Rachel's 7th Birthday!

Rachel recently turned 7 and we celebrated all day long! She and the other kids left with their grandparents for the beach on the day of her actual birthday, so that Friday Arnold and I took off work to do some fun stuff together. 

Rachel in her new dress, all ready to go :)

She got some great birthday gifts. We got her a new bike because she had outgrown her new one. She also got some nightgowns, craft set, a few toys and a new Beanie Boo :)

We are part of the Barnes and Noble birthday club so we went by there to get her free birthday cupcake. Caleb and I shared a big cookie and Caleb got some Orange juice too. 

She had a giftcard from some family so she was dying to go to Toys R Us and spend it. Got some girly legos, a new DS game, and a shopkins display case. 

We went shopping at the mall for awhile to get some last minute things they needed for the beach like new sunglasses... Rachel also spent more of her birthday money. girl loves shopping like her Mama ;)

The kids had been bugging us forever to ride these dumb animals in the mall, but its so expensive.. so we decided on a special occasion we would let them. They loved it. Rachel chose the Panda, caleb chose the dog, and Brooke chose the pig. We walked around the mall with them and tried to keep them from running into people, haha. 

And off they go!! 

We had lunch at Cici's pizza! 

Rach showing off her cute new purse she got. 

Snuggled up to watch Finding Dory at the movies! We all loved it. A few parts made me and Rachel cry. Poor Rachel was so upset and clinging to me, haha. But the movie was good! 

Outside the movie theater afterwards. 

We had a birthday party for Rachel with some close friends and family.. nothing fancy, just some outside playing and some cake and snacks. Thanks to Mom and Dad for hosting at their house since the parks were all booked up! 

Rachel loved her Shopkins cake. We couldnt actually find the theme anywhere so we got a pink and green cake and then added some of her shopkins from home. 

Had to get a family picture! 

Rachel got some sweet gifts from our friends and family! 

Had to get a pic of my BFF Jess and sweet Holden! He has really grown! 

Joanne being crazy like usual.. with the water guns ;) 

Rachel's Birthday Interview

***Rachel at Age 7***

Clothes Size- 8

Shoe size- 1

Going into Grade: 2nd

Favorite Color: violet

Favorite Toy: chubby puppies

Favorite Animal: otters

Favorite Food: pizza

Favorite Drink: sprite

Favorite Snack- jello

Favorite Dessert- icecream

Favorite Season: winter

Favorite Holiday: christmas

Favorite Restaurant: chilis

Favorite Game: animal jam

Favorite Tv Show- teen titans

Favorite Movie: good dinosaur

Favorite Book- elephant and piggie books

Favorite Flower: roses

Favorite Thing to do: play computer

Favorite Thing to do outside: ride bike

Favorite part of school: recess

Favorite Thing to Wear: dresses

Best Friend: emeline and allison and kenzie

What are you afraid of? Slappy from Goosebumps

What do you want to be when you grow up? An artist

What do you want for Christmas this year? legos 

What do you want to be for Halloween this year? A princess

What do you sleep with everynight?  Pupster the stuffed dog

 Party theme this year: Shopkins

Recap: Month of MAY!!

It's ABOUT TIME for a new blog huh? Can't believe its been almost a month. I have a new job and it takes up all my time and I'm always tired now! But anyway, here's what we've been up to in the past month! :)

Rachel's class went on an end of year trip to the Zoo! Arnold went with her class and they had a great time. They were calling for rain but thanfully it didn't rain too much on them. They bought ponchos at the last minute! Arnold spent his day with a bunch of girls, running around looking at animals and taking pictures. Rachel had a great time and even touched a snake! She also picked out a cute otter to bring home-- she said the otters and the penguins were some of her favorite animals of the day :)

Rach lost another tooth! it had been barely hanging in there forever!

I had to work on Memorial Day, but my dad took the kids to their neighborhood pool! Arnold went with them too. It was opening day and so it was packed, and they had lots of fun stuff. They had music, fog machine, food, games and all kinds of stuff. Brooke loves swimming and would stay in a pool 24/7 if we would let her! She talked about going all week long. 

We've been spending time over at Mom and Dad's house! My dad cooks the kids ribs and they love it. Meanwhile, I eat chicken because I don't eat meat on a bone! ;) 

My pretty pineapple earrings that Arnold bought me showed up! I have been wearing them alot!

The kids like to play around when we go shopping and they loved these Emoji pillows. 

We've been going on pletnty of icecream dates of course! 

Arnold took the girls to the Father Daughter dance at our church! This was their 2nd time going and they had fun. They had a sealife theme this year, and they had real golfish on the tables as centerpieces. Some girls took them home, but I'm glad Arnold said our girls couldn't! haha. We don't need another pet! 

