Our February PCB's of the PAST :)

Well, we're in Panama City Beach, and since the weather is oh-so-grody tonight, I'd figure I would share some of our PCB experiences of the PAST before I blog about this trip. This is the 3rd consecutive year that our little family has ventured here in February......February is about the only time of year that we can handle Panama City. However, Josh and I used to want to LIVE here, and would come every Spring Break, and every summer when we were teenagers and young adults. Here's a little PCB picture of us circa Spring Break 1999 (ages 17 and 18):

BUT, I would rather beat my face against an ice wall instead of come here NOW during Spring Break and deal with obnoxious teenagers and hungover college kids.....I know, I'm old and lame!! :) :) :) Nevertheless, February is the perfect time to come....the beach is filled with nothing but sweet, old people!! :)

Our February trips began in 2011....Nora was 4 and Ella was 1!! The weather was absolutely perfect this year, so we got to spend a lot of time on the beach...

 The seagulls were nutty this year, and each time we would sneak away to get some grub at Sharky's, they would invade our space.....the ate ALLLLL of our smarties and pretzels!!

Finally, we just gave in and started feeding the greedy goobers. They would take the food right out of our hands. :)

 We also experienced Gulf World which the girls LOVED!! It's like a mini-SeaWorld with live animal shows.

 One cloudy day, we headed over to the large pier.....we were the ONLY ones there!!!

 We also went to my favorite putt-putt place that was built in 1959....they play great music (as you can tell in this next picture...they were blaring some Al Green, and Josh felt the groove....)

 We also went to the Ripley's "Believe it Or Not" Museum....very neato!!

 And as always, our nights consisted of some "night-dipping" and lots of snuggling. :)

 So, the weather of 2011 SPOILED us, so it kinda bummed us out when the weather of 2012 didn't compare. Still, Lea came with us last year, so it was still a swell time (even though we literally had ONE HOUR of sun). :) And no, that's not a beached whale.....I was pregnant with Clairy-Berry. :)

 

Despite the bad weather, we had a Nintendo in our room to keep us (aka JOSH) entertained. :)

 

 So far on this trip, the weather hasn't been as good as 2011, but not as bad as 2012. We've had a great time so far......full blog to come!!

Thanks for letting me recap....I like to "back it up" when I can so that when the girls get older, they can read about things that occurred before I started blogging.

Never miss a memory!! :)

Valentine's 2013

Our Valentine's week was very sweet, and eventful, to say the least!! Valentine's fell on a
Thursday this year, and since gymnastics and dance classes take place on Thursday evenings, we generally don't get home until 8:30 pm on those nights. So, Josh and I decided to celebrate a bit early. Last Saturday morning, we headed down to Marriott Marquis in Atlanta to spend the weekend.

The Marriott is a very swell place with 50-something floors....

Unfortunately for Josh (who is not at all fond of heights), ALLL of the elevators are made of complete glass so that you can experience all of these floors while you go up and down. I thought he was gonna barf every time we entered an elevator. :)

When we got to our room, though, the view was amazing...

 We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (we sat near the Willie Nelson and Guns-N-Roses stuff which Josh enjoyed), and we had a couple's massage that was HEAVEN (Josh kept snorting through it like Augustus Gloop). We also had some hot-tub time.....here's my "Oh.My.Gah...It's a Billion-Degrees" Face:

We even got to catch some rays a bit by the cabana, which was pretty neato for February!!

 We also watched "Bill Nye the Science Guy" on the big-screen and had some "refreshments" at the bar for a while.....he was talking about the large meteor passing by the earth. We love Bill Nye...."Bill Nye" is actually one of the names I call Josh on a regular basis when he THINKS he knows more than I do. :)

 We ended the night by walking around ATL and having dinner at Jalapeno Charlies.....I do believe their "seafood queso" was made by an actual angel....

While the weekend was AMAZING, the rest of the week was......just......wow. Monday, I had to go get stitches removed from my gums from a procedure I had the week before.....YOWZA!!! Tuesday, both Ella and Claira got sick, so Wednesday, I stayed home with them and took them to the doctor. Claira had an upper-respiratory virus and laryngitis, so her little voice was just so pitiful. While we had a couple of rough nights with close to a 104-fever, she was so sweet during the day on Wednesday, despite her sickness. I honestly enjoyed staying home and taking care of my babes.....something that I miss desperately. Here's Clairy-Berry on Wednesday, trying so diligently to crawl....

