the beach in a nutshell

I'll have to admit I was a bit nervous about our Hilton Head trip this year. I mean, sure it was the beach and we spend lots of time wth O family (their house, our house, near and far). But this was all 10 of us together...for a week...in a three bedroom condo.

Needless to say, my fears were for naught. Everyone had a blast. Sure, there were some tantrums. And sure, every night was a new and different sleeping arrangement. And maybe everyone came out of the vacation a little less rested than going in. But that doesn't mean we didn't have fun. See for yourself!

 

better than expected

The last few days have been filled with pleasant surprises, where things turned out better than we expected. As someone who anticipates the worst...this was fantastic.

John's neck surgery went well! He's in far better shape than we thought he would be, and is at home recuperating while I rock the Florence Nightingale role (working at home all week! Woo!). The surgery was nerve-wracking because it was on his neck and, while necessary, not of the You! Must! Do! This! Now! ilk...so we're happy to know that we made the right decision.

E turned six years old! Since the big day was situated between vacation and John's surgery, we weren't able to have a "proper" birthday party. Sure, we celebrated at the beach with a party...

...and then she had a day long celebration on her actual birthday, including flowers, a balloon and muffins for breakfast; Popsicles for her class at school for snack; and a family celebration at home with Nonna, Pop-pop, Grandmom *AND* Cousin H that night...

But, at no point were goody bags handed out. Which, according to E, is what makes a birthday party a birthday party.

But, perhaps E's easy going attitude was due to the fact that she finally got an American Girl doll. We ended up getting her the Just Like Me doll, that was true to its name.

I think she was excited...

Which, in turn, brought us to our other big surprise. We were worried how A would handle E getting an American Girl doll first. Last year, she was a bit upset about E getting such cool stuff. So much so that she had to be physically restrained by Uncle Dave so that she wouldn't run off with it.

This year, she was super-psyched for E and totally zen with the thought that she would be getting her own doll next month. It was amazing and so cute. So much so, that John and I (big softies that we are), let her open a birthday present very early.

The names are a bit of a moving target. E's was originally named Lacey...then she switched to Hailey Jessica...and last night she changed to Kaylee. A named hers Jessica, but has since taken to calling her Jessie. I'll keep you posted on what they change them to tonight.

six

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

You would think that, after six years of doing this parenting gig, I'd have some semblance of an idea of what I'm doing. But, nope. Luckily, you make my job very, very easy. And so much fun, to boot.

Now if I could only figure out a way to slow down time so you would stop growing up, that'd be perfect.

Happy 6th Birthday, E! Though, no matter how big you get...you'll always be my baby.

vacation* with the cousins**

I've been MIA for the last few weeks because last week, we were on vacation in Hilton Head with some good friends of ours. The week preceding vacation was a nightmare of trying to wrap of Hellish 2010 Project 3 of 3 prior to my departure. And, this week is pretty crazy because tomorrow, someone turns 6 (SIX!). And then, on Thursday, John is having surgery on a degenerative disk in his neck.

The vacation was tons of fun, and everyone got along famously. We hit up some old haunts from when John and I went as kids, and even got a night out with the help of a brave (and well compensated) babysitter. I'll try and post some vacation pictures soon...but half of them are on my actual camera instead of my iPhone. So here's one from my iPhone of a relatively quiet moment for the kids.

All six of them. Under six years old.

 

* Not sure it could be correctly termed a "vacation" because with the cooking, cleaning and heiny wiping going on...it's more like "Regular Life in a Better Location."
** The girls aren't actually related. Maura calls E and A her "cousins" because "cousins are your friends who live far away from you." So cute.

a killer among us

We are in the midst of a crime wave at Chez Slacker. Much like the reign of terror that gripped us two years ago, victims are falling left and right. It's a gruesome scene.

 

Three bodies. Two heads. I don't even know what to say.

the goodbye kiss

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" E yelled this morning as the garage closed. When I went to ask her what was wrong, she said, "Daddy left for work, but I didn't get a kiss goodbye." We walked out on the front porch only to see him driving out of the cul de sac.

