Trip #1

I never seem to blog enough so then I have huge "round up" posts - guess you can settle in and catch up!!

The past 2 weeks, Charlotte and I have made 2 trips north!  We are looking forward to a couple weeks at home before Jeff travels to Brunei (on the island of Malasia) for a work trip for about 10 days.  When that happens, Charlotte and I are planning to take some long trips to KY and TN to keep company with friends and family :)  Anyway, back to our first trip.

Jeff had a long week at work, plus a lot of freelance video work to do the week of Feb 20th, so that Thursday - Saturday, Charlotte and I decided to visit Spring Hill.  It actually worked out perfectly, that Thursday morning, my grandmother fell in her home and had to be taken to the hospital.  My dad was in Seattle and my mom was stuck at work, so since I was actually heading up to visit her that morning, I took a detour to the hospital instead.  Since spending hours at the hospital wasn't great for a 3 year old, my dear friend Allison let me drop Charlotte off at her house to spend the day.  I was glad I was able to be with Nana in the ER., she was dehydrated, among other things, so she was pretty loopy and weak.  Though it was not the exact way I wanted to visit her, it was the best thing I could have done for her. After she was moved upstairs to her permanent room, I left so she could get some rest.

At that point, C had just laid down for her nap, so I went ahead to Encores Consignment sale to  stock up on clothes and toys for the upcoming season.  I do this twice a year, and was really glad I could schedule a TN trip during the sale. Before we left, Charlotte was very patient with me and let me try on all of her summer clothes that were 2T so I could make a list of things she'll need. :)

I aways take pictures of the clothes that still fit, so I can match the new stuff!

My mom got off work and picked C up at Allison's house so I had a little more free time to myself!!  After Encores, I went to get my haircut. I had it straightened with my new Wet to Dry straightener so wanted to get it dry cut so I'd know what it would look like straight.  During the haircut, I was told I have thin hair, seriously?? I always thought of my hair as think and wavy - it is as a whole, but apparently each hair is actually thin.  The hair dresser said I need to use a leave in conditioner to make it silkier and shinier. I always wanted that, but thought my dried out/somewhat frizzy hair was just how it is.  After she put on that conditioner, I was sold! My hair looked and felt so much better.  I never buy the products they suggest but I did this time.  How did I go 28 years and never know this!?  Yay for new hair! haha  Afterward, I headed back to my parents house to spend the night.  Mom and I were both worn out and watched Water for Elephants - it was a wonderful movie!

The next day, we meet Allison and her kiddos Hazen and Laney at Let It Shine Gymnastics.  On Fridays, they have open play for an hour, for $5 bucks the kids get to jump on trampolines, try out some of the gymnastics equipment and have a good time getting some energy out!!  Charlotte loved it all!  I am hoping the next trip to Spring Hill will be on a friday so we can go again!!

Falling in the foam blocks

Running down the super long trampoline

Rolling down the mats

Mom took Charlotte home afterwards and let me have even more "me" time!!  I wasn't as successful at the Encores sale as I had hoped, so I visited the consignment shop in town "Here We Grow Again" and found a few things there. My next stop was Goodwill - and I always find good stuff there!  Clothes for C, a shirt for jeff, and of course new toys.  I can't help but buy stuff for Charlotte. I never find anything for myself.  I guess that is part of being a mom!

We spent Saturday with my Dad and just had a little trip to the library (as Charlotte calls it, her "old" library) to play with the trains.



All in all, it was a busy but wonderful visit home!

Christmas 2011

So we're a month past Christmas but I figured better late than never!   It was a different Christmas this year, with our being in Alabama we traveled the entire holiday and didn't get to have Christmas morning at our house :( I know other people have done this for years, and that this is just Charlotte's 3rd Christmas so it isn't a long standing tradition, but we missed it this year!  But I think we made the best of it and had a wonderful Christmas!

The Lyons Family Christmas: We traveled up to Bowling Green Kentucky Friday morning to spend some time with Jeff's side of the family.  We hung out on Friday and all the family came to Jim and Jolene's house Saturday for Christmas Eve fun.  We ate a great lunch, hung out with family, and watched all the cousins play together! That's the best part of Christmas to me  - seeing Charlotte enjoy her time with family, especially those that we don't see very often.  That evening we opened presents - it was fun chaos ;)   We had to pack up that night and head back down the Spring Hill, TN, but we had a fantastic Christmas Eve in Bowling Green!  Here are a couple photos from our trip, if you'd like to see more head here to Jeff's photo gallery.











