4 year old Preschool Has Begun!

Simms' preschool started back Wednesday! I cannot tell you how excited this little girl was!

Hope to have her holding a sign every year on the first day. She probably won't always be smiling for me!

Simms woke up early Wednesday. She had a few surprises waiting for her..you know, the necessities, like stickers and of course a glittery notebook to do her homework in this year. Oh, and a card. This mama gives a card for everything and saves them all too {you should see one of Dru's drawers, filled with cards dating back to April 2001} :)

She was excited to dig into it all!

We did one more picture on the front porch before we left..

And there was a little message on her bulletin board for her..

Picture in front of the Lime Light front door..

And a picture with the best teacher ever, Miss Cyd!

And Simms was so, so happy to see these girls again!

I love these pictures of some of their first day fun!

We are so excited about this year! Simms loves preschool and last year was such a good experience for her. She has wonderful teachers, friends and the creativity is off the charts at her preschool. We love it!

And thank you all for your sweet emails, comments, and calls regarding my miscarriage. We are truly blessed to have your prayers and love. Ya'll are the best!

Living Life..

It's been pretty silent on the blog lately. Believe it or not we've been doing things, going places and just living life. We've had a few rough weeks in our house. It began two weeks ago with the kids getting strep and being sicker than they've ever been, and ended with us dealing with my miscarriage last week at almost 10 weeks pregnant. I debated mentioning the miscarriage on here, but since I do document our life, and it isn't a secret, I wanted to. Hardest thing we've been through, no doubt. I know it was part of God's plan for our life and we are at peace with that. Last Tuesday when we confirmed that we had indeed had a miscarriage, my devotion began with, "Understanding will never bring you peace. That's why I've instructed you to trust in Me, not in your understanding." And it ended with, "Actually, you are always enveloped in Peace, which is inherent in My presence. As you look to Me, you gain awareness of this precious Peace." I hung on to those words and we moved through the next few days slowly and sadly, but accepting of what was happening in a more positive way, feeling loved and knowing God had us in His hands. The kids went off to Montgomery for a few days so that I could have my surgery and rest/relax/heal with some peace, which was exactly what I needed. And we headed to the lake this weekend, which is also just what I needed. To get out of this house that I felt like I'd been cooped up in for two weeks. So, now I am blogging about Lilla's 3rd birthday, which was the last thing we did before our dramatic two weeks began.

She had a fun mermaid party at the lake. The kids had a blast swimming and playing. I can't believe she is 3! Seems like she was just born yesterday.

Life will get busy this week with preschool starting Wednesday, but we are READY and Simms is so excited!

The 4th of July-FINALLY!

Well, I am obviously way behind on here. Our Internet line was hit by the men replacing our septic system {fun stuff} and we have just gotten it fixed, hence the reason I am just now blogging about the 4th! We spent 10 days at the lake and it was wonderful. Dru's entire family was there {25+ people; thankful for lots of room in the house} and we enjoyed relaxing, eating, sunning, lots of family time, and time on the water. The best part was being with Dru for 10 straight days without the pressure of work. He deserved that break! Here are lots of pics!

Lots of together time for these two:

Merrill came over for a visit!

The kids love the new paddleboard! Somehow we made it across our slough with Dru paddling and me and Cope sitting. Not sure how we didn't tip over.

Cope enjoyed some down-time..for maybe 30 seconds..

We entered the boat parade the morning of the 4th. Such a fun tradition I hope we continue for the kids! They were very excited! Don't know how we didn't place. Our boat was decked out in red, white and blue and Dru's cousin Caroline was even Lady Liberty herself. And we had Lee Greenwood blasting! Simms had a lot of fun helping decorate the boat the day before!

Later that afternoon WSFA decided to stop by the house and do an interview with our crew. Grover handled the camera exceptionally well..and I got thrown out of my float on camera as well.

We cleaned up later that day for the neighbor's fun party they have every year. The girls were so excited to get to visit the ice cream truck that parks in their yard and play on the bouncies!

Rummikub was played non-stop. Such a fun game. Simms loves sitting in the lap of anyone that is playing and arranging their tiles for them!

And finally on our last day, we were able to show Simms the goats on Goat Island. So bizarre they just live on the lake like that..

We had a great time! So glad to be caught up now! Hopefully I can stay caught up!

Scenes from Summer

Wow, it is hard to stay updated on here since Summer has begun! We literally live outside everyday and then at night too, so there has been little time to get on the computer, which has been nice in a way! We have a nice routine going during the day and I just love having Simms home all day with us. We've been gone most weekends, mainly to the lake, but this past weekend Dru and I, along with the rest of my family (minus the kiddos) attended my cousin's wedding in Augusta. We had such a fun time! It really was a great getaway and lots of fun time with family and friends. Simms and Cope had a blast at the lake with Gigi and Papa! We were happy to get them back yesterday evening although I can't even explain how tired I was last night. There is something about staying up late, late, late two nights in a row that I am not used to anymore :)
Here is a picture of Dru and Miles before the wedding..I wish I had more pictures

and here is the bride and groom..my cousin Jimmy with his new bride, Amanda..congrats to you two!

And even though our children weren't with us, we had fun with these two. That Mary Margaret was a wild woman, dancing all night long. Love the strawberry stains on that beautiful dress..just kidding!

Simms couldn't wait to give Dru the card she and Cope made, although for some reason she got shy and didn't want to hand it to him, she asked Cope to. I wanted to stick with our tradition of homemade cards for Daddy, but couldn't think of anything we hadn't done, so I looked online, let  Simms look too, and told her she could pick something out. Luckily she chose one of the easier cards :)

And how true it is..he is THE BEST Daddy..our kids are so very lucky to have a daddy that wants to be with them all of the time, is so much fun, and loves them more than anything! Dru and I were able to spend time with our daddies and the kids were able to spend time with Ninnie, Papa and their Great-Grandaddy, my grandaddy. We had fun eating pizza with them last night and then going to Minnie & Ninnie's to pick blueberries, and now we are ready to tackle a homemade pie tonight..well, Dru is going to attempt my Aunt B's recipe..hope it turns out as good as hers..

One of the best things about summer has to be lazy summer mornings. Wouldn't trade this time with my two for anything! I get them their breakfast, get myself my coffee, and we enjoy no schedule!

We have spent several weekends at the lake. Nothing beats Lake Martin.

Lots of afternoons spent outside..best money spent has been the $8 plastic baby pool, although we've spent time at the Kirk's pool swimming too! And Simms' loves playing "laundry" in the water table. Ha!

And Dru has worked hard on his garden this year. He is trying out a container garden and already we are getting way better results than last year..

And here are some shots of Cope just being Cope. My sweet boy. He is so big now and he is talking so much better now. Just this morning he said plain as day, "hold my hand mama." Ahhh, love it!