Summer Break: Week 1

I can't believe we have already finished our first of five weeks together for our 2020 summer break!  I actually worked all day Monday so it technically hasn't been a full week yet but since I go back on a Tuesday, it will officially be five full weeks of summer break!  This week was pretty laid back... here is how we spent our week!  We celebrated daddy all weekend last weekend for Father's Day.  We went to a nearby green way to explore for a bit..... it is called Muddy Creek Trail so we had to snap a picture near the muddy creek!  The boys are excited about starting back into baseball so they brought their gloves and balls to play catch with mommy and daddy along the way!  We only lost one ball to the creek on this adventure! haha  We were able to grab dinner at Mellow Mushroom in downtown Winston, one of the first restaurants we have been in since the beginning of March.  On Sunday, daddy wanted a day of relaxing and that is exactly what we did! We fit in a family bike ride, a couple rounds of four square at the elementary school down the road and a couple innings of kickball and then spent most of the day lounging around the house or in the backyard with the splash pad!  Daddy still fit in mowing the grass on Sunday.... I guess a parent's job is never done and you really don't get a day "off" from that job!! 

I went to work on Monday and then on Tuesday, I decided to knock out some household projects that I try to get done every summer.... including cleaning/scrubbing the front porch!  The boys and I did go swimming at our neighbor's pool in the afternoon but it was definitely more of a productive first day of summer rather than relaxing!  At some point on Tuesday, Burke fell down our back stairs chasing after a squirrel.  He has been limping since then.  I took him to the vet on Wednesday to confirm nothing is broken and we are trying to keep our very active pup a little less active... which is a challenge!  He is starting to put some weight on it as of today but he still doesn't place his full weight on that leg.  We are praying for rest and healing in the upcoming days!

This week I celebrated #37!  The actual day was quite crazy and didn't live up to my "birthday expectations"..... but after a few mishaps, we were able to enjoy a walk/bike ride in downtown Winston seeing Aunt Lindsey's college campus and then to get yummy doughnuts with some of my favorite people!  Aunt Lindsey and Grammy were there even if they weren't photographed due to the crazy day!  I spent my birthday evening on the ball field and then grabbed ice cream afterwards!  

We are spending most of our time on the ball fields these days!  With both boys playing on different leagues, the schedules make for a busy week!  This week we will be at the ball field 6 out of 7 days with practices of approximately 2 hours each day.  Next week starts games for an abbreviated summer season due to Covid-19 and all the precautions/mandates from the state.  I love seeing my boys interact with other kids and listening to coaches give them feedback as they are playing and learning a new sport!  Both boys are loving every minute of it.... making it easier for mommy to be at the ball field almost every day!

We also met the cousins at Quarry Park for a picnic lunch on Thursday and went to the lake with the Williams family today! You probably won't see many lake or pool pictures on my blog this summer.  With two adventuresome swimmers, mommy is in the water and very vigilant over my two boys while they are expanding their swimming abilities!  It makes for a fun summer for sure!! I'm curious..... what summer will I actually sit on the side of the pool and watch this all happen?! ;)  

Hanging at the Houston Home: Week 13

This will be my last "Hanging at the Houston Home" post since starting next Tuesday, the 23rd, I will officially be on summer break for approximately five weeks!! Bring on the weekly "summer break" posts because here we come!  This has been the craziest year as we have juggled work and school from home since the middle of March.  We are hopeful to enjoy some leisurely days at home and some family adventures in the next month!  I always look forward to my summer break posts and looking back each year to see all we have been able to do as the kids are getting older and more independent.  I can't wait to see what the summer of 2020 has to offer as I know it will look different than in years past but still have all my favorite people in it!  Before we officially start into summer, here is how we spent our last week of mommy working from home for the 2019-2020 school year.

