Last week, my family came to visit - my parents were here for 3 days from the Bahamas, Archie from Las Vegas, and the Dickersons from Kingman. We had lots of company here it was weird when everyone left because it was so quiet. All the kids just camped out in the family room for the 3 nights cousins were visiting. The girls slept like this -- it'd be fun to actually have 4 girls at all times!
We all went to watch Toy Story 3 on Friday (while Archie and Andrea went and watched Charlie St. Cloud). Here's my parents and all the grandkids:
On Saturday morning us girls went shopping while the guys went swimming, and then in the p.m. we celebrated Jazzy and Dilly's birthdays. It was the perfect weekend for everyone to come and visit since we got lots of rain and we had fun dining out on our patio in the cooler weather. The kids had fun on the big water slide (they want one for next summer)!
Monday was school supply shopping day. Allie had so many school supplies to buy compared to last year. She is not too excited about Spanish class every day (instead of 2x a week). She was so excited about getting to pick the cute and girly looking notebooks and binders. I remember I was the same way back when I was about her age. School supply shopping was just as fun as clothes shopping. Collin was easy, he just picked solid colors of everything and his list was so short he was done fast.
After that, we went to Bounce Jungle with Megan and Kristie and their kids. Maddie was ready to call it a day after an hour and a half of bouncing!
Tuesday was of course my day to get ready for school to start. I finally got our laundry/mud room cleaned up and organized, after a year of being a dumping ground for everything. I had grand plans for that room before summer came, but didn't even get to it. But it's organized at least, and I am semi-finishing it today - I am installing some hooks and baskets and other things to keep it semi-organized all year.
While I was doing the organizing, I did the kids' uniform laundry while the kids cleaned up upstairs. It took them about 2 or 3 hours before I finally got tired of them bickering and looking for excuses not to finish their jobs. When they saw I was mad, they quickly got to work and finished their work in 15 minutes. They were too distracted by the excitement of school starting!
After that I made some white bread, so they could have homemade bread for their school lunches. The house smelled good, but after the bread was made and the kids finished a whole loaf, it was time to make dinner. I opted for easy ground beef tacos. By the time Kevin got home I was so tired! He took Maddie and Collin to swimming class while Allie and I relaxed in the living room. Allie was trying to finish her last chapter book -- she read 4 chapter books this summer and wanted to be able to say she achieved her summer goal. I didn't realize it but I fell asleep while I was sitting there watching her read.
Allie and Collin packed their lunches before getting ready for bed, then Kevin gave them father's blessings. The blessings were wonderful, as usual, and I was grateful for a husband who does that for our kids every year. Just can't start school without a blessing. The kids camped in our bedroom last night - and right before Collin dozed off he found me and asked me if I could do his hair in the morning. I felt a little sad, because not too long ago both he and Allie needed lots of help getting ready for school in the morning. I don't miss the hustle and bustle of trying to get out the door on time, but just a little sad that they're growing up! Too fast. Just a couple months ago, I was planning summer activities, and now it's gone!
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