Mother's Day

We had such a sweet Mother's Day weekend in Lake Lure with our boys and Seth's family. 

The trip started out a little rocky. The dudes thought touching and picking up every breakable item in the house was the funnest game in the world.  Using outside voices - inside gave them life. Climbing on the deck railing of a second story brought delightful giggles. Whining and screaming in the middle of the night multiple times was totally appropriate. Two of my children thought waking up ready to roll at 4am was the thing to do.

Friday morning at 4:30am I looked at Seth and told him, 'I don't think I can do this. We may be going back home today.'

BUUUUT  ----  Friday turned into such a wonderful day! We took a little walk and enjoyed the playground.

Nelson and Julian loved sliding down the slide together.

Even Nonnie took a turn :).

Seth and I went out on the kayak. Just the two of us. Alone. On the water. In the middle of the day with the sun beaming down on us (I love the sun beaming down on me). It was just so peaceful. So quiet. So much fun.

Friday night I didn't cook a dang thing. I didn't clean a dang thing. My children were in bed around 6:30pm. Somehow Saturday got even better. We went for another walk and playground trip.

Nonnie and Nelson - Granddaddy and Damian.

Mclean and Dad.

Aunt Em and Nelson

My crew.

I tell you what. I mean I'm their mom so I obviously am going to think my dudes are adorable handsome little men. But put one of my boys in a ball cap (not those flappy hats that protect their faces and necks from the sun) but a ball cap and my heart just melts over and over and over.

I can't tell you the number of times I looked at Nelson in that ball cap and just turned into a puddle. Or Mclean in his cousin's ball cap and was just in awe. I also may like the big one in a ball cap too :).

It was too much for my heart.

My twins made slap fools out of Seth and I. We were sure they'd be a handful near the water, but they were such a delight. They loved being out there and behaved so well! Mclean really enjoyed being in the water and jumping into my arms. Nelson had the best time sitting on the kayak while we paddled around. It was the best afternoon!

Seth and I with our older boys kayaking.

Cousins.

Nelson adores him some Uncle Zach.

Sweet Damian and Cullen.

Aunt Em reading a bedtime story to the boys.

All five dudes.

Side Note:
Someone Please Buy Me This....

The Cook crew.

On our way back to Florence we stopped at my parent's for lunch. 

 The Sineath grandkiddos

Gam & Pops

The originals


ay The Cook's :).

Momma Vic -

Vic

Victra
'Ol Vic

Vickie Lynn

Gam

Not to often do you get called Mom these days. But that is exactly who you are.

Mom. Momma. Madre.

To two kiddos.

As I look back at our childhood now that I have three of my own, I'm impressed. Oh, how I took you for granted and for that I am so so sorry. But I see everything now.

You did it all. You worked and took us to school every morning. You cooked dinner and cleaned up from dinner. Loads upon loads of laundry was washed, hung to dry, and ironed. You have a remarkable talent in some laundry (still to this day she can do like 12 loads in one day - I love when she comes to visit and empties my baskets!). The house may have been cluttered but it was clean. 

Eason and I were NEVER without need and majority of the time we even had everything we wanted. You sat in the heat and endured endless hours of ball games and practices. You (along with Ol Daddio) funded our annual vacations and college years. Those are memories we will never be able to repay you for or forget. You sacrificed a ridiculous amount of your life to invest in ours. 

I could go on for days in all that you've done for Dad. For Eason and I. For Brittany and Seth. For Mackay and McKenna. For Mclean, Nelson, and Cullen. For your brothers. For your sisters. For your friends. 

And in all of it. We never heard you complain. That seems to be all I do these days and I don't even do HALF of the things you did!

I look at myself who calls you on the daily to chat and always has a negative statement to say about something. You listen and most of the time try to make it a positive. Gosh. How do you handle us?

You are opinionated. Blunt to no end. There are days you push my buttons (and I'm sure Eason would agree).

But you are Compassionate. Loyal. Intentional. Determined. Funny. Forgiving. Empathetic.

You dislike chocolate cake and icing. Who does that? Celery makes you cringe and mustard isn't your favorite. Starbucks gives you life and being outside by the pool is your favorite. I love it when you laugh til you cry and your face gets all contorted :) - I think I get that from you. 