We spent Christmas morning at my parents house in Spring Hill.  While we missed having it at our house, it was great being able to share in the Santa fun with my parents, sister, and Nana. Charlotte loved all her Santa toys!  (yes, it was a lot but they were all consignment sale buys or free from Kohls! Charlotte may be a bit spoiled but my wallet was happy.)







After Santa time, we had a great brunch and set about opening presents!!  We take turns opening presents so it takes a bit to get through them all - Charlotte actually lost interest in opening her gifts!  Regardless, we had a great time enjoying each others company and then playing with all our new toys.











All in all, it was a great Christmas spent with lots of family.  :)

To see more photos you can also visit my Facebook Album.

Halloween Weekend

We had a fantastic Halloween weekend!  We journeyed back up to Spring Hill Friday night, visited with friends to catch some of the World Series, and spent the night at my parents house.  Charlotte looooves sleeping at Nan and G's house up on the Ridge!  Saturday we just got to enjoy the day and prepare for the bonfire!

During Charlotte's nap Jeff and I got to have a little afternoon date - lunch and a movie, we saw "In Time" - it was great!  When we got back it was bonfire time!  I love having bonfire's at mom and dad's house.  I remember when our church was small enough that we all gathered at the Ridge to fellowship around the fire at least once a year!  Charlotte really got into the bonfire this year and was very excited about G starting the fire.  We had hot dogs, smores, and just enjoyed being outdoors with friends and family!

The next morning we got to head back to The Bridge for church - it was like we'd never left!  That afternoon Jeff and I got another mini-date - we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch Titans game!  It was nice just being together :)   When the game was over and Charlotte was done with her nap it was costume time!  She was the cutest ballerina ever!!!!

We headed to the Bridge for our church's annual "Trunk or Treat"  and Charlotte had a blast jumping in the moon bounce, trick or treating around the trunks, petting the pony, and seeing friends.

Our little family was exhausted that night and headed back to Huntsville.

Monday was officially Halloween, and that morning Charlotte and I headed to our public library for their trick or treating!  They had story time, crafts, and of course trick or treating around the different areas in the library.  It was a very nice and safe thing for them to do for our little ones.

Sadly, we got no trick or treaters at our door that night :(  I was all ready too!! I guess we'll just have to eat the candy.... oh well.... hehe

Enjoy the gallery below of all the photos from our Halloween Weekend!

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Ring Farm Trip

Fall is here!  With Falls arrival it was time for us to get out in the fresh air and enjoy some corn, cotton, and pumpkins!  There is a farm just a few minutes south of here in Columbia called 'Ring Farm' that is run by a family.  They have a 12 acre corn maze that they cut in the shape of a county in TN with cities and points of interest along the way.  This year was Rutherford county - oh the things you can learn about Murfreesboro and Lascassas :)  The had other festivities like cotton picking, a hayride, a 40 foot slide, corn shooter, playground, and more.

Sunday afternoon me, my mom, sister, Charlotte, and our friend Tracy and her son Nathan all loaded up and headed out. We had  a wonderful time on this sunny yet cool and windy day.  The photo ops were plentiful as you can see below - no better opportunity for some fall photos!

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Gulf Shores Vacation

A few weeks ago we took a wonderful vacation to Gulf Shores Alabama.  We were long overdue for a vacation and were excited to take our first one with Charlotte Bug!  The trip planning was actually my mom's doing.  A friend of her's has a boss with a condo that he rents out on a vacation rental website.  Mom jumped on and looked at it and it was 3 bedroom and 3 full bath - perfect for all of us! We worked it out so that Mom and Dad went down August 16th (Sunday) for Mom's birthday and their anniversary and were on their own from then until we (Jeff, me, Charlotte and my sister Hannah) drove down Wednesday. We had a great couple days as a family and then Mom, Dad, and Hannah left Friday and me, Jeff and Charlotte got the condo to ourselves until Sunday. (Our anniversary was Thursday the 20th) Shew! It took a lot of planning out all the details but it worked out perfect - and we got a cheaper rate for staying there so long!

