Beach Day (Alternately titled: We didn't have as much fun as it looks like in these pictures.)

In an effort to be excellent parents and provide our children with enriching experiences and happy memories, we headed off to the beach last Saturday.

Sure everything looks happy enough. And we did have a really nice 18 minutes.
(I include this picture only to document further Sharpie damage as it relates to my previous post.)

Isn't that sweet?

Ahhhh, the beach.
But see all that sand? Sand is my arch nemesis. I looove the beach. When I can look at it from a pool. Sand free.
Not the cutest picture, because the combo of sand/sunscreen in the eyes was a little upsetting.
And here is the last smile of the day.
By the end everyone had sand in their eyes, and we still have it in our car and undoubtedly various cracks and crevices. (of ourselves, and the car) I really want to like the beach, and building sand castles, but maybe with a 1, 2, and 3 year old we're just going to have to get a hotel room where we can wash off, or give it a few years until they can understand that rubbing your sandy eyes with sandy hands does not in any way rectify the problem.

Nonetheless. Thankful for beautiful weather, beautiful family, and the chance to enjoy some God created resources just a short distance from our new home.

But we still miss Glen Lake.

Don't take Benadryl at midnight.

Or else you might miss some stuff in the morning.

Make new friends but ship in the old.

For the last bunch of years I've pretty much always been missing this girl. Katie and I go way back and share stories about a whole bunch of 2nd graders that nobody would ever understand. I hadn't seen her since these trips-much, much too long ago.

As a Christmas present to both of us, Katie's husband bought her a ticket to come visit us in our lonely new state. Having her here was the perfect medicine. My kids fell in love and I hope she enjoyed the sunshine state even though there was no sunshine and we barely got off the couch.

My girls will find a sucker for reading in any crowd.

Some of my children are more cooperative for the camera than others. Just sayin.
Book #456,334,351 that they made her read.
She came for Superbowl weekend, and so obviously we threw a HUGE party. Huge.
The ONE picture we got together. At the height of our glamour. (While I know I look like I was having an 80's flashback, I assure you no leg warmers or Units were hurt in the making of this photo.)
Katie and the Ham.
Reference aforementioned commentary on uncooperative kid.
And this is where this feel good post comes to an end. Because all this time I've been pretending like she came to see our family. And that's just a lie. We were an added bonus.

Mr. Radin (below, center), was the real reason for the visit. And if you haven't heard of him, just take a gander and I think you'll see why. His voice is dreamy and though Katie is pregnant with her 5th child from another man, I'm pretty sure Joshua's got her heart.
Thanks for the visit, old friend! We love you!

Very very extra-ordinary

I think because I was single for a lot of Valentine's Days I still have some secret bitterness towards the holiday and realized I have never posted anything about the holiday of love.

But the truth is, I'm really quite terribly in love. And because you never know how long you have-and when my girls look at this blog book in 20 years (the only record they'll have of their childhood)-I want them to know how absolutely much I adore their Dad.

Mark is seriously the best thing ever. Makes everything more fun, amazing dad, wonderful provider, and helps cook and clean. As with all marriages, we've certainly had our share of ups and downs. But man, I absolutely love him, and praise God for giving him to me. There's not a thing I'd rather do without him. (Ok. Maybe go to Target and not have him see what extras I picked up:))

Happy Valentine's Day to the best thing that ever happened to me!

10 months

Reese turned 11 months yesterday. So I figured I should go ahead and catch up on her 10 month old life.

She started taking steps at 9 months, and was off at 10. My youngest walker. It's been kind of nice since we are in Florida and want to be outside-crawling around playgrounds isn't the most fun, so we're glad she can join in with her sisters!

The girls all love playing together. Fun how Reese just fits right in and tries to keep up.

She really is a delight. While EXTREMELY opinionated, and feisty when she's serious about something, she is usually happy, smiley and just a total love.

That said, Mark has also deemed her "Tornado". She is a mess. In the toilets, pulling clothes off hangers, spilling cereal on the floor, digging through the trash, etc. I suppose all normal behavior. But tornado like-nonetheless. :) (PS-Life Cereal, when mixed with milk and thrown on tile, is the exact same consistency as concrete. I'm not kidding.)
Our pretty girl says mama, dada, and all done when she feels like it. I want to kiss those cheeks off. We love our squishy face!

I have gray hair and age spots.

Which has nothing to do with this post. But I'm definitely annoyed that I'm getting old. I've been young for so long. (I know, I know. I'm still young. But I didn't use to have gray hair and age spots. Only my sisters did. :))

There is really not any cohesiveness to this post. Hide that in your heart.

I LOVE how you can tell both my Dad and Ava are laughing so hard in this picture.

Isn't there a song about a girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead?
She preferred the carefree look to well groomed.
WE LOVE SKYPE!
Do anyone else's children eat sour citrus like it's no big thing? If so I bet it's not while wearing maternity sweatshirts.
Like .2 seconds before they were all standing and smiling. But-I thought Ava and Reese looked a lot alike in this pic. Not that I hadn't realized that before-but it's always fun to compare.
We went to a restaurant called Shakers. I took this picture. ONE WHOLE DAY LATER I texted Jill and was like-I just got it. They have salt and pepper shakers all over the walls. I am still blonde sometimes. Even though I'm not.
We love Aunt Jill!


The sun was soo pretty coming onto our porch the other night. The girls were not overly cooperative with the photo shoot. These were the only two that weren't blurred or someone scowling at me.

Goodnight Angels! These cuties are loving sharing a room. And thankfully not committing any of their previous errors. :)
Oh Ava. Such a classic face of hers. Especially when bargaining.