Zootastic

We went to Zootastic a couple of weeks ago. It's something we could do while staying in the car and "social distancing." We went on a Saturday around 12 haha! Looking back we should have known that wasn't the best time to go. We were in line, waiting to get in, for over an hour. Once we got in all the cars were bumper to bumper and some animals were not hungry or even interested in food by that time of day... but we still had a good time! I think next time we'll try to go first thing in the morning, on a week day, though.

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!! 

Busy, busy and lots of changes

So much has happened in the last several weeks! 



The three older kids started school in early August, S and I flew to Texas for a few days to visit family. My mom flew back home with us and ended up staying almost 3 weeks. 






All the kids' fall activities have started up. C turned 9 in mid August and I had a birthday in late August. Then the day after my birthday.. the day my mom was supposed to fly home... my husband had a heart attack! He is okay for now (more on all this later) but our lives were turned upside down during the week he spent in the hospital and things are just starting to get back to normal (new normal) around here. My mom ended up staying an extra week.. I don't know how I would have managed without her. We also decided to move back to Texas to be closer to family... although we probably won't move back until May. 



So, things have been crazy!! Our weeks are busy, busy, busy with three kids in two different elementary schools across town from each other, Girls On The Run, baseball, choir, soccer, American Heritage Girls, working at church and much more!! We had to cut out dance this year with everything else we have going on and may cut out Trail Life. 



Our first Disney trip is coming up in about 6 weeks! The kids are super excited and I'm having fun planning everything! Any and all Disney tips are welcome! 



I've gotten so far behind... I'll try to catch up on everything in the next few posts.

4th Of July Fun!

The Sunday before July 4th. This was the most patriotic-ish looking pic I got of all of them together this year.

We joined half our town the evening of July 3rd and set up along a main road to watch fireworks from the YMCA. This year we were right down the street from Bruster's Ice Cream and got cones before the fireworks started! 

We were planning to go to a parade the morning of July 4th but we all slept in instead. The kids weren't too disappointed. We headed the mall later that morning. My mother-in-law was in town for the week and wanted to look for a few sovernirs. We almost never go to the mall and the kids love to go so they had fun! L's face cracks me up here. She's getting a little too big for those toddler rocking animals but she still loves them ha! 

I saw this mug at Books-A-Million. Describes me to a tee lol! 

 All the girls had fun looking around Claire's! 

The three younger kids had pizza for lunch while JG and I split Chinese food and my MIL and J  got chicken from Popeyes. That's the beauty of a mall food court.. everyone gets what they want.

The kids with J and my mother-in-law. L is sooo attached to her. It's adorable! My MIL speaks almost no English and L speaks toddler English but they manage to understand each other and get along great. :D 

We stopped by the Bass Pro Shop to see the aquarium before we left. The kids love it and the waterfall sounds so peaceful! 

Our life group friends had a cook-out the evening of July 4th! It rained a little but not too bad. The kids had fun with sparklers and running around the backyard! Their neighbor's set off several fireworks in street so the kids all enjoyed watching that too. 

The kids with kids from life group. They all have a TON of energy!

Sweet sisters in their red, white and blue!



Back at home our neighborhood was full of fireworks going off until late at night. We sat outside and watched for a little while before going to bed. 



We had a busy, fun day! Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!! 

Afternoon at the park by the lake

We went to a park by the lake with friends last Thursday. There were 9 kids, all under ten, between both of our families! My friend and I were so busy chasing kids around we hardly had time to visit. As soon as our van doors opened the older 8 scattered in 8 different directions ha! We had a great time though!! This was our first trip to the lake this year. Last week was spring break for C. We didn't do a whole lot so this was a fun outing for him. At least he got out one day. We wanted to go to Boone on Friday but it rained up in the mountains all day so we had to cancel. 

Of course C had to climb this tree that hung over the lake. I had to stop S from climbing up right behind him ha! 

L with her little friends. They were so cute together! 

After we left the beach area we drove through the park over to the playground. S was so excited to get to sit in the front seat for a few minutes ha! 

One of our little friends' was so excited to ride in our van with L for a few minutes. So cute! 

We had such a fun time and were worn out when we left. My younger three took long naps that afternoon and I got a migraine and had a long nap myself. So much fun though! We can't wait to go back! 

Snow Days!!

We got our first snow of the season a couple weeks ago!

I think we got about four inches early
Monday morning and then maybe a little more later on.

I was more prepared this year with snow boots for all the kids, a snow bib for Indie and
snow pants for Sol.

We don't have a sled so the kids used their boogies boards. The boogie
boards worked great until the biggest one got bent and broke after a couple days. It was
worth it though... they had so much fun with them!! We have a perfect hill right behind
our house that was perfect for sledding the first day or so. Then it started turning
to muddy slush so they went across the street to sled down the hill in the neighbors backyard.

Alex being goofy. He was out of school for three days that week with a delayed opening
on Thursday. I really think a delayed opening Tuesday and Wednesday would've been
just fine but they have their reasons, I suppose, and he loved being at home!

The snow was still coming down pretty hard Monday morning when the kids went
out for the first time. You can see Sol squinting up her eyes here.

Sol kept eating the snow ha! She loved it!

I meant to post these pics days ago. Since the snow we've gotten a lot of rain and some nice, sunshiny days. We're currently in Texas visting family for the holidays! It's great to be back! Lots of Texas posts coming up!! :)

Boone

View from Blowing Rock in the mountains above Boone.

I've gotten way behind in blogging. My mom was out here the last 2 weeks of October. We didn't make it to Asheville, as planned, but we did head up to Boone one afternoon! The view up there is gorgeous but my pics don't begin to do it justice. 

Candy room at Mast General Store.

Our first stop was Starbucks for coffee, snacks and bathroom breaks. After that we drove around by the university and over to Mast General Store. The store is just adorable! One room was full of barrels of candy and unique toys! Other rooms had clothing, home décor, shoes and boots and so much more! I think there was a little bit of everything. 

We stopped at a couple little shops across the street from the general store too. We went in a 

thrift shop.. I would've loved to browse a while but not with 4 kids in tow ha! 

I had the bright idea to start potty training Indie that morning... before we had even 

decided to go to Boone. So she wore her new Minnie Mouse panties under a diaper. We

had a dozen bathroom stops and several pantie/diaper changes while we were out. Definitely

an adventure lol! She still isn't trained but we're getting there. 

We drove up into the mountains just before sunset. We passed these deer in one yard at the top

of a mountain. They just stood there and stared at us. So cute!! It's hard to see but one or two of them were pretty little/young. 

We passed a Appalachian Ski Mountain in Blowing Rock and drove by tons of cute houses and cabins. It would be so fun to spend a cozy weekend up there after it snows! 

It was freezing up there! I know they've had at least one snow fall since were there. 

These two actually stood close together and put their arms around each

other for this picture! A rare moment for sure!

We stopped at a couple look-outs for pictures. I wish I could have captured how beautiful it really is. 

We had a great time especially for a last minute drive up there! Boone is much bigger than I realized. 

We drove up there one day last summer when I bought something off a buy/sell/trade group. We stopped on the outskirts of town and I thought that was it ha! Once you get into the city it's really busy and looks like there's plenty to do! We can't wait to go back again! 

You can learn more about Boone and see how gorgeous it really is here.