The Beach

I am so happy that Austin loves the beach this year.
(He reached down towards the crab hole & says "are you home?")

He had so much fun- he found tracks in the sand from the Police Beach Vehicles. He was determined to find the Train that belonged to the tracks. Since we go out to Sullivan's Station 26- there are a ton of dogs there in the moring- Austin loves to see them and was even knocked over by an excited puppy. I was so proud of him for not crying.

Last year, we always put swimmy diapers on him. He would not go near he water. I wasted so many of those diapers. This year, we thought, "oh why bother" let's just go for a short visit in his shorts.

And of course, we were wrong. He went about waste deep in really cold water and loved it. I was so happy. So, he had to do some streaking in his clean diaper while I ran to the car for dry clothes!

Back in the Saddle

Well, this week was somewhat of a blur for me. But, worth chronicalling, I gess for my own reasons. Monday, I was still a zombie from Arizona. I didnt' really sleep while I was there- I had a weird reverse time change thing going on. Tuesday, I went to work & then had some doctor appointments. Wednesday, I ran errands and tried to catch up on the house. Then I spent the afternoon during Ausitn's nap at my parents house with CaraLee from Revo. She has some great insight into marketing more for Water Missions and getting the churches more involved, etc and is helping my Dad with concepts for WMI. I was blessed to get to be a part of the meeting, too. Thursday, I think I had a wedding rehearsal.

Friday- Travis called me early in the AM and told me that he had won tickets to Cirque De Soleil! Woo Hoo! He called my Mom and asked if they would keep Austin even though they were leaving for Chicago in the morning. Of course, they agreed. But, the best part was that this wasn't just tickets- it was a private dinner party with yummo food before the performance. There was also dessert & dancing after the performance (but who am I kidding- Travis and I were up past our bedtime!) Since I had a wedding at the church at 3 pm and a few booking meetings after the wedding, Travis picked me up & off we went! It was a lot of fun except for the fact that I wore stupid (hot!) shoes.

(IU should have hade them take a close up of the shoes b/c I'm never wearing them again!)

The best part was this turned into an impromptu anniversary dinner date! Happy 6 Years to Travis & I!

Arizona

I went to Arizona for 4 days last week to see my sister, Joy and her husband, Jeff. Yes, I'm 2 weeks behind on posting; but it seems anytime we/I go out of town, it takes 2 weeks to get back on track.

I arrived on Thursday evening AZ time, which was about 8:30 SC time. Joy & Jeff picked me up & we went to eat one of their favorite restaurants. Joy ordered a salad, but ended up digging into Jeff's burger. Since I hate red meat, this picture almost grosses me out; but it's pretty funny!


Joy and I spent the next couple days shopping and eating and working on some baby registry stuff.

Highlights:

Joy Stops Traffic- As Joy and I were trying to cross the street in the mall parking lot, Joy decided to stop traffic. She is only about 14 weeks pregnant and still barely showing. But, since the cars were not stopping for us, she decided to really "work it" with the preggo belly. As we passed in front of the stopped car, I looked to my right and Joy had her hand on her belly and was actually waddeling. She did not think this was as hilarious as I did. But, once she's about 8 months preggers, I'm sure she'll understand why I about peed my pants laughing at her. Here she is with her tiny little preggers belly waddeling & holding her belly as if she can barely cross the street. Too funny.

Saving the Birds- On our way to her BFF's house, we had to slam on the brakes and rescue a mama bird and her tiny babies. They looked like Sand Pipers; but I guess that's uncommon in AZ. Joy ran out of the car to rush them off. Then I was afraid she would touch the birds & so I ran after her- Stetson followed me. And then Joy screamed at me to get back in the car because she thought the Mama Bird was going to dive bomb me.

Church & Coffee- I loved Joy's church & her friends. We played Acquire Saturday night after church with some of her friends. And for the record, Dr. Wine, I won. Just sayin...Then on Sunday AM, after Joy puked, we went and helped make Coffee at the church for the Sun AM services. If you live in Arizona- You need to check out their church- http://www.mission68.0rg/ in Gilbert.
So much fun to have Sister time. They have a beautiful home and life there in AZ. Just wish we were closer especially since Baby Blueberrry is on the way!

I bought this Croc/Alligator for Austin at the Ikea in Phoenix.. He LOVED it. Of course, it took u most of my suitcase.

Not Much Going on Yet..

We've had a pretty casual week.
Austin definitely likes to say "no" to everything. Even if he wants something, he seems to say "no".

He really makes me laugh when he's trying to be emphatic, he says "Nooothhhhing!" and repeats "No, nothing!"

The last couple days he has gone for a ride in the jogging stroller with Travis; but I've failed to get a picture.

We think he may be having a growth spurt, too; because he is scarfing down chicken nuggets and soy yogurt.

He also is still into convincing everyone to take him to Chik Fil A. I have a feeling there will be a lot of that this weekend. I am leaving for for about 4 days to go see my sister who is 14 weeks pregnant! Woo hoo!

