September wasn't SO long ago..

Prior to our furniture arriving, we had some home improvement & demo projects we wanted to take care of first.. from a fence outside, to new carpets, paint, and the like, we gave most every room in the house a makeover to turn back the clock a bit.. but lets face it, before and afters and SO much fun and need a post of their own!  *Stay tuned, coming soon!! :)

Sir L started pre-K just after the others headed off, and boy was he READY!  After such a successful year of school in Brazil, it was hard for him to cope with the fact that he just barely missed the Kindergarten cut off and would no longer be attending the same campus as his older brother and sis..  Thankfully he has an awesome teacher who quickly changed his disappointed tune! :)

Princess P, not being one to be left out of the excitement, kept life interesting by taking a trip down memory lane and chopping off her locks (again!) with the enlisted help of her big brother to "get the back"..

L tried desperately to keep from laughing, and getting in more trouble, after I "fixed" P's hair and shaved his for lasting impression (and slight comic relief of mom!).. but it really is hard to keep a straight face when a certain someone clearly got EXACTLY what she wanted.. AGAIN. :P

"Look mom!  Don't I look so super cute now?!"
"Wow!  I am TOTALLY awesome!"
"I look so super cool!  Right mom?" ..these taunting comments came daily for weeks after.. good thing she's cute!

Then finally, the day we had been waiting for finally arrived!  I didn't even care how much work was ahead of us when I saw this beauty pull up!  I just wanted a couch to sit on, and toys (other than scissors!) for my kids to play with! :)  This lovely day in late September, we FINALLY felt "home"!

Excuses vs REASONS

So I can throw out a number of cards here to make my disturbingly long absence seem like less of my fault.. or at least help to ease the pain of having dropped the ball so terribly!  From the relaunch of baileysblossoms.com to the renovations on our home, our furniture arriving, school starting, holidays raining in without proper warning, countless family visits, and (GASP!) another baby on the way!, I've kind of let my photo organization, and therefore blogging, completely slide!  I made some wonderful New Years Resolutions to help get back on track, but who knew January and February would speed by faster than I could catch my breath?!  New Years resolutions still count if started in March right?  *Feel free to say yes.  You're SO sweet! :D

Well, with little Marshall Scott arriving in just over 8 weeks now, I figure I have 8 weeks to get everything back in line before I lose my mind.  Again.  That's doable right?  So, without further adieu, it's time to rehash the past a bit in order to keep future teenage conversations of, "See, you DO love _____ more, because you ALWAYS blogged about their _____'s!", at a minimum..

AUGUST.  It came.  It went.  We were in an empty house.  And it was HOT!  But alas, in between the bubble blowing, water gun fights, eating on camp chairs and family sleepovers on the floor, the older kids started school, I relaunched my site, and we had TWO birthdays to celebrate!  Our sweet Handsome H turned the big 6, and my handsome hubby forgot how old he was..  The true mark of age ;)

Just because we were living on borrowed camp chairs and a coveted lazy boy doesn't mean we skimped either!  Breakfast in a box-bed can be quite an adventure too!  By the time we brought it up to him (at 6:45am!), he was already dressed and ready for the day.  Aka - just a smidgen excited ;)

We started the day off with some high flying fun..

Then headed on over to Chik-Fil-A for lunch out with mom,

AND dad!  (A first time daddy-showing which made a few siblings rather jealous might I add!)

 

The kids and I brainstormed long and hard over what to give this sweet boy this year.  He is a MAJOR hoarder, I mean collector, finding value in all sorts of garbage treasure!  In order to cut down on the empty bottles, scraps of paper, and the like, we gave him some healthy alternatives:  Exibit A - KEYS!  They're SO cool and he was ecstatic!

Exibit B - Seashells.  Because I miss Brazil terribly! :(

He also got rocks & coins from grandparents. :)  We switched it  up a bit with what has become the boys' all time favorite movie: The 3 Ninjas,

and some legit water guns that made the girls a tad jealous, and VERY wet! 

Last but not least was a treasure box to sort all of his goodies :)

Have you ever seen a more happy and handsome kid?!  I mean really..

But the icing on the cake is definitely having cousins 15minutes down the road!  Cupcakes anyone?

All in all it was a great day!  This sweet boy has blessed our lives more than I can say.  He has a heart of gold and is growing up so fast.. it's truly amazing to watch him become quite the little man! :)

Speaking of men, my main man celebrated his big day too!  By that time I had gotten my Silhouette Cameo and was able to try it out to make a quick banner..  

But as cool as my banner was, the surprise grill definitely outshone it!  ..And the awesomely massive steaks to go on it.. ;)  Looks like we are officially Texans now!

