our busy week

We've had a busy, busy week around here! Last Friday night we

 had one of our Sip N' Dips at the pool. I served ice cream while 

the kids swam and J kept an eye on them. 

Last Sunday I volunteered in Mar's fourth grade class during service. This was

my first time to volunteer in her class at this church. It was fun to help out and

hang out with her class for a couple hours! 

We had a lazy Labor Day. We stayed home all morning and early afternoon and 

got a few things done around here then went to the pool for a while that afternoon.

 Tuesday was the monthly Lego event at the library.

The three little ones had a lot of fun playing with Legos for an hour while Mar read and finished

up some school work in the quiet room nearby. It's only our second week of 

homeschool but she's loving it so far! 

 Wednesday morning I worked in childcare at church for a few hours during women's

Bible study. Mar went with the older kids to the homeschool room while the little girls 

were in the toddler room and I worked in the nursery. I got to hold a tiny, little baby! So 

sweet.. I miss that age!

Thursday morning was the MOPS kick-off meeting for the season. I almost

didn't sign up this time with everything else we have coming up for the fall but I'm 

glad I decided to go ahead. It's always encouraging and a lot of fun! 

Thursday afternoon we went to our first sensory story time at the library. 

The library will be hosting sensory story time every Thursday this fall! I'm so excited! 

I think this will be really good for Indie with her sensory issues. Siblings

are welcome to attend too and even Sol enjoyed it! The kids heard two stories, 

a song, got to hold stuffed animals, play with sensory toys and play with a

 parachute. Indie was afraid of the parachute..

[to be expected] but it's a good environment for her to be introduced 

to new things at her own pace. 

This morning Indie had a her first occupational therapy session

here at home. She did great but I could tell she was getting tired

of it all and a little overwhelmed by the time the hour was up. She 

worked with puzzles, a lighted peg board, a cupcake/puzzle toy and 

one of those bouncy balls you sit and bounce around on. I was 

really impressed that she actually got on the ball and let the therapist

bounce her around a bit. She certainly didn't love it but it's a good

start. Next week we may try a tunnel and another parachute. 

 Thursday evening the kids and I packed a dinner to eat by the pool. We were there for about

three hours. I've been cleaning to pool house the last few weeks. I usually clean on Friday mornings before my husband leaves for work at 11 but decided to clean Thursday evening this week since Indie's appointment was this morning. I was able to clean  

while that kids swam and we were there until dark. Our pool closes for the season next

weekend so we're trying to enjoy a few more swims while we can!

On a completely different subject I put the older kids in a family study through a college program when they were little. I took them up there a couple times while they were "studied" by students. Since then I'll answer an occasional questionnaire to keep them updated on the kids. It's pretty basic but I always get an Amazon gift card after completing the questionnaire. I've been wanting a journal Bible for awhile and just ordered this one tonight with my gift card. I'm really excited to get it! I think journal Bibles are such a great idea! 

Tomorrow I'll be working in childcare at church again. This time I'll be up there all day while

several parents are in a class. So J will be here at home with our four while

I'm gone. I'm hoping he'll work on my honey-do list a bit while I'm out ha! 

I was really excited to do a review on Mabel's Labels this week! 

You can check out my review and get a coupon code here!

And I have another fun review coming up soon! 

I'm linking up with Friday Favorites and High Five For Friday today! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

busy week

We have had such a busy, busy week and I haven't really taken that many pictures. 

I got a free Graze box in the mail a few days ago. The mixes were delicious!! 

My birthday was a few days ago and I spent the morning at the DMV renewing my license. Then we met friends at Chik-Fil-A for lunch and met Indie's new occupational therapist when she came by that afternoon. She's super sweet and Indie really liked her! 

My oldest made the birthday banner for me and made a variety of sandwiches for herself and the other kids for dinnner. Alex made me scrambled eggs with cheese. They did all this while I was laying down with a migraine and called me to come downstairs when it was ready. They also had Toby Mac (their favorite!) music playing on YouTube. It was so cute and sweet! 

J works a late shift and didn't get home until 9:30. He surprised me 

with this delicious Oreo ice cream cake after work!

Thursday morning poor Sol had to go to the dentist to have 2 cavities filled. It wasn't fun and she 

cried through half the procedure. I had to hold her hands down part of the time. :( Thankfully she

bounced back quickly. Unfortunately she has two more upcoming visits within the next month or so.

I asked about putting her under next time but that seems a little over the top. They said she could take Valium but that could make her sleepy and out of it for the whole day which I know she would hate. I guess we'll just try the laughing gas again next time and hope it goes a little smoother. She's looking forward to getting a "fancy" toothbrush that she can decorate with stickers after her next appointment. :) We stopped by McDonalds for a strawberry shake after her appointment on Thursday. 

I don't remember McDonald's shakes being this fancy when I was a kid. 

This looks like a pink frappucino!

 We went to the pool a couple afternoons this week. The kids are still

having so much fun with the watermelon float.. if they're not fighting over it ha!

Indie will sit on this thing, all by herself, and float around the pool! This child has made a complete turn around since the beginning of summer! I'm sure I've said it before but the pool is like therapy for her. We are so amazed at all the progress she's made since early June. 

We have a busy weekend coming up and an even busier week, next week, 

with fall activities starting up again! 

I'm linking up with Friday Favorites, 
High 5 For Friday and Friday At The Fire Station

Weekend Fun!

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

I would love for you to follow my blog (link in sidebar). Comment here, 

let me know you're a new follower and I will follow back! 

We had a great last weekend of the summer! Lots of shopping and swimming! 

