Summer Week 4

Gosh these weeks are just flying by!! Well Monday was free for the kids and I. I had told my friend Wendy though that we wanted to come by and see them before they left for Colorado. Since we didn't get to meet up with them at church I figured we could run by and give a quick hug before they left on Tuesday. I am so glad we did! We only stayed about 15 minutes but it was good visiting with her and Emily. We brought her coffee and cake too! Anyway after that we decided to go ahead and shop for school uniforms. I usually try to knock that out in June (usually after VBS) so it was nice to get that over with. Luckily we really didn't need much this year. Colby only needed a sweatshirt and Lindsay only needed skirts so it was a pretty easy trip. After that we stopped at Petsmart. We needed to get a few items plus the kids always enjoy looking around there. We then went to Barnes and Noble. We don't get there often so this is usually something we do in the summer. The kids had fun looking for a book. Gone are the days though where they play with the train table...that's a little sad. After that I promised them lunch at Panera. It was just a sweet, simple morning with them. We really haven't had many big outings yet this summer, but in many ways i think these are the most memorable. I just love spending time with them. We got home to a rainy afternoon and we just stayed in. And I must say how much I love the summer afternoons. We rest and watch tv and usually go outside and play. We have dinner then we take a walk. These really are the best days! 
Tuesday I had time scheduled with some of the Bible study ladies. I went and picked up my friend Tracey and she rode with me over to Cafe Amore. My parents watched the kids during this time. I am so thankful for their help during the summer. i know they enjoy it and the kids do too! Plus since I am usually with the kids 24/7 breaks like this with other adults is so nice. So we stayed at the coffee shop about 2 hours. I had a great time just visiting and hanging out. Afterwards I picked up the kids and we came home to relax and hang out. That night we had Pinewood Derby. This year it got moved to the summer. We therefore had a short afternoon. There wasn't nearly as many boys participating this year, but it was still a lot of fun. Colby's car came in 3rd place and Lindsay's got 2nd. I don't think their cars were quite as fast this year for some reason. It was still a nice night with them. They both miss friends so much during summer so it was great for them to just see and hang out with other littles. After we ate at Cane's before coming home. It was of course a late night, but during the summer we have been lax about bedtimes and plus they are sleeping in these days! 
Wednesday we had a pretty busy day. I volunteered to keep our pastor's 2 youngest children for a few hours. Ethan had an injury this summer and has had some doctors appointments and Ella was in Hattiesburg doing VBS at a church there. Anyway so we had Eli and Emma come over. Eli is 8 and Emma is 3. We had a good time. Colby and Eli played together wonderfully. I mean they are 2 grades apart in school and I don't think interact much there or even at church, but they have grown up together. Anyway Emma was really great and we don't know her as well. I was worried she would cry coming over here. She did super though, she was just super busy though! I forget how busy that age is! We all had a good time though. I mostly spent the morning following Emma or having Lindsay keep up with her. We did spend a little time outside, but its just SO hot! Once they left it was time to get my kiddos fed. We picked up Chickfila then came home to rest since we had church that night. Church was good, but for some reason I felt "off". They had pizza for dinner and for some reason I just wasn't super hungry and I was really hot. I attributed it mostly to PMS. Anyway as the night went on I just didn't feel great, but I really thought it was just female/hormone related. The kids had a great time at church. They did a "drive in" movie theme. It was cute...they turned boxes into cars. They also had popcorn and ice-cream. I know my 2 had a blast. Lindsay had Genevieve there and Colby had Zach. Well once we got home and the kids went to bed I decided I would follow suit. It was like 8:30...I just felt rotten. Well by like 9:30 I was up throwing up. I was sick most of the night. It was awful! Austin took the next day off work which I was super thankful for. I basically stayed in bed until about 8:30. I got up actually feeling slightly better. I thought and hoped I could move forward with my day. Well after stewing around for about an hour I felt weak and sick. I ended up getting on the couch and staying most of the rest of the day. I finally felt better late that afternoon and was able to eat dinner. I hated that to me it felt like a "wasted" summer day. Austin was great though and took the kids out. I also know that sometimes God calls us to just rest. I feel like this summer He has definitely helped us "rest". Knowing that the fall might be crazy. 
So Friday I woke up feeling like a new woman! It was great to feel back to normal. Well Austin was off that day and we had made plans to go to Hattiesburg. We took our time getting ready that morning and packing. The kids were super excited to be going somewhere. This summer we once again didn't plan a major trip. We are trying to plan a Disney trip of some kind next year. We had thought originally it would be before the end of this year so that is one reason we kinda skimped on the summer plans. Anyway needless to say I think we were all happy to be going out of town! 