That same night I took Caleb to a local baseball game and we were celebrating my good friend's 30th birthday! It was a surprise and she got to throw out the first pitch and everything. The weather was great for me but Caleb actually complained about being cold! We ate WAY too many snacks.. hotdogs, peanut, dippin dots, you name it. I loved spending the evening with my Bobo. However after awhile he was bored and tired so we went on home. We didn't stay for the concert that had afterwards. 

Caleb had a checkup at the dentist and he got another perfect report! He has never had a cavity before, just like me! I guess we both have good teeth shape? Brooke has been plagued with bad teeth, poor thing. 

We took the kids to see the new Angry Birds movie. It was pretty funny! Arnold said they had too many adult references, but I don't think it was that bad, I think it went over the kids' heads. We can't wait til later this month to see Finding Dory and The Secret Life of Pets!

Two weeks ago I started a new position at work-- in the kitchen! A girl that had worked there forever moved, she trained me for a week and now I work back there in her spot. I doubled my hours (and my work load) and I come home SO exhausted. But I am excited about better paychecks! ;) I don't actually cook the chicken, but I go in early and set up the kitchen, cook soup, bake cookies, assemble sandwiches, and stuff like that. I like who I work with, although I am still learning and I feel too slow and overwhelmed a lot of times! And it is HOT back there! We take "freezer breaks" and actually stand in the deep freeze to cool down! It feels amazing! A lot of people have started and quit the kitchen staff after just a few days so I feel proud I am hanging on still! :P

Mother's Day 2016!

We had a really fun weekend. The kids were off school on Friday and so Arnold decided to take off work and we had a family day. We took the kids to the science center that morning. Arnold's company gets us in free, so that's always nice. At the end of the trip the kids were begging for something from the gift shop, and even though they didn't need anything we must have been in good moods because we gave in. Caleb got a stuffed turtle, Rachel got a stuffed seal, and Brooke got a little glass bird.. no idea why?? 

After the science center we went to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. Then we went shopping for awhile. Arnold needed new pants for work, so we went to Kohl's. That just so happens to be where the shoes were that I had been wanting, so I bought them for myself for mothers day haha. I also stopped next door at the family christian store and got the movie Old Fashioned which I had been wanting to watch for a long time.

Before we went home we stopped at Coldstone for Icecream. We usually got to sweet frog, but I had a coupon. While we were there, my Mom facetimed me because they were in Florida visiting my brother and sister-in-law. They were about to have their gender reveal and we wanted to be able to see! Unfortunately it kept cutting in and out and we couldn't see or hear well, but I am officially having my 4th niece! I can't believe my brother is going to soon have 3 daughters. Lord help him! ;) 

Saturday I had to work until 3pm.. then I came home and got ready and headed out with two of my best friends for a Girls Night Out! We met up for Dinner at Applebees. I got the chicken ceasar salad. Thought I would be tired of chicken by now, huh? ;) Then we went to the movies to see Mother's Day! It had Julia Roberts in it (I love her!) and Jennifer Aniston. I didn't know if it would be good or not, but I loved it! I was laughing the whole time. Plus of course it was great to have a kid-free night, with some great friends :)

Sunday morning I got up and Arnold had gone to get us Bojangles for breakfast. The girls wanted me to get back in bed so they could bring it to me, but I didn't want all the crumbs so I just ate it in the kitchen, haha. My mom would have been proud ;) They also surprised me with roses, my favorite drinks and some chocolate. The girls had even made up a cute little dance for me. Then we went to church. My baby class had a total of 14 kids in both services, so a little chaotic but not too bad. After church we grabbed a quick to-go lunch and went home. I took a long, glorious nap. Arnold even left me sleeping when he went to visit his Mom, haha.

Later that evening the kids and Arnold were going to take me out to dinner at Olive Garden. But of course they were packed with a long wait when we got there, so we left. Around that time Mom called and said she was back in town from Florida, so we got to swing by and see her just in time for Mother's Day! We decided to give up on the dinner and later that night Arnold brought me home crab legs from Red Lobster while I watched Call the Midwife. I'd say it was an AWESOME Mother's Day!! :)

Some of our fun on Friday! Caleb loves his turtle and takes it everywhere, haha ;)

I got these shirts for the girls from Childrens Place and they were representin for their Mama of course ;)

I got the chocolate explosion from Coldstone.. and It was delicious, but I felt sick after, haha. 

My mother's Day gifts I basically bought myself! haha! I am cracking up over the bookmark.. it is so me! And the movie was great! A little cheesy but definitely had a a good message! 

At the movies with my girls Saturday night!

I decided on a spur of the moment to get a blue rapberry icee! It was so good! Best $6 ever ;)

I posted this picture on Facebook yesterday. My first mothers day vs. this year. 10 years later! That first one Brooke was so little and I was pregnant with Caleb! So much has changed! 

Rachel made me this at school! She said she loves me because I read her bedtime stories! I'll take it ;)

You know, just hanging around in my recliner, eating Crab legs, with my puppy at my feet ;) 

Mother's Day Wishlist!!!!!!

