July 4: We celebrated July 4 with some friends in the morning. Kelsey and her boys, Kye and Grey, came over to have a water play date with our kids. We blew up the pool, filled up water balloons and we set up the sprinkler. We ended it with lunch and red, white, and blue popsicles. It was so much fun and I'm so grateful to have a friend here with kids close in age to mine! I feel so blessed!
July 5: Today we went to the library to redeem the kids reading chart. They earned their first prize which is to pick something from the prize box at the library. They both picked out a little fish game. They thought it was so cool and were super motivated to get to the next spot on their reading chart so we went home and did a ton more reading. They will make it to their next goal pretty fast, I'm sure. We also attended story time while we were there. I'm so impressed with this library's story time. They always have a theme with a few different stories, songs and activities related to the theme and then have a craft ready for the kids to do at the end! Today it was all about lunch. They talked about different healthy things you can pack in your lunch and then the craft was to make your own lunch box and glue in pictures of healthy foods inside. Kimbri was so in to it and Brenna loved coloring hers! Garrett was impressed by all the stickers they had there for them to use.
July 11: Today we went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast with Rick before he headed off to residency. We dressed up with felt cow spots on us and got free food! The kids had eggs and hash browns. Rick got a sausage burrito and I got a chicken one. It was really yummy and the kids had fun playing at the play land after eating.
For dinner we decided to go to different Chick-Fil-A location. Rick and I got chicken sandwiches and the kids got free kids meals that came with an "I Spy" book and they were passing out little cow stuffed animals. They even had a guy walking around in a cow suit and Kimbri REALLY wanted a picture with it. Haha. I'll have to add that picture on here later.
During the day between our Chick-Fil-A trips we hung out in the backyard and let the kids do chalk and play with the water table. They also caught several worms and that entertained them for sooo long. Haha! They kept making little homes for the worms. We ate popsicles and then went in and put Brenna down for a nap and then I taught Kimbri and Garrett how to play Uno and Pick-up Sticks. Then I folded laundry while they continued to play Pick-up Sticks over and over and over. It was a fun day!
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| Kimbri wanted to take a picture of me... |
July 13: The North Regional library is amazing and always has such great Story Times for the kids. They always have some sort of theme and today it was on fish. They did several stories, activities, and songs with the kids, all about fish. Garrett thought it was so awesome because he is so in love with all things ocean. At the end they always have some sort of craft and today they had blue paper plates and the kids got to glue on little fish and some dry beans as the fish tank rocks. Garrett kept calling them bubbles and glued them all around his plate to make them look like bubbles, haha. All the story time crafts are so cute and the kids have loved going! They also have been working on the summer reading program and have earned up to the second level. I've been really impressed with the library here!
July 21: This week has gone by pretty fast! On Monday we took a meal in to the Jones'. My friend Kelsey that I met right after moving here just had a little baby girl, Tenlee. Her parents have been in town but just left so I thought a meal might be helpful. We took honey-lime enchiladas, corn salsa with chips, grapes, and a few quesadillas for her kids in case they didn't like the enchiladas. I love that we have kids that are close in age and that get along well. It is amazing to have a good friend right off the bat after moving across the country!
We also went to the library this past week to switch out our books for new ones. The library is super close and the kids love reading, so it's nice to be able to go often. The kid and I took a trip to Big Lots yesterday. They had all their summer stuff on clearance so we got a little pool for $5 and some bins for the shoe closet for cheap. It has been fun putting our house together and getting a few things here and there to make our house a home! I am so very grateful for this home and a good neighborhood to live in.
July 23: Today Rick and I spoke in sacrament. We gave talks on baptism and the sacrament. I am so glad to have that over with for a while! I love preparing for a talk because I feel like I learn so much, but getting up and giving a talk in front of so many people makes me incredibly nervous! There have been several new families moving in to the ward so we are all taking our turn giving talks. Hopefully we won't have to speak again for quite a while.
