Quick Little Updates

This week has been wild and FULL and exhausting and all the emojis so I'm going to keep this quick. Hopefully I can form a coherent thought. =) 

*The main reason this week has been so crazy is because this happened....

 #Ihaven'tsatonmycouchallweek #orcooked #mamaisexhausted

(I'm hoping to share more next week and keep everything documented but first I'm going to need a recovery period. Ha.) 

*This is the other main reason this week has been wild and full... 

We are planning a pretty huge yard sale for Friday and Saturday and our garage is overflowing with all kinds of stuff. This picture doesn't even capture it all! We don't even have it all out there yet! Why do we save so much?! Haha. Yard sales are a lot of work and the timing of this one has made for even more work, HOWEVER, we have experienced yard sale success in the past and have friends who are pros (who have actually coached us... yes it's true), so we're motivated and ready!

*Sunday afternoon we had a Superhero party right after church for preschoolers and families that turned out super fun. This was my first to help plan and I think it was a pretty big success. I know these 3 loved every second. 

*I managed a little quality time with my baby Monday evening that was soo needed. I have missed him so much this week!

*We even managed to go on a short walk... only about a fourth of what we normally do but we're still counting it. =)

*The big boys got their school pics back this week. We never order but I do like to make a picture of the proofs to always have. 

*I think pose A is my favorite for both boys. =)

*Garrison's class had Grandparents Day yesterday and both of our parents were able to come to eat lunch with him. And they made a visit to the Book Fair with him. #lovelanguage

*Austin's class has Grandparents Day today. =) My boys are so blessed with these 4!!

Happy Friday Eve! I'll be back next week sometime. =) Have a great weekend!!

Friday Favorites: Happy Fall!

Fall is officially here!! YAY!! Now we just need the weather to cooperate. =) 

This week was a good one. After much obsessing, analyzing, stressing, and even worrying over God's plan for our family for this school year (specifically me working), this week I really laid it all down and let it go. It's not in my control and all I can do is continue to pray (minus the obsessing!) and trust in God's plan. It's been such a relief and weight off my shoulders! I still have to be super intentional about guarding my thoughts and keeping my heart and mind focused on trusting in God and His sovereignty, but I can honestly say that the worrying and obsessing is gone. Thank you Jesus! So this week has been a welcomed change for me that I hope has benefited my family as well. 

Here's at look at my faves from our week...

*Letter B fun! Layton has decided he is a huge fan of the do-a-dot markers and that he could really create some serious art work with those things when given the chance. Ha!

*Tuesday afternoon Garrison read the last chapter of his Junie B. book aloud to me and requested to sit in my lap. He's 7.5 and almost as big as me, haha, but I couldn't resist sneaking in a pic of my biggest boy in my lap. =)

*My 2nd morning walk of the week with this cool dude! So far we're reaching our twice a week goal and mama is averaging a pretty fast walking mile. =)

*I just finished this book this week.... WOW. I'm almost speechless. This was my second Charles Martin book to read and this one blew me away. So intense, such a page turner, so real, so powerful. It's a story of survival... literal survival, but also an amazing love story. I loved finishing it but I also hated to see it end. I'm pretty sure I'll read this one again in the future. (And I immediately thought this should be made into a movie... and it is! I'm not sure a movie can live up to the book but I probably won't be able to pass up seeing it either.)

*Wednesday afternoon these 3 played together on Garrison's homemade race track... which they continued to tweak and change to make it better and better.

*The finished track! I LOVE listening to them play and watching their special friendship in action. 

*My handsome PreK-er ready for picture day!

*My handsome 2nd grader ready for picture day! It's so hot here we just went with polo shirts instead of something fancier that they'd probably just be miserable in. 

*Austin and one of his besties sharing a morning hug. The cuteness is just about too much!! I don't know if I've ever seen 2 more adorable friends! 

*With Fall officially arriving this week I have enjoyed my kitchen/great room Fall decor more than ever. I've kept a candle burning lots and kept rooms dark and Fall decor lit up. Ahhh. We love Fall and we can't wait for Fall weather!

*Nap time peacefulness...

*Evening bliss. =) My favorite rooms decorated in Fall decor have been huge favorites this week!!

