Lanai

We made it to Lanai without incident. One of the first things we had was a fancy dinner to attend on the grounds of some house. Rumors were flying about XYZ famous person owning the house next door. I can't even remember who they were saying....maybe Steven Tyler? 

In any case, it was beautiful and if I were Steven Tyler I'd own the house next door, too. The pictures just don't do the place justice. 

Sunset in Hawaii is breathtaking!

Me and my main squeeze.

 It was a super fun night eating good food and looking at God's great handiwork!

Hawaii Bound!!

Thanks to Bobby's stellar work performance he was rewarded with a trip to the Aloha state! We were super excited for the opportunity to travel to Hawaii since it was a place we'd always wanted to go. Unfortunately, a delay in Nashville caused us to miss our connecting flight out of L.A. So, instead of lounging in the Four Seasons, Maui we were put up in the Holiday Inn by the airport in Los Angeles. :( These are our sad/mad faces:

Fret not, we arrived the next day and were christened with leis and set out on our way to relaxation. 

It took me a whole day to figure out that there was an adult only relaxation pool. I could get used to sitting at a place like this...in the quiet with only the sound of bubbling spa water...with no water guns haphazardly spraying me in my ear hole...no whining/fighting/crying/screaming/splashing kids calling my name. It was a slice of heaven. 

This was the other pool where you could rent a little cabana thing. I spent one day there wondering why people would bring so many little kids to Hawaii and stay at the Four Seasons. Those people are crazy and have too much extra money. Eddie Murphy was there with his family. See? Crazy and too much money. 

Dinner was at one of the hotel restarants and it was delish.  

The missed flight made our stay in Maui short lived. I definitely would like to return one day! Now, off to Lanai!

I did make sure before I left Maui that I sent a planking picture back home to my workout buddies. It's since become a given....if you're off on some vacation you better send us all a planking picture!

Spartan Baseball

I was asked to take team pictures for Grant's all-star team this year. It was a super foggy morning and I had a great time taking this "tough" picture. The coach made it into a banner to take to the games. Pretty cool! 

One of Grant's main positions this season was second base. 

Sister spent so much time at the ball park that anytime she woke up from any kind of sleep she'd say, "Whose game we goin' to?" She didn't seem to mind though, thank goodness! 

Grant's other main spot was catcher this year and he really seemed to like it. He got pretty good back there. The Cade pitching, Grant catching combo during the regular season (because they were on the same team) was pretty fun to watch! 

And, as luck (or questionable coaching) would have it, even though he had pitched a total of about 10 pitches in his life, he was sent to the mound in the most important game of the season when we were down and HAD to have some strikeouts. 

We didn't win that game but for the circumstances and the fact that Grant had not pitched before thrown in with some really terrible behind the plate umpiring, he really did a fantastic job. And, he found out that he really likes to pitch! 

I always have fun watching this kid play. I hope he continues to love the game and improves while doing it! 

Eleven!

Cade's eleven. What? Yes. Eleven. Next thing you know he'll be pulling out of the driveway in his own car ( it'll be a hoopty (more front and rear protection) from the late nineties built with a steel enforced roll bar across the top) and I'll be pulling my hair out wondering why in the world I ever set myself up for such worry. Ah, but right now, summer, poolside, friends.....we haven't much to worry about. Cade opted for his usual all day Party Palooza with his buds. This year throwing the pool into the mix was great fun! 

I spent most of the afternoon catering the children....bringing them lunch, making sure folks didn't dive where they weren't suppose to, sunscreening them (which made no difference whatsoever since I sent pretty much everyone home burnt to a crisp....another vote for Mother of the Year for me. I'm not doing to hot as of late!)

I tried to get one good group shot but it's really hard when people don't even get out of the pool long enough to let their fingers un-wrinkle. 

After hours of swimming we headed to Jonathan's for dinner.

 There were some antics but all in good fun:)

Then we were off to Sweet CeCe's for birthday dessert. Luckily we were the only folks in there so it wasn't totally humiliating to sing Happy Birthday to Cade before digging in.

Then it was back home. And just when you thought everyone was waterlogged, they jumped right back in and started playing the same ball game that they had played for the 6 hours prior to dinner. Hey...whatever makes you happy on your birthday, right?!  

