Beautiful....

Sometimes I wake up in the morning, stumble to the mirror and have a good hard look at myself....man, where did that young girl go?!! Then I remember that I have an 18 year old beginning college in a few weeks and a long line of kids right behind him. Time flew! With 7 children and 1 on the way, it could be easy to just lay on a couch all day, engrossed in a tv show, my kids coming in and out between sports, jobs, and such, but do I want that for myself? Life is short and I love each and every day of it. After all...do I want to look in that mirror and see another 18 years fly by? Although I can see life go by in an instant, I have so many memories locked away to pull out anytime I need because I made the decision to enjoy life. So, each day, I get myself up, wash away the nighttime and look forward to the day ahead...makes me feel beautiful! 

7 Days of Inspiration, Day 6: Beautiful. That's what you are!

Vacation Time!! Day 5!

Vacation Time!! Day 5!

 

Day 5, we decided to stay local and enjoy some of the fun going on around town. 

 

We began our afternoon with the King Cole Circus. You could not get any more old school than this! Everything under the big top in scorching hot weather! They definitely made their money off of us in water. It was good for the kids to experience this though....they got to see how we enjoyed activities such as this as children, before you had a/c everywhere ;)

 

Even in the heat, the little ones were so excited!

 

The camels were fun to see.... 

But we always love waiting for the elephants!

Dripping with sweat, but with smiles on our faces, we loved the show! 

We decided the best place for us after all of this heat was in the air...(yeah, we are still a little spoiled) So, my in-laws decided to do a cookout. My father-in-law grabbed up some freshly caught shrimp and scallops....

 Who loves their father-in-law extra today?!! This girl right here!

After lunch, the sprinkler was brought out for the kids....that hit the spot!

 

 My little one always gets tickled with the whole idea of water sprays....hee-hee!

The older kids always do their own thing. They made their way to the front of the house to play some ball.

Who needs to cool off even more? Watermelon!! This piece is bigger than my daughter's head!

We definitely had our share of being outside for the day. After baths and jammies, we did a nice evening craft with the kids. Yesterday, I picked up some shells while on the beach and we decided to do some shell art.

A ridged shell and markers can make some really beautiful art! These are mine...

Lots of great art from age 2 to adult.

It was a great day! 

See you soon,

 

Book Review: 101 Ways to Have Fun

Book Review: 101 Ways to Have Fun, A Faithgirlz Book.

I was so excited to be offered this book from "BookLook Bloggers" in exchange for my honest review :)

Book Summary: Bored? Need something to do with your BFF's? We've got you covered, whether you have ten extra minutes to chill on a school night or a full day to fill with your friends. 101 Ways to have Fun is loaded with cute DIYs, tips on throwing the best sleepovers (complete with awesome snacks you can whip up in no time) and ways to spend quality time solo. We're sharing tricks for de-stressing, finding new things you love and staying super close with your besties (even when things get crazy busy). Faithgirlz helps you make use of those spare minutes and turns even the rainiest of afternoons into amazing memories.

Book Review: My daughter is always so excited when a new Faithgirlz book arrives! The colorful cover draws you right in immediately. This book couldn't have come at a better time....summer! Lots to do including crafts, cool hairstyles, mani-pedi's and more!!! Need ideas for a game? Recipe? Even how to hold your own yard sale? You will find it in this book! I highly recommend this book to any girl from young to old! Have fun and enjoy reading!

Be still....

Hush....
Don't feel.
Be silent and still.

Pain...
An old song,
Grief, never wrong.

Ache...
It hurts.
Please, no worse.

Tears....
Roll down.
Trying not to drown.

Life...
Goes on.
Even when your gone.

Together.
One Day.
Nights, I pray.

Hush...
Don't speak.
Just....be still.

Vacation Time!! Day 4!

Day 4 of our vacation led us to New Bern, NC. 

We have been here once before and wanted to head back to see what else was offered. I had found a review about a cute little cafe' that was very unique....The Cow Cafe'. 

Everything cow including decor, menu, etc...Very cute! There was even a play area in the back for the littles to check out! Moo!!!

After a yummy lunch, we took a walk through town and came across this great old fashioned mall called Kress. We had never seen anything like this before. It was just the cool way that you walked inward from the sidewalk and there were 5 stores inside. 

While checking it out, I was so excited to find this:

If you know me, you can imagine my excitement! Unfortunately, they were closed for the day, but I could see lots of cool stuff through the window including an autographed book.

One day, maybe, just maybe, we will run into Mr. Sparks in New Bern :)

Further down the road, on the corner just across from Bradham's Pharmacy is a Memorial Garden with some gorgeous flowers. It is a nice place to sit on one of the benches provided and just take in the beauty all around us...

