We're Back!

Of course there are thousands of photos and I'll try to post some later today but to sum it up we had an amazing time. It's a beautiful place and I can't wait to write all about it but I'm still a bit on island time so I'm not in a huge hurry to do anything. I do have to get to the grocery store this morning. There is seriously no food in this house. J also has a doctor's appointment later this afternoon to recheck his eyes and we'll find out if he needs glasses. I also have a ton of laundry to do. I'll post pictures and a descent trip report this afternoon or evening!

Just Pretend You Hear the 'Friends' Theme Song Playing

I just want to say that I have awesome friends. This week when I needed to drop my kids off randomly or just keep busy to keep my mind off of things there are some people I know I can always count on. Thanks for helping me keep my sanity this week! 

This will be my last post for a while! I'll post all my pictures to make you jealous when we get back!

Some good news

My dad went home today and he looked better than he has for a while. He was back to giving us all a hard time so I felt a big sigh of relief. I can't even stop and think about how close we came to losing him. I'm certainly nowhere near ready to deal with that. I've never thought of my parents as 'old' but I know they aren't real young anymore. Hopefully we can keep them both out of the hospital for a while!

Only a couple more days to survive before our trip. I'm so ready but I'm trying to keep busy and not think about it. I'm almost packed and almost have the kiddos packed. I just need to get the house clean so that family can stay here with them for a few days. I don't think my sister would mind the mess but if my mom comes with her I'll come home to a list a mile long of things that need to be done. Matt says I take after my mom a lot. It drives me insane to have any amount of clutter or mess. My house is never a mess but it seems I'm constantly cleaning bathrooms, washing windows, cleaning ceiling fans, cleaning the kitchen and sweeping the foyer. I'll probably wait until Friday and do one big cleaning so I don't have to worry about it getting messed up again before we leave. Bathrooms got done tonight so that's one thing off my list done! For someone who hates cleaning I sure spend a lot of time doing it. I need a maid. And possibly a personal chef. Right now I'd settle for my husband having a job lined up!

Oh the Insanity!

You know how they say God only gives you what He thinks you can handle? Well I think *they* are wrong! I can't even begin to go in to details about everything but here's my list:

1. Matt is really hoping to get a job he's interviewing for.

2. That job is not here in town.

3. The kids are supposed to start school in 4 weeks but I'm unsure of whether they'll be attending here or if I need to be looking for a school elsewhere.

4. We leave for our vacation in a few days.

5. My dad is currently in the hospital after having heart surgery.

6. My mom has been in and out of the hospital/doctor's office because of chest pains and breathing problems.

7. My kids are 3 and 4. Enough said.

8. I can't believe we could be moving in a few weeks and I have no idea where to even begin for that process.

9. We got a lot of damage from a recent hail storm but I haven't had time to deal with it yet. 

10. I'm so freaking tired and stressed that my poor husband is probably about ready to run away. Luckily, I can outrun him. :)

All I can say is I'm so very thankful to have such great friends. I even had to ask Mandy to put her son's swim shorts on J to send him to swim lessons today. We had just been told that my dad was going in for surgery and so we had to rearrange kids so J could make it to swim lessons. Matt was on the phone doing his interview so I couldn't send them here to get his shorts. Mandy was nice and didn't make him go naked. :) 

I'm reaaaalllllly going to need that vacation. I'm about to start counting the hours! 

Say a little prayer for my dad and also that Matt gets this job. I'm not a very religious person but at this point I'll take any prayers and thoughts that I can get! I'm kind of just making it through one day at a time.

Yeah That's Better...

On our way into Target this morning...

Me: Did you just lick my hand?

J: No, I wiped my nose with it.

Me: Thanks. That's much better.

What Was I Thinking?

So yesterday I got the brilliant idea to take a walk to the library. Apparently I forgot that I have one child that doesn't like to walk any farther than 2 blocks (who was also just recovering from some stomach bug) and another child that runs instead of walking. Oh and it was almost 100 degrees at only 9:30 AM when we left. And did I mention that it's 2.5 miles? Yeah I'm not sure why in the world I thought this was a good idea. We made it exactly 2 blocks before M declared it was too hot and she was too tired for taking a walk. She ended up riding in the stroller for the next 2 miles. Poor J got tired after 2 miles (so was I!) and asked if he could ride. M did NOT want to get out of the stroller but I had to make her walk the last couple blocks so J could take a break. The poor child was dripping sweat. You could see streak marks from the sunscreen I had lathered him with! She whined for the entire 3 blocks she had to walk until we could see the library sign and J agreed to walk again so she could ride. Maybe he just got tired of listening to her. We ended up making it there in just under an hour. I didn't think we made bad time at all considering the heat and whining child. Once we got there they picked out their books, got a smoothie and cookie and they were good and tired for naps! I had a nice afternoon yesterday with both kids napping. That doesn't happen often anymore.

Just 2 more weeks! I couldn't be more excited. I pulled out the suitcases already and am packing. Yes I'm slightly neurotic when it comes to packing. I'm always worried I'll forget something and when you're going to a remote island t

hat's probably not something you want to deal with. It's a 40 minute boat ride to the nearest major store. Paradise!

4th of July

This was the first year that M wasn't terrified of fireworks so we had a rather enjoyable holiday this year! We live in a neighborhood where all we have to do is set up the lawn chairs and watch all the action. We bought a few things but nothing compared to what a lot of our neighbors do. Here's M with her big sparklers.

Then J found a tractor firework so of course we had to buy that. I had no idea they even made such a thing but apparently they really do make just about everything for a boy who loves tractors. He was super excited about it.
They were feeling rather cooperative so I even got them to sit for a picture together! Look at how neither of them is strangling the other! You may never see that again.
The kids had all their lawn chairs out with a front row view. 
And poor J didn't make it through the whole thing. We ended up covering him with a blanket to protect him from falling cardboard and ash. He slept for quite a while out there.
So there you have it. That's our 4th of July. Nothing really exciting but we had a lot of fun!