October 9th-14th

This week was filled with fall fun!

Sunday we went to pumpkin patch! One of our favorite things to do. Jacek and Luna rode the horse, enjoyed a hay ride, picked a pumpkin, played in the corn maze and danced to some music. I love Kinman farms pumpkin patch. They have so much stuff to do for the kids and adults, too. Also, it was baby G's first time going to the farm. He was so good! I took a bunch of pics but I will only post a few.




Monday- We took it easy and I cleaned up the house from the weekend. We played outside for a couple of hours. Jacek practiced soccer twice and was became super excited about his game on Wednesday. We had to recover from all that fun at the pumpkin patch.


Tuesday- The kids had school and as soon as Jacek came home from school he ran inside and got his soccer ball. I've never seen him so excited about something. We practiced soccer and he really impressed me. He has great ball control. He was determined that he was going to score a goal at his game. I was starting to get nervous for him.

Wednesday-We love Wednesdays! Piano lessons in the morning are always followed by a trip to visit papaw. Luna loves cuddlin' up with her papaw. Seriously, how cute are they?

We headed to Halloween store and bought the very anticipated costumes. Jacek is going to be Bumblebee from Transformers:

And Luna is going to be a piglet. A very very cute piglet!

They absolutely love their costumes and they are so excited about Halloween this year.
**The most anticipated soccer game of the year for Jacek was finally here! He was excited because Dan and his daughter were coming. Jacek adores Dan and has a crush on his daughter. He wanted to score a goal so bad just for her. He played a great game! And he scored a goal for his girl. He almost had two more goals but the ball bounced off the side of the goal. I was so proud of him and his little crush gave him a hug after the game. He was on top of the world.

October 3rd-7th

First week of October! The weather has been amazing. Monday was a lazy day for us. I cleaned most of the day while the kids happily made multiple messes. That's how it goes! We went outside to ride bikes and Rodney and Janet were outside. They were cleaning the garage and the kids immediately had to put a stop to that. Jacek was telling Rodney that he wants to play paintball. Rodney surprised Jacek and pulled out his paintball gun. I thought Jacek's eyes were going to pop out of his head. Rodney helped Jacek put his mask and helped him shoot some yellow paint balls at his wooden wagon on the side of his house. Jacek was too the moon and back with excitement.

The Walgreens story: I scheduled the kids flu shots and they were a little uneasy about it. I decided to take them to Walgreens so they could see me get my flu shot. They were running around the store like a bunch of crazy kids. People were mean mugging, for sure. They finally take us back to a tiny room and tell us to wait. As we are sitting there, Luna is trying to reach on the counter for the red bio-hazard container, where they deposit used needles. She looks at me and asks, "Lollipop?" Jacek starts laughing so hard that I couldn't help but to bust out laughing. I explain to her that those are NOT lollipops which made Jacek laugh even harder. Then she looks at me so serious and says, "Mommy, get you butt out!" I guess she thought they were going to give me my flu shot in the butt. This made Jacek laugh so hard hard that he could hardly talk. "Mom, I just peed my pants a little." All 3 of us were laughing so hard. I'm sure the entire store could hear us. Finally, the lady came in and gave me my flu shot in the arm not my butt. The kids seemed to be in board with flu shots now. That was a fun time!

Tuesday: School day! After school we played on the play ground for a little bit but Luna kept saying she was tired. She was getting aggravated that Jacek would not leave. I knew she was about to blow and we were able to get out just in time. Haha! Nikita had a volleyball tournament that Jacek and I attended. Luna stayed home because she can't sit still for too long. Nikita's team won and we are so proud of her!

                              We love some Baby G!

Wednesday: Piano lessons! Jacek is getting better and better each week. He's learning chords and he picked out the song he wants to play for his Christmas concert. At first it was Mary had a little lamb but he wants to try and work on another song. I'm so proud of him. After piano, we went and picked up my dad and we did our yearly tradition of going to the Halloween store. We all LOVE that store. Luna's always flirting with the scary gross monsters and Jacek and my dad love to try on every hat and accessory.

