The rest of Nassau

These are from when we got back on the ship at Nassau. We learned that this set of buildings is the Atlantis resort. They filmed Casino Royale there. (I guess...I didn't see the movie.) We actually drove by it/into it to drop off the people we shared a cab with on the way to the beach. We were told it was crazy expensive.




These were the buildings that we had to walk through to get to the markets and into the city. They checked our passports to get back to the ship in this building. There were some small kiosks set up in there too. I just think the colors of everything is so pretty.


A view of the rest of the buldings.



A view of a really cute guy.


A view of us.


The top deck of our ship had a mini-golf course, but if you can see beyond the beauty of that ;), you notice the HA-UGE Disney cruise ship that we were beside. Huge. We had cruise envy for a little bit. lol

Huge. ;)

Trying the pictures again....

The stuff they made from the cans. Pretty cool.




Artwork on building.


Clock tower


Man that carved in the marketplace.


Random shot of just a teeny bit of the market.


We got a small elephant.


The shells the guy was getting right by the ships.


My hunky hubby.


Beautiful!


Enjoying every minute!


For you Shanel!


Our crazy taxi driver!

Our cruise Nassau

We cruise went to Nassau, Bahamas first. We decided to stop by the markets first. I didn't want any jewelry, which a lot of the stores in the marketplace were. Cartier, del Sol, Coach...tons of fancy shops. I needed sunglasses. We stopped in a couple of small shops, but they were $15, which I don't even pay in the U.S. We found a shop that had them for 10. Not bad. They were designer knock offs and I got them for 8 because there was some small damage to them, that doesn't even effect them. Anyway. So I have new sunglasses.

We walked by these guys setting up. They had made these things from old soda cans. They were so neat. I wish we would have bought one. They boys would have loved it. (sidenote: our neighbors are going in december, i might have them get one for us...) They had trains, plains, helicopters, guitars...lots of cool stuff.




It was a beautiful city. I felt like it had/has a lot of history. I liked the simplicity of this clock tower.



I liked the artwork on the side of this building too.



This man was carving all sorts of things. I think he might have been one of the men that called Bon "Rambo". It was a boost of ego to walk through the markets. The women would call out, Hey beautiful what can I help you pick out?, etc. They called the boys "Rambo".



There were a lot of wooden tchotchkes. We bought an elephant and I got a figure of a man and woman dancing. If we had an endless budget, I would have gotten more, it was just all so beautiful.




There was a guy diving down and pulling these up. It was kind of an odd spot, since if you panned the camera up, you would see a couple of big cruise ships docked. lol



After shopping, we took a taxi to a beach. It was so gorgeous! The sand was white and had big granules, unlike the beaches in SC, where the sand is very fine. The water was blue and clear. We could see little schools of fish swimming and there was a bigger fish swimming around. We weren't sure what kind of bigger fish it was, but no one wanted to get close enough to see. lol Everyone just tried to avoid it.


Handsome Bon. We would find out later, that I didn't rub sunscreen on his back as well as I thought I had. Ooops. lol ;)


Sitting on the beach. We enjoyed people watching, reading and I think we even napped. lol I don't know how, since there was a bar (where those steps are by Bon's head) that had huge speakers playing music.) At one point we moved our towels into the shade. We really loved this day. It was fantastic.



A little story about going back to the ship. We had to take a taxi back to the port. When we walked out from the beach area, there were some taxi drivers there waiting, along with two other couples. The drivers try to fill their van up to capacity, but when getting paid $4 a person, I don't think they should complain. ;) Anyway, the other couples had come together and were vocal about having enough and going back. They were hilarious. The driver was insistent that we wait. So he had us pile into his van. The one guy was like "this isn't cool! This is how roadside bombings happen!!" I guess he was an ex-marine. So after a couple of minutes, this other taxi pulls up beside us, (cause remember, we are just sitting in a parked van), has Jamaican music BLARING from his speakers, says get in! So we pile out and then pile back in to his taxi. He had been sitting with the other drivers and thought it was dumb the other guy was making us wait. So we get driven back to the port. And this guy is SCARY driving!!! lol But the other people that we shared the cab with were hilarious, so that made the ride fun! At one point, the driver bumps into another car. The driver of the car gets out, checks to see if there was damage and then got back in her car. Crazy!!

I did happen to get this very bad picture as we were driving. For you, Shanel!



Our crazy driver!! Too bad you don't have the full experience with the music and the cars all around! Once we got out, it was nice because one of the other couples paid for our ride. They were heading to a local bar, so we tried to give them money to buy a drink (equal amount of what we would have paid the taxi) but they refused. So nice!



I will finish up more posts later. :)

Our Cruise part 1

We are so thankful to Bon's mom who came and watched the kids for us while we went on our little getaway. We had a great time and enjoyed spending time with each other. It was good for our marriage (which is never bad) and good for our souls.

