Vacation Bible School

I interrupt this regularly planned and scheduled Tybee Island posting three to share with you some really sweet video of my big girl.

When I determined I was moving to Charlotte, I began searching for a local MOPS organization - knowing that I would need community, fellowship and friendship and found one at a nearby church (St. Giles Presbyterian Church). MOPS doesn't begin until the fall so we didn't have a lot going on for the remainder of the summer in this new city where I know very little people. Well, the sweet coordinator emailed me a couple of weeks ago to let me know that their church would be having a VBS last week if I was interested in it for Kennedy. Interested? Heck yes!

So...Monday of last week Kennedy began VBS and that first night was a bit difficult for her because she didn't recognize the church and or any of the faces inside and oh yeah btw - I was about to leave her. I asked her to be brave and stay the first night and promised her that if she didn't enjoy it - she wouldn't have to go back. When I left her she had big crocodile tears and it tore at my hormonal heartstrings but when I went back a tad early to pick her up, she was in her teachers lap and was grinning ear to ear!

Every night when I picked her up, I asked her what she'd learned and she generally gave me the token answer "I learned about Jesus". I normally pry a bit more but there's typically little to no more information shared.

On Thursday night the church passed out CDs with the music they'd been listening to and learning motions to all week and of course I popped it right in the player when we got in the car. Y'all - she knew almost every word to almost every song and was in the backseat rocking out her learned motions too. I was BLOWN.AWAY! Whether she can articulate what she's learning verbally or not - clearly these words are being written on her heart in song and it just makes me flat happy.

Friday night when we got home she performed one of her songs for her Aunt Melissa, Uncle Steve and Uncle Kevin and I couldn't wait for her to show her Daddy when he returned home on Sunday. I guess she was so proud of how much she'd learned she performed 3 songs for her Daddy and I got two of them on video (please excuse our non-VBS like attire: my girl lives for a ballet outfit!):


You like how Avery decided she wanted in on it too? Too funny!

Overall, VBS was a huge success and she really enjoyed herself. All the kids in her class got little medals for completion and of course I got tons of take home crafts that she worked on.

Tybee Island Post Two

Somehow I missed getting a pic of our humble abode in my initial Tybee posting but it was super sweet - check it:

Each family had their own room and bathroom so it couldn't have been more perfect really...well, maybe if it had a pool! ;)

My picture taking was all over the place and my downloading was hectic too, so I have pics grouped by download vs. day so the pics in this posting are from my second download. Without further ado, K and her cousins Catherine and Maggie:

We managed to time our beach trips better each day based on tide and we were lucky enough to get some pretty sweet tide pool action which is pretty much where I lived.

All the kids were loving the tide pools too of course. I love this picture - Catherine is so good with the babies and Avery LOVES the "big girls". All throughout the week she'd go grinning and clapping then open her arms real wide to love on them - it was super sweet. 

Honey & Avery 

One day when my kiddos are grown (which I realize is sweet heavenly forevah away) I'm going to get to sit on the beach and read like this:

Declan's not a super huge fan of the beach but I did manage to get some moments where you couldn't tell he wasn't enjoying it:

Every day we pretty much woke up, ate breakfast, headed to the beach and stayed until the kids were d.o.n.e. and then head back to the house for showers and lunch. After lunch the kids kind of got a second wind, so the big blow up pool is a perfect place for them to go if they so desire and on this day they did - fun, fun!

This is kind of a random picture thrown in the mix, but my niece A made these for each of us with our names and different sea creature foam stickers - so thoughtful of her.

I took this picture of Kennedy running circles around me splashing through the tide pools - sometimes I look at her in situations like these and just think: could there be a better example of pure joy? I think not. 

This little swimsuit has seen the beach a TON - it was Catherine's when she was little...seriously! This is one valuable hand me down. 

not afraid of the ocean...the.end.

never stopped grinning - seriously!

This was the view from the rockers on our porch. Isn't it beautiful? 

Almost every day we got a good ole "toad choker" (as I learned they are called in KY) and our view changed drastically:

For the most part the storms were your typical come and go summer storm, but a few of them were pretty long and drawn out and on this particular storm we sat outside for some of it and I kept quoting the Mr. Brown can Moo book to Avery where it says "Boom, Boom, Boom Mr. Brown is a wonder. Boom, Boom, Boom Mr. Brown makes Thunder" and she was so tickled by that so we did it over.and over.and over again. Oh the things you do to make them smile. Sweet Moments.

Some evenings after supper we'd venture back out to the beach for an evening stroll. These two fit perfectly side by side in my new double BOB - I'm pretty much in love (especially with the price my sister Angel snagged it for off of Craigs List in DC).

