Fall Beach Break

Sometime around July we made plans to spend this year's fall break at the beach with our buds. We rarely do anything on the whopping two days of fall break that we're given so this was a welcomed change! We stayed in the same house that our family vacationed in in the summer and it was perfect! The other thing that was perfect? The weather. Ahhhhhh. We headed straight to the beach when we got there.

Diva on the beach was a bit scared of the ocean this go around. It was smooth as glass the first day but she was still timid.
Her bff? Timid would not be the description I'd pen to her. She headed right for the ocean and dove in face first. She was eating fear for breakfast on fall break!
I wanted so badly to get a great little beach picture of these tootsies but I don't know if you've ever tried to photograph two kids under 2 sitting in sand in the bright sun but it didn't go as I had quite anticipated. Oh well.

Elaina, sit next to Carris! Sit down! (in my sugar voice)
Ummmm.....girls? Girls? Look here. Here!
Oh! Oh! Elaina! This way! This way!!
Carris! Elaina!! Elaina! AHHHH, Boo! Boo! Girls!
Caarrriisss.....Laaaanie....Look here! clapping, jumping Girls!! Girls? Hello? Ugggghh. Forget it.
I have really never seen the ocean and the sky more beautiful. The boys were living it up, jumping, swimming, screaming,
more jumping......
karate chopping??
I'm not sure what got into Cade but he went all bonzo chasing the seagulls.
You give a kid one extra day off of school and he goes all berserk on you.
There are no pictures to stand as proof that I was, in fact, on this trip but here's one proving that there was at least one adult (although that is subject to one's perception) on the trip.
Mr. Jason buried the kids in the sand and they were getting a kick out of it.
In the spirit of Halloween, Cavin was in a casket :/
Rhett was a muscle man and I'm assuming that this is his muscle man face. He just looks plain mad to me.
We headed to Baytown Wharf to take in the sights. There weren't as many things open as in the summer. We were going to have a nice dinner at the Marlin Grill but decided that spending lots of cash on fine dining with 7 kids really didn't make a lot of sense. So, much to my disappointment we ended up eating at a greaserie with bad, live music. Note to singers: at some point in at least one of your songs you should probably open your eyes. You can't feel the music that much for an extended period of time.

There was a nice little fall set-up that I thought would be a great place to attempt another picture of the girls. I did individuals first so they could warm up. Of course, Elaina didn't smile but I wasn't surprised. She's pretty good at the blank stare.
Carris didn't smile either which was shocking because she's always smiling.
Then the together shot: Hey! Girls! Over here! "Ummm, Lanie? You gonna look at them? Me neither."
"Well, maybe one quick look just to make her feel better." Lanie: "I'm out."
I just wanted ONE good picture of her in the incredibly cute outfit I patiently waited for to go on sale. Just ONE! She wouldn't look.

Then she took off running. Every.Single.Time. I give up.
The boys spent some time playing games in the arcade and then we called it a night. Two little girls with early bedtimes (thank goodness for that!) is a bummer to big brothers on vacation.
We had a great time vacationing with friends. There was lots of wave jumping, jellyfish dodging (Cade didn't fare to well coming out with 4 stings!), sandcastle building, beach sunning, laughing, and just good ol' catching up. We can't wait to do it again! (Hopefully next time with a little less drama from the little gals!)

The Release

Grant's second grade class has been growing butterflies and learning about their life cycle and cocoons and all. It was a huge day in the life of the class when all of the little cocooned babies hatched into real, live butterflies. So in celebration of the great event they had a "releasing party"! Ms. Vilag very carefully opened the top of the housing while all of the kids were poised and ready with an orange slice to attract their butterfly.

Grant traded her an empty orange for one that had done a better job with the whole 'attracting' part.
"Coooool."
This one actually turned out pretty good. There were a few that had to be transported to a nearby tree so that they could meet their maker peacefully.
Grant let one of his buddies have a turn with the nice, still butterfly.
Was I thrilled to go to the school to see butterflies released into the wild? Not really. What I WAS thrilled to see was the smile that my presence at this event brought. It's times like that that cause me to remember that this stay-at-home mom stuff is really worth it.
I don't want to miss a thing......not even a butterfly release on a sunny day.
Now, fly! Fly away little butterfly before one of these crazy kids smooshes your antennae!