I was a bit concerned that Austin kept saying "Mommy going to see Aunt Joy on airplane...and then Crash!!!" I think he thinks that when planes land they are crashing; but it's kind of freaking us out & amping up our prayer life a bit!
We've had a pretty casual week.
Austin definitely likes to say "no" to everything. Even if he wants it, he seems to say "no".

He really makes me laugh though because if he's trying to be emphatic, he says "Nooothhhhing!" and repeats "No, nothing!"

The last couple days he has gone for a ride in the jogging stroller with Travis; but I've failed to ge ta picture.

We think he may be having a growth spurt, too; because he is scarfing down chicken nuggets and soy yogurt.

Happy Easter! Thank You, Jesus!

Happy Easter!

We think Austin is really catching on about Easter. We taught him to say "Jesus died on the Cross (arms out in a cross). Because He loves me (Arms across his chest). But, He is Risen!" (Arm pump in victory!)

Austin saw some of his favorite people. I think he might think that everyone is a Pastor that he meets; but we just feel so humbled and blessed to expose him at such a young age to serving & loving Jesus. And we are happy that the pastors and staff and friends are like celebrities to him!

This Easter might have been one of my favorite holidays. Hang out and get to help at the church and then eat catered food from Whole Foods!

(Austin below with Pastor Michael & Pastor Greg on the TV screen behind him.)

Then we did an Easter egg hunt at home. Last year, Austin screamed & cried through this attempted event. Very different this year.






Yep, here we are pretending that we slaved over putting food on dishes to heat up. We are trying to hide the Whole Foods bags. I think my Mom might have added 10 years to her life by the freedom she experienced in not cooking! We had Southern Fried Chicken, Grilled Chicken, Green Beans, Greek Pasta Salad, some type of Tabouli, Potato Salad, Apple Sauce, Veggie Rice, and Broccoli Salad. We also customized everyone's desserts!

Oh, and we still have colored eggs yet. Maybe we'll do that this week...but, wooweee! I feel like this holiday was actually a holiday! And yep, that's Austin's "Cheese!" face. Hoping we'll see his sweet face again soon for family pictures!


He jumped in when Grandma gave Grandpa a hug, and then he wanted his picture taken.

Testing out the Fire Pit

Might not have been the best night to test the fire pit since there were tornado warnings in the upstate. But, we finally got to have s'mores and start a fire in our new backyard.

The Thorn

This year our church is producing The Thorn. John Bolin, who I believe is the writer and creator of this production, is currently living here in Charleston. He has been producing & creating this Easter production for the last 10 years. Our church and volunteers from our church, as well as other volunteers from the community, did over 10 performances over the last 2 weeks.

I'd like to write a really great post about it later; but for now- let me tell you that it was amazingly well done and that Travis and I might have both been in tears after the first five minutes until the end. We are so grateful for this production that truly moved our hearts to remember the reality of the Cross & Jesus' death for us and also allows us to celebrate his resurrection & the life he lived here on here for us as an example. We are just blown away. I was able to help one night with the merchandise (tshirts, etc) and Travis helped last night with parking. Austin & I tagged along and then they asked him to come back tonight for parking help, too

I'm so glad that we took him with us. I love the look on his face below. It looks like he is nervous. But, he really was excited because they had concessions in the foyer to raise money for different groups and so we were eating popcorn.

This picture below is so great, too because he's giving crazy eyes to the Pharisees!

Of course, the horses were my favorite.

Austin was not up for going up to pet them the first night; but then he was okay with it when Pastor Michael took him up.

We went 2 nights, and Austin wasn't as worried about walking up to the horses when Pastor Michael was holding him. He & Pastor Michael are buddies. Michael always gets on the floor with him and plays. Austin loves it!Here is Austin w/ Mari Fisher. Mari's daughter has babysat for Austin before and he loves her. He didn't quite get that this was Mari under the costume.

I was so happy that he wasn't scared of the Centurions. He gave them high fives. We did sit in the foyer and watch the ballet and gymnastics scene of Creation.

Overall, just an amazing production.

Daddy's Blue Shirt

Austin has really become aware of where Daddy is these days. He is now a bit confused that Daddy is going hiking everyday instead of going to work. (I think Daddy wishes he was hiking everyday.)

As soon as Travis gets home, he wants him to put his blue shirt on. In his little mind, that means it's time to play and that Travis isn't working anymore. If he wakes up before Travis leaves in the morning, he tries to convince him to put his blue shirt on instead of his dress shirt and tie.
We love this; but I think that yesterday afternoon, we might have had Daddy a bit misty eyed. Austin found Travis' blue shirt and went to meet him in the driveway. Fortunately I've been shutter bug happy again & caught it on camera.


"Daddy coming! Daddy put on blue shirt- NOW!"

"Hi Daddy. Put on blue shirt."

"Daddy coming. Put on blue shirt. Okay, sure thing!"

Another funny: I was gone last night, and Travis said that Austin brought his plastic lawn mower into the living room, flipped it over, and pointed to the bottom of it and said "Daddy fix it. Get new batteries." Travis said "What, buddy?" Austin marched over to the laundry closet & pointed at the battery box. "New batteries in Mo-Mo. Fix it now." And then of course we had to work on adding the word "Please."

