Play-At-Home-Mom

Hello... is anyone still there?

I recently saw a friend post a picture with the hashtag (#) "PlayAtHomeMom" and was intrigued. It was the cutest picture of her kiddos out on the back porch covered in paint, doing an art project on a large piece of butcher paper, and it looked FUN! When I explored further, all of the pictures with that hashtag were of someone's kids basically doing something fun, whether it be out at the park, something at home, a creative project like my friend's, or snuggles on the couch. When you get down to it, it's really just all about taking that "stay-at-home-mom" title to a whole new level, because believe me, it's REALLY easy to be a disengaged stay-at-home-mom. That might surprise some, as it is the ONLY job that a stay-at-home-mom has, but in today's world, it is honestly very easy and convenient to stick our kids in front of a TV show, a video game, the computer, or a phone, and go about our own business. Likewise, it's quite simple for a mama to check her phone every five minutes and spend more time interacting online with her "friends" than doing any face-to-face interaction with her kids that are in the same room, probably acting out to get her attention. I'm certainly not trying to come down on anyone or say that we're all like this, but I've had my days and moments of this, and can honestly see  how it can easily become a habit. It takes a conscious effort to be a hands-on, engaged mom to my kids everyday, and some days I get it wrong. But when it comes down to it, I certainly try.

So it's been about four months since I was let go from work and adopted the "stay-at-home-mom" title as my own, and forgive me if I haven't blogged during these months, but I took a break to really try to be the "play-at-home-mom" my kids need me to be by...

Volunteering at Jake's field day

Letting them splash in the puddles, even though I knew they'd get their clothes (& my car) dirty

Having pool parties in our backyard 

(Yes, Jake is holding Lilly's doll... he was "teaching her how to swim")

And even braved the real pool a few times... by myself... with two kids! Yikes!

Spending a little longer at the grocery store than normal so he could push his own cart

Going to the park...

A LOT...

And sometimes with friends

Making new friends... and role models

Returning to Small Town, Illinois to visit old friends

(Yes, they remembered each other and it was soooo cute!)

And meeting new ones

(Their brothers have been friends since birth, but these two had never met!) 

That trip also included the world's greatest backyard slip-n-slide, which Jake enjoyed immensely

(even though his mama had several minor heart attacks)

Taking the kids to the fair, where Lilly finally braved a few rides!

(Granted, we carried her onto them before she even realized what was happening!)

Expressing ourselves through fashion

And wearing costumes (or nothing) just because

Snuggling... I'll take it when I can get it!

And taking bubble baths... with extra bubbles... 

even when it wasn't bath time

Riding bikes in the cul-de-sac

Although some prefer pushing instead

(but with her helmet on of course... safety first!)

Visiting local places that we've always wanted to go, but never had time for...

(such as the Explorium)

Where we tried to figure out what we wanted to be when we grow up

(Don't worry, Jake... I still don't know the answer!)

And story time at Joseph-Beth Bookstore...

Where we saw the Ringling Bros. Clowns...

And clowned around ourselves 

Taking road trips...

 To the Zoo!...

Where we pointed out all of the "puppies"...

And ate junk food rather than healthy snacks

We partied 'til we just couldn't party no more

And am pretty sure we took advantage of everything summer has to offer

So in the aftermath of some of the most surprising and potentially devastating news for our family, I have to say, I've never had this much joy or had this much fun. God always knows what He is doing, and knew that I'd never take my focus off of that job long enough to focus ALL of my attention on these sweet, awesome, funny, cute kiddos that He's blessed us with. I can already see what a blessing that lay-off has been, and thankfully I'm experiencing what blessings these two are before I blink and they're all grown up. So forgive me if I blog less in this new chapter of life, but sometimes being a "Play-At-Home-Mom" takes a lot of (really worthwhile) work! There is certainly nothing else I'd rather be doing!

