Happy 5th birthday, Reese Elizabeth!

I cannot believe that my sweet, little gal pal is FIVE today!!  Reese, you make every day a funny adventure; there is never a dull moment with you around!  You are such a sweet, sassy, witty little girl & we love you more than you will ever know!

 

You love playing with dolls, especially your Barbies/Barbie house.  You are so into Scooby Doo the movie, My Little Ponies & dressing up & playing princess.  You're also very happy to sit at a table & color & draw pictures for us.



Since Reese & her BFF, Sammy are only a day apart, we decided to have their party together this past Saturday.  They've been at their school together since they were three months old & since this is their last year before going separate ways to elementary school, it was the perfect time to come together!



We used the picture above for their invitation which turned out so cute.  With faces like those, it's impossible to be anything but cute!

We chose the bowling alley for their party; super easy.  It amazing how much less work it is when you have a party away from home!  No scouring the house, putting together a bunch of food & running around like a crazy person.

 

This is the terrific trio from school... Reese, Alissa & Sammy are connected at the hip!

We separated the gift table & got two different cakes so each girl could still choose their own theme..  Reese chose Tiana from Princess & the Frog & Sammy chose Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  They're so different from each other!

Sadly, minutes after the above picture was taken, a freak accident happened.  I was talking to one of the moms when I heard Cameron hysterically crying.  Cam is one of those tough kids that can take a lot of pain with no reaction, so I knew it was serious.  By the time I ran over to assess the situation, I saw blood pouring out of his mouth.  It was horrifying & scary & I had no idea what happened.  We rushed him into the bathroom and saw that he had severely bit his tongue.  With all the blood, it was hard to determine the severity of the injury.

Mike & I made the decision that we'd take him to the ER to be safe.  Cameron was hysterical in the car from the pain & shock of the situation.  He was terrified that he was going to be admitted to the hospital like he did when he was five.

Luckily they took him right back as soon as we got to the ER.  The doctor determined that his tongue didn't need stitches since it wasn't severed through, but after finally being able to assess the whole situation, we realized he had tripped, fallen onto the bowling ball he had been holding & that caused his tongue biting.  It turned out he had a nasty gash on his chin that needed glue/steri strips closure.  

This poor bubba is getting a Tylenol/Motrin alternation every four hours to manage the pain & is on a mostly all liquid diet.  Unfortunately, a couple of his bottom permanent teeth are a bit loose, so we'll be calling the dentist when they open tomorrow (they're closed Mondays).  What a horrible, freak accident to happen on such a fun day (or ever!)  We basically spent a half hour at Reese's party before bolting to the ER.  Luckily we had plenty of family & friends at the bowling alley to keep the party going & Reese had an absolute blast & barely realized we were gone!

 

 She also got a room makeover that night when we switched Cameron's bed to her room.  We painted her once yellow walls a fushia color a few weeks ago, so we put the final touches together Saturday with the help of my family. 

Friday we went to IKEA & I got her new bedding, these kitty curtains & a few other odds & ends to complete her room.  

My mom & Mike's mom got her the vanity above for her birthday.  Reese is such a girly girl & loves to get into my makeup.  My mom bought Reese her own makeup & she had a blast sitting & putting it on.  The vanity was completely white when we bought it but I painted the drawers pink, added crystal pulls & put princess fabric on the seat.  It's adorable!  I love that her room is finally her style where she can feel like she has her own little oasis!  Happy, happy birthday, to my sweet Reese!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!

Our pool is finally, nearly done & we're officially swimming!  It's been an exciting four week process, watching our backyard being completely transformed.

This was our yard the weekend before they started our pool (June 11th).

I had to work the day construction started, Tuesday, June 14th.  Mike was home so he sent me pictures throughout the morning but I was chomping at the bit to get home & watch what was going on.

I went into work really early the day of the pool drop to be sure I could get home in time to watch it be craned over our house, into the hole they dug in our backyard.

 The process took longer than they expected since the crane driver was afraid the pool was too heavy, so he called in a 30,000 pound weight to be sure the crane didn't tip.  Better safe than sorry; I sure would hate for a pool & crane to come crashing through our house!

As the pool swept over the top of our house, all of our neighbors gathered, sweating in the scorching heat to watch it happen.