Kennedy loves sneaking up on the seagulls...

and scaring them up into the air

once she's confirmed their up for good - not to come back down for re-landing

she squeals with delight - clearly this is a skill one is to be proud of:

Declan called it in early this evening, so big sister took a comfy spot in the BOB

Today when I was uploading these pictures Kennedy said "Mom, I love the beach...I wish we could just stay at that house forever". I laughed and said "that would be fun, wouldn't it?" Something about the beach is so relaxing and carefree. I'm not sure why but for some reason I was more relaxed this year at the beach than all the years before. It's kind of counter intuitive really that I would be more relaxed this year (pregnant, just having moved and no house) but I guess knowing the pressure of work wasn't waiting on me and knowing I'd have time to unpack and get re-organized before the insanity of life was right back upon me went a long way and believe me I was thankful for that - daily thankful. Most mornings after breakfast and bathing suit picking out and sun screen application in our family bedroom we did a devotion with Kennedy and I'm so glad we started our days that way. Usually Kennedy and I do a devotion with or after breakfast, but Tim is already at work so he doesn't usually get to participate - I was so thankful for that family time to be grateful and to just focus correctly before the day truly began. Despite being in a season of chaos as some would call it - I'm daily aware of how much we have to be thankful for: a place to stay, food to eat, Tim's job, a healthy pregnancy, sweet kids (most days ;). Vacation...well it's just like extra icing on top of the cake that is our life right now. I'm loving re-living it by blogging it and lucky for me, there's way more to come.....

Tybee Island Beach Vacation ~ One of many posts to come!

So, here we are all loaded up and ready to go to Tybee. I honestly don't know how we would have made it without our new minivan because Lawd have mercy our vehicle was packed! See for yourself:

In our defense - there are corn hole boards, a large beach tent and a pack n play all tucked in here. I couldn't help but think...where's poor Greyson going to sit next summer? Looks like we'll be leaving some things behind.

When we were approaching the island I saw this in broad sight and was like "what the heck?!?" I have NEVER seen anything like this - it's a drawbridge. How crazy is that sight? Tim and I were trying to explain the functionality of the drawbridge to Kennedy and she was like, "well, what if a car drove up over the top". So funny...it is kind of a hard concept even for me.

I have been to Tybee before but I guess upon approaching this bridge it wasn't drawn and therefore I just thought it was a normal bridge. Clearly...not a normal bridge: craziness!

We arrived to Tybee on Saturday afternoon, but didn't go out onto the beach until Sunday morning and pretty much from the time we stepped foot onto the beach until we left, Kennedy looked about like this (expression-wise). I like to call this look - "Permagrin".

My sweet little Avery is going to love the beach as much as her big sister it appears - she was ALL about the water!

Flying her cousins kite - big stuff!

As much as my ever increasing girth makes me want to cringe when looking at this photo - I love me some sister pics and since the two of them look so flippin' incredible I figured I'd take one for the team. ;)

Who needs to walk to the water when someone can bring you a bucket of it for you to sink your hand in?! Ahhh...beach perfection!

I had dreams of tons of cute pics of the girls in their matching suits playing together on the beach. Reality: Kennedy was WAY more interested in her cousins than her little sister and Avery was too busy trying to race towards the ocean to be bothered with picture taking. Upside: these suits were like $3.99 each at the end of the summer at Old Navy!

Ocean!

This is awesome Daddy!

How about this sweet little smile? One of the many highlights of the week - seeing this sweet face! Declan wasn't so much about the beach, but he did enjoy the pool.

especially if this ham was in there with him:

see?! This is one baby pool full of preciousness!

and joy too - oh the joy

Despite not seeing my Mom as much as my Mom wishes - clearly there's no issue with loving her to pieces. I LOVE this picture!

Oh the posing...can't.take.it. I bought this suit for Adalyn when Abby was pregnant with her and I loved it so very much on her I snagged it for Avery at the end of the summer and had it monogrammed. My only wish - I had a picture of the two of them wearing them at the same time - it would be tutu cute...get it? Teeheehee.

The beach has a way of making kiddos super tired...so tired in fact, that they'll fall asleep in the middle of the living room floor....like this:

This book was a hot read during beach week. The two babies fought over it constantly wanted it read to them multiple times daily. Result: Melissa and I can read it with our eyes closed. Actually - I'm reading it aloud in my mind right now. Oh...Dr. Seuss has that affect on we Mommies.

There are so many more pictures to share...now, to find the time to share them! =)

32 Weeks

Tuesday of this week marked my 32nd week of this pregnancy. I'm seriously still in the mode where I'm so busy with my other two kiddos that half the time I forget I'm expecting until I sit still and feel him hiccup and move around like crazy. When I had my sister take this picture this week I realized how close we are to meeting the little man - I'm excited of course but a bit anxious too. Avery is SUCH a Momma's girl so I'm just concerned about that transition. Regardless of my concern - he's coming in 8 short weeks or less so ready or not....:)!

