Yesterday we celebrated my Dad’s 70th birthday. Seems crazy. 

We’ve gone all out on his last few big birthdays & boy has life changed from birthday to birthday.

At his 50th birthday my mom threw him a huge surprise party with a golf theme at a country club. He was in the prime of his life & living large. Family from all over flew in to surprise him.

On his 60th we planned a surprise cruise. He knew him & my mom were going on a cruise but when he turned the corner past the passport check in we were all standing there plus his mom & sister. He was so surprised and ALOT concerned about who paid for all of us 😂 At that point me, Jessica and Erica brought our boyfriends on this trip.

This picture is from Tina & Tonys fake wedding. He just looks so happy here. This was 7 years ago.

For his 65th birthday we went to Discovery Cove. We got a cabana with a butler, full bar. Everyone came plus grandma Leslie. Me and Tim were married plus little Timmy. Jessica and Matt were married and a little surprise, John was proposing to Erica. It was so cute. He had a dolphin swim over to her with a buoy that said Will you Marry me?

The years between his 65th and 70th birthday have been hard. There have been many ups and downs with his health and he now lives with me permanently. My parents have divorced and we’ve added 3 more grandkids and one on the way. Victoria has met an awesome guy who is also a chef (!!!) and my mom is engaged to a wonderful man who really loves our kids. He is the grandpa my kids might never have had. Both me & Tims dads are elderly and can’t play with the kids or spoil them the way my moms fiancé does. Nothing has shown me more that God has a plan, than this realization of the gift that Tom has been to this family. 

Now my Dad lives for the days when all his kids are in the same room. Nothing brings him more joy than to sit and listen to the laughter. So that’s just what we did for his 70th birthday. We had a feast for a king! It was a great day with my favorite company and the best chefs I know!

The grand babies!

The chefs!

The poor yummy lobsters! RIP

The birthday boy!

His mini me!

He was excited!

Carols first lobster! & she spit it out 😱

Oh how we needed this vacation!

Tim has been working insane hours and honestly I wasn’t sure this was actually going to happen. But it did and it was so awesome.

First we drove to Orlando. We left at 11:00. In the a.m. That’s right!  😳 I swear this man just can not be anywhere early. It was so hard for me to sit patiently and wait on him. But NOTHING was going to ruin this vacation even if I had to wait 4 extra hours for Mr. Dube to get himself together.

He’s worth the wait ❤️ 

But real talk his laxadaisy ways kill me 😂

We took the kids to Aquatica Waterpark and you know what’s awesome is that you have to put your phone in a locker so it doesn’t get wet. Undivided family time! There’s no pictures but that time alone with just us was priceless. Watching my kids run around with their Dad was so special for me. I snuggled with Lydia on a lounge chair and listened to all the giggles.

Then we checked into our hotel.

Harbour Lake Marriot.

Stay. There.

I feel like I should work for there marketing department. It is the best resort we’ve ever stayed at. I even wrote a review and I never do that. There was something for the kids all day and their pools were so awesome.

When we got there they had s’mores and a guitar player who let the kids sing songs. Timmy sang the ABCs. I’ll never forget the sound of his sweet voice. I wish I had recorded it.

The next day Tim had Timmy and Grace to himself while me and Lydia attended the homeschool convention. They had so much fun at this pirate ship pool.

Then gator land cane to the resort and this happened!

On the last day I took the kids to the splash pad while Daddy packed up the room. Lydia had the best time!

You really never have to leave this place. They eve have a water park type slide that Timmy loved.​

My Grace is the ultimate diva. I swear she was born to be a princess.   

Then we were on our way to Alabama to see friends. These girls have been my friends since the 5th grade. 

Reunited and it feels so good 🎤

We had the best time! I think seeing our kids play together gave us the sweetest joy. Even the rain couldn’t get us down.

The first day we ended up having our beach picnic in a parking garage. No one cared. We were just happy to be together.

The next day the weather was great.

It doesn’t get much better than that! Beer in hand with this view of cute kids running around making memories.

& matching jammies ❤️

This precious photo. My boy was in love.
It was so nice to embrace the crazy and sip wine with my girlfriends and the men were like old friends too. Makes a world of difference when the guys like each other too.

Lydia’s first vacay in the books!

Mom are ladybugs only ladies? 

No.

Oh so are they called menbugs?

😂🐞 Love this boy

That’s a 9 month costume. Can’t tell this girl it doesn’t fit 😂

This morning snuggling with all three kids because it is raining for the thousandth day.

Just look at those eyes.. they’re telling me how uncool I am because I said don’t go out in the rain. “We don’t care about the rain Mommy!”

A cowboy hat, Elsa costume & pink sparkly shoes. She’s had her own style since babyhood.

Licking the insides of a Nutella sandwich in a baby swing. Girl has the life. And clearly I’m the ultimate mom feeding my kids the most nutritious lunches.

I want to be a baby so I never have to clean again! – Grace

Lydia’s first time in her baby pool. Safety first! That’s why there’s about a centimeter of water… I have issues. 😂 Look at that smile though! She’s the best.

She was a little thirsty lol.

The best view❤️

Timmy lovessss basketball! & he’s really very good. He practices all the time thanks to memes & Tom buying him his own hoop. He’ll get up to 9 shots in a row.

Today he got medal for most enthusiastic. That’s for sure! Every week one player gets a medal for exceptional demonstration of a sportsmanship quality. He was so proud and I know it because he says as we are walking out, “Mom I’m just so proud of myself can you believe I got this medal?” He’s so awesome.