On Saturday, we checked out Quarry Park and had the best weather, the best view and the best day together!  After a little walking and exploring, we stopped downtown for a sweet treat at Lill Dipper!  The Houston boys and myself will never turn down an opportunity to have dessert, no matter the time or place!  We fit in a little swim in our neighbor's pool that afternoon.  Since the weather was so nice for our walk earlier, it made for a chilly swim, meaning we didn't last more than an hour!  I am very excited that both boys are little fish again in the water!

Maddox has been wearing around this Cat Boy costume a few days this week!  He loves it and I just love him!

Maddox had his first baseball practice after all the precautions started back in March regarding Covid-19.  Daddy and brother were able to help with the practice.  Zander was supposed to have practice on Tuesday, the next night, but it rained the rest of the week.  Even Maddox's practice on Monday was wet and muddy... officially confirming I'm a boy mom!

Daddy got two new chairs for our back deck.... the boys tested them out in the living room!

On Wednesday, we made the trek to Florida to see where Grandpa went to college and visit my grandparents.  Since it is approximately an 8-hour drive (which we turned into 12 hours in the van due to bathroom stops and accounting for time to eat), we aren't often able to travel to see our grandparents.  They typically come our way once a year.  With all the stay-at-home orders this year, this seemed to be the only opportunity for Great Grandma Harriet and Great Grandpa Bill to meet the newest addition to the Kennedy Clan along with spend a little time with all the great grandkids!  We stopped at University of Florida before arriving at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Grandpa Buzz had so much fun showing the kids the Krispy Kreme where he went at all hours, the football field which the kids have seen on television and his dorm where he stayed.  We tried to snap a couple pictures to document this first visit to a school I've cheered for my entire life! Once a Gator, always a Gator.... I hope the boys will love this team as much as I have all these years!  

We got to Grandpa and Grandma's pretty late on Wednesday night and put the kids to bed fairly quickly so they would be pleasant the next day.  On Thursday, we entertained them at the house with bubbles, puzzles, card games, coloring books, etc.  The kids had a great time and we all took an afternoon nap after our travels the day before!

On Friday, we headed back to North Carolina.  All of the kids did a great job managing being in the van that Grandpa rented for that many hours..... I really couldn't say which kid was the best behaved because I think all four exceeded our expectations!  A shoutout to Eli though.... he was the only child that couldn't be entertained by movies on the drive there and back and had to be rear-facing the whole time.  He was still super smiley when we got home!  This was his first trip out of the state he was born in.... making this a very important milestone for this adorable seven month old!

Hanging at the Houston Home: Week 12

We are counting down until the official start of summer...... I can tell we are getting closer each day as more things are checked off the to-do list at work and I'm enjoying more time with my boys, taking less time away from them in the evening and weekends as the workload is starting to slow down.  Last weekend, we went back home to visit family for the day.  I had to document that I actually got ready with "real"clothes and makeup!  We got to see Granny V, Paw Paw and Uncle Grant on our way into town.  We had a delicious lunch and the boys enjoyed going for a ride around the driveway with Uncle Grant, playing pool and ping pong!  

We were able to take a picture in front of the mountain where we got engaged 13 years ago!  I absolutely love the mountains.... it will always be my happy place!

We got to see Grannie and GranDan for the afternoon and dinner! Maddox loved playing with Ruby and the boys had fun watering Grannie's flowers and playing corn hole in the car port!

On Tuesday, I had the boys, which meant that I worked from home....somehow fitting in a full day's work either while they were awake or after they went to bed!  After having Grammy the last week and a half while I worked at school, it was a great opportunity to spend time with my boys and enjoy a leisurely start to the day rather than rushing out the door!  I took them bike riding at Triad Park.  We found a fawn while we were walking/riding.  It couldn't have been more than a few days old and it was hiding in the grass.  The boys were so concerned about it and even watched as it walked to another location before finally making its way back to the woods where we hope it met up with his/her mama.  They were mowing that day at the park so I'm glad the baby deer was not out in the open during the mowing or when it got hot later that day!  By the way, we almost came home with a baby deer if it hadn't moved from its first location because I was worried sick about it!  Tuesday afternoon we got to swim in our neighbor's pool!! The boys are doing a great job remembering how to swim from last summer! I was worried they might take a step backward since last year but I think they are jumping right in (literally and figuratively)!  No pictures were taken due to the fact that mommy (and Grammy) were in the water having boys swim and jump to them the whole time!  I did sit on a pool raft for approximately 5-10 minutes which was heavenly! ;) 