Overdue Vacation Recap

I think my brain has been on vacation all summer. I just can't seem to sit down and spend any time at the computer now that I don't have to do it for a living, but I do miss my blog, so I need to be a little more intentional I guess, since this post is a month overdue!

Last summer, our family visited the Carolina Coast to guest preach at a friend's church out there. Little did we know that we would completely fall in love with the sleepy beach town and have such a wonderful (too short!) few days there. When we were planning our vacation this year, I researched a number of option all over the country, but our hearts just kept taking us back to the Wilmington area. We remembered a stretch of beach where there were perfect, happy, colorful beach houses and my very diligent husband searched until he found one.

Knowing that we had much more space this time of year, we invited two other families to join us and spent 8 glorious days at our Kure beach house. Unfortunately I left my SD card at home, so the only "good camera" we had was my sister's (which I used a lot), but I figured I could do an all iPhone photo recap since I have many from that, too. So brace yourself for picture overload... here is our vacation in pictures:

Fun at the "Big Yellow House":

Morning coffee never tasted so good

Movie night with the cousins

Best Buddies

Family nap time happened daily... and I loved having this one join me in my bed!

Front Porch Sittin'

Nothing says summer vacation like watermelon in your underwear!

Sand and Surf:

This guy couldn't get enough of the beach!

After months at the gym, this mama braved a bikini again...
I want to always look good for that stud muffin next to me! 

TWINSIES!

This is the only way to keep Jake in one spot for an extended period of time.
Silly boy loved to be buried in the sand!

Most of our days looked like this, but I love gloomy beach days!

And it definitely didn't stop us from enjoying the ocean!

Lilly enjoys the same beach activities as her mama... that's my girl!

Day Tripping - Aquarium, Southport Ferry, and Jungle Island:

He's most definitely the biggest kid in our family!

Jake was a little more timid at the aquarium this year... he stayed close to his protector

Can you spot the native here? This guy was in the wild... not behind glass. Yikes!

I couldn't get enough of my nephew Sam on this trip! Isn't he adorable??

Daddy shows Lilly how to be "king of the world" on the ferry ride!

Jake loved "real life" Mario-Karting

They may look sweet and innocent, but Sam and Gretchen are fierce when it comes to competition!

We NEED one of these in our city. A warehouse full of playland equipment? Yes please!

Lilly was (somehow) our big winner at the arcade

The Boardwalk:

By far Jake's favorite ride... Josh and the "carni" were good friends by the night's end

Lil was brave enough to get on the carousel.
She was not brave enough to actually ride on a horse!

Jake LOVED having cousin Adam there to ride the rides with!

Our big boys went all by themselves... where did our babies go?

Here they are! Sisters and our (also growing too fast) babies!

Lilly's favorite ride of the night was on mama's back. I'll be sad when she's too big for this.

The Food:

These guys cooked most of our meals all week. I'll do dishes any day to not have to cook!

And this was just course one!

We found the perfect ocean-front patio for lunch on Southport Island

The kids did great despite the heat and it being nap time

If you're ever at Carolina Beach, go to Michealangelo's and order the Godfather.
BIGGEST. PIZZA. EVER. And so good that I may or may not have had more than one slice! 

This guy even got into the action!

The Night Life:

Believe it or not, we did get out for an adult-only evening!
And believe it or not, the "night life" in this sleepy beach town is limited!

We were very sad that the only ocean-front locale closed due to a few sprinkles

We got over it fairly quickly though

And just settled for dinner and dessert instead

I cannot tell you how sad we were to leave, but it's always good to get back home. It's been over a month and Jake still asks to go to the "big, yellow house" and I always tell him that I wish we could, too! My most favorite part, however, was having this guy there with me, completely disconnected from his phone, email, and even social media. As long as he's by my side, we can vacation anywhere!

If you want even more (and probably better quality) pictures, you can check out my sister's post, here. Hopefully I'll take the time to grab some of my favorite photos from her camera and post those soon, too! I'm seriously already counting down the days until next year!