Parenting Wins . . .

 

In church on Sunday the youth pastor asked our small groups to share some parenting wins we've had lately and honestly, it's hard to do without bragging so I just stayed quiet (shocking I know). Although I didn't have anything to share on the spot, the Lord quickly reminded me of a text earlier in the week about Preston and another one came while I was still at church from a different mom about Savannah!  It meant so much to me for these mamas to take the time to send me a quick note about my kiddos.  We all know they are far from perfect, but it's what happens when we aren't watching that shows how truly genuine their hearts are and what their character is like.  So thankful for these two! 

 It's also pretty cool to see their friendship develop.  Savannah loves taking Preston out for frostys at Wendy's and this weekend they ventured to a festival at the local Harris Teeter together.  I take very little credit for these blessings, but just maybe we are doing something right . . . 

Friday Night Dates

What a fun night we all enjoyed today!  Preston and Dave had a chance to head to Clemson for a soccer game . . . although traffic was terrible and the team lost, the boys still had fun watching the Tigers play.  While they were away, Savannah and I enjoyed dinner out and watching a movie at home.  It was a fun, relaxing evening and wonderful to enjoy time with the kids one-on-one.

Another Weekend of Rain . . and Soccer!

Saturday was filled with crazy rain all day . . so it was the perfect day for Preston to finally be able to go go-carting with his buddy Max!  Because he is so accident-prone, I encouraged Dave to join them and they had a blast!  We celebrated Dave's birthday with BBQ dinner takeout and a Clemson football victory Saturday night. :)

Then, on Sunday, we were SO thankful the rain cleared for Preston's first soccer game of the season in Hickory.  He is really enjoying his new coach and playing with the new players . . and it was awesome to bring home a win!  It's hard to see in this picture, but Preston had to play keeper in the first half.  Unfortunately, our team does not have a permanent goalie so they literally played rock, paper, scissors to see who had to take a turn.  Thankfully, even though he had an error, he didn't allow any goals.  Hopefully that's his last time having to play keeper because it is quite stressful for me to watch!

 

Happy 49th Dave!!!

We celebrated this amazing man today!  Dave was still busy with month end but we at least surprised him with some fun gifts and a Coldstone birthday cake after a lasagna dinner that the kids made on their own.  Savannah was so excited to drive herself to buy him a Clemson shirt and Preston bought him a phone holder with his own money too.  There simply aren't enough words to express how much Dave means to us all . . . he is always there to love, encourage, cheerlead, and patiently lead us through the chaos of life with teenagers.  Here's to an amazing last year in your 40s!!!

Labor Day Weekend (Back Up) Festivities

Savannah was so excited that Matthews Alive was back this year for Labor Day weekend.  It was hot, but we braved the heat and took a stroll through the festival.  Preston really wanted a funnel cake so as we were leaving I finally said yes . . . little did I know he would end up wearing most of it.  What a MESS!!!

Monday we had reservations to go tubing, checking off a summer bucket list item, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. :(  They texted early Monday and said all trips were canceled.  Sooo, that left us trying to find something fun to do in town.  We all decided to go bowling instead-but when we got there it was a 3.5-hour wait for a lane.  More sad faces.  We opted for the arcade and called it a day.

This is my absolute favorite arcade game and the stupid bags were all stuck so you could barely earn any points.  Preston took matters into his own hands and rescued a few of them for me. :)

Savannah chose a few rounds of skee ball and then was perfectly happy with some gummy bears from the prize counter.  She was still a bit bummed that we didn't get to eat at Macado's after our previously scheduled tubing trip so we let her choose the dinner joint.  She opted for Chili's and we all ended the weekend with a yummy Chili's dinner at home.  We desperately needed the rain, it was just quite unfortunate that it came on the one day we had planned to go out of town for tubing.  I guess there's always next year . . .