Weekend

Last weekend we were able to really catch up on our rest. I like to have quiet weekends as much as possible and just enjoy the down time with my littles. I also think its beneficial to them as well. 
So Friday my parents picked Colby up from school and he spent the night with them. It was nice having a quieter day with just Lindsay and enjoying her that evening. We watched Aristocats that night for our movie. 
That morning she and I got up and did a few things around the house and enjoyed a lazy morning before going to pick him up. I picked him up a little before 10 and we went to the park. We are back to having park days on Saturdays which I love! I am believer in just letting kids play outside and having freedom. So many of my friends have their kids in sports on Saturdays. I mean Colby has no interest in sports and honestly I am kinda glad b/c I think its nice to have a no plans type day. My kids love just playing at the park together and I am grateful for that. We ran a quick errand then came home to watch Football. Right now the kids love football and they love being at home to play so it was a WIN-WIN! We just had a really low key rest of the day. It was lovely! Austin got in that night and got Colby started on Legos so he spent a lot of the weekend doing that as well.
Sunday Austin was off and we went to church. I was teaching ofcourse. We had about 9 children. It went really well. Lindsay loved playing with Sophia and Genevieve. I love that she has such sweet friends at church to play with! That afternoon again was kind of lazy. We watched the SAINTS. We also took a bike ride that evening. I just cannot say how much I love weekends. 
Monday ( I will include this as well since Austin was off) Austin was home and it always feels more like the weekend. We both brought the kids to school. It was nice to have him along. We stopped at PJs after getting Colby dropped off. We brought Lindsay then he and I grocery shopped. It was nice having him with me for a change. That afternoon was pretty low key. We had a nice healthy, family dinner then we took a bike ride! 

School Days

So ofcourse with 2 kids involved in 2 different schools we stay quite busy these days. Tuesday especially was one of those days. First off I had Bible study. again I am loving this study of Sermon on the Mount and already learning so much! I am also soaking up the time for just me! On Sundays and Wednesdays I teach the preschoolers so this is the time for me to really get filled up with the Word so that I can pour out for others. 
That day after school Lindsay had a picnic with her class. It seems like yesterday I was doing this with Colby. I wished Austin and Colby could have come since it was a Family Picnic but it was nice to be with my girl and soak up time with her and her little friends. As always it was precious. We got to visit with Mrs. Susan and other parents. We also got to see them sing the Hokey Pokey and enjoy their cookies that they had made at school that day. 

That evening Colby had Family Read Night. This was our 3rd one. Its always a fun Family Event. This year they didn't do a meal so it was a little different. We arrived and took the kids first to the book fair. We were happy that Austin got to come with us again. The kids each picked out 2 books. After that they had popcorn and Monster Juice outside so the kids enjoyed a little snack. We then went into the Worship Center and quickly found his friends. Nijel and Mia were there and the kids had a blast running around and visiting with them. They have a time set aside for the kids to enjoy their books with their families and friends. At the end the teachers put on a little skit. This years theme was Monsters so it was really cute. Its always nice going to school events and seeing him interact with his friends. It'll be really exciting next year when they are both in the same school! 

Friday I volunteered to help with the end of the book fair. I picked Lindsay up from school and we had a quick lunch with my parents then went to the school. It was kindergarten and 1st grades day to see the book fair. OMG it was wild in there! I helped field kids and make sure they actually had enough money to pay for their books and also to make sure they were making good choices. Once we got them all cleared out I helped Erin pack up the book fair. Lindsay was a lot of help and actually a trooper and very patient! 
It was a crazy week with so many school activities and also church! We are enjoying our Wednesday night crew as well. We had 9 kids this week. I felt it was a little less hectic then the first week. I am enjoying getting to know some of the 2 year olds better b/c they will be in my class next year on Sundays! 

Its been a great week! 

Settling back into Post Vacation

When we got back from Disney we had to hit the ground running back into normal life. That Monday both kids started back to school. That Tuesday I started to Bible Study. That Wednesday we started back to church and that Thursday we started back with Cubscouts! It was a busy and tiring week and we were all ready for some downtime by that weekend. We had a very low key weekend and stayed home mostly which was nice! Friday afternoon I did have a picnic with Lindsay and her friends at City Park. That was fun! We had a good time but it was hot! 
This week has been pretty much the same. The kids are back into the school groove. I am enjoying my ladies Bible Study once again and learning so much! Wednesday has been great we have had LOTS of preschoolers so that has been an adjustment but a good one to make. We have had 11 and 9. And most are 2 year olds so its a very busy group! The kids are enjoying the extra time with friends though! 
Thursdays has become the day I keep Lindsay home with me. We like to have breakfast at Chickfila then run errands and come home and play. 
Looking forward to the weekend. Not sure what we will do yet. Possibly the Cubscouts Zoofari but no definite plans either way. 

Lindsay's First Day of School

I am so far behind posting about this! Lindsay started to school a few weeks ago. Well actually she went one Wednesday for a Meet and Greet. She is so excited about returning to school and has her friends from last year Layla, Zoe, and Claire returning as well. In there class there are 8 kids 5 girls and 3 boys. As far as I know everything went well and she is loving Mrs. Susan and all her friends. So far they have learned about Friends and Family. She's come home talking about things like Bones and the Pledge as well. I am excited to see her do a little more academics this year but also spend the majority of her time learning through play. She missed the actual first week of school while we were on our cruise but jumped right back in that second week. Its neat seeing her go through the same teacher and class as Colby. I think this will be a great year for her. She has grown so much since last year! We will miss AUMC as this will be our last year there unless we have another kiddo. She attends 4 days a week. Its a 5 day program but most Thursdays I will just keep her home with me. I feel she needs a break plus she's only 3 and I want to spend time with her while she's still little as well. It also helps my crazy schedule. I spend so much time in the car now that she goes those 4 days. I look forward to all the fun and adventures that this year holds! 

