2 Weeks Full!

Wow what a week last week was! It was SO many things piled into one week it felt like it was 2 weeks!
We started the week with swimming lessons for my 2 Who boys. Tanner-Who just is comfortable in the water he just needs to work on proper technique. He is doing so well and is learning a lot! Now Easton-Who is ok with the water he however is not ok with someone he doesn't know when he can see me. SO...he screamed for most of his lesson, not because of the water as much as because of the fact that it was someone new dunking him under! But they both learned throughout the week and I am very proud of them and thankful for their instructor.  After swimming lessons we went to see How To Train Your Dragon 2. Which was a special surprise for my Dragon fanatic who danced in the car chanting "oh yeah, so cool! Oh yeah, so cool!" Once I told him where we were going. We all loved the movie and highly recommend it!
Tuesday was my birthday. Yes another year older and closer to the Big 30 but not there yet! (I am using any chance I can to remind Mr. Who that he is closer than me!)
Wednesday was a hard day for our family.  We had a funeral service for one of our cousins who lost his 3 year battle to brain cancer at the age of 54. Although it was a difficult time, the service (lead by my uncle) was very good and a true celebration of Gene's life.
Thursday I got to spend the day with our youth group at Splash in the Boro! I really enjoyed it. I even got to slide on some slides. Which I dont get to do with my Whos since we spend our time on the things I am too big to play on! (Gotta have some fun and feel young sometimes right?!)
Friday we had a baby shower/cookout at church for a great new family. I got to do the cake so I spent my time Friday working on it. I was pleased with how it turned out but the part I liked most was seeing the "parents to be" see it!

Last night I got to spend a great evening with my WILD Ministries super heros. This week I have also been working on a project I will post all of my pictures once it is finished! We are off to camp in Alabama and visit Aunt Boo, Uncle Rey, the boys, Grammy and Pa!

Summertime & Cruisin'

Well, I have had so many things that I have wanted to post that I didn't get around to, didn't know how to say, didn't know how to start, or didn't know how to fit it all in one post because it has been so long!
So I decided just to pick up where we are and go on from there. We shall see where it takes us!

We have been out of school for about 1 month now, and it has flown by!! Unfortunately it will be over too soon. BUT we have made the most of the time we have had so far. I was feeling down about my summer accomplishments a couple of weeks ago and the my sweet Mr. Who put it all in perspective for me. :)
We started our summer with VBS! It was a great week! I love doing VBS and I love seeing my sweet Whos singing the songs and talking about the stories. Even my little Who was singing "Yes to VBS" by the middle of the week (LOVE IT)!!

Then we got to spend a few days in Hilton Head with Gram and Granddaddy, my brothers and Madison. We had a great time, as usual! In case you don't know this Mama LOVES the beach...and my Whos are following suit!! 

AND...drumroll please!!....We went on a cruise!
Now this was my first cruise and I ABSOLUTELY loved it! We decided not to take the littlest Who this time (which was very hard for this Mama to do). But it was a good plan (thank you Mr. Who for knowing what would be best and sticking to your guns when I tried to fight it). We got to enjoy spending time with our other Whos, Grammy, Pa, Aunt Bo, Uncle Rey, Dawson, and Grayson. We went to the Bahamas. We made so many memories that I hope will stick in my Whos' minds forever.
The water was beautiful, the sea creatures were interesting (including the sharks and stingrays who invited themselves to swim with us) the food was fabulous, and the company was great! I can't wait to go on another one.



 

My two boy Whos started swimming lesson yesterday with some of their future "school friends" so I am sure we will have some interesting tales from this adventure.

Until next time...enjoy your summer and thank God for your blessings!

A December/Christmas run-through!

Wow! So looking back at my blog history it has been a while (over a month)since my last post. (I feel like I say that a lot...oh well...so goes the life of this Mama and her Whos!) As it has for MANY other people this last month or so has been a crazy whirlwind. We have had many different events and activities happen.

My brother-in-law whom I mentioned in my last post in November is doing really well with his amputation and so are my-sister-in-law and our nephews. We had great Thanksgiving with them at their house in Alabama (which was a BIG deal for me because of my family's large traditions of Thanksgiving).

Then of course December rolled in SUPER FAST whether we were ready for it or not! I had lots of BIG creative plans of things I wanted to do differently this year and unfortunately not very many of them got accomplished (apparently God had other plan I wasn't aware of). I had wanted to do a RAK calendar this year and even attempted to start on one but never got it going! (For those of you who may not know RAK stands for "Random Acts of Kindness...it's something I picked up on from some other Mommy and Teacher blogs I occasionally read). While we didn't get a full month of kindness going we did do one that was really neat for me. We left a dollar on a game at Ci-Ci's pizza while we were out of town and got to see some kids find it as we were leaving the restaurant. I LOVED the look on their faces! !

My hope was too calm our Christmas down in the means of spending money and overloading our kids and family with senseless "stuff" (I know you were all laughing out loud at the calming down Christmas weren't you). I wanted/hoped to do homemade Christmas for family and friends...some happened...some did not!