I got video of one of his shots too.​

I was sooo excited for this! & so was Timmy. All day he was counting down until we could leave. I am so blessed to be his mama. He really is the sweetest thing. He has the biggest heart and his laugh just lights up the room.

I love any time that I can pour into just one child. Really give them all my love and make them feel so special. In the middle of dancing he stops and says mommy I love spending time with you. It doesn’t get better than this.

The boys had the best time. Little dancing fools. Especially once the sugar kicked in. I love my city. They really went all out. Baby blue cupcakes, candy bar, & juice for the boys. Chicken wings & veggies for the moms. 

Did I say I love my City!! They posted these pictures this morning.

On our way home I said Timmy I love spending this time with you & he saysss, “Me too mom but I really miss Grace.”

I’m so lucky to be the mom of these sweet children.

& poof! 9 months has passed. 

This little butterball is weighing in at 20 pounds. She is suddenly a lover of all food. Like you can’t eat in front of her and expect not to share.

She is all over the place. Crawling, standing & cruising the couches.

She’s just the happiest little thing. Six teeth and I would not have know by all the happy days we have. 

I’ve been spoiling her lately & letting her nap in my arms. But I already know those snuggles don’t last forever so the house will have to wait until she is grown.

Our very first chapter book complete! This is very exciting for me. I love to read and I’m really look forward to re-reading all the classics with my children.

I tried this last year with Charlottes Web but they weren’t ready yet. This time around it was so fun. Every night we snuggled up in my bed and read as a family. I also bought the book of kids questions and we filled that out each night too.

And coincidently that night we read our last chapter, the movie was playing on TV the very next day. We ate shrimp for dinner just like the Penguins. Our shrimp was fried tho 🙈. And the kids ate their ice cream and we all watched the movie. It. Was. Terrible. They liked it but I could not keep interested. The Penguins didn’t even have the same names. Like what?!

Anyways these lucky kids got to then go to Sea World a few days later to see real Penguins. Its a miracle this all worked out & the weather was perfect.The penguin exhibit is the cutest. And Daddy bought them little penguin babies from the gift shop. For the rest of the trip I had to keep these “Penguins” cold by holding them with our frozen water bottles. The pretend play is serious over here.

I woke up to this this morning.

It’s so awesome to see them playing out parts of the book. I’m excited for our next adventure!

Today there was a dead bird in the road. Timmy got so angry and says you know what I bet I know who did this and don’t worry mom I will be having a word with them.

Timmy doesn’t like our frig because the ice maker is too noisy. Says it’s gonna wake up Grace. He just told me to try calling 772-frig-makers and get it fixed.

So I turned my backyard into a water park on a budget… these kids were singing my praises. I actually got this, “Mom thanks for buying this pool we really appreciate it!” Just 12 bucks for all this magical fun!

Added some shampoo and pool turned bath just like that.

Day 2. More dirt. Pool falling apart. Kids could care less.​

Dube Waterpark 2.0 is Swings + Sprinkler! Apparently the tiny friends are baaacccckkkk. Grace says her tiny friends are on her head taking a tour and her hair is their buckle and Timmy’s tiny friends are trying to turn the water off but they’re too small 😳

It’s SUMMER! Not actually but according to Florida conditions it’s been summer for at least a week now. Its May 1st so from here on out it water activities only or you won’t survive.

The kids don’t mind at all. Total beach babes.

I found this perfect little mini beach. Almost zero waves and the shortest walk from car to sand. The beach is hard for me with 3 kids especially since my husband isn’t big on going so that means this mama is going solo or not at all. It makes me feel like I’m on vacation even if it’s a little crazy with 2 kids and a baby. 

But seriously Lydia is the coolest baby. She hung out in her beach tent, she played in the sand and the water, she nursed and napped. She’s just a happy camper. I took a million pictures. Surprise. Surprise.

& I just love these pictures of my baby sister hanging out with my babies. She’s such a big help.

Proof of all the fun had.

It was a fun filled weekend for sure. On Saturday my friend Dawn basically had a tiny water par in her yard just for our kids. She had a big kid pool, a baby pool, a bounce house, slip & slide, water balloons & water guns. They all had the best time. 

& boy did this bring me back. Squeeze its! This has 90’s kid written all over it 😂

Aunt Dawn never disappoints. That mama pulls out all the stops. I mean it’s madness but it’s a nice treat for my kids. She has an outdoor frig stocked with ice pops, ice cream, juice & wine for the mama’s. Her supply is endless & my kids were loving it. Pretty sure they had 3 different kinds of popsicles and I just decided to call it dinner. Just look at Gracie’s face in that picture lol obviously reached her sugar max.

So now we will celebrate summer until November, where we pretend its winter but it’s really 86 on Christmas. I think we are going to travel to snow this winter and show these poor kids what it’s all about.

The way Lydia giggles when Timmy talks to her.

Finding Timmy asleep in my Dads room.

Popsicles with my kids. Grace looks like such a baby. Sometimes I forget she’s only three. 

Timmy playing football with our priest. 

A mommy love pile.

Roasting pretend marshmallows on a pretend fire and climbing real trees. Sometimes I have to just sit in my front yard and look out and pretend I live in the mountains.

Flying Kites! & these kids were so good at it.

😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

I hope he wants to snuggle with me always. You can never know when the last time will be. No one tells you that on this such and such a date cuddling with your mother will be uncool. I hope never.