We also have been subbing in the Sunbeam class for the month of July. There are usually about 6 kids each week with 5 being boys and 1 girl. They are fun little group, although it's hard having your own kids in class because then they feel like they can come up to you any time they want. It's just a little hard to parent when your trying to be the teacher. But it's been fun! We only have one more week of subbing. Rick got called to be the Assistant Ward Clerk and I'm still waiting on getting a calling.
Here are some other pictures from July:
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| Brenna loves playing with the Little People sets. |
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| Mini pancakes are a fave at our house. |
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One day Brenna insisted on going "pah-ee".
So we let her try. She went once but then had
an accident a while after. |
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We let her play in the backyard in the nude
and put the potty on the back patio in case
she wanted/needed to go. |
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Olivia sent a package to the kids and they
were so entertained doing their new activities
on the back patio. |
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Olivia sent Brenna those capsule things that
dissolve in water and turn into small sponge animals. |
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| Homemade rolls... yuuuummm!! |
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Brenna LOVES coloring. She will sit there
for 45 minutes straight, no joke! |
Another fun library activity! They handed out balls of clay and the kids got to flatten it and press colorful pasta shells in it.
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After the library activity we went to do some grocery shopping
at Sam's Club and let the kids split a churro. |
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The girls love getting their nails painted, especially Brenna.
She will sit soooo still and asks me to paint her nails all the time! |
The Fayetteville Botanical Garden put on a "Nature Tales" activity to come learn about bees. They had a little story time and craft all about bees. Then we were allowed to walk through the botanical gardens afterward. They have a kids section that the kids enjoyed a lot. It was SO HOT though so we didn't stay too long. Definitely a place that would be fun to go back to sometime when there is better weather!
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I was trying to get a picture of Brenna in the
dress that Mamaw Sadler gave to her. Kimbri
loves getting her picture taken so she joined in. |
Yet another library activity... seriously, this library is the best! They had a Bob the Builder story time and then Bob came out at the end to do a toolbox activity with the kids.
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Brenna loves sleeping with her different babies.
Tonight it was with the baby Mamaw Sadler gave her. |
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Tried doing Brenna's hair in pigtail buns.
It turned out so cute and she looks so grown up! |
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At the lunch place that is held at the local
rec center. Kis 18 and under can get free
lunch there, so we've gone several times. |
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| Sisters playing barbies :) |
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Kimbri and Garrett wanted to set up their
tents they got for Christmas and slept in them
for a week straight! |
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Rick watched the kids one morning on a day
off so I could go to the Raleigh Temple. |
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| Brenna likes "helping" putting the silverware away, haha. |
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Garrett asks to do this activity ALL the time.
He is getting good at writing numbers! |
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Kimbri helping to make, and taste-test, her
birthday cake! |
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We had the Jones' over. Aye and Grey are such good little friends
to Kimbri, Garrett, and Brenna. |
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Kimbri loves the tent and sleeping bag set that
Gma & Gpa gave her for her bday! |
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Gpa Haycock added these to K's bday package.
Kimbri loves window clings so it was perfect! |
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During Brenna's nap the kids and I snuggled up
in my bed, and we all ended up falling asleep! |
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| When I woke up, I had to sneak some pics. |
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They slept so long that I went and woke them up
for dinner and Garrett was SO mad at me. Haha. |
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| He kept trying to pull the covers back over him. |
One morning we went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast to meet up with someone from the ward with kids similar ages. She got held up at an appointment and didn't end up being able to come, but we decided to eat anyway. They have servings of eggs for .50 and hash brown tater tots for .95 so it's a really cheap meal that the kids love! And they also like going to play on the play place too :)
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Kimbri and I went on a girls date. We went to
JcPenney to get some school clothes and then
went out for Frozen Yogurt afterward. |
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| Boys day out. Ice cream at Freddy's |
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We made bread and did a couple mini loaves.
Garrett wanted to eat his without cutting it, haha. |
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| Writing practice. He loves learning! |
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Lately Garrett has been going through a phase
of wanting to sleep on the floor... |
