Panama City Beach on a Budget!

After deciding last minute to go to Panama City Beach, FL last year for our summer vacation, we have absolutely fallen in love and decided to make a trip back there this summer.

We spent May 25th through June 2nd falling in love all over again. This year was the definition of lazy vacation. No snorkeling, no shopping, no dolphin cruises. As much fun as those things are, we were definitely working on a budget this year. As a single mom with two adopted and three foster (soon to be adopted!) kiddos, vacations can cost a small fortune if I'm not careful! Literally just beach, to pool, to beach, to food, to bed, to pool. Over and over for 8 days. And you know what, it was absolutely glorious.

The few little things we did that I would recommend EVERYONE do while in PCB, whether you are on a budget or not, are:

1. Visit St. Andrew's State Park! We went and explored for just a bit and I did our yearly beach photos there! It is absolutely beautiful! It only costs $8 per vehicle to get in and you can swim in the ocean on one side or a jetty on the other. There are tons of wildlife, deer that will literally walk up to you (one even licked my moms hand!). You can watch people surf and paddle board, or you can catch a boat to Shell Island (We snorkeled at Shell Island last summer, do it. Just do it.). This is most definitely my favorite part of PCB.

2. This next stop was new to us but we had heard from several friends that this was the place to go. It did not disappoint! Hershey's Ice Cream wasn't only delicious, it was a fun little shop that had the coolest map I've ever seen (I have a slight map obsession...).

3. While in PCB we rent a home through VRBO.com and typically just stay home for meals since we have a full kitchen (and who am I kidding, feeding 5 kids is expensive enough cooking at home, eating out would require me to sell an organ!). This trip we did go out to Pineapple Willy's, requested by the birthday girl, Little Sister, who turned the big 1-4 while we were on vacation! Pineapple Willy's was fun and affordable! Portions were huge so plenty of leftovers and we were basically on the beach so it was full of the "Florida experience"!

4. One of the boys' favorite things to do is go crab hunting! The girls don't love it quite as much but they will tag along (especially when the "cute" neighbor boys want to go with us)! We typically will walk about a half a mile in either direction from the house, spread out with flashlights, buckets and nets and we can catch tons of the cutest little crabs! My dad didn't go with us this summer but he made sure to remind us to be well prepared with enough flashlights for everyone and the lucky net from last summer!

 5. The BEACH! You cannot go wrong with the beach in PCB! We did have a day or two with some crazy weather from Tropical Storm Alberto, but overall we had a week of beautiful Florida weather!

I cannot express how much we love Panama City Beach, FL. It will forever be one of my favorite places to visit and we are already planning our next trip back there!

Here are a few more pictures we took in front of our house as well! We are so beyond thankful Grandma was able to go with us too! She kept us fed and Lord knows I didn't want to drive that 12 hours alone!

Check out Panama City Beach! You won't regret it!

Officially a Momma!

So...its been a hot minute since this hot mess momma has visited the blog world! To say a lot has changed would be an understatement!
If you've been around my blog at all you know I've been a foster momma since March of 2014. Well, as of February and March of 2016 I am officially an adoptive Momma!
My babies that came to me as a newborn and a nine year old are now my three and almost thirteen year olds and I cannot imagine loving them anymore had I given birth to them myself.
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my two official lovies!!!

My first baby is actually my youngest, three year old Simon Ezekiel! He was the best baby! Slept through the night from day one, loved to cuddle and outside of a week long stay in Children's Hospital he was so perfectly healthy I was in shock (given the situation he came from). Simie, as the daycare kiddos renamed Bub, is now a rambunctious toddler who likes to climb furniture, ride the dog like he's a horse, make monstrous disasters and show his favorite people just how much he loves them by giving "good sugars"...a lot. He is my little rotten boy that could not be more perfect!

My second "baby" came to me a month before her 10th birthday as an overly medicated, exhausted, nervous, beautiful little blonde haired, blue eyed girl. Once we tackled the medication issue she quickly became a sassy, loving, inspirational little girl. Now, almost three years later Lillian Elizabeth, aka LillyBeth, is the absolute best big sister, officially a Homecoming Queen for the peewee football team, an amazing little softball player, and has a huge circle of friends that are an absolute blast. She really has grown in to such an amazing (almost) teenager and I am so blessed to have this sweet girl as mine!

