Lately

I haven't written in a while, but things have really been about the same as the previous post...school, gymnastics, football and volleyball practices, youth group, etc.

Lunch with C before helping his teacher with some things.

A fun Friday afternoon playdate and dinner with his friend, K.

 Saturday morning with Bogart.  He hopped into R's lap in this chair, then R moved chairs...

 and Bogart followed him.  He really wanted some attention.  :)

 R had a home game that day

C watching the game

My parents came up for dinner one evening--always great to see them.

 Weird mushrooms growing on a tree in our front yard.

After volleyball practice the girls had a pizza party and tie-dyed team t-shirts and socks to wear at their games.

 Rhett went to school early for See You At The Pole on 9/23.

 R was excited to find out that he will get to be a narrator in the drama club's Christmas play.

Friday night the boys and I took Alexee to a classmate's birthday party at the park.  From there, Rhett rode to the homecoming football game with a friend's mom.  As soon as he got home we took him back to church to go on an overnight youth trip.  They left the church parking lot at 10 pm and stayed up all night.  They went to a pizza place that has go-carts, laser tag and games.  Then they went to a farm for a bonfire, games and an early morning hike in the woods.  I was really anxious to pick him up at the church at 8am on Saturday.  I had a restless night worrying about him being somewhere other than safely in his bed at home.  He had a blast though and said, "Who knew it would be so easy to stay up all night!?!  I never even got tired!"  But he came home and went straight to bed, only to wake up two hours later to leave for his out of town football game!

Saturday morning Crosby also had flag football practice.  He's learning a lot, but he's also a little nervous about the first game.  He played last year, but they really didn't actually learn any plays, so this is all new to him.  He's frustrated that he doesn't know exactly what to do.  Lane came to the practice field when it was time for me to take R to his game, and he was able to stand beside him and help him.  I think C felt better by the end of practice.

 The 6th grade team during warm-ups.

They lost, but played really hard.  They knew going into the game that it was going to be a tough one.

Meanwhile, back here, Lane took A and C to eat lunch then they went to A's first volleyball game.  I hated to have to miss it--Too many things going on at the same time!  Lane sent me this picture of Alexee serving the ball.  She said she had fun.

Lane worked again last night but was off today so we were able to all go to church together, then we dropped R off at a friend's birthday party and came home for lunch.  It was such a pretty afternoon.  L helped C with his plays and his catching in the back yard (C is behind that tree--I took the picture from the window.)  :)  I wish the weekend had another day...with no scheduled events!

First Game & Other Activities

It was a four day school week last week because of Labor Day, which was nice!  Tuesday afternoon I helped C's teacher with some projects.  It's always fun to get to cut and paste and see the kids while they're at school.  The workroom is next to C's classroom, so he stopped by several times.  :)  R was scheduled to have football practice right after school that day, but it stormed so practice was canceled and we had an unexpected free afternoon!  We went to the bakery for cookies, Toys R Us to look at Power Ranger swords and Claire's to look at earrings.  Finally, we picked up Chick-fil-A for Lane and took it to him at work.

brownie for R

snickerdoodle for A

candy corn sugar cookie for C

chocolate chip for myself and for L

yum.

Wednesday the kids were excited to go back to youth group after it had been on break for the summer.  The Hook & Ladder firetruck was there and sprayed everyone with water.  They had so much fun!

Thursday was drama club then football for R (the team got their new jerseys!) and first volleyball practice for A (she said she had fun).  

                                           

Friday the 6th graders wore their jerseys to school for good luck...first game on Saturday!  I didn't really plan to have him stand in front of his 2 year old portrait, but it happened to be a fun comparison pic.  It seems like he should still be two and wearing that little sweater vest.

Friday afternoon Crosby had his first football practice and Rhett had a make-up practice because of the rain earlier in the week.  It was nice that these took place on the same field.  Lane had a work dinner to go to that night.  I'd planned to go with him but couldn't work out the details with finding a babysitter and making it to the kids' practices.  

At some point during the week my order arrived from Craftberry Bush.  When I saw the colors in these pumpkin pillows (on her Instagram feed) I thought they'd be great for the sunroom chairs.  I was so excited when they arrived, and Bogart likes them too.   :)  I LOVE FALL!

Just enjoying the beautiful weather after school.

Game day!

He had to be there at 9:30 for weigh-in and warm-ups, game at 10:30.

They lost (6-0), but R said he is excited about the game next week.  I honestly don't have a clue about football, but I tried really hard to pay attention to the game.  I'm going to get the hang of this!  I think I will take notes during Crosby's flag-football practice...maybe that will be helpful.  Ha!  That's R in the lime green socks in the top right pic (I'm sure I should know what position that is, but I don't remember now what he told me.)  Alexee and Crosby both found friends to play with at the game, which was helpful in keeping them entertained.