Father's Day Weekend

So as I posted before Friday night we treated ourselves by going out to dinner then letting the kids play at the park and driving around. Its not normal that we go out on Fridays. During the school year I am usually so wiped out and this was our first Friday that didn't involve VBS or swim lessons. Anyway it was a nice time! 
Saturday we went up to Aurora that morning for the kids to paint their cars and so Austin could help set up the track for Pinewood Derby. It was nice seeing friends that morning and I think the kids enjoyed themselves. Afterwards we came home so we could divide and conquer! Austin took the kids swimming at my parent's house and I went to the grocery store. We all got home later and had lunch together. We mostly relaxed and chilled that afternoon. We grilled pork chops and just enjoyed a family night together. 
Sunday was of course Father's Day. We went to first service as a family. It was a good morning at church. My friend Wendy's husband spoke and it was interesting and neat to hear that. He did a great job. The kids and I stuck around for a bit after the first service. Mostly to try and see the Schifflin's before they left for Colorado. We had donuts and tried to wait it out, but the kids were over it and ready to go. We stopped at Walmart for a couple things then came on home. Austin had to count. I hated he had to stay late on Father's day of all things. We ate a light lunch and just worked on straightening up around the house. That afternoon we mostly worked on getting our house ready for company. We volunteered to host Father's Day this year. We grilled steaks, had baked potatoes, salad, and a wonderful cake for dessert. It was just my parents and Elizabeth that came (Randall was already gone) on his motorcycle adventure. We had a good time though nonetheless. We even got to eat our dessert outside. 
I think we had a nice weekend. I am so thankful for the dad's and men in my life. I am thankful for Austin and all he does for our family. I love that he chooses us over other things. He also has such a servant heart. I am also of course thankful for my dad and all he taught me over the years. He's also an awesome granddad to my kids! I am just glad we could honor and celebrate our guys this weekend! 

