I'm Gonna Miss This

It's been a long 10 days - there were moments I thought I'd never make it through another day during our unexpected ice vacation however there were so many wonderful things about it at the same time. You see tomorrow morning at 6:45 am everything starts back - the kids have to get up and head back to school and the last 10 days will be over.

There will be no more not worrying about bedtimes, not worrying about whether lunches are made, not worrying about if laundry is done or homework is completed. No more sleeping late or having not a care in the world about a schedule - it will all come to a hault at bedtime tonight.

On one hand I'm ready to get back on a schedule - our house has taken a hit over these last 10 days. I haven't done much of anything in the cleaning area other than wiping the kitchen down, cleaning the toilet, doing laundry and cooking dinner. I haven't even taken down our Christmas decorations yet - it's pitiful I know! Things need to be cleaned and scrubbed and organized - it's going to be a long process. I have the big consignment sale coming up that I haven't even started on so it's time to kick my butt into gear. On the other hand I'll miss these days of no schedules and nowhere to go. It'll be back to the grind with homework and car lines and studying for endless tests and projects - that I don't miss!

Is it summer yet?

Picture Perfect

This is what happens when it snows 6 inches in the South. As of right now we are on our second straight day with no school. They won't have it tomorrow either - the school district hasn't called it yet but it's just a matter of time. After that we are looking at Thursday - kids are already out on Friday and then Monday so they're looking at almost another entire week out of school unplanned. My house is a disaster - I'm exhausted and David has been working his butt off during this storm. I worry about him constantly when he isn't home - I don't worry so much about him out in this mess as much as I worry about all the other stupid people that don't have to be and about but are anyways.

This is the view from my driveway this morning. My road is a solid sheet of ice as are almost all secondary roads around town today. The interstates, they say are driveable but all secondary roads are still a mess. The neighborhood roads well - it's still 30 degrees at almost 1 o clock and we are not expected to have any sunshine today so I have a feeling we'll be looking at this sheet of ice for a while. Almost everything is shut down in town - Since we're in SC and they aren't equipped to deal with this I think we'll be snowed in for a while - I definitely am not one of those to get out and test it - I'll wreck and I know it so I'll keep my butt in my house and continue to go crazy with four kiddos.

Discouraged

See these babies? Well they're all home today UNPLANNED and it's just screwed my plans up so that I'm not a happy mama. You see Caleb and Allie were supposed to have their Christmas program this morning at preschool. Now that they have closed schools Caleb and Allie's program has been delayed until tomorrow at 1 pm. However Lucas and Jacob have their parties tomorrow at 1:30 that I HAVE to be at because I'm a room parent. :( So it's Caleb and Allie's first Christmas program and now there's a chance I won't get to see it. I'm so incredibly discouraged and upset right now and can't for the life of me figure out how to make it work. My parents have graciously offered to do whatever is needed but I am still stuck with the fact that I won't get to see their program. Sooooo today I'm hoping I'll sprout wings and develop a twin so I can be in two places at once tomorrow and not miss anything! Join me in my prayer  -  nothing's impossible, right?

Back to Halloween

It's less than 2 weeks until Christmas and I am posting Halloween pictures - honestly that's a good view into my life for the last few months. Since I'm playing catch up we can take a walk down memory lane around here today.

It took me forever to decide on Allie's costume - better said it took Allie forever to decide on Allie's costume. We went back and forth between 3 costumes for a while and everytime she decided on one and we walked away she changed her mind again. Finally Daddy took charge and they made the FINAL decision.

Caleb's was simple - he's infatuated with police men and he automatically knew he was going to be a police officer. Finding one in his size as skinny as he is but that fit his height was another story.


Caleb and Allie had a Halloween party at school the week before and Caleb's class had a Halloween parade. Allie's class watched from inside the building and then we headed back to the classrooms for their parties.

I love this of David and Allie looking at each other through the window.

We recycled Lucas and Jacob's costumes this year - I couldn't see spending money on costumes that we already had laying around the house so we dug through everything we had until they found something that they wanted.

We actually went Trick or Treating with some friends this year to a neighborhood that we had never been to before. We loved it - this neighborhood celebrated Halloween unlike anything that I have ever seen before. Almost EVERY single house was participating and they went all out. There were hundreds and hundreds of people in the streets - it was insane! Needless to say I think we'll be going back to that neighborhood again in the future.

Beach Overload FINALLY

I'm finally getting around to posting about our beach trip - weeks after we got back. We were so excited to go to the beach - it's been a couple of years since we've been and Allie has never been before. It was a long ride and we heard "Are We There Yet?" 8,762,945 times but we finally arrived. We got there and automatically put our bathing suits on to head to the beach and as soon as we headed out the door the rain started. We drove around the strip while the rain was passing and then headed back to the hotel. As soon as it stopped we headed to the beach. I'm glad we went the first day now because it was by far the calmest day at the ocean the entire time we were there and ended up being the only day that Allie wanted anything to do with the water.

Allie was amazed by the water and waves and had a blast in the same the first night. It was low tide and very calm so we could take her and Caleb out a good ways without it being terribly deep. Lucas and Jacob could jump waves and we had a blast!

The second day it was very very rough out in the water. There was a very strong under current and as soon as you got in the water it seemed like you were a 1/4 mile down the beach. It was constant watching to make sure the older boys were within our sight and Allie and Caleb were playing in the sand. Within 30 minutes Allie wanted to go in the pool at the hotel so I headed back with her and we went swimming. As soon as we hit the pool she had the time of her life! My kind of girl - prefers fresh water over salt water and sand!

After a while at the pool we went to the water park and played there for a while. There were waterslides,lazy rivers, and pools that were perfect for the smaller kids.

Later that night we headed to the downtown strip and the kids (and Daddy) played games in an old arcade that David remembered from when he was a kid. We were able to catch a free concert that was awesome and then on our way to the car David and Lucas decided they wanted to do the slingshot. That was the ride of a lifetime for them and priceless for me watching them.

        I love Lucas in this picture - all of the sudden it's like he realizes what he's gotten himself into :)

It was a quick trip but enough for the kids to play and get their fill of the ocean I think. Although I believe Lucas could have stayed much longer :) - he was born to play in the ocean. It felt like an even longer trip home and since we started school the next day it made for a mad dash that night but it was well worth it.

Our last day there we packed everything up and headed out to the beach one final time - once again Allie spent very little time in the water there so after the boys got to boogie board for a while we headed to the pool before we went home.