Beach, Battles, and Beads

If you seek adventure...sometimes you find everything you're looking for. That's just what we did last weekend. I stepped out of my comfort zone and booked a trip to an unknown location, stayed in unfamiliar lodgings and had NO plan.

My dad came to visit and we went traveled further South to visit his brother who camps(yes camps) in Golf Shores for the winter. I fretted the whole drive about booking a stay at a place no one had heard of (it was a great deal). We drove away from civilization out onto Fort Morgan Peninsula and arrived at paradise. We explored Fort Morgan, visited with my Uncle Pat, relaxed, swam with the kids, took a car ferry to Dauphin Island, drove on to Mobile (which was in full blown Mardi Gras mode), and finally toured Battleship Park, before heading home to Auburn. It was a great trip that I didn't plan. I just let things happen when they happened. It was totally out character for me and we all loved it! Here's just a few of the pics....


The amazing USS Alabama's gun turret.

Aidan standing in the ship's main kitchen.

Taking the Jeep on it's first boat ride across Mobile Bay.

David and the kids on the ferry.

Grandpa and gang.

My Dad and his Brother in the "camper".

Notice the sign.

Aidan read the sign to Camryn.

The view from our condo at the Beach Club.

Fort Morgan.

This picture was taken in the pitch black tunnels of Fort Morgan.

Grandpa teaching Aidan at Fort Morgan.

Just a swingin' at the condo.


P.S. If anyone would like to tell me the trick to getting these pictures in the right order, I'd love to know. Sorry they're so mixed up!

Two Things...

I've been tagged again. There was a reason I didn't like this game as a kid, too much pressure in who to tag next. So if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged. Post it on your blog or Facebook. This one is a no brainer, not too deep. Have fun!

Two States I'd like to visit-
1. Hawaii
2. New Mexico

Two names I go by-
1. Miss Kim (only my Husband)
2. Momma

Two things I'm wearing right now-
1. running shorts
2. sports socks

Two things (material) I want-
1. farm table for my kitchen
2. fence

Two people who will complete this-
1. Linzi
2. Jennifer

Two things I did last night-
1. went to dinner with the girlfriends
2. watched the thunder storm roll in

Two things I ate yesterday
1. bowl of Cheerios
2. Greek salad with grilled shrimp

Two people I spoke to last-
1. my Dad
2. Camryn

Two things I'm doing tomorrow
1. going on a vacation to Mobile/Gulf Shores
2. going to the Mardi Gras parade in Fairhope, AL

Two favorite beverages
1. water
2. beer

Daddy's Little Valentine

....and I wouldn't want it any other way!

25 Random Things I Love About My Husband

David and Kimberly

1996

1. He has always put me first.

2. He lets me figure things out on my own.

3. He is the pancake maker. I hold my breath and hope the kids want pancakes for breakfast, knowing David will be the one cooking that morning.

4. His Grandma is one of his favorite people. He talks to her often, thinks she's very wise, and worries about her.

5. He enjoys a hard days work. One of our favorite things to do is tackle a heavy duty project together and share a beer after.

6. He loves my cooking, but is OK with a bologna sandwich if that's all we have.

7. He chose the right career and likes to go to work, no matter how hard times are.

8. He notices when I spend a long day cleaning and comments on how nice the house looks.

9. He always thinks I look better than I think I look.

10. He makes the coffee in the morning and has a cup waiting for me as I stumble out of bed.

11. He cleans the toilets in our house and they are almost always clean. I just need to ask. He even does a deep cleaning where he removes the seats and soaks them in bleach.

12. He loves music and has exposed me to artists I never would have known otherwise.

13. He has good friends from all walks of life.

14. He is self made. He worked hard, from the bottom, up to a very successful career.

15. He loves my family like his own.

16. He has a sweet tooth and buys the treats in our house. I know if I send him to the store with a list, he'll add ice cream to it.

17. He has the most incredible blue eyes. They're almost unreal. I love that Camryn got them.

18. He knows when to make the kids a priority and takes them to do something special, just the three of them.

19. He sees the good in people easily. It takes a lot for him to go to the "dark" side.

20. He has NEVER criticized me in any way.

21. He is not stubborn.

22. He has stopped to help a stranger on many occasions. He's always aware of his fellow citizens and willing to lend a hand.

23. He tries to attend every school function he can. Sometimes he's the only Dad.

24. We would be just fine at Waffle House for Valentine's Day. There's no one else I'd rather be with, no matter where we are.

25. He gave me the greatest love, our kids. I'm so glad they're half him.

Sleeping , Standing, Up!

