ADORABLE?!?

My parents always did such cool projects with my sister and I when we were kids and it is so sweet to see that continue with my own girls.

So, thanks Mom and Dad… for making each moment that you have with the girls on our visits so special. They love having things planned for them to do, and their momma sure enjoys a break just to sit back and watch the action sometimes, too.

Mountain Wanderings

Since we were up in the mountains for a wedding, we had every intent of having a great time exploring and enjoying some fun times with good friends.

Anyone who knows the Jefferson area in Ashe County knows it isn’t the most happening of places. We wanted to stay with our friends Eban, Danielle, and their daughter Zoe—so we started looking for a place other than a regular hotel and came across Shatley Springs Inn/Restaurant/Cabins. The prices were more than reasonable, so we went for it.

The cabins were indeed small and “quaint,” but we made do.

The girls had fun playing together during the short time we were there.

We all enjoyed a good laugh over the “healing waters” that put this place on the map WAY back when.

Wouldn’t you expect a better presentation of “healing” spring water than this?! Don’t worry, we were certain to all fill up our water bottles here and drink our share of the “healing waters.”

Being Sunday, there was little to do around the area so we decided to leave a day early, head to Boone/Blowing Rock for the day and then head down the mountain to all crash at my parents house for the night.

On our way down the mountain, we hit up the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, the girls got their candy fix, and we enjoyed some beautiful views of the mountains.

In Boone we hopped on the Parkway and headed over to Price Park picnic area for some creek stomping. The girls LOVED this!

I didn’t have water shoes for the girls and Audrey was NOT fond of walking on the sharp rocks. She spent the majority of the time sitting in the creek. (The water was mountain cold freezing, for anyone that wanted to know.)

    

We evidently did a great job wearing the girls out because they slept all the way down the mountain. 

The mountains were beautiful as always and it was good to be back where I call “home.” The time with friends was great and we are so glad that the Bean Family is back in NC now. We have a lot of time to make up for and we look forward to many more weekends of fun together.

Wedding Fun

This weekend we ventured away from the coast and WAY up the mountain for the wedding of one of our dear college friends. While it has been awhile since we’ve seen Josh, as he is doing his doctor residency in Chicago, he and his family are like family to us! We were beyond thrilled to be there for the wedding and see them all.

The wedding and reception was on top of a beautiful mountain in Jefferson, NC and happened to be the girls first wedding that they have ever attended. We all had a wonderful time and it was so good to catch up with so many of our old friends.

Eban, Danielle, and Zoe met up with us before the wedding and we are all staying at a mountain cabin together for the weekend. (More details on that to come tomorrow.) My girls sure loved having another playmate around.

We did our best keeping the kiddos quiet and occupied during the ceremony. Yes, they are playing with the ice in the beer coolers. What ever keeps them quiet right?!

We also took the back row seats as to make a quick escape if necessary. But, the girls were great, and we enjoyed seeing the entire ceremony.

On to the reception… the PARTY!! We had a great time being silly, dancing, eating, and taking pictures. This is my favorite one that Madeline took:

    

Me with my sweet girls!

Dancing Queens:

Later into the reception, they had hired some babysitters and had a kid movie/popcorn time to give the parents some time to enjoy the evening as well. AWESOME IDEA!! Sometimes I forget what it’s like to be kid-less! :)

I have to say that this picture got me a little choked up… Mark and Madeline walking down the aisle after the wedding was over. I know that time is going to pass so quickly and one day that little girl walking next to Mark isn’t going to be so little anymore.

We had a wonderful time of celebration on Saturday night and were so glad we made the trip up from the beach. It has been too long since we had seen some of these great people and hope the time between our next visit won’t be so long.

Congratulations Josh and Rachael!! Best wishes for a long and blessed life together, we were so glad to be able to celebrate with you.

Jungle Dinner

This gives a whole new meaning to eating like an animal:

Thanks Paige and Mike! As you can tell, they are enjoying the new additions to their dress up trunk!

Little Chemists

Today during learning time we practiced all sorts of skills as we created a chemical reaction between vinegar and baking soda. I colored the vinegar different colors and they enjoyed mixing them to create new colors!

    

Madeline had a neatly organized tray of rainbow colors at the end and Audrey finished with a huge mess. Both, however, were equally proud of their creations!

Cheap and easy materials to find… over an hour of fun discovery. I love activities like these!

Baby Mama

While Madeline has never really been attached to baby dolls, Audrey is rarely seen without one when we are at home.

She feeds them, snuggles them, walks them in her baby stroller, and always naps with one of them. Today when she woke up from her nap she brought baby Claire, the Madame Alexander doll Oma bought her for her first Christmas, and laid down on the sofa to watch an episode of Clifford while we waited for Madeline to wake up. She was so quiet and sweet… how could I not snap a few pictures?!

Any of my readers out there find this picture of baby Claire comical?!?

Seriously I find her 5 times out of 10 with an eye shut. Is it possible that this doll was made JUST for Audrey?! If you don’t understand… click HERE!

Sidewalk Character Round-Up

The girls and I have enjoyed the response we got from our Sidewalk Princess post. If you missed it, click HERE!

Here is our round up of sidewalk chalk characters… they are so GREAT!

Jester Zoe (daughter of Eban and Danielle, friends from college) was NOT to0 pleased about participating in this activity! Evidently she was still looking for the perfect crown. :)

 

Prince Noah… (oldest son of Matt and Olivia, friends from college)

The Raynor Chariot (Rachel, Brian, and Wripley)

Sir Isaac the Cowboy Dragon Slayer

Lucas the Barbarian

The Royal Queen (Diane, my mom)

and her King (Chuck, my dad)

And truly the only one worthy to wear a crown, Snow White! Oh, wait… that’s Lois Lane… Isaac put her super hero cape on. Sometimes I get so confused!!

Thanks for playing along with us—my girls loved seeing the pictures show up in our email inbox. Maybe we’ll do another “interactive post” again soon.

Weekend Wrap Up

The weekend with my family went by SO quickly but what a great two days we had. Here’s some fun pictures to wrap up our weekend!

Sleepy heads waiting on homemade waffles for breakfast:

Bug exploration:

Playtime on the boys’ clubhouse:

Cake decorating with my big sis is always eventful! This was our 9th birthday cake creation. We are putting together quite the portfolio. :)

Water fun is a must!

Hanging out with Oma and Opa:

I got a text at lunch time today from my sister reporting that Madeline evidently told Isaac that chickens die so we can have chicken nuggets. (Thanks Madeline… let’s hope Isaac recovers from that!!) I’m guessing that conversation may have occurred here, as Isaac was showing Madeline his new chickens and chicken coop. They really are best friends!

Audrey thought the chickens were pretty cool, too!

And where my child learned to model like this, I have no idea! Here she is dressed up in one of Isaac’s newest costumes… when she wears it we call her Safari Barbie.

While I do miss all these crazy characters in the weeks we don’t see them, our visits are so jam packed full of fun and memories that we make up for it when we are together.

Wouldn’t trade y’all for any kind of “normal” out there… LOVE YOU and thanks for a great weekend!