Day Dreaming

 

I'm day dreaming of...

cooking meals in this kitchen with the kids and Cody harassing me the whole time.

Planting flowers, sitting on the back porch with a cold beverage, and working in the garden.

 

 

Bonfires with friends and family...the more the merrier!

Going fishin'!

 

 

Christmas projects, trees and evenings in front of the fireplace.

 

 

Friends and family that I can't wait to see and spend time with again!

 

 

Watching the kids play in the backyard.

 Even the big ones!

 

Snugglin' up on the couch with this girl. She's the best!

 

 

 Family projects, the kids all piling into our bed every evening, summer nights spent at the park, the smell of fresh cut grass, the beauty of fresh fallen snow, fleece pj pants, hoodies and boots...the list goes on and on...I'm day dreaming of March 3! Only 2 months, 21 days, 6 hours and 44 minutes to go. But who's counting!!?!?!?

 

 

 

 

 

That Time We Made A Surprise Visit Home! Part 6

All good things must come to an end...

 

 

We arrived back from Nashville Sunday right after lunch. Honestly, we were both still pretty wiped out. We weren't 100% recovered from jet lag, had went out of town, RAN 3 miles, tried to party like rock stars and then had to drive back home. What we needed was a happy nappy! So that's just what we had.

The last week was a mishmash of trying to go visit more people, Cody's mom flying in from Texas, Madilyns birthday party, a family & friends dinner, and running kids all over the county to try to see their friends. Whew...I'm getting tired all over again thinking about it!

I kind of let the ball drop on the "taking pictures" the last week we were home.

We did get to see and spend some time with our Sophie girl while we were home. She knew exactly who we were and was very excited to see us. WE can't wait to get home to her for good! I'm daydreaming about us all being snuggled up on the couch, Sophie right in the middle, in front of the fire.

 

 

 

 

We did get to spend the ENTIRE day Monday at the dentist. Literally, from 9:30 to about 5:00 with a short lunch break in there. Claire and Cody were trying to stay occupied. It takes a LONG time to clean 6 peoples teeth. Whomp whomp!

 

Wednesday Codys mom flew in from Texas. He picked her up at the  airport while I took all the kids to see their friends at school. I must have made about 25 zillion trips to Bedford that day. Once they were all done seeing friends at school, we all got to see GiGi! (Cody's mom, Gale.)  Yay! You can gaurentee you will get fed some super good food when she's around! The cooking skills must run in the family because Cody and April are both fantastic cooks! That's why I NEED to keep running!

 

I FINALLY got to meet this cutie! Layla Ann...Dusty and Jamie make adorable babies! We babysat for them for a couple of hours while Dusty got  a few things done. She was a total angel! Just look at those cheeks! I wanted to just kiss them to pieces!

 

 

The kids all fought over who was going to hold her, change her, feed her...everything. Babysitting was never so easy!

 

 

Remember how I said I had already signed up for another 5K before Cody and I had even ran the one in Nashville? Well, it was Saturday morning. I did the Lights & Sirens 5K Run/Walk in Madison. When I got up it was cold and rainy and I didn't want to go. AT ALL. Everyone else was staying home, warm and cozy in bed and I was headed out to run in the cold rain. CRAZY PERSON right here!

I got there and thought more than once about changing my mind. Just ditching the whole idea. My feet were soaked, I was cold and basically everything that morning just sucked. I was thisclose to leaving when I started seeing people I knew. That's when I KNEW I had to stay and run. I mean, damn it...people had seen now! People I knew had witnessed me being there and spoke to me...now they would know to look for my results. Not that they cared how well I didn't do.  Crap! I didn't take any pictues though...so maybe I wasn't there! ;o) Nah, I stayed but it was raining and that's why there are no pictures.