Luckily, I was able to catch him on his cell phone, and he was able to turn around and give the girls one last kiss goodbye. Luckily, I was able to grab my camera iPhone and capture the sweetness of it all.

 

where the magic happens

E gave me a rock she had painted at Girl Scout camp last week for me to bring to work. I told her that I'd put it on my desk. She asked me to take a picture so she could see it. Suspicious much, E?

Anyway, I took a picture...and thought you'd like to see where I spend 40+ hours of my week.

1. I have a bunch of "artwork" from the girls hung up. Some pictures they did hang on my walls. I also have a post-it that E wrote "Mommy" and drew a picture of me hanging from the monitor, and the newly painted rock on the monitor stand.


2. I have a bunch of pictures up, too. Last year during Rock Star week, the girls got their pictures taken with funny wigs and guitars and decorated frames. There's also a picture of us from the beach 3 years ago, and a print out of 2009 at-a-glance. When I get my pictures from this year, I'll definitely be framing one for the desk.


3. Apparently, I have a drinking problem at work. That's my coffee mug, a Diet Coke standing at the ready, and my leopard-print Tervis Tumbler for water.


4. In the office, I employ a 2-screen system. This allows me to look productive on right-hand screen (for peeps walking by), while blogging, etc. on the left-hand screen. Technology FTW!


5. I still kick it old school with a paper day planner. I try to write to-do lists every day. I took a Franklin Covey course for my old job, and old habits of highly effective people die hard.


6. I have at least one conference call a day. I love my headset, since I can continue to surf the web type while on these calls.

And, there you have it. The 30 second tour of my cube!

juxtaposition

My girls are definitely girlie girls.

 

But that doesn't mean that they haven't inherited a love of sport (and UT) from their daddy.

happy camper

Today is E's last day of Girl Scout Camp. We had gotten a flyer in her school take home folder, and signed her up. We figured it would be a good way for her to figure out whether or not she wants to do Girl Scouts, and was something a little different to do. Also? It was 1/5th of the cost of a week at the hoity-toity daycare summer program. Cheap daycare, FTW!

 

E has had a blast. She's made new friend (and kept the old, I assure you!). She's played games. She's made crafts. She even brought home a God's Eye!

But, perhaps the craziest thing is that she wore shorts every day this week! Okay, yesterday she caved and wore a skirt with shorts underneath...but still! I can't remember the last time she was dress-free for 5 straight days!

This Girl Scout thing is really expanding her horizons!

au naturel

Over the last few months, my hair was getting harder and harder to style. I was beginning to consider the effort needed to blow-dry it straight commensurate with a workout. It started requiring the use of a flat iron every day (unless I was going for the frizzy/poufy look). So finally, I said "to hell with it", and embraced the curl in my hair. I got a haircut that helped the curls and started using the correct products.

Overall, I've been happy with how it looked. But I wondered if I was rockin' an out-of-date style. There aren't too many wavy/curly girls to look up to, you know.

Well, lo and behold, my hair idol, Katie Holmes, must have sensed my doubts. 'Cause guess who's rocking a curly-with-bangs style right now?

Hell yeah. Though, let the record show that for once, she totally copied me!

picture perfect

As part of the Camp Grandmom 2010 festivities, Grandmom set up a photo session with a local photographer, Ashley Quinn. In addition to being an awesome photographer and really really nice, she is the mom to FOUR kids, including TRIPLETS! Whoa.

We got the proofs back this week, and they were awesome! Here are some of my favorites:





John and I even got in on the action, and we got two really great family shots.


Hope y'all have a good weekend!

lessons of complacency

This is what happens when you think you are a bike rider extraordinaire, and end up going too fast and turning too much:
You crash, and end up with two scrapes on your nose, one on your chin, one on your knee, two on your foot, and one on your big toe.

This is what happens when you are so confident in your daughter's bladder-holding capabilities that you neglect the schools gentle reminders to update her stash of back-up clothes.
Size 3T corduroy pants and t-shirt that *might* have fit sometime when she was 2 last Fall. Belly baring, high waters, and given her existing crack problems, you don't even want to see her back side.