Our Beach Getaway

For the longest time, we often saw "OBX" stickers on cars on the road and wondered what they meant. You see them everywhere around here. After asking around, we found out that it means the Outer Banks. Many of our friends faithfully go back every year and now we know why. We had to book our beach house at least six months in advance. It was a six bedroom, 5.5 bathroom beauty that we shared with some family and friends. We had our own private pool, hot tub, sand volleyball court, grills, and everything you needed from bikes, strollers, nets and buckets for the beach.

We all had a memorable experience and now are hooked! I thought I'd get sick of the beach after the first day, but not so...we went every day of the week we were there. Ced loved boogie boarding, G loved catching baby clams and trying to "surf" and the girls, T and M, thought it was a new adventure each day collecting sea shells. T also loved building sandcastles with dad. I loved soaking all the sounds and sites in. It was truely relaxing. We took the kids go-karting, where G got to drive his own car, which was probably a big highlight of the trip for him. We also rented a boat and went fishing for a few hours, in which I caught my first fish ever (and many after) with a dinky kid pole!

What we loved about the Outer Banks is that it is not commercialized and crowded. There is no boardwalk (which could bore you if you are into that), but we had fun during the day and enjoyed some family time (and adult time watching scary movies after the kids were in bed) in the evenings. We miss the beach and are hoping that next year we can return, or at least once every two years. I think we are now officially OBX junkies! We have even started looking at beach houses for future trips!

Here is a montage of some of the pictures I took. Maybe I can get you hooked too...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Big 4!

Miss T has been planning her Tinkerbell party for months. Since her birthday fell on the day we were leaving for the beach (see upcoming post), we felt a little bad. I decided to put together a little party for her and her closest friends from the neighborhood and church. There were about six girls there. I cannot even tell you how easy and fun it was to keep the games going, etc. Girls are so much calmer than boys! Most of the girls dressed up in princess or fairy attire. I made them walk the plank and fish for prizes, I had them go in a teepee and painted them with fairy dust. We played "princess, princess, fairy (duck, duck, goose)" and did bubbles in Neverneverland. I even made her pinata (I couldn't bring myself to paying $25 for something that would get thrashed in seconds). Overall, it was a success. You will see a shot of the aftermath...but it was worth it for our little Tinkerbell!

Here's a shot out to T. She is our little diva with a lot of spunk. She is not afraid to tell you how she feels and how it is. She is a sweetheart. Whenever she has treats or something she thinks someone would like, she always saves it for her daddy or anyone that would enjoy it. She is a leader by nature and we expect her to hold her own pretty well in life. She's a wonderful sister and daughter. We love you, babe! Life would be boring without you!

Busy Weekends

I know, I know, it has been quite some time since I've posted. I have found that I am on the computer less and have no desire to get on, now that I am not required to sit in front of one for hours at a time for work.

A few weeks ago, we took our little animals to the zoo to see more animals. The weather was nice and we wanted to take advantage of Cedric's half day Fridays while they lasted. We took my neice with us. We got a kick out of people giving us a double take as we walked by them, pushing two strollers, with four kids, our oldest being six. Of course, they thought my neice was ours, but the looks of "are you guys crazy?" cracked us up. Before we left, I found the kids in the laundry room getting excited (notice M's lovely pink crocs she put on with her blue dress as she chanted "I yove the yoo")...

The day after we got back, Ced's good friend from high school (in NY) was driving through the area (they took a slight detour to see us). We met them up at a nearby town center. It was fun to catch up and reminisce about old times. Thanks for coming to see us, Jon & Allison!

What We've Been Up To

Today it has been almost four weekdays since I completed working full time. What have we been up to, you ask? Surprisingly, things are just as busy as when I was working, but filled with different types of things. I'm now trying to do things that I never got to before. I've been searching for fun and free events for the kids to enjoy. We have always been money conscious before, but it seems we are more so, now that I am not working. So free things are the best things! Some highlights of our days include: spending some time at the library. They had a reptile show there where they brought in a huge albino python. It was pretty nasty, but the kids loved it. We've gone to the playground, can't beat that. We saw a Peter Pan at the theater...they have free summer movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

We also visited with McGruff for National Night Out. This is when the police come and tell you about safety and they had a moonbounce and a bunch of stuff for the kids.


Then the kids rode on this thing and were pulled around the block...there were flashing police lights and they loved it...

We had to get creative with our time, so we made toilet paper towers...

And lastly, I think I've worn them all out by staying home and doing more things with them!