Jacek had a soccer game Wednesday night. I noticed last week that he was more focused but this week, holy cow, he was like a different kid out there. He took the ball away from the other team right outside of their goal and took all the way down the field and scored his first goal. I jumped up and screamed like such an idiot. I had tears in my eyes and goose bumps. It just took my by surprise. He also scored another goal before the end of the game. He had 2 goals in one game! I was blown away. He told Matt that he wanted score a goal him a goal for his birthday. I am so proud of him. He really has come such a long way. Go Jacek!

Thursday: This week is flying by way too fast! School day. I went to drop the kids off at school and the director asked me if I had plans. Yikes! They needed me to help out in the 2 year old room (not Luna's). I was ready to take it on! I had a lot of fun seeing what the kids do all day and getting to know all the children. They were all so cute and it was an honor to have even been asked to help out. Jacek thought it was really neat that I worked at his school.

Nikita had her last tournament Thursday night. Jacek and I came out to watch a great game of volleyball. Nikita's team did not win but they played an amazing game. They came in second place for the tournament. I'm so proud of Nikita!

                                          Besties!

And Friday: I tried to clean the house a little before I had to work. We were so busy all week that I slacked off. I'm mostly caught up. We are headed to the pumpkin patch on Sunday and we are all so excited. I love this time of year!

September 26-30th

Much of the same this week as last. I was sick Monday and the kids were sick Tuesday. We were feeling a little better by Wednesday so that's when our week actually started for us.

Wednesday was Matt's birthday. The kids and I wanted to make it special for him. Jacek had piano lessons in the morning. As we were getting ready to head out both kids ran downstairs and both wanted to be the door opener. Yes, they fight over who gets to open the front door. Jacek went to open it and Luna bent down and but him really hard! Jacek started screaming and I didn't even have time to put Luna in time out. We were running late. I don't understand why it seems to take forever to just leave the house on some days. Anyway, Luna was in a funk from the door fiasco and was loud and fussy during piano. I had to take her outside so she would not be so distracting. She was really not happy about that! Good ol' terrible 2s! After piano lessons, I wanted to make a video for Matt's birthday. Ms. Anna played the keys while Jacek and I sang. Luna sulked and it's actually pretty funny.

Matt loved it! The kids continued to get more and more excited about Matt's birthday. They had to color his wrapping paper, help me bake his cake and most important, help decorate the cake. It was so much fun seeing how excited the kids were. Jacek had soccer so we had to eat dinner, open presents and then enjoy some cake! We headed out for soccer and I was so proud of my boy! He played so hard. What a difference a season makes. Last season, he just wanted to joke around and play with his friends. This season, he's serious. I love watching him. He makes me so proud, for sure!

Thursday, the kids had school. They were excited to go because they missed Tuesday and it was also picture day. They're so funny! They were practing their smiles on the way to school. I'm sure they will turn out adorable! I snapped a few before school.

 

Jacek fixed his own hair. He really wants to grow it out and it's driving me crazy.  He's old enough now to have some say in his swag! Thursday night, Matt and I went to dinner and the kids hung out with Aunt Di. I think she bought them at least half of the dollar store. My kids love going to the dollar store with Aunt Di. 

Friday- We were lazy and lounged around in our pj's all morning. We watched movies in bed and it was wonderful!   

September 19th-23rd

Back from vacation and back to reality. This week was just one big wash, literally! It rained all week and we were just getting back to routines that are still new to us. The kids have school Tuesdays and Thursdays and Jacek has piano and soccer on Wednesdays. It's an adjustment. We went from doing whatever we wanted to being on a scheldule. It's for the best, I know, but hopefully by next week we all be used to the schedule and off of island time! :)

Milestone- Caleb aka Baby G is 1 month old! YAY!!

Hilton Head 2011 September 9th-15th

Best vacation yet! It's hard to even put into words how amazing this trip truly was. I will try my best but just know that it was greater than I could possibly say.

