Winnings

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was in Virginia on a business trip back in June.  It was a conference for our clients-- we were doing training classes and workshops for our software. On 2 of the nights, we had special events. One night was a Wii tournament. We had 4 Wiis with the games projected up on big screens. There were 4 games: jetskiing, archery, frisbee dog, and basketball. Everyone had a scorecard, so as soon as you finished a game the person "manning" the game would write down your score. The main prizes were for the clients-- the top 4 clients got a Wii. For the employees, it was cash prizes. Up until the very end, I was in 1st place. At the last minute 2 guys slid in to 1st and 2nd, pushing me down to third. That was ok, I still got winnings.

Yesterday, my winnings came in the mail:

It was perfect timing because a friend of mine was keeping the boys today!

I took the opportunity to go shopping, and I decided White House Black Market would be my destination. It was successful! With a coupon, I was able to stay within my winnings. Here's what I came away with: (obviously, not me in the pics! I stole them from their website)

As I said when I emailed a buddy of mine from work who I beat, "Victory is Sweet."

Takin' it Easy

One of the nice things about my boys this summer is that William can swim by himself now. It's so nice that I don't have to juggle both boys when I'm at the pool with them by myself.  Hudson can even swim about 10 feet or so, but he hasn't figured out the whole life-your-head-up-and-take-a-breath thing yet. So, after about 5-7 seconds I have to rescue him so that he doesn't start inhaling water.

Our pool complex is pretty awesome, which is actually one of the reasons we picked this neighborhood. We have 2 nice slides, but a couple of the rules are 1)no goggles allowed and 2)you have to be able to swim from the slide to the steps by yourself unassisted or else you have to ride with an adult. #2 wouldn't have been a problem for the past year if #1 wasn't there. William has depended SO much on his goggles that he hasn't been able to go on the slides by himself. All summer he has refused to try it...until now! On Tuesday somehow Dave convinced him to give it a try (I was at home working, so I missed it.). He's unstoppable now! When we're at the pool, all he wants to do it go on the slide. It's great because when I have gone with just me and the boys, we haven't been able to do the slides because well, there's only 1 of me...and there's 2 of them. Now, that problem is solved!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain...

Here are a few pics of our most recent trip to Oklahoma. I didn't get a whole lot of pics this go-around, but the few I did get were priceless!

an impromptu car race:

if you couldn't tell from the above pic, they were HOT HOT HOT. So, to cool off in Oklahoma, you bust out the hose:

Hudson wasn't too sure of the hose, so he stayed a safe distance away.

And then my mom went out and bought them this:

William and Keira lost interest in about 5 minutes, but Emery and Hudson played on it for a solid hour without stopping.

Needless to say, they all slept GREAT while we were there. We did a great job of totally wearing them out and exhausting them.

Crazy life

I know what you are all thinking: Where is Meagan? Right? I know, I've been MIA. I was telling someone the other day that the past 6 weeks have been some of the busiest that I can remember. I will give you a quick run-down:
June 10-13: camping trip with friends up in Oklahoma
June 16: Ashley and Keaton arrive from Hawaii
June 17: drive A&K to Ardmore to meet her mom
June 19: Dave's parents arrive from GA
June 20-26: I go to Virginia for a business trip! (yes, I said business trip. It was my first in 5 years. yes, I work part time...from home...about 15 hours a week...accounting, if you must know)
June 27-July2: my cousins, Hannah and Haley, came for a visit (staying with my parents, but still...)
June 29: Eclipse Midnight showing! YEs, that is a major event in my life.
June 30: buy the minivan
June 28-July 5: Dave's sister, Ami, here for a visit. Granted, she stayed with her husband, so it didn't cause any stress
July 5-8: Ashley and Keaton and Cathy (Ashley's mom) back for a visit!
July 10: baby shower for a church friend
July 12-16: VBS at our church (thankfully, I did NOT volunteer, which turned out to be a good thing since life is so crazy)
July 15: Going away party for my sister: ladies only
July 18-21: visit to Oklahoma with my mom, dad, cousin, Tasha/girls
July 23: church going away party for my sister and her family
July 25: (TODAY): my sister moves to London, England.

As you can see, it's been crazy. The stuff that isn't on the list are things like play dates, pottery class, swimming lessons, pool time, trying to spend as much time as possible with my sister and nieces, cooking dinner, WORKING, spending time with my own husband/children. Needless to say, it's been wild. I feel like I've barely had time to breathe.

Today has been very emotional, to say the least. I feel like my right arm has been chopped off. My sister has been such a huge part of my life (obviously) these past 4 years since we've lived less than 2 miles apart. I'm sure I've depended on her in ways that I don't even know. After we said goodbye to them this afternoon, on our way home, William said to me "Mommy, I can't figure out how to keep Keira from going to London." I couldn't stop it. There was nothing I could do. I hate to see my kids sad, and it's even worse because I am just as sad.

Thankfully, we have a lot going on this week (surprise, I know). I have work, William has pottery class, we have a playdate tomorrow, dinner with friends on Thursday, dinner with friends on Saturday... Nothing will replace my sister, but it's a nice distraction and it's always fun to have activities to look forward to. I am also SO thankful for such a great church, and all of my wonderful friends there to support us during this hard transition time.

I'll leave you with a picture of a few of us friends at the going away party. Gotta love all the black...

I've got Swagger

So, I'm sure most of you have seen this video: Swagger Wagon

We have become a Swagger family. Some of you may know that my sister and her family are re-locating to London for 2 years. They leave in 3 weeks, and I'm still in denial. Anyhoo, they've been purging/getting rid of everything they either a)don't need anymore or b)can't take with them to England. They bought a Sienna last summer, and so its practically brand new. We decided to take advantage of the "family discount" and bought it from them. Dave has been ready for baby #3 for quite some time. While I do want to have a 3rd, I'm not there yet. Maybe this will get me ready?

We are loving it so far, and this video has actually made the jump a lot easier for Dave. Hudson keeps saying "let's go ride in the swagger wagon." Sure, why not?

7 Years and counting...

I absolutely can't believe that today we are celebrating 7 years being married. It has been a fun ride so far, and I'm looking forward to see what the Lord will do in our lives over the next 7 years.

Here are some pics from our wedding/reception/honeymoon 7 years ago today:

Dave's dad married us, which was SO special.

Our first dance as husband and wife.

can you tell we're excited?

honeymooning in Jamaica!

Look how YOUNG we were...

And now, 7 years later with 2 amazing little people added to our family.

It's Officially Summer!

We've hit 100 several times already, and I'm loving it! Well, I'm not loving 100 degree heat, but I am loving going to the pool everyday. Here are some pics of our first pool visit-- at a friends pool before ours opened.