Bahama Mamas

Last Thursday, four of my fellow mama buddies and I packed our bags and headed to the Bahamas for some R&R. I think I can speak for the rest of the gang when I say we had the time of our lives! John not only held the fort down with the boys, but he got Finn walking more and clinging to me less! Surely they missed their Mama, but they had some much needed Daddy time. Thank you, John, for making this trip happen!!!!

Here's our group...(L to R...Sandi Reed, Me, Amy Shell, Kim Reed, Britt Bader, Leslie Albert and Maureen Sandor)

We stayed at the Atlantis, which was wonderful. It offered the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure. This was the view from our balcony. The water was beautiful, the beds were cozy and the water slides were amazing. I have to admit that the water slides were probably my favorite thing to do. Sitting on the beach without chasing toddlers and worrying about anyone drowning was great, but the part of me with thrill issues enjoyed the water slides!

Another favorite part of the trip was eating dinner! We would eat light breakfasts and lunches and then have a nice dinner. This particular restaurant was on the Atlantis grounds, and it was so beautiful. The food was great, and the gentleman in the photo was the entertainer. The best part was not having to ask the hostess for crayons and not having to pass Cheerios out to the masses. We had adult conversation and were in no hurry to leave! It was awesome!!!

The first night we were there, we came out into the street to see a parade coming our way. This was one of the performers. Their costumes reminded me of the dancer girls from Vegas, but their sound was very unique...as were the dancers. Very cool.

Here's a picture of the hotel. We stayed in the far right building with the connector in between the buildings. I would recommend The Atlantis to anyone of any age. There was something fun for everyone!

Here we are waiting for our table for our last dinner. We were smiling because we knew we'd get to see our babies the next day. It was an incredible trip. We all voted to make it a habit to get some girl time to ourselves every once in a while.


Thanks to all the girls who went along for an amazing time! And a HUGE THANKS to our husbands for letting us go, taking such great care of our babies, and for not burning our houses down!

South Beach

After a hectic day last week, John had the great idea of heading to the beach for the evening. So we scarfed down our dinner, loaded up the car, and headed to South Beach on the island.


Jack was so excited he didn't want to eat any of his dinner. I wonder why he won't eat it all of the other nights when we don't have anywhere fun to go....?

Here's the birthday man with his boys. John turned 29 on the 23rd. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN!!!!

Finn is taking more and more steps these days. He's mastered our living room by going couch to ottoman, ottoman to chair without using his knees. He's definitely not a true walker, yet, but our days are numbered.

This is Jack's "happy face."

What a beautiful ending to a fun evening.

Back To Bluffton

As much fun as the trip to the lake was, everyone was happy to be back in their own beds and cribs. We had a busy week at home. The boys played mostly in the house, Jack had his last day of Summer Camp Preschool, and I washed, dried and folded the largest laundry pile in the history of laundry piles.


Cute picture of our little man.

Oh, and we can't forget...Jack's new specs! Aren't they so stylish? We picked them up on the way to NC last week, and it's gone pretty well. Despite the initial requests for his orange glasses, I think Jack's pretty much adjusted.

What is it with our boys and ducks? Jack was playing with his ducks on this particular morning when he discovered a new little stuffed duck in a large bin of stuffed animals that we keep in Finley's room. Jack saw it fitting to give the baby duck to his baby brother.

This was taken at Jack's request. "Take a picture of me and my ducky."

Funny Jack Story...

We were playing in the forts last night (yes, they're still around), and Jack asked that we all get into the fort because the monsters were coming. So, Finn and I crawled in behind him. Jack told me to stick my head out of the peep hole to see if I could see them. I told him that I couldn't see any monsters. Jack said, "They look like bears....Two Bears.....and they're orange...and....they smell like cookies!!!!" I asked if he could hear them and he said he could hear them singing and doing the "Oh, Yeah! Dance" which happens to be a favorite made up game of Jack's. So funny that kiddo.

Lake Tillery

Last weekend we packed our bags, our boys and a tent and headed to the sunny shores of Lake Tillery. We spent a fun-filled weekend with the Ussery family and even managed to see some of my family along the way! The weekend was full of many firsts for us. All of which went surprisingly well.


It was our first time sleeping in a tent with a child. Since the lake house was full, John, Jack and I opted for the great outdoors. The tent you see here was our home for three nights, and we all loved it! The tent is huge, so we eased our way into the camping scene by bringing along our air mattresses. Yes, it was cushy for camping, I know. But it was fun. We could look up at the stars and hear the crickets chirping and all of the other North Carolina summer night sounds that I love. We also had the pleasure of waking to some nearby construction workers hammering nails into a boat dock while singing "Hero" by Mariah Carey. You think I'm lying. It was one of those 'too weird' sleepy moments where something was happening and you incorporated it into your dream. But even my dreams aren't that strange, so I woke up to the reality of it.