Friday afternoon I got a few more samples in the mail! A pure sugar scrub mask and a pure clay mask from L'Oreal. And a Garnier coconut hair mask from PinchMe. I love freebies and can't wait to try these!

Friday evening the kids and I went up to the neighborhood icecream social at our community pool!

 Mar put earphones on Indie for the first time Friday night. Indie did great with them and had fun
watching Cat In The Hat before bed. She looks way too grown up here!

Mar and I had a girls day out on Saturday. Our first stop was Ikea! She hasn't been to Ikea since she was a baby so this was all new to her! She loved looking at all the little model rooms and all the fun décor! 

I ended up only getting a small plant, a pot and a candle but I loved this light. I think it would be really cute and fun in our school room!

I love these dining chairs too! 

 We had lunch in the café at Ikea. It was surprisingly good! I had a salad and Mar had chicken strips. 

 We went to few stores after Ikea. I loved this huge mug at Charming Charlie's...

 And this water bottle :)

 I got a couple pair of earrings and these fun gold rings at Charming Charlie's. {I think a certain 2 year old took off with my earrings. I couldn't find them this morning.}

We found a lot of fun clearance items at Marshall's. I love the blue water bottle I bought for $6! We got a huge watermelon pool float for $6 and several toys for like $0.30-$.50! 

 I painted the girls toenails bright pink to match mine. It's fun to match!

The kids had so much fun on the watermelon float yesterday evening!! 

We stopped by the new playground on the way home from the pool! 

I realized late Friday night that I messed up big time and it's way too late to register Alex for baseball! He loved playing this spring and has been looking forward to playing again this fall all summer. I feel terrible. After several phone calls and emails he is on the waiting list for the league he played for last spring. I'm praying he gets in! I had to tell him what was going on yesterday and he actually took the news better than I expected. I've been looking for other things he could do this fall and discovered a local Trail Life group.. similar to Boy Scouts but Christian based. He's really excited to join! And he plans to get back to baseball in the spring if he doesn't get in at some point this season. 

Today is the first day of school! Second grade for Alex at public (this is the first year he has gone to school alone... kind of bittersweet) and first day of fourth for Mar.. and our first day homeschooling! So far, so good! 

visiting the dentist

 All four kids had check-ups at the dentist yesterday morning. I guess my kids are growing up. They've surprised me a few times recently with how smoothly everything has gone with all 4 in tow. They were amazing during our visit to Shriners last week and did really well yesterday too! 

 The little girls played in the window seat while watching the older kids get their cleanings done.

 The big kids did great, of course! They've been to the dentist many times before and poor Mar has 

braces so she knows all about these type of appointments. (Alex's feet look huge here ha!) 

This was our first visit to this particular dentist and we were all really impressed! I'm really glad the same dentist will be working on them every visit. We've gone to offices in the past where there was a different dentist every visit and that's just not something I'm a fan of. I prefer to get to know one and stick with them long term.

The little girls played in the play room for awhile while waiting their turn. They loved these steps and danced around on here. There was also a Panthers video game in the corner. Sol announced to another little girl and her mother that she (Sol) "isn't allowed to like the Panthers. If she likes them she'll be kicked out of the house." Haha!! Her daddy is training her well. 

 Indie surprised me by climbing right up in the chair when her turn came! Sol hung back, surprisingly, but Indie was ready to go! But then Indie was ready to get out and run away by the time the dental hygienist came by. I had to sit by her and gently hold her down while they did a really quick cleaning and then, later, a quick look by the dentist. Overall she did great though!

 Once Sol got in her chair she did amazing! She just held her Build-A-Bear dog tightly and didn't seem phased at all. I'm glad because it turns out she has quite a few cavities and has 3 more appointments coming up. :( I feel so guilty but I think she'll handle it pretty well.

Sol looked sooo cute sitting here for her x-rays. I peeked into the room and had to snap a quick picture. She did so well getting x-rays too. :)

Alex has to go back tomorrow to have a baby tooth pulled and one cavity filled but the other two girls looked great with no cavities at all!

Alex turns 8!

Alex turned 8 yesterday!



The whole family spent the day together on Saturday. Alex wanted chicken wings for lunch so our first stop was Wing Stop!

So yummy!

After lunch we headed over to the mall. Alex got some Legos from the Lego store then they kids
all wanted to ride these animals.

They had so much fun!

We visited Game Stop, Build-A-Bear, Starbucks and a few other places before heading over to
Bass Pro Shop. We planned to spend more time at Bass Pro but just went in for a few minutes.

The kids enjoyed watching the fish in the aquarium.

J and Alex went out again Saturday evening so Alex could buy a few more things with his birthday money and pick out a game he's been wanting.

Sunday we went to church and then to J's company picnic at a park where we had the most amazing bar-b-que and macaroni and cheese from Smoke Pit.

I had to take one last pic of Alex as a seven year old before he went to bed Sunday night. (He's hardly put that game down since he got it ha!)

Alex wanted Starbucks yesterday morning for his birthday! J took him for a morning bun and decaf frappucino. Starbucks is a regular (bad habit) for me but a rare and special treat for the kids!

I think he's chewing here ha!

Since J works late evenings we had a little party for Alex yesterday morning as soon as they got
back from Starbucks.

The girls and I had brownies, icecream and a few little gifts for him to open.

Mar was so excited to use her own money and buy this candy for him. It was so sweet! :)

We ended his birthday at the pool yesterday where the kids had a few water balloon and water gun fights with friends!

I think he had a pretty good birthday! :) It's hard to believe he's 8!