We've been vacationing in Tybee Island, GA since Saturday and it's been glorious. The weather has been on and off rainy but yesterday and today were virtually picturesque and the kids are in hog heaven. There's little I enjoy more than watching all these kids interact and just purely enjoy each other - it's honestly priceless.

Thanks to my new camera - I've taken an INSANE amount of pictures since we've been here - I don't know how I'll ever decide which ones to share because there are some awesome ones (if I do say so myself: ha!).

Kennedy has permagrin from the time we wake up until the time she hits the hay and Avery is OBSESSED with the ocean - she just goes waddling towards it as fast as her feet will let her. Tim and I have to be on high alert at all times. I guess I'd rather her be brave than afraid but whew - it can be a bit of a workout!

We will leave here on Saturday and spend one night with my Mom before we head back to Charlotte on Sunday. It's always bittersweet leaving my sisters and the girls leaving their cousins, but this time it's less difficult than ever before because we aren't making the insanely long trek back to Kentucky. I'm just thankful that we have the opportunity to spend this kind of time with our girls and with my family - it's a blessing that I don't take for granted for sure.

Being Close

My Mom came to visit last weekend. Our goal was not only to hang out and visit, but she and her husband Jim also planned to help us look at some houses and let's just say that yielded a big ole' goose egg. I know God is in control of our situation and he'll reveal himself at some point, in some house or some area and we'll know.

Thankfully, despite our rather disheartening real estate search - we were all smiles because my girls haven't seen their "Honey" since CHRISTMAS! 6 months of separation is what an 11 hour drive will do to family. I'm so thankful that we will see each other MUCH more regularly due to our new short distance from each other. My girls were eating up their time with her. She was a tad concerned that Avery might not remember her or want to go to her because it's been such a while. Well.....let me just tell you there was NO issue there. I swear Grandmothers excrete some kind of something that makes all kids flock to them!

These two can keep you busy, but luckily she was up for the challenge of keeping them both so that the Steve, Melissa, Tim, Kennedy and I could get out for church. Declan had a little bug and Avery had some crazy awful diaper rash so we didn't want to put them in the nursery.

Kennedy has said some really sweet stuff about her Aunt Melissa since we've been here. She says she loves her house and she likes Aunt Melissa "a whole lot" and she wants her to go everywhere with us. I'm sure Melissa's getting enough together time since we're living with her and all, but I'm loving the closeness they are developing!

This past weekend we made a dessert that was a childhood favorite of ours. I'm not really sure what the dessert is called per se, but it's basically sherbet mixed with angel food cake chunks and frozen into a yummy summer treat. Clearly Kennedy and Avery enjoy it as much as we do.

Sweetness

Kennedy has been helping a lot in the kitchen and last week she got to make sugar cookies and decorate them too. She's a tad controlling when working on kitchen tasks and therefore there was so much sugar on the cookies they were practically crystallized. Oh well - you pick your battles people. Luckily, Aunt Melissa cleaned up. Lord only knows how hard it was to get that sugar off the cookie sheets.

We've been spending lots of time outside playing and exploring and blowing bubbles and whatever I can do to entertain these two and let them burn off some energy. This week Avery was introduced to the roly poly. If you look closely you can see it at the very bottom of the picture. You can likely anticipate whats coming next....wait for it, wait for it....

Poor roly poly...I was too busy taking pictures of the cuteness to save him

Kennedy went in for the save, but it was too late. We elected the bushes as a place to respectfully dispose of the poor little guy.

A few days after the unfortunate ending of said roly poly, Avery came toddling up to me in the basement with her nose all scrunched and a balled up hand. I opened my hand and she deposited a millipede and simultaneously said "yuck" and then the millipede proceeded to crawl across my palm. Gag! No worries, we've since contacted the exterminator so hopefully that's my last interaction with one of those. Ick!

Kennedy has been working hard at riding her bike and she's doing awesome! Hopefully by summers end we'll be training wheel free though I admit that frightens me a tad.

These two peanuts both had well check ups this week and they weigh practically the same thing...within ounces of each other. I'm not sure if she's tiny or he's big or both but regardless their big buddies and I love it. He gets excited to see her when she wakes in the morning and she gets excited to see him when he gets home every afternoon...its super sweet.

Our family takes our annual beach vacation next week so we leave tomorrow AM for Tybee Island, Georgia. I'm super excited to have some R&R with the family and to watch all the kiddos enjoying their "cousin time". Pray we get everything packed and ready in time!