 

 So I stayed. Now I was cold and wet and boardering on miserable but I was there and I was going to run. I finished in 32 minutes and 5 seconds! BAM! That was way better than last weekend! That was way better than I had managed on the treadmill. I was thrilled to see that time! And running in the cold and rain wasn't that bad. The worst part was having to stand around outside and wait to start. That's when my feel got wet. The actual running part, was good. It wasn't a hard course, mostly flat and  I feel like I found a good rhythm after the first mile. The first mile always sucks for me!

Being able to run outside while we were home and running both of these 5K's got me thinking way, way bigger...

 

I printed this off...half marathon training. HALF MARATHON PEOPLE! That's 13.1 miles. RUNNING. No car, no bike, no skates...nothing. Your legs. I hadn't actually registered for a half marathon yet though, I was just thinking about it. I did however know exactly which one I wanted to do, if I went totatlly nuts! But I was still just thinking about it at this point...

 

After the race we had a family/friends pitch in at the old Milton Elementary School. Sorry, the only picture I took was this one of me and Madilyn. Isn't she a doll???

 

 

 

I will say, the next time we have a family/friends pitch in or dinner...anyone who didn't come, should! Especially if Cody is cooking anything. That man can COOK! Lucky me! <~~another reason to keep running... He smoked some turkey for the dinner.

It was delicious as always. Cody's smoked turkey is the best turkey you will ever put in your mouth! I promise! You will NOT be disappointed! Come to our house and eat it! Thanksgiving...next year!

We hung out at the pitch in for a few hours and we pleasantly surprised by the turn out. Once people started heading out...we weren't too far behind them!

Our niece's birthday was the Monday we were leaving so we were taking her to get a birthday present!

 

 We took her to get a birthday present at Build a Bear Workshop! Claire and Tucker got to go there before we left for Malaysia. Matt always played with their babies so we figured she should have one of her own.

 

She slept on the way down there, so she's not too awake and enthusiastic in these pictures!

She's kissing the heart before it goes inside her new baby.

  Fluffing her up. How many women WANT to get fluffed up? ;o)

 

Cody and Madilyn discussing a name. We went to the name book and she picked Maggie.

 

  I think Maggie is a perfect name for a monkey!  Happy birthday Madilyn! We love you bunches!!!!

 

 

 

Codys sister, April, hosted Madilyns birthday party Sunday. Once again...I didn't take any pictures. I did steal borrow some from April though. She is an amazing photographer! Check out her work here. She can do family photos or whatever you might want. She does a great job.

 

These kids were putting on a show!

Birthday Girl! Cheese!

 

After the party we headed back to Codys dads house to gather up and pack all of our things. I really wasn't sad to be coming back. Our visit had been exhausting! At least in Malaysia we could rest some!

Monday morning we got up, showered and were off to the airport.

Preflight drink with my man! Bloody Mary for me, beer for him!

Tucker had asked us before to get him a "neck pillow." I broke down at the Louisville airport and got us all one. I do believe they made the flight more entertaining tolerable!

 

 Cody looks super comfy here, right? 27 hours home crammed up like this...maybe those pillows didn't help that much after all!

 

We arrived back in Johor Bahru, Malaysia in the wee hours of October 23. We came in and all of us dropped our junk and crawled right into bed. It was good to be back. It was good to be "home." For now...only 4 months till we are back to Bedford for good!

 

We had a great visit.

We saw all of our immediate family and some extended family and a few friends. I'm sorry and sad to say that we didn't get to see as many of our friends as we all wanted too. I feel like I spent more time with my vehicle than I did with anybody! When we get back for good...yall are going to have to come to us to visit! Shew.

 

In the mean time, enjoy the holidays for us! Build eat lots of candy and goodies, build snowmen, have snowball fights and enjoy the beauty of cold weather! You don't realize how much you appreciate it until you don't EVER have cooler temps!

 

   

That Time We Made A Surprise Visit Home! Part 2

Surprising the Family! 

We had arrived! After keeping quiet for months, not telling the kids or really anyone for that matter, we were HOME!!! It was so difficult trying to decide where to go first. We just decided to go where the road took us...Bedford to Milton to Madison.

