This year for Fall Break, we decided to take it easy and enjoy a nice, little camping trip. The problem is that campgrounds are always packed this time of year.  After weeks of trying, Eric finally secured us a place near Holiday World.  If you remember, we didn't love the touristy campground we visited back in the summer,  so were were thrilled to find a state park less than five minutes away.  It suited our needs and was much more our style. We had originally planned to leave Thursday after work but I ended up having to work that Friday.  Rather than cancel, we took advantage of the kids being out of school and had some quality one-on-one time with each of them. Eric and Eli headed up to the night before for some "Guy Time" while Ellie and I stayed behind for a "Girls Night." I left work around noon on Friday (our anniversary), picked up Ellie, and we hit the road. We got there around mid-afternoon and were more than ready to take a hike.

When we decided to change the kids' school, one of the selling points was that I could come have lunch with them since I'm right next door. I haven't upheld my end of the bargain because timing is crucial.  I wanted Ellie to be over the "beginning of the year" jitters so that she wouldn't cry when I left, and I wanted Eli to be acclimated enough with the school to know whether or not it was still "cool" to eat with mom.  Not only did he give me the green-light, he also realized that he and Ellie matched AND volunteered for a picture.  Can we all agree that I'm rocking this parenting thing? Ha! My first lunch was with Ellie and she did so great!  I am so, so proud of her for not crying when I had to leave. The next day it was Eli's turn, and it was another great experience.  He was fun to eat with because he is a great conversationalist and made sure I felt welcomed.  It's such a small thing, but I am so glad I have th

Today we celebrate 11 years of marriage and it's crazy how much life changes. We woke up in different beds, in different state but with the same amount of love as we had on that beautiful, October day...maybe more.  There are so many things I want to write and say but I just can't seem to put them into words. One day they will come but for now, I just want to wish a very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to the love of my life!!

Can we talk about oral hygiene for a moment? About a year or so ago, I took the kids to the dentist and they each had several cavities. Ugh! Long story short, it was from gummies that hid themselves between teeth. The good news is that in each of our visits since that awful day, they've both had a clean bill of health.  The bad news is that we still have to fix all the damage, which is what we've been dealing with all week. To top it all off, we discovered that they are both missing teeth. Eli is missing five permanent teeth and Ellie is missing two of them. Fun Watson Fact...so is Eric! You would never know this because of amazing dental work in his teen years, so I'm not too worried about out kids. Anyway, before we could have more work done, we had to go see the orthodontist for a game plan for Eli.  We are very fortunate that he is missing teeth, otherwise he would need several pulled.  Crisis adverted, at least for now. For anyone, this is not a goo

I guess I kinda need to update everyone on the building situation, but long story short, we have decided to hold off on breaking ground until March, which means we are taking our time getting our current home ready for the market. Saturday was one of those days where we worked most of the day but really didn't have a whole lot to show for it. So we decided to treat ourselves to dinner that night since we had been given a gift card and needed a night off. Ellie took this opportunity to doll herself up in a fancy dress and shoes.  Bless her! After dinner, we took the kids to Spirit Halloween Store because it's kinda a big deal in our family.  Our kids are festive if nothing else, so they were more than happy to take all the pictures for me! That's not always the case, so I jumped at the opportunity to have them pose at every little stop. We also needed to make a Wal-Mart run, so you can image their pure joy when we discovered they were putting out

As I've mentioned several times, last week was Homecoming for Greenwood High School.  Eli was extremely vocal all week about wanting to go watch the game.  I think going to a new school, he just wanted to belong to a team and rally around them.  He also thought several of his new buddies would be there, but we didn't end up seeing anyone there. After trying with no avail to convince the kids that we should just stay home and play games, we finally caved and took them to the game.  It went as you might expect.  Eli talked non-stop and asked Eric a million questions while Ellie took about ten thousand bathroom breaks and begged for all the candy from the concession stands. We tried to tough it out but by the middle of the third quarter, we were done!  We ended up leaving early and heading to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  Back at home, Eric set up the projector and we wrapped up the night by enjoying a movie out on the patio. Ellie fell asleep and Eli stood us up t