September misc

A little randomness left over from September:

The girls participated in the Fun Run fundraiser their school had this past month. They got donations for how many laps they ran. I didn't go the day of the run, but got these pictures from friends. Love that sweet Cooper and her intensity and focus!

Calli and I went and ate lunch a few times with the girls this month. Their lunches are back to back so we are there for about an hour, but it's fun to see them at school!

In her Cheetah class, Calli's awesome teacher set up a super cool doctor's office! It has everything from an eye chart and glasses, to a waiting room, x rays and cute little felt bandaids she made. Calli LOVES playing doctor at home and apparently she is loving it at school too - her teachers say she is for sure going to be a doctor when she grows up. She is just loving that center so much. I was thankful for these cute pictures her teachers sent me.

Some parents at our school organized a See You At The Pole event. It was before school and we all gathered to pray for our kids, school, and country. It was weird to me to be taking my kids to participate in something I did as a teenager. We had some good conversations around it and were glad to be a part.

Earlier this past month, Calli had her very own playdate! Poor third child just doesn't have that many playdates that are just for her, so this was fun! Kathy and Greg were keeping Haddon for the week, so she brought him over one day while Calli and I were watching Bethany. The three of them had fun together!

Girls' Trip to Nashville!

The last weekend of September, Kristin, Mary and I went to Nashville! We had all been wanting to go to Lifeway's dotMom conference for awhile now, and finally planned this past spring to make it happen when it was in Nashville this fall. Kristin used to live in Nashville, I had never been, and Mary had only been on a trip in high school, so we were excited about having her show us around!

The conference was Friday to Saturday, so we planned to fly there on Thursday and home on Sunday. Because of the flights we chose (cheaper!) we actually had a lot of time on Thursday and Sunday to hang around and explore Nashville! We left Houston at 6 Thursday morning and got to Nashville by 8:30. So, our first stop was the Pancake Pantry! Apparently this is a really popular breakfast place and lots of famous people go there. We loved the food but didn't see anyone famous - bummer.

From there we drove through downtown Nashville, saw music row where all the bars are that lots of artists got their start in, and then went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It was so big and so pretty!

 

Then we went to the Grand Ole Opry! So cool to be somewhere so famous. We walked around a little but opted out of the expensive tour. Definitely got our picture by the massive guitar, though.  

That afternoon we did a little shopping, checked in to our hotel, and then drove south to Franklin and walked around their downtown area. We ate at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant and it was great food! Loved sitting outside in such beautiful weather enjoying good food together.

Friday morning, Kristin and Mary had a long run to get in, and I tagged along with them to walk. The guy at the front desk of our hotel told us about Radnor Lake, which was close by, and it was beautiful! There was a trail all the way around the lake and then lots of hiking trails that shot off up into the mountains. I walked the whole way around the lake while the girls ran, and we loved it so much we planned to come back later in the weekend.  I saw deer, chipmunks, and lots of cool birds. Such a great place!

Friday the conference started at noon and we just really loved the whole thing. The emcees were two bloggers/authors I love, Christy Nockels led worship, and all the large group and breakout speakers were just awesome. We all came away very refreshed and challenged and just loved getting to be at the conference.

I am a huge fan of Melanie Shankle, who is from Texas, went to A&M, is a blogger, has written three books, and is just so funny. I told the girls my goal was to meet her and get my picture with her and we ran into her on the second day we were there! I asked her where her Aggie ring was, we talked about both being from A&M and now we're kind of best friends. :) She was very nice and just so funny.  

 

 

After the conference was over, we put our red lips on and got ready to go find Taylor Swift. :)

 

 

Saturday night we ate dinner at a restaurant where I was able to watch the Aggie game, and then Sunday morning we woke up and went back to Radnor Lake. This time we all stayed together, hiked around the lake, and even hiked one of the "difficult" trails up and down the side of the mountain. We were worn out but loved being at the lake again and it was a great end to the weekend!

 

I was so thankful for the time away, for time with sweet friends, and for time at the conference. Randy took such great care of the girls, Gigi came down to help for most of the time, and they all had a blast! It was a great weekend!

First Aggie Game!

We took the girls to their first Aggie game on September 19, 2015. It was a big day! We had tried to make plans for just Randy and me to go to the game but it wasn't working out. So, Friday morning he woke up and said, "What if we buy five tickets and all go to the game?" Sounded a little crazy, but we started looking at tickets, found 5 together that weren't too expensive, and booked them! We were so excited! We surprised the girls with the news when Kendall and Cooper got home from school Friday. The game was at 11am, so we were able to go there and back in the same day and not get home too late for church the next day. It was just the best day!