 

The first stop was Cody's Dad and Mom's house.

 

I seriously can't help but laugh every time I see these pictures! LOOK at those faces! Priceless!

He walked in the back door and his mom and niece were in the kitchen. She turned around and looked up, then right back to what she was working on. I think it took a second for it to register WHO had just walked in the door. Once it did...this is what we saw!

 

Marilyn was so surprised she couldn't even form words! Cody quietly walked in, gave her a hug and told her he loved her and asked...where's Dad?

Dad was in the living room on the phone. Once Cody walked around that corner, the poor guy was stunned. Who ever he was talking to was a lost cause. That conversation was oooovvveeerrrr!

There was a little surprise for us there too! Miss Madi Gray was there for the night! We weren't expecting to see her till later that night, or even the next day. It was great to get our hands on that little munchkin! She's such a cutie pie!

 

We stayed and visited for awhile. Explained our surprise visit to his parents and even got his Dad in on the action. Cody had him text his sister to see what time she would be getting off work and if she was coming to pick up Little Gray (Madi) or not. Sneaky sneaky...we needed to know her where abouts for later! ;)

 

I think Little Gray was happy to see Claire!

 On the way to my mom's we told the kids...knock on the door and hide. We want her to have to open the door. My mom NEVER leaves her door unlocked and ALWAYS looks thru the curtains to see who is out there. The only way to surprise her was knock and hide. They knocked and then just ducked down. That wasn't hiding good enough...she saw them and then the water works started!

 

Opening the door and dragging kids into her arms.

 

Mawmaw Pumpkins arms aren't long enough to reach around all four kids at once. :o) She cried for a little while. When she was done squeezing the crap out of the kids, Cody and I got a hug...and a few choice words for making her worry! Haha!

 

Her worries were worth it though! We hung out for awhile and had to once again explain our surprise visit and that no one knew we were home. She did call my Grandma and a couple of other aunts, but they were threatened sworn to secrecy until we made it to all the parents and grandparents houses.

 

Cody and I left the kids there to go surprise his sister at work. Our plan was to just walk into the restaurant she worked at and sit down at the bar and order a drink. I was just hoping she wouldn't cry there! Unfortunately we were too late. As we drove past it we realized it was already closed, but thanks to his Dad, we knew she would be headed straight home.

 

April gets to ride her bike to work. Pretty cool, huh? As we were driving down main street, we spotted her on her bike. We pulled into the parking lot of her apartment right behind her. Cody and I both got out of the van at the same time. She looked right at us, but it was dark so she couldn't really tell who "those crazy people" where.

 

I said something to Cody about her not knowing who we were and walked further towards her into the light. When she could see us a little better she grabbed me and then Cody and hugged to tight...she may have cut off the air supply we all require. ;)

 

It was too dark for pictures there, but it was a great reunion. She took us over to her neighbors and introduced us and we sat and chatted for a little over an hour. We left giving her strict instructions not to put it on Facebook...yet! We still had my Dad and Step-Mom to see!

 

Once we left Aprils, we went back to my mom's house for the night. We were exhausted and ready to crash. Our plan for Saturday morning was to go to my Dad's.

Before we left Saturday morning this happened....

 

 

 

My cousin Jessi stopped by moms on her way home from Belterra. :) Love her to death! Just sorry we didn't get spend more time with her. Boo for being busy! 

Wanna see what major jet lag looks like? At least that's my excuse. I don't know what Jeremy's is! ;) haha!

 

Saturday morning we got up WAAAAAAY  to early. Thank you jet lag. We had coffee and whatever breakfast we could throw together. Mom obviously wasn't prepared for our visit! Hehe! We all got showered and ready and went to my dads.

 

We walked in and it was dead silence. Hello?? No answer. Anyone here?? Dad? Margie???

Silence. Silence. Silence.