I was able to make some cute snowman cake-pops for my big-girl Who's class party! But let's just say that cake-pops tend to get the better of me and it never fails that the last week of school before Christmas break always seems to be super busy...even when I think I will have time to bake all the little goodies I want for my Who's teachers! After staying up way past my bed time of 9:30 to finish snowman cake-pops I called it a night with only 1 batch of Oreo balls for all the FABULOUS teachers of my Who's. The next morning at 5am, feeling VERY inadequate as I put 4 Oreo balls into 1 bag for each teacher (which was in no way acceptable). I finished one more batch of Oreo balls AND went to Kroger to buy giftcards for them because they take care of my Who's when I cannot and I do appreciate them way more than just 4 Oreo balls worth!

Another thing we DID accomplish this year was limiting our number of gifts and amount of our gifts for the kids
Each got 3, 2 from Mommy and Daddy and 1 from Santa (thanks to my direct line to the North Pole I was able to get this new tradition to the the elves in the toy shop!) Although Mr. Who, who tends to be more excited about the Who's gifts than they are, was QUITE worried about my suggestion of this new tradition.But it paid off on Christmas morning. All the Whos were HAPPY about their gifts and Tanner-Who said multiple time "this is the best Christmas ever!" (Gotta love it when they help prove me right!) LOL

I am attaching some pictures of 2 homemade gifts I did get around to making for grandparents and Gi-Gi (thanks to Gram)! Can I just say that I LOVE crafting and making cute little things!

Well after Christmas Eve with my Daddy's family, Christmas breakfast at our house, Christmas lunch with my Mama's family, and Christmas low country boil (that's a present right there) on December 28th with Wesley's family (that includes 14 grandkids) all of our Christmas festivities were done.

THEN we got a chance to go to the mountains in NC for a few days this past week! We even got to see SNOW! I will post some pictures of our good-times there too. Thanks Grammy and Pa for letting us go with yall!

Sorry for the lonnnnggg post! I guess that's what happens when I take a month off.

A Rough Start...but Getting Better!

Wow! What a start to our Thanksgiving break (and I don't mean a good one). We didn't make it to school Friday because Karlee Who was sick. Took her to the doctor to find out she has strep throat!  My poor girl was struggling eating her throat was so sore. But...staying home let me get some housework done AND I got to pick Tanner Who up from his school for the first time! (I could so be a Stay-At-Home-Mom....but thankfully I do LOVE my job). He was so cute in his pilgrim hat and hand-print turkey vest. I got to make his class some cute turkey cupcakes for their party (thanks to Pinterest for some easy inspiration)!

Then it got better (defintely some sarcasm)...I was putting away my folded laundry (it had been waiting on me all week) when I heard my Baby Who screaming. As I am running in his direction I hear Karlee say "ooohhhh MOMMY!!" So I knew what I was going to find wasn't going to be good! I ran into my room to find Easton laying on the floor with blood pooring from his forehead!  My sensitive Tanner Who (who might have pushed him down into the corner of my dresser in his hot pursuit of his sister with his nerf gun) kept saying "Mommy I am sorry,  I didn't mean to!" We got Aunt Beth to drive us to the ER (thankfully they weren't busy). It wasn't too bad in the end. He didn't have to get stitches just some glue which he wasn't to happy about...so I am thankful I didn't have to hold him down for stitches! That was our excitement for Friday!

Yesterday was much better (not sarcastic). I got to spend the day with my great friend Michelle and the adorably rotten Cortlyn at Christmas in the South (our annual girl day). We had a great time catching up with each other and SHOPPING! Oh AND of course we ate...Cilantros on Bay St. for an early supper/late lunch THEN cupcakes from Mabel's. We split 6 between us so we could sample a variety of flavors...They were DELICIOUS!!

Now, as I write this post we are on the way to pick our nephews Dawson and Grayson! They are coming to stay with us while Daddy gets taken care of in Birmingham,  Alabama. Please keep Amy and Rey and the boys in your prayers as they go through this difficult time! So for this week (until Wednesday night) we will be the Horton Who's plus 2! (I have been waiting all post to write that) Haha

Well I hope ya'll have a GREAT Sunday and hear the word of God preached somewhere this morning. If you don't have a place to go you can always visit us at Pineora Baptist Church...we would live to have you! If I don't get to post before Thursday...I pray that each one of you has a blessed Thanksgiving and remember to be thankful for what you have because there are SO many around who are in much worse situations!

A Thankful Halloween, Spiritual Warfare & Some Randomness

So this post is going to be a little loaded with different things becasue I have had at least 2 post floating in my head for a couple of weeks and haven't gotten them down! So just bare with me!