The Sleepy Campers

Finn slept well inside. He was a little trooper the whole time.

He moved from the boat....

To the hammock....back to the boat, into the float, down for a nap, up for another boat run, back to Jeffrey's baseball game....Finn's a good little traveler!

Jack had his first watermelon that wasn't already cut up into a fruit salad. He enjoyed sucking his piece until it turned white. A meal wasn't complete without the addition of some watermelon goodness.

Jack thoroughly enjoyed his time with his aunts and uncles. Jeffrey was awesome with Jack. They'd chill in the hammock, eat icy pops together and go on kayak rides. Jack was so anxious the entire ride to NC because he knew our first stop was Jeffrey's baseball game in Asheboro. He'd interrupt his movie watching to ask us "We going to Jeffwee's baythbaw game???" My parents came to the first game and then my grandparents, brother, and sister in law tagged along to the second one. It was so fun to see everybody! And...we were happy that my grandmother (Mema) came and brought her good luck because she won a bicycle for Jack in a raffle they had at the game! So Jack is now the proud owner of a little red Huffy and a matching little red helmet.

Jack had his first tubing experience. He enjoyed the nice 10 mph cruising speed.

Here's Jordan being the helpful aunt to Finley.

Jeff's mustache had thickened nicely from our last visit with him:) Jack was answering the call of mother nature off of the dock.

Here's Finn with Uncle Trev. This may have been where the germ handoff took place. Trevor was sick the whole weekend and Finn is now sick. Thanks, Uncle Trev! Sharing is caring! I'm kidding by the way. They have different illnesses altogether, so please, no darts or hate mail to Trevor.

This was a fun picture of Trevor and Jordan tubing. They were amazing tubers and never let go....even with Johnny "Daredevil" Ussery at the wheel spinning them all over the lake. There must be a 'good at water sports' gene, and the entire family I married into has it. John slalomed and was amazing. Jordan popped right up and slalomed like it was nothing. Jeffrey was jumping wakes on his wakeboard. And then, Gigi nonchalantly slaloms for a long time, drops the rope because she's probably more bored than tired and then returns to the boat without a wet hair on her head. It was amazing. Hopefully it's a dominant gene that the boys will get, because I have a feeling they'll spend some time on the water.

Here was our boat full. Jack proudly gave high fives for his first tubing ride.

We can't wait to go back!!!

Summer Lovin'

We've had the most fun this summer enjoying the outdoors and the just the general awesomeness of summer. Even though no one in our home is of school age (except for pre schooler Jack), summer still carries that 'school's out' feel. At least to me.

Here's what the Usserys have been up to this week...

When I picked Jack up from preschool this week, he greeted me with the usual huge smile and "MOMMY!!!!". After our hug, he stepped back pointed to his new prized possession: this hand printed T-shirt. He was so happy to tell me all about putting paint on his hands and then washing his hands in the water. "The brown water, Mommy." Needless to say he wore the shirt all day and only let John remove it after John promised to hang it in our dining room window so everyone driving by could see it.

On Tuesday nights in Bluffton you can go to the local movie theater for an outdoor concert by the Headliners. This week was our first time going, and the boys loved it. Finn enjoyed watching all of the people, and the people all enjoyed watching Jack and his buddy, Gracen, tearing it up on the dance floor.

While the jury is still out on exactly what Jack's future talents will be, we're pretty sure it won't be dancing. Outside of proms and weddings, that should actually make life easier than harder for a boy. He kept making the funniest faces when he was groovin'...somewhat reminiscent of Elaine from Seinfeld.

The sweaty Ussery family...

John's brother, Jeff, was in town a few days this week. Jack had a lot of fun playing with him. Here's a great shot of the Ussery men.

On that same night, they visited with John's Grandmother, Catherine. She lit up like the 4th of July when she saw her grandsons and her great-grandsons.

Finn obviously loved hanging out with Jeff, too. Maybe it was Jeff's amazing baby skillz....or the tribute to Asheboro that's growing over his upper lip. Check it out.

Yesterday we had a fort painting party. After preschool, Jack, Gracen and Charlie came back to our house, changed into play clothes and slung paint all over the back yard. Some of it landed on the fort. The rest landed on Finn.

Jack made his body a piece of art as well....("washable"...not so much)

Now that Finley is of playing age, I thought it was time to introduce his playmates: Here's Pavin (Gracen's brother) on the left and Shane (Charlie's brother) on the right. Finn is the oldest by 4 weeks, then it's Shane by 4 weeks and then there's Pavin, who happens to be the youngest AND the biggest!:)

I think Charlie was either having fun, high on paint fumes or drunk off of icy pop sugar. Maybe all three?

Finn was into icy pop stealing that day.

The little boy standing up is our new neighbor, Bodie. He's almost 2. It was his first paint experience, and he had a great time!