A lot of people have been completing home improvement projects while they have been home during this quarantine experience.  Since Zack is still working many hours (typically over his normal hours) and I'm trying to balance working from home, homeschooling and parenting all wrapped into one, we haven't found the time to complete any projects!  Our faucet in the kids' bathroom wouldn't stop running water on Tuesday so Zack came home from work that evening to fix it himself! I am so thankful for my handy man!  I mentioned it might be time to replace the only other faucet in our house that is still the original from when it was built in 1997 which means we might be doing little projects around the house after all!  Here is a before/after picture of the faucet he replaced on Tuesday!

Another thing that has been neglected this year due to lack of time is our garden.  Typically we enjoy tomatoes, squash, zucchini, corn, peppers, etc. but haven't had the time to get our garden ready this year.  Thanks to Grammy's help on Wednesday, the boys and Grammy worked like crazy to clear out the vegetable boxes so they are ready for planting new seeds sometime in the future, this year or next! haha

Hanging at the Houston Home: Week 11

School is officially over for the year for the boys but mommy still has to work for another three weeks so Grammy has volunteered to continue working with the boys to provide a little structure before the summer fun can officially begin!  My mom has always been my favorite teacher and my best teacher.  I feel so lucky that my boys are blessed to have her working with them while I'm going into school for the next few weeks to get the school year officially closed out and hopefully anticipate a face-to-face return in August with students and staff!  There is much to do and most of it requires being in the school building.  Children are not allowed to accompany us at school at this time so Grammy has been so incredible to come over to our house every day this week!  I would not have been able to do this without her! With hiring our AP as our new principal, we are still down a person to get all of the work done as we finish the 2019-2020 school year, a mammoth task with approximately 750 students and 100 staff members!  I'm incredibly exhausted as I type this on a Friday evening but very thankful for all that got checked off the to-do list this week!  Here are some of the fun things that happened when mommy wasn't working....

The boys got recognized for random acts of kindness during our school's morning announcements!

We took the boys to a local trail and gave them the opportunity to get wet and cool off at a nearby creek!  We saw a lot of wildlife (including a snake digest a salamander (that is what the boys are watching in the top left picture), a blue heron, many fish and turtles!  The boys also enjoyed throwing, skipping and collecting rocks!

I just love being an aunt to my two nephews and niece!! With Emerson being the only girl in the whole bunch, she is sometimes outnumbered but also spoiled with all things girly! I had to buy her an Elsa dress after she has been singing "Let it Go" on repeat!  This little girl twirling around my living room in that dress will be forever stored in my memory!

She also loves when Aunt M reads to her.... so she brought some of her favorite books over when she came to visit!

We got to watch the SpaceX launch and Crew Dragon Demo-2 dock at the International Space Station.  This marks the first rocket to launch from US soil since 2011, making it the first one since the boys were born.  Since a private commercial company using US astronauts started this mission, it is opening up many future opportunities in space travel!  I had two excited boys (and one excited mommy) as we had been anticipating this launch for days!  I told the boys I used to watch these rockets from my yard in Florida as they would take off into space.... it was a cool experience to share with them!

Just another Grammy appreciation post..... she helped Linds and I one day this week when I had to be at work and Linds had an appointment at the DMV!  She had all four kids!  What can she not do?!

Here is some of the school work she has been doing with the boys... designing a kite, creating butterflies and caterpillars, creating new games to play in the backyard and practicing reading and math skills!

I think we missed spring.... we are headed into the heat of summer..... we had the kids use the splash pad one afternoon in the backyard to cool off and enjoyed a pizza dinner on the back porch!  It was a relaxing and refreshing evening with the family!