We picked up a pamphlet on all of the Bears in New Bern. New Bern actually does mean, "Bear" and that town took advantage of letting everyone know just how bear crazy they are by placing bear sculptures all around town that were sponsored by local businesses. While walking, we found 2 to cross off the scavenger hunt list. Here is an example of one...

Walking downtown, we came across, what else, but Bradham's Pharmacy...The Birthplace of Pepsi. 

This is our 2nd time to this establishment. There is just nothing like fresh Pepsi out of the tap! My kiddos love it here!

You could find other find things around town if you kept your eyes open. Here is one we came across...New Bern Academy. 

This was the first school chartered in N.C. Assembly levied a tax for its support in 1766. The present building was completed in 1810. It does not appear to be used at the current time.

New Bern was a nice day and we will be sure to make our way back in the future!

On the way home to our in-laws, we came across this a few Roadside Attractions. 

Wouldn't you stop for this Petting Zoo? You can even adopt if you want!

Sunflower Patch near the Emerald Isle bridge. We couldn't just drive by of course...

Very beautiful and great end to our day!

Until next time :)

Vacation Time!! Day 3!

We are really making our way around! On Day 3, we decided to head to another town that seemed to have a lot of things going on...Beaufort, NC (pronounced Bo-fort) What a quaint little town!

We started out the day making a trip to the NC Maritime Museum. 

If you have children, this is a great place to visit. It is free (donations welcomed) What drew me to visiting this museum was reading that there are relics from Black Beard the Pirate's Ship, Queen Anne's Revenge, that are on display. 

A few years back, QAR was discovered sunken in the Bogue Inlet. The ship has not come to the surface, but many items have been pulled from the ship, cleaned, preserved and put on display. 

Aren't these dishes cool? 

Black Beard seems pretty proud of his stuff....

This was a fun museum for the kids since everything was hands on and even offered a scavenger hunt. My boys were in heaven!

Even the littlest one was searching...

Up front, they had a costume area that was perfect for pics with the kids. Who wants to be Black Beard and who wants to be his pirate dude friend?

Guess Reiner won Mr. Black Beard!

After our visit to the museum, we were famished. We had read about a really neat place with yummy food and a cool story...Clawson's. 

This was the "General Store" back in the day and still has the setups on the inside. Original cash registers, shoe shine area....even the post office! My daughter thought it was a jail...

With full bellies and a wonderful time had, including having a nice couple pay for my meal, we hit the boardwalk in Beaufort. It was a very beautiful walk along looking at boats and flowers. I had read about Carrot Island that was across the water. On a good day, you could see the wild horses. These wild horses are said to be the offspring of horses that many, many years ago were shipwrecked and swam to shore. It must have been a good day, look what we saw!!

It was amazing watching them walk right alongside the beach goers. Very tame for being wild! They share their beach nicely.

We walked to the new General Store and grabbed some ice cream. It was so hot out!

We found the car pretty quickly after for some much needed air conditioning, but our Black Beard Adventure wasn't over just yet. I had read about a place called Hammock House, which was a place that the pirate would stay in when he made his way to town. 

It is called Hammock House because many, many years ago, the water used to come right up to the porch and Black Beard was able to tie his boat right to the rails which made the house appear to resemble a hammock the way it stood above the water. Legend has it that one of Black Beard's wives stayed here with him once and the next morning before he left, he hung her from the tree in the front yard. On certain nights, it is said that you can hear her screaming....

We'll just drive away before night fall, just to be safe...

While browsing the web for more ideas in this area, I came across a roadside attraction....The Old Burying Ground. This was an interesting find!

A map is available at the entrance and markers are located near the coolest graves....did I just call a grave cool?

You be the judge....

This is the gravestone of a boat captain who wanted to be buried with his cannon. This is the very cannon from one of his ships.

Rum Barrel Girl Grave. This little girl was promised by the father to the mother that after taking her on a trip, he would return her. When she passed away on the trip from an illness, he didn't want to break his promise to the mother so he put her in a rum barrel and brought her home to bury her. Many trinkets people left here.

British Naval Officer who insisted on being buried standing up so he wouldn't have to remove his boots. This is why there is a square cement pad. Buried saluting his majesty.

Glass Casket Baby. A baby that was buried in a glass casket. When vandals tried to dig her up, they saw her body in tact right through the glass...when they attempted to open the glass, her body disintegrated.

Onto Atlantic Beach!

Waves were huge!!

The kids enjoyed the water and of course the sand. They always like to dig the deepest hole possible.

Don't forget to grab some water for packing the sand.....

Hey!! Whose bucket of water caught a fish?!!! 

Get that poor guy back into the ocean!! Stat!

My littlest is finally getting used to the ocean. Strike a pose!

A nice relaxing end to a fun day for all....

Til next time....