Friday, June 29, 2012

It's Getting Hot in Here...

Well today was the hottest it's been and I found out that the next four days are supposed to be hotter...It's going to be difficult to get my kids outdoors in this heat!  I don't blame them...it's almost too hot for me too. 
Temperature at 1:00 pm in Cherry

Temperature at 3:00 pm in the Camry
On the way home from the sprayground, Cherry read 107 degrees.  While the kids were taking their nap, I ran to the store and the Camry also read 107 degrees. 

Today we met friends at the sprayground and it was so much fun.  It was our first time, and we'll definitely go back.  There are two sections.  Since it was Baylor's birthday, Nicole brought cupcakes for all the kids.  We had our picnic lunch and then ate his baseball cupcakes.  W was a mess! 

Tonight, we had a new couple over for dinner.  Their names are Adam and Jen and they have a 3 year old, Marlow.  We also had the Daniels and Gillams over since we wanted Adam and Jen to meet more couples from church.  I had a great time, and from what I can tell, everyone did.  If it wasn't so hot, we would have let the kids play in the backyard, but even at 7:00 pm, it was still too hot.  They had fun playing in the kids' rooms though.  I'm not sure where Adam and Jen stand when it comes to small groups, but we would like for them to start coming to the family Sunday School class at CRF-WFR. They just attend the second service right now so the first hour Marriage and family class would fit into their schedule perfectly.  We've been trying to get more 'young' couples to attend.  I'm not even sure if B and I fit into the 'young' couple group anymore.  We are more like 'young' families I think even though we are young at heart!

The Hantla Clan + 2

We hosted P & V Hantla for a week vacation out here in NC.  V came in earlier since B and his dad were in New Orleans for the SBC. We had one week and stuff planned for everyday.  I'll do a week in review!

Tuesday June 19, 2012
Our plan was to meet some other moms at Joyner Park for play and picnic.  The O'Janpa and Daniel families met us there and the kids had a blast!  Play started in the houses and moved to chalk and bubbles.  It was hot, but so much fun.  V had a great time watching W walk around everywhere and see R & A interact with their friends. 





 After naps, we had R's last dance lesson, then stopped by Kohl's to get W some shoes.  It was busy, but a fun day.
new shoes
R's dance class with her teacher, Mrs. Leslie


Wednesday June 20, 2012
I was most excited about our plans for Wednesday!  Sara and I decided we would try skating at Jellybeans for their stroll and roll session.  From 10:30-12:30, young kids could skate and/or ride a scooter or bike.  Logan brought his bike and I brought R's tricycle and both scooters.  R & A put skates on, but quickly took them off.  A spent most of his time on his scooter and R spent most of the time on her trike.  We had a great time.  I forgot how much fun it was just to skate:)




 Wednesday evening consisted of dinner at B/J Spence's house for small group.  B/J always have pizza and usually it's Pizza Hut (yum)!  After getting home and putting the kids to bed, B and his dad were flying back to Raleigh from New Orleans.  Their flight was delayed so I didn't pick them up until after midnight!!!  We didn't go to bed until 2 am....yikes! 

Thursday June 21, 2012
After such a long evening, I knew that everyone would be tired so we had an easy morning.  Our normal cereal for breakfast, praise and worship, learning, and arts and crafts.  Gran brought some fun arts and crafts for the kids that included crayons and paint!  We ran a few errands, one being getting W's haircut.  We bopped on over to Great Clips for a trim (his hair was in his eyes).  Swimming was on the agenda for the day and then lunch at home.  I unfortunately don't have any pictures, but I bet V has some.  I'll try to get some from her.  We had a good time at the pool and then B came home for lunch which was a nice surprise.  After naps, the family rushed out to Heritage High School for R's dance rehearsal.
Excited to see Daddy after 2 days!
W's 2nd (really third) haircut

Getting ready to leave for the rehearsal
Gran made her yummy home-made mac & cheese for dinner:)  We love that stuff and ask her to make it anytime we are together.  She made enough for us to have left overs after they leave!  It's the best.  I try to make it, but it never turns out as good. 

 Friday June 22, 2012
 Nicole has off on Friday so we planned to meet at Marbles.  We got there a little after it opened and it was packed!  There were day camps there from churches and youth camps...it was crazy and I would not go again if I knew.  Next time I think I'll call to ask before going.  Oh well, we were there and I was so thankful that Gran and Papaw were there to help.  I can usually manage my 3 kids, but not at Marbles on Friday.  Thank goodness we had 3 adults to watch the 3 kids.  Lisa and her 2 boys were there, but we didn't really 'play' with them much.  R & A played with Grayson a lot and Baylor some.  We ate lunch and then played some more.  The highlights were the ambulance and the vet station on the first floor.