Summer Week 3

So with VBS behind us it was nice to have a slow down in life. That Monday the kids and I decided to go swimming at my parent's house. It was nice to just do something low key like that. We swam for a couple hours. My mom didn't have any groceries so we didn't stay for lunch. Instead the kids voted on Five Guys so we went there. Now that they are older I just love taking them out to lunch. Its nice to actually sit there and have conversations with them. It started storming soon after we got home so we spent a nice afternoon and evening at home. Its been great now to have those slow afternoons and evenings. The kids have loved playing together and we've been doing great with family walks in the evening. 
Tuesday I had Bible study so the kids went back to my parent's house. At first I wasn't too excited about going. I have felt a little disconnected from the group for some reason. I was happy I went though and ended up having a nice time! I picked the kids up and we made a quick errand stop then came home. Again we had the afternoon around here which was just lovely! 
Wednesday I had made plans with Wendy for coffee. Actually had I known about this before Tuesday's Bible study I might not have gone..i just felt bad about shipping my kids off to my parents 2 days in a row...although neither party seemed to mind. Anyway we had both said it would be a "quick" coffee meeting b/c she knew I had the kids home and she's prepping to send her son off to college. Well we met up a little before 8:30 and ended up staying until 12:30! It was crazy! I missed her so much and our talks though. I guess after spending nearly everyday almost together from March-May we had a lot of catching up to do! I had told my parents I would be back by 10 or so...so when I wasn't there by 11 they called a little worried. Well then we proceeded to stay another hour! anyway it was such a good time! Once I got the kids we came home just to relax and hang out before church. It was nice knowing we were getting back into Wednesday nights. During the school year they are often exhausting, but during the summer I feel like my kids crave that friend time. Anyway it was good to get back. They both had lots of friends there too which was nice. They did water night so that was a lot of fun. I am just thankful for the tribe my kids get to grow up with and do life with. 
Thursday we woke up with a free day. I had contemplated taking the kids to the children's museum...b/c honestly we haven't had a "big" play day yet. They slept in though and I was honestly dreading going anywhere far away. Well when they woke up I gave them the option between children's museum or going out to breakfast. Lindsay spoke up and chose breakfast at Parrot Pete's. This is something she's been asking about so I did feel good to cross that off our summer bucket list. It was a really sweet time. It was a moment where I realized I am truly in the golden age of parenting. I mean first off they slept until 9 then they chose breakfast out over the loud children's museum! Wow! Anyway we talked and laughed and just enjoyed our 1,000 gifts moment. Afterwards we went to Target. We spent the afternoon at home which was nice. It ended up raining so it was nice to not get out. 
Friday we had another free day. I hardly knew what to do with myself honestly with all these free days. Well it was the day Incredibles 2 came out...I promised the kids we would go see it. We were able to have a slow pace morning then leave for the movie about 10. We saw the 10:45 show. It was a cute movie---not one of my favs by any means, but cute nonetheless. After the movie we had lunch at Chickfila then came on home. That afternoon we just hung around the house and Austin came home early. We ended up getting out that evening...something we rarely do! We went to eat Catfish at Adam's then took the kids to play at the park. We also rode around after that. It was a nice summer night as a family. We chose not to do a movie that night. I felt like since we were in the theater that morning they needed a night out! The park was just what they needed. It was still warm, but not nearly like it would have been during the day! It was a nice night just to be together! 

Weekend after VBS

It was nice to come home on Friday and know that VBS was behind us. Although I will truly miss it! Its always bittersweet when it ends. We had movie night that night and enjoyed family time. 
Saturday we had to get going pretty early b/c the kids had a make up swim lesson. We went to that as a family then Austin and the kids came home to hang out while I went to the grocery store. After shopping we went out to lunch and just enjoyed some time together. 
Sunday was church...we went to 2nd service b/c we were going out to lunch with my family. It was a longer/later afternoon, but we enjoyed the time with them. My brother is about to be gone for almost a month on his motorcycle venture. So we sorta celebrated Father's day a week early. That afternoon we just hung out and enjoyed our family time! 

