Friends, Field Trips, and Getting Fancy (October 2019)

At the beginning of October, my friend Kim flew down to Florida so we could take a 5-hour road trip back up to Atlanta for TOFW.   😆  Seriously though, that 5-hour road trip was exactly what we needed to just talk, chat, and catch up.  Very therapeutic.

I loved how the messages of this Time Out For Women were all about learning how to recognize, be in tune with, and follow promptings of the Spirit.  It tacked on perfectly to the messages and impressions I had had from General Conference the previous weekend.

Matchy, matchy, same, same!  Love the matching dresses. . . and Lise photobombing.

It was a quick turnaround trip, but the fun wasn't over yet.  On Sunday we decided to go for a sunset walk on the beach.

beautiful sunset . . . and love that Lise and Kate took it upon themselves to pick up all the trash they found on the beach so they could "save the turtles."

My kids had to help me take this selfie.  😂

Monday was the Columbus Day holiday and Kim was nice enough to let us drag her out shopping for some clothes the girls needed (Aly had literally no winter clothes, and since she would be showing up to Utah in January, well, you know . . . )  After that, she showed us what Stewby's was all about.  I had heard about this yummy seafood dive before but we'd never been there.  Thanks for making us branch out, Kim!

On Tuesday Kim had to fly back to her family, but first we had a lunch brunch at first watch for her to be able to talk to some more of her friends from Niceville.  It was a quick trip, but we packed in a lot of good stuff.  We'll definitely need to do it again!

Another fun thing I got to do was accompany Kylie on her 4th grade field trip to the temple mound and the first schoolhouse in FWB.  I had been on this field trip a few other times with my other girls.  (Crazy fact: Even with military moves in between, all 4 of my girls went to 4th Grade at the same school!)   There were lots of hands-on exhibits the kids could touch and neat things to see.  

Fun group!

I love this old restored schoolhouse.  It reminds me of Little House on the Prarie and Anne of Green Gables.  

I always love getting to be a part of my girls' lives and seeing their friends and stuff.  It was good times.  

The other fun thing about October is . . . PROM!  

For our youth who are 14+ (old enough to go to dances, but not old enough to date), the kids get all gussied up, then get together for pictures and a nice dinner at someone's house, then carpool to the dance (which is apparently lame, so they don't stay too long), and then head to someone's house for an afterparty.

Looking Glamorous!

This year they had an elegant poolside dinner.  (Thanks Converse family!)

The afterparty was held at the Robert's where there was a lot of piano side singing, I heard.  (Thanks Sister Roberts!)  It looks like they had a blast.  So grateful for all the great youth in our ward and that they all like hanging out together!!!

Back into the Swing of Things (September 2019)

Labor Day means beach time!  If you live in Florida you've got to celebrate the official end to summer with one last day at the beach - just cuz.

Spike Ball - oh yeah!

Kate greatly enjoyed being buried in the sand - and Kylie and Maddy were more than happy to bury her.

For some reason, there were a ton of dragonflies everywhere.  Lise made friends with one (which may have gotten eaten by a seagull later. . . shhh!)

Aly came with books in tow.  Life is real now that she's at the local community college.  But hey, doing homework on the beach is better than just plain ol' doing homework, right?

The following weekend we took a quick trip up to Tennessee for my Nephew's open house after getting married.  We were literally only there for 24 hours, but it was still fun to see everybody.  We always love Tennessee.

The fireflies were a perfect adornment to Kylie's hair.

Kate was all about the life-sized Jenga.  Stacy even played a game or two with her. 

After that, it was back to the old grind.  Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.  It is fun to see the youth have fun together playing gaga ball or just hanging out having fun. . . . 

. . . and coloring on each other's faces.

Chris went back to his normal weekly drive up to Prattville, Alabama.  We skype a few days of the week to do the "Come Follow Me" curriculum together.  The girls love messing with Chris on the computer.

This is the normal state I would see Aly in - either just returning home or just about to leave (or both!)  Since she had pretty much cut all ties with high school, her schedule consisted of two days a week at the community college, 20+ hours a week working at Pounder's Hawaiian Grill, and 10+ hours a week babysitting for two different families.  And if that wasn't enough running around, she also started training for a 1/2 marathon with her Dad.  Aly running around and making mega-mula - hmm.  Just the way she likes it.  And she was going to need the $$$ too because . . . 

ALY GOT ACCEPTED TO BYU!!!!!  Yay!  Go Aly!

She will start winter term, January 2020.  Add housing, class registration, transferring credits, figuring out the GI Bill, and buying winter clothes to the list of things to do. 😏😉

Aly's Second Home

The main thing taking up Lise's time was color guard (which required its own post) and homework.  She was also volunteering at the local library on Wednesdays, practicing driving when possible, and in her free time always finds time to be hilarious with her friends.

Lise as a brunette?? Or is it just a mullet baseball cap?  Hmm . . .

"Look, I'm just a floating head and feet" - Lise, who always assumes wearing camouflage makes you invisible.

Ya gotta love how cheap I am to not buy my kids' school pictures but still take pictures of the "proof" and post it on the blog!! 😂😂😂

80's Day

Kate's norm is just being Kate - always.  She's rocking it at drama kids, loves her Stemm class, and always comes up with the best costumes on school dress-up days.

Country Bumpkin' Day

Lise being a "tree hugger"

This last one's a doozy.  It was Jungle day at school.  The conversation went something like this:

Kate - Mom, do we have any animal print fabric?

Me - Um, I think we have some Zebra fabric.

Kate - But mom!  Zebras don't live in the jungle, they live on the savannah.  Oh, wait!  I know, I'll be a tree!!!😂😂😂

I love the way that girl's brain works.  Of course she would take it literally and be "the jungle" on jungle day.  She even had a monkey stuffed animal "swinging from her vines" aka in her hair.

Kylie's norm included having a great time in 4th grade with new and old friends and some great teachers.  One day I had the following conversation with Kylie:

Kylie - Mrs. Stuart let us do our reading today at school so I don't have to read.

Me - So you read your 30 minutes?

Kylie - I really got carried away.  I read for 31 minutes!

Me - Whoa.  You really went overboard there.

Kylie - I wasn't paying attention.  This means tomorrow I only have to read 29 minutes.  

(So much for being an overachiever. 😏  At least her math is sound!)

In addition to school, Kylie also decided to join in the fun of Drama kids this year and loves going to activity days.  They have these two older granma ladies running the show and it's hardcore old school.  They've got the girls making homemade pizza and sewing a quilt to give to a single lady in the ward.  Super awesome.  

Since it was September, Kate insisted that it was time to bring out the Autumn decor.  Of course, she added her own flair to the decorations by having the skeleton lounging over the sink and messing with the "Always Be Thankful/Merry Christmas" block letters.  Ah, ya gotta love it.  My life will be so boring once the kids leave.  (Hopefully there will be grandkids by the time that happens to keep it interesting! 😆)

And despite the day to day business, we love it when we have the chance to go for an evening walk along the golf course or see an awe-inspiring sunset.  We really live in a beautiful place.  And no, I didn't use any filters on these pictures!