Some pics to fill you in

I just emptied a couple of memory cards into my iphoto, so here are some things that we've been up to....

My old college friend, Ashley, who now lives in Sydney, Australia made her annual visit home to the states. Her itinerary was fierce, but we managed a fun visit with her family as they made their way south from Atlanta to Fairhope. Jacks and Nealy had a great time visiting with Ollie and James, their favorite friends with the most charming accents (well, we assume young James will have that Aussie lilt). We were honored to have made their dance card, because it was already full. Maybe next year we can visit a little longer - or the Dyer family will find their way to the Southern Hemisphere.


And I've been sewing a good bit. Here is Nealy demonstrating her swashbuckling skills in one of her new outfits.
I also made some matching outfits for the kids to wear to my friend Paige's wedding. Jacks's pants came out a little.....shall we say, Mediterranean? He is clearly irritated by something in this picture....Speaking of irritated, Nealy is really good at this furrowed brow look. I'm sure many of you have been flashed this hairy eyeball by the little one....


Summer time is hot, so laying around in the air conditioning is a great activity when the heat gets to be too much.

The army men in this house have been very busy.
And I've finally busted out the ice cream maker for the year. Jacks took it upon himself to compliment me on my ice cream making skills, which was probably the nicest thing he's ever voluntarily said to me. As you can tell, Nealy enjoys homemade ice cream, too.
Jacks has been talking a lot about waffles lately, so we decided to have lunch at the Waffle House last weekend after attending the turtle demonstration at the Ecology Preserve. Jacks and Nealy had a blast, the short order cook made Mickey Mouse shaped waffles, the kids got paper hats, and we were extremely pleased with our bill for lunch (quite possibly the best deal in town).


Lastly, we have thrown ourselves into city based programs for the kids. Jacks has already taken one round of swim lessons at the city pool, we are looking forward to art and soccer camp coming up in July, Jacks has been enjoying a Smart Arts class with our dear friend Summer, and both kids have LOVED being a part of a toddler yoga class (a shout out to our teacher and new favorite friend, Peach!!). They spent some time decorating their new mats, which unfortunately didn't last because we used a kid friendly, washable paint, and it peeled off almost immediately. But it was still fun while it lasted.

We've also been putting some serious mileage on our Splash Pass for the city pools as well as spending a fair amount of time in my new classroom at work. The kids love the computers. And a week during the summer is not complete with at least 3 or 4 visits to Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A. So, as you can see, we are enjoying our time off by filling our days with as much as we can.
I hope you all are enjoying your summer just as much as we are. More soon!

Summer time!!!

Well, summer time has arrived! We spent the greater part of May focused on making it through May 25th, which was the last work day of the school year. And, although we weren't sure, we actually survived. We had several things distracting us from the rest of the world: making it to the last day, learning where my school administration would be moving me (I changed teams and subject areas - both things that caused me great stress and a chin zit the size of Everest. For those who know what this means, I am now a Panther. And I'm now teaching math.), getting the kids prepared for their last day of day care until August, getting signed up for summer programs and lessons, and preparing the house and my kids to stay with my parents for a week while Joe and I took a cruise!!

Here's a picture......

Yeah, well, we didn't take all that many pictures, and those that we took were in Nassau and involved me wearing that hat a lot. This was a trip focused on rest, relaxation, alone time with each other, and eating (lots of eating). The cruise took us to a small island in the Bahamas called Cococay one day, then to Nassau the next, and a few days at sea. This picture is of Joe and I at Fort Charlotte. We took a little tour of the island, which took us to Fort Charlotte, Fort Fincastle, the Queen's Staircase (below), and Atlantis. After the tour we rooted around the Straw Market for presents and tee shirts for the kids.
This shows me how much I need to work on my posture. Of course, I was working very hard at not making eye contact with the sellers who were calling to me constantly. I was attempting to appear withdrawn and not personable. I know - not much of a stretch for me.

We arrived home after 5 blissful days of rest to a house of insanity. My kids were TERRIBLE for my perfect and angelic parents who happily endured five days of no sleep, hissy fits, the kids refusing to eat proper food, and bad behavior. Jacks even attempted to BITE my father one night when dad tried to get him to sleep. BITE. Yes, it's true. After a rough interrogation, he admitted it. At which point I assured him that if it happened again, I would be biting him back. Hard.

My parents left smiling. I don't think they'll ever keep the kids again. Or not for at least another 5 years. That is probably how long it will take them to recover from this trip. I'm sure they are still smiling right now because they don't have to be here alone with the kids anymore.

Oh well, life didn't stop or get any easier while we were gone. So, although we have only been home for 24 hours, we are already back to real life full swing. Luckily, we managed to get both kids properly fed and to bed by 8:00 last night.

Today began with a bang. I have already managed to get both kids signed up for a weekly yoga class, been to the public pool, taken Jacks out for yogurt while Nealy napped, been to Target, Hobby Lobby, and Earth Fare (for free range chicken and natural peanut butter - we all need to get to eating better around here), checked out two new books from the library, and enjoyed a major after nap snack time. Still to come for today: dinner, laundry, baths and books, and bedtime. Tomorrow will involve more pool time, yard play while I work on sewing projects in the basement, another trip to the library, more laundry, and who knows what else. Swim lessons, work meetings, yoga classes, and getting signed up for more Parks and Rec programs are waiting for me when this next week arrives in one short day. Not to mention all the appointments I need to start making - the school year doesn't afford me much time to make regular doctor's visits.

Summer is supposed to be a vacation, right? Ahhh, I can't complain. I got to spend 5 uninterrupted days alone with my husband on a cruise ship in the tropics, I got to watch the sun set and the stars shine over the ocean, we got new I-phones (greatest invention ever), and I get to spend the next 8 weeks with my family with very few work days to get in our way. I am very, very lucky.

And with that, I'm hitting post without re-reading what I wrote. I hope this meandering mess made some sense. I'll have more to report in coming days, which will involve pictures of the kids in their bathing suits, grinning from ear to ear because, hey, everyone loves when school is out.