Memorial Day Fun

We are so blessed to have the most amazing friends here in Charlotte!  The Taylor family has an amazing house and pool area for entertaining and they invited us over for a fun pool party and cookout to celebrate Memorial Day.  The weather was so iffy all day, but it turned out to be perfect! Overcast and not too hot either.  The 11 kids played and played and played in the pool, while the parents chatted.  Then we had a delicious cookout complete with some yummy dessert.  What a fun way to spend a day out of school.

Memorial Day Weekend Begins With NASCAR

Today Dave and Preston ventured out to their first Nascar race.  Dave got tickets from work and invited the Marions to join them.  Thankfully the Marion crew has done this a few times and had all the right gear . . . ear protection including headsets with radios that were wired so the littles could talk to each other and even knowledge about where to park for free.  There were a few rain delays, but overall it was a great experience.

Apparently there was a kid play zone too!

While they were gone, Savannah and I did three mystery shops, enjoyed lunch out, ran at least ten errands and wrapped up just in time to meet the boys at CVS to head to Carowinds!  It was getting late, but we wanted to get a trip in this weekend before the rain came.  We rode a couple of rides, got Sweet Frog, were rained on and then headed home to grill out and enjoy a redbox.  What a super fun-filled, jam-packed, long day and a great way to begin our Memorial Day weekend!

Preston's Field Day

Today was finally Preston's turn for field day!  The weather was a little iffy looking, but it turned out to be the perfect day . . . overcast and not too hot.  This year I only signed up to help with lunch because I needed to give a school tour at 9:30, which left me with a lot of freedom to walk around and talk to the other parents.

Preston enjoying the Popsicle station

He was a hot sweat mess, but had a great time!

After all of the games and relays they had a water balloon toss and then it was time for Papa Johns lunch! Lots of kids leave for the day with their parents from field day instead of going back to school, but I've always been the mom that sent them back on the bus . . . but this year Preston's best buddy Ella was leaving early (also our car pool buddy).  So seeing the panic on his face as to how the afternoon carpool would work I asked if he too wanted to leave early.  At first he wasn't so sure, as he worried about his backpack being at school and many other things, but I assured him it would be fine if he wanted to come home with me early.  Then I had a brilliant idea.  I asked Ella's dad if she could come home with us too.

So these two have played all afternoon at our house.  I guess when you're the youngest child you get lots of extra privileges?!  They played outside, inside and continued the fun and games while we waited in carpool to get their siblings.

We are all going to miss sweet Ella when they move this summer, but are thankful for the friendship these two have made this year.  They are truly besties!

Running Club Finale

This Spring Savannah has enjoyed yet another running club with Coach Diane.  I'm not sure how Coach makes it so much fun, but Savannah loves going each week.  I have to say that it has been quite hot this time around, and still she hasn't complained.  I'm so thankful she is eager to exercise and loves learning how to improve her form in running as well.

Lost on a Sunday Walk

So it all started with our normal Sunday afternoon family walk . . . we opted to try out the Latin cross country trails since it's mostly shaded and a slight break from the sun and humidity here in Charlotte.  After walking for about 40 minutes in the woods we arrived at the school and decided to turn around instead of trying to figure out if there was a loop.

I'm not sure what went wrong, but apparently we took a wrong turn and ended up far, far away from where we started.  I thought we were on the wrong side of the creek, so we tried to cross over thinking we could just get to the street (since we finally were close to houses).  It started with a small slip on the rocks by Savannah.  That made me nervous so I grabbed Preston as he tried to cross the rocks in the creek.  Well he went down and took me with him . . . only I was literally stuck in a muddy hole in the creek!  Once Dave pulled us both out, we ran like mad through a strangers yard and ended up in a neighborhood we had never seen before.

By this time panic was starting to set in as we needed to be home in 40 minutes for the cable guy to arrive.  We literally had no idea where we were, but thankfully I had my phone and we were able to pull up Waze. Only then we discovered it was a 2 mile walk from where we were.  oops!  So I started to brainstorm ways to get home quicker, and decided it would be best to just call a friend to come pick us up.  Laura came to our rescue as it just happened she was passing by on the main road and was able to pick us up in 2 minutes.  What an adventure; according to the kids, just another thing to file away in our book of "adventures with mom".

Savannah's Last Y Guides Longhouse

This weekend Dave and Savannah headed off to their last Y Guides longhouse together.  It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years since they started . . . and haven't missed a single longhouse retreat!