Here we are in our room. woooo...exciting. We had just gotten there and we really were excited. lol



Once everyone was on the ship, they make you take part in the evacuation plan thingy before debarkation. It was hilarious being lined up on the deck. I was grateful that we were on the outer row, since there were 4 rows of people. We all joked about being herded like cattle. :) And we were nervous about the Coast Guard boat that had a guy with a BIG gun.. We were thinking he might want an opportunity to use it. ;)



While leaving the port, we spotted dolphins! It was so cool!



We were escorted by the Coast Guard out into the open waters. They shoo'd boats away that would get too close. There was extra protection leaving because it was Sept. 10. They were being extra precautious.



When we returned to our room later, we found a dog that our room steward had made for us. He left a different animal each night. It was fun to see what he would make.



We couldn't get over how blue the water was.



This was right after my sunglasses fell into the great big blue ocean. lol I could feel them slipping but was too late to grab them off my head. Oh well. Good excuse to buy a new pair!!

Bon and I look all hot and sweaty in this picture because we had been in the adult only "Serenity" part. It is comprised of lounge chairs and two hot tubs. It was nice because it was so quiet on that part of the ship. No loud music or people smoking. We visited that section a lot because it was "serene".

Oh you guys....

pretending to read my blog and bug me for updates.  Psh.  So nice of you.  ;) 

August went by in a rush.  We signed the boys up for fall sports.  Ryan is playing machine pitch baseball and Ty is playing soccer, with Bon being an assistant coach for his team. 

Ryan's practices are an hour and a half, which is great if I don't have the rest of the kids, because I sit in the car and read.  Bon came for a little while, to a scrimmage and said that I would be in charge of Ryan's practices.  He was bored after 10 minutes.  :)  Ryan still needs work with hustling and with hitting and throwing...and well...with the whole sport really.  lol  He is doing a great job though.  Tonight at practice he caught a pop fly in the most nonchalant way that all the adults there started laughing and clapped.  It almost looked like he was shocked he caught it too! 

I have only been to one of Ty's practices, but he looks like he's enjoying it.  He wears a serious face when he's playing.  I think he's biting the insides of his cheeks, so hopefully he won't bite through them if he gets knocked around. 

Reagan just had her first tumbling class yesterday.  She is taking tumbling at the same place she took dance last year.  She is excited to be learning new things and has been working on her cartwheels. 

Evan, sadly, is not in any sports.  The underwater basket weaving class had no more spots open.

School started on the 25th!!!  We had open houses on Monday and Tuesday to take in supplies and meet their teachers.  Reagan is in third grade, has the same teacher as last year and was excited to go back.  Ryan is in second grade, at Belmont Central with Reagan now, has a really nice teacher and has earned the privilege of "eating with a buddy" at the visitor's table because of good behavior.  Ty is in kindergarten!!!!  He has a really nice teacher also.  The first day he went was Friday, and it was just a half day for him.  Then he started full time on Tuesday.  It was bittersweet to see him go.  He really is my little sweetheart, reminds me a lot of myself.  But it's been oh so quiet with him gone.  aaahhhhhh.....  ;)  When I picked him up on his first day, I asked if he made any friends.  He responded with "of course!!!  That's how I meeted Hayden!" 

Bon has been traveling a bit for work lately.  He was in MN last week.  Was supposed to go to GA this week for a couple of days, but plans got changed, and instead he just has to work a little on Monday.  Next week he goes to VA for a day.  I know work really stresses him out.  But I appreciate all he does for us. 

I have been keeping busy trying to stay sane this summer.  I don't know how well I did.  I finished up the laundry pedestal and shelf.  Now to just get the things on it organized and not have it be another catch-all.  I painted the main bathroom upstairs, but I don't love it.  It's too orange.  I feel like I'm smooshed in a can of pumpkin, waiting to be plopped out and made into cookies.  lol  I will definetly repaint at some point.  I'm thinking about trying the board and batten thing....My next project is making a cat box cabinet.  Right now I just have a cover over it that lifts off to clean the cat box.  I have the supplies to start, just not the time. 

Bon and I are headed on a cruise (as long as we don't get another hurricane!!) starting the 10th of Sept.  We are both looking forward to time together.  His mom is coming to watch the kids.  I really hope they don't wear her out too bad.  They are excited to see her.  :)  I am hoping that maybe she'll want to organize my plasticware while I'm gone.  *hint hint* 

Well...tis all for now. 

rambling

Since my last post was "enlightening", I of course have to have another post to bring you off of that high.  ;) 

The last week or so, I have just been feeling blah.  Not sick or under the weather, just a lull of happiness.  I've been feeling unappreciated/overlooked/underpaid (ha!), unheard, just...like my only goal in life is to clean up after my kids and be the maid of the house.  Just nod my head and go along with whatever they need/want. 

