The Hamrick Family: April 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

this house is going...crrrraaaaazzzzyyyy

Anyone ever read the children's book "50 Below Zero" by Robert Munsch? It is one of my favorites and the line "this house is going craaaaaaazzzzyyyy" is repeated throughout the book.

It sort of explains how this past week has been! After a weekend in Raleigh for Bo's 10 mile race we had a very busy week ahead. We have had preschool, preschool pictures, dance pictures with full costume, data team meeting at work, countertops were FINALLY measured for our granite (the company said it would take 6-8 weeks and boy they were right), I stayed home with the girls on Thursday b/c my mom was very sick (which we are all stressing about her getting better before our trip), dance practice, and LOTS of errands. This week has also been busy with preparations for the big trip so the checkoff list is in full effect.

Monday we went shopping to VA Beach after work. I had to get the girls their princess dresses for lunch with Cinderella. They were really confused as to why we were getting them. Emma asked, "why we getting these mama?" I just said, "oh, we will need them." They never pushed it any farther.

Hannah started being quite a pain during our shopping experience so I took her by myself to Victoria's Secret to update some "things." I gave Hannah a sucker and my iPhone and she was quiet as could be in the dressing room with me. Then we looked around and Hannah would pick up panties and say, "oooooo mom, you want theeeesse?" in the highest pitch voice. The ladies were cracking up at her.

Let's see - other errands have included Stride Rite for sandals (have to get them from another store tomorrow though), Toys R Us for lightweight strollers, gummy bears (good for their ears on the plane), and the magic coloring pads with one marker. I also needed kid headphones for the iPads, snack food for the plane, another Cinderella crown (we only had one), and new memory cards for the cameras. I also had make sure Hannah's meds were updated. That is a lot!

Three kids - one stroller - shopping on Monday

The suitcases are out - the girls have asked why we have them out, but I just told them not to worry about it and sure enough they haven't.

Emma before her dance pictures

So wish I could show you the professional pictures of Emma and her class. They have been ordered - they are so PRECIOUS!! I will post them when I can scan one. Emma loved wearing the makeup!

Just a sweet pic of Lilly participating in tea party with Emma. She had all of her people lined up and Lilly just walked over and joined in. So, Emma gave her some tea too.

I can already tell the end of the year is wrapping up at school. We are getting inventory lists, more meetings, lots of testing information, etc. I will not have classes after May 21st due to so much testing involvement and library/technology inventory. Kind of sad the library won't have kids buzzing around it soon.

Well, I doubt I will update again until after our trip! I have a hair appointment tomorrow and I am sure I will be stressing about packing as the week starts. Our plan is to tell the girls right before leaving. I am working half a day on Thursday, coming home, telling the girls in a special way (I may cry), and packing the car for the airport! Prayers for safe travels and a FUN time!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

This and That

Well.....I am all caught up! Bo took the girls to Sunday School/Church today so I could get some things caught up around the house after being gone for the week. He had to teach our Sunday School class and I needed to do laundry and of course work on the pictures and blog that I was so far behind on. I forgot to post these pictures of my great great Aunt Eloise from Tennessee. Jack, her husband passed away two weeks ago and she wanted to badly to come back home for some time to see us. We were so glad that she did. My mom and dad drove and met her in Greensboro and brought her back for a few weeks. She is 95 years old and still walks a mile a day. Her and Jack have lived the best life. They have always been active, healthy, traveling and enjoyed living on golf courses and many states like California, Florida and now Tennessee. I remember getting so excited when they would come visit as a child. It has been two years since seeing them. I cannot believe we have lost Granny and Jack in the same year and just months apart. Mom had Eloise and some other distant relatives for dinner one night before Easter. I am always intrigued of hearing her stories and learning more and more about our family. We found several photos in granny's house that we did not know who was in them and she was telling us about them and informing us about all kinds of things. It was just great to see her and I am so fearful that I may not see her again in person. I was sure to tell her how much I love her and how special she always was to me. I am so glad she made the trip.

my great great aunt and the girls' great, great, great aunt

my dad and his great aunt

Robbie, me and Lindsay with our kids and Eloise

Also, my book fair out did our winter sales! I am so happy because Scholastic told me that spring sales are usually lower than winter. I think that since our sale was right before Easter, many people did Easter shopping like they do Christmas shopping in winter. I am so glad that we beat our winter sales! It was just a great book fair! Thanks so much to my Hillpoint faculty, students and parents!