 The kids were pooped as were the adults and I think everyone took a nap Friday afternoon.  After naps we headed to Miltons P&P for dinner.  This is our favorite restaurant and we always try to take our visitors there (even though Papaw wouldn't let us pay!).  Post Milton's we came home, put kids to bed, and then talked late into the evening.

Saturday June 23, 2012
Saturday started off with B's famous pancakes.  He cooked plain, chocolate chip, and blueberry pancakes.  They were delicious!  I love my husband's pancakes.  B & Papaw both had to do some work so V and I took the kids out.  We ran the usual errands and then stopped by the playground.  It was HOT and everyone was sweating.  After about all the heat we could take, we went back home for lunch (leftover mac & cheese).  B and his dad were going to work on the tree that B and Brian cut down the previous Saturday.  Originally B wanted to mulch it up and use it in the backyard, but after some logical reasoning, he decided to give it to Brian to burn.  After naps, we had dinner from Jenni and Keith since we were babysitting Lexi and Bree for the night.  Even though we had R's recital, we figured L & B could tag along.  So all 9 of us went to Heritage for R's recital.  R did fabulous and she was 1 of the best.



R's flowers from AC
After the recital we took our crew to Sweet CeCe's for frozen yogurt.  We have come to love this place for dessert!  Here are some pics of our evening.








Sunday June 24, 2012
Since Bree and Lexi spent the night with us, J/K were supposed to bring over donuts for breakfast.  I guess they overslept because B finally sent K a text at 8:00 and they were still asleep.  Papaw to the rescue and he brought back 2 dozen donuts.  Krispy Kreme is the breakfast of champions!  We went to church like normal and then the plan was to attend the AJE company cookout.  We don't hang out with AJE people very often but we are trying more and more to do so.  The company picnic was catered and there was an egg hunt for the kids.  The sun was high and hot, but the shade was helpful.  We left around 3pm and the kids fell asleep on the way home.




Our evening activity after naps included sprinkler play and then dinner at Sonic.  The kids loved the sprinkler!  W was the first one in then R & A quickly followed.


Monday June 25, 2012
Such a sad day:(  We love having family visit us and we wish we lived closer!  B, Papaw, and A went to the office to unpack some books while the girls (and W) stayed home.  R & W did some arts and crafts before leaving.  The plan was to have lunch at Triangle and then play in the sprinklers before bringing Gran and Papaw to the airport.

Big diaper before getting his swimmer on.


 The kids loved the sprinklers and I have to say that I think W had the best time.  He just ran right into the water! Before we put his swim diaper on, his regular diaper got huge as you can see.  I had a great time watching them run around laughing.  We'll definitely do this again with our friends.  After sprinklers, everyone got changed and then we headed to the airport.  We had such a great time with G & P, and we look forward to our time again.  At least we have skype:)


Monday, June 25, 2012

Dancing Queen

We had dance 3 times this week.  Tuesday for R's lesson, Thursday for R's rehearsal, and Saturday for R's recital.  R has loved dance and she's learned a lot.  We love watching her and she's pretty good.  Here are a few pictures from our last week of dance.






A Pair of Crazy Mammas!

When I'm home with the kids for the summer (or holiday breaks) I like to plan scheduled "play dates" with other families.  This helps us stay active, keep up our friendships, and is good for both mommy and the kids.  This past Monday (June 18th), Nicole (from small group) decided to take off so she texted me that morning to find out what the plan was.  I actually didn't have anything planned for that day, so we decided through texts, that we would meet up, let the kids play, then head to the pool for swimming and a picnic lunch.  Unfortunately, it started to rain that morning and our hopes of swimming were dying fast.  N and her boys arrived around 10:30 and the first order of business was play time.  R & A were so excited about seeing Grayson (Baylor too).  After playing around the house for a while, it was time to head on to the pool.  I'm not sure what N and I were thinking but it's safe to say that we were ambitious and crazy at the same time.  Taking 6 kids to the pool, when the oldest is four years old.  Here are the ages:  Grayson (4 yrs), Rin (3 yrs), Abe (2 yrs), Baylor (1yr), Wesley (1 yr) and Rowan (7 months).
Baylor, Rowan, Abe, Grayson, Wes, Rin


The pool was empty.  I guess the rain kept everyone away, but it worked out for us.  The kids played and N & I got to catch up and chat.  We ate our picnic lunches and then the kids swam again.  The water was pretty cold, but they kids didn't seem to mind.  Our time together was really fun and we look forward to more swim dates with the Caldwells.