VBS AMPED

So last week was VBS for us. It was truly a wonderful week and we had a blast! Since quitting preschool ministry last year after VBS I knew this year I would want to be involved in big kid VBS. Especially since now both of my littles are in that age group. I had signed up for k-2nd grade. I ended up being assigned 2nd. The first day I was a little overwhelmed just b/c it was all new to me. I feel like I quickly found my groove. I felt like big kid VBS was a breeze compared to the little kid VBS. So our daily schedule was something like this:
We would leave our house about 7 each morning and arrive at 7:30. From 7:30-8 I would look over the curriculum and supplies in the room and make a game plan for the day. From 8-8:30 the kids play outside. This part of the day was probably my least favorite b/c for whatever reason it seemed to overwhelm Lindsay and she would basically hang on me the entire 30 min. I mean I did get to visit with other adults during this time, but still I found it exhausting. From 8:30-9:10 we had large group time. During this time they sang, played games, and had their morning devotion. I really enjoyed this time. After that our group went outside. We were grouped with 2nd-5th. I was able to see Colby's little group of friends hang out. I didn't really get to see as much of Lindsay's group. We were outside from 9:15-9:50 each day. It was nice during that time that the kids just got to play and have some down time and time to get their energy out. From 9:55-10:30 we went back to our classroom for our learning time. I really did enjoy this time of teaching and it went by SO fast! This was the time you really got to know the kids and hear about their life. From 10:35-11:05 the kids went to Missions. During that time it was a little bit of a break. Since there were so many adults in the room during that time I didn't feel bad taking a restroom/water break or making a phone call or what not. I tried to stay around to help corral the kids, but it did allow for some down time. After that we would go to art, this lasted from about 11:05 until 11:30. During that time I tried to assist as much as possible and also go around and just try to talk to the kids. After that they went to their last rotation Music. This was our scheduled break time which was nice. It was nice every day to just sit and visit with friends. Afterwards we did dismissal from upstairs in our classrooms. I usually tried to escape by 12:15 if not earlier due to the kids having swim lessons. 
Our week was pretty routine with coming home and eating lunch then resting for a short bit before getting dressed to head out to lessons. With the 3:00 lessons it really shortened our afternoons. It wasn't bad though. I feel like it kept the kids active and from getting bored. On Tuesday we had bad weather though and they were cancelled and it was such a blessing to have that free afternoon to just rest/relax. 
I think my kids had a blast! Colby is super independent and does his own thing and loved every second of being with friends. Lindsay was a little more shy especially first thing in the mornings. Colby had just about all of us 4th grade friends there so he was in heaven. Lindsay had 2 school friends and then Genevieve who she's grown up with. It was a wonderful week and I am truly thankful! 

Family and Dinner on the Lake

So last Sunday we had a nice day together. We went to first service at church and then came home and had a light lunch. We spent some time resting and hanging out. Austin's family came in that afternoon. It sorta fell at a bad time b/c it was the start of our VBS week and also swim lessons. I wish we could have seen them more, but it was nice to atleast spend time with them Sunday evening. So about 4 that afternoon we got ready and drove downtown to see them at the hotel. They stayed where austin works. It was also nice getting to see his hotel. We hadn't been to this one. I really liked it. We hung out and visited for about an hour then left to go eat dinner. We decided to try this place called The Blue Crab. It was a fun new place. The food was also great. They were super busy, but we were able to eat outside. It was a little hot and sunny at first, but not terrible. We enjoyed being able to sit out there and watch the boats go by. After dinner we were able to spend time on the lakefront. I think the kids really enjoyed being with their cousins. I feel like now as they are getting older all our schedules are so busy so we see them less and less. It was just a nice summer evening. I wish we could have hung out longer and later, but with VBS starting the next day we had to call it a night. We were already like 9 getting home! 

