My New Wreath

Compliments of Grammy

A Day in the Life of Drew

Now that Drew is mobile...kind of...he manages to get around to where he wants to be eventually.  His newest fascination is the doggie door and Sadie.  Carli and Ava had the same fascination with the doggie door except that  they had figured out that they could go through the doggie door to get outside.  Drew hasn't figured that out yet, mostly b/c if Sadie hears him banging away by the doggie door, "in" she comes!  Drew has done really well with the animals.  I think having the cats has helped with that.  Ever since he could sit up, the cats would come sit with him on his blanket outside and he would pull, tug and eventually he learned to "pat" them.  So now with the dogs, he does a really good job at pat, pat, patting them and not pulling too much on their hair.  

Drew has also recently discovered the pantry and all the cool fun stuff that's in it.  His favorite is a box of lids that I have been saving for making Books of the Bible coins.  He thoroughly enjoys emptying and pulling out every single lid, then throwing them out of the pantry.  He creates quite the mess but it also entertains him for a good hour and I can get dinner cooked!

And finally, Drew has started enjoying his Sunday afternoon naps on top of Keith.  Keith is the only one who can consistently get Drew out of his carseat and keep him asleep.  This is usually how they end up.  

Summer Coupons

Part of our summer challenge included the girls having some summer coupons to use whenever they wanted.  They have both used their sleepover in Mom and Dad's room.  Ava kicked Keith out and Carli kicked me out.  :)  Last week they made use of two more coupons.  The girls and I went and enjoyed some pedicures together...

And while the girls and I enjoyed our time together, Daddy and Drew had some good bonding time too! 

The girls also got to go with Daddy on a movie date to see "Finding Dory."  He actually surprised them by meeting up with a bunch of ppl from their school, including Ava's little friend Grayson.  Apparently Ava was a little overwhelmed with the thought of sitting so close to a bunch of boys...

So being the good sister that she is, Carli switched seats and the move was much more enjoyable!

Sibling Love

Whereever there are these three siblings...there is LOVE.  :)

Little Thunder

Ava played tball this year for The Little Thunder.  She had a great year and thoroughly enjoyed herself!  She started the year off playing pitcher and got moved to 1st base.  She was pretty accurate at fielding the ball and throwing it to 1st but no one was on first who could catch it.  So she got moved to 1st with the hope she would stop what was thrown to her, only on one threw it to her.  Such is life with tball.  :)

Ava's little team was in a hot race for 2nd place.  They even beat the 1st place team 2 out of 3 times but they would have off games and lose to some other teams.  We were okay with ending the season in 3rd place.  We've been to state.  There was no district tourney this year for our district so the winners were going straight to state.  With our young team we knew we would not be competitive on that level.  So no state, was A-OK with us!  :)

Ava had a great season at bat and we are pretty excited that she can still play one more year of tball before moving up to coach pitch.  Ava's coach did a great job teaching the girls the game and we hope she will get to stay with him one more year!

My Little Momma's Boy

I'm not usually on the picture side of the picture - I'm usually on the picture taking side of things!  But in pulling pictures from Keith's phone for the blog, I found these.  Not the best pics of me, but I really don't care b/c how cute is my boy?  He is totally a Momma's boy and I wouldn't change it for a minute!

The Great Summer Challenge - The First 100 Coins

Our first week of the Summer Challenge was a great success and I was so encouraged!  I may have been a little lenient on the coin giving/taking away but hey, it was the first week!  The girls earned 36 and 34 coins by doing their daily chores, reading books, completing typing lessons, doing craft projects, writing in their journals, riding bikes and helping make dinner.  Each coin is worth a quarter, so Keith and I were out $17...my fridge and microwave got cleaned, towels ad sheets got washed, girls learned to make taco soup and they read EVERY SINGLE day!  We made two drips to the library in one week!  Plus, the girls put aside 1/4 of their money to take to church, 1/4 in their savings jar and 1/2 in spending.  Managed to squeeze in a bit of math too! 

Weeks two and three went pretty much just as well.  The girls managed to earn their first 100 coins in three weeks.  Granted we started giving them a coin for good attitudes and hustle at ball games and practices but it was a good motivator!  Additionally we learned that Ava's favorite chore is to clean the toilets...not kidding.  That sentiment may change as Drew gets older but for now, I let her do it every week!  :)  Carli might as well be a teenager b/c every single chore is so hard and so boring and really a waste of her time!  :)  She eventually gets it done though.  We finally made it to the library for their summer reading program and both girls walked away with three prizes for having read over 15 books each already. 

