Debi's Chickens

These are the only pictures I got on Hilton Head before my camera died. Debi and her Chickens! Mikie made the chickens a nice house in the middle of the yard, but of course they don't really stay in there. The chickens walk all around the house and look in through the sliding glass door when they're hungry. They are actually super cute, and the kids adored them. It was the big morning event to feed the chickens and give them all hugs in the morning (while getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes). The chickens were surprisingly good letting Brooke and Nellie hold them all the time (Hudson and Larkin stood a nice distance away). Nellie adored the chickens and would chase them all around the house, even following them into the bushes. It was hilarious. Brooke was in heaven at lynes land... she constantly had some sort of animal in her arms... dogs, ferrets, chickens, a bunny... whatever... she didn't care. Apparently, after we left, Debi and Mikie got their first eggs... a little pink one and a little green one... of course their chickens would lay colored eggs!! Would you expect any different!

We had a fantastic trip though... The kids got to play with their cousins Ronan and Isla, uncle brandon and auntie cat, and even got to see aunt mollie and uncle brian (yeah, no pictures... I'm awful). Larkin finally learned to swim in the deep end of the pool, I got stung by a jellyfish in the first 5 minutes of my first dip in the ocean (also my last dip in the ocean), the kids got to go on the boat and play with a friendly dolphin... all in all, one of our best trips to hilton head. I feel like our trips are finally getting a lot easier in terms of managing the kids. They are sleeping better, and just tend to be a little more flexible and fun out of their normal routine. Nellie is still a wild card, but in the next year or two I can imagine things getting easier.

Back to School (and Blogging) Week!

I know I know... you all are wondering where I've been and what we've been up to for the last month. I honestly don't know where the time has gone! Every day I thought about how I needed to post some pictures or write something, but every day just seemed to get away from me. With so much on my phone now, I find that I'm sitting down at the computer less and less... and it's a pain to type a post on my phone, so that's my excuse for not being on here for awhile. July and August just flew by with the end of swim team, days at the pool, and a little vacation to hilton head to see family (more pictures of that later). Now it's back to school time... always one of my favorite times for pictures.

Hudson started second grade with Ms. McCreight and is just a pro at it now. He's all excited because he has lockers in his classroom, and it's the first year that he gets to have is own school supplied actually in his desk... he had a lot of fun picking out his pencil box (that must be genetic, because I have very fond memories of new pencils and supplies). Larkin was excited to start kindergarten this year with Ms. Abell (the same teacher that Hud had which is nice for us all). She seems to be adjusting well from her Montessori preschool, but is super tired when she gets off the bus in the afternoon. Brooke is nervous to start preschool on thursday without Larkin there, but she seems to be adjusting to her role as only big sister to Nellie while Larkin is at school with a whole new attitude (the verdict is still out if I'm liking this new bossier brooke), but Nellie is loving the attention.

Nellie is still a walking tornado, but she is getting more and more words every day which has cut down on her screaming a lot... it's funny though because I know if she says, "mommy... napkin" she's made a small mess and her hands are a little gross, but if she says "uh-oh, mommy... towel" that there is a giant mess waiting for me in the other room.... She's a smart one! So that's the update for now... it feels good to be back on here.