Disney Day 8

So our final day of vacation we were going to spend another day in Magic Kingdom. We all woke up refreshed and rested and ready to go! We had a quick breakfast at the hotel then took the bus to MK. When we got in the gate we had been told that Marie from Aristocats was on Main Street so we stopped and waited and had our picture with her. We then made our way into Tomorrowland. Our first ride was Space Mountain. My parents stayed with Lindsay and Colby rode this with us. I am so glad he actually rode a coaster! I think he liked it but said he wouldn't do it again. We then did the Buzz Lightyear ride which they both like. Afterwards we did the Carousel of Progress. We all enjoyed that and ofcourse its always a nice little break as well. Afterwards we went to Fantasyland and rode the Little Mermaid ride. Lindsay LOVED it! I then rode the Teacups with them. We then had a Fast Pass to the little race car ride. Austin rode with Colby and I rode with Lindsay. Again it was a fun time. We stopped and took a break for lunch. As always lunch was a welcome break in the cool and time to sit down. We rode Dumbo after lunch and then let the kids play in the AC. We also rode the train around the park. That afternoon we had a fast pass for the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. Colby was freaking out at first but he ended up loving it! Lindsay said it was her favorite ride! We did Mickey's Philaramagic after. It was a welcome break and the kids loved it. They wanted to head back to Adventureland so we thought that sounded like a good place to rest and get a Dole Whip. They had wanted to ride the Magic Carpet ride again but by the time we finished our little snack break it had started raining. They did get to the the Tree House with Austin though. 
By this time it was raining pretty hard so we hit the gift shop then headed back to the hotel. Once again we cleaned up a little then went downstairs to dinner. We had reservations at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. It was a fun and yummy dinner. The kids loved that they had Lincoln Logs to play with while you waited. We turned in pretty early that night. I think we were all tired. 
We had a good trip home on Sunday. The kids were so good throughout all the traveling and craziness. Lindsay got a little upset on the plane when her ears were popping. She even fell asleep for a little while. We had such a great time but it was good to get home too! 

Disney Day 7

So we had to start our 7th day bright and early. We had to be in the lobby by about 7am. It was hard to drag the kids out of bed...especially Lindsay did not want to get up! We finally got downstairs and quickly went through Customs and got on a bus headed back to Disney World. The kids were tired and we packed some cereal for them to snack on. We got to our hotel around 9 I think. My parents were there to greet us. We invited them to join us for the 2nd part of the trip. We got checked in and brought our luggage upstairs then were ready to hit the road to Magic Kingdom! I was so excited to be back! The kids were 5 and 2 the last time. Both have grown up so much! We took a few pictures then headed into Adventureland. The kids spotted the flying carpets and remembered that from last time so that is what we did. They both loved it! We then rode the Jungle Cruise which I think they both enjoyed too. Our next stop was Its a Small World. Once we rode that it was time to head back for our lunch reservation. We had made reservations at the Crystal Palace. We haven't eaten there in MANY years! We were very pleased though! We all loved the food and all the Winnie the Pooh characters were there so the kids thought that was fun as well. It was a nice break from the heat. It was then time for our Fast Pass to Meet Ariel. Lindsay loved this! I think it was the hightlight of her trip! Afterwards we rode the Haunted Mansion.  We then decided it was time to use our Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. Colby for whatever reason chose not to ride either and Lindsay wasn't tall enough so my parents took them to the Country Bear Jamboree Show while Austin and rode the 2 mountain rides. It was fun having about an hour together. I felt like we were like kids again. We met them back after the show and sat down to cool off. By that point the park was getting crowded and it was SO hot! We decided to go ahead and leave at that point. We got back to the hotel and had about an hour to cool off. We then ate dinner downstairs at the Quick Service place. We had a nice low key dinner and fun visiting. We then took a walk around the property outside and found a playground and walking trail. I was glad we were able to have that time outside and a time to just slow down. It was a nice end to the day. We tried to get the kids to bed early so that they would be ready for another day! 

Disney Day 6

So our 6th day of the trip we were on the boat all day. It was a nice morning to sleep in a little and not be in quite as big of a rush. We did make our way to the breakfast buffet though and enjoyed that. The kids were already in their swimsuits so as soon as they finished breakfast we took them to the pools. They are always SO crowded though on that last day. We let them play about an hour. After that we had all we could take so we took them to get dressed and cleaned up. We decided this trip we would do the little Mouse Detective Game on board. Both really enjoyed it. It sends you on a hunt all over the trip. We did about half of it then decided to break for lunch. We ate lunch by the pool again. Afterwards we went to rest. While Lindsay was still sleeping the boys got out and finished the hunt. When she woke up she and I went to the coffee cafe. We all enjoyed some more downtime in our room that afternoon before dinner. Dinner that night was at Enchanted Garden. It was bittersweet knowing that was our last night we had with those people who actually become like family during the week. We did the show that night as well. I think both kids liked the show but Lindsay LOVED it! Especially all the princess parts. We tried to get the kids right to bed b/c we knew and early and long day faced us!