Dear Kacie...

Dear Kacie,

I know there are 500 bazillion things on your to-do list. And I know that winning that $1.5 billion jackpot could pay for all of those things. But here is a little tid bit. You actually have to buy a ticket to have a chance at winning. But guess what. You're not going to buy a ticket because you have kids to feed, bills to pay, and "anniversary" weekends to plan. So, quit daydreaming about this million dollar mansion that could house 32 kids and 43 dogs, the nannies and butlers, and put on some clothes that are not covered in baby boogers or a 14 year olds body glitter and go to work!

K, thanks.

Sincerely Yours.

PS If anyone reading this does actually win the $1.5 billion jackpot please feel free to share the wealth! ;)

Intentional Living in 2016

Photo Cred

In the spirit of the New Year (and seeing Mark Zuckerberg's "Personal Challenges for 2016" plastered all over Facebook) I feel the need to share my own intentions for 2016.

Let me start with saying this, I am doing away with the word "resolution" for myself in 2016. I feel like just that word can cause so much anxiety for so many, so as of now it is banished to the deepest, darkest pit on Pluto. Ok...I feel better now.

So lets get started! In 2016 I plan to live intentionally in all that I do so here are "Kacie's Intentions for 2016"!!

1. Grow in my relationship with Christ and facilitate that opportunity for my kiddos!

In 2016 I want do more studying, praying, reading and seeking than ever before. I feel that these things are so super important for myself but it so beyond crucial that my kids see me doing and living these things every day.

As a single mom to these kiddos that are mine, whether permanently or just for a season, I am the one they spend the most time with and the one that should be a shining example of Gods love, forgiveness and patience.  And let me just tell you, if I am not constantly praying and seeking God every single minute of every single day my kids are the first to tell you how quickly I can become frustrated!

So, to be intentional about this I plan to set aside specific times every day for my own personal "Jesus time" and also to set aside time for family Jesus time. I'm also going to encourage my kids to have their own personal time.

2. Simplify my life!

For years I have wanted to live a "simple" life and while I think at times that I am, then I quickly become overwhelmed by all of the "clutter" that is my life.

I know that a lot of the chaos that I experience comes from having four kids in the foster care system. We are to raise them as our own, but don't forget all of the counseling, visits, court, etc. dates that we have to keep in mind and clear our schedules for.

I think this craziness the last almost two years that I have fostered is what has opened my eyes to the need to FINALLY simplify!

I have talked this over with my kids and we have already started a couple little projects to bring some simplicity to our home.

Just this last weekend we literally spent all day emptying the cabinets in our main kitchen, cleaning everything and then returning the kid friendly dishes in an organized fashion. All of our "nicer" things (you know, everything that isn't paper or plastic) got moved to the other kitchen.

Closets have been started on and the majority of our clothes are actually hanging for the first time in months! (Thanks Alisha and Twinsies for helping!) Now that we can actually see everything in our closets we have begun to purge in spurts!

One thing that I am super excited about with school starting back, we are making sure each kid is prepared for school COMPLETELY the night before. No more throwing everything in the backpack last minute or beating on the bathroom door to get my signature literally 45 seconds before the bus will be at the stop. Clothes are picked out for big kids and Bubby the night before. Sippy cups are waiting on the counter to be filled and snack money is on the fridge! (last minute searches for fifty cents has caused my kids to miss the bus on more than one occasion!)

And lastly, when it comes to simplifying, the thing that I am most excited about is creating a "command center" of sorts! With all of our DHS related appointments, plus school and sports activities, plus my work and church activities I always feel like we are either on the go or forgetting something. So, I am in the process of creating a family calendar that we can all contribute to so that we know exactly what is going on all the time! This will also be a place for me to delegate chores and keep up with our "Thankful in 2016" jar!

I, like everyone else, have hundreds of things I need to work on in the new year and I fully plan to improve intentionally in many areas of my life. These two areas are the places that I think need and require the most work, but I feel like when I have these things running smoothly the rest will fall in to place!

