lifelong friends

about to board a plane to reunite with my best friends from 7th grade.  we try to get together every summer and i can't wait to see these ladies tonight!!!

last summer in arkansas

somewhere on highway 1 on the cali coast

san fran beach walk

wine tasting in napa

 cali beach

 wine tasting in santa barbara

vegas

hollyood!

senior year

high school mud volleyball

 my wedding

love you and can't wait to see you in the outerbanks of north carolina!

vegas baby!

last week james and i took our first vacation sans kids in the last 3 years!  james had never been to vegas so we booked the cheap allegiant flights and took off.  it was nice to relax and just be a couple. 

i don't know if james was mad i was taking his photo or if he was trying to act like a cool guy in this pic

pool time!  there is not a lot to do during the day in vegas, so we did a lot of walking around the strip and reading poolside.

at night we went to a cirque du soleil & blue man group shows...and i won $50 playing black jack!

i am thankful for my inlaws watching our boys and for sweet time to reconnect with my best friend!



thankful

happy mother's day!  i know this is a tough day for many.  i have a couple of good friends who lost their moms in the last few years and my heart hurts for them.  it is a tough day for others struggling with infertility and i wish i could do something to ease their pain.

today i am so thankful.  thankful for my mom, my mother in law, my grandma, my boys, and my wonderful husband.  growing up, my biggest fears in life were that i would not get married or be able to have kids.  i am overjoyed that i married a great man and we are blessed with two healthy boys. 

if i could choose one word to describe our life right now it would be content.  after a crazy couple of years, our relationship has grown deeper and is stronger than its ever been.  if we can survive unexpected pregnancies, several job changes, moving, house buying, etc., we can survive anything.  over this last year i've realized how special and rare my husband is and i respect him so much. love you baby.  thank you for being such a wonderful father and best friend.



new clothes

james had extrication training today at "mashed up in march," so the boys and i braved the mall to do a little shopping.  i have a little love affair with gymboree--probably buy 90% of the boys' clothes there.  reasons i love it:
1. 5 minutes from my house
2. not too crowded
3. local sales people are helpful
4. kids area with chairs & cartoons
5. easy to navigate the store and find coordinating items
6. if you shop the sales right, you can get pretty high quality clothes for walmart/garage sale prices.

don't believe me?  here's a little spreadsheet of today's purchases:

everything 70-90% off!  (i know they mark it up to make you think you are getting a deal, but what store doesn't?)  here are some of the items i bought:

 

it helped that gymboree is having a 30% off everything fill a bag sale + i had a 20% coupon from parenting + 5% off with gymboree visa.  sounds like a lot to keep track of, but again, this is really the only store i shop at so it's not that hard to keep straight.

plus since i spent $50, i got $25 of gymbucks to spend next month on a $50 purchases--planning to buy more clearance items at 50% off! 

in other news, we are LOVING!!!  this weather :)  happy weekend, yall.

enjoy the minutes

my heart has been breaking lately for my college friend, amy, and nathan with the loss of their 14 month old boy, tucker.  i had only met tucker a couple times at church, but i can't imagine the anger/sadness/heartwrenching pain they are experiencing.  i have been so encouraged by all of the words amy and her sweet sister melissa have written after tucker's passing.  every time i put my boys down for naps i kiss and hug them a little longer.
this morning i read the letter nathan wrote and read at tucker's funeral and started bawling.  parker came up to me asking, "you sad, mommy?" and then "i'll wipe your tears."  children are such a precious gift from the Lord.  enjoy every minute you get to spend with them and say a prayer for amy and nathan this week (or every day).  love.