We decided to drive overnight so the kids could sleep in the car for most of the drive. We left at 10:30 pm on Friday night and the kids were asleep within the next hour. I drove most of the way until I could not take it anymore. We stopped and got gas and Matt took the wheel. I slept for about 45 minutes and then it was time for some Bojangles, our favorite fast food joint in the South Carolina. A very sleepy Jacek and Luna perched up for some breakfast.

We ended up at the beach around 10:30 am. I checked in with the desk and I knew our room wasn't going to be ready but I gave them my cell number so they could call as soon as it was ready. We got lucky again and got the same room as last year with a patio. We changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the beach. It was absolutely stunning. I set up our station with chairs, towels, snacks etc and then when I sat down to soak it all in, we saw many dolphins passing by. A couple of them were even jumping out of the water to welcome us. It was magical. I wasn't sure how Jacek was going to react to the dolphins. He has never liked getting into the ocean and it has always caused him anxiety. This year was different. Matt took Jacek out into the ocean where they jumped waves and cooled off from the rising sun. Luna enjoyed the smaller waves up on the shore. We sat there and played in the sand for at least an hour. It was so nice to feel the sand upon my feet and to see my family happy and at peace. We snacked on Pringles and sipped some water. Luna thought it was amazing to watch the seagulls go crazy every time she would throw a Pringle at them. "I got a treat for ya!"

After a quick lunch our room was finally ready. Since we were here last year, Matt and I have our system down. He brings in all the bags while I unpack everything. We were settled in and took a couple of hours to relax from the long drive and long day. The kids watched Nickelodeon, the only kids station on the hotel TV. At least they had that, though. Around sunset we headed back down to the beach. It was so amazing! Matt got some great pictures. He's turning out to be quite the photographer.

The next day it was absolutely wonderful to wake up and be a few steps away from the beach. We had a light breakfast and headed straight for the beach. I wanted to try and see more dolphins. We didn't see any dolphins but we played in the waves for hours. Matt had Jacek and I had Luna. I don't know that I've ever talked so much smack to a wave in my life. "Oh, you think you're so big and bad, wave! Come and get some!" We had such a blast. We headed to our chairs to dry off and have a snack. Jacek looks at me with a satisfied grin on his face and said, "Mom, I wasn't even afraid to get into the ocean!" I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was so proud of my little man for fighting though his little anxieties that could potentially hold him back in life. I felt like I was watching him turn into a little boy right before my very eyes. Luna chased sandpipers and other people's dogs all over the beach. She is just a tad obsessed with dogs. After the beach, the kids wanted to hit up the hotel pool. We went straight from the beach into the pool. The water felt so good! Luna was hanging on the steps while Jacek floated around in his floaty. I loved seeing them both so content.

Jacek decided that he wanted to jump off the side of the pool into the water. He had never done this before nor had he ever wanted to. I told him that I would catch him and not to worry. He stood on the side of the pool and told me to come closer. He literally was going to jump right on top of me. A little girl came into the pool. Jacek looked at me and then her and then back at me. "Come on, baby," I said. Jacek took a small jump and landed into my arms. I was so stinking proud of him. He jumped probably another 20 times. With each jump I moved farther away so he was doing it all on his own. He kept looking at the little girl to make sure she was watching. It was so cute. I could tell he had a little crush on her. Luna also had to get in on the action. She would stand on the side of the pool and I would grab her hands. She would jump and I would lower her into the water. Luna and Jacek alternated turns until we were all wore out.

We went and had some lunch and then headed back to the room for an afternoon nap. Vacation is the best. Wake up and play at the beach and pool, eat and then nap. Life is good! When we woke up from our nap we went and rented some bikes to ride along the beach and around the island. We had a blast! Jacek said, "This is the life!" We laughed and totally agreed. Luna said, "This is not so awesome, this is so COOOOL!" What a glorious day! After dinner, we took a walk around Coligny Plaza and then went to bed early. We slept great.

