Last Day of School

Molly Anne’s last day of school was today! She learned so much this year and really excelled! We are so proud of her! On to first grade!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Get your flags out and remember the real reason we have the holiday on Monday! 

The kids and I had a little talk about it as we put the flags out together. Simple teachable moment!

Father's Day Gifts

This is what I got Kevin last year for Father's Day and he always jokes that it was actually more of a gift for me because I use it every weekend for the pool! I like this size because its good for 6 cans, two lunch containers for the kids and the yeti ice pack. And it's not big enough that I can't carry it. 

These rocker chairs are awesome, especially with the mesh back so you stay semi cool when it's a million degrees outside. 

Grill brush cleaner - this bad boy has over 11,000 reviews and comes highly recommended....and is under $25. Don't read this Kevin!!

Fishing tackle box - I know someone who needs this after his Cabelas adventure this past weekend!

Car wash shammy - Kevin loves to wash his car and you can never have enough shammys!

Target Run

I had to make a late night (aka 7:30pm) Target run last night to grab another year end gift card for an after school teacher that recently came back from an extended leave. We are so glad to have her back. 

But you know I’m not just going to get one thing at Target. Sorry Kevin. I never actually go in there (let alone by myself) so this was a treat. There were some other things like Bubbly and a shower curtain rod for the beach I needed. But here are the “fun” things I grabbed that will be getting used soon!

I like to keep blank notecards for teachers/class gifts. Molly Anne’s birthday is coming up so I’ve been working on planning that party this week. Had to grab candles for her cake of course! And I go through wrapping supplies like they’re nothing. Always like to have some on hand. 

My favorite face cleanser. And a new honeysuckle scent soap that I know Molly Anne is going to love for the powder room. 

And how awesome is this planter I got (it’s the 10” one)? I’ve been looking for one and finally found it! It’s such good quality and works well on our porch. I’m actually going to swap this tall hibiscus with a shorter one I have....someday. Probably will be next week. But that’s why I’m not planting it yet. 

It’s concrete but not very heavy. It’s sturdy though if that makes sense. 


Happy Target shopping!

This Week

Honestly I'm a bit on overload this week. Swim team is every afternoon. It's Molly Anne's last week of school. Her jazz recital is in two weeks so they have different practice times this week than usual. I'm doing room mom stuff for the end of the school year, it's just busy. 

I went to a parent information meeting for the dance competition team on Saturday morning to get more information about the time commitment and everything. Honestly I'm sort of struggling with the decision on if Molly Anne should do it or not. And I don't know if your child is like mine but how do I find out if she really wants to do it? It all sounds good now but it's two week nights all of next school year for an hour and 45 minutes each time. She's been doing that this year but only for about 45 minutes each time. I like the commitment of her being part of something super fun, the team atmosphere, her growth that would happen, all of those things....I just don't know how much she will love it. But it's our job to give her the opportunities then let them pick and choose their favorites. 

And let's not even talk about what she's doing this summer. I barely have my act together for that. I sort of have a nanny for her and I have signed her up for 5 camps but they're all only mornings. I don't know...I guess it'll figure itself out.

I'm just soooo busy right now with work stuff and pretty overwhelmed with what's going on there. It's again like this whole other part of my life that I have in my brain that takes up a lot of time, energy and sleep time. I am up in the middle of the night worried about work. I've been working at nights after the kids go to bed. That's been that way for a good amount of time now. It's not every night or anything but I get my work done.

And I need to figure out something fun for Grady to do next school year. He deserves to get to do something too...other than swim. Swim is like a life skill to me and is a requirement. I think maybe he will do soccer one more season and we will go from there. He obviously doesn't know what he likes and doesn't like! Molly Anne only did soccer at his age so maybe we will continue the tradition!

At some point between now and Thursday I need to get some work done to my car. 

I have some beach house stuff I need to figure out this week. 

Oh and Mills got groomed last week and they neglected to trim one of his paws but I haven't had a chance to take him back over there yet. I may just trim it in the interest of time.

Never a dull moment in case you thought it was all roses over here!

Weekend at Home

We didn’t do a ton this weekend but it felt busy. Friday night we played out back while grilling and after bedtimes I went over to my friend Stacey’s house to hang by their pool with some friends. 

We spent ALL day (6.5 hours) at the pool on Saturday. Kevin and Molly Anne stayed while I took Grady home for his nap then he and I went back for another couple of hours. We ended up ordering Mexican from DoorDash for dinner. 

A golf cart ride around the hood after the kids were in bed turned into hanging on Margot’s back porch!

Sunday morning visit to Cabelas. Highlight of my kids life. Not kidding. They LOVED it. Kevin went to get a bunch of fishing stuff for the beach. And Molly Anne got a My Little Pony fishing rod. It's so funny - she used to love My Little Pony a couple of years ago then got out of it and now she likes it again. 

Weekly fruits and veggies from Wal-Mart. Strawberries were terrible but everything else was good. 



More pool time. Grady napped for 3.5 hours then Kevin took him to Sams to get some stuff. 


We grilled a pork tenderloin and had that, asparagus and fruit for dinner. Yum. 

Have a great week!