Well I know we are a little past Halloween,  but I have to talk about my Halloween this year because it was a little different for me. I have always liked Halloween...the fun of seeing how creative I can be with costumes, seeing my Whos get excited to pretend to be something besides themselves, and the creative decorations we see trick-or-treating! But this Halloween REALLY broke my heart and made me VERY thankful for what I have and my precious family! I had a sweet child at school who was going through an awful situation with his family who I had to say goodbye to Halloween afternoon and that might have been the hardest thing I have had to do in my teaching career so far! I had another precious child at church who was struggling with wanting something she was told she couldn't have. Both situations BROKE my heart and made me realize just how much me and sweet Whos really have and how much we take for granted!! Thank you Lord for using such a holiday to teach me a valuable lesson!

Another topic that has been very prevalent in my life recently is SPIRITUAL WARFARE. In Ephesians chapter 6:11-13 God gives us this word 

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

I feel like as I strive to get closer to God in my studies and in prayer life I becom e more and more aware of all the bad things going on around me. From families struggling with illnesses,  deaths, finances to the battles my friends discuss with me that they are facing, and the battles I am fighting daily. It is so easy to question the Lord and His presence but it is so important to stay close in our relationship with him and to put on our armor daily!

Now for my randomness! I found some time to write this post while we are driving to Jacksonville for another ball tournament.  Excited to see my Who girl play some more ball. Hoping she and the rest of the girls do great! I am missing my Tanner Who...he left yesterday to go to Atlanta with Nana and Grandpa. I can't wait to see him and hear all about his fun trip. He was so excited about going! Well I am done for now! Here are some Halloween pictures.  I am praying for blessings to you my friends!  Oh yeah...i forgot we got to go to the UGA vs. Fla. Game again and had a great time with Daddy & Shelly!

(Sorry for any typos...Mr. Who is rushing me to get off! Haha love ya babe!)

Outdoors, Neat Sites & Great Friends!

Well after a good breakfast Saturday morning we headed over to Chattanooga,  Tennessee (which was in our original plans for Cloudland Canyon). We went to Ruby Falls and Rock City. Ruby Falls was really neat. Rock City was too,  but the kids were about done with walking around and looking at things. Tanner-Who did like walking over the swinging bridge and going through the really small rock passages.

After exploring the sites we decided to check out a local place for dinner. We always say we are going to do this on trips but Mr. Who is not so adventurous when it comes to food and we always end up eating at well known places. But...we did it, we stopped in at a local pizza place called Mr. T's and it was FABULOUS!  After pizza and ice cream cones we headed back to "the camp hizzy" which is what Mr. Who has Tanner-Who calling our tent (for those of you not hip on lingo like Mr. Who "hizzy" means house)LoL...gotta love him!! Once we made it back to the campsite we carved our Jack-o-lantern. Everyone pitched in to create a fabulous work of art...even Baby Who dug in!

After quite a COLD night we woke up to have absolutely NO luck making a camp fire!! I have no idea what was wrong (the wood, the ground, or the fire supervisors) but we COULD NOT seem to get a good fire going. So we pulled out our grill and griddle and had some yummy breakfast minus the camp fire (if you can't tell...I really like cooking breakfast while camping). We hung out around the campground for most of the day playing games, walking a trail & playing on the playground! It was really nice to not have plans, set times, or too many cares. Just a chance to enjoy being outside and with each other. Something Mr. Who and I decided we will do more of on our next camping trip instead of spending a day doing planned activities.

Then we headed to Atlanta to see some more special people...Uncle E and Aunt Sarah!! The Who's played with Brixie, well not Baby Who because he is scared of our dachshund so he wasn't to wild about their Pointer mix. We all went out for dinner and played a game of putt-putt. It is always entertaining to watch my Whos play. So when added Uncle E to the mix to give Mr. Who some competition we were set for a good time! We gave hugs and headed back to the camp hizzy for our last round of s'mores and a quick game of Memory.

It was a great vacation and although we know some things we will change for next time nothing beats getting to spend time together and getting to see good friends! 

Memories Made!!

So Far, So Good!

Well after our short week at school that ended with a long day of parent teacher conferences (which went really well) we headed off on our Who trip! First stop was Atlanta where we got to stay with some special people but we didn't get to see our buddies Reagan and Jake. Well, Wesley did get to walk with Jake to his bus stop but this Mama and her Whos were still in bed! Before we went to our home for the weekend we stopped to see a precious new addition...Mr. Hagan Anderson and his proud Mommy and Daddy. We were so happy it worked out for us to meet him!

We headed out to what we thought was Cloudland Canyon State Park to realize 5 minutes into our drive that Mr. Who might have made a slight mistake 2 months ago and booked Red Top Mountain instead of out expected destination! Luckily it still gave us a campsite in the mountains and it was only a 40 minute drive instead of 2 hours :)

So we arrived picked our spot and setup. We did some exploring and ended the night with a fire and OF COURSE... s'mores!! Today was a good day in Chattanooga but I will post that blog and this pictures tomorrow.
Oh yeah...Tanner Who just whipped our butts at Chutes n Ladders! Go Tanner!!