Tatum said...I bet MawMaw is still asleep. Good thing she doesn't sleep naked because we all barged into her bedroom! She woke up looking at us STUNNED! I leaned over to hug her and Tatum said she kept touching me all over...like she was trying to make sure I was real and she wasn't dreaming! :o) Our sweet little niece happened to be there too! Bonus!

 

After we dragged them out of bed and found out that my Dad was up at his shop we got them dressed and in on the surprises! We all loaded up and went there. Margie and Chloe walked up first and we trailed behind. Of course Tucker can never do what he's told so Dad saw him earlier than planned so it kind of ruined the surprise. There's no doubt he was still happy and shocked to see all of us standing there in October! We weren't supposed to be home till March! Boo-yah! We pulled one over on everyone! 

Now everyone knew we were home! Best surprises ever! It was so fun to see the looks on everyone's faces and we all loved surprising everyone! 

 

That Time We Made A Surprise Visit Home! Part 1

We have officially been back in Malaysia for a week. Flying home to surprise everyone without anyone knowing was priceless. The looks of surprise were fantastic. It was without a doubt one of the most fun things I have ever done.

 

I seriously want to share every moment we were there and all the fun, so I'm going to have to break it up into a few posts. I promise, you'll get to see them all! :O)

 

 

Did I tell y'all that the kids didn't even know we were coming until about 8 hours before we left? THAT my friends, was great! It was also probably the closest to going crazy I've truly ever been.

I had to keep my excitement all to myself. Cleaning, trying to get things together, all the while bursting on the inside made me CRAZY! I deserve an academy award for that performance!

I'd like to start off by thanking God, my husband and children. Without you, this would have never been possible! Haha!

 

Anyway...lets get back to the fun stuff!

 

Telling the kids. I recorded it for y'all. Their reactions were priceless! They continued to get more and more excited..guess I stopped to early, but hey! We had packin' to do!

 

 

The packing came together remarkably better than I expected. I was a hot mess, worried we would forget something we need or would want. Hello toothbrush, deodorant, underwear?!?! We all did great though. Claire and Tucker must have came into our room 10 thousand times asking "Is this OK to take? How about this outfit?" NUTS! It was NUTS!

 

There was very little sleep to be had that night. We packed, ordered pizza for supper and all laughed and talked about how surprised our families would be! What would their reactions really be like? We couldn't wait to see! The 7 1/2 to 8 hours between telling the kids and getting picked up to go to the airport passed faster than the previous 24 had. Promise!

 

We loaded up at 2:30 am and off we went. 27+ hours of traveling by car and plane is a LOOOONG time. It's no joke! Ask Alicia. She'll tell ya. She'll also tell ya she knew we were coming home! LOL! This is what she had to deal with! That's why she's been my best friend FOREVER! Literally! 

My mom was freaking out because she hadn't heard from any of us. We hadn't been on Facebook or any form of social media. We were off the radar. But not really...we just weren't posting anything for fear of ruining our surprise! A BIG thanks to Alicia for covering for us and risking the wrath of Mawmaw's and Pawpaws and Moms and Dads all over TC! You rocked girl!

We boarded our plane at 6 am Friday morning in Singapore. That was 6 pm Thursday evening in Kentucky. We were set to arrive in Louisville around 6:30 pm Friday evening. Have I said how long the flights are???

Fortunately all the seats have TVs with movies and games in the back of the head rest! Thank you Delta! Plus the booze and wine was free! Bonus for Dad and Mom!

 

 

Someone is all "Tuckered" out! Hehe!

Tvs out, movies on, pillows and blankets in use. The excitement must have gotten to them...finally!

 

 Bulk head seats rule. They are THE BEST on long flights...unless your special and get to fly first class. Obviously we aren't, or our family is just too big. Either way, the bulk head seats made a world of difference. Especially for that tall man of mine. Being 6'2" means you need some extra leg room!

 

 

 

We arrived in Louisville right on time Friday evening. We were all tired, but excited and the adrenaline had kicked in at this point! We grabbed our luggage and car from Enterprise and were on our way!

 

There were some big surprises in the future for our family!