After putting in a late night at the office, David came home to a quiet house with all his family soundly sleeping. One just wasn't in bed. She had been in bed, but had decided to come downstairs at some point.

She was probably looking for Daddy, decided to wait it out in the chair, but fell back to sleep before she made it.

You can't tell, but her feet are dangling a few inches from the floor. The girl just doesn't sleep well anymore. She makes her way out of bed almost every night and boy is she sneaky!

Thanks to David, we finally caught her on film. I'm usually half asleep, trying to figure out where she went. Do they make sleep aides for children (other than Benadryl!)? We could really use some.

These crazy kids are makin' me crazy!

Man this has been a long couple of weeks. David has been working long hours at the office, spending long hours building some shelves in our living room, and playing hard on the golf course every chance he gets. Last night, I finally reached my breaking point over really nothing at all. I turned off the stove mid cooking, grabbed the car keys, and left. I went nowhere. Well I actually went in a circle. Halfway around the loop, I thought to myself "What am I thinking? What's going to happen to the dinner? Is anyone going to eat dinner? Oh no, it's a school night. I probably should have had my break down on a Friday." Well too late now, I'm 20 minutes from home so I might as well enjoy the rest of the drive. I cranked up the music, cruised along and decompressed. There wasn't any one thing that had happened. I was just tired of being "on". I needed to shut down. You can't do that in my house. They always find me. Or I can hear them searching.

Close to home, I felt better, more composed, and hungry. Aidan ran out to meet me in the driveway, scared I wasn't coming back. David was fixing the tacos, 6o minutes was on TV , Camryn was already sleeping. I'd only been gone 40 minutes, but it felt like a day. The walls had stopped closing in on me. It was great to be home . And like all great things, it had to end. Aidan decided to sing the catchy commercial "Viva Viagra" for the rest of the night. How do you explain why you shouldn't sing that song? You tell him about the real version with the original words. "Oh, they're using that song to sell medicine for erectile dysfunction?" "Yes Aidan" .... and please don't ask what erectile dysfunction is. He didn't (this time). Now do you see why I go little crazy? And then there's the nice Mom who lets her kids lick the brownie batter from the bowl and her son wants to know if there's raw egg in it. He could get Salmonella... Or the girl who can't wait for Mom to cut the watermelon so she digs into a whole quarter as big as her head. Yes, most days I feel on the verge of going nuts, but I usually just crack up. At least I can drive my therapy loop. It's a little hard to get lost when you're going in a circle. You always end up back where you started.

Back to the Future

There are times we all see pictures of our children as babies and we're immediately transported back to those sweet days of cuddling, nurturing, wishing for all the good things in life for them.
There are days we want to freeze frame and stop them from growing up at all. And then there are days when you catch a glimpse from the corner of your eye and you don't even recognize the little person they've become. We're so anxious for our kids to start walking, and before we know it, they're standing on their own two feet and walking away from us.
Instead of longing to pull Aidan and Camryn back to me,
I've decided to look forward to what my greatest gifts are going to become. These pictures are those that transport me forward.
Every time I see them, I see a spirit captured, a timeless soul, on the verge of great things.

Aidan is a thinker. His intelligence is only tempered by his time on this earth. Someday he will be instrumental in big change, for he always finds a different means to the end. He's not defiant, but never thinks there's only one right answer.
I'm sure he'll be on the Debate Team. His quest for knowledge is insatiable. I'm hoping to teach him the value of love, trust, and honesty, and other things you can't Google. I know he'll find a new way, a better way, or maybe a cure that will change the world. He does this for me... From him, everyday, I learn.

Camryn is an artist. Not a day goes by that she doesn't beg to paint. She is constantly creating ... with food, cosmetics, dirt, clothes.

Nothing remains as it should be. Camryn has to make it her way. She'll be the child who cuts four inches off her skirt at the bus stop.

She gets dressed in the morning and reinvents herself before we can get out the door. She is so confident and proud of herself. She'll probably travel the world, live from her back pack, and be discovered as a super model, when she would rather be the photographer.

She's a wild Irish rose with a true gypsy soul. I have to teach her about boundaries,

rules, and being beautiful on the inside too. Everyday she reminds me to appreciate life's miracles and to take time to smell the flowers.

It's so exciting to think of all the experiences they have in front of them, all the things they can become. Everyday is taking them in that direction. They're growing up before our eyes and all we can do is tell them we love them, hug them tight, and let them go into the future. Hopefully they'll turn back and wave.