REWIND: Cox Beach Trip 2013

I mean it's pathetic... In JULY we went on our annual Cox Family Beach Trip, but in SEPTEMBER (ahem, the middle of September) I am blogging about it! :) And 73 pictures uploaded later I'm ready...

But with 73 pictures what else do I want to remember?

Beach Keepsakes...

Kaki did NOT like seaweed, point taken... over and over again. Still, in September... when we mention the beach she says, "Kaki NO LIKE seaweed!" Got it!

Caden LOVES the ocean... everything about it.

Kaki got to where she LOVED the ocean and that made me a bundle of nerves at times!! She was a bit too brave and FAST by the end of our trip!

Graham LOVED the sand, the seaweed, the ocean... life! He was a happy guy!

We played Apples to Apples at night... it was fun, until Bop kept winning! :)

We played putt-putt for the first time... a new tradition was born.

We did Snoopy's and Scoopy's... and in that order. Bop, Nana, Ree Ree and G-Dawg got to do it twice.

The house had a HUGE fish on the wall... we still talk about it.

And it had bunk beds... Caden still wants some.

We got beach carts for the first time... golf carts on beach-flavored-steroids... super fun! The kids especially liked them.

Caden bought a $.99 shark tooth necklace... it lasted about as long as you'd expect $.99 to. But he loved it.

Teen Beach Movie premiered the Friday night we were at the beach... we all watched it... but only Bop, Nana and I made it to the end with Caden. The rest of the crew took to the porch... I have no idea why... TBM is quality TV! We have since watched it at least 150 times and own the soundtrack to which we sing EVERY word from EVERY song... and we're still not tired of it!

I just asked Justin to help me fill in some beach memories... he said, "From Port A? (is he dogging my blogging laziness) Holy cow... I've got nothin'!" Thanks for the help! And the memories, apparently! :)

We had lots of mac n cheese and oreos... like I think we went through three packages of double stuffed throughout the week... yum!

I tried some new castle building techniques that I learned from the Daytripper... they worked... sort of! 

We had lots of fun...

Lots of laughs...

Soaked in lots of sun...

We are so thankful to Nana and Bop for taking our crazy (and getting crazier) crew to the beach with you every year! We look forward to our time together in Port A! Here's to another successful year!! Thank you!!!

And now for the pics!!

First Day of "School"

Well, it has been shamefully long since I've last blogged. And my one fan was very concerned... thanks, Kay for loving to read about us!! :) 

We had an exciting day in our house and rather than go back and catch up from the end of July through August, I figured I'd start here and then go backwards as time allows... after all there are some REALLY cute beach pics that I cannot stand not to get up on the blog! Because let me not forget that one of the main reasons I'm still sticking with this little ol' family blog of ours is to print it off, make into several books and enjoy them for all time! :) I am sure my kids will LOVE looking through the multiple books they'll have by the time their 18... right???!!! :) 

An ode to the memories...

Okay, so back to today...

Today was our first official day of school...

at home... 

Home school... school at home. 

This decision was met with LOTS of prayer. It started just about this time last year and Justin and I went back and forth on this ALL year, literally flip-flopping on the decision from month to month! I signed both kids up for school in February and kept praying, knowing I'd have until July to make my final decision. 

And in June, I did... Justin and I both agreed that the keeping the kids home from school this year would be best for our family and not because we don't love school... because we do... and not because we want to become homeschoolers, because at this point we don't, but because we felt the Lord's push in this direction and we wanted to be sensitive to that. 

Now, if you ask me in public or in every day conversation, I'd probably say something like this, "I had my mommy freak out and realized that Caden was going to kindergarten next year and I just decided I needed him home with me this year." And partially that is true, but I really sought this one out with prayer and I had fear and doubt attack me from every angle of the process. Was I making the right decision? Would I be able to do it? Would he be ready for Kinder? Would Caden miss his friends? Would people think I'm weird? Was I being selfish? Was I being afraid? 

And what about Kaki? Would she miss the opportunity to go make friends? Would she do well at home? Would I be able to help her learn when I had Caden to teach too? 

I still don't have the answers to ANY of these questions...

 Justin and I are resting in the peace that God knows what's best, even if we can't articulate the reasons why we felt his calling on us to not put the kids in school this year in the first place...because we really can't. But, sometimes that's the fun part of an adventure with God... not knowing why or where's he's taking you... just going! 

But in the every day, rather than going into the we know God wants us to do this, but we don't know how we know or why we know, we tend to pull out the "crazy helicopter mom" card when people ask us why we decided to keep the kids home this year... :) It's much easier to digest!

So from a crazy helicopter mom to you...

I present you with our first day of home school pictures...