By Saturday afternoon I think we were all tired.  It was wonderful to finally sit down on the porch with a magazine and enjoy the beautiful fall weather...just cool enough for a blanket when sitting in the shade--my favorite temperature!  You can see Rhett off in the distance below.  He spent the afternoon reading in the hammock.  Lane got home from work around 2:30 and watched the Razorback game (which was not good).

Sunday afternoon Crosby & Alexee were invited to a brother/sister combined birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, and Rhett was invited along to hang out with some of the older siblings.  They all loved it--super fun afternoon with sweet friends.    

Chuck E. Cheese is a 30 minute drive from here, so the group met in a parking lot and traveled in three vehicles.  I drove this wild crew of 1st graders! :)  That was an entertaining trip to say the least.  They had a "high-pitched voice screaming contest", found 100,000 ways to use the word "poop" in a sentence, and gave each other words of wisdom such as "Guys, you know to NEVER eat yellow snow, right?!!"  I also heard one of them say, "It stinks in here--who 'cutted' the cheese!?!" and "Can I throw this cotton candy on you?"  BOYS!!!!!  

I sure wish we could have had another three day weekend!

Razorback Game/Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend was busy.  Friday evening we met my parents for dinner in Harrison, and afterward Alexee went home with them for the weekend.  Rhett had his first football scrimmage Saturday morning, then we took the boys to the Razorback game in Fayetteville that afternoon. 

At dinner

Rhett's scrimmage went well.  He said he was a little nervous before it started, but then he said he had fun once they were on the field.  It was really hot.  I'm hoping it cools off and stays that way for a while!  He's looking forward to the first game!

This picture of the boys came up on my Facebook from the same day in 2010.  Five years...but it seemed more like five days!  I pray that they will always be close friends.

They seemed to enjoy their first time at a Razorback game!  Crosby was fascinated with everything, and Rhett told me that it was a lot more fun to watch now that he understands more about the game.  I'm glad we had the opportunity to take them--a fun memory, for sure.

We definitely missed Alexee, but she was having lots of fun in Flippin!  She stayed busy feeding horses and a bottle calf.  Mo also took her shopping for a new pair of earrings.  She had reached the six week mark after having her ears pierced and was excited about being able to change them!  She chose a tiny pair of flower earrings.  I thought these pictures of her trying them on were so sweet.  

My sister and her kids came up on Saturday so she had fun playing with Jaiden and Jeryn.  The boys and I went to pick her up on Sunday, and we spent most of the day there.  We came home that night and then had a quiet Monday/Labor Day.  It was nice to have the day at home.

Lane's B-day, StitchFix & Other Catch-up

Things are going well with the new school year so far!  Rhett is staying busy with football practice (games start after Labor Day) and drama club just started, with book club and math team beginning later this month.  Alexee is taking gymnastics again, and she also wanted to sign up for intramural basketball and volleyball and Crosby wanted to play flag football.  So I don't think we'll get bored this fall! :)

Lane had to work last Sunday, so the kids and I went to early church service then went to Silver Dollar City for a few hours.  It wasn't too hot, and it was much less crowded than a typical summer day so I was happy about that!  They rode several rides together.  Rhett has never been afraid of any rides, but Alexee and Crosby are getting more adventurous now, too.

Sunday evening Lane and I had reservations at Top of the Rock's Osage Restaurant for his birthday.  It was our first trip there, so we were really looking forward to trying it.  Our only regret was not arriving early so we'd have more time to look around before dinner.  The setting is amazing with a beautiful view of Table Rock Lake, and sunset was so pretty.  We loved the food too!  It was such a nice evening.

(It was fun to see that the restaurant had an ad in Southern Living this month!)

So Monday was Lane's actual birthday.  I made a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing, and we celebrated with the kids after dinner and gymnastics.  We're so proud of him, and we are thankful for how he loves us and takes care of us!

I've heard about several people shopping through Stitch Fix recently, so I finally decided to join and give it a try.  I was so excited to open the mailbox and see my first shipment!  They sent five items (2 tops, 1 dress, 1 jeans and earrings).  I liked the style of everything they sent, but decided to only keep the jeans this time.  Both tops were just slightly shorter than I would have preferred even though I liked the design.  I tried on the dress a couple of times and almost convinced myself to keep it but decided I didn't really love it.  The check-out and return process was super easy, and I loved the convenience of it all.  After making some minor adjustments to my "style profile" I scheduled a second shipment for this month...so we'll see how that goes. 

Misc. pics of the kids:
Alexee at gymnastics and in morning carpool line; Crosby reading Box Car Children and showing his sweet, toothless smile

Bogart and Rhett enjoying a relaxing Saturday morning and Joey on a field trip to the back yard to eat clover.

Both boys are missing lots of teeth right now.  Crosby is missing front teeth, and Rhett is missing a couple on each side.

Misc. pics from the back yard:
Cute mushrooms :)
Ferns that I bought at the beginning of the summer and had very little hope for because I'd never had ferns...but they loved this spot on the patio!  They have been so pretty, and I really hope they make it through the winter!
Mama and baby deer strolling through the grass
Pretty sunrise colors and fog on the lake