Words can't express how thankful I am for they way Dave has poured into her life during this time.  They have had quite a few adventures and have memories that will last forever.

They had hoped to explore Chimney Rock after leaving on Sunday, but after driving all the way there they discovered that it was closed. :(  Never-the-less they both enjoyed the weekend and were also thankful to get home to their own beds and shower!

While they were away, we ended up at the doctor with this little guy who had strep!  Thankfully we got an early morning appointment Saturday and he was feeling much better by the afternoon.  We decided to head out and look for him some new shoes . . and he found this massive cleat on the shelf. WOW!  After four stores, we finally found the perfect new running shoes for him.  He enjoyed a treat at the Local Scoop and then we picked up Chick fil A to bring home for dinner.  Then we stayed up late watching the royal wedding together.  It was a nice, low key weekend with my little guy!

No School Wednesday

Most of the NC teachers were planning to head to Raleigh to march for better pay and more money for education in general so the school systems had to close for the day!  We welcomed the break from normal routine and ventured out to pick strawberries.  It was super muddy (see the puddles) but we had fun and enjoyed our yummy loot.  After lunch we had the Marion kiddos come over to play for the afternoon and then it was off to running club, soccer tryouts, and a church meeting . . all which started at 4:45pm.  We enlisted help from our friend Ms. Laura and then had to divide and conquer.  Whew! 

Mother's Day 2018

Today has been a fun-filled day!  We started at church this morning and then enjoyed a nice afternoon at home.  I really wasn't into eating out or doing anything fancy . . and we had the best day spent just at home. After lunch I opened some very special gifts . . .

Preston's sweet hand made gifts from school.  Hilarious . . . I wish my favorite food was apples! But he knows me pretty well because he made a special to do list paper. :)

And then there is my sweet Savannah.  I had no idea she would use her own allowance money to buy me such special gifts.  On her Friday trip to the Promenade she carefully selected me the best card and a fan for my cellphone and then also gave me chocolate she bought with her own money.  Just to think that at a young age she cared enough to take her small allowance to surprise me with these gifts means so much.

After opening gifts we decided to take a long walk to the Exxon for slushies.  Boy was it HOT . . but I really wanted to get a walk in so everyone agreed to go!  Of course we stopped by CVS on the way to knock out an errand. LOL!

After getting back home and finally cooling off, we watched the movie Wonder.  It was fabulous!  What a great movie to watch on Mother's Day.  Then it was burgers on the grill and TCBY for dessert.  YUMMY!!! 

I'm so, so thankful for these 3.  Dave who loves and leads our family well (and puts up with my craziness) and these kids who have hearts of gold.  Not sure how I got to be so lucky, but never-the-less, I'm grateful!

Spring Carnival & Soccer Fun

Today was a hot, fun-filled, exciting day!  This morning Dave and the kids walked to PSE for Preston's spring carnival.  I needed to attend a funeral, so I missed the fun this year . . but at least I was in the air conditioning, because it was HOT outside today!

Apparently, they had a grand time on the inflatables and Dave also treated them to snocones. :)

After we all met back up at home for a late lunch, we enjoyed some quiet time at home (a rarity these days) before heading back out in the heat for Preston's last soccer game at 3:15.  It was a great game and super close too.  They ended up losing by one, but it was a good end to a fantastic season.  When coach handed out Preston's medal he said "to the best defender ever" and we found this to be true!  He played every minute of every single game this season, except for the one he missed due to Y Guides and really found his niche on the defensive line.

So now we head into the realm of competitive soccer with tryouts beginning this week!  We'll see how that goes . . .

Furniture Shopping . . .

As it turns out we are getting new living room furniture!  The excitement of getting our sofas replaced soon turned to stress as I realized we actually had to go and PICK THEM OUT! Ugh!  There are few things I despise as much as furniture shopping.  So, we picked a day when Aunt Cherry was available, that was after month end, and got the kids out of school early.  Dave took a 1/2 day vacation (what a way to spend vacation!) and we headed to High Point.  Thankfully, we were able to decide on two sofas and chairs . . and even selected fabrics.  Woo hoo!  There were lots of other things we needed, but they'll just have to wait.  These two little ones had been quite patient and we were all ready to head back to Charlotte after 4 hours of furniture shopping!

Preston's Happy Place

It's very rare that this little guy is still and quiet . . . but these days this is truly his happy place.  So thankful for the Treeman who took the time to hang this swing in our backyard. Preston LOVES sitting, reading, playing, and swinging on his tree swing!