Five on Friday - Dance Awards and Swim

ONE:

At Charlotte Aquatics this week they taught the children what it feels like to go into water with your clothes on and how to flip to your back and float for safety. They’re so good there. I’ve tried alllll of the swim places and they’re just outstanding times a million. Also, I know Grady won’t be swimming laps anytime soon, he’s just not strong enough at this age. I’m a firm believer that right now it’s truly to only learn water safety and that’s all I care about. 

TWO:

Speaking of swimming laps - this one started swim team in the hood this week. She has been so excited and Coach Ashlyn is so awesome. Molly Anne is going to get even better this year! She has learned all four strokes at Charlotte Aquatics but now it’s time to fine tune them and get fast!

This is what swim team practice for Grady looked like every day this week!! 

THREE:

On Tuesday Molly Anne received a ballet pin for her year at jazz with Ms. Anna! She LOVED getting her award and it was so adorable!

FOUR:

And yesterday she got another award for her year of tumbling! It was a big week in Molly Anne’s world! We are so proud of her for following through and sticking with both this entire school year!



FIVE:

And this boy got to head straight to Target last night after he accomplished a little something something. I don’t like to talk too many potty things on here but he was a good boy and we are proud of him too!


I’m a firm believer in positive reinforcement!! For my kids, especially Molly Anne, they thrive off of it! 

Y’all have a great weekend! I expect we will be at the pool the entire time! 

Blues

This post never posted today!! Here's what I am loving this week!

Oh la la, this new color of the Ultimate capris is so pretty. The Ultimates are my favorite for real workouts and also hanging around. They are sweat wicking and comfortable. 

Oh my goodness J. Crew may be going back to having their old trusty classics! Love this new top and they have it in white and lilac too. 

Flattering and you can even play with your kids at the pool or beach in this swimsuit!



Love these earrings!



A dress for all occasions - work, bridal/baby shower, going out, anything. 

Being Nice

Molly Anne and I have lots of conversations in the car on our way to dance, school etc. Our latest was about always being nice even when someone is mean to you. It was because a friend pushed her to get in line in front of her after PE class and Molly Anne said something not nice back. And she told me all of this the second I picked her up from school that day. She felt badly about it...and she tells me everything. 

Anyway it got me thinking - when someone says or does something mean to you, it’s hard to respond nicely! And I’m sitting here trying to explain it to a five year old but in reality it’s something we work on learning our whole life. Right?!! Even at 38 I’m working on it. I explained to her why it’s always better to be nice. In every situation. And to always be friends with everyone. And to be the one that goes to play with the person on the playground that doesn’t have a friend to play with. Allll of that. But it’s a lot to comprehend and it’s a lot to do right in the moment of a situation like that. We talked about it and she knows right from wrong and we probably won’t talk about that exact situation ever again but I’m sure she’s thought about it again since. 

Another little thing that came up. The four of us were at breakfast the other day and I quietly showed her a pair of shoes that the lady behind her was wearing. I told her how I liked them. Well Molly Anne looks at me and says, “I’m going to tell her that I love them because they’re sooo pretty!” So I said okay. She starts talking to this sweet elderly lady who was sitting by herself and I just let them talk and didn’t walk over. It was the sweetest conversation and she was incredibly kind to Molly Anne. We got in the car and Molly Anne told us that she thought that may have filled the lady’s bucket. I asked her what she was talking about and she told me how a teacher comes into their room every Tuesday and last week she talked about filling others buckets by talking to them and being nice. It was so simple for Molly Anne to talk to her and for Trudy to talk to Molly Anne but it filled my bucket the most I think! I am thankful for Trudy for giving us such a lesson that day and I’m thankful for Molly Anne and her non-shy self that she just went over and started talking to Trudy! All of it made my day!

So let’s be nice! 

Flowers, Busy Saturday

Aren’t these flowers that my parents sent me for Mother’s Day gorgeous?! They’re from @prettythings.charlotte 

Mills loves his backyard!

Friday afternoon we played in the driveway with the kids then grilled out for dinner. 


Queen went inside to get her hat then came out with my pool shades on too haha. 





Think it’s time for this cute Little English dress to go see her friend Ella! 


Saturday was a crazy day. First up, Molly Anne tried out for the competition team at dance. She loved jazz and tumbling so much this year so she decided to try out. We don’t find out until mid June after her recital for this last year but it’s a good life lesson either way. I told her to do her best and that’s all she could do!


I took her home and traded with Kevin so I could take Grady to a birthday party for one of his friends from school. Hilary took Molly Anne to tennis while we were at the party. 


Then I picked up one of Molly Anne’s friends and brought her home to play for the afternoon. We did all kinds of things but while we were on a golf cart ride we discovered the pool opened for the season. So of course we went home to change into bathing suits then went back!! 


Crazy nuts in the pool when the water temp couldn’t be above 70! Swim team starts today so she’s going to be already ready to go!





Saturday night Julia came to hang with the kids and we went to dinner with Benjy and Jess at Noble Smoke. It was sooooo good. I don’t normally go nuts over meals but this was legit. The vibe was awesome with the live band, pretty weather and lots of people hanging out. 









Wearing that dress I posted about last week. I now want to wear it daily! 



Easy like Sunday morning!


We went to Le Peep for breakfast then grabbed our groceries. Prepped all of that for the week, we took naps then went to the pool again. Good times. Ended the weekend by grilling out crab chicken and had that with corn and green beans. Yum.