***Fungus Among Us Update***

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! John visited MUSC again this week and was told that he is officially considered healed from the horrible eye problem he's faced for the past 2 months. We are so thankful to God for healing him and for the incredible physicians He placed in John's path. Thank you for all of your prayers and concern! We're blessed beyond measure.

Jack also had his eye doctor check up this week. His farsightedness has worsened, which they expected to happen and consider normal. However, it does mean....NEW RIMS! So, stay tuned for Jack's new glasses.

4th and Forts

Happy Belated 4th of July to everyone!

We had a super July 4th this year. John had the day off, and we spent the morning at the pool as a family. The weather wasn't too hot, and the kids weren't cranky! It was the perfect way to celebrate the blessing of living in the USA!


After the boys napped, we headed onto the island for dinner and fireworks with Gigi, Poppy Johnny, Jackie and Luke. We all had so much fun! We were a little nervous that Finn would scream through the entire firework's show, but he sat there and stared in amazement! We took a boat ride down to Shelter Cove and had the best view.

Gigi took this adorable picture of Jack that night. As the boats paraded by their home, he waved at almost all of them, and screamed "HELLO!" to all the passerby. "Shy" would not exactly describe our firstborn.


Check out the legs on this one! As I've said before, baby shoes still hold the #1 spot in the Cutest Baby Thing List. There's just something about them! It doesn't hurt that the sticks of chub that are shoved into them happen to be the best set of baby legs around.

Finn doesn't really NEED shoes right now, but I thought it would be cute to give them a whirl. He enjoyed walking behind his push toy with them, but then he seemed to prefer chewing on the laces better. Our dentist would be proud.

And this pretty much sums up what a day in the Ussery household is like. When I do the kids' laundry, I sit in the floor of Finn's room and make little piles all around me. The boys really like hiding in the closet, which I let them do in order to keep them from destroying my immaculate clothes' piles. Instead of destroying the clothes, they chose to destroy the diaper stacks and chew on ripped up book pages. Oh, boy. And Finn isn't even walking yet.

What says summer better than icy pops? I bought a bag of the frozen goodness at Walmart a few weeks ago. Let me tell you...Flav-o-Ice has stepped it up a notch from the basic orange, grape and cherry days. They have pina colada, peach (that tastes like real peaches and not artificial peach flavoring), and pineapple. Since I know all the flavors, that means I've had my fair share of them, huh? Jack and Gracen enjoyed their icy pops during our small group cornhole game in the rain last night. They haven't quite mastered the art of pushing the pop up out of the plastic tubing. Instead they push is too hard and it falls out, and then they're upset. And that's when I tell them it's okay to eat it off of the table.

It's been a year and a half since we built a fort in what should be our dining room, so I decided it was time to bring the forts back! Thanks to Jordan and Trevor, we had an abundance of boxes from all the shipped furniture, and the washer and dryer (that are AWESOME and are now in our laundry room! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!) that will not be feasible to fit into their future NYC dwelling space. Those boxes looked so usable and fort-worthy, that we couldn't pass up the opportunity! To the left is a house-like fort with pop up windows, and on the right is what I tried to make a train.

Since it rained during our small group party, the kids were able to enjoy themselves inside. I thought Jack and Gracen would be the only ones to enjoy it, but.....

I was wrong. Finn and Pavin loved crawling around in there themselves.

And this morning, the boys and I played in the train. It was all fun until I realized that coming out was much harder than going in. The door was not made quite wide enough for adult butt. Blame it on the icy pops.

My Hibiscus is a Jerk

Some have a green thumb. I have a gangrenous thumb. It's been proven many times. You could fill an entire plant cemetery with all the ones I've killed. So, you can imagine when my mother in law gave me these beautiful hibiscus plants, that I sighed thinking how the poor plant didn't know what it had coming. Look below to see how I was WRONG!




Want to know how I didn't kill this one? I went out of town for a week and didn't have anyone water it, put it in the shade, put it in the sun, pray for it, nothing. And it blossomed tenfold. Before we left, the leaves were drying and yellowing. I'd pick them off very gently as to not damage the other green leaves and potential buds. The plants were watered exactly as instructed on the card that came with them, and their sun exposure was as recommended. Yet, the plant continued to look like dung. Basically it looked like the picture above minus all of the orange, plus lots of brown. So we go out of town. It didn't dawn on me until midweek that I'd forgotten to ask anyone to care for the plants. Oh well. They were dying anyway, right?

When we got home, and I saw that the plants had thrived, I wanted to kick them and kiss and shout hallelujas all at the same time. But instead I took this picture and have been staring at them for the past few days now wondering if I should let them do their thing or step in and micro manage again. Either way, this blog is here to document that the orange hibiscuses have lived for one month under three weeks of my TLC. A true milestone!