Charli Adele: Eight:

And just like that...

Another trip around the sun

For our not so little

Little one!

Charli Adele,

It doesn't quite seem fair or possible that you are EIGHT years old already. It seems like just yesterday we were meeting you for the first time and kissing those sweet cheeks, but here we are, with the most beautiful girl in the world, my how you've grown this year. You are truly becoming such a little lady. We are trying so hard to hold on to these precious years before you truly are no longer a "little kid" anymore. 

This year has definitely been one for the books... But with every curve ball this world has thrown our way, you seem to just smile through it with such grace. With School getting cancelled, you adapted to your new normal of virtual school like you had been doing it for years. You truly amazed us with how well you rocked the last part of Second Grade, and we can't wait to see you as a big Third Grader! I know this coming school year will look much different than years past, but again, we know you are going to rock it like always! Another big one was having to cancel your birthday party this year... With the virus still a very big part of the world we made the decision back in June to cancel her birthday party. I was so sad for you as we had everything planned for a year, but you our darling truly amazed us with what you said when we told you... "It's ok mommy, I don't need to have a party and risk you getting sick, and I definitely don't want any friends or family getting sick. The best birthday will be one spent with just you guys" {THAT right there you guys... a child realizing the importance of health... not a selfish bone in her body and we couldn't be more proud!}. 

Charli, our girl, I hope you know just how much you mean to your Daddy and I, and just how much we love you! You have the kindest most biggest heart {even when you are having a complete and total melt down about something, or are fighting with your brother}, we know deep down how much you truly love and care for everything around you. You are polite, funny, intuitive, and oh so creative. You are the smartest little girl we know and I hope you never stop wanting to learn about something. 

You never cease to amaze us Charli Adele, and you are going to do amazing things in this world! 

We love you so much, Happy Birthday! 

The Yearly Birthday Survey:
*What is your favorite Color? Aqua
*What do you want to be when you grow up? "ummmm, I know I've always said a teacher, but I've kind of changed my mind a little... I really want to be an Architect because I love drawing and creating"
*What is your Favorite Animal? Okapi & Giraffes 
*What is your Favorite Food? Fish {surprise, surprise you guys... She asked for King Crab legs & Salmon for her Birthday Dinner}
*What is your Favorite thing to have for Breakfast? Eggs
*What is your Favorite thing to have for Lunch? Chicken Nuggets
*What is your Favorite thing to have for Dinner? Steak or Fish & baked potato 
*What is your Favorite Drink? Shirley Temple
*Who is your Best Friend? "I feel I have so many best friends that I don't want to pick just one", but Benjamin from school still tops the list!
*What is your Favorite thing to Play with? American Girls
*What is your Favorite Movie? "the new live Aladdin" 
*What is your Favorite TV Show? "The Babysitters Club"
*What is your Favorite Book? Amelia Bedelia chapter books
*What is your Favorite thing to do? Swinging & riding my bike
*What is your Favorite Family Activity? Evening sunset golf cart rides
*What is your Favorite Holiday? Thanksgiving 
*What is your Favorite thing to wear? Lilly Pulitzer
*Favorite Things: Golf, Tennis, Drawing, Arts & Crafts, Singing & Dancing, Reading & Writing, Riding her Bicycle & Scooter, Swimming, building Lego's, and acting like you mommy. 

H A P P Y    E I G H T!! 

COVID-19: A Pandemic:

"You're not STUCK at home, you're SAFE at home. One word can change your attitude and one cough can change your life"

...

I saw this quote the other day and the words couldn't have been more true during this time in the World. I know I have been pretty sparse with my blog writing the past couple of years, but it's honestly because I just kind of fell out of touch with doing it. Other things are just more important in our life and I find that when I do have a little extra time on my hands, sitting at the computer is on the last of my list. This space though has always been our families little journal, so sharing milestones or things of importance is what I will continue to do here and there!  

Which brings me to why I am writing today. This post is something I want to be able to look back on and for the kids to look back on. 

For our family, March 2020 was supposed to be the happiest and best month of our life... Steven was finally retiring from the United States Navy after serving our Country for 23 years, he was also turning 40 and we were waiting to go on what was supposed to be the most amazing vacation with some friends to celebrate these huge milestones & accomplishments! 

We were truly SO excited for this next chapter in our life to begin! 

Fast forward ONE WEEK after his retirement... A Virus Outbreak had hit the U.S., the World slowly starting to close its doors. We had to cancel our vacation to Jamaica when our trip was just a few days away, we got word that as Spring Break was coming to an end, the kids would not be returning to school, my doctors & specialists telling me to Self-Quarantine and to not leave the house for anything {people forget that I have a huge mound of Health Issues and with all the meds & infusions that I am on, my immune system is extremely weak making me immunocompromised. So even though I may look healthy on the outside, I am always placed into High Risk categories & it is something our family takes very serious, as my body doesn't know how to fight off illnesses like a healthy 34 year old}. Our life as we knew it truly stopped, as if we hit the pause button. We didn't know what the future was going to hold or what truly was happening. 

March 2020 quickly became the absolute worst month.

So now here we are, April 3, 2020. We are in our home as a family, isolating, social distancing, quarantining. The kids have finished their full second week of virtual homeschool, and we just got word that as of now they will not be returning to school until May 1st {though my gut tells me they won't be returning to school at all for the remainder of this school year}. The Mayor has officially put our City on "Stay at Home" orders, meaning you cannot leave your home unless it is for Critical or Essential Needs and violators could possibly be arrested. There is so much going on and happening and we are just trying to stay as calm & positive as we can for our children. 