Happy (belated) birthday to my two handsome men!.. even if this is a bit late getting up, the intention to do so was always there.  It's the thought that counts right??..

And last but not least in the August brigade was the first day of school!  Orientation was quite the ordeal with the entry ways to the elementary lined with perky teens in all their cheer-leading glory.  Miss B was in awe.  Handsome H was in love.  I thought of the future, and was thoroughly terrified.

Once again we have been blessed to get two AMAZING teachers!  Miss B entered 2nd and Handsome H started 1st grade.. I cried.  A LOT.

Thanks to my handy Cameo, teacher gifts for the 1st day were a breeze!  And addictively fun! :)

Then the beasts starting showing up.  Pallets of product for my Bailey's Blossoms site relaunch.  My neighbors congratulated me on our furniture arriving.  I sheepishly admitted that it wasn't the furniture, and that I have severe shopaholic tendencies..

This was about when I started to really lose my mind..  Like wearing two different earrings all day (hair up!) and not noticing until your 4yr old points it out to you kind of crazy.  Yeah.  Good times.

Grandparents came to visit and we took them to their first baseball game!  On the way there, they asked what baseball was.  I then realized that I am a pitiful American parent.  The horror!

Baby C won the heart of Grandma.  Again. :)

And just in case that isn't enough to squeeze into 31 days, we whipped up this "responsibility rock" jar for the kiddos to earn their very own PUPPY!  I mentioned that I have certifiably lost my mind right?

The good news is..

We officially moved into our house the 1st of June.  It has been a crazy 3 months since that finally happened! When you're in the midst of those transitional moments, they seem to drag on FOREVER, but when you look back, it's much easier to say, "huh, that wasn't so bad!".. I'm assuming it'll be the same for when our belongings finally arrive from Brazil.  The good news is, they're FINALLY on their way!!  The bad news?  It didn't quite make it in time for my parents' 13 day stay with us this past week and a half.  The good news?  It was pretty cute seeing my dad work in a borrowed camp chair, with his laptop propped up on an empty moving box.  The bad news?  My dad worked in a borrowed camp chair, with his laptop propped up on an empty moving box!  Oh, and they slept on an air mattress on the floor.. some host I turned out to be! :P

For having "nothing", it really is amazing how dirty a house can get!  I mean, before the Texas heat turned up, it was fine being empty handed - we were outside playing ALL DAY every day, and LOVED it!!

We've met some awesomely authentic neighbor friends too!  Okay, so my real neighbors are MUCH prettier, but isn't that little baby cow just adorable?!  Nothing says Texas quite like a sweet and happy baby cow.. well, happy until his mom ends up on your plate anyways..

It's AMAZING how much "stuff" there is to do in the States!  I didn't realize how incredibly spoiled we were!  I swear there are probably 1000+ museums, theme and water parks, zoos, libraries, recreational facilities, and SO much more within a 20 mile radius of us (I'd be more dramatic and say 5, but we kind of live in the middle of nowhere..)!  Now that we are stuck inside due to the heat, you would think that would stop us from enjoying nature, but no!  We Hooley's just bring nature on inside..

Impromptu Roly Poly Farm anyone??  Good news is, I have a pretty decent sense of humor.  Bad news?  This carpet was installed literally DAYS before this happened..  Good news is just days before, I also received a lovely new vacuum courtesy of Amazon (and my husbands check book..).  Bad news?  Watching mom "kill nature" may have permanently scarred my tender hearted son.. oops..

"Creative" is a word that I like to think I can identify with, but 3 months with limited toys (blocks, barbies & cars) are enough to test any creative mom's skills!  Thank goodness for boxes!!  Proceeding the relaunch of my online boutique (http://www.baileysblossoms.com/), we had many a shipment arrive.

Would you believe me if I told you I had this all unpacked and cleaned up before my husband got home so he could park his car??  Good times..

But what did we do with all those boxes??  What did we NOT to do is an easier question..  We've played in them, colored them, slept in them, stacked them, smashed them, gone sledding on them, and when their life has run out (or a new shipment of nice "new" ones arrives), we recycle them.  Ahh, a box has never seen such love..

And a box has never seen such.. uhh, shall we say drama??  *My work office sits midway up the stairs, underneath it there is a "secret room" - the coolest, biggest "kid room" you've ever seen!  With ceilings at 4.5-5 feet high, it is the perfect playroom escape for all of our little Hooligans!  The following video is a clip Miss B shot (unbenownst to me) after the attempted set up of a box party fort, complete with 31 boxes! :) Every time I watch it I swear it makes me laugh harder.. but perhaps that's just because I'm their mom and I understand how well this personifies the two of them right now! #kidsmakemelaugh #bigsistersyndrome #NOideawhereshegetsitfrom ;)

I guess now would be the time to wrap it up with some witty moral of the story type thing, but the moral of the story is, there's no moral!  Because this journey to attempted normalcy is FAR from over!  Good news is, I'm pretty patient! :)

Saying goodbye is hard to do..

