Tee-ball season end

After our Royal Wedding watch party followed by brunch on Saturday morning, I had to book it to the tee-ball field for Stokes and William's last game of the season. I was literally changing out of my dress and fascinator in the car in to something a little more appropriate (and comfortable) in which to watch tee-ball. I was late, of course, but the important thing was that I was there for most of the game and got to see some great plays (and lots of playing in the dirt) from my two very favorite tee-ballers!

Both William and Stokes had fun playing this season and really loved their team and Coach Kyle.

Leaving the dug-out for the last time

Snack time!

Pic with Coach Kyle!

Family pic at the ball field

After we left the game, we immediately went to Brewery 85 with the team for a post-season celebration. We all had pizza, the grown-ups had a few beers, the kids got their trophies and it was super fun!

Cute kiddos

Cubs team picture!

Ryan had fun at the tee-ball party, too!

How super cool is this team picture?

During the trophy ceremony, Coach Kyle called each of them up and had a few words. Here are the videos for Stokes and William!

This team was a lot of fun and Thomas and I both enjoyed our first parental venture into baseball. It was great meeting the other parents and getting to know these awesome boys. I really, really liked this team. Unfortunately, since our boys were the youngest on the team, all the other kids are moving up to coach's pitch next year and ours will still be in tee-ball, so we won't get to stay with all the same kids. I'm sure we'll get to meet some others that are awesome too though. 

So long, 2018 spring tee-ball season. We will miss you, but will also be glad to not have so many games during the week! Ha!

Royal Wedding!!!!

The Royals are my fave (see here and here) so I was really, really excited for the Royal Wedding over the weekend! I think Meghan Markle and Price Harry make a fantastic couple!

There are some more similarities between (ahem) myself and the royals - Meghan was a Kappa Kappa Gamma, just like me. I'm still wondering why I wasn't invited to the wedding! Also, she is older than Prince Harry by a few years, and I'm older than Thomas by about 4 months. She is a great actress and I can type really fast. So, as you see, I think I would get along great with Meghan. I'm ready to be friends with her.

So anyway, I wasn't really planning on getting up super early to watch (coverage began at 4 AM!), but I found myself awake and wondering what was going on across the pond at around 5:30. Instead of staying in bed and tossing and turning and thinking about the royal wedding, I just threw in the towel and headed downstairs to turn on the tv and make some coffee. Not too long after that, Stokes and Ryan joined me and then eventually Thomas joined the royal wedding watch party in our family room! William spent the night at MaSha's so he wasn't there with us...otherwise he'd have been watching, too.

Stokes watching Meghan
(still dark outside - super early!)

Both boys were into it!

Royal fans!

Look who joined!

So beautiful!

Wooooooooooo!

That was a beautiful wedding! I loved Meghan's dress and the music for the ceremony was amazing. I missed most of the sermon because I was cooking breakfast and doing stuff around the house, but I can say that I loved the wedding parts that I got to watch. I loved when William and Harry walked in together, watching the celebs arrive, when Meghan got out of the car and when Prince Charles walked her down the aisle...it was all so magical. I teared up several times. Beautiful occasions and timeless music will do that to a girl! Plus, I just really love weddings.

I kid you not, Stokes asked me to specifically make heart shaped pancakes! Yes, sir!!!

Love was in the air!

After the actual wedding was over, I was in a rush to get ready because I had brunch plans with some very special ladies! We decided several weeks back that we wanted to do a Royal Wedding brunch - and we needed to look the part. We all managed to get fascinators and showed up to Passerelle on Saturday morning to toast the new couple! It was the perfect ending to a fairy tale morning for me.

Selfie with Ryan before I left

Passerelle Bistro

Heather brought her Walker's Shortbread
cookies with Will & Kate's picture on it
for the occasion. Perfect!!!!

L to R: Lesley, Wendy, Connie, Heather, me

A picture in the park

The Royal Wedding was just the perfect opportunity to get together with these ladies. We're always looking for a fun excuse to get dressed up and go do something. We got lots of comments and compliments while we were downtown and brunching. It's not every day that you see fascinators being worn in Greenville, SC! ;)

Cheers to Meghan and Harry! And many blessings for a joyful and love-filled life together!

p.s. Kate is still my fave! 

Ninth Anniversary

We had given some consideration to doing a little weekend getaway to Chateau Elan or Asheville to celebrate our anniversary this year, but we MOVED. So our plans changed! Instead, Thomas took a 1/2 day off work and we got to spend some time together during the afternoon and then got a babysitter so we could go out on a date night.

Beautiful roses Thomas brought home
for me!

We went to the pool for a hot minute - no one was there (it was raining) - so we had the place to ourselves to just chat. We didn't end up getting in the water because it was too cold from all the rain we've been getting! We just sat along the edge, put our feet in and talked.

We picked up the boys from school to get them ready for their sitter to come!

First stop: Hall's Chophouse for a quick drink before dinner.

Then we had dinner reservations at Jianna and had a delicious meal there!