Drum roll...

Caden was super bummed he had to actually get dressed! :) :) :)

My sweet man has been SO excited to have "mama teacher" this year. He has been telling everyone lately that he was starting school at HOME and that it was going to be the best year ever. And today he kept saying, "this is going to be the best day ever!!" I thrive on his enthusiasm and he makes me so excited to be doing this! What a blessing his energy was to me today... I was nervous! :)

The two of them are quite a pair... becoming better and better friends all the time! And looking more alike maybe too??!

It was such a treat to watch them work together today to be "tuned up" for school. Not sure why he says that, but Caden always like to be "tuned up" for things... Baylor game... school... church... anything really! :)

Kaki-girl wasn't so sure what to think about the whole school thing. Anytime we mention the word "school" she says, "I want to stay with  YOU, Mommy!" So I was clear she wasn't all that fired up at the thought of GOING to school, but once we started this morning she wasn't really all that fired up about STAYING at home for school either! :) It's a work in progress. She's never had to do things like this except for at church and I am pretty sure she RUNS the church nursery most Sundays... but this is another story for another time.

After some initial whining, fussing and crying, she eventually rolled with it. She did such a great job using a glue stick... I was shocked. The difference in boys and girls fine motor skills is just crazy! I think she and big bro might be on the same level, but Cade-man is working on it! :) 

We did 1.5 hours of school today and hope to do the same tomorrow. I am excited to see their little minds grow and develop this year and I am excited to spend this sweet time with my two treasures! 

Look at that big girl...

Apparently, teaching is hard work... so I didn't get an opportunity to snap pics of everything... BUT I did get a few snap shots of my prep work and of our day today...

Day #1 down... don't want to list how many to go... for fear of complete and total intimidation!! :)

Happy Schooling!!

KK and Albi In Charge

Where we left off...

After our fun weekend in Nacogdoches, Justin and I let KK and Albi fly solo or as a duo, and take Kaki and Caden home to CC with them. They would hang for a few days until we came through Tuesday to pick them up on our way to the beach. With all of the family in town for the shower, some of them took the opportunity to head to CC to visit too. SO... Kaki and Caden had a fun crew to hang with while they were there. Martha, Chatty, Clay and Grandmother were all there to play with!

And play they did...

KK and Albi were brave to take on C and K for the 6+ hour car ride back to CC. But they were so excited to be with Kk and Albi that they didn't want to do anything to spoil the fun and were apparently perfect angels... amazing! :) In all truth, Caden has always been a great traveler and Kaki was too, up until last summer... and then we hit a rough patch. She has gotten MUCH better and is settling in to being just as content as her big bro... and all of God's people said, AMEN!!

Kaki held out until the last 30 minutes... and then she took a quick snooze...

Sweet girl!

Back in Gtown, Justin and I didn't really know much of what to do with ourselves! Of course, this is after I was over my initial tears... I cried off and on the entire way home... thankfully (for Justin) we were in separate cars! :) 

But, over the next few days I don't think I cried once... maybe once... I can't remember, but I did keep myself very busy and enjoyed getting lots of things done on our rainy, rainy days!

Kaki and Caden woke up ready to play on their first morning in CC!

Kaki's hair does wonderful things in humidity... wonderful!

Kaki cheered on Caden while he played hoops, until it was time to load up and head to the Aquarium with the crew... what fun!!

Caden and Kaki had a great time exploring... 

Caden watching the dolphin show...

Next up... lunch

And tats...

The rest of their time was filled with swimming, playing, swimming, playing in the rain... swimming in the rain... eating... sleeping... It was a rough trip for them! :)

By Tuesday evening they were excited to see us... well, at least Caden was. Kaki could have done without our arrival, but I know deep down she didn't mean it... even if it did hurt my feelings! :)

Kk and Albi had a house full of guests and still managed to spoil these two completely rotten! But rotten they didn't stay... :)

Until next time...

Happy Road Trippin'!!

Thanks KK and Albi for taking on our two crazy kiddos for a few days! They loved it WAY WAY WAY more than you know!! We are grateful for you!

To The Piney Woods To Celebrate Whit

A few weeks ago we had a very exciting long weekend...

It all started with a LONG-awaited visit from our favorite crews from Abilene!

My Grandmother and the kids Great-Grandmother was able to make the trip all the way from Abilene to Gtown to visit us in our new home. My sweet Aunt Martha and new-engaged cousin Clay made the trip with her. I was so so excited to have everyone at our house, even if it was just for one night... not even a full 24 hours!! :) BUT, I will take what I can get!! THANK YOU, Grandmother for making the trip!! Means so much to us to have had you here!!

