Christmas in July

because it's July 25th

and i still haven't sorted through most of my pictures from Christmas

here are a few from our Christmas morning

when my babies were such...babies!!!

ah...these are sweet, sweet memories

i feel so blessed to have them frozen in time

this mama's heart = warmed & melted through and through!

realizations + catching up

soooo....

it's been almost 3 months since i've updated this little blog of mine

and i can't really say it was accidental this time

although i didn't exactly plan on it being such a long break

and i don't promise it's quite over yet

you see, right around the beginning of april

i realized something

i was overbooked, overwhelmed, and overtired

all

the

time

so i thought about what i could take off my plate

like maybe just pare down to only doing things i absolutely love doing

and i realized that all of the things i'd piled into my life 

were good things

and i was quite thankful for that

but then i had another realization

sometimes you have to cut out the good things to focus on the best things

so, i went on an instagram-vacation,

a blog-vacation,

and majorly cut back on facebook

in order to focus on my real life going on around me

to sit on the floor and read book after book with my kiddos

(who seem to be growing up at mega-speed!!!)

to pick away at some personal photography projects

to travel

to sit at my kitchen table late at night,

chatting about kids and life and Jesus

to more regularly spend time with Jesus

to go to bed at a reasonable hour

to wake up with the sun, like i've always loved doing

(i know, i'm crazy)

and it was good

i plan on eventually adding some of the things i cut out back into my life

but not quite yet

i still have a few projects to wrap up

but i do miss blogging and instagramming and connecting via social media

and let's be honest, the creative outlet is a bonus

but until then, i'll try to check in now and again

hopefully more regularly than once every three months!

it may just be to throw up a bunch of pictures without many words

but hey, it's better than nothing, right? 

that being said, let's get that trend started with some pictures from my birthday

(already over two weeks ago...whoops!)

i spent the day enjoying Daniel's family in NC

taking the kids tubing in the lake for the first time

fishing off the dock

and getting some sweet cards their "Glammie" (read: grandma) helped them make for me

Glammie also took the kiddos for us so that we could enjoy a date night out

(for the second time in two weeks - that's gotta be a record since the kids were born!)

i chose the Harvest Moon Grille for my birthday dinner; 

this cute little cafe style restaurant

that serves local, seasonal food (all from within 100 miles of their doors!)

and boy was it good

(for the record, we both ordered their pulled pork sandwich, 

and they accommodated my gluten intolerance without skipping a beat

by offering to sub out my bun for an in-house-made corn tortilla.

then, when they found out it was my birthday 

they brought me the most amazing smore for dessert,

complete with freshly made ginger cookies, dark chocolate and an in-house-made marshmallow)

seriously, if you're in the area make sure you visit this place

not only was the food outstanding, the service was wonderful

and as it turned out, the restaurant is located in the cutest little town

seriously.

check. it. out.

after we got home and put the kiddies to bed, we slipped out onto the dock to snap a few photos

(since i was silly enough to leave my camera at home for our date), 

catch a couple more fish

watch a magical lightning bug show,

and call it a night

a good start to the week

hello friends - happy monday to you!

as you've probably noticed, i finally got around to a bit of updating around here

nothing too crazy - just freshened up with a new header + adjusted fonts / colors etc

i guess i was in a catch-up-on-things-that-are-long-overdue kick over the weekend

because not only did i spruce up my little corner of the internet, 

i also caught up on some vacation photos from our last trip to florida

(briefly blogged about here and here, but that was about it)

exactly 3 months ago we were smack-dab in the middle of our fabulous time there

and for some reason, i just flipped through our photos and decided it's high time i shared some

so here's a batch from our last morning there

the water was rough, but we figured it was our last chance to get out in it

to our surprise, the girlies loved it!

and they weren't the only ones

i mean, what's not to love?

their contagious squeals of joy, the sound of the waves crashing, salty air and good company
my heart was full

vacation catch-up

hey guys!

our vacation is officially over today:

daniel is back to work, the house is littered with toys

and there are half unpacked bags in every corner

out time on st. george island was full of fun, sand, waves, seafood, late nights, laugher, etc.

