Kimbri Starts 1st Grade!

 August has been a fun month! And now that we are at the end, Kimbri is starting school. I can't believe it! This school year is going to be weird having Kimbri gone all day long. I'm excited for her though. She is going to love making some new friends here in NC. She is really excited about riding the bus, again (she loved that last year), and she can't believe that she actually gets to eat lunch at school. Kimbri thinks that's pretty awesome. I love her so much and can't wait to hear all about her new experiences at school!

Also, I didn't realize till just a few weeks before school started that the public school we are zoned for requires uniforms. I wasn't too sure about it but was trying to be upbeat and excited for Kimbri's sake. The one thing that stinks about it is that I already had bought a bunch of school clothes on clearance last year for this year, and now none of them are "allowed". I guess she'll have clothes for the weekends and holidays! And really, she looks pretty dang cute in her little uniform outfits :)

Another thing... school starts at 7:50!!!! She gets on the bust at 7:17. I feel like this is so early for these young kids! I was expecting school to start around 9. But oh well! I guess we will be getting our body clocks switched to going to bed earlier so we can wake up earlier!

It's going to be a great year for Kimbri, I just know it! Rick gave her a blessing before school started. At first she wasn't too sure and didn't really want one but let Rick do it anyway. Afterward, she couldn't stop talking about her blessing and kept asking for another one. I think she really felt good about it and felt the spirit through it. I'm so grateful for the power of blessings in our lives.

Kimbri's class list! She has Mrs. Espinal.

School supplies list for 1st grade.

Selfies that Kimbri took while
I was doing her hair.

Getting her hair done for the 1st day!
I love when she lets me do her hair.

I felt so bad sending my little girl of with so much STUFF!!
The school supply list was no joke. Her backpack was stuff to
the max and we still had some left I had to send in a grocery bag.
Not to mention her lunchbox, too!

Look how loaded that backpack is!!
So many school supplies!!!!

The sunrise on the first day of school!

She specifically wanted a picture on the
piano bench and asked me to send it to dad.

Poison Sumac

After nearly one week of dealing with a weird rash we FINALLY figured out what it was! Poison Sumac, which is similar to poison ivy. 

The kids play alllll the time outside. We have this random tree in the backyard and when we first moved in I noticed, what I thought was, a weed growing on it. I didn't think much of it.

Well, fast forward to the week before school started and Kimbri woke up with a weird rash on her face. It then spread to her neck. We gave her some allergy medicine and it didn't really seam to help at all. We took her to the "back to school night" with this crazy red and botchy rash all over her face... yikes. 

After that weekend it started to fade away and I thought we were in the clear when all of the sudden Garrett woke up in the middle of the night with these crazy red bumps in all sorts of places on his body-- his ankle, arm, face, etc... It was so bad and really driving him crazy with the itching that I took him in to the pediatrician. She said try medicine and anti-itch cream and we were on our way. I consistently used it with no improvement after 2 days and felt like I was at a loss! I called the pediatrician and she said she would prescribe stronger doses of oral allergy medicine and cream. I was beginning to get so frustrated! I reeeallly didn't think that would work if the regular Benadryl and Zyrtec wan't working. 

Finally I turned to the internet.... haha. I asked, and posted pictures, on a group I'm in on FB called Lives of Doctors Wives and someone immediatley asked if it could be poison ivy because it looked similar to a rash they had when they had that. We hadn't been to any parks or on any hikes where I thought they would've been exposed so I was doubtful....

But then I realized... THAT RANDOM VINE ON THE ONLY TREE IN OUR BACKYARD!!!!!

I took a picture of it and looked up photos online and sure enough.... its POISON!

After talking to a few other people about it here in NC, apparently poison sumac is common around here and the vines will just start growing wherever. Yikes! So now I have banned the kids from going over near the tree. It's sad because they loved building forts out there and playing between the tree and the fence. And now we have to figure out how to get rid of it... 

