The Keys Day 4

It is Friday morning and we are sitting outside watching the sunrise one last time. Our hearts are on the plane, we are missing the kids, but we SO loved this time away.

Yesterday we had breakfast at Leigh Ann's coffee shop and met an interesting lady, Tommy made a great new contact for work through that conversation (amazing how God puts certain people right in your path when you least expect it.) Then we sat at the house, on the patio and laid in the sun, read books, visited with Joan and soaked up the sun. We learned alot about the Winery and how it all got started (Joan and her husband founded the winery years ago). Then Joan treated us to dinner at Key Fisheries, great little local restaurant. It was a great relaxing day.

Our flight leaves at 3,we still need to shop for the kids. If we remember right, there is a big souvenir shop in Key Largo on the way back to Miami.

This has truly been a magical getaway. Can't wait to post pictures when we get home!

The Keys Day 3

Duval Street

Sourthen most beach in the US!

Loved the Key West Inns.

I slept better last night than I have in 4 years! The salty air, sun and palm tree blowing in the wind outside our window were the perfect recipe for an exceptional night's sleep. We took a bike ride this morning over to Sunset Beach. Then laid out in the backyard, right on the channel. Beautiful, calm and protected from the breeze. We lunched at the Cabana Breeze Beach Club, more Mahi, coconut shrimp and iced tea, yum! Then we drove over to Sombrero Beach and enjoyed the afternoon, careful not to stay in the sun too long, I have 3 big spots on my torso where I missed the sunscreen yesterday and I am PRETTY red there! We took a sunset drive over to Islamarada Fish Company (toward Key Largo) for dinner. At the moment we are sitting outside at the house, Tommy is fishing in the channel while I update the blog/travel journal. The locals say it is cold this evening, in the 60's at 9pm, little do they know that is a heatwave if you are from Indiana!

We miss the kids and talk about them often, but we know we will be on parent duty soon enough. The kids are doing great back at home, I hear they are behaving better for Gigi and Aunt Nancy then they do for us! Go figure!

Tomorrow is our last full day, the forecast is 77 and sunny. We will probably do much of the same as today. There is alot to do here, but when you do so much at home (watching the kids, playing with the kids, chasing the kids and cleaning up after the kids) we just want to do a lot of nothing. And we are having a great time, and getting very good at, doing nothing.

The Keys Day 2

(some of our pictures came out so blurry! but they are still memories!)

Lunch at Boondocks on Deer Key (or Duck Key, can't remember)

Sombrero Beach

*Note: Our blog serves not only as our family scrapbook, but this week, it is our vacation journal. Therefore, lots of random details of our trip. I don't want to be 50 and say "What was the name of that place we had dinner in the keys?" you know?

My day started early. Thanks to the kids, my internal clock is INSANELY early. I had coffee on the patio, overlooking the channel. I had a great talk with God, being at the ocean just seems to naturally bring me closer to Him as I stand in awe of his creation. A pelican came up to join me, interesting. Tommy slept in and needed to send some emails for work so I was off to the grocery store to stock up. Then we packed up for Sombrero Beach. We sat in the sun, talked, and people watched. We are reading Tony Dungy's new book, love it! I read a little, Tommy listens. A good arrangement for us. 2 hours in the sun, even with SPF 50 produced some red skin, so we drove to Deer Key and had lunch at Boondocks, wonderful Mahi Mahi and iced tea. Then onto Key West. LOVED Duval Street. Fat Tuesday was a great day to experience Key West. A drink and coconut shrimp appetizer at a tiki bar at the southern most point in the US was a great way to end our day.

Tommy, I LOVE getting away with you. I love the way we easily get back into the groove of just enjoying time together. I love falling in love with you all over again.

The Keys Day 1

We made it! I can't post pictures, but I want to remember each day, so I will try to post our adventures!

The flight was BEAUTIFUL! I love flying, love seeing the majesty of the earth from the sky. The clouds over Florida were amazing. I did hit my head very hard on the overhead console, pretty sure everyone on this tiny plane heard it and I couldn't stop laughing, bet that was annoying to some. Oh well, that's me!

The Miami airport is BUSY! But we got our car without a hitch and trusted our GPS to direct us and off we went!

The drive through the keys was so nice. We couldn't see the ocean because it was dark (we flew in just in time for sunset), but it was nice to have the windows down and smell the ocean air! So technically we have only seen Miami in the day time on this trip! Can't wait for sunrise tomorrow!

Quote of the day
Me: "Olivia will you miss us while we are gone?"
Olivia: "I don't think so, is that ok, I really don't want to hurt your feelings"

No Spending Thursday #2

Wow, I have been on a blog-break apparently! Not much to blog about when we are stuck inside so much. Needless to say, I am READY FOR SPRING!



Our second No Spending Thursday went great! Tommy is on board with me, so that is fun. Logan broke his little monkey bank from Target and I REALLY wanted to get him a new one (because he was so sad, and he doesn't have ANY toys to play with (smile)!) But I didn't! Tommy called to say he was stopping to grab a snack on the way home, but after I threatened his life, he reconsidered. (Who says small girls aren't mighty!!!) So so far so good! I am even excited to start No spending Tuesdays as well, after vacation. Happy Saving!!!!


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Just to remember:


Olivia: Your love for "journals" (little notebooks) has hit an all time high. You have so many and you love to get new ones (Thank goodness for the dollar section at Target). My favorite part is that you never write in any of them! Its fun to watch you put them in secret hiding places and tell Logan NOT TO TOUCH THEM!


Logan: When you dirty (and I don't mean potty) a pull-up, try to leave it on until we clean you up. It will seriously reduce my anxiety level upon finding the mess. And lower our cleaning product budget.


