2018...

I'm clearly on top of things in 2018 since the month is almost over and I'm just now posting about NYE. This is more about me having the  memory in one place and less about giving everyone up-to-date insight into our lives!

We decided to host a celebration at home this year since my brother and nephew were in town! The happiest my parents ever are is when all the grands are together in one place!

We got all gussied up in our "casual best" and were ready to ring in a much needed new beginning.
(Because can we all agree that 2017 was just.the.worst.)

This was my 19th new year with this guy...I've officially spent more of my life WITH him than without him and while not every minute has been perfect, every year keeps getting better. 

Every one killed the "bring your favorite appetizer or dessert" game... 

and the guys clearly texted each other and said, "Hey... wear your zip up Columbia vest!"

The agenda included lots of fun conversation, tons of yummy food and enough wine to keep us warm. We brought out the Cards Against Humanity goodness while the kids ran around doing who knows what and all made it outside in time to ring in the New Year in the legitimate FREEZING weather. 

Although I didn't take near enough pictures - the "photo booth" was a big hit... 

as was the sparkling grape juice!

May 2018 be filled with tons of fun with friends...

and celebrations where everyone looks at the camera on the FIRST TRY!

Let's do this 2018!!

Photo finish...

After a night of celebrating friends, watching Harry Potter and playing lots of make believe - we had a full morning that included an official race for these three big kids. I have never in my life run an official long-distance race. These three are 10 and have run 4 or 5 each!

They've all known each other since they were babies. Caro and Radley see each other all the time but Davis lives in Franklin so when they get to see him it's a big celebration. I love that they can all pick up right where they leave off. They were getting in "race mode" while the little kids took off. 

And Emersyn opted for being live entertainment over running a mile. 

Landry ran... away from me... so she earned a spot right next to me on the grass while the first heat finished up. 

Kelly finished strong and probably beat whatever time I would have had!

Then these big kids lined up.

True story: I forgot that Caroline wasn't 10 yet so as we were pulling up, I got worried that we were going to miss her "heat". I told her that it would be fine and she could just run with the 10 year olds. Turns out the nine year olds were part of the "big kids" heat.

Caro: Zia?

Me: Yes...

Caro: Do I have to run with the big kids?

Me: Well, probably since that's your age bracket.

Caro: Man... I was really looking forward to beating all those little kids!

Davis was the first one to come around the corner - I think he finished under 9 minutes. 

Then we saw Radley and out of nowhere, Caro was right next to him... they both took off as fast as they could determined not to lose to the other. I'm honestly glad that I was behind them because I couldn't tell who finished first. 

They were both so proud of how hard they sprinted at the end. I took that as an opportunity to quote Coach Munson... "well, that just means you didn't run hard enough the entire time..."

Josh should be proud. 

Also none of them were out of breath and I'm not even sure how that's possible. I'm tired just typing this post. 

House guests...

My kids love sleepovers. They love going to them. They love having them. They basically just enjoy the "out of ordinary" experience of it all... even if it's just going to Gigi and Pops - they LOVE it! So, they were especially excited when I told them that two of their favorite friends were spending the night...

ON A SCHOOL NIGHT!

Holy cow - cue all the squeals. 

Thursday afternoon finally rolled around and we got all loaded up. This is the moment I looked in my rear view mirror and thought, "When did I become the person IN CHARGE of other people!?!"

We made our way home, worked on homework, ate ALLLLLL the snacks, and then loaded back up for gymnastics. Liv's older sister is basically a gym pro, so I was worried she wouldn't be too impressed with L's class, but she loved it!

Well, and Emmy brought along PLENTY of supplies to keep them busy for 45 minutes. I even pulled out all the "cool mom" tricks and made a paper football for me and Jack. (And not that we're keeping score, but I won the series 3-2.)

Special occasion sleepovers call for special occasion snacks - even if it's a school night. The P's **may** stay up a tad bit later than my kids, so we compromised and let them all stay awake until 9pm. 

Jack: But Miss King... Emmy said when people spend the night they get to stay up until midnight...

Emmy: We doooooooooo

Me: That was once. On a Saturday. In the summer. 

;) 

The popcorn and m&ms made them happy enough!

And yes, we pulled out the matching Christmas jammies from the top of the closet so they could look like Liv!

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the morning went ... teeth brushed, kids dressed, bodies fed all by 7:15!

I shipped the big kids off with Ryan so I could drop Liv at our beloved WDS all by myself! I got a little sad walking in and then totally wanted to stop all the newbies and ask, "do you even go here?" but I realized that I'm the hasbeen in this phase of life! Ha! 

P's - you're welcome back anytime! And you can even bring the other two with you! I mean, what's 2 more when you already have 5!

One last day at the lake...

One the biggest perks of kids going to school (besides no more daycare cost) are the friends they make because we get new friends, too! A few weeks ago the parents of Emmy's bestie called (and by called, I mean sent me a text... ha!) and asked if we wanted to join them and a slew of their friends at the lake. They go every year and thought their kids would like to have our kids... y'all.

Can we just pause and think about how important it is to keep building your circle? Donna didn't have to invite us... they go every year with the same group and would have had just as an amazing time as ever even if we weren't there but she went out of her way to include us and I just wanted to cry at the kindness. Kindness matters plain and simple so thanks, Donna! They were heading to Lake Limestone the same day we picked Radley up from camp, so we headed that way around lunch and made our way to the prettiest property you can imagine. 

If you ever doubted that God orchestrates our lives... I have known Macy's dad for as long as I can remember. He is the first cousin of some of our closest family friends growing up so our paths have crossed over the years and when Emmy came home the first day of kindergarten declaring Macy as her best-friend I couldn't help but smile. We had the best time spending the day enjoying the simple slowness of summer days. 

