Happy May!

We love having visitors!  Our close friends Shane and Shannon came down last week with their two little ones (and one on the way!) It was so good to catch up and just hang out.  We are so happy they decided to spend their vacation near us!

The four kids in the pool.  Alex and Caroline loved being helpers:)

Random one I couldn't figure out how to move!  From mother -son picnic!

Fun times at the beach! 

Caroline and I before the Mother-daughter tea at church.

All the girls wore  hats and we drank tea and ate finger sandwiches and treats!  So much fun.

Finally, Jason's parents arrived on Friday to spend some time with us.  We went out for a Mother's Day Brunch and sat overlooking the Gulf.  Luckily the rain stopped just in time for us to enjoy!  I am so thankful that God gave me my two and entrusted me with their upbringing! It is a tough job sometimes, but the most important in the world!   

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!  We love you!!

Beach Fun!

just a few pictures from a calm day at the beach!

 Still haven't figured out this new blogger page... they changed the set up!  The picture above is from the Prom that Jason and I attended to support the Seaside Repertory Theater.  It was fun dressing up retro and having a night out. :)

A little Easter photo shoot.....

More Spring Break!

I had to start this post with this picture because it cracks me up... This was the kids waiting ever so patiently for their cousins to get here last week for Spring Break. The time went oh so slowly...
Alex did manage to catch a lizard in his bucket.

And the cousins did arrive! Here is my cute nephew James helping out the big kids.


A little blurry, but all the cousins having ice cream from the ice cream man aka Grandpa.

James had fun playing on our porch.

Love this one!
Caroline and Lauren after a swim....


Getting ready for the sunset....


Time with Uncle Brian out in the waves....

The girls.....

They had so much fun with their cousins, even though they had to go to school while they were here. Also, Alex got the flu bug that Caroline had at the beginning of the week, so that put a bit of a damper on plans, as well as the rain that came in for 3 days. But we made the most of it!

Spring Break!

Our spring break started on Friday! We kicked it off by going to Alex's award ceremony at school. He received all A's and perfect attendance for this grading period! We are very proud of him!


Saturday, we headed out for a lunch together ... this is Sis modeling my new sun hat.


My delicious lunch of fish tacos!


Then we stopped by Grayton State Park to scout out possible photo shoot ideas for an upcoming Pizza by the Sea photo shoot. The trees along this nature trail were gorgeous!

Perfect blue sky and surrounded by nature.....



Then we finished the day off at the beach. The kids had a blast flying their little kites that Ema and Papa sent them. (I don't think you can actually see the kite in this pic, but I tried!)

Monday, Caroline had her friend Aiden over to play and go swimming while Alex went to a friend's house for the day.

It has been a bit strange being here on Spring Break as a resident and not a tourist, but I hope the kids are enjoying some of the fun things we have planned around here. Cousins are coming tomorrow, so Spring Break part 2 coming up!

So Sorry!

I have been so bad about snapping pictures of the kids lately. I just forget! So here's just a little update on everyone in the family:

Miss Caroline: She is doing an excellent job at school- she especially loves math. She just finished up sewing classes and has started taking tennis! (yay!!) She also goes to Joy Club at church after school on Wednesdays. Her favorite game right now is "Sorry" and she loves watching "Chopped" on the Food Network and "Wheel of Fortune". She is going to her first sleepover at a friend's house this weekend!

Alex: He is loving school this week because the entire 4th grade has spent every day at the Biophilia Center learning about the area's native pine forest, and the animals living in it. He is in heaven! Pictures of that coming soon. He took my camera with him and has gotten some great shots--- (a black widow spider! :/) He just started training with the local competitive soccer league (the GulfSouth Dynamo) and loves it! And he is still taking piano lessons as well.

Jason and I: We are engulfed in Pizza by the Sea right now with a deluge of Spring Breakers. So our time has been spent either with the kids, at the restaurant, or at church on Sunday mornings. The next few weeks will be pretty hectic, but fun. We really enjoy owning PBTS and meeting and serving people from all over-- and hearing how much the love our pizza! We are so thankful that God opened this door for us and we jumped in! A big, kinda scary move, but so worth it.

The only 2 pictures I have: our new 2012 PBTS t-shirt design! I am very happy with how it turned out-- did you know neon is back in style?




We had a lovely day last week so we took the kids and their friends to the beach. They actually got in the water- a bit chilly still for me, but they had fun!

In Like a Lamb

This has been a crazy winter for weather hasn't it? It has been so mild down here, and for the past two weeks, it has been nonstop fog. We have seen maybe just a few hours of sunshine. Weird! And then all of the really bad storms and tornadoes going on.....We get so comfortable in our every day living that we sometimes forget to be thankful for what we have--it can vanish in a second, whether it's a storm, or an accident, or an illness. I am praying for those people who lost everything they had--that they turn to God for the peace and comfort that only He can provide in these situations.

Speaking of being thankful, I am thankful for these 2, despite the challenges they can be! Whew! We are in the midst of a major sibling squabble period right now, and there are some days I just want to put them in a padded room and tell them to go at it! But we are working through it.... our verse for the month is "Love each other deeply. Honor others more than yourselves." Romans 12:10 That can be difficult sometimes, can' it? Only with God's help can we love others like we should.

Here they are showing off their avocado seed they are trying to grow into a tree.


My inventor....

Dinner at a new restaurant right around the corner -- fried mac n cheese sticks!


Sis in her new spring duds.

Alex in his new safety patrol gear... he takes his job VERY seriously, kind of like someone else I know who was safety patrol back in the early 80's :)


And just when I think I am about to pull my hair out, he does this.... how can I not laugh?!