These cute shoes from Kohls-- even though my BFF doesn't like them that much ;)

The new book in the series I'm reading JUST CAME OUT THIS WEEK. It is meant to be ;)

New Pjs are always good right??? Especially ones with watermelons. 

YES my new thing is pineapples! And this candle at Target is adorable!

These yard flags from Kirklands are sooo cute! With a "D" of course ;)

The PIONEER WOMAN came out with even more cute stuff for her Walmart line! How cute is the paper towel holder and utensil holder? It would look good in my kitchen ;)

Everyone loves summery soaps from B&B Works! Especially watermelon scent ;)

Ah yes, its more pineapple stuff. A wallflower plugin. I love these to scent the house! :)

Life Lately!

Yes it's been another 2 weeks since I've written in the blog! My poor neglected blog! But here is some stuff that has gone on lately with us! 

The other weekend I was off work so we took our kids and our niece to the mountains for the day! It was a lot of fun-- the weather was beautiful and perfect for the trip. They watched "Max" on the dvd player in the van, on the way up. We got up there and went to Mystery Hill. None of us had ever been there before. It was a special this month, only $2 tickets for residents or students of NC. It was pretty neat but not worth much more, I thought. The gravity room really made me feel dizzy and I didn't like it but the kids LOVED it. They also loved putting themselves in bubbles. Next we went to the fossil museum to look around a little bit. After we were all done there we went to lunch at Applebee's. Then we went to the parkway and drove around and took pictures. We stopped at a park nearby and the kids played around the creek. Lastly we went up to the outlet stores and got icecream cones. I also stopped into Gymboree outlet (couldn't resist!) and got Rachel some things. Expensive day!!!! But I think they all had an awesome day, and we did too. 

Our church does something twice a year called INSPIRE, which is a service just for women. Hundreds of women come out and there is praise music, a speaker, comedy, goodies, prayer, and all sorts of things. Two of my best friends and I went to it together. We went to Olive Garden for dinner beforehand. My friend Joanne has lived in the area her whole life and never went?! INSPIRE was amazing this year-- I really got into the songs and was crying through some of it-- it really moved me. The speaker was someone we knew and she did a great job. A few ladies won some pretty awesome door prizes. It was such a good night. I can't wait until the next one! 

That same weekend my parents took the kids with them to the mountains for the weekend! The kids had an awesome time getting spoiled by their grandparents. They took them to the lake, and swimming at the indoor pool, and made them homemade parfaits for breakfast, and all sorts of fun stuff. I don't think they wanted to come home ;) PLUS, Arnold and I got some free time that weekend!! 

So on our free night we decided to go on a date!  We went to dinner at Outback steakhouse. Then we had some time to kill so we went to a few stores. I took this picture in Target... poor Arnold looks so thrilled doesn't he?! ;) I am on a kick of PINEAPPLE stuff recently (don't ask me why!) and I wanted this doormat when I saw it! I haven't forgotten my owls, but maybe I'm moving on haha. ANYWAY, after that we went to the movies to see ALLEGIANT! It wasn't as good as the first two, I think it was a little cheesy, and it was LONG! But it was still pretty good, I had to see it-- after getting this far. AND lastly, we ended up at Walmart at 10pm that night-- fun fun right? But I did end up buying a cute new nightgown for me and some sandals for Rachel-- haha. 

At the kids' school, in the first grade, they have an animal project. They are assigned an animal, and they make it, and research it, and write a paper about it. Arnold always helps with the artsy part, and I help with the writing part. Together we make a great team! ;) This year was Rachel's turn. She got a jaguar. They had a cute one made up, then Charlie ATE IT! So they made another one. Arnold wasn't quite too happy about that, haha. It was neat putting all 3 of the kids and their pictures together to look back :)

In some BIG news... my brother and sister-in-law are expecting another baby-- due in September! I am so very excited! We don't know the gender yet, but should find out in the next week or so, after they have their gender reveal party. I wish we could be in Florida to see it! I feel like it's a girl-- don't know why. My brother wants a son.. but would be happy with either! I can't wait to find out! Another niece, or my VERY FIRST nephew???!!!! 

Had a scare this week-- I was taking some tylenyol and dropped one on the floor, and Charlie ate it! He grabbed that sucker quickly and gobbled it up. I called the vet, and they said to come in since he's so little. Arnold took him in and they gave him medicine that made him throw up three times, and some charcoal liquid stuff to keep the medicine from moving to his organs. But other than all that, he was doing great and came home acting like his normal self. AFTER peeing on Arnold while driving home, and having BLACK liquid poop that night! Soooo gross. Oh and $150 bill-- not fun. But I'm so glad he's ok! 

Yesterday was my BFF"s birthday! She and I have been friends for 15 years- as of this year! I am so thankful for her friendship and can't wait to hang out this weekend!

These cuties are the best-- I love them so much :) :) :)