You better watch out...

I'm sure he's telling the big guy what a good boy Mason has been

We were very excited that Murray the Elf reported for duty when we returned from our Thanksgiving trip to Florida. He was waiting in the wreath over our mantle with his story book for the boys to read. He has been quite mischievous this year and Mason literally runs downstairs every morning to find him (and some mornings mommy or daddy is running just ahead of Mason yelling 'oh crap!', but we haven't been busted yet). I'm sure Murray's reports to Santa have been good this year... Mason is especially careful of his behavior when Murray is watching :)

Weeeeeee!!!!!!

Murray in an epic battle with Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Some days he just likes to chill on the shelf too.

May your Christmas be magical and filled with surprises!

Thanksgiving in Florida

We were very excited to travel to Florida for Thanksgiving to visit Chris' parents and grandmother. The last time we visited was when Mason was less than a year old, so Matthew had never even met his Great Grandma H. The weather was a little chilly, but we found plenty of fun things for the boys to do. They loved the mermaid show and boat ride at Weeki-Wachee springs and we even got to ride a train to visit Santa! Matthew wasn't so sure about Santa (which I expected), but we managed to bribe him with a candy cane for a quick picture! No tears this year!! Great Grandma was thrilled to watch the boys play and she quickly won them over with her stash of happy meal toys that she let them pick from :)

My little mermaids?

Waiting for Santa!

Matthew wasn't so sure, so mommy had to join. Mason was so excited!

Riding the train to see Santa!

Watching movies with Great Grandma!

Happy Fall 2014!

Just a few pictures of my favorite superheros from our fun filled Fall season. We woke up to a temp of 27 degrees this  morning, so I guess we're officially into winter now! Both boys really got into trick-or-treating this year and stayed out WAY past their bedtime collecting candy in the neighborhood with their friends. Our neighborhood also hosted a fun fall festival the weekend before Halloween, so the boys got to try on their costumes early and even got to see Captain America and Elsa from Frozen! We're looking forward to the upcoming Holiday Season! Mason is already asking Santa for toys and I'm hoping Matthew will actually enjoy talking to Santa this year (we'll see).

Fun at the church pumpkin patch!

The boys meeting Captain America! Matthew wouldn't get any closer than that.

Mason was pretty excited about meeting a real super hero

My adorable little super heroes

The whole crew before trick or treating!

It's really hard to get everyone sitting and looking at the camera...

Trick or Treat!

Our jack-o-lantern!

St. Simons 2014

Beautiful sunrise view from our condo. I loved waking up to this each morning.

We spent an amazing week in early October at my favorite place in the world. There's just something about St. Simons Island that feels home to me. It was our first family beach trip since Matthew was just 6 weeks old and Mason was just over 2, so I'm not even sure if he remembered it. True to their personalities, Matthew was a bit hesitant until he got used to the sand and ocean and Mason jumped right in without ever looking back. By the end of the week they were both total beach bums like their parents. We were very happy to have Nana and Grandpa come stay with us for a few days and then the whole Young crew joined us for the end of the week. The cousins had a blast on the beach and baby Maci got to put her toes in the sand for the very first time! It was such a fun and relaxing week for everyone! I have TONS more pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.

Matthew's very first time walking on the beach. He stood back and watched Mason for a while...

"I think I like this, but I'm not sure yet mom"

And our adventurer! He ran around like this for hours on the first day. I've never seen him so happy!

Mason showing Matthew the waves.

Before dinner with Nana and Grandpa

Family picture before dinner

My little beach bum

Uncle Lamar is on sand castle duty

Pretty girls checking out the water

Mason getting the hang of this sand castle thing

Dee enjoying his new retirement on the beach

My sweet beach bums on our last day. No one wanted to go home!

Many more pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/114433430345175019209/StSimons2014#

Pre-K!

Mason is officially in Pre-K! He is still at the same school/daycare he has been at since he was 5 months old, but the class is more structured and he started wearing school uniforms this week. I can't believe my big boy will be going to 'real' Kindergarten next year! He is already learning sight words and has homework many nights (yikes!).

My big boy in his school uniform!

Summer wrap-up

I haven't posted much this summer because there was very little time between our lake and pool outings. This is a quick catch-up post with some of our fun summer moments. My boys really are little fish and are happiest in the water. I am also thrilled to report that Mason FINALLY decided (with a little encouragement) to take off the swimmies and did great! We knew he could swim without them, but he just needed the confidence to do it! And as a bonus, he got to jump off of the neighborhood diving board on the last day that the pool was open. Until next spring... bye pool :(

Boat buddies - we had a fun weekend at the lake with Barrett and Beau.

Captain Matthew!

 

They LOVE swimming in the 'fish water'

The kids had a blast at 'Branches Movie night' on the clubhouse lawn.

Mason's first 'date' with Sadie?

Popsicles with friends

Mason jumping off the diving board with no swimmies!

20th High School Reunion

My senior picture

What an awesome group of girls we had back in the day!

I seriously can't believe it has been 20 years since I graduated from McIntosh High School! Last weekend, we had our reunion back in Peachtree City, Georgia. I wasn't planning to go because Chris had already planned a guys' golf weekend and I didn't really want to go alone. But I'm so glad I did and had a chance to catch up with some great friends I hadn't seen in many, many years. I have to say, our class aged VERY well and most of the ladies hadn't changed a bit! I didn't take many pictures, but here's a few 'then and now'.

My beautiful dates for the evening! (Meredith, me, Mindy & Carrie)

Mindy, Nora, me, Kerri & Meredith

me, Mindy and Nora