The one with the eventful Summer....

I am not even sure where to begin…. Happy Father’s Day, Happy 4^th of July, Happy Anniversary month!! I missed a lot of events on here. One of the most important milestones for us, is Cooper is a SWIMMER! It didn’t take long for him to ditch the swimmies and become that big boy. He won’t even get in the pool with his swimmies on, but he does require goggles. We are living in the pool with this hot Florida Sunshine. It’s a great way to wear the kiddos out before nap time! And once the kids lay down, momma gets to relax and soak up some sun.

We’ve had a major DIY project in the dining room that really turned out great! Josh is Mr. DIY Professional. We finally added some character and paint to the dining room. We put up bead board; it gives it the country cottage/ beach house feel. As you know, my job is to make this house feel “coastal”. LOL so I still have decorating to do, but I was thoroughly impressed with my hubs! There aint nothing he can’t do…. He’s already planning the next project!

 



The main man





After construction, still a work in progress



My Planter, built by the one and only, Josh!

Papa Jeff and Mar came in town several weeks ago too. We enjoyed having them and Cooper warmed right up to Papa Jeff. Probably because he’s at big kid at heart like Josh. Cooper and Papa Jeff wrestled and horse played the whole time. They were here picking up another horse, I mean 2 more horses, for their farm. One of these days, we will ride one of those suckers! If we could just convince them to move to Florida… we have 30 acres of land around here too!!! Everybody’s doing it! 



LIKE PAPA LIKE GRANDSON!



I’m sure you know by now, but we had a surprise visit from the devil in our backyard. A water moccasin slithered right in front of Cooper.  Needless to say the snake didn’t make it out alive and we pray he will never return.  Josh fought the snake, literally, until the snake’s death. Once the snake felt threatened he was jumping in attempt to attack and strike Josh. It was frightening!!!!! We’ve had lots of prayer over the house and backyard. They should NOT return!

OUR HERO!!!!

Addison is her father’s daughter. One of her new favorite foods is black olives. I swear she would eat an entire can like her daddy. Josh now has some competition when he opens up a can. Addison is also starting to say more words, I can tell you her favorite word is NO! I think that’s every child’s first words. She is trying SO hard to say Cooper, its adorable. All this rush and excitement for the kiddos to start talking and then we tell them to be quiet!!

Wishing y’all a cooler rest of the summer, can it get any hotter?! Enjoy some of the best pics of the summer so far!

LOVE

The one in Jekyll Island....

One of my very favorite people in this world was married last weekend…. Allan. Allan and I are not only 1^st cousins but also close friends. As the only child myself, having him and being so close was a blessing, kind of like a brother. Although he didn’t live close, we were close. As kids we romped around the neighborhoods, playing hide-n-seek, running through the streets like banshees, only until it was dark of course. We spent a lot of time coloring and drawing, Allan was always SO good at it. My flower drawings had nothing on his Batman Christmas Ornaments. We would watch What About Bob on repeat. We even “produced” and “acted” in our own movie, Jaws 5. If you haven’t seen it, PLEASE contact me. Uncle Curt put it on DVD for the fam one year- Greatest production of all time. As we grew older, we only became closer. College came, which meant road trips and stories to tell for a life time…. Some of course weren’t so funny at the time, like being puked on by one of his friends or Allan missing the FL/GA game because he was sitting in a cell, but looking back, the memories that surrounded those weekends were hilarious. Many many good laughs and times spent with him. I am so thankful and blessed we’ve had so many good years of laughs. And as we grow older, and have families those memories will only get better.

 SO, back the bride and groom---Allan married the love of his life, Anna! Want to talk about a gorgeous bride…. Anna was that, stunning and beautiful. The met at GA Southern years ago… we’ve all been hoping and praying he wouldn’t let this one get away, she’s too perfect! Not to mention the wedding was perfect, fantastic weather, beautiful setting all for the perfect couple. Cooper was the ring bearer. He was loving wearing the tuxedo in the hotel, he thought he looked just like Daddy…. Until we got to the Jekyll Island club to take pictures before the wedding. Bless his little 3 year old heart, all the pressure of looking like a stud and all the people coming up to him, he just couldn’t bear all the attention. He was a hot mess for the whole 2 hours prior to the wedding… no pictures, no talking, only crying. After many prayers later, by the grace of God, Cooper instantly changed his attitude right before his big act. His tears ceased and I think his nerves stopped, and he walked down the aisle like a little angel prince. He was so handsome. He stood next to Allan and the groomsman the whole ceremony AND even smiled for dozens of pictures after. He was a trooper. At the reception he pushed some chairs together and with his ring bearer pillow and his Daddy’s coat as a blanket, he closed his eyes and slept through all the dancing and craziness. The next morning I asked Cooper did he have fun…. His reply, “Yea Mom, I was Cheesin!”

And with that, we cheers to many years of health, love and happiness for the new Mr. and Mrs. Allan Simmons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE

The one with Spiderman....

It's a VERY rare occasion when Spiderman joins the McCarty family, but he did. He came out at our San Marco Concert in the Park. There are certain things that I just love and miss so much about San Marco. One of course is our neighbors, who have become such good friends and two is the festivities. 2 times a year, there is a concert in the park at the Preservation hall, 2 blocks from our old house. Its family fun, kid friendly, beer and wine friendly and food truck friendly. Cooper did something new and adventurous this time.... he got his face painted, that's right folks. Cooper got his face painted!!! Last fall he waited in a long line to shake his head no when he got in the hot seat, but he went for it this year and it was AWESOME!!