Countdowns:

Disney - 2 WEEKS!!!!!! We still have not told the girls! We will probably tell them the night before or even the day of! It is KILLING me!!!

Mothers Day - 4 weeks!

Emma's first dance recital - 4 weeks!

Memorial Day weekend - 6 weeks!

Library closes - 6 weeks!

Summer vacation starts! - 8 weeks!

Happy Birthday Bo!

We left the beach yesterday around 10:30. We had a wonderful breakfast at Millers and said good-bye to everyone. Nobody wanted to leave, but we needed to come home and celebrate Bo's birthday. We grilled some chicken for dinner and I bought him an ice cream cake. The girls and I bought him a new pair of Dragon sunglasses at the beach. We are also going out this week to his favorite store to buy him some new clothes for Disney and summer. Happy birthday honey! We love you!

OBX - spring break!

I had a fabulous drive down with just me and the girls. They fell asleep about halfway there and I had my Jimmy Buffett playing and the sunroof open! As I crossed the bridge I had my IPOD on shuffle and the song "Sidewalk Song" came on with the lyric ""take me back to where I'm from, memories when we were young, good times come and good times gone, we find a place in the sun." It seriously brought tears to my eyes because Nags Head is like my home. I have been coming to this beach since I was born. I have had multiple family trips here and it made me think of Mandy and Granny and how many times we had been here together. Some of my favorite memories are from this beach. It was just so weird that it played on shuffle just as I crossed the bridge.

We had the BEST week at the beach. The house was just perfect with the media room on the top floor so the kids could keep their shows on and have a whole separate play area without being far away from us. They loved the space! There were 7 huge bedrooms with their own bathrooms. Even the girls' bunk bed room had their own flat screen in it with their own bathroom. The weather was not "bathing suit/pool" weather, but it was warm enough to be on the beach comfortably for the kids to play. We had a great routine everyday - sleep until 9, breakfast, beach, lunch, naps for kids around 1:30-2:00, happy hour on the deck or pool with Connie and mom laying out until 4:00 ish, shower, kids up from nap, shopping, dinner, bath for kids around 8:00, kid movie time in the media room, bedtime for kids around 9:00, adults play cards or watch movies until 11:00 or midnight and seriously did the whole routine over everyday.

I got a great tan started. The sun was hot as could be out on the decks or by the pool. It was nice having a little breeze and now sweating like crazy too. Mammie cooked for us a lot, which was super nice. Those there for the whole week were mom, Mammie, Connie, me, the girls, Lindsay and Andy. Jenny Lynne and her boys came for a day and a night and then Brandon, Sarah and Drew came later in the week. There were no husbands for the whole week! They had to keep working hard! Thanks Bo, Dad and Steve! We missed you but had such a nice time! The dogs were even boarded for the week so us or the guys did not have to take care of them either! It was just so nice being somewhere aside from home for awhile. We had some GREAT laughs. Hannah was hilarious during one dinner when I told them to stop talking and eat. She put her head down on the table and said, "I'm not talking now." I guess since we could not see her, that meant that we could not hear her - the girls seriously cannot go five seconds without saying something. Both girls were offered their first job at The Dunes restaurant one night. The manager could not get over how cute they were and wanted to put them by the door to be greeters. I guess he also noticed how funny they were being. Andy loved irritating the girls and taking their toys and running away. He thought was was hilarious. The kids were all wonderfully behaved the entire week. I was actually surprised how little they misbehaved. They loved it so much they did not want to leave. We were all pretty bummed about leaving. The week flew. I keep reminding myself how much I have to look forward to - especially Disney in a few weeks and then the school year coming to a close!

The only downfall to the week was that we missed Bo's birthday on Thursday. I felt horrible that we were not there, but he was out of town working and treated himself to a ball game. We celebrated with him when we returned! What a great week!

Highlights from the week.....