oh and perhaps the most exciting part was when my sister in law got engaged!!!

it was such a sweet proposal 

her fiance is a total keeper

he was up half the night collecting shells to write "marry me kate" in the sand

so she could see it on their sunrise walk

plus he passed the twin test...like i said, he's a keeper

we got home halfway through saturday and spent the rest of the day battling jetlag...and napping

sunday wasn't much different

the girlies told me "happy you, mama" (translation:  happy mothers day),

we set up blankets in the living room to cuddle and watch frozen

(it scared one of them, and the other didn't have the attention span for the whole movie

....soooo we're probably shelving that one for a while)

then we napped some more,

skyped with daniel's parents 

(had to wish his mama "happy you" too! ;) )

and did a quick costco run to grab some essentials

(we were down to 2 diapers and almost out of coconut oil...crisis averted!)

after all that, we ran out to the backyard for some playtime before the sun went down

it was a beautiful end to our vacation

and now, on to "real life"

insta-update

hey y'all - i'm back!

lots has happened since i last wrote a blog post

if you follow me on instagram, you'll have an idea of what we've been up to

if not, allow me to fill you in:

- we went on a fabulous three week family vacation

- i drank a lot of tea (green tea, sweet tea, oolong tea - you name it, i've probably had it!)

- we spent a week and a half on the beach and adjusted pretty well to island life:

sipping morning coffee / reading on the porch, watching for dolphins, sun kissed skin, searching for pretty shells and hermit crabs, family photos, fresh seafood, gorgeous sunrises, laughing babies, roadside snow cones, big family meals, window shopping around town, etc

- after the beach, we flew to North Carolina for a week with our family there, including time on the lake with Daniel's parents plus a road trip to spend some time on the farm with our extended family there (who graciously took the time to host / attend a big, delicious family dinner while we were there)

- came home and were absolutely shocked at how cold it had gotten while we were gone...then promptly caught a cold to make it feel that much more winter-y  ;)

- ate lots of wholesome foods and veggies to try and beat said cold (and maybe shed some of those pounds we tend to put on while on vacation!)

- hosted a gender reveal party for my sister's baby (it's a girl!!!)

- spent as much time as we could outdoors, enjoying the beautiful colors of fall

***

we're still not unpacked,
but i think we're almost done with this cold

which makes me a very happy camper
anyway, now that you're all caught up on what we've been up to,
what have you been up to?  feel free to share in the comments!  :)

Down on the Farm

happy new year, guys!

i actually can't believe it's 2013
it's going to be a good year
i know it

we've got a few exciting things going on
like a simple a committment to eating better again
(we got a little sloppy this last year)
and two little somebodys who are turning one in a couple of weeks
(ahhhh! guess i should start planning that...)
and there's something else in the works, but i'm not quite ready to share it on here yet
...soon, though!

what i can tell you is that i'm excited for all this year holds
for whatever the Lord has for us

but before we delve into the new year, i wanted to rewind a little bit
and share some of our Christmas memories with you

like i mentioned before, this year was a North Carolina Christmas
one of my favorite things about NC Christmases 

is getting to spend a few nights out in the country while staying over at Daniel's grandparents' place

i remember my first Christmas there: 

running around with my camera, 

taking pictures of the open fields, 

black walnut trees,
little baby goats,
not so little cows,

rows upon rows of collards, strawberries, etc 

it is absolutely gorgeous there

this year, we got to show the girls around the farm, safari-style
with their great grandad as our tour guide,
their auntie as our impromptu photographer,
and their uncle as our chauffeur / second impromptu photographer
(thanks, guys!)

they were beyond thrilled:
hanging out the windows,
growling at the cows,
sticking their tongues out to the wind,
meeting the animals,
discovering all kinds of critters and plants
all the while, giggling up a storm

they love being outdoors
and i must admit, that makes me one proud mama

lets just say, they were really ready for their nap after all the excitement
(p.s. get ready for some serious photo vomit - i had a hard time choosing!)