Homecoming, Celebrating Ryan and Soccer

Last week was Spirit Week for Homecoming so we got to celebrate all week with themed days at school. Noah was fine with every day, but he was hesitant about Decade Day. Our cheapest and easiest option was to make him a hippy - and he was not excited. But, I went to eat lunch with him that day and he said "Momma, being a hippy is actually fun! But, teachers keep saying I am a Disco guy - whatever that is" :) We went to the game Friday and it still surprises me how good the kids are at the game and how much they enjoy it. We lost the game, but it was really close and came down to the last minute so it was fun to watch.

'Merica Day

Team Jersey Day

Favorite Holiday Day

Decade Day

Panther Day

Saturday was finally party day for Ryan! She wanted a Lion King party at the movie theater so that is exactly what she got! We partied with about 40 friends and family and then watched Storks in 3D. The decorations and food all turned out so good and Ryan said she had "the best party ever" so I say it was perfect!

Cheetah Chesseball

Tiger Tails

Cub Sandwiches

Grubs :)

Apple Nachos

Cupcake Bar!

Sunday morning we went to church and lunch then it was time for the kids first soccer games! I am so happy with how well the kids did! For the first time in years we didn't have the kid crying, playing in the dirt or wondering around lost. Now, that may totally change next week, but it was nice to enjoy for a week. It was not overly hot, but it was definitely warm - but there was a breeze and with umbrella shade it was tolerable. Both kids came very close to scoring a goal - which amazed me for the first game. Neither of them said anything about being hot or tired or anything, so I know they had to be having fun.

Daddy got to get in on the fun at halftime too :)

After the game we went home and washed all the sweat, sunblock and dirt off. Then Meme came over to watch the kids while Nathan and I wen to see Magnificent Seven. Now, I never saw the original (I am not much on old westerns) but I thought it was really good! I really like all the modern westerns I have seen and this one was just as good - it had all the crucial elements - standoffs, comedy, sadness and love.

Now for a week of taking a couple hundred things to Rhea Lanas before I get to go shopping for new fall clothes for the kids and my brother is getting married!

Party! Party! Party!

Our family has a LOT of September birthdays - by a lot, I mean 8 within 2 weeks of eachother, so we do lots of partying this time of year! We celebrated 3 of my nieces birthdays this weekend.

Before all the partying started, Nathan and I got to go on a quick date to the movies to see Sully. I love Tom Hanks so I really wanted to see it. We decided we would attempt to stay up for the late movie - we are so old we weren't sure if we could stay awake that long! ;) I really liked the movie! I remember the Miracle on the Hudson happening - it doesn't seem like it was 7 years ago! I didn't know all the drama that went on afterwards in it though. It was such a great American Hero story!

Saturday Nathan golfed all day while I entered about 200 of the kids clothes and toys into the Rhea Lana database. I felt so much better after getting that done since the deadline is a week away and we will be having more birthday parties next weekend. That night we headed up to Salus to a family friends cabin for my niece Eliza's birthday party. As a child, I spent lots of time at this cabin so it was neat but kind of strange to see my kids playing at the same place. We made smores and had cupcakes - it was a nice small party.

Sunday morning we went to church. It was the 5 year anniversary of Journey Clarksville campus. We are so blessed that they came into our community and our lives are so much better for it. Our kids love their classes and we all get so much out of each service. It was amazing to see all the good the church has done in just the last 5 years - I can't wait to see what all else happens. 

After church we headed out 2 of my other nieces, Maddie and Emmie's birthday party in Rogers. We have never been to a Little Gym so we were excited to check one out. The kids absolutely loved it! The party was well organized with the gym hosting little activities and games. I wish we had something like this closer to home. 

From there we went to Shoguns for dinner before heading home. The kids cannot get enough of watching the Hibachi chefs cook!

Now for a fun week of Spirit Week at school leading up to the Homecoming game, Ryan's birthday party Saturday and another one of my nieces party on Sunday!

Ryan's 4th Birthday!

At 8:46 a.m. on Wednesday September 14, 2016 Ryan officially turned 4! This girl is the sweetest, meanest, happiest, most dramatic, most ornery, beautiful, kind, funny girl you will meet. She is determined to get her way and will not let anything stand in her way! She also doesn't like seeing anyone hurt and wants to help me cook or clean or anything that she can figure out to be in the middle of. She came into our world and turned it upside down, but made it so much better all at the same time!

 When your birthday is on a Wednesday and you parents both work full-time, you have to squeeze in celebrations throughout the day where you can. We started with opening her gift from Momma and Daddy - a mermaid blanket :)

Ryan just so happened to have an appointment at the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor so we were able to get her favorite breakfast since we didn't have to meet her sitter in town early like we usually do. So, we hit up the bakery for sprinkle donuts!

