Fun in the Sun!

What a week AND weekend! It was sunny and beautiful all last weekend so that was our cue to go outside and play. I bought the kids a slip and slide (woohoo!) so I set it up first thing that morning. Brady AND I played on it for a couple of hours. He thought it was great! (mommy thought it was pretty fun too) Then Josh and I made the decision to take him to the pool at Rickwood Caverns. It’s fairly cheap to get in, and now that it’s so hot outside, it’s the best way to spend a Saturday! Nothing beats a dip in the pool. That afternoon, after Brady’s nap, Grandmother kept him for a little while and Josh and I got a few hours of alone time to go play some golf. We had a really good time! Since it’s still so hot around 3 p.m. there were literally NO other people playing. So Josh and I decide to make the best of it. We played 2 balls on every hole. Haha! It was like playing two games. I only threw my golf club once, and Josh mumbled a few ugly words under his breath twice…so all in all, we played a fair game.
Sunday we had another good day. We went to Josh’s parents for a Father’s Day breakfast, and then we went to my parents for lunch. Once we got home the kids were ready to play on the slip and slide some more. This time I decided to “up the ante” by adding a bunch of black plastic that looks suspiciously like the stuff we have here at work :-). Now our slip n slide has gone from 16 ft to a nice 36 ft. Haha, the kids REALLY liked that.
So, thus far this week has been one stress after another. I’m still waiting on my income tax refund from the state so I can pay for my tag, which expires OFFICIALLY Tuesday, June 30th. Yes, that’s in 4 days. And since we have an Army Reserves tag I HAVE to go wait in line at the courthouse (no online payment for me!), plus it’s in Josh’s name so I have to get a signed and notarized Power of Attorney…JUST TO GIVE THEM MONEY! I’ve been getting 2 kids ready for daycare every morning. We’re shorthanded at work, so I’ve upped my work load. Josh has been working late every night so I get to bathe the kids, cook, wash dishes, clean up and take care of the animals. Luckily Kendall is old enough to help out with a few things! Needless to say, I’ve been a little stressed. Sooo, tonight I’m going to scrapbook with my girls! I’m very excited. I’m not even going home first!! A little time without work, kids, hubby…that’s just what I need.

Constant Complete Chaos

Lots of little things have been going on this week. Nothing too drastic, just life, as usual. Work is starting to be less chaotic. Since last week was my first week back after vacation, and KB (good friend, co-worker) had her baby while I was gone, it was AWFUL! I continued to wonder if my employer would consider 6 years of work enough time to retire. ALAS, it’s gotten to be much more manageable around here. I’m catching back up. Josh worked with his Army Reserve unit in Hoover all last week, so this is his first week back to normal work. He’s so frustrated after only 2 full days back that he’s joked about joining the Army full time or just quitting his job. Yeah, I don’t believe I’ll allow any of that to happen!
Kendall is officially staying with us through the summer. She stays with us every summer from the day school ends till the weekend before it starts back up. Which is wonderful! It really gives us time to spend together like a normal family. I know Braden likes it too, he gets to missing his sister a lot sometimes. Unfortunately, this means we’re paying for two kids in daycare. UGH! I can barely afford one. Actually, I was thinking about it yesterday and I only have one more year (and 2 months) of paying full time daycare. Brady will start kindergarten August 2010. How very sad. He’s getting way too big. I’m not ready for him to be my baby anymore. Maybe we’ll finish getting the house fixed up and get a new one next year. I think I’m getting closer and closer to being ready for our last baby. Two more years? Maybe? Only God knows…and He’ll let me know when it’s the right time.

June 17th 2009-
You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Summer Lovin', Havin' a Blast

Well, it was definitely a good trip for the Moody's. Our vacation was wonderful. We got to Gulf Shores on Tuesday and it was so warm and nice. The skies were overcast off and on, but it didn't really rain except for times that we weren't on the beach anyway. Kendall & Braden had a blast. They dug a big hole in the sand and their daddy caught a bunch of little bitty fish and put them in the hole so they could build sand castles around it and try to catch the fish. Braden wasn't nearly as crazy about the water (until the last day, OF COURSE) as he's been every other year. He usually won't let us hold him once he's in the water. He's got his water wings on and he doesn't want anything to do with us, but this time he was a little more hesitant. He loved the hot tub though. For plenty of additional pics you can see the little slideshow at the bottom of this post.

Other than swim and play on the beach, we didn't do much. We did manage to get out of the condo one night and go play putt-putt. That was fun. We played twice, and of course I never got a hole in one until the 2nd time we played and then we weren't keeping score. OH WELL! Josh's birthday was that Wednesday that we were there and my sister was there with us, and she was nice enough to watch the munchkins so that we could go out to eat. Josh's b'day present was a new camera. I think he likes it, he wanted a smaller one that he could just stuff in his pocket and we could carry with us to events. He doesn't like mine anyway. :)

The days on the beach were wonderful, but I became really sad when I received a text message on Thursday morning telling me that my good friend KB had her little girl, and I MISSED IT! Savannah Kay Burton was born at 7:41 a.m. and weighed 5 lbs. 2 oz. and was 17.5 in long. She was more than three weeks early, so of course she is TINY. Probably the smallest baby I've ever held. I hated that I wasn't there, but I'm glad she's finally here and healthy. Just another little miracle to love.

So, it's back to work for all of us...and getting back into the groove of things is never easy. It's been a really rough week for me so I've had almost no time for myself, which includes blogging. I love to read, and I've done almost none of that. My house is a disaster...at least I've unpacked and done laundry...but hopefully I'll get caught up on that this weekend. That's the plan anyway. I bought Braden a slip and slide, I hear they've improved them so that they aren't dangerous like they were when I was a kid, we may try to play on that a little bit this weekend. We'll have to see how long it takes me to do something about this house.

OH, and I've made the unfortunate decision to give the kittens away. I don't think this is the right time (or the right tiny little house) to add to our furry family. If anyone knows someone that would love two precious little kittens, send them my way. I would prefer they go to the same home since they are so attached to each other. All I ask is that whoever takes them gets them spayed and gets them their shots. I just want them to find a happy, healthy home.

June 11th 2009-
Summer afternoon...the two most beautiful words in the English language.
-Henry James