A Week without Dad

Keith left us all last week for North Carolina.  Between school, work, and softball, the kids kept me pretty busy!  Carli had a league ball game in Chapel Hill on Tuesday night.  I managed to get her there and warm her up with the three littles in tow.  The ring pop bribary helped!

Carli had a great game that night and her team won!  Got a call from Naggy and Pappy that they were driving in the next day to help me!  While I was managing well they must have had some amazing intution b/c that night Carli pulled an all nighter with stomach pains.  So I was quite relieved to see them pull up mid morning b/c I was exhausted!!  I kept both girls home from school just in case so they got some extra loving and the week turned out quite nice.  Keith came home late Thursday night and Naggy and Pappy stayed through Saturday so they could see Carli play a little bit of softball before going home.  This week could have been really quite challenging but we were saved by the grace and presence of Naggy and Pappy!

Freida the Goat

We got Keith a goat for his birthday.  Ha!  The idea was that she would eat down the brush around the creek.  I'm not sure if she will or not because she seems really social and prefers to hang out with the dogs.  

As a matter of fact, she's gone on a couple of walks just like a dog does!  I call her "goat" but Drew insist her name is Freida the Goat.  So far she's the easiest animal to take care of...she just needs water and she loves the grass!

And when you fall asleep while walking the goat, Mom just wheels the stroller on in the house so you get a good nap!

Sunday at the Ballfield

After playing ball til midnight and not getting home til after 1 am, Carli and I were up again at 5 to head to Nacogdoches.  She had agreed to play pick up with Sneaky Cleats but we did not count on having such a late night on Saturday!  Needless to say, Dr. Pepper and donuts with a Thrive was a necessity!!

And I am going to have to type out this story because one day, it is gonna be one of those that I keep coming back too.  I have struggled to communicate with Carli in an effective way the last few months.  So when we put Ava in counseling for her anxiety (medical trauma b/c she passes out when she vomits) we found out that Carli could go as well b/c our insurance covered it.  We decided maybe it would be a helpful thing because I knew I was not doing a good job communicating with her.  So fast forward to this Sunday morning.  Carli was exhausted.  She didn't want to be here.  I didn't want to be here.  But the fact was that we made a commitment and we had to fulfill it.  So after the first game at 8 am, we had a break long enough for us to go to church service before we had to play again.  As we got in the car, I was boiling a bit b/c Carli's body language STUNK to high heaven and I just didn't understand the lack of effort...but I forced myself to count to 10.  I then told her all the good things she did that morning and then I told her this:

Carli, you have two choices...

1.  You can be totally exhausted, have a sour attitude, not hustle, not cheer, make a lot of new enemies and been seen as a mean girl and end the day mad at the world, exhausted and feeling totally defeated.

2.  Or you can be totally exhausted, but give all the effort you have to give.  Hustle on and off the field, cheer with the team, pitch your best, goof off with the girls and make a lot of new friends and end the day exhausted but proud of the effort you gave and the friends you made.

What are you going to do?!

Ya'll she seriously thought about it for four minutes.  FOUR MINUTES!!  I watched the clock and was about to give up and think this strategy the counselor told me to use wasn't going to work...and then she sighed and said.  I guess I should really do the second one.  And SHE DID!  I was blown away!!  She felt in charge and made her own decision.  And it worked!

I was pretty proud of how the rest of the day went for Carli.  They didn't win this tournament but she did her absolute best and that was just awesome to see!

Turned out Ava and her Thunder team played at this tournament as well.  When Carli lost out, she and I went home b/c we were so tired!  But Ava and Keith stayed and Thunder won it all!  Over all it was a great day for the Hays' Sisters!

Maggie at 15 mths

Maggie turned 15 months old last Friday and today went for her check up.  She is 30.5 inches tall (48%), 18 lbs 14 oz (16%) and head circumference of 18.5 (83%).  So basically, she's an average height baby on the light side with a good head on her shoulders.  :)

She also had a raging double ear infection which surprised the doctor because she was so happy and smiling.  But didn't really surprise me since we had been dealing with congestion for the past forever weeks it seems!

And because I like to see just how close my babies are at each stage:

Carli was 30 inches tall, 20 lb 11 oz and 18.25 inch head at 15 mths.
Ava was 29 inches tall, 19 lbs 14.5 oz and 18 inch head at 15 mths.
Drew missed his 15 mth check up b/c he had the virus from hell...it lasted FOREVER.