Where to start?!  I could go on and on and ON about how fortunate we were to have some of the most AMAZING friends and teachers in Brazil!  How they went the extra mile and really made the experience seem like a giant family reunion rather than stumbling through a new culture and country.  How our kids were genuinely LOVED and cared for beyond any hopes I ever had for their first school experience.  How I could call my girlfriends at any time, for any reason or none at all, and I knew they would be there for me.  So saying goodbye?  Yeah.  That, was HARD!! :(  But alas, pictures speak a thousand words..

THE FAM:
We had a farewell churrasco with some of our friends from school and church before we left.  It was PERFECT.  I was completely able to have fun and pretend like leaving was still months and not just days away!

SIR L:
What started out as a rocky school year with a head strong little boy who wanted to stay with his mom and hated taking "no" as an answer, turned into nothing short of miraculous due to the two women that we were fortunate enough to have as his teachers.  Kicking and hitting, screaming and crying (from me too!), turned into hugs, kisses and gentle waves goodbye as my little boy was shaped by these two teachers and now genuine friends.  Saying goodbye would have been easier without them in our lives!  He and I have been forever touched by their influence!

At a little farewell classroom party, he was presented with a sweet gift that is now a treasured keepsake..

Cupcakes can sometimes make you cry.  Or maybe I'm just special.. ;)

No, I blame this woman right here for MANY of the tears I shed!  Sir L refers to her as "My Nana" :)

This was one school year that won't soon be forgotten!

HANDSOME H:

For two years Handsome H was beyond lucky to have 2 more of the GREATEST teachers in the school! Renata, who was on maternity leave, made this video for him that they played during his little farewell party.. taking pictures with tear filled eyes, for those who have not done it, is HARD!! :(

That got me right there! :(

He LOVED his presented school shirt signed by all of his friends and pronounced it a treasure to be kept and never worn!

Fernanda let him pick some of his favorite songs to sing before it was over and I think that was the icing on the cake for him! :)

Of course, we had to get some cute pictures of the class visitors too ;)

Such a fun class full of great friends and incredible teachers!!

I love that whether in the classroom or out, these ladies REALLY care!  That is something hard to come by these days it seems..

My sweet, shy boy has grown in countless ways, both academically and socially.  It has truly been such a privilege to watch!

MISS B:

I am SO sad and embarrassed to admit that my camera was dead when we went to Bailey's farewell.. apparently you're supposed to switch it "off" to preserve battery life.. who knew?! :P  Her sweet teacher Tracey made this great video for her: 

It's crazy to look back over the past two years and realize exactly how FAR she's come and how much she's grown!  She had a tight little group of girlfriends that was hard to say goodbye to.  Her shy quiet little self was in many was conquered and overcome by this new excited, happy and bubbly version that is as endearing as ever!!

VERA aka "AMAZING V:
I have mentioned Amazing V before - she used to work for us full time, cleaning house and providing us with Friday date nights for our first year in Brazil.  Our 2nd year we opted to be a little more American and have her come to help only once a week.  Work aside, Vera has become one of my greatest friends.  Her example of hard work and diligence has surpassed all else.  She forwent many popular and socially common things and events to pull her sweet family out of a dangerous favella and into a home that took them years to build together.  Piece by piece as money was saved, they did it, without incurring any debt, and though incredibly modest by most standards, it is the greatest success story I've ever witnessed!  I am SO proud of her and what she has been able to accomplish.  With only a 3rd grade education under her belt, I never imagined that she could have taught me SO much.

When Channing was born, she insisted on working an extra day to get everything extra clean for him.  She would not accept money for her time, and it was very hard for me to accept her service.  She insisted that she didn't have a fancy gift to give him or us, but she could offer time, as little as it was, she prayed we would accept.  I tried to explain to her that her "gift" was nothing to be ashamed of.  The quote by President Gordon B Hinckley from the Mormon church sums it up well, "He who gives money gives much.  He who gives time gives more.  He who gives of himself gives all."  She truly gave of herself, and taught me what that really means.  She and her family will forever have place in our hearts and in our home.

So here's to friends that are more like family.  Teachers that teach more than they were hired to.  And a country that has helped us shape our own personal family culture!  Que saudades Brasil!