We left super early in the morning and drove to College Station. We planned to tailgate with friends after the game, so we brought the wagon with lots of chairs and blankets for that. It was fun for me to walk across campus with the girls and show them where each of us used to live, where we had classes, the MSC, the quad - all of it! So fun!

This was the second home game and our first time to see the newly renovated Kyle field. It is pretty amazing! Randy and I made this flag for the girls when we surprised them with the news that we were going to the game. It says Classes of 30, 32, and 34!

We didn't know this when we bought the tickets, but we were on the first deck, up under the awning of the second deck. We were completely covered the whole game! Being in the heat of the day, most everyone else was sitting in direct sun and just melting and we were totally fine! We were so thankful for that - our first Aggie game experience with the girls would have been completely different if we had been sitting out in the heat!

 

At the last minute on Friday night, I remembered seeing a little boy on tv at the game the week before wearing a set of noise-cancelling headphones.  I thought that might help Calli, because she doesn't do well with loud noises, and I knew we had some up at the church, so I went and got them and brought them with us. She loved them! She wore them the whole game, she wasn't nervous or clingy to me, and she was so happy! I think we will be investing in some of those for ourselves!

We got up and walked around a little here and there and the girls just loved all of it. We loved sharing the traditions with them and teaching them about different parts of the game. Such a fun, fun experience!

After the game, we went to the tailgate and ate and played a little. I love this picture of Calli so much!

 

 

 

Walking back to our car after the tailgate, Randy saw this guy offering rides on his bike, and he thought the girls would love that. Sure enough, we hired him to drive us back, and that was one of their most favorite parts of the whole day! It was much better than walking back across campus!

 

And this was the van before we even got out of College Station. They were OUT! It was a long tiring day for these little Aggies, but they are still talking about what a fun day it was!

WHOOP!!

Birthday Party Weekend

We had a busy Labor day weekend this year with the girls' party and lots of family in town visiting. Gigi and Peeps, Val, Gracie, Evy and Oliver were here, as well as Pops and Kiki. We had a slower day on Friday because Kendall and Cooper were in school, party on Saturday, church on Sunday, and then everyone left Sunday afternoon.

Calli and Gracie wearing their matching pretend glasses.

Randy decorated the cake on Friday.

Pops spent most of the weekend painting Cooper's little library for her! It looks so good! More to come on the library in a later post.

Kendall was very focused on wanting to go shopping for a present for each of her sisters. She spent a lot of time thinking about what she wanted to get them and then Randy took her shopping Saturday morning. She got Cooper a stuffed bronco "because she's a bronco now" and she got Calli a giraffe.

Cooper with her library before we painted it.

All finished! Thank you for buying and painting her library for her, Pops and Kiki! It is so special!

 

Friday night, all the kids went to sleep in Gigi and Peeps' trailer with them. Calli and Oliver were the first to wake up Saturday morning and they spent some time on the ipad together. 

Saturday afternoon, after the party, Gigi, Peeps, Val and the kids all went to the beach for a little bit.

Then Saturday night, we grilled burgers and had key lime pie and celebrated Pops' 60th birthday here at the house. With Alden, Scott, and Stephen, we got him a framed picture that had all four grandkids spelling out his name - POPS! It turned out really cute and he loved it!

 

Saturday and Sunday, Gigi took each of the girls on a shopping trip for their birthday and they had so much fun. After church on Sunday, we had lunch and then everyone headed home! It was a great weekend celebrating lots of birthdays!

 

Cooper and Calli's Skating Party!

When we started asking Cooper and Calli what kind of birthday they each wanted to have, Cooper told us she wanted to have a skating party with a Strawberry Shortcake cake. Calli said she wanted to have a Strawberry Shortcake party at the skating rink. So, we booked the skating rink and decided to just have one party since they both wanted the same thing, and we would just see how that went! They never really talked about how they were having the same party leading up to their birthday, and on the day of the party, it was no big deal! Score!

I made their cake and Randy decorated it again this year - birthday tradition! It turned out so cute.

We were so thankful for all the family and friends that came to help us celebrate! Cooper spent some time loving on baby Ella of course.

We weren't real sure how well the girls would be able to skate - they really just wanted a skating party because it was what Kendall had back in February. But they did great! Calli used the little walker for awhile, and Cooper wanted to hold our hands at first but then was very independent. We were proud of them!

Their party was on Pops' 60th birthday! So even he got on skates and skated with the birthday girls. This was my attempt at a selfie with the birthday boy!

All the birthday kids! So proud of Pops for getting out there and skating!

After we skated awhile, the kids had ice cream sandwiches and coke, and then some of the birthday cake!

The girls had fun opening presents!

Couple's skate! :)

It was such a fun and easy party and the girls loved it!