*Favorite Not-Pictured Moments: Most of our shows are back!! Yaaaaaaaay!!!!! We LOVE watching our shows together in the evenings and we have missed that quality time together over the past several months when there's been nothing on. It's our favorite way to hang out and just good for our marriage we because we really prioritize that time together and truly unwind from the day. So we are loving having our shows back! We've also added a new one... This Is Us. We're hooked after 1 episode. We may be adding some other new ones too. (Megan I need recommendations!) We're even planning to record a show or 2 to save and watch during the summer. I'm telling you, watching our shows together is our favorite. =)

This weekend should be a good one. We've got movie night tonight, soccer games tomorrow morning, the Georgia game tomorrow afternoon... with some down time too, hopefully finishing up a school project, and a Superhero party after church on Sunday. We are so thankful for our weekends!! Happy Friday, Happy Fall!

Buggy Days 2016

Buggy Days 2016 was a hot, fun, sweaty, crazy, success!! The boys had a ball, we enjoyed another year of our tradition, we laughed a lot, we sweated even more, and now we are beyond ready to welcome Fall! Beyond. Ready. Come on Fall!! =)

This year we didn't have any soccer games scheduled for Buggy Days Saturday so we were able to sleep late (PTL!) and take our time getting ready. I think we arrived in town around 10ish. Thankfully it wasn't brutally hot yet and we were able to walk around in comfort. It was crowded in areas and the boys got a little bored at first but we finally made it over to some booths and areas they loved. 

Not only was Barnesville the Buggy Capital of the South way back when, we were also the train capital. Just kidding. I don't know if the train part is correct or not but we do have a super cool depot/train station and the trains still run through town a thousand times a day. Ha. We stopped outside the depot for a family pic in front of the buggy. Notice the boys had already made a purchase by this point... wooden daggers. 

#boys #weapons 

They also climbed aboard their favorite caboose that sits right outside the depot. 

After touring a huge model train set up inside the depot, we continued our walk around town. (They have a "kids park" but we've opted not to participate in that for now... we'd rather not pay to end up trapped in one spot most of the day instead of walking around and seeing, shopping, and enjoying the whole arts and crafts festival.) The boys brought some of their own money and we, within reason, let them spend it however they wanted. They really enjoyed the sand art booth!

Later, after having lunch inside at one our fave pizza places, (we also enjoy eating inside at an actual restaurant during Buggy Days... air conditioning, a real bathroom, and food served to us at a table are just too good to pass up =)) the boys chose to have their faces painted. This typically isn't my favorite because it's usually a long wait and it's something super temporary since it washes off the same day, but they were spending their own money so we went with it. And I must say their faces turned out pretty cool. =) 

Shortly after finishing up at the face painting booth, Granna walked with us to the boys favorite "toy" booth and let them pick out more goodies. Layton went with a tractor and is pretty much in love. He's even been sleeping with it. =)

We continued walking/looking/shopping and decided on sno cones for the whole fam before settling in to wait for the parade to start. It was super hot and we were all sweaty and gross, but the sno cones made a huge difference! Those might become a parade watching requirement.

The parade is a big highlight of Buggy Days and all my boys love it. I had to steal this pic from a friend's fb page since I neglected to get any pics of the buggies...

Layton loved every second of the parade. It held his attention and I'm pretty sure he was fascinated with just about everything that came by. Especially the big tractors. #lovelanguage

He also LOVED the fire trucks. =)

Once the parade ends, we always head for home. Everyone is tired and hot and in need of some air condition and rest time. And I must take a moment to say how thankful I am that we live here now!! This is our 3rd Buggy Days back home and it is still the best thing ever to be able to spend all of our fun traditions, holidays, and family gatherings here where we live, without the traveling, the packing, the back and forth between our parents' houses, and the overall craziness. It's hard to believe we were away for 9 years. We are still so thankful to be home. =)

Saturday afternoon was low-key and we got everybody clean before eating Buggy Days food for supper at my parents house with Anna, Frankie, and Piper Saturday night. It was a fun way to wrap up our day. 

Sunday morning we went to church and then left early so we could head back to Buggy Days. We typically don't go back on Sunday but the boys were begging to go back and it's only once a year so we gave in. They had money left to spend and Garrison wanted a funnel cake so we went straight from church for a quick visit. We actually ate lunch there (the boys weren't a fan so we probably won't do that again, ha) and then went shopping at the boys' fave booth. 

#popguns #moreweapons #ohmy

We literally announced our arrival down the street. As in, we made a grand entrance everywhere we went and everybody around knew we were coming. Gracious.

We finally stopped the madness and made one last stop... for the infamous funnel cake! I thought to snap a picture after we'd already eaten a few bites. It was pretty delish. =)

Sunday afternoon shortly after arriving home it started raining... and it rained all afternoon long and even half the night. It was glorious. And almost every member of the family spent at least part of the afternoon like this...

