Anchors away!

Once again, I am only getting on here to report a fabulous picture I received from Mitch... Get your your fans out ladies because this one is smoking ;) Ha!

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I am loving this uniform!!!! But, mostly just loving the man in it. Only 15 more days! 

Praying I don't lose my mind over the next 7 days because we are only 1 week out from the final haul of our big move! 

Hope you have a fabulous weekend! 

Introducing...

A sailor....

 I received this picture from Mitch last night and loved it! He had one of his buddies take it while they were out for the evening. There really is nothing like a man in uniform! 3 more weeks...

And a flower girl...

Miss Scarlett is going to become very familiar with the role of "flower girl" as she will be in both Aunt Ryan and Derek's wedding as well as Uncle Chaz and Karinne's! All before the end of 2012 :) This is a dress possibility for Aunt Ryan's wedding... just thought it would be fun to share. 

mini vanna white

First of all, I want to give a BIG shout out to two of my precious friends who share the same birthday today... LORI B. and KRISTIN F. --- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I love you each dearly!!! (by the way, they don't even know each other... ha!)

Lori, Scarlett and I at a
shower back in August of 2010.        
~~~
 Kristin and I celebrating our
"survival of the 1st year
as mommies" lunch in May 2011. 

You guessed right, both of my darling friends are turning just 25 this year!! Wooooh!!!! 

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Scarlett is keeping me both in stitches and in prayer lately. I definitely think that with more understanding of the world around you comes more verbal development which means there is more room for a strong will to burst out at any given time. I had to ask the Lord for patience several times yesterday. Don't get me wrong, she is extremely sweet and most of the time is very compliant, but she sure likes to express her opinion about how things are panning out in her world. Our biggest battle these days -- clothes. I cannot even believe it. I thought this was going to be an issue in, oh I'd say, about 12 years. Just in the last week, we kind of "battle" in the morning with getting her dressed. She wants to wear either "white" or her "Cinderella dress" (which is an old Good Ship LolliPop dance recital costume my mom and I got at a consignment sale last year that we thought she might never even be interested in. Ha!). I try to hide "Cinderella dress" because we went out way too much in public in it last week. But, I will choose my battles. Honestly, I have to keep from laughing most mornings because she presents outfits to me with such enthusiasm. She will look at me and exclaim, "Mommy, match!!" because she has put an outfit "together." Oh, that girl. 

Anyhow, this afternoon after lunch my mom asked Scarlett who she wanted to put her in her bed for nap time. She gave her the option of Mommy or Nonni. Right away she answered, "Mitch." She loves to call her Daddy, Mitch. Or sometimes she will say "Daddy Mitch."Something I never thought our child would do but, it is so cute. I decided to take her up to her bed and we talked for a while about where Daddy is (we always say "camp" I am sure Mitch feels like he is just at summer camp for several weeks.... not) and she say she missed Daddy so much. There is just a really vulnerable little window of time right before nap and bedtime each day. I try to take advantage of it as a nice time to talk about things. Anyhow, SJ went to sleep and slept really well. Right before she woke up my Dad/Boo had the sweet idea of having a wrapped present from Daddy waiting for her when she woke up. So, I wrapped up a Disney Cinderella Princess doll and when I went to get her out of her bed I told her that Daddy had something special for her, a present. Her little face lit up! She opened it very carefully and loved it.  She kept saying, "Thank you, welcome, Daddy." Right now "thank you" and "you're welcome" go together in her mind... 

For Mitch, here she is opening her gift from Daddy. 

And here she is with Cinderella....

You are very loved by your little girl, Mitch!!! 

Yesterday was my parents' 32nd wedding anniversary.... happy anniversary to my wonderful, faithful, encouraging and precious parents!!! They went out to dinner and a movie, so Scarlett and I lived it up at the Chick-fil-A (somehow we always end up there on family night when it is utter pandemonium!) and then a new Homegoods store here in town. 

Scarlett was my little Vanna White as I took a few pictures of things I might want to remember for our new place in SC....

I just think this mirror is darling, but that little face next to it takes the cake!! 