The girls first 100 coin reward was to go to iJump.  They each brought a friend along.  We had Chick-fil-a for lunch, the had a blast at iJump, survived Lowe's with 5 kids and may have bribed them with candy and ice cream for good measure!  :)

All in all, I would say our little summer challenge is going well.  The TV is off most of the day.  The girls read and spend some time studying the Bible each day.  They do a chore, they take their vitamins and some days they will even make their bed!  I think they will struggle a little more getting their next 100 coins b/c they don't have the added benefit of those extra coins from ball playing, but they'll just have to do a few extra fun things on the coin earning list and they won't have any issues.

And yes, I took all 5 kids to Lowes, by myself and survived...that alone should have earned me more than one coin!  :) 

Carli's Season

Carli's softball season ended on Tuesday night.  I was kind of bummed to have missed her last game, but Ava had a game in Alto while Carli was in Troup.  Keith said she did a great job on her last game.  They won and she played well.

This softball season was a real challenge for Carli.  Carli is very much a "rules" child.  If there is a rule you must follow it and in softball she understands the game and what should be going on.  She struggled this year with trying to understand why everyone else did not get the "rules."  It was a learning experience for us all.  She tended to over think sometimes and would get pretty down on herself if she perceived she should have done one thing but failed at trying.  So we learned, we cried and we struggled a bit. 

The Diamond Diva's were a young team and as the season progressed you could see the girls learning from their experience.  Carli started the year off on shortstop, played outfield a time or two and ended the year at 2nd base.  Her hitting was up and down but she ended on a good note.  It's all mental with Carli and once she overcomes the mental part of the game and learns to positive self talk herself she will have a more successful season.  Overall, if you ask Carli if she likes playing softball, she will tell you yes, but not in games b/c everyone won't follow the rules.  :/ 

So our plans for the off season are to try to put together a fall ball team or find a little tournament team to play on that will help continue to teach Carli the game but also show her it can be fun even if you have to work hard. 

Pea Shellin'

Our garden has done pretty well, but we haven't gotten to enjoy the "veggies" of our labor b/c Sadie tends to pick our veggies before we do.  She's enjoyed corn, squash, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes and okra.  For some reason, she's left our peas alone.  The kids (including our extra kid, Branson) helped me shell peas and snap beans for dinner one night.

Branson is a good natured kid and we enjoy when he comes over to play.  He worked hard shelling peas and snapping beans but decided the best part of dinner was the fried cornbread!  Ha!

Just Waitin'

Father's Day

My children are so blessed with a wonderful Daddy who would do anything for them.  How lucky I am to do this adventure of "parenting" with Keith!

Over the last three months, I've never been more proud of my Dad.  Even when it would have been easier to give up and go with the crowd, he never let go of his convictions.  I may not live at home or get to see him every day but I still am learning how to live life by watching my Daddy do it so well.

American Girl Doll - Rebecca

So Friday night, I left Keith hm with Drew and Carli to take Ava to her tball practice. Apparently Carli discovered the American Girl catalog and Keith very helpfully put her on their website. He said she was entertained for the whole two hrs I was gone. In those 2 hrs, she added $700+ to her "cart." When her daddy told her that was a bit much, she very proudly got it down to $414! So, this weekend amid the softball games and practices Carli kept dreaming about her American Girl dream cart.

Enter opportunity to teach a very important lesson, sometimes you don't have to buy new to get what you want. We found an American Girl doll for $50 on one of the swap pages. Tonight we emptied her piggy bank and counted out almost every single bit of money she had to get her $50 so she can buy her first American Girl doll. She is so excited!

It turned out the lady we bought the doll from was the nurse for my OB when I was pregnant with Carli!  When I apologized for sending so many coins to pay for the doll but explained why, she was so generout and sent more than just the doll home!

The Definition of Patience

Is teaching your 6 year old how to change her sheets...

My Poor Bed

Drew was doing so good helping me fold clothes on my bed.  And I knew he had done his business but I thought he never leaks so I preserved b/c he was being so cooperative.  Turns out, I should have changed him sooner.  Ended up changing the sheets, all the blankets and giving Drew a bath. Lesson learned. 

The Difference of a Minute

One minute I'm getting on to them for fighting and antagonizing each other.  The next, I'm walking around the house trying to find them b/c the quietness usually means they're up to something.  I found them snuggled together flipping through Netflix options.  It was a cute moment, which I totally ruined when I turned the TV off and told them to go play outside.  Ha!

Tater Diggin

We dug our potatoes today.  We experimented on doing our potatoes in a container and adding dirt as the plants grew.  I think we might could have waited a bit longer.  We didn't have any rotten potatoes!  Ava was my main helper and judging by the amount of dirt in the bathtub, I'm not sure she left much outside!