As for Ella, she had a sinus infection that was making her whole face hurt, and since she had so much drainage (I know, TMI), it was also upsetting her tummy....

On Thursday, I returned to work for Valentine's Day, and the students were OFF.THE.CHAIN!!! It was worse than Halloween and Christmas put together. Cupid had definitely gotten to them. Still, they spoiled me with chocolate (they know me so well), so I couldn't be upset for too long. Being a mommy and teacher, I really appreciate all my goodies from my students. We had to buy Valentine's gifts for ELEVEN teachers this year (Nora's 4 kindergarten teachers + Nora's piano teacher + Nora's 2 gymnastics teachers + Ella's 2 gymnastics teachers + Nora's 2 dance teachers). Here's the girls about to give their gymnastics teachers their chocolate roses:

As all Thursdays go, we didn't get home until late, but we had some little surprises waiting for us on Valentine's Day. Since the girls are OBSESSED with stuffed animals, Daddy had surprised each of his girls with a stuffed animal (even me). Claira got the big dog since she still spends a lot of time on the floor. I also got a pot of azaleas which is the longest-standing inside joke between Josh and me.

On Friday, we thought we were all in the clear of sickness, but NOPE!! Nora woke up with a fever and PINK EYE!!

Sooooo, Grandmama had to keep all 3 on Friday and try to nurse them all back to complete health. Grandmama is a special Valentine.....where in the world would I be without her?? She got something a little extra-sweet:

After a week of chocolate, sickness, and life in general, we were BEAT by Friday night. Can you tell?

Now that it's Saturday morning, and we have a WEEK OFF, everybody is starting to feel better!! I will leave you with the very sweet, romantic, and touching Valentine's card that I made for Josh....

He has been my Valentine for 16 years!!

That's more than half of my life....woah.

Excited to see what the next 16 have in store!!

xoxo

Bieber Fever!!!

As you may remember, Grandmommie and Paw-Paw bought their "big" grandgirls Justin Bieber tickets for Christmas. So, on Wednesday night, January 23rd, we headed on down to Phillips Arena to watch the Biebs perform!! All dressed up in Biebs-attire, we met to eat some Chick-Fil-A before the big show. :)

Since Phillips Arena does not allow cameras inside, we had to take all of over photos with our phones, so the quality is pretty lame. But great times, nonetheless!!

  Carly Rae Jepsen (the "Call Me, Maybe" girl) and some other dweeb opened the show, so Biebs didn't even get to the stage until about 9:00 pm.....kinda late for a school night. But, it was well worth it!! The girls absolutely loved it!!

Here's just a few quick videos of Carly Rae, The Biebs, the girls dancing, and the screaming chaos of teenage girls that FILLED the arena in his sold-out show (the loudest thing you've ever heard in your LIFE!)

This was the best shot I could get of Biebs with my crap camera-phone. I gotta give it to him....the kid is SO TALENTED!! The singing, dancing, instrument-playing, and overall show was SUPER!! Even us parents dug it!!

Just FYI, don't let Josh fool you.....he knows every word to "Boyfriend." :)

Thanks for the EXCELLENT gift, Grandmommie and Paw-Paw!! WE LOVE YOU!!

We definitely caught the Bieber-Fever!!

Finally....some family photos :)

Now that Claira is 6 months old, we thought it was finally time to take some family pictures of our party of five. The ONLY time we have had a picture made together was in St. George in October, so we were definitely overdue for some family photos. Last week, Lea came up to our house to beautify all of us girls (she tamed our fros a bit), and she helped snap some pictures of us:

For all of the pictures, check out our newest slideshow....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrVlMMfAq3A&feature=youtu.be

Everyone thought it was kinda weird that I was taking pictures of the girls' feet, but I made my new favorite poster that is now hanging in our hallway:

Living, Laughing, & Loving.
Words we strive for each day.
Cheers to family (and feet!) :)