Rain, New House & Camping

It rained like crazy Thursday! It was pouring so much on the way to my first school drop that I almost turned around and went back home but I ended up taking all three of the older kids to school then started getting calls from the schools around 10. The girls got out at 11 and C got out at 12. Both schools released right in the middle of a tornado watch, pouring rain and flooding streets due to the fact it was supposed to get worse as the day went on. It did storm the rest of the day and through the night and then schools opened 2 hours late the next morning. 

C skipped school Friday since a 10:30 drop off wasn't going to work with our schedule. My husband had the day off and we drove up to sign papers for our new house!!! So exciting!! This is the property our house will be built on and we hope to be in sometime in November! It's going to be a long wait but worth it! We are so excited! 

Friday was a crazy day with delayed school openings, signing papers for the new house, dropping off both dogs at two different locations for the weekend and packing to go camping! 

C's Trail Life group had a camp this past weekend and families are welcome. The girls and I wanted to go this time and I'm so glad we did. It was a lot of fun!! Trail Life is such a great group for boys! 

We got there after dark Friday night, visited with friends, hung out around the campfire, unpacked and set up our beds in the cabins. Saturday morning C was already out helping cut up branches from a tree that had fallen in the storm. 

C getting ready to serve lunch with some friends 

 The little girls being silly on our walk from the cabin to the big campfire. 

L just looking cute by the fire

 S being silly at lunch haha

 After lunch all the older kids, the dads and some of the moms went on a long hike. The little girls and I stayed in the empty dining hall, had hot chocolate and played with some Legos that were there. It started snowing during this time and kept snowing for a while but nothing stuck.

L with a friend around the fire Saturday night 

 L was cracking us up at dinner Saturday evening haha!! Apparently

she likes to taste the pickle but doesn't actually want to eat it. 

 Just looking cute! (I always have more pics of L because the other kids are usually running

off somewhere while she is always right by me.) 

 S playing Connect Four with all the boys! 

 J made a new friend.. another sister of one of the Trailmen. 

L walking along the stone wall while I was packing up. 



We had a fun and busy weekend! I think we may go back to the same camp this spring! 



I'm linking up with Hello Monday today. 

Life Lately

Life has been SO busy the past few months with a lot of changes!! 



After my husband's heart attack in late August we were really leaning towards moving back to Texas to be close to family. After going back and forth, and really stressing over that for a few months we ultimately decided to stay out here in North Carolina! The kids and I are so relieved to be staying out here and my husband had been on the fence about moving back anyway. As my husband's condition improved over the past few months we decided we just weren't ready to leave NC after only 2.5 years. So we are staying and, Lord willing, will have some fun house news to share next week!!! 

A few weeks ago my husband had the big heart check-up we were waiting for. His heart looks good and he's doing really well!! I raced to get to his appointment on time after dropping off school kids because I always have a million questions I want to ask his doctor ha! But by the time I got to the hospital his appointment was over so we just went to Starbucks for a snack together (my husband normally does NOT snack at Starbucks.. he's changed his diet SO much since the heart attack) before we went our separate ways for the day. I love that gift card.. I had to get a pic! Definitely applies to both my husband and me haha!!

Our 2 year old Beagle was sleeping in a cage every night until just a month or so ago. Now he sleeps in bed with C and it's the cutest thing ever! I check on all my kids at night and it's just adorable to see the dog snuggled up next to C like this. 

Just a few sweet pics of S and our 2 year old puppy while he was still the only dog.

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L had her first ever playdate on her own (without siblings) a few weeks ago! Her little friend lives a few streets over and she and L have identical coloring and similar features. It was short playdate and they really didn't start warming up to each other until it was almost time to leave so we'll have to get together again soon! L has always been kind of a tag-a-long with her older siblings so it was nice for her to have a playdate with a friend while all the older kids were at school. 

L waiting for speech and during speech a few weeks ago. I thought she looked so cute with her ponytail! 



