Family Picnic at Park Place

Saturday was the family picnic at Grandmas.  It is always fun to go to and much easier to visit with her when there are activities for the little ones and room to run around.  JJ got off work a little early so we were able to head over together when he got home.  It was so hot right at noon, still in the mid 90's which seems so hot for late September. We enjoyed a nice lunch with her and the family.  My Aunt Janet and Cousin Jenny were there.  Jenny had her daughter Lilly and her fiancés daughter Ella there with her as well.  It has been a while since we have seen them and it was nice to catch up with them.  Grandma looked really well and was so cute in her sun hat.  I know she was so happy that we were able to come.  They usually have a few different activities for the kids but this year they only had someone making balloons.  The kids each got a few and we were glad they didn't pop.  They served ice cream in the parlor and we eventually moved in there to sit in the AC.  It was much more enjoyable to sit and visit in there.  We stayed until late afternoon when the party was over.  After Grandma's we went to my house to hang out.  Nolan went down for a nap and the kids enjoyed playing while the boys watched football and we visited.  They had talked about going to the BBQ festival but we decided to just go eat at Sugarfire instead.  We all went out for BBQ together and it was so yummy.  We ate well all day!  It was fun to hang out with everyone and have a nice day together.   

 

Monday morning as we were packing the kids backpacks for school I noticed a homework sheet in Lucy's folder.  This is the first time homework has ever come home on the weekends.  Lucy started to get upset immediately realizing there was no way she would complete it in time to turn it in.  She left for the bus in tears and she asked her teacher if she could turn it in on Tuesday.  Thankfully her teacher let her and we have learned our lesson about checking for weekend homework.  Monday evening I sat down to help Lucy with her long division.  I felt like I had to dust off the cobwebs in my "mom brain" to help her.  I called a friend who's daughter is in the same class as Lucy to make sure they were doing it the same way we learned how many years ago.  Thankfully they were and as time went on it came back to me thankfully.  We worked for about 1 1/2 hours on that worksheet, I hope she appreciates the time I gave to her alone. 

Our weather has still been very warm and summer like, in the 90's!  Not like fall at all and it is hard to think September is coming to an end.  Wednesday is the day I don't go to the gym so Nolan and I headed to the park for some fresh air, exercise and playing at the playground.  I pushed him in the stroller and ran a few miles around the park, it felt good and Nolan enjoyed looking around at everything.  We then played at the playground for a little while until we got to hot and then headed home.  It was a fun change of pace and nice to get out of the house.  

Garrett is enjoying his Taekwondo class at the Renaud Center.  He likes being a ninja and learning new moves each week.  He only has one class left and I will be curious to see if this is something he wants to continue.  We ran into his teacher at the grocery store the next day.  She said she loves having Garrett in her class.  She said he is always so excited to be there and has such a light in his eye.  He really does!  He is such a sweet boy and I hope he always keeps that light in his eyes. 

Lasagna Dinner

Lucy and I went over her achievement day goals to see where she was.  There were a few things that I thought would be easy to mark off together.  We figured out a few to plan on doing in the next little bit.  One of the goals we decided to work on was to plan and serve a nutritious meal.  We talked about a few dinner options and decided on making Lasagna, toasted bread and salad.  She was excited to learn how to make lasagna with me.  She likes to help in the kitchen and it was fun for her to be in charge.  I need to let her help me more and slowly teach her a few little things.  We invited some friends over to have dinner with us.  They thought it was cute that Lucy made the dinner.  Everything turned out really good and she was proud of herself.     

Lucy's Skating Party

Saturday afternoon we had a late birthday party for Lucy.  We seem to have more luck with how many can attend if we wait until school has started.  She has been asking for a party at Great Skate for a while and was so excited for it to happen. There could be 10 party guests and so we invited 12 girls thinking that not everyone would be able to attend.  We could always pay a little extra if by chance they could all come.  It was so hard to get the party invitations out to everyone.  She wasn't allowed to hand them out at school unless inviting all the girls in the class.  We personally delivered the ones in the neighborhood but she had 4 that were in other classes and not in our neighborhood.  We tried to see if we could get a buzz book from school but they don't offer then anymore.  I told Lucy she was going to just have to chance getting in trouble if she wanted to invite those girls.  She was so stressed out about it but her teacher gave her permission to pass them out since the girls weren't in her class.  She was so happy that 10 girls were able to come and as the time for the party got closer she started counting down hoping time would pass quicker. We got a babysitter for the boys so we could just be with Lucy.  It was during Nolan's nap time and he would have been difficult to juggle with hosting the party.  We picked up a cookie cake for Lucy and also had popcorn and soda at our table for the girls to snack on.  Lucy had the biggest smile on her face the whole party!    

