Coming Up for Air

I haven't posted anything for a while on here, and it really is not like me to be radio silent for so long.
I feel like I can't move on with this blog until I address the elephant in the room. It has been extremely hard for me to move on with my life since my brother Thomas died. He passed away unexpectedly at the end of August, actually it was the girl's second day of school. I left in a rush to be with my family, and many things here at home got dropped or put on hold at that time.

Since being back home I have struggled to settle down into normal life again. Things are getting better now. I fight myself most days to get out and be around people. My instinct is to hide away from the world and lick my wounds. I have been committing myself to do things with people. That way I have no excuse, I have to get out; I have to smile and chat. I have been scheduling things at my house during the day. Filling up my rooms with other moms and children, with laughs and smiles, and noise. It helps me to forget, for a while. I dread when everyone leaves, the emptiness of my house is too much. I hate when it's time for me go home from being out with people. I don't quite know what to do with myself.

It's getting better though. I don't cry all the time anymore. I can get myself up and moving without much of a struggle anymore. Life keeps on moving, and it's taking me with it. I feel like I have been drowning, slowly sinking below the surface, but now I can feel myself rising up again. I have broken through the surface of the water and taken a breath.

I'm moving forward, and with that movement comes updating our family blog.
More to come soon,
I promise.

Traveling with the Poyfair's.

The Poyfair's have been on the move for last few weeks. It's summer, and that means vacation time! 

Emilie has been visiting my folks for the summer, so instead of being five to one, our numbers decreased to 4:1 for a while. It was a glorious renunion with her when we arrived bleary eyed (after a 20 hour drive) in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Since then we have hiked, sunbathed, shot guns, and shopped. Met up with old friends, ridden a Ferris wheel, and taken countless walks. 

We drove to Newport Beach, CA for our traditional week at the beach with my parents.

We ate ice cream, smelled stinky fish, climbed on rocks, and jumped off the lifeguard stand. We built sandcastles, wore gallons of sunscreen, still got a little burnt, and took a million pictures.

Back at the Old Sneddon Place, we jumped on the trampoline, played horse shoes, hot tubbed, and roasted marshmallows.

We had a wonderful time! We made tons of new memories, and it has been the perfect end to our summer vacation. Now, we are packed into our van,

headed back home to Texas. We'll get there sometime tomorrow, then we'll jump right into back to school preparations. 

Life never seems to slow down for long, but I don't think I'd want it any other way. 

Happy summer!!!

Time with Grandma Yellow

Back in May, my mom came for nice long visit. She was here for Memorial Day, her birthday, my birthday, field day, Kindergarten performance night, and the last day of school. It was whirlwind, and it was awesome!

I love spending time with my mom, and I love that my girls love spending time with her too. She sure kept me busy on this visit. Aside from all the celebrations, and end of the school year stuff, she got me working on my front yard.

To say that it looked rough, would be a huge understatement. I pretty much did nothing with the outside of my house for a year. School was taking most of my time, and the family was taking the rest. Something had to get neglected, the yard was it! While Mom was here, we cleaned out the flower bed, and filled it in with some beautiful flowers and grasses. We were smart and got mostly perennials, so I won't have to fill it all in next year too. We planted flowers in the planters around my trees, and she hooked me up with some awesome flower pots, herbs , and a new rose bush to replace the one a certain husband of mine killed. My favorite part is the new Chaste trees that line the fence. I have five purple flowering trees now, and they look FAB! I can't wait for them to grow in more and fill in that space. Thanks to Mom's green thumb, that seems to be finally rubbing off on me, it looks like it wont be long till that whole fence is filled in with big fluffy purple trees.

But, we did more that just garden while she was here. I was shocked to discover that in all her visits here I've never taken her into the city. It was time to correct that mistake! We went to the Water Gardens one day while Adelaide played hooky from school. I took all the girls to the Botanical Garden where we finally got some updated pictures of the the girls for Mom to take home.

 We went to lunch at Terra, one of my favorite Ft. Worth restaurants, and we played a lot with the kids. We also did a ton of shopping. Hopefully we didn't break the bank too badly!

It was wonderful having her here, the girls had the best time and were so sad for her to leave. Emilie, however, got a special treat. She flew back to Las Vegas with Mom, and has been spending her summer there getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. They have had her all to themselves for a month now. She got to go to an awesome Girls Camp with my parents ward, and she is making new friends, and having fun with the girls there. I must admit, I miss her terribly. I keep thinking I am leaving someone behind when I take the kids anywhere. I also keep thinking, "oh man, Emilie would love this!" every time we do something fun. We are driving out next week for our summer vacation. I can't wait to see my girl again, and I'm also looking forward to more time with my folks. A week at Newport Beach is going to do wonders for this old girl. I need a week on the sand!

Field Day Tug-o-war

Oh what do we do in the Summertime . . .

 It seems like everyday in the summer, I'm trying to figure out how to keep kids occupied. I feel like letting them sit around in pj's all day watching Power Puff Girl and MLP re-runs is a huge mom fail. Of course I know that's not true . . .  at least not entirely true.

My solution to this summer dilemma is to keep them busy. Each week I keep us on the move. We go to parks with splash pads, to the lake, to story time. We do kids crafts, and have friends over to play. We take short day trips so I can photograph life. 

The kids have a blast.  For them it's always "the best summer ever!"  

I love doing this for them. It makes me happy, and gives me purpose. I love spending time with my girls. They make me laugh. They bring me great joy. 

I admit, Carmella's sassy summer attitude is wearing on me, and I'm a little tired of breaking up arguements about who gets to be Elsa. But, beyond all that, I love my summers with my daughters. I hope they remember these times when they are older. If they don't, I'll make sure to remind them!