Next day, we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant: Groupers. The kids were in no mood to sit down and have a nice breakfast. we shoveled our food in our faces as quick as possible and then headed down to the beach. Lazy days at the beach and pool. We jumped waves at the beach and the kids jumped into the pool a million times. For lunch, we went to get takeout from Harold's diner. The place was a total dive and the customer service was awful but that was the best burger I've ever had in my life. I will eat there again but at least we will know what to expect this time. Their food was so delicious I didn't care how we were treated. As usual, we napped after lunch. Lounged around until dinner. We decided to try the Crazy Crab. Matt loves seafood and I had read they had great seafood. It could not have been anymore perfect. We got a seat on the deck out back that overlooked a gorgeous swampy sound. Below our table was a small playground  for kids. Jacek and Luna played on the playground while Matt and I had an AMAZING meal and drinks. They had the best hush puppies I have ever had in my life, no lie! We were very stuffed from dinner and had to rest up for another great day!

The next day was much of the same: beach, pool, lunch, nap, ride bikes and dinner. It really is the life! It's nice to have not have to worry about what time it is or where the cell phone is. Everything was so relaxing! That night we went ghost crab hunting with some friends the kids made from the hotel. OK, those little crabs are crazy! I couldn't tell what direction they were going to go and if it even acted like it was coming for me, I ran away! It was so much fun, though. The kids had a blast and they caught a lot of crabs!

Luna started getting fussy that night and we thought she was probably just tired. We went back to the room and the kids both slept really well. When Luna woke up in the morning she was still fussy. Matt took her to get some food and Jacek and I went shopping. When we returned, Luna looked so tired and was still fussy. We decided that we should probably head home because Luna was home sick. The vacation was such a success! It brought us closer together as a family and we really needed the beach. I am already looking forward to next year.

Hilton Head Island 2011

Sept. 5th-Sept 9th

Happy Labor day! A day to be lazy and an extra day with Matt home is a great day! We went to my sister's house and the kids had a great time. They always have fun no matter what! I love that about them!

Tuesday... the first day of preschool! It was more of an orientation/ meet the teacher type of day but it went really well. Jacek is now in pre-k and Luna started her first year in the 2 year old classroom. We walked around and met the teachers and other classmates. We were there for maybe an hour or so. Luna was so cute. As we were walking up to the school she was holding my hand and nervously rubbing her thumb on the inside of my hand. She didn't even realize she was doing it. It was a success!

Wednesday... Piano lessons! Jacek had an amazing session. I was so proud of him; he blew me away! He is getting so good at reading his notes. He did so well Ms. Anna gave him 2 gold stars and he even learned how to take a bow next to the piano. Seriously, the kid is truly talented! :)

Thursday... First real day of preschool without me! I was a little nervous for Luna. We dropped Jacek off at his class first and he walked in with all the confidence in the world. I think it was good for Luna to see that. I walked Luna into her classroom and she ran over to their big play kitchen. She started making bacon, eggs, pizza and many other things. She had at least 5 burners going! She was so involved she wouldn't say bye to me. All of the other kids were crying for their moms but Luna was in off in her own world. I was glad she was handling it so well because it would have really broke my heart if she wanted me stay. It broke my heart anyway, who am I kidding? As soon as I hit the car I started crying! I walked into school with 2 kids and out with no kids. It was a very empty feeling. I went and had breakfast with my dad and he did a great job distracting me until it was time to pick the kids up. Jacek was the perfect boy and listened very well. Luna did very well, too but she eventually cried a little bit for me. She got over quickly, though. I'm so proud of my babies. We came home and while I was making lunch Luna and Jacek wrestled on the ground for a good 20 minutes. They were away from each other for a couple of hours and it was quite obvious that they missed each other. It filled my heart with warmth and love!

Haha, she made this face all the way to school!

Now, it's Friday! We are headed to Hilton Head tonight! I am stuck at work for a couple of hours and then I will make the long drive while the kids are sleeping... hopefully! We are all very excited about our family vacation.We went last year and had a blast so we are looking forward to the beach, pool, tiki hit and whatever else may come our way. Until next week...