She got to go in the "Party Machine" and try to grab as many tickets as she could.  She was so excited to go in there.  She did a good job and got a total of 350 tokens to use at the prize area. 

Lucy has such sweet friends.  It was so cute watching them interact.  I have become familiar with many of them over the years.  She has had several of the same friends since Kindergarten.  We also see several of them at the pool during the summer and around the neighborhood.  

Here is the whole group, plus a random girl who just got in our picture.  We laughed about and thought it was funny because one of the girls was talking to her.  We wondered if someone knew her but they didn't. They all did a great job skating and for the most part they all knew how to skate. 

 For a while we took turns sitting at our table with the girls who were taking a break and then skating and trying to keep an eye on the girls skating.  It was very busy with lots of parties so it was tricky to keep track of all the girls.  They usually skated in groups so that did make it easier. For a while all the girls were skating so JJ and I were both able to go skate together.   

 After all the party guest left Lucy went over to spend her 350 tokens from the party machine.  She picked out this little penguin, it was cute and pretty much the only thing worth getting.

We had a lot of fun having a party with Lucy.  She is such a great girl and deserved and fun afternoon with her friends.  We are glad we were able to spend the afternoon just with her.  We took the presents home to open and she got lots of fun things from everyone.

Sick at the Store

Every once and a while Nolan likes to swing on the big swing like a big kid.  We give him just a tiny push and he loves it.  He is starting to get adventurous and will lean his head back.  He still likes to go in his swing so I can give him an under doggy push. 

 Wednesday morning I could tell Nolan wasn't feeling like his self. He had woken up early in the morning crying like he was sad.  I was able to get him back to sleep but he woke up sad again after sleeping in a little later then normal.  He wasn't interested in eating breakfast but had a cup of milk to drink.  I had to run to the grocery store for a 2 things to make it until our grocery day later in the week.  He seemed happy as we were shopping and then all of a sudden he threw up all over the floor.  I was thankful he was walking beside me and not riding in the cart.  He would have likely thrown up all over me if I were pushing him.  I let him just continue to throw up on the floor.  A nice mom who I recognized from the gym was so sweet and went to get someone to come clean up the floor.  I wiped off Nolan's hands and face.  I was thankful it was no big deal to clean up and everyone was so nice and helpful.  We hurried to get our last thing and then checked out.  I was glad he didn't throw up in the car on the way to the store.  It was not ideal but easily taken care of.  We went home and spent the day playing and relaxing together.  He had an appetite by lunch and didn't throw up again. I was thankful whatever it was passed quickly and no one else felt sick. 

The next day we headed to the park to get some fresh air.  We walked around the little pond at Quail Ridge park.  He had fun looking at the water.  We walked down by the water and found a few things to throw in.  We also saw a squirrel with an acorn in its mouth.  We watched it run away and up a tree.  I found an acorn to show him and he wanted to bring it home so we put it in his pocket.  He thought it was fun to have something in his pocket.  I love cute Nolan and it was a fun little outing with him.    

Trucks and Motorcycles

We were at some friends house last weekend and they had this cool truck with a trailer and two motorcycles.  Nolan played with it all night and loved it.  When it was time to go our friends told us to just take it home with us.  She said her little boy never played with it anymore and she could see how much Nolan enjoyed it.  That was so sweet of her because I was thinking to myself Nolan would love to have a truck like that.  He has been playing with it a ton and especially loves the motorcycles like Grandpa has.  He will turn over the edge of my rug to make a little mountain for them to ride over.  I love the little sounds he makes as he drives them around.  We also love to take them outside and drive them around in the flower beds.  I love little boys and all the fun they bring to life.

 

Both Lucy and Garrett love to read as they fall asleep.  I like to check on them as they are falling asleep and I thought Garrett looked so cute reading his book.  He likes to read his Ninjago books as well as his weird science questions book.  He enjoys reading books where he can learn things.  I hope the kids always enjoy reading.  It is hard to think someday soon he might outgrow that bed and be ready for a bigger one.