Once rest time/nap time was over for these 3 we watched the Falcons and just hung out the rest of the night. It was one of our most relaxing afternoons and evenings ever. Thank you Lord for our day of rest. 

Shortly before going to bed I scrolled through fb and came across this jewel... 

I slept sooo good Sunday night. =) We enjoyed our Buggy Days weekend to the fullest and are so looking forward to Fall! We've been talking Halloween costumes, Fall Break plans, the pumpkin patch, soccer schedules, UGA's football schedule, and several other Fall happenings lots around here. Buggy Days was fun once again but now we are ready for all things FALL!!

Friday Favorites: 2 Nights Off Edition!

This week we had 2 surprise nights off!! Woohoo! I know I probably make it seem like our evenings are always busy and crazy and I'm constantly overwhelmed and exhausted (which is possibly true), however, we do manage some downtime around here. We do eat together as a family almost every single night and we fit in some calm during almost every week and we really do enjoy our sports seasons. But things are in fact sort of crazy busy as a norm... and mama is almost always tired.... so 2 nights off in the same week is a BIG DEAL. And we were all super thankful!!

Here's a look at our faves from the week...

*Monday morning both Garrison and Austin told me they had things hanging in the hall they wanted me to see. Garrison's was this little story about Fall. I love it! And I'm kind of excited too!! =)

*Austin's class is doing a farm unit so they made chickens using a couple of shapes, some feathers, and their hand prints. Soo cute!! He is just loving PreK. 

*A little upper case letter recognition and matching with my baby. This was the day I decided to change things up a little so I'm looking forward to lots of letter fun to come. =) I'm loving teaching him! 

*While I was cleaning the boys' bathroom earlier this week, Layton raided the dress-up box and with my assistance became the cutest construction worker superhero I've ever seen! =)

*Monday afternoon a storm came through along with pouring rain so soccer was cancelled for the big boys. Yay for our first surprise night off! We finished supper and baths early and then had a little family gathering in the play room. It was a super laid back evening. Yay. 

*Layton's happy plate earlier this week! He is finally at an age where he understands that he has to eat at least some of what we're giving him in order to have more of what he wants OR a little dessert afterwards. Thank goodness! Things get so much easier once they understand Hey, if I suffer through 3 green beans, I can have more grapes like I want. Haha! He ate pork chops, 3 raw carrots, several grapes, bread, some baked potato, and 2.5 green beans. Huge mealtime success for our littlest man!

*2nd grade has been having penny wars for the past 2 weeks to raise money for field trips and my parents donated this entire shoe box full! It was a TON! Terrell had to come with us to school to carry it in. Ha! The boys were thrilled and so proud of Garrison's massive contribution!! =)

*Baby Girl came over to stay with us for a while on Wednesday! The age difference between Layton and Piper is almost identical to the age differences between all the boys so it's pretty fun when her and Layton are together because they're just like siblings. =)

*Wednesday evening all church activities were cancelled due to an area wide revival.... Yay for our 2nd night off! The boys love choir and Terrell and I love and appreciate our church's music ministry so much... but we welcomed another night off! Terrell got home early from a golf tournament so he cut the grass and gave the boys lawnmower rides the second we got home from school.

*Family Game Night with a classic...Don't Break the Ice. =) This was so fun for the boys and I think they possibly played 10 rounds or more. We even included Layton who was very eager for his turn each and every round... 

*Annnnd, when he finally got his turn... WHAM!! Hahaha! We had to have some lessons on the correct manner in which to tap the ice. He slowly started to get the hang of it but daddy still had to hold his hand under the ice during Layton's turn so as not to end the game every time. Haha!!

*We made it on our 2nd walk of the week yesterday morning! Yay. =)

 *Just as we were finishing our walk I got this text from Garrison's teacher! I was so excited!! Garrison is in the back left of the photo and one of his little friends was hugging/picking him up. They were thrilled. Us too!!

*A visit to the library with Layton Thomas yesterday morning sure was sweet. We have some library visits that are a tad stressful and then we have some that are so wonderful. Yesterday's was wonderful. =)

This weekend is Buggy Days! It's our small town's annual arts and crafts festival and also a community homecoming. This weekend sort of officially kicks off Fall for us every year and we are huge fans! The boys are super excited and since we don't have any soccer games scheduled we should be available for as much fun, food, booths, walking, and a parade as we want. =) Buggy Days and church is all we have on the agenda for the weekend so we're looking forward to it! Happy Friday!!