Rock Stars

This week, we "Wii-ed" for the first time. Some friends from our ward got together and challenged each other to some Wii games. We have never "Wii-ed" before. We were told going in, there would be no mercy. It was a blast. Afterwards, we all did Rock Band and rocked out on a few songs. Cedric really got into it and actually had a knack for the drums. It got a little out of hand when he started singing "Roxanne" though. I think I pulled the plug at that point. I tried out the guitar and failed miserably. It was hilarious to see everyone goofing off. I think our kids are trying to learn from our example because today, I found them pounding on some pots, pans, pitchers, whatever they could find. They used chopsticks as their drum sticks. T was the lead singer (she ran away when I tried to take her picture). They formed their own rock band at home. It was the cutest thing to watch.

Summer Concert

T jamming out on Dad's shoulders

M enjoying a refreshing drink

Tonight, G-man stood for Grouch! Look at that sad face snuggled up against grandma!

The girls goofing off with their glow neclaces...

Last weekend, we took the kids out to a free summer concert near my parents' home. It was a cover band and so they sang any song you wanted to request. The theme for the night was '80's, so we enjoyed some old school Def Leppard, Poison, Nirvana, Weezer and some current stuff...even Miley Cirus, ha ha! T loved dancing on Ced's shoulder's. G was a different story. I think his lack of sleep this summer caught up to him because he was a grouch that night. He finally lightened up by the end of the night, but we just let him be for a while. M was bouncing to the beat too! It was nice to enjoy some music under the stars.

Introducing Baby Addison

On Tuesday, July 15th, my beautiful neice, Addison Faith arrived. She was 8.5 lbs. and 21 inches long. We are excited to have her join our family. She really did a number on her mama, who endured over 15 hours of labor. However, she is well worth it. Cedric and I both came from small families, I have one brother and he has one sister. This means we are counting on our two siblings to produce as many cute neices and nephews as possible. Right now, we have two beautiful neices.

My neice Katie (the big sis) has been staying with us while her mom is in the hospital recovering. We have thoroughly loved having her here. She's such a good girl. T asked the other day if she is in our family now. I said, what do you mean? She is your cousin, yes, she's your family. She said, no, is she our kid? I said no, she's just joining us for a while, but she has her own family too. She said, no, she has been spending the night here for three nights now, she is our kid.

We have had a blast. We ride bikes, play basketball, do sidewalk chalk, go to the pool, and even gotten our nails done at a salon. So to Katie's mom and dad...don't worry about her, she is doing just fine!

It has been one big slumber party. Cedric has officially been kicked out of our bed for the time being.

We made a cake to celebrate Baby Addison's 1 day old birthday.


We've loved hanging out and watching a good movie too.



So take your time getting better...we are having a ball!

Restless Summer Weekend

Since summer has started, I have been itching to get out and do things. I know that this is going to eventually wear on me, but our kids are at a great age where they are more "portable" now. As you can see from our previous posts, we have been going and going. I love not having to worry about getting the kids to bed in time for school. One of the perks of Cedric's work is that he gets off at noon every Friday during the summer months. We have really used this to our advantage to go places we've been wanting to go and avoid the crowds.

This past Friday, we started off with a fun mega play date at a ward friend's home. She had moonbounces and slushies, the works. The kids had a blast. Then we rushed home and I worked for about an hour and off we went to Baltimore to the National Aquarium. The kids loved the sharks the best, of course. M cracked me up because every time one came near her at the glass, she would literally shiver and cringe. We also did the dolphin show. The kids watched in awe. We couldn't get very good pictures at the aquarium because someone was always looking away, but I will share the ones we have. After the aquarium, we took the kids to the ESPN Zone for dinner. For those who have never been there, I highly recommend it...if you are a big kid at heart (like we are). We had just as much fun as the kids, challenging each other to air hockey, basketball, and even a horse race. M wanted to play like the "big kids" so we had to put her on her own game and pretend to cheer her on. She was so proud of herself, she kept giving us high fives. We ended up staying so late that we didn't get home till midnight!

Then Sat. rolled around and and we lounged all day in anticipation of going to a minor league Frederick Keys baseball game. It is less than an hour away and the route is very scenic. The kids really got into the game and even got to run the bases at the end and watch a fireworks display. We are all wiped out now, but you better believe that I am trying to dream up some more quick trips for the remaining weekends of this summer! Gotta take it all in!

