the 8 weeks of summer...

I have been thinking about blogging for several weeks now, but there has been no time for it amid sleeping in, vacations, camp, playing with the kids, and going to bed early (yeah, you probably thought I would say "late" here, right? that was 10 years ago - now I have gray hairs and wrinkles and need my beauty sleep). So, here are the cliff notes of our summer break. I can't believe school starts on July 30th!

Week 1: School ended with a half day on May 24th - we went straight to Sonic and took lunch to the park with lots of school friends! The girls went on their annual Beech Bend trip with their school friends the next day - I'm not sure how, but for the past 4 years, I have SENT the girls to Beech Bend with my dear friends instead of tagging along. I'm sure I will enjoy the pleasure of chaperoning at some point...the following week was a blur of packing, sleepovers, and swimming. Anna Kate absolutely LOVES the pool.

 

 

Week 2: We started the summer with a trip to the beach. I would love to say that it was restful and relaxing for me, but it was not. I did enjoy it very much though! Thankfully, Anna Kate slept all night EVERY night in her crib, and by day 5, she was ok with going to the beach! Gracie played in the ocean as much as possible - it was really rough water for the Gulf. Caroline made sand castles, saw her first jelly fish, and got her feet wet. We painted pottery - a yearly tradition, ate good food, and went crab hunting - a.k.a. squealing on the beach at night. I have the funniest video of them on the beach "hunting crabs"! 

 

Week 3: The week after vacation we had our family pictures (and Anna Kate's 1 yr pictures) taken. As usual, Chesley did an amazing job! I'm so pleased with them, and I can't wait to share them with you! This may have been the CrAzIeSt week we have had all summer because we packed in lots of fun. We made salt dough crafts, had friends sleepover, went swimming, rode 4-wheelers, and packed for camp.

Week 4: For camp week, Jon and I rented the girls a camper to stay in. We originally thought that we would take turns staying in there with them or get the grandparents to help out. The thought of camping with Anna Kate was scary to me, and I was not looking forward to it...Thankfully, there were a couple ladies who wanted to camp and needed a place to stay for the week, so they agreed to stay in our camper and chaperone our kids in the evenings! Gracie hung out with all the tweens/teens, played volleyball, and avoided contact with us as much as possible. She won the horseshoe competition with her cousin. She stayed up late, woke up later, and had what she called "The BEST Camp Week yet." Caroline played in the creek, hung out with her friends, and enjoyed the art activities. Anna Kate did really well. She played in the creek mostly  - she is really loving the water.  She would walk down to the water saying "Splash" which sounds more like "das" to the untrained ear... She rode around in her wagon - a camp ground necessity, and played with her little nursery friends.

Week 5: Camp week was quite exhausting. We spent a lot of time resting and recovering from it during this week. There were a few appointments we had scheduled that we went to; we went swimming, and the girls spent the night with Grandma. We got pedicures and did a little shopping as well. I think this was about the time when the girls started sleeping so late that I was going in their rooms to check on them in the mornings - even Caroline was sleeping late and that is very out of character for her...

Week 6: The fourth of July being on a Wednesday paired with the fact that all fireworks and grilling were banned in our area due to the extreme heat conditions kind-of put a damper on the celebration. We did celebrate the holiday though - in the air conditioned school! There was a big catfish dinner followed by fun games and activities though. The kids had a great time and my team won the tug-of-war contest! Gracie got her 1st place trophy for her horseshoe competition during camp.

Week 7: We have been reading all summer because the girls had to. Gracie spent the first 5 weeks of the summer complaining that her book (which I had already read) was boring. Through many tears, she finally finished the book. Now, we have a report to write! Caroline had two books to read. We are finished with the first one, and 75% through the second! I'm so glad we're almost done! We spent several  days this week reading and working.

Week 8: We are currently in week 8! The summer has gone by so fast! There were so many things I had planned that we didn't get to do... I'm moving several of them to future dates though. Gracie is at basketball camp this week. She has been exhausted from the 9-4 schedule she's keeping! I think she was asleep on the couch at 7:30 last night when I finally took her to bed.  Caroline has gone to stay at a friends house for three days! We're getting back into the grove of waking up early and going to bed on time. I have missed the schedule of the school year too! 

Next week, Gracie starts middle school (she has a half day). Caroline is going into 4th grade and I start teaching computer lab one day a week! I'm pretty excited about it! Anna Kate is going to get a break from me for 1 day per week! Let's hope she likes it!

Today, Jon and I have been married for 4 years! Happy anniversary, Jon! I love you!

12 months, 365 days, 8760 hours of Anna Kate

One year ago last night, I was sleeping on the couch in our bonus room - 9 months pregnant. There was no air in the lower level of our home as it had gone out the day before - Memorial Day 2011. It didn't seem to matter too much to us because we knew we would be waking up extra early that next day to head to the hospital for the birth of our 3rd daughter - Anna Kate.

Here is how I looked at 6 AM:

39 weeks

And just a few short hours later:

Anna Kate 8lbs 1oz

It is so amazing to me to see how much babies change in their first year of life! I put together a quick slide show of photos from Anna Kate's first year. I'm sure her Daddy could have done a better job...

