Coming Home.....

We are officially home from our vacation to Gulf Shores.  It was wonderful.  The only negative is that Allie was sick on some of it.  She has been running fever.  It would kind of come and go....we tried to make sure she had downtime and basically stayed in all day on Wednesday.  She still isn't her normal self, so I am sure a trip to the doctor will occur.

I did learn a few things from vacation that I hope I don't forget any time soon.  I know they will sound silly, but they are things that I have obviously forgotten lately.

1. The truth is the things that really make me happy, don't cost anything!!!  Don't get me wrong I did some shopping and I am super excited about some of my new clothes, but those were just bonuses.  There was nothing better than watching my girls smile when waves hit them, listening to them laugh as we all talked, or just the sweet hugs and kisses they would give me just because I am their mom.

2. I need to stay focused on what really matters.  It is easy to get caught up in drama or competition or negativity.  During our week, the only drama we had was telling the girls not to touch each other if it was going to cause conflict....the only competition was who would hit the numbers on the elevator, only negativity...Allie not feeling well.  All things easily dealt with and all things pertaining to those who I love.  So why at home do other things make me so crazy?  Time to re-prioritize!  :)

3. My girls are growing too fast.  Autumn celebrated her 9th birthday at the beach....I can't believe she is 9!   She is growing up too fast.  She wanted to night swim one night because there was a cute boy at the pool, she played with girls who were anywhere from 10-14 years old there....she isn't my little baby anymore.  :(  Allie is growing too.....she wants to do everything Autumn does and loves her sister so much.  I know they will argue as they get holder, but I hope their special bond never goes away!

4. I adore my husband.  He is the perfect person for me.  He complimented me daily and made sure the vacation was wonderful for me.  I am a lucky girl and only hope he knows how much I love him.

4. I love my family.  They are PERFECT for me.  There were moments on the trip when was looking at the ocean and realizing some people will never see this.  Some kids will never have or do the things my girls are doing.  Every day was a constant reminder of how blessed I am and how God continually is in control.  But that is just it.....it shouldn't take a week at the beach to realize that, because these things are around me daily....I just have to remember to notice them.

I truly love my life...I love the people in my life...and just hope that some day everyone has a moment where the world is just as perfect for them.

A week with my family...LOVE!!!

Is it bad to blog about your vacation before you get home?  I am sure I can always post another one if needed!  

It has been an AWESOME week in Gulf Shores, Al.  We have had AWESOME weather and a FABULOUS time as a family.  We spent lots of time on the beach, eating, at the pool, eating, shopping, eating, and just time together!  :)

One of the highlights of the week was parasailing.  It was my idea, which is crazy because I am afraid of heights.  But, I just knew everyone would love it.  My only concern was Allie.  She is only 5...close to 6, but would she want to soar 400 ft. above the Gulf of Mexico???  Hmmmm....her answer..Yes and she wanted to ride with me!!  So, Monday afternoon we drove down to the parasailing place (a whole 5 minutes away if that long).  I had read and seen pictures about how they lift you and I figured I could handle it.  So, we paid to get pictures and to go 400 ft. up.  The 4 of us and a dad and his son (who looked around Autumn's age) rode out on a crazy looking thing to the boat.  They helped us on and started to harness us in.  They asked who wanted to go first and Allie immediately volunteered her and I to go first.  WHAT?!?!  UGH!!!  Now, I have to be brave right???

I am being soooo brave here!!!

The man got Allie into place and told me to sit behind her with my legs on either side of her and to hold onto the harness just below the clasp.  Obviously that is the last thing I heard because I did not relinquish my grip on the harness or let go of her with my feet until the end!!  I also never thought about how they get you down until once I was up there...UGH!!!

Mark and Autumn....soooo excited!!