VBS Prep

So this was our first full week of summer. It was busy, but most filled with VBS preparations. Tuesday we were up and out the house early. I brought the kids to my parents to spend the morning. I try to be careful about how much time they spend at the church/school. And especially since Lindsay had spent so much time the week before I wanted to give them a little break. They were able to swim and play and I was able to focus on VBS. So we started out the morning by meeting Tracey at PJs for coffee. We then went to the church and got a glimpse of our rooms and gathered ideas. We then went in the Worship Center to spend time helping Virginia decorate. Everyone wrapped up by 11:30. I was able to pick up the kids and head home for lunch. We had just a little time before it was time to head out the door for swim lessons. In a way its hard getting out at 2:30 every day, but it also keeps the afternoon moving and from being so long with tired/bored kids. They are both doing great in swim lessons and Lindsay moved to the deep end by day 2. Austin worked late that night so the kids and I had dinner and I let them stay up a tad bit later then normal.
Wednesday we were up and out early again. I had plans to run VBS errands then lunch with some friends. We dropped Colby off at my parents. I figured 1) he wouldn't want to join the "girls lunch" and 2) its easier to run a bunch of errands with just 1 kid. I think he was happy to get out of all that. Lindsay and I hit up the Educator, Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Party City in record time! I was so proud of my little trooper. We even had time to drop all the stuff off at the church before going to lunch. We met our friends Wendy and her daughter Emily, Karen and her daughter Cali, and then another lady Andrea and her son met us as well. It was fun catching up and just having some mom time. Lindsay of course had a blast with the big girls. I was happy to be able to see Wendy and Emily. Even though it had only been like a week of us being finished with school it was crazy not seeing them all the time and talking every day. After lunch we came home to get ready for swim lessons. The kids did really great again. That night it felt good to just stay in. There was no church so we enjoyed the off night! 
Thursday I thought it best to take a break from all the church helping. I really needed to grocery shop and I felt like the kids needed a break from being up there. It was a nice day spent at home. We were able to work around the house and they even did some school work. We did have swim lessons that afternoon though, but it was nice going to swim lessons and not being exhausted. 
Friday we were back to helping at the church. We got there a little after 9. We helped in our classroom about an hour then helped in the sanctuary about an hour. I hope we were atleast some help. That afternoon was swim lessons and then we did movie night that evening! 
Saturday we were back at helping at the church. I hated to spend our normal only real family day working, but I also know serving together as a family is a good thing too. So we were back at the church about 9. I helped in our room for awhile then we all went to the sanctuary. It was actually pretty fun though. There were some hilarious moments of adults trying to ride bikes on the VBS ramps. we all got some laughs and I think also helped in the process. We didn't leave there though until 12:30. We then ran errands and had lunch out. It was a long day, but it was still fun to spend as a family. 

Memorial Weekend

So Friday began the official start to our summer. It felt so good to sleep in and not be rushing out the door! I wasn't sure what we would do. Several thoughts crossed my mind of things to do with the kids. I really wanted a more relaxed day though and honestly didn't want to cross the river and deal with parking. We ended up just going to the park and then having lunch at Chickfila. One of my teacher friends..actually Lindsay's prek4 teacher was babysitting a little girl Lindsay's age so she ended up meeting us. It was nice having someone to visit with at the park. I think the girls had a great time! Colby on the other hand was a little bored though. Its hard when one has a friend the other complains. Anyway we had a good time and stayed about 2 hours until we started hearing thunder. We all went over to Chickfila and by the time we got there the bottom fell out! We all got soaked! It was fun though. We ate lunch and visited. We stayed there about an hour. All in all it was a nice start to summer. It also helped that "let down" feeling of school being out. Once we got home we had a low key afternoon. It was nice to just stay in with the kids and not have to go anywhere. 
Saturday it was nice having everyone home! We had a pretty low key start to the day. Austin stayed home to work on yard work and I got out and ran a couple errands. We rested and hung out around the house until about 3:30. We then left to pick up a few things and head to my parent's house for the Graduation Party. My mom decided that she wanted to host a little get together for some of the interns at the church that are graduating this year. It was a sweet get together. The kids had a blast! Since it was all mostly people who have worked in the kid's ministry they felt right at home. I enjoyed getting to visit with everyone. My mom loves hosting stuff like that! It brought back memories of growing up and us having stuff like that. It was a late night for us too. We didn't get home until after 9 I think. 
Sunday we went to first service at church. Afterwards we went to eat sandwiches at Jimmy John's. We then came home. It was the first Sunday we had like that in awhile. It felt good to just come home and relax. It was nice spending the day together as a family.
Monday was of course Memorial Day. It was nice having Austin home with us and a LONG weekend to kick off summer. We slept in and enjoyed a slow morning around the house. We then got ready and went to my parents house for swimming and burgers. It was just us and them this year. It was nice though to have a chilled gathering. We came home soon after lunch b/c the kids had swim lessons. It was a short afternoon. Austin stayed home to get some stuff done...plus I think he liked having the house all to himself for awhile. Its rare he gets that. The kids started the week great in swim lessons! Its hard to believe how many years we have been going! Even though its a pain and honestly they can both "swim" I want them to continue to improve and plus it something active for them to do. After swim lessons we just came home and enjoyed a night together.