A Place of Yes

I was raised to come from a place of yes.  You always accept callings, you volunteer to bring people meals, volunteer to help with...whatever.  Well, I will always say yes to callings, and will always volunteer to help when I can, but I am going to have to learn what my limits are and to say no to something every once in a while.  For the past month (and the next three weeks), we have had something to do Every. Single. Day.  I had a slight stress induced panic attack tonight and was telling Jeremy I will probably cancel plans with friends I had on Saturday.  I already will have company in town and Shelby's gymnastics meet that day, I was feeling like it might be too much to try and do something else that day as well.  Well then Jeremy got all mad at me and told me the "plans" were really a decoy so he could surprise me for my birthday.  It's kind of funny because he calls me Nancy Drew and I always figure out birthday/Christmas presents, but I really wasn't even trying to this time!  I was just stressed, and he had no idea just how stressed until tonight. 

My energy levels are dropping pretty fast and I know I need to slow stuff down.  We can't do stuff during the day, obviously, because of work.  That means that we are driving around like crazy people every night trying to get things done.  We've eaten at Subway more times this month than probably in the past year (at least it's not McDonald's!), but the real problem is that after-work time is supposed to be family time.  The girls are couped up in the house all day, we don't need them to be couped up in the car at night.  I just need to learn that I can't do everything and that sometimes it's ok to say no.  It is such a hard lesson to learn, but so important- not just for my health, but the health of our family.  (Not to mention wallets- pretty sure in the last month we have just about covered our sitter's tuition!)  So if I say no to plans, I promise it isn't because we don't like you.  We just need some quiet time!

Goodbye, Pre-K!

We left Destin early so that we could make it back home in time for Shelby's pre-K graduation.  It was so cute.  Of course Shelby and Jorin were standing next to each other.  The kids sang a few songs and then the pre-k classes got ready for their ceremony.  They got to walk in with their caps on (They had pictures made in caps and gowns - sooooo cute.) and then they each walked across the stage as their names were called and received their "diplomas".  I didn't get any good pictures because Joey was climbing on me, but I did order the dvd (couldn't resist), so hopefully they caught it all.

After the graduation we went to dinner at Chuy's. We surprised Shelby with a little gift- some new earrings and a necklace. Just a small little gift to show her we were proud of her and her hard work this year. She was pretty happy.

 To cap off the night we had ice cream at Beth Marie's. It was all pretty great.

Wednesday was Shelby's last day.  All the kids brought in their favorite board games to play and they got Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Since she has a summer birthday I brought in cupcakes and we got to sing to her that day.  Somebody loves attention.  Also, notice Jorin sitting next to Shelby.  All the boys were at one table and the girls at another.  He walked in, saw only one space left at the boy table, so he went to the girl table and saved a spot for Shelby to sit next to him.  So sad that they won't be at the same school next year!

Destin!

We had the best time in Destin!  Our good friends' daughter is turning one, so to celebrate, they rented a beach house and invited a bunch of friends to join in the fun.  We all waited for that special girl for such a long time and were thrilled to get to celebrate her. 

The weather was absolutely perfect on Thursday and Friday.  Seriously, I was amazed that it was only in the 80s.  The water was so pretty and there was hardly any seaweed, and I never once saw a jellyfish.  Shelby was in Heaven.  She definitely has my love for the beach.  She could stay out there for HOURS and HOURS if it were up to her.  Joey had mixed feelings about it.  She hates dry sand, and can tolerate wet sand.  Overall I think she liked it though.  On Friday she was so exhausted from all the fun we had she took about a 2 1/2 hour nap right there on the beach. 

I guess that nap really re-energized her though, because that night at Fudpucker's she danced for at least 45 minutes.  As soon as she heard this girl singing on stage and saw that some older girls were dancing, she jumped right out of my arms and started dancing with them.  And when they invited some girls onstage, Joey jumped right up there with them.  She was having the BEST time.  Everyone kept asking me how old she was, and a few of them were videoing her (which is actually kinda creepy).

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Jenny did a great job with the party on Saturday.  Everything looked so cute, and the kids had a great time!

Seriously...we had so much fun!  Thank you Mike and Jenny for inviting us.  We love you!

Carnival

Today was Shelby's school carnival.  She has been looking forward to it all week.  They had games, tattoos, races, a train ride, and of course, cotton candy.  The kids all seemed to have a great time.  Joey even got to participate (It was that or a tantrum- the teachers took pity on me.). 

Shelby and her best boy friend (but don't make the mistake of calling him her boyfriend, though that's what Jorrin calls himself) Jorrin.  Shelby is really sad they won't be in school together next year.

I just realized Shelby amd Jorrin had matching tattoos :)