When I landed and Mark and Autumn went up...that is when I realized you could let go of the harness and I didn't have to have Allie in death grip...oh and that they decided to take us 600 feet up.  It was an AWESOME experience!!!  I did order the pictures and we got over 100 of them...the only problem is all of the ones of Allie and I have my feet clasped around her (following directions).  This situation led to all the pictures making my butt look massively huge and hanging down at a funky angle...in turn making it that there are virtually no pictures I can truly show out of embarrassment!!  UGH!!  The girls love to spott my booty in every picture!!

Allie and I...UGH!!!!!  This is a kinder picture!! 

Mark and Autumn...no fear!!!

I have posted some pictures from our week!  So many fun times and things that I loved!

Autumn walking the tight rope at Lulu's!!

Out on the plank!!!

Allie and Mark!!

I love my girls!!

There are a few things I learned this week.

1. I love being on vacation.

Beach pic!!!

2. My family is always ready to eat!
3. I love Lulu's cheese dip.
4. I love my family more than when I left home!

Number 9.......

Autumn turns 9 in a few days.  This birthday just seems weird to me.  I'm not sure why.  Picking out a birthday card was tough this year.  She seems too old for the little kid cards and not old enough for the bigger kids cards.  At Wal-Mart they don't even have a card with the number 9 on it!!!!  (Or at least one we could find.)  Mark ended up picking out the card....it was a Twilight/Eclipse card (fitting b/c that is what the theme of her party was).  The card read (on the front) "With Every Birthday you're becoming more Amazing!!  (inside) Stay Human though.  We like you that way!"  Wow!!!  Pretty sentimental huh?  :)  She loved it, OF COURSE!


Each year around the girls birthdays I can't help to think back to when I was pregnant and their delivery.  I found out I was pregnant with Autumn just after Thanksgiving 2001.  The way I knew...I was SICK at the smell of dressing for Thanksgiving and I was soooo tired!!  (I still can't eat much dressing to this day!) I was sick with Autumn the first 6 1/2 month of my pregnancy.  UGH!!!  It was awful!!  However, I only gained 19 lbs. with her!  So, that was a positive.  :)

I went into labor with Autumn on a Thursday night.  I was mad that at my check up that day I had not progressed.  I was still dilated to a 2.  So, I ate pizza and drank a big Coke and then I felt guilty.  So, Mark and I went for a walk.  That night around midnight my water broke.  So, I took a shower and we headed to the hospital.  Mark drove like you see in the movies!  He hit every speed bump sooooo fast!  :)  I asked him to slow down!  :)  My water had broken right around midnight.  I think we got to the hospital around 1.  Autumn Kaylie was born at 7:12 a.m.  She would have arrived sooner, but we were waiting on a shift change!  :)  My mom and Mark's parents were there.  (Not in the room....but at the hospital)

Love at first sight!!

Look at that dark hair!!!

I always loved this pic!

Big sister!!

Autumn is such a bright spot in our lives!  She is fearless, a pleaser, and a drama queen!  She takes gymnastics and loves soccer!  She is an AWESOME big sister and a wonderful daughter!  She has her smarty pants times and her moments of defiance.  She has her blonde moments and her moments of sheer intelligence.  She is a blessing and I love her more than life!  Her 9th birthday will be July 19th....we are almost at double digits!!  (You know that scares me!!!)  I am just lucky to be her mom!!!  I can't wait to see what a fabulous lady she will become!  Happy Almost 9th Birthday Autumn!!!

Fishing!

Sweet girl!!!

Lunchtime conversations....

I love eating around the table, unfortunately it is something that we don't do enough.  We have CRAZY busy schedules and that is something we need to work on.  During the summer I try to eat lunch with them at the table each day.  They seem to be really slow eaters (or I am just use to eating lunch in 20 minutes and scarf my food down), so it is hard for me to just sit and wait on them...there is so much I could be doing!!!