I said to Mike last night, as we swam in the pool, that I think we're likely even more thankful for our pool since we were part of the whole process, rather than had we moved into a house with an existing pool.  Such an exciting time!

The poor guys that had to work in the horrific heat, spent the next four days, back-filling dirt around the pool to make it level & secure.  We left them handmade cards, OJ & donuts one of the mornings as a thank you for all their hard work.

As I worked out up in our bonus room, I had a great view of watching the progress happen each day.

 

After the dirt was leveled out & the plumbing was done, it was time for the concrete to be poured for the first stage of the pool deck.

I loved coming home from work each day to watch the progress!

We had about a one-week standstill after the concrete was poured since the paver guys were booked.  This is a very busy time of year for pool installs!!

The pavers have completely transformed the look of the patio.. I love it so much!

Even after the pavers were done, we still couldn't swim since the pool was absolutely disgusting from all the construction that had gone on in the previous weeks.  There were about three inches of dirt coating the bottom of the pool & the chemicals hadn't been put in, so swimming was not an option!  The fourth of July was torturous since we just sat on our gorgeous, new patio, sweating our tails off, just looking at our new pool! 

This past Tuesday, July 5th, Mike messaged me at work saying, "I have good & bad news about the pool, which do you want first?"  I wanted the bad news first & was so disappointed to hear that our screen enclosure wouldn't be installed for another ten days. Ugh!  Then he told me the good news, the pool was being cleaned that very day & we would be able to officially start swimming!!!!  YAY!  The pool guy was at the house when I got home from work & he said it took him over three hours to clean!  It was exactly a four week process from the day the pool install started to the day we went swimming.

As the pool was being installed, we went on Amazon & each picked a raft, so I came home that day & inflated all the rafts.  As soon as Mike had come home & we ate dinner, it was time to take our first jump!  We've been in the pool every night since then, enjoying the heck out of our new pool!  We are so thankful!!!  If you live in our area & our considering a fiberglass pool, I highly recommend our company, Hawaiian Island Pools.  Lee & his crew have been absolutely amazing to work with... so amazing that our next door neighbor met with him the weekend after our pool was dropped & bought our exact model!

Happy anniversary (and birthday!)

Mike & I celebrated our 14th anniversary (and my 37th birthday) on Tuesday, May 24th so we decided to hit the road to St. Augustine to celebrate!  My mom was sweet enough to come up & watch the kids for a few nights, so we were able to get away by ourselves.  As hard as it can be to leave the kids, it's super important to get some one on one time to remember why we fell in love in the first  place!  Life, work & kids can be pretty distracting sometimes, so it was great to be relaxed, with no particular agenda!

Since we live on the Gulf coast of Florida, we get to see the sunsets whenever we hit the beach.  Since St Augustine is on the Atlantic coast, we took advantage of the sunrise & hit the beach at the butt crack of dawn.  The morning was positively gorgeous, a tad chilly & we had the moon behind us as the sun rose in front of us.

May is a great month for a getaway since school is still in session & not many people are on vacation yet.  We had the beach to ourselves & it was just perfect.

After breakfast on the beach we decided to hit the St Augustine lighthouse since we've never been.

The views were spectacular & the weather was just as nice.  Mike was pretty freaked out since he has a fear of heights, but eventually he relaxed & began to enjoy it.  He must have gotten into my head because on the descent, my legs were extremely wobbly as I looped my way round & round the spiral staircase.

After the lighthouse, we moved from our spot on the beach to the downtown area where we spent the next two days.  If you've never been to St Augustine, it's a really awesome place to visit.  We're lucky to be a three hour car ride away!

After we checked into the apartment we rented, we grabbed the bikes that were available to us & just hit the streets, stopping where ever caught our eye.

It was so nice to be away from the non-stop to-do list & put on a care-free, fun attitude!  

We continued to start our mornings super early & head back to the apartment at 8pm, like a geriatric couple!

For my actual birthday, I wanted to keep the evening low-key & avoid & drawn-out, stuffy meal.  I opted to choose martinis on the water & then hit a local pizza place for dinner. It was awesome!

As we drove home, Mike noticed I was transitioning back into business as usual mode as I listed off what needed to be done for the week.  We both said, "Uh, oh, our fun bubble is going to pop!"  As the kids were screaming & fighting over Lord knows what that evening, we looked at each other & agreed the fun bubble had officially burst!