As SOON, as Clay's feet crossed the doorway, Caden was ready to play hoops! And I believe they played the rest of the afternoon... quite literally. So much so that Clay is assured to have a backache for the rest of the summer. Good thing he is studying to be a PT. He's going need his own skills!

And Kaki was thrilled to pieces to have the girls to dote on her! And you better believe it was like having a real-live celebrity in her presence when she realized that Grandmother was the same voice from her beloved Night Before Christmas book... she "reads" or listens to that book ALL the time. And to have Grandmother who she has affectionately renamed Gam-maw, in the flesh was just a treat of an entirely different kind! It was so nice having everyone there as we geared up to celebrate our newest addition and one whose namesake comes from one such Grandmother... our sweet baby Whit from the Piney Woods DEEP in East Texas!

The morning before we left for East Texas, we had some game playing to do while the rest of enjoyed our coffee and got to packing! :) Martha and Chatty are always up for a good round of hippos!

By mid-morning we were all packed up and ready to head out...

In two cars we caravaned East anxiously awaiting our arrival in one of our favorite places! Nacogdoches... it's like a vacation!!

A place where you can clear your mind and eat of ice cream out of a fancy dish...

Okay, so maybe that doesn't really have anything to do with Nacogdoches but everything to do with Aunt Emily and Uncle Josh's beautiful and Aunt Emily's superb taste in ice cream dishes! :) It was treatment fit for a King and Caden was happy to indulge in his aunt and uncle's spoils, I can assure you!  :)

We all were!

We were in for such a treat that weekend because SO much of our family made the trek to celebrate Baby Whit, which gave us all a divine opportunity to meet Kennedy... just shy of 2 months old and the most precious thing you've ever seen! Clearly, I was smitten!! And whether she liked me or not it was hard to say, but I wasn't so much worried about that as long as we maintained our snuggle! :) I am so glad her Nana and Paw-Paw agreed to bring her and her sister and mommy!! :)

My cousin Michelle... 2 months post-baby... or not even... and looking A-mazing! It's just ridiculous!! Motherhood suits her though... all the way around!! 

My baby stalker was in love with sweet Kennedy too! Naturally, she loved all of the "gear" she came with too... especially her carseat buckles! :)

Kaki and Kendall got to play and that was a BIG treat for me to watch! Such cuties... and friends... cousins are your first friends! When I showed this picture to Kaki she said, "Aw, Kaki and friend Kendall." Love these two little girls!!

Kaki was thrilled to see Aunt Emily and Uncle Josh two weekends in a row... especially that Uncle Josh... she's got him wrapped up. She even played him against her Daddy when Daddy said no paci, she ran to Uncle Josh (who was in the other room and didn't hear the orders) who promptly gave her one. :) Smart girl!

Aunt Emily, as always, was the hostess with the mostess, gathering all of our favorites. In fact, it might seem that my kids are pretty high maintenance (and they are) with all of the things she stocked her pantry with! :) 

The night before the shower, after everyone arrived in the Piney Woods, Josh and Emily treated us to a yummy taco feast and of course we all passed around various children and ooooed and aahhhed and had a wonderful time just being family!

We attempted some photo ops with the older cousins and we did ok... but what did we expect??!

Cousin love... SO SWEET!!

After a yummy dinner and a fun evening snuggling with the baby (or maybe that was just me who got to do that... hehe), we all got a good night's rest before the big day... baby shower time!!

While the girls were showering baby Whit, Uncle Josh took the boys to the course to play some golf... And Cade-man got him another hat for his collection... he's going to need a hat closet before long! :)

The boys had a great day on the course and we had an even better morning celebrating Emily and Whit!

And managed to snap some cute pics!!

All of the hostesses for the shower!! YES... crazy right? Best shower I've ever help throw... so fun! Emily has lots of people who love her!!

Martha and Chatty... oh so cute!

Three Whitaker ladies... whoo, whoo, whoo!

And Sweet Emily opening her gifts! She has the GLOW, doesn't she??!!! Happy to be a Mommy! She was gracious and excited over every gift! 

We cannot wait for Baby Whit to make is arrival!! We all filled out cards on some of our predictions... weight, birthday, etc. I cannot wait to see which one of us was the closest!! :) Only time will tell for our sweet Whitters!

After the the fun at the shower, we had a relaxing afternoon shopping around town and relaxing and Josh and Em's house...

That night Emily's parents graciously hosted us at their house for dinner! It was SO fun and the perfect way to wrap up our weekend in Nac! The weather was gorgeous... cool and cloudy... it was a great night!

After Nac we made a quick turn-around at home before we headed to the beach... more to come!

Until then, We love you Baby Whit! Can't wait to meet you in September!!