Finally... the Beach...

I am sitting at the Ft. Lauderdale and have been sitting here for oh about 3 HOURS!!! So, I decided to update the blog and I am behind!!! SO, here are some pictures from our trip to San Destin for the SEC Spring meeting. We had the best time ever!!!





OUr annual family picture before the SEC reception!





my little beach bums!




love this picture of these two!!




lunch at Barefoots... YUMMY!





not sure what this is... no it is not oil... just a yucky slimy thing from the ocean...












Little Mama with EC




working hard... with a little help from the daddy!






Ben and Olivia with their sandcastle masterpiece




Katie with her new friend...

Sneak Peek from the Beach....

this was one of my favorite pictures from our week at the beach... a totally unposed..really... picture of our family...
We had a GREAT week and will blog hopefully later this week before Craig and I leave on our CRUISE!!!!

The End of and ERA....

Thursday night, Ben graduated from preschool at Primrose and Friday we walked out of Primrose for the last time after 7 years!!! It was kinda weird, bittersweet, freeing... weird.... It is truly the end of an era in our family... and the start of a little more cash in our bank account!!! woohoo!!! Honestly, it was the best money spent, knowing our kids were loved, taught, and cared for while we worked. Some people have different thoughts on raising kids and staying at home with them... but this worked for our family. I love my job and know that is where God wants me to be and I know in my heart my children had a great experience at Primrose. They developed socially and emotionally!! I am forever grateful to the teachers and owners of Primrose. Now, we are all excited to have 3 out of 4 people in the same place starting in August. Ben is so excited about being at Greystone and so am I!!
Ben did AWESOME at graduation, for anyone who really knows Ben, you know that you NEVER know how the little guy is going to act in a given situation. He walked down, smile on his face... and sat with his friends... SANG the songs and STOMPED in his BOOTs to receive his diploma from the beloved Ms. Collette. It is proof there is POWER in a teacher... He would do anything Ms. Collette told him to!!! We were sooo very proud of him and how much he has matured this year... It proved to me that he is indeed to start "big School" in the fall!!! Here are some pictures from the night!!!




Ben singing the spanish song





Katie was so proud of her brother!




The "bigs" with the "littles" we love this family!!





Our family!



Ben with the MIMI and Pops!!



Baylor and Ben.. maybe they will meet up at Auburn one day!!




This is the crew!!!! Such good friends!!!

ARRRGH, its a Pirate birthday for Ben....

Friday night, we celebrated Ben's 5th birthday with a Pirate/sports party at SportsBlast. Ben wanted a Pirate cake and SportsBlast is just a great EASY birthday location for kids to run and go home exhausted. My friend, Wendy, did the cake again and of course it was ADORABLE!!! I always say the last one was my favorite but then she does another cake for me and it becomes my favorite... I mean, how cute is this:




So Ben and 22 of his closest friends met at Sportsblast for games, pizza, cake and fun... LOTS OF FUN... Here are pics from the totally awesome night with our good friends... and truely these people are GOOD people... Next week is our last week at Primrose and I will really miss seeing these folks at least once a month at a party... (but I will not miss writing that check hee hee) We are so lucky to have these friends in our life!!


they do love each other! :)



playing sharks and minnows... Ben was the ShARK!!!









Daddy comforting Ben after been stepped on...




The whole party gang!

























The REAL working Housewives of PRIMROSE... We have been together for a LONG time... it is like the end of an era... bittersweet!














The Mattox and Oldenburg kids... GREAT FRIENDS!!!!

Dancing Queen....

On Sunday we had Katie's 3rd dance recital! This year Katie has learned so much and really "grown" into a little dancer. Watching Katie at home I knew she was a good dancer but watching her shine on stage I was really proud of actually how good she is. I know I am her mommy, but really she has SKILLS!! hee hee. She really loves to dance and takes it seriously and works really hard on her technique. She had the best time with her friends and was so excited about Sunday. At the end of the show they handed out awards (something they have never done before) and so about 15 girls out of like 200 total girls walk out on stage and Katie was one of them!!! She recieved the Dedication award for showing the most dedication...We were so proud of her. It was such a great day with both sets of grandparents in attendance and many friends. Below are pictures of the recital....

Bon Jovi... Concert #3!!!

I went over to ATL with 3 good friends to enjoy another Bon Jovi Concert. It was soooo good and such a fun night!!!



The Girls.... Me, Amber, Cammie and Kelly!!!!

Indy Race Day....

I don't have many pics from this day and will try to upload more when I get the chance... But here are a couple from our day at the Indy Race. It was alot of fun and a new experience for the Mattox Clan... Ben left wanting to be a racecar driver when he grows up! I left happy that I got a glimpse of Patrick Dempsey!! hee hee!!!



Standing in front of Patrick Dempsey's race car!!! Oh YEh!!!



watching a little race action.