So this morning has been rough to say the least. But the two youngster are keeping themselves happy, mostly, by finding the sound button in a lamb. All it does is baa in a few different notes. But they laugh like crazy. Whatever keeps them happy...

We took a daycation to the beach. It was wonderful and fun. We stopped in Wilmington at a super huge park for lunch and let the kids run and play for a few minutes on the playground. Then we went to Pleasure Island and to Kure Beach. It was a full day at the beach, but still quite doable. Alex loves the ocean, and as soon as he had sunscreen on he jumped in. Yep, the sunscreen washed off and he burnt, but he had a blast getting beat up by the waves. Teagan is still unsure about the ocean, so choose to stay near the umbrellas and play in the sand. Abby Sue wasn't sure for the first 45ish minutes. But before I knew it she was grabbing me and we were playing in the waves. The waves were really strong and she would often get swept off her feet and dunked. But she loved every minute. She would fuss at me when I picked her up to make sure she was okay. Time went by too soon and we had to head back home. So roughly desanded we pile into the car. And he back home, picking up dinner at Cook Out. Surprisingly Abby Sue stayed away almost the whole time. I wasn't too happy about that, but Teagan has a way of waking her up. How I love the beach. And yes, I'm trying to convenience Joseph to move me closer there too.

Abby Sue LOVES the bunnies. Though she isn't too sure about holding them by herself while Momma takes a few photos. My favorite part is where the bunny cages are located. I moved them recently, so now she can go look out one of the dining room windows at them. And does she love that, squeals and laughs and pure excitement. She makes the day great.

Last night Sarah from Elaine Bella Photography took our family photos at Eno River. It was fun and wet. By the end, Alex was completely soaked and Teagan and Abby Sue were close behind. We had so much fun. Photograper Blog

Everyday Abby Sue finds new ways to help you extend you love towards her. From her hugs (actually she is using you as a napkin, I've a chocolate stain on my bum to prove it) to her sneaky ways to get kisses to her wanting to be tickled, wrestled and cuddled (all at the same time). Today she helped me separate laundry. She would throw laundry at me to organize. I've never had so much fun organizing laundry. She loves to unload the dishwasher and set the table. She even tries to call the family to dinner. I just can't help but to love her more and more everyday (even if she ruins my few remaining clothes).

We survived Alex's first week of school. There were no tears, at least from me. Today Joseph had a super busy schedule, so he asked me to pick up Alex from school. So I pack up Teagan and Abby Sue and head over. I'm super excited my first time picking him up. He walks out the door and starts to cry when he see us. He LOVES having Dad picking him up and biking to and from school. Poor Baby, but he survived.

Alex, or should I say Alexander (he decided he needed to be called Alexander on his fifth birthday), loves kindergarden. He loves the bike rides with Joseph to and from school everyday. And he loves the five minutes of hugs and kisses he gets from me when he gets home. And is so tired by 7pm. It is near wonderful. Though I miss him so much, I'm enjoying a completely kid free nap time. Yesterday I did all my chores and then still had an hour completely to my self. Today I got almost all of nap time! I'm not going to know what to do with myself. Joseph says I should reads some, but I'm pretty tired of Curious George and all those. I also feel no guilt in just staying home in just cleaning and playing. This afternoon was heaven. Me and three kids on our bed watching a movie and cuddling and wrestling. Teagan and I worked on teaching Abby Sue 'up.' Life is truly wonderful.

Where does she get this from?

Abby Sue has decided that it is fun and a type of good transportation. It has been wonderful watching her do laps in the house or peek around the corner just to laugh and go somewhere else. She is quite a clown.

I've been suffering from Summer overload. There is so much to do, I'm going crazy. First of all, Alex starts school next week (Kindergarden assessment and first day the next Monday). So I'm suffering from I've got to do stuff before it is too late. That being said we haven't gone to the place I wanted to take the kids to. I'm so torn between cleaning the house, canning all sort of stuff, playing with my kids and doing outings I can't get anything really done. And then I stay up too late doing that stuff or trying to unwind from spending half the night doing it.

Then Alex has been suffering from the birthday money all gone blues and getting stuff for school gimmies. Lets just day at this moment I've got three lunch boxes and have had many headaches from saying no every 2 seconds and trying to convince Alex that he doesn't need a clipboard or coloring activity books or anything else that is at his eye level and brightly colored. (And that school shopping was a headache, had to hit 2 stores and still need one more cause one doesn't price match, another doesn't carry the same items and can't price match.) And Teagan has been suffering. But he feels better now that he has some new crayons and markers and a pencil box to put them into (just fyi Walmart has Crayola crayons for .25 and other things that are really cheap for school. Left with a near cart full for under $20.)

I've decided that since Alex only has Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week free we will have nothing but fun. Museum of Life and Science, Zoo, and beach here we come!

I'm so excited to announce Teagan is potty trained. Today he had no accidents! It feels so great to have only one in diapers.

Yea, our web blog is up again. There has been so much to share, I don't know where to start. Our three weeks in Utah were great. Lots of fun with family, lots of camping and lots of sight seeing. Bryce, Grand Canyon and Zions were amazing to see. Alex and Teagan still ask to see all their aunts and uncles. We were also stricken with a bunny bug. So in a few hours we will be leaving for a farm to pick up an angora bunny of our own. Though I'm hoping for two.

Alex had a great birthday party. Lots of friends in a swimming pool, what could be better? I handled the grill while everyone hit the water. It was a good thing too. Temperatures were very high 98ish.

Then on Monday I stumbled upon a great deal, 100lbs of peaches for free. Yes, I admit we didn't need all 100lbs of peaches as jam. But now I've got a two year supply. Ok, so it is probably more like a year and a half but a that is good too. I was up till 4am! But all 64 quarts and one pint were done. Then Tuesday morning when I pried myself off the bed we went swimming with our playgroup. Followed by a relaxing afternoon and dinner at Moes. Ice cream and cake and then canned 16 quarts of tomatoes.

3rd of July has been equally fun. Breakfast and a bike parade at the church. I discovered a super yummy muffin recipe! And then we went to a park while Alex and Joseph played ultimate frisbee Teagan and Abby Sue played on the playground. Now we wait and rest. Alex and Joseph are having fun playing super mario brothers while Abby Sue sleeps.

More adventures await.

As we prepare to embark on a 7ish hour flight soon, I'm start worrying. And now it is about Abby Sue. It isn't if she'll be good the whole time. It is about food. Abby Sue is going through a HUGE growth spurt and eats nearly non stop. I'm going to need at least two duffles FULL of food to get her through the outbound leg alone. This morning she ate two HUGE bowls (I mean adult sized) of cereal, a cereal bar, two crackers, a yogurt, most a bag of those freeze dried fruit bites from Gerber and a lot of goldfish. And she hasn't been up for three hours yet! How are we going to make it 7 hours on a plane? But once she is full she is happy and cheerful, till she is empty again. Then we start with screams until she is full.

So, I've dear friends they keep telling me I should start selling my stuff. I'm going to try it. I've opened www.tatertottoys.blogspot.com. I've got a cute bear up and more to come soon. I've just got to get Teagan's and Abby Sue's quilts done. I'm going to relay on word of mouth to spread the word. I got tired of trying to compete on etsy. SO if you like what you see spread the word.