She wanted to climb in almost every chair for mommy to take a picture. I was not interested in this particular chair, but she felt it was the perfect place for her to pose. While shopping alone is 1,000,000 times easier, I really enjoyed my little shopping helper tonight :) 

And now, on a more random note... what I am holding in my hand here is absolutely delicious. It is a Jamaican Spice Bun straight from the gas station in Montego Bay, Jamaica! Thank you Dad!!! I think I have mentioned on here before that my Dad travels a lot for his job (Director of International Missions). He was in Jamaica earlier this week and he knows I think their spice buns are yummo! I pretty much lived off of these when we would travel there as a family on missions trips in the summer. If you ever get the chance, be sure an try one! 

Hoping you have a good weekend that is full of sweet fellowship with those you love... cherish the ones you love! I am hoping to get some more things checked off of my moving (again!) to-do list this weekend ;)  As always, thanks for reading! 

Jammin' with Uncle Chaz

You know that feeling of pure panic that you get for a split second when you cannot find your child? Yea, I had that yesterday afternoon when I heard the backdoor at my parents' house close and I knew my Scarlett Jean had just run out that door in a hot second. I was yelling her name and then came outside to find that she was helping Uncle Chaz "real quick" (that is her new phrase, everything is "real quick!" mommy) get the boat hooked up for his trip to the lake today. These two are a piece of work both apart and especially when together!  I had to capture it on video.... 

beach recap.... a little late

You know how you plan your vacation, you pack, you drive (or fly) for hours, you un-pack, you grocery shop, you unpack, you try to keep your stuff from looking like it exploded everywhere(!!!) and then as soon as you get settled into a really good "relaxation routine" it's time to pack up and do it all over again!?!?! Well, that is how it always seems to play out for us. I am SO not complaining. I know there are lots of young families who do not even get the opportunity to take vacations (thank you mom and dad!!!). It just seems like finally by the last day we have our system down and then "bam" it's time to get back to reality. Well, we have a fantastic final day on the beach while we were there a couple weeks ago. Here is the recap... (by the way, this is a long one! memories, memories.)

My darling girl... she hates the sand. It is "dirrrty" as far as she is concerned. But, our last day we put on her beach shoes and just distracted encouraged her to dig and play...voila! She walked in the sand.

Sand toys finally being put to good use.... 

I found her little rash-guard suit at lands end (it is 60+ spf). I love all of their swimwear, for big girls and little! 

The boys love to throw the frizby and play paddle ball on the beach. They get super sandy and then jump in the ocean. 

Here is Rinnie (Chaz'a bride) and SJ playing in the sand. Rinnie is one of Scarlett's favorite people of all time.

Busy getting sandy... that a girl! This picture is really neat because that building in the background is the only building I remember seeing as a little girl while playing on the beach besides the building that my grandparents' and parents' condos used to be in. The building they owned in for years and years was completely destroyed by hurricane Ivan. Now it is just a bare, sandy lot. But we have some pretty sweet memories from this very beach....

We had 3 VERY exciting catches this day... 1- Chaz caught a shark. I declare it was a baby Great White! It looked exactly like jaws just miniature. So fun to see up close on our turf, not his... 

Then my Dad reeled in this really cool "sucker" fish, for lack of better marine biology terminology. Ha! 

How cool is this? Is even "latched on" (again, for lack of better term) to my Dad's hand. 

His "suction cup" side...

Uncle Chaz was out casting for another good one! 

This blue heron, Big Bird as we call him, was loving the fishing action... 

Scarlett likes to give Big Bird a stare down. 

Cheering for Big Bird as he flew away...

Our sweet girl...

Daddy found a sand dollar out by the sand bar...

So little and delicate... (the both of them) 

Nonni, Rinnie and Scarlett...We really owe it to Nonni for Scarlett finally walking on the sand... 

Me and my man.

XOXO...

And then it was snack time. The best time. 

SJ decided Rinnie's lap was the best spot for a rest....

Mitch getting his snack on...

I love these two sweet faces. 

Our little honey baked HAM....

Our 3rd and probably neatest catch of the day, a stingray. 

Sea World style... up close and personal.

My sweet Daddy and his neat catch. 

Our beach compound... 

Waves of mercy, waves of grace...

Everywhere I look, I see your (GOD) face...

Until next time beautiful white sand and warm salt air. We will miss you!!!!