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You know you are a daddy when you come home for a quick lunch and have to play Princess Dress-up, all while conducting business via the phone. (I heard him tell a colleague "I am playing a quick round of the princess dress-up game with my daughter"). Too cute!

Love this picture of Tommy and the kiddos. Guess I no longer need to stay up at night wondering why Logan would think it is ok to sit ON TOP of the dresser. (Daddy, kindly tell your son to stop sitting on the dresser and then maybe you too should STOP SITTING ON THE DRESSER!)

No Spending Thursday #1

Our first "no spending Thursday" was a success! We had mom's group at church in the morning and I packed car snacks for the ride home. We ate a late lunch after naps (since they had car snacks). Normally we would have stopped for lunch on the way home. My original plan was to take the kids to the library but I remembered we had a small fine to pay, so we couldn't do that! I found a dollar yesterday (isn't that the best? although $20 would be better, :)) Normally I would have thought "Great! we could run to McDonald's, get a diet coke for me and cookies for the kids!" I had to remember what day it was! So we went out for a drive in the afternoon, just to get out, but we went a different way avoiding all treat stops! So I would say, my first no spending Thursday was a success! Even though I missed my diet coke, I felt oddly empowered! Next week I will involve (read: force) Tommy to participate, he was out of town yesterday and off the hook for week #1. Get ready honey! :)

Thanks for all of the supportive comments!

Eye opening trip to Target

This morning I packed up the kids and set out for a trip to Target. We needed to by 2 things, Lysol and strawberry syrup. These 2 items would cost approximately $5.50.

The receipt they gave me said $43.24! That can't be right! I just picked up a FEW extra things! The raspberries looked SOOO good! and they are so good for you so that is ok right? And Logan really loves cheddar cheese and the little cubed cheese in the bag are so convenient, I wouldn't want poor Logan to starve right? And I have been wanting to try meatless chicken nuggets for the kids and they caught my eye, so I got those too. Logan is taking probiotics for his tummy and the dr said to put the powder in something cool, so we needed more pudding. Of course there were other items as well but you get the idea. My point is, I planned to buy 2 things spending $5.50 but instead spent much more. While nothing I purchased was bad, or a waste, it wasn't part of my plan.

I have been struggling with planning our spending for awhile now. We have a Kroger and a CVS literally in our backyard, we could walk there, if we didn't have to cross a busy road. Can I blame my lack of planning on the extremely close proximity of stores just waiting to take our money?

Oddly enough, I came across an article when I got home. The article addresses poor planning and over spending (Yes, God, I hear you!). It suggests picking one day a week (to start) and declaring it your "No Spending Day". That means checking your gas tank the day before, writing out your meals to be sure you have everything for the next day. Packing lunches. Packing snacks in the car. Etc. It also means no eating out as well. This isn't too hard for us, but I do love a diet coke from McDonalds and the kids love their cookies.

So I am choosing Thursdays as our day. I will check the gas tank, plan our meals for the next day, etc. I will also re-route our trips out, not passing our favorite "treat" spots.

The article suggests adding more "No spending days" as you go. This may not seem like a big deal for some of you, but it is for me. I have gotten lazy in my planning... Anyone want to join me for "No spending Thursdays?" All are welcome!


(The funny thing is, I told Olivia that she couldn't buy anything because we were saving money. HA! Who am I kidding?)

(The real kicker is, I forgot to buy Lysol.)

Update: Play-all-day day

Last week's play-all-day day was a lot of fun. I enjoyed watching them play, interacting when they wanted me to but also just watching and really observing. They are so much fun and have so much joy it is contagious when I let the busyness of my mind go for a little while.

We started by jumping on Olivia's mattress in the living room. This is a great way for us to exert some energy!

Next was art time, chalk is a good snack right? Logan things so.

Ready for school (someday...)

Olivia's new hobby is painting smooth rocks! We do this during Logan's nap time (special time for just mom and sis!)

AND lots of playing with cars and trucks in Logan's room....

AND random pretend sleeping in the entry way. Whatever made this so funny, has now escaped me. :)

We had a great play-all-day day!

BUT now it is time to be real! I did the dishes, when I said I wouldn't (the kids were watching a show). I folded laundry when I said I would just let it go. (Bad mommy! right?) I was on the Internet by 2:00pm (which I think it pretty good since we started our day at 6:30). I must say though, I was shocked at the correlation between my time on the computer and the bickering between the kids. As soon as I was on the computer, in the middle of an email, they would start arguing! As soon as I was done and back with them, it was over! Hmmm.... (Mommy, the magic peacemaker....)

Just a note to remember Olivia's fashion stages...

Age 3: Layers of dresses (sometimes 4 at one time) including the Easter dress that wouldn't quit.

Age 3 1/2: A dress at ALL times, or skirt. With tights if it was cold.

Age 3 1/2 to 4: A leotard with a skirt and tights.

Age 4: Jeans and mismatched socks.

I want to remember these stages they are so precious to us!

Play all day - day

Yesterday I had a bad "mom" day. I was frustrated from the beginning (Logan cried in his bed during my quiet time, stressful way to start the day). I am ashamed to say I held on to that frustration instead of giving it over to God and accepting His peace and rest during my day. As a result, I was very frustrated with the kids, my patience was completely depleted by 6:15am. I let the busyness of the day distract me from being the loving and patient mom I want to be. SO today I am declaring it "Play-all-day day" I am turning the computer off, letting the dishes pile up in the sink, leaving the laundry until tomorrow, leaving the beds un-made, etc. and we are going to play the day away, until church tonight. I want to enjoy the kids and just let them be kids today, no running errands, no stopping to check my email, just quality time with the kids on this very cold day inside. I want the kids to remember days like today, the stress-free, mom was so much fun, days. Stay tuned, I want to document our day in a future post, so I remember how we spent our "play-all-day day".