Mimi is Retired!

well, it's official.  mimi is retired.  which means that she can come down more frequently...yay!

she came down a couple weeks ago and we kept her busy!

roman had a baseball tournament in walterboro that weekend, and aunt hettie came too!

i think that the thing they most looked forward to was having a mimi sleepover.  with roman's new bunkbed, that meant they could ALL fit!

aunt maddy drove down later in the week so that she could drive mimi back home.  it was so nice to have them both here!

Halloween 2016

halloween fell on a monday night this year, but that didn't keep us from having tons of fun!

we had a grim reaper and merida (brave) this year.

our neighbors have this great sign and i love getting their pictures with it. 

we even found our friend, adeline, who was already enjoying one of her treats.

meanwhile, back at the house, the boys were having fun scaring everyone...

the kids also got to dress up at school too.  gianna was shine (a genie) and roman was a phillies player (duh). 

Hurrivacuvacation

back in october, we had a little unexpected evacuvacation for hurricane matthew.  i have to say, we've lived here for almost 10 years and we've never had to evacuate.  it's been close before, but they always seem to turn.  and, we were hoping this one would do the same, but it didn't.  so, we watched the path it was taking and then we heeded the governor's orders and got the heck outta there.  

and you learn a few things with a hurricane evacuation...like...the kennel doesn't have enough room for ALL the dogs in beaufort county, so your dog gets to experience the road trip too. 

and boy oh boy, was he excited!

he did finally calm down after about an hour.

it was pretty surreal as we were driving away to see barricades and drones and tons of national guard and police and state farm trucks. 

when we finally got to our hotel in atlanta, we were pretty much pooped out.

the next day, we decided to go to the georgia aquarium.

i ignored my claustrophobia and climbed in the tunnel with the kids to get a close up view of the penguins.  this one wanted a selfie and to wave hello to you.  just kidding, he is scratching his armpit wingpit with his beak. 

the beluga whales were so beautiful, but they were staying near the surface because it was feeding time.

this seal kept swimming in circles around and around and roman wanted a picture with him, so this was the best we could get.

we found nemo

this big ugly fish just stayed right above roman's head

there were 3 nurse sharks and a few large manta rays in this tank and they were super cool to see.

every time we are in an arcade, gianna always wants to do the racing games.

luckily, we stayed at a hotel that had a basketball court and the boys pretty much lived out there the whole time.

we left super early (3:30am) to head back and try to gain entry into our county, so the kids were getting pretty silly in the car.

this was our view for most of the day.  we got to the checkpoint at 8:30am, waited for governor haley to hold her 10am press conference to see if we would be allowed back in.  we weren't.  so, we went and found some food, gas and a bathroom (about 45 mins away) and then drove back to the checkpoint.  and we sat there ALL day. 

the kids were so great.  they didn't complain and they even had to use the bathroom outside. 

can you tell we were ready to be home?  at 6:00pm, they finally let us back in and we raced straight home. 

we didn't have power, but we had water and we were grateful to be in our own home, in our own beds.  the kids still had some power left on the ipad, so it wasn't so bad...

the next night, we still didn't have power and most of the restaurants were still closed, so we headed to heather's house because they had power and food.  and entertainment...

when we finally got power back, we headed to the grocery store to stock up on, well, everything.  we also saw our friend, jason, cruising down the road on his tractor.  come to find out, he rode it all the way onto the island and spent the day helping clear trees.  we have awesome friends and neighbors...

the kids had the opportunity to help do some cleanup at their school too.

we learned a lot from this experience, but the thing i learned the most is that we are not in control. God has this.  and i am forever grateful for His goodness. 

Go Shawty, It's Sherbert Day!

can you believe this little lady is 5 today?  well, it's true!  

in honor of her 11.11.11 birthday, here are 11 pictures to show you how much fun life with her really is! 

shopping is always a blast!

she was so excited to start soccer...and even better, her uniform is pink!

girl can celebrate a goal the right way!

she loves to explore our town.

swinging is her favorite playground activity.

she loves hanging out with her friends.

i told you swinging was a favorite...

time to get serious about kicking butt!

express yourself!  excited face, sad face, silly face, happy face.

look out yellow, here she goes!

she is so beautiful!

dear gianna: you bring me so much joy.  i never thought i would have a daughter, but here you are in all your pink, glittery, dramatic glory.  and as much as you test my patience, you also melt my heart.  you give the best "pick-up" hugs, you have a shining smile and you can be the silliest little thing.  i love having a little sidekick who has her own personality and style and i always want you to know how much i adore you.  love, momma