School Lunch Prep

In an effort to be a bit more organized and let the girls have more say in what was in their lunches, we spent today doing a little school lunch prep.  Last night we had gone to the store and loaded up on some favorite treats, chips and fruits.  We came home and with our snack sized baggies started bagging them all up!  My help did a pretty decent job...for the first 10 minutes!

 

 

 

We put all the fruit and miscellaneous snacks in the top drawer, chips in the middle and treats in the bottom.  The way I plan lunches, the girls usually take leftovers since they don't eat many sandwiches.  So on any given day they may only need to pick from two of the three drawers.  Plus we have fresh fruit that is an option as well and homemade treats too.

 

Here's to be organized...for the first week of school at least!

Meet the Teacher

We had meet the teacher last Thursday.  After finishing swimming, we headed back down to the school and got there just in time before Meet the Teacher was over. 

Ava is in Kindergarten this year.  Her teacher is new to Troup but has been teaching about six years.  She came from over by Kilgore.  Ava's teacher is Mrs. Tinkle.  Ava has two of her tball buddies in her class:  Kiyah and Kayla.  She was very excited!

Carli is in 1st Grade this year.  Her teacher is also new to Troup but has been teaching about nine years.  She came from up by Greenville.  Carli's teacher is Mrs. Chambers.  Carli was very excited that her buddy Branson was in her class AND assigned to sit right next to her!  Carli is so ready to start school on Monday!  :)

Ava Graduates to Beginner 3

Grammy has taken the girls to swimming for pretty much the last 8 or 9 weeks.  It was so hot at the end of my pregnancy and then too hot to take Drew.  This week we switched up kids and Grammy stayed home with Drew while I took the girls to swimming and later to Meet the Teacher.

It was a good day for me to get back to watching the girls swim b/c Ava got to test to graduate out of Beginner 2 and she passed!  She is now officially in Beginner 3 with Carli.  An added bonus was that she got to ring the big yellow bell...which is a pretty big deal in swim lingo!  :)

38 Years and Counting

August 20th is a very special day.  This is that day that my parents were married, 38 years ago.  They didn't plan a big celebration but instead they spent their day serving others.  Perhaps that is part of the secret to such a long successful union - they put others before themselves.  My dad drove to Fairfield to take building supplies to my Great Aunt so they could work on rebuilding her carport.  My mom cooked dinner, bagged it up and brought us dinner and stayed with Drew so I could go with the girls to swimming (first time in over seven weeks) and then we could go to meet the teacher. 

Yes, my parents practice what they preach and so, today the girls and I talked about what it means to be married for 38 years.  They decided that we needed to make cookies for our new neighbors...so we did.  Carli even made them a card.  If the neighbors are ever home, we might get them their cookies before we eat them all!  :)

And then the girls put a lot of effort into making Grammy & Pa anniversary cards.  Carli's says, "38 years ago, ya'll got married.  I love you.  Carli"  She also made the pot holder, which she says is a coaster for Pa to use and not stain Grammy's tables.

Ava colored a picture of a tree and cut it out.  She also colored the XOXO and pasted it on the envelope.  We had to explain that she was conveying...Grammy & Pa sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Meanwhile, Drew spent most of his day sleeping which was a welcomed respite after our Wednesday when he absolutely refused to nap unless being held!

The girls were very proud of their cards but were so excited to find that Grammy and left them a thank you note in their mailboxes when they got home from meet the teacher tonight.  Carli said, "Mom you were right, when you do something nice for someone it makes your heart happy."  Yes Carli is sure does!

Family of Five - Reunited!

Friday afternoon Keith headed out to meet Naggy, Pappy and the girls in Jacksboro.  It was a four hour drive for everyone and made for a long evening.  Grammy came over Friday evening and kept Drew and I company.  Drew was pretty stoked about it!  :)

I enjoyed Mom's company.  We were sitting on the couch visiting when Grammy said, "Oh Wow, there's a scorpion!"  Yes, seriously!  :(  She took off her flip flop and we attempted to crush it.  We thought it was dead until we lifted up her shoe and off it scampered!  Grammy chased it down and killed it for good.  The exterminator was called first thing Monday morning!

Grammy announced she was on Drew duty and after I nursed him I went to bed about 11.  Keith and the girls got home around midnight.  I got up and nursed Drew around 3 and Grammy kept him until 7:30.  Wow, it felt good to sleep! 

The girls were so excited to see Drew and insisted that they now were big enough to help burp him!

I don't think Drew felt the same way!

Ava was insistent that she and her Daddy would have a date on Saturday night because she had missed seeing him all week long.  So she and her Daddy went to Braum's and Carli, Drew and I had our own little date at Taco Bueno.  :)

We were so glad the girls got to go spend some time with Naggy & Pappy in Amarillo but were very happy to have them back home again with us!  :)

Amarillo by Morning - Thu and Friday

Thursday morning and it was lunch date day for Drew and I with Daddy!

