Mother's Day 2014

Another fab Mother's Day! I've decided as much as I love being a Mommy I also love having another day to get spoiled! I do not turn down tokens of affection, cooked meals and hugs and kisses. Ever. I'm fortunate to get this kinda love every day but it was just a little...more. 

All I ever ask is just to be able to relax, and as per the ushe, the hubs came through! We went to a BBQ festival downtown and then dropped the kids off  with Papa and went back down for a fab Mexican dinner and margaritas....and that was just FRIDAY! 

Saturday, Mo and I took the girls to Sunsplash to meet some friends. Not exactly relaxing per se, but there is a lazy river....

It was nice to get to just hang out with Maddie and have some girl time (Gavin stayed home with Daddy since there isn't much for him to do there...). She did kinda ignore me for the cooler, older girls. Pretty much high school all over again. Hehehehe.

{these are Maddie's "sunglasses"}

Sunday morning, Garret swung by The Heavenly biscuit on our way to the beach. Um, wow. This place is, well, heavenly.

We did our annual Mom's Day Beach Outing with all the Mamma's....

Afterwards we all went to Mo's and had an awesome dinner prepared by Rob!

"Gavin" got me this Mickey shirt (he's currently obsessed with the mouse and apparently latched onto it in the store so G really had no choice...

Just a perfect weekend with my favorite people! I'm so blessed to be the Mommy of these two amazing creatures! They are the light of my life and make me appreciate my life every day. Children are more a gift to us...my whole life is now lived for them, my own selfishness has been replaced with unending love for them and making sure they are happy. It's an amazing responsibility and I feel so blessed to have been chosen to be their Mom....

Oh BOY!

So I've always heard what a difference there is between boys and girls. I never quite understood why until recently. 

Gavin has been an absolute terror lately. I mean this in the most loving way of course...he has the sweetest disposition but physically, he's a maniac! His entire mission in life, I am convinced, is to destroy anything in his path. We have nicknamed him Hurricane Gavin. The category just depends on the day.

He pulls, climbs, throws....generally just demolishes everything. Mind you, after the smoke clears, he'll come give you a big kiss and flash that adorable grin as if to say "Sorry Mom." How can anyone be mad at that face??

Today, he kept running back and forth from the living room to the kids' bathroom, bringing out a various item, throwing it and running back to collect something else. I followed him in, just to make sure he isn't throwing anything into the toilet (one of his many famous moves)....

And what is he doing? Just throwing things in the sink. And toilet. And all over the floor.

Nothing is safe....

Who, me?! I would never.....

Safety first!

Let the complaining begin:

It's so hot already. Ugh. I mean, hot ya'll. Sweltering, humid, horrid heat. Barf. So, the Copeland Clan can be found in the pool. Or inside. No other options. 

 Recently, a local couple, that Garret knew growing up who moved to Gainesville to open a church there, suffered an awful tragedy when their (I believe) 2 year old son was found unresponsive in their pool. He is in the hospital, making miraculous strides with his recovery but it continues to be a long, scary road, to say the least. When we learned about it, we were just devastated. We know how quickly children can get away from you and how it takes mere minutes for tragedy to strike. 

That said, we ordered an alarm for the doors, that go off a few seconds after they are opened. We also make Gavin wear a life vest anytime he's in the back yard (which he luckily tolerates!). Being renters, it's hard to justify the huge expense of a fence for the pool but obviously our children's safety is our priority. Maddie is a great swimmer, so I feel a sense of relief but I know even a good swimmer can have an accident. For now, these measures give us some peace of mind!! Looking forward to a great and SAFE Summer!

Our low key (but yummy!) Cinco De Mayo

I can't tell you why, but I love Cinco De Mayo...perhaps it's the fiesta? The Mexican food? The Margaritas? I'm going with all of the above. This year was pretty low key, to say the least. I did make white chicken enchiladas, churros and sangria...cause why wouldn't I?, but we didn't do much else since Garret is hard at work studying for his Teaching Certification Test. Once again having drawn on the chalkboard wall, I thought I'd at least get some quick pics of the kiddos...cause they're cute. And one of Garret hard at work, cause he's cute too :). Married to a hot college student....go me.

Since Daddy and Maddie were at Daddy's jump free Monday at Sky Zone, I coerced Gavin into some modeling first. Nothing to do with the subject at hand but I figure I'll mention his obsession with his "night night" AKA: his blankie. Mind you, this child has loved him a blanket since he was a teeny baby. He cuddles it and does this sucking motion with his tongue...it's really sweet. This particular blanket was Caleb's so it's even more precious how attached he is to it.....

 The hour before bedtime (I like to refer to it as the "witching hour"), these two are wild. I mean, more than usual. Yeah, hence the sangria.

 I can't help myself...I just think these two are the most precious kids everrrrr! I may be slightly partial....

Rain, Rain go away....

  We kinda had a cruddy weekend around here...rainy and humid, blech! So, we figured it was a good time to work on Maddie's overdue art project (mommy's fault, not hers...good to know my ADD seeps into my parenting too, ugh). It was to be the student's favorite bible verse and we were given a blank white paper (which I had somehow misplaced..who, moi??) that was to be entirely used up with their creations (for uniformity).

 Maddie chose Adam and Eve, which is great and all but I wasn't about to put nude people, or even leaf covered ones on a 4 year old's poster so I just had her draw them :) Thank goodness she's just beyond stick figures...

  

Figuring she needed  a break, Daddy took the kiddos for a wagon ride. In this heat, that usually lasts 10-15 minutes. After 30, they still weren't back. Next thing I know, this mud covered little girl comes walking up to the front door. Apparently they ran into some neighborhood friends who were all jumping in mud puddles. How dare they?? Do it without me, I mean...

She was, however, not walking through the house like that, so, as children of my generation know well, she got hosed off! I guess rainy days aren't so bad after all...

Good thing....