Catching Up!

So, since May has a bajillion activities packed in, I need to write a couple mid-month posts just to catch up up so that I don't have one post that is 953 pages long at the end of the month- this one is already long enough, sheesh!

First things' first, I was awarded a speeding ticket.  YAY!  Just what I need- another bill looming over my head during, quite possibly, our most expensive month of the year.  I haven't gotten a ticket for 12 years so I suppose it was time.  It's not fair though because I was SLOWING DOWN.  I just didn't slow down enough before I hit the new speed mph sign.  It was one of those tiny little towns in the middle of nowhere off a highway that takes you from like 75mph to 35mph and he got me before I had the chance to get to my slowest speed.  The cop was a jerk and I bawled like a baby.... the first thing I did was call Shawn and I was just sobbing.  I was on my way to IKEA, which is in Frisco, TX 3 1/2 hours away from home.  Instead of getting mad at me, he said "are you OK? It's ok babe.  I'm not mad.  It will be OK."  And then he put Sully on the phone and said "Sully say 'it's OK Mommy.  It's OK.'"  Sully's little voice telling me it was OK was the sweetest thing. Talk about a nice husband.  He has gotten 3 tickets in the time we have been married and I am never nice to him about it like he was for me.  The thing is, this trip was actually a little getaway for me and I was sad that it started out with a ticket :(  We had a garage sale 2 weeks ago and made just under $200.  We REALLY needed new dishes (we were down to just 1 full size plate here!) and I know IKEA has the best deals around and I could easily find a new set for the amount of money we made at the garage sale.  So I was going to drive there and back in 1 day.  But Shawn, the nice husband that he is, told me to stay the night in a hotel (he had BARELY enough points left for one night) and treat myself to a night of relaxation away from home.  I felt very "Pretty Woman" the whole night (minus the prostitute thing, haha!).  The reason for this is- he booked me a standard room in a fancy hotel but they upgraded me for FREE into the NICEST room I have ever stayed in.  It had SUCH a gorgeous view of a river and gardens surrounding it and- IT HAD ROBES!  I have always wanted to stay in a plush hotel with the big white robes and I finally got to! When I walked into the room there was huge bouquet of flowers waiting for me (flowers are not something he usually buys for me because I always cringe at the price of something that doesn't live very long) but he wanted me to feel extra special since this was the first time I've ever snuck away like this by myself.  Since it was a fancy hotel, they don't have free parking OR a continental breakfast for the regular guests. However, they DO have free valet parking, gourmet dinners and hot breakfasts for their "diamond members" in a special executive room on the 9th floor that is ONLY accessible by a special "diamond-member" key card.  So even though I am not a "diamond-member," Shawn is and since HE is the one who made the reservation, I was the one who reaped the benefits.  I felt so important.  A MASSIVE room with a huge bathtub in the fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in with gorgeous, fresh flowers waiting for me and food that was SO incredibly delicious! THAT is why I felt like  "Pretty Woman."  Plus, it was after a day of shopping at IKEA and TJ Maxx- so maybe it wasn't Rodeo Drive, haha, but it was still an AWESOME day/night and I wish so badly I could have stayed a little bit longer.  But, May is busy enough as it is and Shawn only had enough hotel points for one night.  He played Mr. Mom by picking the kids up from school, doing homework with them, taking Piper to dance, making lunches, babysitting Sully all day, etc.  It was one of the best 36 hours I've had in a long time.  I applied a face mask, turned on a book on tape and took an hour long bubble bath that night.  I tried to sleep in, but my body wouldn't let me.  However, I enjoyed breakfast overlooking the beautiful river and then went and read by the outside pool for 2 hours before I left at 1pm the next day.  I am forever thankful that Shawn likes to pamper me when he can.  He is not always the most romantic guy, so flowers were a huge surprise and the frugal lady in me kept reminding myself to just ENJOY my getaway because who knows when this will happen again!!

You better believe I buckled these babies up (literally) and drove them back home with me the next day!

Now, on the total opposite side of feeling glamorous at a posh hotel, I chose to celebrate Mother's Day by going camping, haha!  I love camping and had the itch to get out with the kids before the intense heat hits and enjoy the great outdoors.  It was a quick 2 days that went by much too fast but it was so much fun.  It rained through the night on Friday so we woke up to lots of mud around us on Saturday.  Sully was in HEAVEN!  He was rolling his tractors all through the mud, flinging it around with sticks, jumping in the puddles, etc.  Piper benefitted because all the frogs and turtles from the lake came up on land during the rain and she loves getting critters like that to play with.  And Lucy and I played hours of Uno while we relaxed in the great outdoors. All of us loved the fire flies we saw flying around all night :) The campsite was on the lake and the weather was perfect.  Cold the first night, but almost hot the second.  I didn't take tons of pictures because camping is meant for "unplugging" but I did get some from the first night and it was a blast.  My kids all love to camp so it makes me a happy Mama!  I had a very happy Mother's Day!!

Look at this massive lizard! Or is it an iguana??? Either way, it's so cool!

This is why I LOVE camping. A fire at night with gorgeous views.

She is holding a baby Aligator turtle.  When they grow up they get MASSIVE and bite peoples heads off- like an alligator. But he was a tiny little baby so he couldn't bite yet.  She named him Al :)

Some more things that took place within the last couple of weeks are as follows:

I got the girls' Spring pictures back and they are cute as can be!

The Pi Baby and her kindergarten class lead the entire school in their Monday morning assembly (Rise and Shine). They were brave, confident and adorable! Piper’s job was to lead them all in saluting the flag of Oklahoma. My fingers weren’t fast enough to get her first couple of sentences on camera but she did SO good! They all did!🇺🇸

Side note: Piper's teacher (the one behind them) is the worlds sweetest lady!  She has been teaching Kindergarten for many years but she loves her current class SO MUCH that she said she couldn't imagine not having them for another year.  So she asked if she could move up to 1st grade with them and keep them all for another year! I was ECSTATIC and brought to tears when I found out! I am SO happy for Piper! Mrs. Sumler has a heart of gold and everyone who meets her loves her!

Sullivan goes from THIS to THIS within hours and it doesn't matter what he's doing, he is still the worlds cutest little boy ever. EVER.  I can't get enough of him!!

Every Wednesday morning he anxiously waits for the trash truck. It’s his favorite; he lights up and yells and waves when he sees them Every. Single. Time. And they ALWAYS wave back👋🏼

My cute girls LOVE being silly ;-)

Lastly: The other day I looked outside and saw my two favorite guys mowing the lawn together and thought it was just the cutest thing💙. That boy completely idolizes his daddy, and Shawn’s so great because he lets Sully do everything with him. Yard work, handy work, errands, even sometimes work-work (when he’s working from home). I love their relationship and I love how much Sully looks up to his Dad. They’re the best of friends!

 

So now within the next 8 days we have 2 field-days, an AWANA celebration party, 2 end-of-school year celebrations at the park, Lucy's birthday, our anniversary, Piper's dance Recital, and last-day-of-school festivities.  And THEN.... we can breathe :)