Dear July....Hayden is 1 month old and we will be traveling

We are excited about the month of July - we are either brave or crazy (or both) but we plan on some pretty big outings in July.  For July 4th we plan on taking our annual trip to Schuyler's unlce Paul's house on Lake Tyler.  We have not missed a 4th there in about 5 years and we aren't letting a little thing like Hayden only being 4 weeks old stop us.  :o)  We are all pretty excited since we always have so much fun on the lake and spending time with family.  This will be the first time that any of them will see Hayden other than Lynn so I expect she will get a lot of snuggle time.  {grin}

Then two weeks after that we are heading to Sea World!!!  Wooohoo.  I haven't been to Sea World since I was a little girl and Skyler and Madison have never been.  They don't know what to expect but I know they will LOVE IT.  I just pray that Hayden does ok in a hotel room and in the heat.  We shall see.   :o)

life in black and white

I was given a sit-n-stand stoller by some dear friends and we love the heck out of it.  Madison loves the freedom to climb in and out as she pleases and to be able to stand on it...well...she feels like she gets to break the rules.   :o)  Here is what they look like on one of our walks.

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Hayden who is now 4 weeks old, has been getting to know her great-grandma pretty well on Wednesdays while I do payroll from the house.  It has been nice to have her here as the helping hand on those days.

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Happy 1 month, Hayden!!!  We Love You!

Summer Days

We spent the morning in the library then this afternoon we decided that a little slip-n-slide action was in order.  So slip-n-slide we did. 

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Hayden relaxed in the shade while the big girls played.

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Socks off to let these cute little toes breath.

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Today

Today was a nice and busy day.  After all of us girls had breakfast we went for a walk around the neighborhood and boy was it hot, even at 9am.  After the walk we watered the yard and plants and came inside to enjoy the AC.  While Hayden napped and the girls colored, I cleaned out and rearranged the office which was a huge undertaking.  At one point the entry way was so full of stuff from the office that I couldn't even get to the front door.  I am glad that I got it done since I think it looks a lot better...more like an office rather than a cluttered catch all room.  Then Skyler went to her friend Hannah's to play while Madison and cleaned up a bit and started dinner.

Other home rearranging news...We rarely use our formal dinning room other than when we have parties and larger groups over for dinner so for now I have covered our very nice antique dinning room table with the protectant pad and table cloth and we have now transformed the dinning room into a "classroom".  This is where the girls have been coloring, doing crafts, practicing school work (to keep their brains going) and reading their library books.  It is working out much better than our kitchen table since we were having to clean everything up to eat meals then pull it all back out again.  It was a vicious cycle that I was not very fond of.  {grin}

Things have been going pretty smoothly and we are figuring it all out as we go.   :o)

Mamaw's chamber retirement luncheon

Mamaw's retirement luncheon went great.  She looks beautiful and it was such a blessing to hear all of the wonderful things that the people of Magnolia had to say about her.  From what I hear she has touched so many lives and hearts during her years serving Magnolia ISD and then the Chamber.  Here are a few pictures from the luncheon.

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Almost 3 weeks old

Hayden is almost 3 weeks old and today we spent the day at the park and snuggling on the couch. :o)

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Hayden stayed in the shade while the girls played, but when it is 9am and 90 degrees out even the shade is pretty hot. Gotta love Texas. :o)

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Oh my, as soon as I saw this sweet snuggle action going on I had to grab my camera. Just melts my heart. {grin}

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Here she is...my 3 week old baby. She is getting so big. :o)

Look at this special luncheon that they are throwing for my grandmother.


MACC to "HONOR" Ms. Evelyn Cloyd at the June Member Appreciation Luncheon
Thursday, June 24th
Shhhhh.....It's a Surprise!
Believe or not, Ms. Evelyn Cloyd has decided to retire from her longtime leadership role and active employment with the Magnolia Area Chamber.

She has been serving the members of the Chamber and the community for over 30 years!

You may remember her from the Magnolia School District or as a City Council member.

If you have been around Magnolia very long, you know that this talented young woman has been an intergal part of the leadership of here!
All that know her, love her and you either call her Ms. Evelyn, Ms. Cloyd, or Mom - but definitely you call her "friend" and you know your life has been blessed when you spend a few moments with her.

Please join us on Thursday, June 24th from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the MISD Celeste Graves ESC, 31141 Nichols Sawmill Rd, Magnolia - as we extend our Appreciation to Ms. Evelyn and our valued Chamber membership.

FREE lunch - (Hamburgers, Hot Dogs & all the fixins)

Life in the slow lane

So life in the slow lane...meaning staying home with my girls this summer...has been pretty nice so far. Don't get me wrong, having a 7 yr old, a 4 yr old, and a 2 week old baby home has been almost as much work as actually going to my paying job every day but it has been much more enjoyable and rewarding. By slow lane I mean not having deadlines to meet, not much rushing from one place to another, more time to focus on my children and their needs/wants, and a lot less yelling on my part. I have realized that our days were full of....

"hurry up, we are running late"
"we don't have time for breakfast, you'll have to eat at school"
"It may past your bed time and you are tired but we just got home from (insert sport name, grocery store, etc.) but you have to do your homework and there is no time for a shower before bed"
"hurry get in the car so that we can go get your sister, go home get cleaned up and meet (insert family or friends name) for dinner"
"no, I can't go your school program or field trip because I have to work"
"no, you can't wear that because it is not clean since I haven't had time to do laundry"
"I'm sorry your sick but I can't stay home with you so you will have to go to grandma's today"
"Lets have fast food because I haven't had time to go shopping or cook tonight" (and we always end up eating way too late)
"babe, your story is way to long and I don't have time to listen to this whole thing, hurry up and get to the point" (so sad)
ohhhh....hummm....yep lots and I am sure that there will be lots more of that when I go back to work in lat August. But for now....the girls and I are loving every minute that we have together.

Now our days are now mostly full of....
"yes, you can stay up a little past your bed time"
"yes, we can go to the library, park, for a walk, to swim, etc."
"I don't wanna stop tickling you"
"We have dinner plans tonight so lets read this book, or play, or paint this picture now before we have to start cleaning up and get ready for dinner"
"You (or daddy) wants (insert dinner name here) tonight? Ok, lets go shopping now so that we can have dinner ready when daddy gets home from work"

I must say....it sure has been nice. I love my babies and being able to actually enjoy them and not have to rush from place to place has sure made my patience level go way up. Now playing pretend karate fighting in this kitchen with my girls while I cook doesn't seem to bother me as much as it did before. :o)

Weekly happenings

Here is a little snippet of our weekly happenings. :o)

We went for a little dip in my mom's pool while great-grandma kept Hayden inside and enjoyed rocking her in the rocking chair. (which she loved) {grin}

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We took another trip to the library to return some books, check out more books and go to the Mad Hatter Science Program. Notice the girls sitting on the front row? :o)

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Towards the end he chose some volunteers to help him build a rocket...Skyler was chosen as a helper and she was soooo excited.

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Then we went outside to watch the rocket.

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See how high the rocket went?

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Then we came back in and the girls play some learning games on the computers while I fed Hayden in a nice quiet reading corner.


While there the girls decided to join the Kids Summer Reading Club. Once they are done reading a certain number of books this summer they turn in their reading logs and get an award. goodie bag and a free book. They are pretty excited and so am I since it encourages them to read....and read they are doing...in the car on the way home they each finished a book. :o)