We celebrated Anna Kate's 1st birthday a few days early this year. I had hopes that she would be walking by the time her birthday party came around, but she wasn't. She has been cruising around furniture and holding hands while walking for quite some time now. She did start walking on her own just a couple days ago!

We appreciate all the friends and family who were able to celebrate Anna Kate's big day with us - whether you were able to attend her party, sent her a card or called to check on her.

Happy birthday Anna Kate! We love you so much and are thankful God blessed our lives with you!

Catching up - Science Olympiad, Great Grandmothers, 5Ks, Awards Day

May has been the usual whirlwind that we have become accustomed to with school aged kids. We have so many events every year during May! I honestly can't remember what we did for that first weekend, but the second one was CrAzY! I'm going to catch up before this next weekend hits because it's going to be one for the record books complete with a 1st birthday celebration!!!!

Gracie and Caroline participated in a school event called Science Olympiad. They were on the teams for aerodynamics, crime busters, water rockets, and write-it/do-it. This is something that the girls have been working on daily at school for a few weeks. I heard lots of complaining about the whole thing for a few weeks, but then, one day, I was asked to help with the "class" for a day. I ended up being an "aerodynamics" coach. When I was able to see what was going on in there, I was excited! Caroline was on the aerodynamics team (a.k.a. who can fold a paper airplane and fly it the best). We came home from that day at school with instructions on how to build a better airplane and had several competitions of our own....I think this helped Caroline's outlook on the event. We went to the competition the following Saturday (Mother's day weekend) in Lebanon, and I was able to see the girls and their classmates in action. I could tell they were very prepared for their competitions, but they didn't seem confident that they had excelled after each event. I even talked to one of the official coaches and she felt like the chances of winning were slim. The girls and I weren't able to stay for the awards ceremony, but we received a call later in the day telling us that our school had placed 1st place in almost everything we competed in! We were shocked. Gracie placed 1st in Crime Busters (CSI for elementary kids) and Caroline placed 4th in aerodynamics! I am one proud momma!

We were able to visit my great grandmother this month as well. My Maw-maw is 104 years old! Can you believe that?!?!?! This was the first visit that I've had with her in a few years. She is beginning to lose some hearing and vision, but this is really the first time I've noticed her struggle. One of my cousins recently posted something on Facebook about Maw-maw's cookie jar. She still has it - complete with cookies! I'm proud to be able to say that I have been able to introduce her to my three girls - her great-great grandchildren!

Maw-Maw Dugan, Nana Dugan, Gracie Caroline , Anna Kate 

Gracie, Caroline and I participated in the Strawberry Stride races last weekend. I was convinced by a few friends that I should dress up as strawberry shortcake for the run, and so I was one of the goofy looking people wearing knee socks with running shoes getting funny looks from all the serious competitors in the race. This was Gracie's first 5K and I am so proud of her for running! This was Caroline's first race EVER! It was a 1/2 mile race for her age group and she ran with a buddy. They had a great time and I'm proud of both of them for participating!

As the school year is coming to a close, we have had graduations, awards ceremonies, special lunches, etc going on. We attended the high school graduation of one of Gracie's basketball teammates and I cried like she was my daughter or something...not sure what will happen to me when my own children graduate - someone be ready to help me though. I was actually embarrassed at the amount of crying that I did. 

Gracie and Caroline had their awards ceremony for school today and I was so proud of each of them. Gracie was awarded Academic Excellence in Language Arts and also achieved the Principals Academic Award for Straight As! Caroline was awarded Academic Excellence in Social Studies (this came out of nowhere - why didn't I know that my daughter was interested in Social Studies?!?!) Caroline didn't receive an award for all A's because she had one "B" on her report card and the rest were "A's". I would like to give her the Mom's Academic Award for A's and B's here on my blog because I know how hard she worked this year for her grades! (DISCLAIMER - I do understand the school has to have rules and I respect them and appreciate the push that straight "A" requirement gives my kids to excel. In other words, this is not a knock against the school because I love it there.)

Well, if you are still reading this post. Thanks! I know it was long and maybe a little wordy with a few too many pictures, but it was necessary to record it all.

I'm looking forward to Anna Kate's 1st birthday party EVER coming up this weekend, and I can't wait to share it with you!

About those plans I made a few weeks ago...

You may remember that I made plans to go back to school a couple weeks ago.....and hopefully you remember that part where I mentioned how I'd learned a few things about planning my life (meaning sometimes we make plans and find out later that it's just not the right time). Well, friends, I have learned that it's just not the right time for me to go back to school right now. Sure, I could go ahead and make it happen, but I have chosen to wait just a bit longer...

That being said, I will be taking on the title of (full time)"Stay at Home Mom" for the second time in my life. It's been a full 6 years since I've lived the life of a SAHM. Honestly, I'm having a hard time adjusting to it, but I'm very thankful for the opportunity to be able to focus on the girls and our home for a while again.