Dirt Bikes

Friday night we took dinner over to my parents house.  It has been a while since we have visited just on our own.  We have been able to see them with so much family in town but it is nice to visit when things aren't so hectic.  We had a yummy dinner with everyone and then headed outside to play.  Jordan has a fun new remote control car.  It's huge and fun to drive around with all their space.  They also got out the dirt bikes to ride.  Lucy drove the little one with some help from Jordan.  She did pretty well, it is really to big for her.  She doesn't know how to shift it yet.  It was fun to see Jordan running behind her on the bike.  They have a mini bike they need to work on and get running.  The kids would have a blast riding it.  I have never driven a dirt bike and decided to give it a try.  Jordan explained it all to me and then I slowly figured it out.  I had fun riding it around!  I was not the smoothest shifter but did pretty good.  I think being able to drive a manual car made it easier for me.  I didn't crash or fall off so it was overall a success.  It was fun and JJ was impressed I did it.  I usually don't try new things so he was surprised when I said I would do it. We then went to the grocery store with Courtney for some ice cream.  Lucy and Garrett came and helped pick out some good flavors.  We came back with a good variety and some popsicles.  It was fun to have a little ice cream party before heading home.  It is always a fun time at Grandma and Grandpa's.      

After such a busy weekend it was nice to settle down and get back into our routine.  We worked on getting the house cleaned and spent time relaxing.  It was still really hot the first part of the week.  One night we got the slip and slide out one more time for the kids.  They had a blast running around and getting wet.  Nolan and I enjoyed our time together and had fun playing at home.  We got rain the last part of the week and things cooled down.  It was nice to have a rainy day to be lazy at home.  We made home made play dough together.  He picked to make it blue.  He loved rolling it our and making shapes.  When Lucy and Garrett got home they were excited to see the play dough.  They had fun playing with it as well.  I need to make some more, it was a hit for all the kids.

Labor Day

Monday morning JJ headed out early for a bike ride.  He usually organizes a ride on the fourth of July but it was rainy.  They rode Lost Valley and had a fun time together.  His phone died and he had told me he would be home about 7:30/8.  When it was 9 and he hadn't come home I started to get a little worried.  Thankfully he was fine and got home a little after 9.  Everything went well it just took longer then he thought.  We hurried and got ready to meet everyone at a park to play some softball.  It was a very hot and humid day and we were dripping sweat.  There was a sprinkler for the kids to play in and they had a blast.  They started to fill up water bottles and dump water down the slides and make them water slides.  They had so much fun playing together.   

 

 

We split into teams and had fun playing a few innings.  We let everyone bat once each inning.  We kept score but it really was all just for fun.  We had some good plays and everyone did great.  My Dad was funny and kept trying to steal bases.  If it weren't so hot we would have played longer.  We will have to plan another day to play again when the weather cools down.  We headed home from the park so we said our good byes to everyone as we left.  It was a fun weekend and we are glad everyone was able to come in town.    

 

We spent the afternoon relaxing and then headed over to the Hoyts house for dinner and swimming.  They put a new pool in this summer and were excited to have everyone over.  It was just completed and filled up with water a few days before.  We had yummy BBQ and lots of good sides.  JJ swam with the kids and I enjoyed visiting with the ladies on the side.  They had fun jumping in and doing different tricks.  It is a beautiful pool and so pretty with all the trees around.  We had a nice evening, it was the perfect way to spend the hot day.  It is sad to see summer officially come to an end.    

Happy Birthday Mom

Sunday was my Mom's birthday, 60 years old!  She was so happy on her birthday, you could just tell she was having such a fun day.  She loves having her family all together.  There isn't anything she loves more then to spend time with her family.  I know it meant a lot to her that we were all there.  We all got together after church for a nice dinner, Mexican café Rio food which is her favorite.  She wanted to make sure we got a picture of everyone while we were all together.  We are getting better at making these photos quicker.   

 

 

 

 

We had a nice evening visiting with everyone.  We had yummy food, yummy cake and the kids played outside so nice together.  Grandpa was nice and let the kids play in the gravel driveway.  They loved it and got all messy.  We went in on a group gift for my Mom to get a new bike.  She loves to ride her bike but doesn't really like the bike she has.  Hopefully now she can pick one out she likes.  I also found some plates at an antique store that I thought would go perfect in her plate holder she has in her dinning room.  She really likes them and they look great.  Lucy loves being able to hold and cuddle Chloe and Edward.  I can often find her playing mommy to one of them.  It is fun to have little babies to pass around.  We are so happy we were able to get together and celebrate my Mom.  She is awesome and we are so lucky she is in our family.