LOVE

The one where we cheers the mommas...

Happy late mothers days! At least it is still May, we should really get mother's MONTH!! OK!!! Anyway, as I was going though pictures I realized I forgot to post them. Mothers day was great, relaxing as it should be, hardly any cooking with handsome hubs who does all the dirty work. The fam came over... we had a burger bar- build your own. It was great. Anything on the green egg is amazing, or is it the cook? I'm going with the COOK! 

 Anyway, as we were going through some REAL throw backs, we came across this beauty! Isn't my mom gorgeous (and still is!) BUT I realized how much Addie really looks like me, as a baby. I am doing the happy dance inside. For the longest time I thought I was just the incubator for Josh. LOL. I thought his genetics were so strong, no child would look like me, but I think we found my mini me....

LOVE

The one with the botanical gardens....

Thanks to Josh's green thumb and our home being in an established neighborhood, our backyard is blooming. Blooming FULL of gorgeous flowers. We've planted a ton, but there were also a ton of plants, I had no idea made such amazing looking flowers. Who knew, I would have botanical gardens right in my back yard. Josh kept saying all winter, Allie these plants are going to be AWESOME (stressing the word AWESOME)... but not having my own green thumb, I was like cool, they just look like green bushes to me. LOL So anyway, I am so happy and thankful for my husband. He's doing awesome keeping up the yard. Its like paradise. We couldn't have picked a better home to raise our kids in.

The pool is rockin. Up to 82 degrees, hopefully it Will hold steady and increase a little. But the kids love it. Addie is already kicking from one side of the pool to the other, un-assisted, I might add. Of course she has on her swimmies. But who knew a one year old would be so comfortable in the water. It's awesome. Cooper is perfecting his belly flop and cannon ball. He has a good teacher- don't look at me. I don't "swim" just yet. I may step in, but its still a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeny bit chilly for me. Unless I've been laying out for a while. Volleyball tournaments start soon. Josh has NO IDEA how good I actually am, shhhhh!! ;) So looking forward to the summer and pool parties, green egg grilling and cold beers by the pool. Feel free to join us anytime!

LOVE

The one with the first group beach trip...

Summer is officially upon us! We had our first group trip to the beach. A bunch of our friends and their families come out, a total of 9 kids in the group. Cooper naturally attracts to the oldest boy, 6, Phillip. And Phillip attracts to "Mr. Josh". Probably because Josh is a big kid at heart. But we so enjoy the beach trips. All the kids just LOVE LOVE LOVE it. And they are all so stinking cute out there in their swim suits playing in the sand. We have "thing" when we go to to the beach. I HAVE to get a Publix sub (banana peppers on the side) and Josh has to get a pound of the Publix popcorn chicken. It doesn't feel like a beach trip without it. Thank goodness Lent is over, so that I can eat sandwiches again! Anyway, our pool is feeling great. And as last week, Cooper still wakes up wanting to get in the pool.

Cooper's new favorite breakfast food, besides pop tarts, are bagels! Yes, that was his new food to try and he loved it. He said the bagels were good just like grilled cheese. Oh yea and Chic-fil-a. If you know Cooper you know how much he loves McDonalds, but I got him to eat the chic-fil-a nuggets and he said YUM these are better than donuts!!! So he is coming around, slowly but surely! We are "working" on Addison feeding her self... LOL. Ok, not really working on it, but she likes to hold the spoon, so I give it to her and then of course it ends up on the ground. AND we stick with whats easy... eating with your hands! Too cute, huh?

 So until next time... check out these beauties, loving the pool! Cooper will be swimming in no time. He can kick and swim on his own going the length of the pool. He's a pro and loving every minute of it.

LOVE

The one with the water rats....

Yes, that's my kids, water rats... and we are proud of it! They just can't get enough of the pool or the beach. The pool finally warmed up to 80 degrees... just a few more degrees and I'd be happy! Of course Cooper doesn't mind the 80 degree water, he's been asking to get in the pool ever day all day.... So we were lacking in the float department so we took a trip to Wally World- cheap floats that get beat up and only last a year! You know momma needs her own float to relax on! But they love it. Addie finds comfort in bringing her blanket in the pool. At least we have extras, but she's happy with it, so whatever works. Cooper is becoming a little less fearful. He still doesn't like to be thrown in. I did that, and he cried saying mommy I don't like that. He likes to ease on into the pool like me, where as Josh and Addie jump right on in.

We also took the kids to the beach this weekend. Its amazing how much Cooper has grown in a year in size and bravery. Last year he wouldn't have much to do with the water without us and now the moment you get out of the car, he's like mom can I go to the water. PLEAAASSEEE!! He has his boogie board and he jets straight to the water. We look for the run outs, so its a small pool of water all the kids play in. Its great. I park my chair right at the edge so my toesies get in and sip on my ice cold beer, while Daddy has to "play"! Addison has NO FEAR! She went straight in. Splashing and all. Although she isn't quite the fan of the taste of salt water, but who is really? It doesn't slow her down.

Enjoy the first pictures of summer.....

 

LOVE