Horse Riding

Our activities are branching out, you know because we have a free night in the week!  :)  Ava started riding lessons tonight and I was surprised that she took to it immediately.  She didn't even act nervous but was excited and very willing.  Our hope is that riding lessons and being around horses will help her deal with some of the anxiety she has been feeling lately.  Already, I'm quite impressed with just how much she has responded to being near the horses!  

Carli is quite interested in giving riding lessons a go too and Drew thought the horses were pretty cool but he is determined that he will be riding cows.  Not bulls, cows.  Cows are cooler!  Maggie just thinks all animals are absolutely awesome and gets so excited when we are anywhere near the horses!

Class Pictures

Carli's Concert

Carli came home and told us she had a concert and if we came we were forbidden from taking her picture.  So Grammy took this one picture of her for us...so we didn't disobey because she didn't tell Grammy not to take a picture.  This was the annual 4th grade recorder music program.  

Good Bye Sweet Mawmaw

We woke up on Friday, April 13th to a call from a friend letting us know that Mawmaw had suffered what they thought was a brain aneurysm the night before and was in the hospital unresponsive.  The next couple of days brought on so much fear and hope.  Mawmaw woke up at one point and even spoke to her family.  The doctors decided she in fact had suffered from a stroke, but on Wednesday, April 17th, Mawmaw passed away in her sleep.  

Our hearts are broken. Mawmaw had the patience of a saint. She endured both the hard-headedness of Drew, who literally screamed the first six weeks he stayed with her to the stubbornness of Ms Maggie who insisted she hold her each day for her naps. I never ever worried about my kids when they were with her. She reminded me so much of my Grandma. Her arms always open to give you a hug, and she always knew when you needed one without you saying a word. This precious soul became such an integral part of our lives in the two years we were blessed to know her. She will be missed by so so many. Please pray for Mawmaw's family and for my littles who still are asking to go see their Mawmaw. 😢

"You have a place within our hearts that no one else can fill. We are forever thankful for you Mawmaw, who we love and always will."

Goodbyes are so very hard. 😢

Must be a Monday

Easter Egg Hunt

After weathering the storm, the weather cleared up really quickly and we were able to squeeze in an Easter Egg hunt.  This year Drew helped us fill eggs, thus much to the older girls disgust many of our eggs were mismatched.

The Easter Egg hunting Crew

My Four with Weston and Colton

This was the first year Maggie really got a chance to hunt eggs.  When she figured out she could open the eggs and there might be candy in them she quit hunting and started opening eggs.

The Bigs hunted high and low for the Money Egg...ultimately Ava found the egg hidden on a cross piece of the building.

Drew had so much fun getting eggs.  His basket was so full it kept spilling over when he would bend down to pick up more eggs.

The crew with the spoils of their hunt!

Annual King Family Reunion

This year's King Family Reunion was a little smaller this year and was held amidst some crazy weather!  While we were visiting and catching up inside, torandos were springing up all over East Texas!  Three of them hit Alto and caused some major damage.  We literally watched the last tornado disappear up into the sky as the storm passed over us.  Nothing says family like weathering out tornados in a hundred year old school house!

Tie Dye Cake

We had signed up to bring food to a family with a new baby this week.  They already have three little girls and Carli wanted to make the girls a very special cake!  So after much research and debate, she gave a tie dye cake a try!  I wish we could have seen what it looked like when it was cut into!  By all accounts, it tasted very good!

New Dog Kennel

We had a vision for a dog kennel under a bench for a couple of years now and we finally bit the bullet and had it made!  There's lots of room for the little dogs and well, kids now apparently!  Can't wait to see the table that's going to go along with it!

Naps at Grammy's

Only at Grammy's will Maggie lay down without being held and actually nap for a decent length of time!  Must be that Grammy magic!

Good Big Sisters

Their days are made when I let them put Maggie to sleep or when she's fought a nap so hard she simply can't stay awake any longer!

Believe

"I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles." - Audrey Hepburn


It's been a challenging two weeks, but when Mrs Hultberg sends me a picture mid day of this care free, precious girl of mine...I can't help but smile and be grateful.

Ava's Perfect Hairstyle

Ava found a hairstyle that fits her to a T...starts off all nice and neat then chaos everywhere! 🤣