Not Everyone Can Be a Warrior

Yesterday I headed out of the Hill towards the famous city of Manchester, home of the good, clean fun of Bonaroo, to take part in the Warrior Dash with some of my homies. Bobby was suppose to tag along to get totally decimated by my Dash skillz but ended up with baseball Daddy Duty as we had 3 baseball games and 3 kids to tow around to said games. My groupie included my sis and BIL and the ever so preppy Wes and Samantha.

Funny things happen while in the land of Bonaroo: I ran into my total BFF from elementary school and beyond and another great childhood friend from Kentucky! What are the odds?? Not to mention that we were all on the State Championship Ace's Angels soccer team. This was just too much athleticism in one spot! No one needs to know we were only, like, eight when we won that championship. I would still wear my team jacket if I didn't think it would intimidate most people. Anyhoo.
There were tons of obstacles: running over haystacks and broken down cars, jumping through tires, climbing walls and ducking under barbed wire, jumping over fire to name a few. Then, the last and the best: The Mud Pit. My mom was in charge of picture taking and oddly enough, there are pictures of Wes and Sam in the mud pit but none of her actual family. I guess the Sellers really made an impression on her!
We reunited at the finish for a group mud shot. I had so much mud in my sports bra that I could've given Hugh Hefner's girls a run for their money. It was quite nasty and I had to will myself not to consider all the sweat and spit from other nasty people floating in that mud pit. Blek.
Because we're all so cheerleading inclined (whatever) we had to make a pyramid of sorts. After this we were off to be sprayed down by a huge hose in the midst of 400 other muddy people.
I personally had great fun doing the Warrior Dash and I'll plan on being a Warrior again next year. One thing is for certain though. I will NOT be waiting on Jared numerous times only to have him push me at the mud pit and beat me to the finish line. Winning only counts when you don't cheat. :)

Lanie Heads to MDO!

The first year of Elaina's life has just blown right by. I can't believe that it's already time for her to go to Mother's Day Out! I mean, I guess I don't really have to send her but me, myself, and I would like to go to the grocery store and not have someone shrieking each time we pass the goldfish or carton milk. So, here goes!

I know I'm quite partial since she's mine and all but seriously, she's got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Her outfit isn't hurting either :) (In case I've never mentioned it, shopping for girls is WAY more fun than shopping for boys!) Lanie got a new napmat that she's quite fond of at home. I'll be happy to hear if she actually snoozes on it at school.
I could hardly get her to be still for a picture. She's all into "jumping" right now. I put jumping in quotations because I don't think it qualifies as a jump if you never leave the ground. She gives it a good go though.
She's in love with her blanket. I had to pull the ol' distract and stuff method to get it in her napmat without her throwing a little tantrum. This was what happened when I tried to take it the first time.
She was also all about looking at her shoes.
Since it was her first day being away at school all day I decided she should sport her sparkle shoes. It's a well known fact that sparkle shoes increase one's confidence. And I knew if there were a day that she needed a little boost it would be today.
It was all sillies and laughing before we left. I was certain that once we hit that church parking lot she was going to bring out her serious face. I was right. That's pretty much all she wears at church!
I know she's going to love her teacher, Mrs. Kathi even though she cried when I dropped her off :( I love knowing that she's going to be loved while I'm grocery shopping, picking up the house and volunteering at the school. Okay, I'm trying to make myself sound better than I really am. I'll be shopping, napping, and getting pedicures. Whadaya wanna make of it?

ATL MLB 2011

This weekend we grabbed our buds and headed to the ATL for a little baseball. It might as well have been a trip to Disney World with all the excitement floating around! Rhett had a verbal countdown going on at least 10 days before we left. Here we are....finally at the field after a long drive!