Today's lunch was cracking me up...we each had our own things...Autumn had Ramen noodles, Allie a peanut butter sandwich with Cheetos, and I was having my favorite ABC's and 123's!  (Try not to be too jealous!!!)  :)

Autumn's birthday is coming up...she will be 9!!!  I am realizing how close she is getting to being a "big kid"!!!  I know it sounds crazy...but once she is 9 it will only be 1 more year until she hits double digits....she is already (in my opinion) a tween, but really it will only be 4 more years until she is a teenager!  Then another 2 until she can drive and then 2 more and she will be 18 and graduating!!!  Ugh!!! Okay....I will slow down.

My posing child!!!

We had some great conversations today...including Autumn asking how old until she can stay by herself.  I told her legally 12....so she has new plans in her life.  According to Autumn at age:

12 she will start babysitting so she will be able to buy a cell phone.
16 she will have enough money after buying the phone to buy a car (still from babysitting).
17 she will relax this year because their won't be much she needs
18 she will have her own Facebook account...she will be using our upstairs computer and if she could
      have this earlier it would be wonderful!
She then asked about college....wondering her age when she graduates college...I told her around 22-23...then she asked if she had to come home on weekends when she went to college.  I couldn't believe it....did she say "HAVE TO COME HOME"????  Ummmmm......BREAK MY HEART!!!!

Then she wondered about Allie...where will Allie be while she is in college...my response, high school.  Then she let me know that Allie might not get to college when she should, she said Allie may take longer in school.  I looked at Allie, she smiled, stuck her Cheetos filled tongue out and nodded her head!  Hmmmm.........

Allie......and Autumn (who wanted to be in EVERY picture!)

Time passes too fast!!!  At least I know Autumn has goals!!!  :)  I hope you enjoy conversations around your table!!!  :)

My girls!  

Princess Scooby Doo was in for lunch today!

Allie...wanting to show her milk mustache!  Makes her daddy so proud!

Food for the 4th!!!!

I LOVE holidays!!!  One of my favorite things about holidays is the food that goes along with them!  I have this desire to be more "domesticated," so I have been wanting to cook!  Mark and I tried a couple different recipes this weekend and I wanted to share a couple of my favorites!!!

Chicken Dip....Oh my!!!!  This is AWESOME!!  You could completely eat this as a meal, but it is a GREAT dip!  A friend of Mark's gave him this recipe, all you need is:

8 oz. cream cheese
1 can of chicken (drain)
1 package of HIdden Valley Ranch (dry mix)
Mayonnaise

Mix the first three ingredients together and then add some mayo.  Mark doesn't measure the mayo (this makes me CRAZY...I HAVE to measure, but just add enough to make it so it is creamy).

Use Ritz crackers or (what I have been LOVING) Chicken Biscuit crackers!!!  AWESOME dip!!!

Chicken Dip!!!  Yummy!!!!

I made a Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza today.  I got this off of the Pillsbury website and it actually looks like the picture and tastes AWESOME!!!

Sooooo Good!!!!!

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/chocolate-peanut-butter-cookie-pizza/c6e9d180-b0c0-4397-9a35-ff39dc51d798?ESRC=16033

INGREDIENTS

1

roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated chocolate chip cookies

1

package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2

cup creamy peanut butter

1

cup powdered sugar

1/4

cup milk

1

cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

3/4

cup hot fudge topping

1/4

cup chopped peanuts

DIRECTIONS

1Heat oven to 350°F. In ungreased 12-inch pizza pan, break up cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust.2Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.3Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.4Spread 1/2 cup of the fudge topping over cooled crust. Spread peanut butter mixture over top. Drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup fudge topping. Sprinkle with peanuts. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until serving time. Cut into wedges or squares. Mark grilled for us tonight!!!  It was AWESOME!!

I hope you have had a FABULOUS weekend!!!  Some may notice I don't have any fruit shown....have no fear....I had some fruit during the fireworks!     I like to be well balanced!  :)  It has been great weekend for us!! I have eaten too much and enjoyed my family!!!  I hope you have a GREAT week!  Let  me know if you try any of these recipes...especially if you like them!  :)Mark grilled tonight....it was awesome!