July 2020

We are still mostly hanging out at home to try and stay safe.  We live right on the edge of Allen and Plano and we got lucky that both cities put on a 4th of July fireworks display on different nights.  We had fun watching in the parking lot for the back of Nathan's truck. 

We have always been thankful that my parents have a pool, but ESPECIALLY this summer when we are trying to spend most of out time outside!  The girls are little fishies and just love being in the water.  My mom got some great photos with her underwater camera.

Our church has been doing a hymn sing on the first Sunday night of each month and live streamming it.  Last month they invited the choir and orchestra to attend in person.  We enjoyed singing all those great songs!

This was our 3rd annual Christmas in July.  My mom has gotten really into cookie decorated and has made them for several holidays this year.  That also means she's learned a lot of great new techniques.  She gave us some pointers and I was really pleased to see how much better the girl's (and my) cookies turned out this time.

June 2020

The girls spent LOTS of time out in the backyard at the beginning of the month (before it got too hot).  They love their play set and even picnic lunched a few times.  We added mulch as ground cover so the project is officially complete.  So thankful for my dad and all his hard work

Our church has done a few outdoor events so we could see people but still stay socially distanced.  We attended a kid's ministry drive in where we sang songs, played games, and ate Popsicles.  Then at the end of the month we did Greatest Games.  We spent ALL day Saturday outside playing family games and then did a photo scavenger hunt.   Everyone ended up back in the church parking lot for a rally to finish off the day and get prizes.  Our family one the "spirit award".  We had SO much fun and made lots of memories.

One of our favorite teachers got married and invited us to the wedding.  It was beautiful ceremony and she was a gorgeous bride.  We chose not to attend the reception because we weren't sure how close we would need to get to people.  Hoping to connect with this sweet teacher before school starts to give her our gift.

We decided to enroll the girls in enrichment summer school since it was on-line and free this year.  Both girls really enjoyed their classes and learned lots too.  I was super impressed with the creative activities the teachers came up with. We were all excited to start doing piano lessons in person again (after 10 weeks of virtual lessons).  We are all wearing masks and taking some other precautions too.

The girls have and I have also finished a bunch of puzzles.  So glad they enjoy doing them with me.  They have plays lots and lots of Legos and read a bunch of books too.  Thankful the library is letting us reserve books for curbside pick up since they aren't open to the public right now. 

So thankful that my parents have a pool.  We are over there once a week to swim.  The girls are little fishies.  Love watching them!  Can't believe the summer is already half over.

July/August 2019

So.....summer kind of got away from me and I forgot to post.  Therefore I'm combining July and August into one longer post.  Still can't believe summer is over and school has started.  We actually had some slightly cooler weather this summer.  The sun and heat are out in full force now, just in time to make walking home from school a really miserable (and sweaty) experience.

The girls are off to a great start in school.  So far they love their classes and their teachers.  I haven't started subbing yet....but I already have a few jobs lined up and I know I'll pick up more.

We packed lots of fun into our last month of summer.  We had several play dates with friends and former teachers and enjoyed LOTS of swimming.

Christmas in July resulted in fun and yummy cookies.  Such a fun tradition.  We also enjoyed spending time with family on the 4th of July.

We also had fun hanging out with Auntie Kara this summer.  She came up to our house to play games and go out for ice cream.  We also took a trip to Ham's Orchard for bbq (and more ice cream).  Then we met her up at her school and got to try out all the string instruments.

All in all we had a great summer and I'm a little sad it's over, but I know we're going to have a great school year!

August 2018

Our summer was so full of other activities that we didn't fit in swim lessons until the summer was almost over.  We did plenty of swimming at Grammy's but wanted to do one more set of official lessons.  I am so amazed at the girls progress.  Abigail had mostly taught herself by watching Hannah, but during lessons she picked up some new skills and gained TONS of confidence.

Another school year has started....can't believe we have a 1st and 3rd grader!  Both girls love school, so they were super excited to start.  They adore their teachers and are off to a great school year!

I am subbing again at the girls school this year and have already worked several days.  I've gotten lots of sweet hugs from kids I worked with last year.  We love our campus and all our teachers!! It's always a pleasure to go work up there.

July 2017

All of our summer church activities are over so now we have more time to relax.  We had a wonderful time celebrating the 4th of July.  We stated off by heading to the Plano Lions Parade.  It's really small and kind of cheesy, but my girls love it.  And we can arrive 10 mins before it starts and leave without fighting traffic...so it's a WIN!

Then we headed to my mom's house to hang out, play, and swim.  My mom bought these super cute wings at Dollar Tree.  The girls love anything dress up related so they were excited.  The cute outfits were from my sister. We had lots of great family time together and ate yummy food.  And we got some adorable pictures too!

Then we headed home to change into jammies and watch a family movie, Madagascar 2.  The city fireworks didn't start until 9:30 so it was the perfect activity while we waited.  There is a church at the edge of our neighborhood that is kind of up on a hill.  You can see almost all the the fireworks from their parking lot.  So we sat it the back of Nathan's truck and enjoyed, but didn't have to fight any crowds when the show was over.  Perfect!

We also did swim lessons this month.  Both girls took a class through the city of Plano and then Hannah did a few extra lesson with a former piano student of Grammy's.  I am super impressed by the progress both girls made this summer.  Although it still makes me a little nervous I feel like Hannah swims well enough to not use or puddle jumper anymore at least in the shallow end.  Hopefully the two videos I included will work.  =)

We were also able to have a few friends over to play.  Hannah's best friend from Kindergarten moved to Euless last summer but the girls have stayed in touch by writing letters...and we've actually seen each other in person a few times too.  We also had Hannah's precious Kindergarten teacher and her two kiddos over to play as well.  We LOVE Mrs Beckham and were heartbroken when she got moved to another PISD school  Thankful we've been able to stay in touch via Facebook.

August 2016

Where oh where did summer go?  I really feel like school just got out a week ago.  It does however still feel like summer outside.  It won't cool off until October.  =P

We drove up to Arkansas to visit Nathan's family one last time before school started.  We had a great visit.  The girls are so good in the car and loved listening to me read Ramona the Pest.

We did lots of swimming.  It took LOTS and LOTS of coaxing, but we finally got Abigail to jump off the side and even the board.  We also met several friends at a local splash park.

Our biggest water adventure was a trip to NRH2O.  My sister takes her students there in the spring for an end of year trip/festival.  As a perk they give all the orchestra directors 4 free tickets to use anytime that summer.  Kara was nice enough to share her tickets with us.  Both girls are very cautious so we weren't really sure if they would enjoy it or do any rides.  We had a great time and ended up doing lots of things.  We did have to shove Abigail down a few slide though.  =)  It was lots of fun!

Earlier this summer I bought the girls adorable coordinating dresses off Zulily.  I really wanted my mom to take pictures of them.  So we headed to the college for a mini photo shoot.  It was SO SO HOT!!  We were dripping in sweat by the time we finished.  But the girls were very cooperative and we got lots of really cute shots.  I absolutely LOVE them all, but I'm only going to share a few here.

Hannah lost yet another tooth.  It was super wiggly but Daddy wasn't able to get it out yet.  We went to the dentist and it fell out while they were cleaning her teeth.  So funny!  Now she truly looks like a 1st grader with no front teeth.

And just like that it was time to start school.  Can not believe my sweet girl is in 1st grade.  She was so excited to start school and walked in with a big smile on her face.  Hannah loves her teacher already and has had a great first week.  It's going to be a fantastic year!  We cheated again and took our pictures BEFORE school stated and not on the first day.  This is so the way to go, no crowd, not in anyone's way.  YEAH!