We were lucky to get some passes to batting practice. I would say it was the highlight of the trip but the truth is that the ENTIRE weekend was a highlight!
I was happy to have a gal with me at this baseball game. Don't let her fool you, though. She's just as crazy about the game as all of those boys!
The boys ran around getting autographs from all the players that were nice enough to come over. They ended up getting a hat full of signatures (with Rhett being the exception. He did a lot of running up to players and just standing there. He forgot to ask!) To Rhett even Daniel was a bit intimidating in his uniform.
It's always a great time to see our favorite Braves player! It's been quite a change, turning in all of our Marlins gear and hopping on the Tomahawk wagon!
I got a picture of two of the boys with Daniel but Rhett was MIA. I would assume that at this point he was staring at Brian McCann wondering why he wouldn't sign his hat (yet never asking). And, just for the record, I can't stand the new flat billed hats. They make my kid's heads look like gobstoppers.

It doesn't take much to turn Bobby into a twelve year old, in fact, he lives most of his life there, but this did it for him: Mr. Don Mattingly. In fact, the next day he sent Cade over from the good seats to get Don's autograph. It was a day of dreams for Bobby and Brent but Cade had no idea. He just thought it was strange that dad wanted him to let a Dodger sign his hat!
We also got to see Chocolate Papa. I don't know who that is but surely it's someone. I mean, they don't call him Chocolate Papa for nothing.
Jose Constanza.......Little Buddy finally got wise and opened his mouth.
Two peas in a pod were just happy to be anywhere together. Even though they never made it to the good seats they were just happy as larks.
Grant and Callan....
and Ashley and I were the first lucky ones to be treated like ball game royalty. We were just a few seats, a row or two, and a slide and a shuffle from Bobby Cox. I wonder if he realized he was so close to us?

I loved look down to see that the boys had removed their caps for the National Anthem.
Our seats were quite good! And, if I do mention, I got a homerun at this at-bat. It really was for me, per my request, and I feel certain that I would've had 2 more if the Dodger's would've given him something to hit!
Game #2. We had just finished fighting the crowd in the Braves' Shop in order to buy some mini bats (or weapons) and some foam tomahawks to chop the house with.
I love my man. And I really love hanging with him at baseball games.....or anywhere for that matter!
Brent and Ash
The second game had this motley crew in the good seats. Ashley and I had fun watching them from up top. The boys collected who knows how many balls from the Dodger's players.
Here's our crew up top doing the 7th inning stretch singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".

Then cheering for something.....
The gals.
It was a great weekend for baseball as you can tell by the smiles!
We had a little drizzling rain on Sunday but it was nothing a little pizza as big as your head (seriously), DippinDots, or $5 waters couldn't cure! We can't wait to make another trip to the diamond!

Bow Head

I found a sketchy little website called HaloHeaven that has crazy deals on all kinds of things. The only catch is that you have to buy some things, such as bows, in bulk. Well, I figured you can never have too many bows so I bought 2 dozen. I only paid $25 for all of them! Crazy price if you know how much a bow generally costs. I sent Cade upstairs with the box and the next thing I knew he was calling me upstairs. This is what I found:

He had filled Elaina's head full of her new bows!
The funniest part to me what that she just sat there and let him do it. I can't figure her out. She'll happily wear 18 bows in her hair but when I put a mere ONE in she's insists on ripping it out. I'm sure this won't be the last time I can't figure this chick out.
I know she's a girl and all, but I'm always surprised at the girly tendencies that she has. My boys were and are ALL boy....truck lovin', wrestlin', rough housing, dirty boys. She on the other hand will play with a car if it's given to her but she'll immediately put any kind of bag on her shoulder and walk around like it's a purse.
She also loves new shoes and wants to always put them on. (Do you have any idea how happy that makes me??! and how scared it makes Bobby??!) And, if I've seen her scoot out of my room wearing a bra properly draped over both her shoulders once, I've seen it a thousand times.
I'm loving all of this girly stuff but I'm sticking to my guns until she proves me wrong. This gal is going to play soccer. You can be girly and sporty, too!