So, what are your goals, intentions, plans for 2016? Do you have any tips for helping kiddos learn to enjoy and learn from their personal time with God? Any advice on simplifying?

Thanks in advance and be blessed and a blessing in 2016!

Exciting News for 2016!!!

2016 is bringing huge changes for my little family and I could not be more excited!

Most of my friends and family have heard all about my adoption process with my baby boy, it has been long and drawn out, but we're finally getting close to the end!

What I haven't shared as much about is my adoption process with one of my other kiddos, Miss Priss! 

So, while we are still waiting on our adoption date for Bubby, (we do have a review date finally!!!) as of today we have our official adoption date for Miss Priss!!! 

February 22nd!!!

Yes, it is happening! I am adopting not one, but TWO kiddos in 2016!!!

Miss Priss is counting down the days until she can change her name and she is so excited for me to be able to post pictures of her all over Facebook! ha!

2015 was an amazingly blessed year for our family, but 2016 is looking even better! So thankful for all that God has blessed me with! 

I'll leave you guys with this picture Miss Priss showed me after court today. She brought this to me with tears rolling down her face and said, "This is so true!" And it really is! 

Love my Babies!

via

Favorites of 2015

As 2015 is coming to a close and I start to look forward to all of the things that are to come in 2016 I just had to reflect on some of my favorite moments and lessons from this last year.

This year was full of so many new things for me as I went from a mom of two foster kiddos to the mom of four. Things are so much more hectic when you are chasing around a herd of kids but they somehow have the ability to remind you to slow down and look at what is important! 

Yes, I stressed over everything, especially money, in 2015. One thing I'm bringing out of this year though (after a talk with one of my favorite co-workers this week :) ) is that I am investing in the lives of my babies and that is one thing I wouldn't change for anything!

One thing I didn't do as much of in 2015 as in years past is traveling. Not because I didn't want to, but because traveling as a group of 5 is A LOT more expensive than traveling solo. But it is a lot more fun too! This year we did spend some time in Bay St. Louis, MS, which is now my favorite sleepy little beach town. Nothing better than beautiful white sand, quaint little downtown shops and the most delicious frozen yogurt joints! I also took the big girls on a cruise to Mexico the day after Thanksgiving and that was an absolute blast! A couple random trips to Branson and day trips around the State and that sums up our travel for the year!

In 2015 we celebrated a first birthday, two 11th birthdays, a 14th birthday and my 25th birthday.

Me and Little Sister discovered our love of Escape Rooms. Big Sister has become obsessed with Starbucks and all things One Direction (I won't lie, I'm kinda right there with her with 1D!). Miss Priss is still mastering her photography skills, mostly of the dogs, but she likes going with me to my sessions to learn different ways to pose people. And then we have Bubby, who in the last year has changed the most. He is now way past the crawling stage and is in a constant sprint. He talks ALL of the time and his favorite things to do are ride on the dogs like they are horses, wrestle with Papa, play with Gampa's ears, eat lots of pudding and wake me up by trying to touch my brain via my nose cavity while yelling Mama!! 

My church kiddos are just as entertaining as ever. We had a great year with us starting a Wednesday night class. We have a couple new "regulars" now too! We had a super fun lock in, a church wide picnic and four wheeler ride that was more fun than should be legal, and we ended the year with a super fun Christmas program.

Basically, this year I have realized just how blessed I really am. I have the most amazing family and I'm so thankful to still have my great grandma, both grandma's and my Papa still around for my kids to get to "experience" (because lets be honest, hanging out with these hoots for long is definitely an experience!). My parents and brother, who are always willing to help me herd the hoodlums, are angels! My friends, both the ones I see all the time and the ones that I just exchange the occasional text with, are beyond anything I deserve. I have a job I enjoy that allows me to do the things a want to do and a church family that continues to lift me up when I need it the most.

2015 was a fabulous year, but I just know 2016 will be my best one yet!

I pray you and your family have a blessed New Year!

Enjoy some of my favorite photos from 2015!