These Little Moments...

Seriously, where does the time go? It seems that just yesterday Sean and I were preparing to drop Gracie off for her first day of preschool! Now, our baby boy is embarking on this same new and exciting journey. Ethan started in the 4-year-old preschool class this past Monday. This first day was considered a "short visit" and gave the kids (and parents!) a chance to ease into the preschool experience. Sean and I took Ethan from center to center and explored the classroom with him. Parents were then asked to leave while Mrs. Handy and Mrs. Matics had story time with the students. Ethan didn't want us to leave the room at first, but once we did, he was okay. I was much more nervous for how Wednesday, his first "real" day, would go. Ethan didn't seem nervous necessarily, but he did ask a few questions as we walked him inside. He asked if we were dropping him off and leaving the building... We told him that we were, but that we weren't going to be far ...

Last Wednesday, Gracie headed back to school. She is now in the 2nd grade! It is always such an exciting time. We love the back-to-school shopping, meeting new teachers, and seeing old friends we've missed over the summer months. Gracie is in a class full of kids she already knows, but there are also a few new faces, which is great! We absolutely love her teacher, Ms. Darnell. She has been teaching for 35 years and has been a teacher at Calvary Baptist Day School since 1980. I love her approach to teaching; she views her classroom as the mission field God has chosen for her. I believe this makes all the difference in each and every day and I truly believe my daughter is in great hands this year. I cannot even express how thankful I am for our school and the school family we learn, live, and love alongside. This was the day before school started. We attended the student open house, which gave the students a more relaxed, less hectic setting in which to speak with their teache...

In July, our family joined my sister's family for an Oak Island, NC beach trip. This was our first vacation together with our husbands and children, and it was fantastic! I don't think it's always easy to vacation for an entire week with another family, but with Ashley, Landon, and the kids, it was effortless and relaxing. We hope to make the Vaughan-Levan (Levan-Vaughan?) vacation a yearly thing.  I have so many "favorite" pictures from this trip. We were blessed with wonderful weather and zero shark sightings. ;) I captured this incredible moment on our very first evening. If only the picture did justice to God's beautiful creation... This was Ryleigh's first time on the beach! It was so special being able to experience this with her. Austin was very young the last time he went to the beach, so it was also like the first time for him. Once he was in the water, it was hard to get him out! We spent a l...

Four years ago, I gave birth to a baby boy. There are moments from his birth-day that will forever be tiny treasures in my chest of memories. I will never forget the way my precious 3-year-old looked when she was sent in to meet her brother for the first time. I will never forget the moment that we sat together on that hospital bed as a family of four for the first time. I will never forget my husband holding our son for the first time. I could never have known, never have predicted, what my life would be like as a mother to both a daughter and a son. The shift from parenting one child to two has certainly not always been easy. Every stage and age presents new challenges and new reliefs, but the whole journey has been more beautiful and more joy-filled and more chaotic than I could have imagined, and I love it. It's the best of both worlds, a true adventure from day to day. My children are little opposites and watching them grow over these past years has been so interesting and ...

Road Trip! May 14th-17th Ashley and I recently piled our babies, our mother, and a whole bunch of luggage into my car and hit the road. Our destination was Granny, in Easton, Maryland. It was her birthday weekend and we wanted to be there with her to celebrate! Our carload, ready to go! We drove first to Virginia, where we spent the night at a hotel. We decided that breaking up the 7-hour trip might be easier with 4 children, ages 2, 3, 5, and 6. It was a fun adventure and I loved getting to spend so much time with my family! After a somewhat restful sleep... We piled back into the car and prepared for the longest stretch of our journey. We thankfully avoided traffic and arrived to Granny's that afternoon. From there, we enjoyed a wonderful visit with Great-Granny! She took each of her great-grandchildren for a one-on-one chat. I love that she gives them this attention individually. It's often very hectic when they are all together. We spe...

I took a few pictures of Gracie the day before her birthday. These were a couple of my favorites. I was pleasantly surprised when Ethan jumped into a few shots; I very rarely get pictures with both kids together AND smiling!

Last year, toward the end of the summer, Sean and I decided to make a pretty large purchase. Our brother-in-law (married to Sean's sister) was looking to sell his 19-foot Chaparral. He has taken impeccable care of this boat over the past 8 years, and he gave Sean an offer that would have been difficult to refuse. Now, I've heard it said many times that the best days of a boat owner's life are the day he buys the boat, and the day he sells the boat. We haven't quite had the boat for a full year yet, but we've already forked over hundreds of dollars for minor repairs, spent an un-calculated amount on filling the boat with gas (not to mention the car, which pulls the boat to and from the lake), and we've endured the stress that is inevitable at the boat ramp. All of that said, I can honestly say that the memories we are creating while on the boat are worth it. The boys got the boat all cleaned up and ready for this 2015 season. Sean has always been h...