Our Thanksgiving In Texas!

For the past couple years, we have traveled to Texas for Thanksgiving! Several members of Curtis’ family live there and it’s a fun place to gather! This year I lucked out and Curtis decided we could fly instead of drive the 20 hours to get there! Dream come true!

We hopped on our flight, where we had to keep Lucy from licking the seats, and then landed in Houston! We drove a couple hours from there to a little place in the “hill country” where our little river side cabins were located. While there we spent a lot of low key time hanging out, jet skiing, and watching the kids play. The kids spent so much time just running around outside, making camp fires, and exploring! It was fun watching them be so wild and free!

One thing that I really wanted to fit into our holiday this year was service. On the day before Thanksgiving, we spent the morning working with the local Habitat for Humanity! We helped prepare a house to be move-in ready for a small family and the youngest kids got to decorate studs that would go up in another soon-to-be built home! It was great to see the little ones so eager to serve, and to teach them a little bit about giving.

Our travels are always some of our favorite memories from the year, and I know the kids are going to remember this trip for many years to come!

Below I’m sharing some of my favorite photos from the trip!

Fall Catch-Up

Fall this year in North Carolina has been spectacular. Maybe I was just paying more attention, but it seemed like the leaves were extra vibrant and those beautiful colors stuck around for a lot longer than usual! In fact, there are still bright colors on some of the trees and crunchy leaves are still swirling around as we drive down the street. I have loved it, and it has sort of made me forget that we’re moving past fall and into winter now!

Aside from the beautiful leaves this year, we really packed in a lot of fun activities as a family, which made this fall extra special! The boys helped me make a “fall bucketlist” that we kept on our refrigerator to keep track of our activity “wishlist.” We didn’t end up crossing everything off, but we got close!

We rode rides at the fair, played at the pumpkin patch, dressed up for Halloween, and even made a couple trips to Washington DC and then Texas!

Here are a few pictures to sum up the fun!

Our Morning Hike

 

As you can imagine, life with four kids is BUSY! I spend a lot of time just cleaning up the house, preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, driving to and fro, checking homework, doing laundry, and making sure bedtime happens! Whew! Just typing all that out made me ready for a nap! And that’s just a small part of keeping this family running! I’m sure many of you can relate!

But recently I’ve realized that even though I’m doing SO much for my kids, that’s not necessarily what they need. What they really want and need is for me to slow down and just listen. And honestly, that’s hard for me to do. If they come up to me with their latest lego creation while I’m doing the dishes, I SO badly want to just finish what I’m doing first and then take a look. But lately, as I’ve been praying to have a better idea of what each individual child needs, I’ve been able to sense when they need a little more of me.

I’ve especially felt this lately with Milo. He and I probably spend the most time together, but even still, I’ve noticed him getting a little more cranky than usual. I’ve also noticed that when he typically has quiet time in his room, he instead, comes to sit next to me on the couch or the bed. I realized that he just wanted to be close to me. He just wanted me to really get down and talk to him, and enjoy him.

So last week, as I tried to be extra intentional with our time together, we went on a hiking adventure! I ran down the trails of crunchy leaves with him, and I engaged with him in his imaginary “adventurer” world. His smiled reached from ear to ear the entire time and now I know that slowing down is sometimes what they need more than a clean kitchen or  folded clothes.

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I also talked about Being Present In The Moment Here

& there’s a video I created about it Here!

Our Family Beach Vacation, Part 1 || Oak Island, NC

Let’s start the day with the wind in our hair and the sand between our toes.

Let’s listen to the waves crashing and smell the salty air in our nose.

Do you hear the children laughing and the shovels digging holes?

Did you catch a fish with your nets and your fishing poles?

I’ll never forget the warm water run over my face.

I’ll always remember the way you could’ve swam for days and days.

Little one, learning to walk and discovering all of the sea shells…

Little one, feeling brave swimming, even in the giant swells.

All of us are sun kissed and tired in the best way,

so let’s make sure we do this again, another beach day.

:: black ruffle swimsuit :: floral swimsuit :: kid’s sea green swimmers :: Lucy’s blue suit

SEE FOR YOURSELVES…HERE’S PART ONE…ENJOY 🙂

 

 

 

Beach Weekend! A Girl’s Trip To Charleston!

(my beach cover up :: my denim dress :: my bandana scarf :: my floral bathing suit :: my sister’s denim dress :: my fun blue shoes)

 

I can’t figure out what I want to say about our quick weekend trip to Charleston. It wouldn’t do it justice to just list out the different things that we did. You can’t enjoy the palm lined streets without seeing them, you can’t smell the ocean breeze without being there.

I guess what I’ll say is that, this trip was the perfect cure for a long, tiring year. I was rejuvenated by sleeping in as long as I wanted. I laughed when my mom got the giggles in the car. I felt youthful riding a beach cruiser around town. And I felt refreshed by the cool ocean waves.

I can’t express enough gratitude for my mom and sister who helped me feel special, and to Curtis for giving the kids the time of their lives back home. And let’s not forget my dad, who went shopping (on his own!) and decked me out in some fun beachwear for the weekend! What more could a girl ask for, for her 32nd birthday!?

I had just enough footage from our trip to make a short video to remember it by! I hope you enjoy!

 

Choose Adventure!

Most days the afternoon slump really gets me. The older boys get home from school, throw their backpacks on the floor and are starving for a snack and are ready to tell me every detail of their day! Around this time, Lucy is also waking up from her nap, ready to play and have her snack as well! And at this same time of day, when my attention is needed most, and my little ones are ready for action, I start to feel so, so tired.

I know I should be using nap time to rest, but I find myself getting antsy, thinking about all the things I could be doing instead.

I know I’m not alone in feeling this way!

Luckily, I’ve found a cure for those long afternoons. I choose to have an ADVENTURE!

Laundry can wait. A fancy home cooked meal, can wait. Homework can wait.

When I get out of the house and find an adventure with the kids, we all feel energized and happier. It’s amazing what a little sunshine and swings can do to your mood! Even when I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open, we pile into the van and drive to one of our favorite parks. We end up eating bananas and sandwiches for dinner instead of vegetables and fancy pasta, but I come away smiling. I forget how tired I am when we’re riding the little train, or swinging on the tire swing, or climbing to the top of the equipment. And I’ll take those moments over feeling the gloomy afternoon slump any day!

So when you find yourself counting down the hours until bedtime…instead,