Did I mention the scenery was pretty amazing, too? These deer were so not afraid of us... I kind of wanted to see if one would just come eat out of our hands.

The kids fished and swam and went on epic little adventures in the woods.   

After lunch Blake set up his famous slip n slide and it looked so fun that I almost worked up the courage to give it a go...

but then I remembered I was closer to 50 than 20 and rethought that decision because bruises aren't that pretty.

The kids obviously thought it was the best day ever!

And I may just have to agree...

Sunshine and smiles are a great way to wind down another awesome summer...

they didn't want the day to end and begged us to let them keep fishing until they caught at least one.

Tatum was the only one with any luck but they got lots of practice casting!

Thanks for including us, Witt family! 

You can't win them all...

Life is full of lessons. Some big, some small...and whether we like it or not... they never stop. I am astonished at how little I actually "know". (And y'all... I know a lot of things.) (Just ask my husband.)

Radley has been practicing for weeks for the annual UIL competition. He decided to try "music memory" this year which requires the participants to memorize clips of famous music, title and composer by sound. He worked so hard and even got Landry involved. He took practice tests, he kept getting better and better and finally the day before the competition he made a perfect score. 

He.was.PUMPED!

His coach was pumped!

We were all so excited and proud of him.

The day of the competition came and I could tell he was nervous. He wasn't hungry and he was very quiet - clearly something was wrong. I gave him my best, "we are proud of you no matter what" speech. I told him the only thing we wanted him to do was try his best and be proud of himself because that's the truth. 

And so he did. 

His goal was to be in the top six so he could get a prized ribbon. He felt really good about how he performed. So we made our way up to the awards ceremony that night with our biggest fans who were also competitors (but in different events). 

His event was called to the stage. And he waited. 

And waited.

And waited for his name to be called. 

And it wasn't. So he clapped and cheered for the others. 

He put a smile on his face and came back to his seat where I hugged him close and much to his dismay, his sisters layered him with kisses. He was disappointed and that was the lesson.

Disappointment. We all know the feeling. We all have been the receiver and sometimes the giver of that emptiness that fills the pit of your stomach. I know this was a 3rd grade UIL competition that amounts to about as much as the pile of nail polish I scraped off my fingers this morning, but for this moment, that ribbon was everything. Accomplishment. Worthiness. Achievement. All of those are very real things and he wanted to feel them. Instead, he felt disappointment and there wasn't anything I could do for him. My lesson. 

Let them feel. Let them hurt. Let them be what they need to be. Let them learn it now because later when it does matter, they will be prepared. Because as sad as I am for him, and as much as I wanted to fix "it"... I couldn't. I shouldn't. I won't. 

These lessons on those not-so-big stages are gifts. They shape our kids. (And they continue to shape us.) They are the beginning of what comes next. They help them become who they are meant to be. From disappointment comes perseverance and tenacity. Within one minute of him sitting down and soaking in that defeat, he turned to me and said, "You know what, Mom? I bet I can place in number sense next year."

I bet you can, too, kid. I'll bet on you every single time in 100 different ways. Your spirit and determination. Your giving heart. Your kindness and generosity. I will bet on you. 

And we'll all be right here next to you - every single one of you. Placing our bets and cheering you on. Because if life has taught me one thing - it is to know your people and love them well. 

And you'll never be disappointed by that. 

/// 2016

Once a year a group of lifelong friends and their darling families get together to have fun, laugh until we cry, exchange stories, and catch up...and I am so darn lucky to be part of this precious crew. We all arrived on Friday in plenty of time to swim, hang out, eat a delicious fajita-filled dinner followed by a mean round of Cards Against Humanity speckled with a few "girls, it is time to go to SLEEP" thrown in. So the perfect first night. 

On Saturday we headed to Jaime's dad's house on Lake Conroe early enough to hang out at one of their beaches before lunch. 

Sweet Saylor wasn't much of a fan of the sand, she was; however, a BIG fan of her daddy. 

And I'm big fan of this daddy in particular. I love that he picked such amazing friends to surround himself with at a young age. We are both fortunate to have grown up with people that celebrate with us through the good, cry with us through the bad, and love us for the in-betweens. I hope my kids see how important it is to fill your life with those that lift you up. 

We starte referring to them all as "frousins" which got a few laughs and lots of crazy looks at first. 

Every single one of the kids had a face full of smiles...

they were in their total happy place... 

having the time of their life... 

especially the BIG kids. 

What I especially love about this crew is that they happened to pick some pretty great wives for me to hang out with, too. I mean, Chris and Jaime are great, but I love laughing and gabbing Stephanie and Kacey more than trading stories with those boys.

We happened to make some pretty cute, kids, too... 

Karys was on Saylor duty and did such a great job of keeping her happy all weekend. She was so sweet any kept giving her little gifts like lip gloss. Day made.

After a delicious lunch, we headed back out and went tubing. We could hear their giggles across the lake!

Landry wasn't so sure at first, but by the end was laughing, too!

Jaime tried his best to flip Kacey and Stephanie over and almost succeeded!

And these boys got brave and decided to be all, "Look, Ma, no hands!" on their second turn. 

Sunday morning was slow and easy with a big breakfast and more time in the pool until lunch. Then we went for a quick walk to feed the turtles that Kyhler loves so much.

They were so thrilled to take a picture... 

On the walk back to the house, we ran into the guy.

He was also not impressed with us. 

Check out that tail... I mean... crazy. 

Like all good things do, the weekend had to come to an end.

We had so much fun and are so grateful for the Bryant's opening up their gorgeous home and playing hosts to this crazy crew. 

Looking forward to the next time we're together and the 25+ more years after that!