I don't know if they are going to truly remember this time in their lives, and that there was this thing called the Coronavirus that spread across the World like wildfire, killing scores of people, though I imagine they will one day read about this Pandemic in History Books and truly understand how crazy of a time it was that we were living in. Because right now, they don't need to know everything {yes we have told them a virus called Coronavirus is going around making people very sick, and to not touch anything and we can't see anyone for our own safety. And thankfully they understand all of that and get it}. My hope in all of this right now though is that they know they are safe, protected, and that we are getting to have the most amazing family time together! They love seeing their teachers & friends on their computers, they have loved being homeschooled and are truly thriving in this new normal! Yes, there is still fighting and whining going on between them, Yes mommy has been found drinking on the job, Yes mommy has been called the lunch lady & the janitor & a fake teacher, Yes I have been stressed trying to do ALL the things, and Yes I couldn't love it more! This time we have been given to spend with just the 4 of us is amazing! These are my people and I could be quarantined with them for the rest of my life and be the happiest Wife & Mother in the World! 

And though April has officially been cancelled and who knows what is on the horizon, we are living this life one day at a time, and soaking in every second together. We are praying that all of our family and friends stay safe and healthy through all of this and we can't wait until we are able to see everyone again! 

Valentine "Cards" 2020:

Happy Valentine's Eve friends! I hope everyone has had a great week so far and that there hasn't been too much stress with all the prepping for our kids Valentine's Parties this week! 

If you still haven't made it to the store to pick up Valentine's, than you are in the right place, I have you covered! I swear I am always posting mine last minute for you all, but hey, I like to keep ours super simple so you still have plenty of time to make yours! 

I let Charli & Crew pick out what they want to hand out to all their little friends, then I just create a super cute & simple tag to tie to them and voila! 

This years winners were; Charli with the Cheez Its & Crew with the Ring Pops! 

"I am Cheezin for you"

"You're Such a Gem"

I will also link our Valentine's Past so you have more options to choose from! 

Cheers to it almost being Valentine's Day and a long weekend with your loves! 

Valentine's 2019

Valentine's 2018

Valentine's 2017

Valentine's 2016

Halloween 2019:

Before we get too much farther into November, 

I wanted to get in our Halloween recap! 

As excited as we were for Halloween to get here, we were beyond ready to see October go. It was not a good month for us at all... You know the saying "when it rains, it pours"... Yeah, that pretty much sums up how the month went. October, though you treated us very poorly, we were ready to end the month with the best Halloween for our kids! 

Towards the beginning of the month, I had one of the worst arthritis flares I have ever dealt with. It was flared in my SI Joint, which shoots pain to my back, hip, and down my leg. Needless to say I was bed ridden for 14 days, in such debilitating pain that I couldn't walk or move. I wound up in the Emergency Room it got that bad. I was so thankful for a husband who was home to help me and the kids, and for also children who understand their mommy's issues. I was so upset though, as it ruined a good few weeks for us where we had to cancel pretty much everything. So the last week of October we really tried to get in as much as we could with the kids and really try to make it fun! 

We hit up a few pumpkin patches to find the perfect pumpkins to carve! The kids have such opinions these days on what exactly they want their pumpkin to look like! So we just let them go, and loved what they chose! 

{though I still think I found the best ones in the patch ;)}

Halloween Eve arrived and I got everything set up outside so when Daddy got home they could get to carving! Crew still to this day does not like touching the inside of the pumpkins, so mommy pretty much cleaned his out! Charli on the other hand was very adamant that she do all her own work! 

For Halloween this year, the kids really wanted to be Superheroes! Crew has been obsessed with Batman since this Summer since he got to watch the LEGO Batman movie when we took them to LegoLand. Mommy tried to get her way with doing all Batman characters, but alas, Charli didn't want to be Robin, but instead Wonder Woman! 

The pure excitement on their little faces when Halloween night arrived and they could finally dress up was pure joy for us! This truly was the absolute best year with them trick or treating! Even though it was a very hot & humid 92 degrees, they had the absolute best night with their friends, and that is truly all we could ask for! Especially since we probably only have a few good years left with Charli for the innocence & magic that is the holiday season. So we are soaking up every single thing we can! 

Now that I have recapped Halloween... It's officially on to Thanksgiving & Christmas, and for a WAY better November!! 

Here's to Tuesday! 

Crew's Fifth Fiesta Birthday:

Happy Friday Friends! 

Before August gets away from me, I wanted to share some pictures from Crew's 5th Birthday Party! We celebrated our little guy right before the hustle & bustle of school starting {so if you saw, he started Kindergarten and was still 4}. It was a crazy hectic time, but I am so happy we were able to squeeze his birthday party in a couple days before school started! Ending Summer with a bang! 

We tried to really keep his Birthday on the smaller scale as well, and focused on the friends he asked for. It is crazy to me that our little babies are at the stage in life where they have their best friends and can really tell us who they want... {it feels like yesterday that they were in diapers, crawling, not talking, and we just invited all of OUR friends to their events ;)}. 

Crew's Birthday Party day arrived and he was so excited for his Fiesta! 

We kept his party super simple. All of the kids just played out in the backyard on the playground and waterpark. We had all the Mexican food and both a kids and an adult pinata! 

All in all, it was a really great day for our sweet boy! And the perfect end to Summer! 

Thank you to everyone who was able to make our little guy's celebration! He had the absolute best day {and is still talking about it!}. 

{also, the only family photo taken since Steven just had knee surgery. I was able to get him to crutch outside to sing}.