You Tube is the devil

Adding to the "It's the Devil List" - YouTube!

Argh! I enjoy YouTube, but apparently my kids do too! And now that O has found out that you can watch music videos on it - all she wants to do is listen and watch videos of Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, The Dixie Chicks, and of course, MJ. I swear if I hear "Thriller" or "Baby, Baby, Oh" ONE MORE TIME, I am going to lose my ever loving mind.

I may have to break my own laptop to get some peace. I wonder if a new laptop is worth a few days of no YouTube? :)

Eight Years Without

I was reminded today by my friend Anna that today was her daughter and son-in-law's 8th wedding anniversary. As soon as I heard this, it suddenly reminded me that it's been eight years since my Grandma Alma passed away. Wow. Eight years....it feels like 100 years honestly. I had tears in my eyes sitting at my desk today thinking about how much I miss her - and how I miss her as much now, eight years later, as I did the day she left us. If you knew my Grandma Alma, you know she was one of a kind. She was probably the most stubborn woman I have ever known - until Olivia Grace entered this world. Mom and I joke that OGG is the reincarnation of my Grandma because she is so hard headed. Grandma Alma was more than that though - she was the strongest woman I knew, smarter than most people gave her credit for, and was the most loyal person I've ever met. When I was little, I thought she was the coolest....even in her grass green car! She loved us - and although she never had a lot to give you - she'd do anything for you. I miss her so bad it hurts. I wish with all my heart that she could have met her great grandchildren - she'd be so proud of them and would spoil them worse than the grandparents would. Grandma LOVED kids. It breaks my heart that she passed away before she got to see me get married and before she could have met O, Cooper, and Madeline. There's not one single day that goes by that I don't think of her. Have I mentioned that I miss her immensely?

Not the usual Ha Ha blog I know - I just can't believe I've lived 8 years without her.

Wordless Wednesday

Best View

I can't imagine living somewhere that didn't have a beach! :)

Vacation

Vacation is going great! The kids are having so much fun. I love the beach - I sometimes forget how awesome it is once you get down here. We've been in the pool, been out on the beach, back in the pool, back to the beach....and it's been nothing but fun. We are taking our time doing whatever we feel like whenever we feel like - and the kids are staying up until they collapse each night. Vacation is awesome! Check out my Facebook page for pictures....the Internet at the beach house is VERY slow so I can't upload pictures very fast. But don't worry, I am taking TONS of pictures. :)

Two days

until our vacation at the beach!!!

Hiking....yes, I said Hiking!

I do a lot of things out of love for my kids - so you know that hiking is probably #1! :) Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not the hiking type gal. I don't mind the outdoors, but I just don't like putting a lot of "work" into it, you know?

Today after swimming for a few hours - we hit the road to Sugarloaf Mountain. I have to admit, it was very, very fun. The kids had a ball and didn't want to leave at all. They could have stayed there all day I think. We hiked up Sugarloaf and then hiked up Horseshoe (of course, I'm using the term "hiking" loosely...there are stairs that take you up the "mountains"), climbed a big rock, chased a lizard, went out on the pier over the pond, and just had a lot of fun. I have no idea how I'm still awake blogging this! :)

O and C at the "Big Rock"

My three favorite people.

My little man on the top of SugarLoaf.

The kids already want to go back - but I tell ya, I have learned that I am really, really, really out of shape!

Camp and Update

Olivia declared to me earlier this year that she was "too old for daycare this summer" - so Al and I decided to sign the kids up for camp at the YMCA. OMG, it's been the best idea EVER. They get to go swimming every day, go to the park almost daily, watch movies, do arts and crafts - and most importantly, they come home EXHAUSTED. It's not even 8:30 pm and my two wild monsters are fast asleep. Ah, YMCA, you are too good to me! :)

I am so happy that THEY are happy this summer. O was miserable last summer at daycare mostly because she didn't really know anyone there anymore. The ladies there are wonderful and love the kids, but O has a harder time getting into "clicks." Cooper can make a friend out of a rock - Olivia is more reserved. She gets that from me. So far they are having a blast - and so am I. The hours are so convenient, the kids stay active all day (yay), and it's cheaper than daycare. No complaining from our house right now.

Update on the kids: O survived 1st grade! I haven't gotten her report card yet, but I'm pretty sure she did great. She still has a C in math, but that's ok. She tried her hardest and probably could have done a lot better had she not rushed through most of the work. This was her first year taking the Standford Test. She scored above average to high average in EVERYTHING. She is seriously too smart sometimes - actually, she's seriously too *observant* all the time. LOL She's definitely our little book worm and really loves school. Cooper ended his year in 4K really strong. He had a tough start to the school year with his wacko teacher, but once Mrs. Eddy took over, Cooper just came out of his shell. Since Coop was an early baby and his birthday is only 2 days shy of the cut off date in SC, we decided to let him repeat 4k. He was one of the youngest in the class last year and just wasn't mature enough to move up. We struggled with this decision but after talking to his teacher - we think we're doing the right thing. It's still hard to swallow as a parent, BUT I think Cooper will really thrive next year and we'll see a big difference in what he can do. I'm really looking forward to his school year with Mrs. Chure. She was an outstanding teacher with O so I know Coop is going to respond well to her.

It's definitely been tough watching the two of them in "real" school this year - I've caught myself wondering "why can't Cooper learn this as easy as Olivia?" Or I've caught myself saying "Olivia knew this before she even got to school!" My kids are two VERY different little people and I have had to constantly remind myself of this. And after the hard road we went through bringing Cooper into this world - if repeating 4k is the hardest thing I'm going to have to swallow - then I feel blessed beyond words.