Returning to a Normal Routine

It has been a while since I've really had time to sit down and write a good post! Life's been crazy busy. First? There was summer vacation. I don't think it needs to be said about just how busy it can be with 3 kids home all at the same time! Second? We did go through an extended summer vacation, thanks to the flooding effects from Hurricane Harvey.

Things are starting to resemble "normal" again, which I'm so thankful for! My older 2 daughters finally started back to school on September 18. My 2nd grader is really having fun! She's really soared with her reading skills, and is loving the challenge of racking up AR points! She's also having fun with math 😊

My 4th grader still loves reading and math, but she's starting to realize how much extra time she needs to devote to her studies. I'd warned her that 4th grade would be a little harder than K-3, and she's seeing that now.

Before they officially started back to school, we made a point of having a nice, peaceful, day of fishing.

The girls had been bugging us all summer for it, so we took them during their last weekend of vacation. We didn't catch any fish, but we still had a great time! We got to make some fun memories, and the kids got to swim!

I really love that Gail is finally old enough to be able to enjoy these activities with her older sisters. She had a fishing pole in her hand right along with the other two (though not in this particular picture). It was so great to just be able to sit back and relax after everything our community went through!

I'm still an active Avon representative, even though I haven't posted any of those deals lately. I sort of took a break when Harvey came rolling through, but I'm ready to get back in the game!

While my division is technically in Campaign 22 already, the deals in the flyer here are still active! I love that Avon supports these causes. My husband thinks I don't need anymore makeup bags....but what he doesn't know won't hurt, right?? Haha! Actually, he's learned at this point to not fight me on my beauty and jewelry products 😉

If you like to support either of these causes, you can click here to shop for Avon's Breast Cancer Crusade items, and here to shop for their Speak Out Against Domestic Violence items. They're both great causes!

My goal from here forward is to make a point of making at least ONE (possibly more) weekly post about my family's adventures. With the school year here again, I'm hoping that will make it easy to squash the Writer's Block that tends to hit me a lot! I can say, however, that there will be a book fair and some reading adventures to write about soon, so I'm super excited for that!! 😊

I also bought my older two daughters a "Learn to Cook" cookbook shortly before Harvey swept through. They're both capable of reading it themselves and following the directions, so I'm going to let them try their hands at some of the cooking around here. I will be sure to share some of those adventures with y'all as well!

Here's to hoping you all have a wonderful week! 😀

Our Simple but Busy July 4th

How was everyone's July 4!? Ours was good, but busy!! After starting my day with laundry & cleaning, some friends of ours invited us to a BBQ lunch. We ate (a lot) and enjoyed ourselves for a few hours while the kids all played.

Upon arriving home, we were greeted with 2 big bags of girls' clothes sitting by our front door. This, of course, led to me calling my neighbors to figure out the mystery of who brought them to us. Not that I'm complaining...it's a blessing! The clothes were just the right sizes for our youngest daughter and our oldest. I am NEVER one to turn down free clothes for the kids! They grow so fast, and clothes can be expensive!! So needless to say, I spent the next 2-3 hours washing, drying, and folding the "new" clothes (This also gave me the perfect excuse for purging the closets of all the excess).

Fast-forward a few more hours. Some more friends invited us over for more food & to watch the local firework show that one of the town residents puts on every year.

The pictures don't do justice to just how beautiful the show was! It's something the girls always look forward to, and it melts my hearts to see the excitement on their faces!

It was a fairly simple day for us with no extravagant plans. It's the memories made that matter the most!

Our Little Step Back Into History

The girls and I had quite a busy day Wednesday! We hadn't really done much this summer, and I wanted them to be able to have a few enjoyable experiences (while staying frugal, of course)! I had our day planned out weeks in advance, as there was one particular experience that I was aiming for us all to enjoy!

History is one thing that I absolutely LOVE. Pictured here is the Lucas Gusher monument, located at Spindletop/Gladys City in Beaumont, Tx. There are a FEW reasons why I wanted to take the girls on this adventure! For starters, my husband works in the oilfield, so it's a big part of our lives. The girls have known the oilfield life since before they were ever even old enough to walk!

I took them to Spindletop & Gladys City so they could really gain an understanding of the role that Spindletop played in the oilfield industry during the days of the oil boom. I also thought it'd be neat to show them how different life was back then!