And it's so frustrating!  Bon asked if I follow through.  I don't know.  I think I do, but they just don't seem to care.  I'm just Mom and not a person to them. 

So he told the kids that our family is like a swim team and if someone stops swimming, then they drown and/or don't go anywhere.  He told them that I feel like they have stopped swimming and they need to start swimming so our family doesn't drown. 

Which is great, but I still get the feeling that once the week goes on, we will be floundering again.  Maybe it is me.  Maybe I am the one who needs to change. 

Being whole

The other day I looked in the mirror and nit picked my body. I saw everything that was wrong with it (in the eyes of me.)

And then as I rocked Evan to sleep, I sat pondering about my body. How whole it is. How I need to be more grateful for the things it can do and care less about what I wish it was.

My head can perform 4 out of the 5 senses. That's pretty awesome.

My arms can hold my kids, give hugs, fix boo boos.

My legs can chase my kids in a game of tag, pick up my kids for "airplane" rides, warm up cold feet underneath the covers.

My back can give piggy back rides, horsey rides, bend down to pick up and soothe away tears.

My heart. It can burst with pride. Fill with love. Ache with I shoulda's. Shoulda said I loved more, hugged more, said I was proud more, said I was sorry more.

My body, although not perfect in my eyes, is perfectly perfect. It does what it needs to do, what it can do. It has done a lot, performed miracles even. (if you think about growing a baby as being a miracle)

It's whole.

Expectations

I feel like I put pretty high expectations upon myself. Must do this, must do that, must have this and that done, must, must, must. (I do not want a bigger bust.)

All of these expectations really stress me out.

And the hard part of all this is...I can't stop.

I can't stop beating myself up over the fact that I never have the whole house clean at the same time. Or that my clothes sit in piles on my bedroom floor because the last step in laundry taunts me and buries me under it's guise of being ever so hard, when it's ever so easy. And then I put the clothes away and think, Ahhh...no more laundry, so like a fool I don't do it for ....a while... and there it all is again. Then I wonder how many times do I need to repeat this cycle before I can snap out of it? lol

Maybe it's endless.

I love to do projects. To build things. To create/copy. I am also really good at starting something and never finishing it. Or trying to cram a months worth of projects into a week.

So the easy fix would be to lower my expectations. Right? Sounds easy enough.

But it's super hard because as I look around and see the state of disaster that is my house, I think..."I'm pretty sure my expectations are somewhere around -80."

So that's what a good night's rest and tomorrow will bring. More energy and time to make the negative into positive.

And I have figured out why I can't lose weight.

Giving y'all something to look at...

I don't know how people do it! I feel like I'm running in the same spot trying to play catch up and people just whizz right by with an easy pace! Phew! And I'm dog tired! lol

Early May was Reagan's dance recital. Her class performed to three songs. She did really good and it was obvious of her oldest sibling status. If the girls didn't move fast enough off the stage in front of her, she kind of shooed them and gathered them. She won a trophy and was very happy about that (everyone got one).





Then from there, it was the last month of school busy-ness. Class parties, field days, etc. Reagan and Ryan did miss a week for my grandma's funeral, but they hopped right back into the swing of things upon returning. Reagan's record was brought to council because she had missed one too many days of school. But because she is a super student, it was fine. Just annoying. :)

I was recently called to be Activity Days Leader (I think I was called end of February?). It is fun to be able to go with Reagan, although she does act kinda naughty since I am there. ;) We are taking July and August off, although, I don't know if that was because the lady doing it before is a teacher and that was her way, or if that is how the primary wants it done.

June brought Ryan's 7th birthday! He had Christian spend the night and Bon took Ryan, Christian, Reagan and Ty bowling.


The 10th was the kids last day of school. We did the tradition of going out somewhere after school to get a treat. I had asked Reagan earlier in the week about our tradition and she didn't know we had one. Um...maybe it's more for me? I pick them up the first and last day of school and we go to Sonic or Dairy Queen and get ice cream. This year it was Dairy Queen.







Father's Day went well. We made (bought) Bon an apron with handprints. He liked it! One of the boys said that now he could wear it when he made us lunch. lol (since we gave it to him after church and we hadn't eaten yet)


This week Ryan is at Scout Day Camp. It's only day 2, but it is super hot this week (compared to last week's fairly mild temperatures). They provide the lunch and yesterday's bologna and cheese sandwich was "gross...even the bread tasted disgusting! and all the scouts got to drink was chocolate milk and the staff got sodas!!" Such inequality!!! ;)

Also in sad news....My good friend Mary is moving this week. :( Super sad!!! They are going back up to Michigan for a year until her husband's job takes them somewhere else. I threw a party on Saturday for her, one last get together with all the girls that played bunco. Fun and sad all at the same time. I will miss her a TON!


First crops of the season, besides lettuce and strawberries. Those potato peels Mom had me bury did surprisingly well. Maybe a surprise to me, but not her...I'm not sure. :)