Traditional 9th anniversary gifts are pottery and willow. Hmm...that's a tough one. Thomas was great and got me a new wicker basket (wicker/willow - very similar!). I was so impressed that he looked it up and then made a thoughtful effort to follow tradition! I skirted traditional all together and got Thomas a guided waterfall kayak tour on Lake Jocassee. We'll just have to pick a day and make a reservation. I'm excited about it! 

Next year is the big TEN! The years are flying by and I could not have found a better partner than Thomas. He's a fantastic husband and we work well together! Here's to many, many more years!

Mother's Day 2018

I had a fantastic Mother's Day again this year. Thomas and the boys spoiled me!

I got to stay in bed and "sleep in" kinda/sorta...you know how that goes...but didn't have to get up super early. I got breakfast in bed and the boys brought me a flower each, and I didn't have to get any kids ready for church. All I had to do was take a super long, hot shower and get myself ready without rushing around checking on everyone else. #Heaven

My sweet sons

So happy to be their Mama

My boys!
They were dressed as "quads" LOL!

We went to church and heard a great message about pouring our time and energy into the kids, not just our own, but all the kids in our congregation, so that they have meaningful adult relationships that bring them back to worship after high school.

When we left church, we went out to go lunch as a family and got comments about how coordinated we were (thanks to Thomas) and another Mom and I got to exchange Mother's Day pleasantries and laughs about kids eating habits and such. HA!

That afternoon, I got to lay down and take a NAP! Yes, that happened. It was awesome. Then we went to the pool for a quick dip. Our pool just opened on Saturday and we were excited to check it out in our new neighborhood.

Sunday evening, MaSha joined us for dinner so that we could celebrate her! Thomas grilled us a delicious dinner and we got to eat outside and enjoy this gorgeous spring weather. It was a fun evening!

YumO!

I made chocolate covered strawberries for dessert!

FaceTiming with Leece and Madison

Silly boy

MaSha and Ryan

Mother's Day always makes me miss my own Mom terribly. This year we didn't go out to the garth, but she was on my mind. I can't even describe how much she would completely adore my boys. If only she was here to be with us. Her memory will continue to live on. 

Muffins for Moms

Last Friday, the last school day before Mother's Day weekend, the preschool hosted a Muffins for Moms breakfast. Coincidentally, there was also a Doughnuts for Dads breakfast planned at Ryan's special needs school, which Thomas and Ryan were planning to attend, but Ryan ended up getting sick and they missed their special breakfast. Ryan's been fighting a little cough/congestion issue. Poor guy.

Anyway, Stokes, William and I had a nice little breakfast at their school and we got to hang out with some friends and their parents. It was a sweet way to kick off Mother's Day weekend.

Stokes, Mama and William

With their cute friend, Emerson

My Mother's Day treats from school that I picked up
on Friday

Cinco de Mayo

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo last weekend, and it coincidentally fell on the same day as the Kentucky Derby. We started a tradition of hosting a small derby party last year and the "annual" event didn't happen this year. Oops. That didn't last long. However, we are just planning to take one year off and hope to host again next year.

With the new house and a conflict with a Cinco de Mayo social commitment, we couldn't make it work. We actually pretty much ignored the derby and focused on Cinco de Mayo. We had a great time at an party while the boys stayed with a babysitter! It was so fun.

Hope you had fun celebrating the Kentucky Derby or Cinco de Mayo or both!

I'm going to continue making them wear sombreros on Cinco de Mayo
as long as they will fit their heads!

Picture outtakes:

Five little monkeys on the bed

Last weekend Matt, Tara, Leece and Madison came up from Charleston for a visit. They stayed at MaSha's house but met us at tee-ball in the morning and then came and spent the afternoon at our new house. All the kids had so much fun playing together and we pulled out the bounce house for an enhanced entertainment experience!

All the kids in the bounce house

Dance party time!

After a fun afternoon, the crew headed back to MaSha's house and we all got ready for the evening. MaSha BRAVELY agreed to watch ALL the kids at her house so that the parents of littles could go out to dinner. I think this was a first....and she crushed it. We tried to help out as much as possible by getting everyone bathed and in pj's ahead of time and then took the boys over the MaSha's house. We fed them dinner there before we headed out. 

Dinner at MaSha's with all the kiddos

Right before we were leaving, MaSha put on a movie and everyone piled in on her bed to watch it. Five little monkeys on the bed (hopefully not jumping though!). While we were gone, MaSha managed it all and took everything in stride. She did tell us that they were using "potty humor" to make each other laugh and that they were all just in stitches the whole time. 

MaSha with 5 of 7 grands

We had a great time at dinner and then stopped by a brewery out in TR after we ate. It was such a fun night! It worked out really well - we didn't get any worried or stressed texts from MaSha while we were gone - and just had fun. The 4 of us used to go out to dinner and have a blast on a regular basis pre-kids and it has seriously been YEARS since we've gotten to do that. Felt kind of like old times! 

The phrase of the night was flim flam, coined by Tara, who didn't realize we were going all the way to TR for dinner and was only partially on-board with getting another drink after dinner. Her brother has a way of working the angles. We're very thankful for time spent with family and for the kids's amazing grandmother, MaSha, for being willing to take on 5 littles for a night!