Siesta Key 2016

On December 17th, we did a little "leaving on a jet plane" (y'all remember that song, right??"). I was so excited because Mother Nature decided it needed to be 20 degrees in December and I was very saddened by it. So we traded our 20 degree Missouri weather for some 80 degree Florida weather! 

To top off our excitement, we were scheduled to meet Nana, Wayne, Hamil, Sarah, Thane, Ruel, Emily, Ben, Bluet & Ilona at the beach! Woohoo! An amazing feat to get all of us together, let alone at the beach!

Getting ready to take-off...doesn't Nate look like a teenager here?!?! The kids and I checked all of our luggage in while Scott parked the car. I was a sweaty mess at 4:30 AM. It was worth it. 

Lila had to bring Lea of course! She was dressed in her travel outfit and even had her own neck pillow. I think I will cry the day she is not into dolls anymore.

Touch Down! We were thrilled to see the sunny skies and the blue water! We flew into Tampa and had about an hour drive to Sarasota - we stayed in Siesta Key.

The house we rented had a pool and the kids were immediately in it!

We waited a couple of hours before our other Missouri peeps arrived. Then we went out to dinner and sat outside. So glorious since we had just left the Artic north!

We had a rough night that first night. Lila had said her throat hurt a few times the day before we left, but it was late and I just figured she was getting a cold. Well. She was up a good part of that first night because her throat hurt so bad she didn't want to swallow. Soooo...we hit up the Urgent Care the next morning and yes, she had strep throat. We loaded her up with antibiotics and she was on the beach in no time!

The cousins had so much fun at the beach. Building sand castles, playing the waves, and running around. We had the best weather. The best. And I was so thankful.

Even the littlest one was playing in the waves!

Scott was once again a sport and let the kids bury him in the sand. A tradition.

There was plenty of chilling out at night because apparently beach parties and endless swimming make one tired.

On Sunday night, Emily, Ben, Bluet and Ilona arrived from Switzerland!

Ruel loved the water - he wanted to be a big kid too:)

The pool had what was supposed to be a hot tub but it was pretty much the same temperature as the big pool. The kids still loved it and especially loved it when Wayne would get in with them.

Bluet loved the waves! I loved her squeal of excitement.

Happiness...beach days are our very favorite days.

Be still my heart. Love. That's my Dad and two of his granddaughters.

I left this picture out of Nate's birthday post. My sad attempt to continue the tradition of making the age pancakes. But I can say we have not skipped a year yet!

While Nate, Scott & Ben went to the movie on his birthday, we went to a nearby state park. Where I was worried the alligators would get to close. Ha!

Jumping over a log. Everything is so much more fun when your cousins are around.

Eating spaghetti for Nate's birthday dinner. Because of course.

Does it get any better than this!?!? Christmas tree on the beach? I think not.

Too bad we have no personality in our family. None at all.

The last night, Nana & Wayne carried on a tradition of doing a skit with the kids. It was hilarious. I hate that my pictures were not any better. But they all had on reindeer ears and acted out / sang /danced Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Lila was Rudolph.

It was an amazing trip. With so many people and schedules, it's hard to get everyone together. I am so thankful we all made it work!

Nate is ELEVEN!

I'm inconsistent at best with the blog these days. But it's important to me to document some memories so I keep coming back (and hopefully you will too. Ha!) 

We've been out of town and here and there the past few weeks. While we were gone (more on that later!), this beach babe turned ELEVEN!!!!! Can you believe it?!?! 

I find it hard to believe, that's for sure.

We celebrated his big day with the Corse side of the family at the beach, and he went to see Rogue One with Scott and Ben, then ate at Waffle House (his choice☺)

Sweet Nate, you are a smart, handsome, kind, creative and imaginative 11 year old. Your birthday is always so special to me because it's also the day I became a mother. I wished and prayed for you so much and Dad and I are very proud to be your parents. We know this year is going to be your best year yet. Let your imagination continue to take you beautiful places. Love, Mom

Weekend Ramblings

Kitty P doesn't get much air time on the ole blog anymore so here's my favorite girl cat. She's old and crotchety most of the time, and still feisty if you try to mess with her. But she's my first baby and I love her so much. She loves me too...can't ya tell? 

Scott took Nate to swim team on Friday night, so Lila and I vegged out on the couch, ate chocolate pretzels and watched "Santa Clause." It was pretty much the perfect way to start off the weekend.

This is our first Christmas in our new house and I love that we were able to put the tree in the entryway. I love looking at it at night. 

On Saturday morning, I made Lila her "6" pancake. I was planning on doing it the morning of her birthday but the power went off before I had the chance! 

We had a wonderful rest of our Saturday and yet I have no pictures to prove it. Scott took the kids to Build-A-Gift at church while I made last minute preparations to host my family for lunch. Lee, Kathy, Mark, Evan, Olga, Elena, Sonia and my Mom were our guests and we loved having them! It was so nice to visit and laugh with everyone!

On Sunday, we were invited to light the Advent Candle at church. This week is the candle of peace. Scott did the reading and spoke about how our family has experienced peace this year (below). He did a wonderful job and the kids loved getting to light the candles. Before church...

Scott's words on peace...

In being invited to light the candle this week and reflecting on how we saw God’s peace this year, we found the task to be more challenging than we had anticipated. As we look around our world, our country and even here in St Louis, it is all too easy to focus on the violence, persecution and division that fills the news. Furthermore, as those of you who have raised, or are raising children know, feeling peace on a day to day basis can often be difficult. So when we asked ourselves what represents peace in our lives, we kept coming back to one word: community. A community in which we were blessed to find our ‘forever home’ after three years of searching. A community where we send our kids to schools that celebrate respect, empathy and tolerance as much as reading and math. A community where it seems you never go anywhere without seeing someone you know. A community where we finally found a church home. And a community where everyone you meet seems to feel this way too. We feel blessed to live, work and play in this community. We find God’s peace in our lives in knowing that this is where we are supposed to be.

Lila is SIX!

Lila turned 6 on November 26th! Our company was leaving that morning so after they hit the road, we started celebrating with some presents! Lila has the best faces when opening presents and Nate is the BEST big brother when assisting her. 

After we opened up a few gifts, our power went out?!? Little did we know, it would be off all day.

We face-timed Scott at work and Lila opened her big present...a American Girl doll!

Love at first sight:) Her name is Lea.

In the afternoon, we took two of Lila's friends to the Painted Zebra to paint pottery.

Nate went with me to chaperone. He was the best chaperone.

These three are inseparable. They were in pre-school together for 2 years and their teacher recommended that they all be in the same Kindergarten class. Three friends is sometimes a hard situation because there is the potential of somebody being left out. But I'm amazed how they all use their different strengths to have such a special friendship.

 Birthday party by candlelight! I wasn't kidding, the power was off all day. Alllll day.

When I figured out that the power was probably not going to come back on before we had the girls over to our house, I thought about canceling. Besides that it gets dark so early, it was kind of cold that day, so it was cold in our house. But I'm so glad we forged ahead, it will be a memorable birthday for sure!

After the party, we hung out for a bit to wait on Scott to get home. Then we walked over to the Post for dinner and some heat. I was so glad my parents gave Scott this stellar flashlight that lit up our living room! The power ended up coming on about 11:00 PM. It was a crazy, fun, weird day!

Sweet Lila,
We are proud every day that you are our daughter. You are smart, courageous, witty, kind, and independent. We love you so much. We know your sixth year is going to be the best yet and we hope you never stop dreaming big dreams little one. Love, Mom.