Our next stop was not a great one, but necessary. Ryan had tubes for 2 years and got them out in February and has had 3 ear infections since. So, her pediatrician sent her to the ENT to get evaluated. He said that she still has holes from her tubes so new tubes are not necessary but he did think she would benefit from having her tonsils and adenoids removed. So, they scheduled that and sent us over to pre-register at the hospital. The post-op for this procedure sounds awful, but I have now had lots of people tell me how easy it was for their child, so I am praying for the best! She will have to miss ballet and soccer for 2 weeks too plus I will need to take off work a lot for it - it is just not ideal at all. But, hopefully she will have no more, or at least a lot less, issues with ear infections and sinus infections this way. 

From there Ryan went to daycare to celebrate with her classmates and I went to work. I then picked her up for her very first manicure and pedicure! She was so excited! Every time they would paint a different layer on she would look at me and say "Momma! Look!" with a big smile :)

We then made a quick stop by Granny's house to get her new Nintendo DS "just like Noah has" before we went to Memes house. We always eat at Memes house on Wednesdays and since her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year she got to pick what meal we would have. She chose her favorite "meatyoaf" (which she also calls beef and ketchup) and instead of cake she wanted watermelon :) So, we stuck candles in watermelon and sang to her - it was pretty cute and really good! She also got to open her presents from her Meme and Papa - books with a really cool tablet that reads the books to her and Uncle Brandon, Aunt Whitney and Paxton - a vet Barbie set - perfect for her!

She said she had a great birthday and cannot wait for her party in a few weeks! Due to a movie not being available, we had to postpone her party a few weeks - so we will get to celebrate with our extended family and friends in a few weeks.

Kicking Off Ryan's Birthday Week!

We got the privilege of having my 16 year old niece Alex stay with us for 4 days while her mom was out of the state. The kids just love it when we get to see cousin Alex and especially love it when she can sleep over!

Friday night we had all planned to go to the Panthers football game in Ozark. When it was time to leave for the game Nathan called and said he was held up at work and couldn't make it. The kids and Alex still wanted to go to the game so we hurried around and got ready to leave. It has been about 7 years since I have been to that football field and even then I didn't drive myself there, but I had an idea of where the field was. Well, I was wrong. Alex put it is in her phone and it took us to Baldor! I put the high school in my phone figuring it was close by to that, nope. So, I called my mother-in-law (who teaches at Ozark) and gave her a hypothetical of "if I were sitting in the high school parking lot, where would you tell me to go to get to the football field" :) I then jokingly said we will probably get there and Ozark will be winning 21-0 or something! Well, apparently I am psychic because we got there at halftime and it was 21-0 Ozark!

We hit up the concession stand and enjoyed the halftime shows and the rest of the game - final score was 34-6 - not the best game for the Panthers :( There is always next week! The kids really love going to games and I love visiting with people there and watching the games too - so it was a win- win for us.

Saturday was when we originally had Ryans birthday party planned, but the movie theater wasn't able to get the movie we wanted for the party so we had to move it back 2 weeks. So, we decided to kick off her birthday week and go to Dave & Busters and Toys R Us to spend her birthday money! Dave and Busters was great! The food was good and the kids won great prizes! Next door was a outlet mall we didn't know about so that was an added bonus to our day!

From there we went to Toys R Us where they gave Ryan a tiara and a balloon and announced over the intercom that the birthday girl was there! My Dad always give the kids cash so they can shop for something - and they love it! Ryan is kind of picky - she will pick something small and just say that is all she wants. This time she did that and then we walked by a dollhouse display - and she was so excited! She had just enough money to get the house and furnish it!

After that we made a quick stop to try out Tacos 4 Life in Conway - it was really good! I want to go back again soon! Then it was time to go home so everyone could go to bed and I could assemble a dollhouse!

After church Sunday Alex went home and the kids and I went to the movies to further celebrate Ryans birthday week! We saw The Wild Life and it was pretty cute! Then we had to hunt down a watermelon for Ryan's birthday celebration - which is harder than it seems in September :)

On last exciting thing from this weekend was that Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields was crowned Miss America! This is the first time in 35 years this has happened and we just so happened to have met her a few months ago when Noah was crowned Little Mister Johnson County! She was very nice and it was so cool to see someone we had met win such a big honor!

Things are about to get busy - which is when I am at my best! Soccer practices start this week, Ryan's birthday, ballet is still going strong, and I am gathering up stuff all over the house for the upcoming Rhea Lana sale!