August 29th-September 2nd

Monday, we got to see baby G. Jacek and Luna were so excited. I didn't tell them before because I didn't want them to keep bugging me about it. "Can we leave yet? Can we leave now?" Their excitement was cute but exhausting. I love that freaking kid, though. He is such a laid back chill baby/ He reminds me of Luna when she was a newborn. Holding Caleb made me realize how much I miss holding and rocking little babies. There is something so calming and soothing about it. I snapped some shots of the kids with baby G. These are from 2 separate visits but I will post them together. Y'all know I go picture crazy!

                            They were so excited to meet their cousin. It was quite adorable!

On Tuesday, we discovered a park that was 5 houses down from our house. I've lived in my house for 5 years and had no idea that park was there. It's a small park and is tucked away but I know about every park! This was shocking to me but exciting too. There were 2 swings there and 2 basketball hoops. There's a huge area of green grass that will be great for soccer or kickball. We also did our usual Tuesday night Edgewood concert series in the park. This was the last one until next year. The band that played was called Jimmy's New Invention. They were so good and Jacek and Luna loved them. They danced the entire time.

As you can tell, my kids were the only ones dancing. I had a smile from ear to ear just watching them dance the night away. It's pure happiness to me to watch them dance so freely. At  one point the lead singer walked over to Luna and asked, "What's your name?" She held the microphone to Luna's mouth and Luna said, "What's your name?" Everyone started laughing. It was so cute. The lead singer asked her again only to get the same reply. "What's your name?" Jacek finally came to the rescue, "Her name is Luna." And the kids continued to dance the night away. They were very fussy by the time we got home. When my babies are tired I feel like we had a great day.

On Wednesday, Jacek had piano. After piano we always go and visit with my dad. My dad and Luna have such a special bond. It always makes me smile no matter what kind of day I'm having.

We went grocery shopping with my dad. We have our system down. Dad takes Jacek and I take Luna. Luna and I whip through the lanes as quickly as possible because it seems we are always a minute away from a meltdown. My dad wanted to get some grocery shopping done but Jacek insisted that they look at greeting cards. He made papaw read 10-15 different cards to him. He told papaw that he wanted to get me a nice card. My dad was so patient. He just let Jacek keep picking out cards until he was done. After that we picked up some lunch and headed back to my house. We had a great lunch and I put all the groceries away. After that we went to a small neighborhood park by my sister's house. There were a couple of swings and Luna loves to swing!

After the park we dropped papaw off and headed back home. We had a little bit of time to kill before Jacek had soccer practice. He was also getting his soccer pictures taken so we practiced on how he would smile. This is what he liked:

I thought it was great but I wasn't sure if he was going to do his smile when it came time for the pictures. I had him smile for me at practice.

Sure enough, he did his smile! I wasn't even going to buy any pictures but when I saw him smiling like this for the camera I filled out the form and had Matt go get the checkbook. He's just too cute and he was really excited about his soccer pictures. Wednesday was action packed and we all crashed hard!

On Thursday, we went back over to Kelita's house and hung out with baby G. We cannot get enough of that boy! We also went and bought new shoes. School starts next week and they needed new shoes really bad! You would have thought these kids hit the lottery. They were and still are so excited about their new shoes. Jacek go light up Spiderman shoes and Luna got Dora shoes.

On Friday, it was so super hot outside. It was over 100 degrees with the heat index. Luna filled up the pool with the hose and Jacek didn't even want to come outside. After the pool was filled Luna was done and ready to go inside. We were outside for maybe ten minutes. Aunt Di came and picked them up for lunch and I had to go to work. We had a great week. There's never a dull moment, for sure. I'm looking forward to next week. School starts on Tuesday and we leave for Hilton Head next Friday night. I'm ready for a family vacation!

**This week Luna started a new saying that I thought was funny. I would kiss her on the lips and she would say, "I got some lips!" **