It was a fantastic day with an even more fantastic group of boys. I truly adore each of them and I'm so thankful for the clan Cade is hanging with these days. I hope to keep them around! Happy 11th birthday, Cade! 

Adios Elementary School!

How did this even happen? How did we go from this:

to THIS in such a short span??? My mother heart can't take it. Tonight was Cade's Fifth grade graduation. 

Bobby and I were so proud of him walking out of the ceremony with several awards.

He received the Principal's Award for having straight A's through the fifth grade and the President's Gold Seal Award for straight A's throughout his entire elementary career. To qualify for the Gold Seal Award he also had to test above average on his TCAP each year. So, that award was quite an accomplishment! 

 We are so blessed that both sets of grandparents are able to be a part of these special days in the lives of our kids. I know it's something they will look back on and treasure!

A quick graduation picture with 2 of our best school buds, Drew and Ryan. 

The week leading up to graduation is always full of fun things. Field day is always one everyone looks forward to. This year it was a complete wash out but no one really complained. These two still made their rounds to all the stations with smiles on their faces!  

 There was Fifth Grade picnic day which, of course, I was late to. Why do they have to put all my kids' picnics at the same time on different parts of the school campus? I mean, I'm only one mom and I don't have a nanny. I might look into that though. School Function Nanny. Sounds like a great idea! 

I can't let an "end of elementary school" blog post go by without including this picture. Cade and Taylor have been "in like" with each other each and every year of their Longview careers. Much to their embarrassment, I made them stand close to one another for an end of school pic. I would hand pick this gal so if in 15 years they want to get married I'll gladly pick up the tab for the rehearsal dinner:) 

 So here we are. One kid through elementary and three more to go. I hope Bobby and I do well entering this new stage of parenting: The Middle School Years. Goodbye sweet Mother's Day crafts and things like Watermelon Day.....hello zits, puberty, and attitudes....Oh, me!!! 

Water Fun

The kiddos had some fun having Bobby throw them in the pool. I'm looking forward to making many memories in our new backyard swimming hole! 

Year Number Three!

Princess Petunia turned three today. Her years are just rolling by with barely a chance for me to savor them! She's three going on 7 and does her best to keep up with her crazy brothers....and most of the time she's holding her own! I have so loved having a splash of pink (or should I say purple since that's the color she's crazy about!) in this family. Her request for months now for her birthday celebration was "a purple party at Moe's". Well, purple I can do, Moe's not as easy. Catering was quite costly and they don't really do parties there so we opted for Moe's meal pre-birthday and chicken nuggets for the actual day. And purple, we did LOTS of purple! 

Loraine's bakery provided chocolate cupcakes with purple m&m's. Perfect for a purple party! 

I did a really poor job capturing the purpleness of her party with my camera. I made purple tissue balls that were hanging from the ceiling as well. The cold, rainy day put a damper on my outdoor swim party:(

In keeping with tradition, I forgot to get candles. Luckily I had one purple one left from Grant's birthday back in February.....ummm, Mother of the Year. 

There were purple party favors and plenty of Chick-fil-a party hats to go around. We can always count on bff Carris to bring the sass to the party! 

Cake and ice cream....always her favorite!

Ms. Busibody didn't want to take time to get her picture made with anyone! Bobby snuck in a quick one though! 

Her birthday surprise from us was this mini trampoline. I thought as often as she goes rogue in gymnastics class (i.e. her entire class is walking the balance beam nicely and where's Lanie? Oh yeah....she's on the trampoline...again) she'd love having a little jump zone of her own at home. I was right! She was elated!

Quick pic with my birthday girl!

Present opening time! She got a little princess castle, a swimming Dora doll, some clothes and lots of other goodies! 

Auntie Love.

Despite the cool and the rain the bigger boys spent most of the time outside playing wall ball.

Well, until they caught wind of the party glasses!

Eliza got in on the party glasses too. I guess they were a hit no matter the age:)

Elaina and Cruz.

Party girls! 

I always love celebrating birthdays. While it's hard to watch the kids grow so quickly it's also a great reminder of the time God has given us with them. I hope and pray that we're throwing Elaina purple parties for years and years to come! Happy Birthday, Elaina!