At least now we know what it is and Garrett was able to heal from it. It took nearly a week and a half for his to fade!! He had to start preschool with crazy marks all over his face and body and I had to assure the teachers it wasn't contagious. Craziness!!

Brenna's Birthday

I can't believe our sweet little Brenna turned 2 years old! Rick had to work late on her birthday so her actual birthday wasn't super exciting. But since she's little and doesn't understand, we got away with it, I guess.

We woke up and snuggled in bed for a while. Her hair was something wild and so we of course had to document it ;)

Her sweet little smile gets me every time. 

Brenna played with the quiet books for probably
close to 45 minutes in the closet! She loves those.

Gma & Gpa Haycock gave Brenna a huge stack
of coloring books and some markers. I can't
even say how much she LOVES coloring.
She sat coloring for a solid hour after opening
the present!

One night when Rick DID have off, we made up a batch of homemade ice cream and made banana muffins as her birthday "cake". It was yummy and she didn't care either way or which what the food was, she loved it anyway!

Playing with some window clings before church
we gave her for her birthday.

I forgot to mention that the day after her birthday, a Saturday morning, I took the kids to Chick-fil-a for a fun breakfast since Rick, was again, working. They had a blast and it was fun to get out of the house and let them play their little hearts out after eating some eggs and hash browns. Yum!

July 2017

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! 

The night of the 4th, we whipped up a batch of homemade ice cream with berries and it was SO yummy! We ended the night with fireworks with the kids on the back patio. It was perfect.

I really love our backyard view.

Filling up the pool for the party with friends!

Kye, Grey, Brenna, Kimbri

Grey & Brenna

Brenna, Kimbri, Kye, Garrett, Grey

Garrett has been practicing writing his name with chalk. He is
getting pretty good at it!

The kids love playing frisbee with dad.

Homemade ice cream! My dad got me an
electric one since he knew Rick would be gone
a lot during residency. 

Licking the ladle.

We took the kids in to do baths and then went back out to watch
a few fireworks. Then they could right to bed afterward.

Brenna wasn't so sure about them...

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!

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:

Brenna loves playing with the Little People sets.

Mini pancakes are a fave at our house.

One day Brenna insisted on going "pah-ee".
So we let her try. She went once but then had
an accident a while after.

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.

Olivia sent a package to the kids and they
were so entertained doing their new activities
on the back patio.

Olivia sent Brenna those capsule things that
dissolve in water and turn into small sponge animals.

Homemade rolls... yuuuummm!!

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.

After the library activity we went to do some grocery shopping
at Sam's Club and let the kids split a churro.

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!

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.

Brenna loves sleeping with her different babies.
Tonight it was with the baby Mamaw Sadler gave her.

Tried doing Brenna's hair in pigtail buns.
It turned out so cute and she looks so grown up!

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.

Sisters playing barbies :)

Kimbri and Garrett wanted to set up their
tents they got for Christmas and slept in them
for a week straight!

Rick watched the kids one morning on a day
off so I could go to the Raleigh Temple.

Brenna likes "helping" putting the silverware away, haha.

Garrett asks to do this activity ALL the time.
He is getting good at writing numbers!

Kimbri helping to make, and taste-test, her
birthday cake!

We had the Jones' over. Aye and Grey are such good little friends
to Kimbri, Garrett, and Brenna.

Kimbri loves the tent and sleeping bag set that
Gma & Gpa gave her for her bday!

Gpa Haycock added these to K's bday package.
Kimbri loves window clings so it was perfect!

During Brenna's nap the kids and I snuggled up
in my bed, and we all ended up falling asleep!

When I woke up, I had to sneak some pics.

They slept so long that I went and woke them up
for dinner and Garrett was SO mad at me. Haha.

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 :)

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.

Boys day out. Ice cream at Freddy's

We made bread and did a couple mini loaves.
Garrett wanted to eat his without cutting it, haha.

Writing practice. He loves learning!

Lately Garrett has been going through a phase
of wanting to sleep on the floor...