 After we had lunch, we took Drew up to visit all of Keith's co-workers before we headed home.  We had to take a picture with Manda.  The girls absolutely LOVE Manda and they are always asking Keith if he say Manda at work or if Manda was going to come downstairs to see them when we stop by to get Keith for a lunch date.  So it was a given we that Drew had to get a picture with Manda so we could send it to the girls!

 We visited with Manda for a while.  We talked about how much Drew grunts at night and gets the hiccups.  Later that night she called to tell us that her husband reminded her that one of her boys did that as well and he had silent reflux so we might look into that.  I did and go figure, completely made sense!  I left the pediatrician a message that night and by 10 am Friday morning Drew had meds to help his reflux and wow did it help!  He now only grunts and acts mad at us when he has gas or is hungry and not ALL NIGHT LONG!  :)

On Thursday the girls went back to Mrs. Jeri's and had quite the swim party with lots of the kids from church!

That night they used the "date card" we sent with some money to take Naggy and Pappy on a date to Sonic.  They apparently hit the jackpot in change when they got out and scoured the parking lot for dropped coins!

We talked to the girls again on Thursday night.  Crazy how much it seems your kids grow after being apart for just a week!  Ava talked non stop and was so excited to tell us all about her week!  Carli gave us a very detailed plan of what they were doing on Friday before we said good night and signed off.  Since Drew could not talk on the phone he had to send a good night picture to his sisters.

 

Friday's are the girls Kayla days but since they were here Drew ate up all the Kayla attention.  He literally slept on her all day!  We made sure to let the girls know that Kayla had her hands full even if they weren't here!

The girls went to the indoor playground one more time before packing up after lunch and heading to meet Keith in Jacksboro.

Keith found the girls in Jacksboro and after a short visit my family headed home!  :)  We are so thankful for Naggy and Pappy and their willingness to take the girls for a week and loving on them while making lots of new memories!

Amarillo by Morning - Mon thru Wed

Drew and I started off our Monday with a productive 2 hr nap on his tummy, only I didn't nap - I worked but a nap is equivalent to working in baby language.  So basically he and I had a very productive morning!

Naggy kept the girls busy and first thing Monday morning they were off to play at an indoor playground, followed up with snowcones before an afternoon of swimming at Mrs. Jeri's.

 

We talked to the girls Monday night.  They talked non stop and were having a lot of fun.  Unfortunately Naggy got to experience the "changing taste buds" of the girls.  They both LOVED chicken strips and mashed potatoes last time we were in Amarillo.  It's one of Keith's favorite meals that Naggy makes, so Naggy treated the girls to the favorite meal.  They only at a combined 1.5 chicken strips...word is that Ava came back and ate one cold later.  Kids and their perceptions that change their taste buds, or so they think sure is frustrating for those of us who cook!

We sent the girls air mattresses with them to Amarillo so the girls set up shop in Naggy & Pappy's room.  Apparently telling Ava over the last five years every single time we go to Amarillo NOT to play with Naggy's elliptical was not enough of a warning and she smashed her ring finger pretty good Monday night.  Pappy had to make an emergency trip to the store to get some Tylenol.  It's nicely bruised - maybe her nail won't fall off!

Tuesday morning, Drew sent the girls a "Good Morning" text!  He was quite smiley that morning!

The girls and Naggy were off to do a little real estate work then to Mr. Gattie's for lunch.  They came home with a few prizes from playing games!

The last time the girls went to Amarillo, I sent them with little gifts to open each day.  I did not have time or creativity to do that this time, so we sent notes instead.  I tried to write each note basic enough so Carli could read them to Ava.  Each note included a gift card or a little money to do something with that day.  Monday they used their money to buy a snowcone.  Today they used some Wal-mart gift cards to buy a toy...I was thinking a small pool toy to take to Mrs. Jeri's pool.  I think Naggy supplemented the gift cards and they came home with a couple of nicer toys than I anticipated!

Keith and I were excited to see that the girls got to go see Grandpa Herb for a little while and very thankful for Naggy snagging a picture for us!  They helped pick a few pears while at Grandpa Herbs.

The girls proved that they can eat and they can eat a lot with Naggy & Pappy treated them to Taco Bueno for dinner!

Wednesday morning, Drew and I got up to a text from Carli with this picture!  Carli has started taking our phones and sending text out to ppl.  For the most part they make sense!  :)

 

Drew of coarse had to say hi to his sisters!

 

Wednesday the girls went to the big pool and showed off their swimming skills.

 

Drew checked in on Naggy later that day to make sure she wasn't worn out yet!  She said she was doing great with swimming and activities but the showers and hair washings were about to do her in!  :) 

 

The girls grabbed another snow cone after church...

 

Drew wasn't to be out done...so he went to Dairy Queen after church and grabbed his Momma an ice cream cone!  :)