Dad, Eason, and I are so grateful for you. For being a constant in our lives. For fighting for us and telling us the truth when we needed to hear it. For supporting us and loving us in everything. For being our madre and a friend.

Happy Mother's Day Vic. You are oh so loved by your family.

Some of my favorite things.

This year. Seth and I are making our house a legit home that we are LOVING. We've splurged probably a little too much, but I have zero regrets and I'm sure he'd say the same. We've gotten new cabinets that are white and absolutely gorgeous. We hired a landscaper to come and redo our front yard. It's ridiculously beautiful (if we can just keep those nasty weeds out). We are in the process of putting a fence up so the boys can easily play in the yard and are protected.

Next on my list is to paint the kitchen, upgrade my curtain status in said kitchen, get some roman shades or bamboo blinds for the kitchen door and sink window, and last but NOT least, I want some dang plants to hang inside.

This. or This.

Even This. or This One.

I have no idea the plants that I want to put in these containers. Nor if they would even survive. But I want some and I want them to hang.

So friends. For the last 3 years I've been doing this whole Beachbody deal. Love it. Absolutely love it. Being able to work out in my living room whenever I darn well want. Knowing my boys are watching me take care of my body. Seeing them 'mimic' me doing push ups or band workouts. I love it. 

With the twins I ate well and stopped nursing them completely by the time they were 5 months old. I quickly lost my weight and was working out with the best of them. During my pregnancy with Cullen I wanted ice cream like every single night. I gained more weight carrying Cullen than I did with the twins. How is that even possible?  I worked out hard (Insanity) while pregnant with Cullen, but only enough to work off those ice cream bowls :). 

Post Cullen I had a lot more to lose and since I'm nursing him I eat a LOT of food.  Seth always jokes that he's not going to be able to afford to feed three boys and me!

My goals aren't weight related, although I'd love to lose about 10 more pounds honestly! My biggest goal is to have energy. I KNOW I wouldn't have half of the energy I currently have if I didn't work out or eat well. Cullen doesn't sleep at night and the twins are literally on the go from the moment their eyes open until they finally poop out (at a much later bedtime than I'd prefer). Another goal is to have Seth do double takes when he sees me walk by and I'll leave that statement alone :). I also want to be toned, muffin-top-less, and comfortable in my clothes.

Mclean

Nelson

So after working HARD for 7 months. Eating healthy with a few treats here and there. I'm NOT back to being pre-pregnancy weight; however, I am back to wearing the size I was BEFORE the twins! So, I'll continue with my Beachbody programs. Working out from home in the morning or evening, whichever my busy schedule allows for! If you are interested in learning more about those workouts I'd love to share with you :)!

Friends. I've become podcast OBSESSED. My close friends are aware of this phase of life I'm currently in. I quote some sort of podcast in almost every situation. I talk about them constantly. They are life-giving to me and I highly recommend you getting on board the podcasting train. Here are a few of my favorites:

**Journeywomen**
**Risen Motherhood**
**Simply Life on Purpose**
**That Sounds Fun w/ Annie F. Downs**
**The Happy Hour w/ Jamie Ivey**
**The Village Church Sermons**
**Sheologians**

A few others that I've come across and have somewhat enjoyed are:

**The Homemaking Foundations Podcast**
**Mom Struggling Well**
**Surviving Sarah**
**Coffee & Crumbs**

Some things I'm finding joy in my life currently include:

1. Reading - I'm reading like 3-4 books right now. Throw a good bath in the mix and I'm in hog heaven.

-->I just finished Glimpses of Grace by Gloria Furman and am dying to read her other books! 
-->I'm reading Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis and thus far have been indifferent about it. 
-->I've been tackling Simplicity Parenting since January. I basically see what a terrible parent I am from this book and try to incorporate some principles. 

On my bookshelf are:
-->The Lifegiving Parent by Sally Clarkson
-->Shepherding a Child's Heart
-->Dance, Stand, Run by Jess Connolly
-->The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

2. Watering my plants with Mclean and Nelson :).

3. Group text messages are one of my favorite things ever. Literally.

4. Mom Night Out.

5. Thursday Date Night with my favorite guy (when he remembers the weekly date makes it even better!).

6. Spending all our mooonay to make our house a HOME! 

Hope you all have a great weekend friends :).

Sweet smiles.

The smiling baby.

The mischievous middle one.

The helpful firstborn.

My crew :).