July 4th Adventures!!

I realize that I didn't really post last week....like....at ALL. Honestly? I just needed time to unwind, and spend time with my girls!! Sometimes it's GOOD to forget about routine, and just enjoy the moment. Yesterday was ALL about moments, and good memories!!!

In case y'all didn't know, eating good food happens to be one of my favorite hobbies!!

In the spirit of July 4th, we DEFINITELY had plenty to go around! All of the sides were prepped and ready the night before. Basically, all we had to do yesterday was fire the pit up to cook all the meat.

I cannot tell you how HAPPY this made me, to have so much good food to chow down on, haha!

Our Father's Day Adventures (Mostly in Pictures)

I said I would post about our Father's Day adventures.....so here goes! Our day yesterday was very relaxing! We decided to do something that we haven't done in a WHILE now. We went fishing!! It's seriously been a few years now since the last time we actually went. It was also the girls' first time to truly enjoy the experience!

What I love the most about yesterday is that it gave "daddy" the chance to really spend time with the girls. He works a LOT, and rarely gets time off of work, so it's not often that he gets to have real bonding time with them!

A Very Very WET Week of Adventures!!

I'm typing this one out earlier in the day (MUCH earlier) than what I usually do, for the simple fact that it's Father's Day! There MAY be a post later this evening about how our family's Father's day plays out....it just all depends on how the day goes!

Our past week didn't hold TOO many adventures, as we were trapped inside for a good part of the week, thanks to good old tropical storm Bill.

Blessings and BIRTHDAYS!

Some people say that double rainbows are a sign of blessings to come, and I believe that is most definitely true! I took a picture of this double rainbow Friday evening. The sad part is, I may not have even noticed it if it weren't for my oldest daughter exclaiming :Mom, look! A Rainbow!!" I moved to get a better view, and sure enough, there was this beautiful double rainbow, WAITING to be seen! Curiosity prompted me to get on Google to see if there was symbolic meaning for it.

After how this past weekend has played out, I'm a VERY firm believer of it standing for blessings! Friday, in itself, was a blessing because it was my sweet middle daughter's fifth birthday!

The day was spent making memories, too! She was SO happy to finally be celebrating HER birthday, since we'd celebrated her older sister's just 10 days prior. I totally made BOTH of their day that day by taking them to get DONUTS for breakfast!

~~~ HELLO SUMMER VACATION!! ~~~

It's officially summer vacation at our house, YAY!!! I cannot tell you how excited this makes me!! I'm happy to finally be able to spend good quality time with my girls!! It was a long week to get here though!!

Tuesday, Gail had her appointment with the cardiologist after it had been rescheduled due to flooding the previous week. It went GREAT!! Sort of. My sweet, sweet, child who is always the best baby you could ever imagine while getting an echo done? She was NOT so sweet this go-round. In fact? She screamed bloody murder the entire time that the tech was trying to get the needed images. At one point, they actually had to call in a SECOND tech, and the two worked together to keep her distracted and still long enough to get the pics that they needed.

Memorial Week's Adventures

What a week it has been!! I'm truly not even sure where to start!

Monday was, of course, Memorial Day. Our family didn't really do much. We'd done BBQ on Saturday, and I'd whipped up a large crock pot full of tortilla soup on Sunday, so Monday was a lazy & quiet day of relaxing, and munching on leftovers.

Tuesday? Well.....Tuesday, Gail and I were SUPPOSE to have gone to Texas Children's for her cardiology checkup. As a result of torrential downpours, and historic flooding, that did NOT happen! I wen't to bed Monday night with my nerves in a wreck at the thought of driving out to Houston in the thunderstorms (I have high levels of anxiety, and driving in storms is a quick way to set off panic attacks for me). My husband had stayed awake the majority of the night, watching the rain and hail come down. He came to bed around midnight, and I got up shortly before 1:00 a.m., when my alarm went off. Gail's echo-cardiogram was suppose to be sedated, which meant she wasn't allowed to eat after 1:20 a.m., so I'd woken her to get her one last bottle before the cutoff time. It was as she was eating that I logged onto the computer to check the radar, as it was heavily downpouring at the time. That was also the same time I started looking, and seeing all the pictures of the floods!