A huge swimming turtle at the aquarium
Baltimore Inner Harbor

Us inside a shark's mouth
I love it when they hold hands...
Jumping dolphin at the show All three are lined up, ready to race...
Here's M, insisting she do it all by herself.
On the carousel at the baseball game

G and his best bud and his sister, acting silly... Go T! Running the bases...
Now what should we do next weekend?

The End is NEAR

...for work, that is! I can officially say now that I am quitting my job by the end of this month. After enduring eight years of working full time and being a mother to three kids, I see the end approaching very closely.

I have been lucky enough for the past few years to work from home most of the time. However, I guess there are pros and cons of everything. It was eating away at me that I was home and couldn't really be with the kids. Then when I was doing something with them, there was a guilty and nagging feeling that work was being left undone. I was trying to do it all, be the "super mom"and also the working mom at once. Last night, as I was working at 10pm (there's no end when you work from home), I just realized that I have about 3 weeks left! This will be a test of enduring to the end!

I cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to do all the things I have not been able to do. It has been a great experience, but tough to say the least. My kids are my world and I can now give them the time and attention they deserve. They are small for just a short time and I do not want to miss out on these years.

So I am saying hello to the pool, the park, shopping, and everything under the sun that I've missed out on. I am saying good riddins to sitting in front of my computer all day, conference calls, tax filings, and crazy boss requests. I'm ready to just dive right in to this stay at home mom thing! I may do some side work starting in Sept., but I am limiting that to 2-3 hours a day, so I can still enjoy this time with the kids. Yea!

All Bruised Up

I know, I know, this is rather disgusting. This is a bruise that I have been carrying on my leg for almost a week now and it is actually healing. I have been answering many questions about how I got this bruise...and I chuckle because many people think it is Cedric's doing. After planning a nice dinner for Cedric's birthday, we decided to meet up at a restaurant after he finished work. I got there first and in my hurry to get all three kids out of the car, I opened the car door and slammed the corner right into my leg. When it happened, I was in absolute pain. However, I was trying to tell myself that I was just being a wuss and that I needed to suck it up. Well, apparently, I wasn't overexaggerating my pain! You can probably tell that I am utterly bored right now to be posting about a bruise. :) I guess it's a mom's badge of honor for me.

4th of July

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. It captures the essence of summer with barbecues, staying up late, fireflies, and hanging out with family and friends. This holiday is also dear to my heart because it gives me some time to reflect on how wonderful our country is. As an infant, my parents came to this country in hopes of a better life for us with nothing but the shirts on their backs. They started out as janitors, working at nursing homes, flipping burgers...any job that you could imagine (that no one wanted to do), they did. They have become successful citizens of a great country, now reaping the rewards of their labor. They have taught us to be successful by seizing the many opportunities this country has to offer, through hard work and education. I truly believe that this country is what it is through our Father's hand. I am honored and thankful to be a part of this great nation!

Here are some shots of all of us at the parade. I think by the end, the kids were ready to go, but we had a wonderful time. Cedric's family came to visit from NY and we went and saw fireworks later in the evening off of a nearby lake. This is the first year that the kids did not plug their ears or were scared, so we were all able to enjoy them. Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!

I'm an Embarrassment...

I think I am already getting a glimpse of my kids' teenage years way too early. Today, I was cleaning up around the house in my p.j.'s. G and T are going to have some friends over later this morning. As I progressed through the cleaning, the time got closer to when the friends were coming over. Here's a recap of how it went down:

G: "Mom, aren't you going to change your clothes?"
Me: "Why, these clothes are comfortable, I like hanging out in these clothes."
G: "But my friends are coming over in a little bit."
Me (I'm totally messing with him at this point): "And? It's okay. They won't care. Don't worry about what other people will think."
G: "Mom, I care; they will think you are crazy."

I proceed to go upstairs and shower. G follows me upstairs. I said, "Can you please leave me alone, I'm trying to take a shower." G: "Mom, you will put some clothes on." Me: "No, I like my jammies, they are way too comfy."

I get out of the shower to find a pile of clothes that he had pulled out from my drawers. He greets me with, "Mom, I am putting my foot down. You put these clothes on. If you love me, you will do it." I said, "Of course I love you. Why do you care so much about what I wear?"

G: "You embarrass me."

There you have it. I never thought it would start so soon. I didn't know kids his age knew how to be embarrassed about things like that. This is a kid who will wear bright red shorts with a yellow shirt, or even worse, socks with his Crocs. I always thought of myself as a "cool" mom, but I think I just got put in my place.