Late Nights

Hey, ya'll!  Did you miss me?  I've been to another planet and back!  heehee What fun traveling is. (and shopping!)
*Ok, go get a drink-this is a long one!*
Mary Claire and I went to Branson on Friday, and we went to White Water with Angie and Andalynn until after 10pm!

It is surprising that when you are having fun, you don't get sleepy.  We thought the girls would get tired...but No!  This picture was at about 9:35pm, and they were still going strong.  We'd been to the wave pool, the Water Works:

Lazy River, the rides down in the tubes (Ohana Falls and Raging River Rapids), and to the play area (Raintree Island), then they chose to go back to the Raging River at 9:45!  We let them go down it by themselves-we took turns walking the double raft up the concrete walk and stairs, then helped them get it, hold on, and push it slowly to the starting line, then the other mom would wait at the bottom to help them out.  We figured out that we couldn't do both, and beat them down the chute!  They were so light they just skimmed the little pool at the bottom, and glided right over to the stairs.  By then, it was really dark and getting cooler.  I didn't want to get wet anymore, so it worked for us.  Our last stop was the gift shop-they had the best shells-and some were less expensive than Hobby Lobby!  I got the most beautiful flat-ended shiny conch shells:

Then, our girls have learned: they get some fun, then WE get some fun!  We shop till we drop (or our feet hurt really bad, and we have to change shoes..am I getting old when I take cushy shoes to change into around 6pm?  Don't answer that.)!  We got around late, since we went to bed so late (and had baths and ordered Pizza Hut at 11pm..), so it was a late start shopping.  We met our favorite friends at Gymboree,

(this is Dina hugging a crying-not anymore-baby while the momma shopped!  Isn't she sweet?) we ordered lunch and ate in the back room (while shopping the shelves-the girls shopped the cake-purses!), and then we were back on our way again. Thank you, Dina, Sara, and Dawn, for your hospitality!  We love you guys! (and thanks for letting us park behind you!!)
Then we had to speed-shop to get the girls to Justice (the new fave).  Mary Claire had a little melt-down over the dolls, Zhu-Zhu pets, and eraser sets.  I mean, Really!  She said no to all the clothes I picked (what?), since I'd said no to her toys.  We'd already had a talk (to prevent all this drama).  She had a pad of paper and a pen.  She was supposed to write down her favorite thing in each store, and at the end of the day, we'd go back to get the REAL favorite.  Thing is..she couldn't wait!  It was driving her mad!
We got back on track, and we did go back to Justice (after some Krispy Kreme *and they were Hot Now!*to clear our heads) to get a baby Zhu-Zhu.  So, don't feel sorry for her.  : )  Not that it was likely.


Ok, so in the next missing post...
We had a great July fourth!  We had church, went to Tim's for pizza, swam,

and got ready to have company.  We had mom and dad, and John (my brother), and some friends Angie and Tony(a different Angie!) and their kids over.  We had fajitas and dessert with fruit, and then drove to see fireworks at the Naturals ball park.

But-so did the rest of Northwest Arkansas!  It was so packed with cars everywhere!  We made it for the last couple minutes, but then drove around to see lots of fireworks, even a great show at a house by JB Hunt park!  We got to bed late, so we skipped baths.  Don't smell my kids! : )


Today we played with friends, sewed a tiny bit (didn't finish anything!), and then took naps. I'm absolutely wiped out!  I haven't even put away the stuff I bought in Branson!  Sad.  I just piled it in the laundry room, and it'll have to wait.  I still have Bible study tomorrow, and MUST do the homework tonight!  then more to come (playdates on Thursday and Friday! woo-hoo!). I have the trip to Little Rock to see her doctor on Wednesday, and I am not sure when I'll catch up.  I think I have a house-full of company coming on Saturday, so I have to figure out how to fit in some cleaning (or hiding stuff?  ..maybe that's faster!).


I am making this (ultra-long post, huh!) book I already told you about, and I was looking up stuff on prayer for others and compassion.  It is suffering with, or bearing the burden with.  It just touched my heart.  I feel for all you moms in the thick of it.  I mean, I am in the thick too, but I'm feeling for you with smaller children.  It is REALLY hard to have a baby and older kids.  It's a hard balancing act, and I know all about it.  So, I have compassion for you.  I understand all that monotony of doing those selfless acts (over and over and over again) for your husband and kids, and many times we are alone in the day when we have lots of work that goes unnoticed (for the most part).  Just know you aren't really alone-I'm doing laundry at my house too, thinking of you!
As God's chosen ones (this is us!), holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Colossians 3:12

Matching Swimsuits

What a great day!  We had company-my friend, Angie and her daughter Andalynn came down, and we had a fun girls' day.  We had a church fundraiser dinner at Carrabas, and we'd already bought tickets last week, so we all went!  It was good, but we just got water to drink.  I could have gone for some soda or tea, but the entree was good, and we got a chocolate dessert! : )  Here are the girls:

Aren't they cute?  So sweet.  They enjoyed the bread and dessert! : )
Then we made our way to Hobby Lobby to get more crafty stuff: ribbon, flip flops, stretch magic for them to make bead bracelets, etc.  We got all sorts of ideas!  I just love that place.  Then we came home, got changed into swimsuits (they were matching!), and spent the afternoon swimming:

We lazed around, layed out, and got some sun.  What a great afternoon.  And then, when we got ready for dinner, the girls finally got to work on their bracelets:

Aren't they serious?  They are so careful!  I just love to see them so immersed-they played so hard all afternoon, and then to have the energy to concentrate so hard on those tiny beads!  Bless their hearts.
I hope you had a great day-did you make rainbow bracelets?