Lots more to write about soon including ups and downs with L and my decison (90% sure) to homeschool ALL FOUR of my kids next year!! And hopefully lots about house stuff!! :) 



Busy day tomorrow! Delayed school drop-offs because it has been raining like crazy!! House stuff, dropping off dogs (one to the kennel and one to a friend) and heading up to the mountains to camp (in cabins) for the weekend with C's Trail Life group!! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another busy weekend for us!

Saturday morning the guys left for their camping trip! They met up with Alex's Trail Life group up in the mountains. This was Alex's first camping trip and he had a blast!

J and a friend took a few pictures. 

Saturday morning was the little girls' first soccer games of the season. They're playing with a PeeWee soccer team that meets at our church four Saturdays during the fall. Sol ran right out onto the field and began playing (as expected). She loves soccer and does really well!

Indie was all excited about the idea of soccer until we actually got there. She sat on a friend's lap for a little while then clung to me after that and wanted to sit in her stroller. She's still a little young to join in and I really didn't expect her too. She got a shirt and if she even gets on the field at all during the next month I will consider it a success! I really only signed her up because I want to just get her used to the idea of soccer now before we sign her up again in the spring.

After soccer the girls and I went to several yard sales in our neighborhood. We got some great deals including a Melissa & Doug easel for $15, a ripstick for $5, big container of Legos for $5, a sound machine for $2, a free doll and more! After shopping around at the yard sales we went to our Neighborhood Walmart for a few things, came home for lunch and attempted to get Indie down for a nap. I made the mistake of telling her we were going to the park after nap time and she never settled down. Ha! She was also too busy enjoying her new toys and easel.

Around this time on Saturday afternoon I noticed our A/C wasn't working properly. I had it set to 71 but the temperature in the house was around 76. I turned the A/C off while we went to the park to meet some friends.. hoping that it just needed a break with the heat.

We were at the park for a couple of hours. Mar had a great time with a friend from church while I visited with her mom. Indie surprised me by being pleasant and sociable and ran around having a great time despite not having a nap!

After the park we drove around looking for garage sale leftovers on the curb. (I have no shame.) We found an adorable black coffee table that I can't wait to sand and repaint a shabby white! It's so cute and kind of unique! I've been wanting a coffee table and just love this one. I also found a pile of baby doll clothes and accessories that we washed and cleaned and the little girls are thrilled with them!

We got back home Saturday evening to an A/C that was still not functioning properly despite having had a 2 hour break. We hung out in the living room under the ceiling fan with two more fans blowing on us while I tried everything I could think of (or Google) to fix the A/C. A few things seemed to help (vacuuming an air filter that we've since replaced, keeping lights off, turning the A/C off periodically, then back on.) It gradually got cooler in the house as the sun was going down.

Around the time that I breathed a huge sigh of relief that the A/C was doing it's job again my phone started flickering and totally went out. I couldn't do a thing with it. We ended up having to replace it Sunday evening.

Sunday morning the girls and I went to church. Believe it or not the A/C was out again at church too. It was out on Wednesday, repaired, but then out again yesterday. Hopefully it will be repaired for good soon! I volunteered in Sol's four-year-old class yesterday. She was thrilled to have me in class with her! It was so sweet! I'm not sure I've ever volunteered in her class but if I have it was when she a baby so she wouldn't have remembered. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her in her class and helping out! I love giving attention to my kids one on one whenever I can. :)

The guys came home around noon on Sunday. Then Alex and I went up to Gander to use our $20 giftcard! He had a lot of fun picking out a few things! We met J and the girls at T-Mobile after that to get my new phone. Then the kids and I went on to life group to have dinner and adults had Bible study while the kids played. J said he couldn't sleep at all in the tent Saturday night so he went back home and rested while the rest of us were at life group. He never skips anything so I know he had to be really worn out to skip last night.

Today is a pretty lazy day catching up on things around here! Mar has an orthodontist appointment in a couple hours but besides that we should be home all day.

I wish I had taken more pics over the weekend but the few I took were on my old phone. I will try to get a lot of pics this week!

I'm linking up with Hello Monday and Mommy Monday Blog Hop today!