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Find our "more" about our condo and the beach!

Labor Day

Sunday! This post continues from the previous post in Owensboro... Mom, Charlotte and I left Owensboro and headed to Bowling Green after lunch on Sunday.  Mom left Charlotte and I there and she kept driving south while at the same time, Jeff drove up from Spring Hill to meet us there.  We met up at his parents new house in Bowling Green! Jeff and his family are pretty much from Bowling Green but a couple years ago his parents decided to move down to Gallatin TN to be "empty nesters."  They were not as happy with their new "downsized" home or its location and really missed Bowling Green.  All that to say, they decided a few months back to go ahead and move back.  They found a wonderful home that is perfect for them and perfect for all the family!  All their kids are married now and grandkids are starting to pop up so more space is a must!  Jeff is of course the resident tech go-to-guy so he was called upon to set up their entertainment system so that was his main job Sunday.  All this back story to say, Jeff and I were at their house Sunday to spend the night and spend some of Labor Day with them.

Charlotte had been much better during the morning and early afternoon on Sunday but by later afternoon she was getting a little fussier and snuffy so we laid her down and she fell asleep early - about 6:45!  The grown ups had a wonderful home cooked pot roast for dinner and then Jeff and I had a date night!  We took advantage of Charlotte's sleeping and having someone there to watch her and took off into the big city of Bowling Green!  We drove around for a good hour partly looking for something to do and partly seeing what has changed since we had lived there and of course reminiscing our youth years!

Owensboro Visit

The Lyons and Shoopman Families were totally wiped out from our busy weeks and dad's birthday party on Friday night, but Saturday morning came early and Mom, Charlotte and I packed up and headed up I-65 for Kentucky.

Owensboro was our first big stop and we got to take Charlotte to her first Dove Hunt on the Rudy Farm... oh yea baby. She loved being outside in the breeze and being loved on by her great aunts, uncles, and cousins.  She surprised me and was not at all bothered by the shot guns going off in the field around us (we were safely tucked inside the "shop" but I still had to work on calming my "momma nerves" with guns being around my baby!)  I was upset by seeing the poor little birdies shot out of the sky... even more so when I was shown their decapitated heads... needless to say we did not stick around for the grilling time. *shudders*  I love my family and love that they love what they do, but I am for sure a city girl and that is reinforced in me at times like this!

Anytime we are in Owensboro we stay with my Nana.  She is technically my mom's step-mother but as she became a Rudy when mom was just 11 they are very close and the only Nana Rudy I know.  Nana is approaching 85 and is in wonderful physical health but is showing signs of her age when it comes to her mental state.  Her short term memory is at times very very short, but regardless she loves seeing little Charlotte bug and gets excited for her visits. It was wonderful seeing them play together on the floor.   If you see the photo below they are playing on the floor together on the quilt that Nana embroidered for me when I was born.  It meant a lot to all 4 generations of women in that house to have them share moments together on that blanket.  Nana read Charlotte's book to her, Charlotte talked back and just smiled at her Nana - even showed her how she is just about ready to take off crawling.  It was precious time spent together.

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Here is "more" about the wedding

Owensboro Trip

Its a week late, but I wanted to share Charlottes first visit to her Rudy family in Owensboro. My mom's family all still lives in Owensboro KY and we try to make it up there as much as we can. Charlotte took her first trip up there at 7 weeks old. It was just us girls going up there (it was a thursday and friday so our men were working) and Charlotte did wonderful on the 3 hour trip - she slept the whole time! She woke up in the middle of the trip for enough time to eat and then was back down til we got to Nanas house.

It was wonderful seeing Nana. She has so many grandchildren and even great-grandchildren, but it was her first coming from mom's daughters and of course my first. My grandmother is 80+ and is suffering from dementia so she while she remembers everyone fine (unlike Alzheimers) she has trouble remember recent events, conversations, or to dos. She knew exactly who Charlotte was and was so excited to be able to hold this little angel. Nana held her as much as possible, fed her, burped her, and cuddled her while she slept. It was very special to both Mom and I that Charlotte was able to spend some time with her Nana. We know that Nana probably won't be here in years to come, and Charlotte probably won't be able to remember her time shared with Nana, but we will have those memories and photos to pass on to her about her great-grandmother.