Cinderella's Cleaning!

Ok, finally back on my home planet!  It takes a couple days to decompress (or is it to compress again?), and to get family back on track.
We made it in late Thursday, helped the kids with homework due on Friday, and then to bed.  Friday morning was all catch-up.  Mom had done laundry, but it was all over the house, so I had to track it all down, find hangers, sort the clothes, and put them away.  Then we cleaned, and Ches really helped!  We vacuumed (actually, I don't think I ever touched it..), and mopped the kitchen floor-and even Ethan helped! : )  He was down on his hands and knees with a rag rubbing spots!  I think it helped that I wasn't the only one working.
Ethan realllly wanted "Dump-a-lings" as he calls them, so I agreed.  We started making the broth, and didn't have enough bouillion cubes, so we improvised and used seasonings, celery, etc. until it was just right.  I measured the flour and got ready to make the dumplings (rolled-out, cut, dumplings), and we had no eggs!  I had to tell him I had tried my hardest.  He settled for Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup (almost two whole cans!), and then I was tired.  We laid down for nap, and the phone started ringing.  He got a nice nap, and I got to catch up.
My sweet friend, Angie, came a little after three, and we got to catch up all evening!  She brought me her maternity clothes, and we looked through all of the tubs-mine too.  I'm finally at a big-enough-tummy-size that I need bigger pants, and she confirmed it.  When it's you growing, you aren't sure if you are just bigger-bloated, or bigger-baby.  Then it seems you grow everyday, so you can't remember how you looked last week!  I know I've grown, but I was bigger than she expected, so now I think I've really grown, and not just in my head!
She brought her daughter, Andalynn, and all the kids partied hard!  We ordered pizza, and they watched part of Fox and the Hound (Ethan's pick), then the girls watched a Barbie movie-sounds quiet, but they really played a lot!  Then since Mary Claire got to have a "sleepover", Ethan and Clay wanted one too!  So Clay put his sleeping bag in Ethan's floor, Ethan tried to sleep in a tub (sans maternity clothes!), and I had to put my foot down.  I moved him to the bed, where there was more room, and they all were asleep by ten.  The next morning, Clay was in Ethan's bed, and Ethan was on the floor!  I just think I can be in charge.
Angie dusted over all my kitchen cabinets (no, I didn't ask her or make her as Mom thought I did!), but I was complaining how dusty they were when we were looking down from upstairs, and she said she'd clean them!  I said no, but the next time I came in the kitchen, she was up there dusting!  She's so sweet.  I mean, who dusts your nasty spots?  And who'd let her see them?  Gross.  She worked on it for a long time!  It is so nice and clean, I almost didn't want to put any of the stuff back up there!  Just worlds different.
Then we got ourselves together and went out to shop-except we didn't have long since *S-N-O-W* was coming!!  Can you imagine, in March?  I was so sad we didn't get to spend the whole day out shopping.  Stupid snow.  When we got back, and she got ready to leave, it was sleeting!
Now we are covered in 11 inches of white snow.  It has weighted down a lot of our trees, and some pine trees are touching the ground.  Totally not what I expected as we begin spring break!
We started cleaning the attic last night-and oh my gosh, do we have a lot of stuff! (or maybe it's me?)  I have bazillions of tubs of teaching stuff (soon to go!), and about five or six boxes of files.  I have gone through one, and what work.  It's mostly trash.  I'm keeping my hanging file folders, but all insides are trash!  I've got boxes of books (more, if you can imagine)-we don't have enough room for the ones we have-a library!-so where will these go?  And the manipulatives.  Ahh, lots of money went into all that stuff, and now, no one is using them.  I had the kids put a few things in their backpacks to take to their teachers, but I have so much more-probably 15-20 tubs of stuff that has to go.  I, especially now, don't see myself teaching in the future.  I'd thought that maybe one day... but now, not really feasible.
Are you a teacher? Is there something you are needing?  We either have to put the stuff on eBay or Craig's List, give it away, or Ches wants to donate it to the church school.  I'll have to find takers.  He says it's easier to just give it away.  I guess he's right.  I really want to move it on to a new home, even though I have all these memories attached to everything.  I promise to let it go, to make room for new stuff, but I have this attachment (I know, to yucky 10-year-old stuff!).  It's the end of an era (ok, little sentimental..).
However, my daughter is finding great joy in my loss-she's now the proud owner of tons of teacher things (dry erase boards, chalk, and hall passes even!), and now she's wearing my sophomore prom dress all over the house!  I would have trashed it, but she's quite happy in that tulle and taffeta concoction!
I hope the people who get all the teacher supplies/books/manipulatives are as happy!