"Happy Birthday Dear You!"

Austin is very into birthdays. I still think that he thinks Christmas is a bit confusing because it was his birthday and Jesus' birthday. Then in January we celebrated Logan's birthday. February was my birthday. March was Tom's birthday and Jude's birthday. Last weekend was Addison's birthday. He is now blowing out any candle he sees and singing "Happy Birthday Dear You" to it.

This morning, he started singing "Happy Birthday dear you, Addison" to his cereal. I finally got it on video. And finally think I learned how to convert from an AVI to MPG file. Whoot!

And in case y'all missed it, in January of 2008 Jenna & I were attending a wedding together. She was about 7 1/2 months pregnant with Addison. Here is the link to that post. She told me that she had "picked us" to be Addison's in-laws. So that's why we have all the craziness about Addison & Austin. We know it's silly and that in American there are no such thing as arranged marriage....but, it's fun for now. Until they catch on and start rolling their eyes at us, then we'll have to be covert - and pray a lot!

Taking Care of the Garden

Yes, we are in the "I want to do it myself" phase. It's fabulous. No, I'm kidding. It's not too bad.

But he has really been wanting to water the flowers all by himself lately. I'm trying to teach him to water more than one flower. (I love that my Azaleas are already blooming so much. We had to bring the potted flowers inside last night because it was still cold; but the Azaleas are doing great!)

I love his expression. We have to sneak pictures of him b/c he wants to see the camera before you can snap the picture.

Austin has never liked a lot of noise or the wind since he was little. He doesn't believe me yet that wearing a hat will help. But, we tried it today. But, look how cute he is!

Travis' "While You Were Out" Surprise!

Short Story:
I had our backyard made over for Travis. It was great! He loves it. And it was a lot of fun.

Long Story (if you like details:)

Our backyard has not been much to look at; and we have been talking and dreaming for a long time about what we could do with the backyard. My mom had been telling us she was going to buy us a truck of dirt and had even offered it as our Christmas present. Travis' mom, being a great gardener herself, had also wanted in on getting us going. But, we kept running into challenges of what to do, etc.

Well, I got it in my head that we should have part of the back yard landscaped as a surprise for Travis for his birthday. I knew he was going to the mountains in May; and figured I'd work on a surprise for him then. Then I found out he was going to do a mini-scouting-hike trip this weekend. He told me a few weeks ago that he wanted some Adirondack chairs & a fire pit. He has been talking about a fire pit for years.

I realized there was no way I could physically do any of this, so I was given a referral to a landscaping company called Charleston Lawn Company (the owner is David). He came out in the rain last Wednesday to give me an estimate . He was very creative and helpful and was really into the surprise part for Travis. He also convinced me not decorate in pink! The sand...er..beach "box" was also his idea. (Found out later we go to church together and have a lot of mutual friends).


Here are the before Pictures:


So, on Friday afternoon about 2 pm the CLW crew showed up at my house. The crew was super fast, and a lot of fun. (I made them brownies & served sweet tea to try to express my midwestern/southern hospitality). I felt like a little kid at Christmas, and was so excited and grateful to our parents for pitching in to help us with the cost.

Austin thought it was too windy to be outside for most of the adventure; but he finally wanted to be outside when the Sand Truck came! He thought all the trucks whe


(Below: They added Fatsia, Mexican Petunias (which I love!) and Lantana back here)



(Above: They put in 3 Cypress Bushes, and 5 Red Azaleas that will bloom 5-8 times a year)

On Saturday, Austin and I went to Lowe's. Boy, that was crazy- everyone in Mt Pleasant who wasn't running the bridge run, was at Lowe's. Then my small group leader/friend Cori met us at Walmart with her truck to get potting mix and the new table and chairs. She even put it together for me and helped me arranged my flower pots. (She's starting her own floral company called Twigs & Bows so this was kind of more her thing than mine) I really appreciated all of her help and ideas.


(Above: Austin eating Chick Fil A after our Walmart/Lowe's run)

Here are the After Pictures:

Above: Final touches are in place!)

So, Travis came home Sunday night around 5 pm. Austin and I were sitting in the front yard and Austin told him we had a surprise. He said he loves it and the best part was that he didn't have to do any of the work. YEAH! That was exactly how I was hoping he'd feel.
(Above: Waiting for Daddy Below: Daddy checking out the fire pit)
Happy Early Birthday & Anniversary Travis!
(We celebrate 6 years on April 26th!)

Addison's Birthday Party

I am pretty fond of the Sunday company that we've been keeping lately.

This weekend Travis was out of town with some of the guys from his hike team. They were scouting the trail that they will hike in May. Sunday afternoon, Austin and I went to Palmetto Park to celebrate Addison's 1st Birthday. What a precious little girl, and her parents are pretty great people, too!

Austin had a great time playing with the kids and the other Daddies. I think it was an extra blessing for him because he was really missing his Daddy.