This was after I spent over 3 hours today SCRUBBING THE WALLS!
Lola is fitting very nicely into our family.The kids are still head over heels in love with her and she has not had but 2 pee accidents in the house and that was her first 2 days.She is doing awesome!
From the first time we introduced her to the big dogs Charlie has been her Mama.She thinks we brought her home her very own puppy.We had to lay down the law though when Charlie attacked Abby because of Abby being near "her puppy".
Now instead of taking her to the bathroom I just let her in the back yard and she spends a good part of her day with Charlie and Tex.She runs and jumps at them as if she were 10 times her size !
Sorry for the bad picture but I took it through a dirty back window!
This is just a shot of Charlie and her new baby Lola...
Shawn and Alex are very excited to be kicking off Discovery Channels Shark Week.
Alex loves to sit and watch any channel that is featuring information on animals.
She even loves National Geographic,I mean the brutal stuff.
She doesn't even blink watching the polar bear rip apart a cute baby seal.She is truly her fathers daughter.
Yes that's right we got another dog.Growing up I always had 2-4 dogs ,really I would have 10 if I had some land!
We were just going to tag along with Nana to look at the puppies but the kids of course wanted a puppy so Nana just bought 2 instead of 1..
This dog is special though because when I was young we had a Chinese Shar Pei named Baby Girl.She was such an awesome dog,my family still misses her.
The kids are over joyed with their puppy! I'm happy as well that they get to have a dog that is theirs and that they can grow up with.I believe every kid should get to have a dog to grow with,its a special relationship.
Shawn found out they were originally bread for hunting so he calls her his Chinese Bird Dog!!!Cracks me up!
So we now start the puppy training.I'm hoping to potty train Lola and Gage!
Thanks Nana for giving the kids the same wrinkle memories I have.
Today we gathered at Nana and Pawpaw's and had a cookout for little Kevin.
He has been here since school got out but sadly he has to leave us this coming week and go back to Cincinnati.We have all enjoyed getting to know him and I am so glad he got to come and go on vacation with us as well.
I know my kids are going to miss him a bunch.Especially Alex because I believe she has a little crush on him!
It was a great day for swimming that is for sure.It was so hot but it felt wonderful to cool down in the pool.
The kids of course had a blast all day. It amazed me to see all of them exercising their new swimming skills without even realizing they were doing it.
They were tireless too! They swam all day long! We could not keep them out of that pool.Dinner and cake was the only time that they were out of the water and even that took some convincing.
It was a great get together and Nana the food was great!
Thank you for hosting the little good bye party.Little Kevin you will be missed....
The kids had the best time jumping from the waterfall over and over...The Daddies must have some sore arms right now!
They did it! All the kids passed level 1 lessons! We are VERY proud of these kids.
So in a few weeks they will start level 2.
By next summers level 3 and 4 class they should be at the diving board!
They are growing up so fast.
Tonight was our first Mommy and Me swim class for Gage and I.
It was nice leaving the house with just Gage by himself for a change.I am always taking the twins to do things he is to young for and leaving him with Shawn but tonight it was about him.
He was thrilled about getting in the water but did not want to do anything the teacher wanted him to do.He blew a few bubbles with half his face under water but that was it.
She gave out toy boats to get them to blow bubbles and make them go.Well Gage discovered he could have more fun pushing it by hand.So while the rest of the class did the swim lesson we played by ourselves with the boat! I was more than okay with that though because he and I had a lot of fun together.
Mandy did outstanding and I was very proud of her.She kept standing on her tippy toes and telling us she was doing ballet in the water! Too cute!
So we will see what the next few days bring but as long as he and I are together and having fun then I got my moneys worth.
With Aunt Taryn painting her house this weekend Kyler came and spent the weekend with us.
The twins and Kyler were so excited!
Saturday morning Shawn and I loaded them all up and took them to Splash Factory to beat the heat.
They all hit the door running when we arrived.
They all had the best time and barley noticed Shawn and I were even there.
After our fun at Splash Factory we stopped in at Gran and Papas for a visit.
Mandy was already there spending the night and Megan was coming over as well so that the younger girls could have a slumber party.
We were not there 5 minutes and those kids were out of the dry clothes I had just put on them and got right back into their swim suits!
The 6 kids had an absolute blast swimming and playing in the back yard.
Gran and I bathed them all in the pool before dinner.There was no way around it because all 3 girls had green sand packed in their hair from the "witches brew" they had been "cooking" in the pot!
Papa and Daddy brought some Panda Express home but Mandy and Megan were the only ones that would even eat a bite of it.The big kids wanted nothing to do with Chinese food.Megan eats it with her parents and Mandy , well its food and its Mandy,that girl loves food!
They all played very hard.After dinner I was sure they would all pass out on the drive home but Gage was the only one.The boys though lasted about 10 minutes when their head hit the pillow and they were gone.The first kid woke up at 8:45 this morning!
It was a fun Saturday and an exhausting one as well.
This morning the big kids and I headed to Church and Sunday School.
It honestly fills my heart to see them get so excited about attending Sunday School each week.
Before we went to Church and class we had donuts with everyone in the family center.The kids were really proud to pitch in their .50 I had given them to the donut fund plate.
After S.S. was over I asked them what they had learned and this is what Alex told me.
" Jesus is always with me and he is always with Kyler and he is always with Austin too , even you too Mommy."
Too cute! They are really just soaking up what the teacher is telling them.
I took them out for a special pizza and soda lunch , then we went and bought new books with their birthday gift cards from Cousin Megan.
At the moment they are munching on warm chocolate chip cookies and looking at their new books,its a great Sunday!
While the bigger kids and I go to Church on Sundays, Daddy and Gage head to our pond and they go fishing.
Gage really isn't fond of being left places and since he is to young for Sunday School, Shawn stays home with him.Shawn is just real upset about it.We all know he would rather be with his family at Church rather than fishing..Yeah right!
It works out well for the time being,and those two love their Sunday fishing date.
We had a fabulous 4th of July today! We all slept in till about 9 am then I made breakfast and we all just lazed about.Papa and Gran came over and we cooked some burgers on the grill.
After dinner all of us went to the Cleburne 4th of July parade.It was really cool and the kids enjoyed it.Austin especially liked the part where they threw candy to the kids!
We then headed to the lake and waited for the big fireworks show.While we waited the kids had a blast in a bounce house and slide.They were all treated to cotton candy and snow cones as well.
Our neighbors John and Angie joined us and Gran and Papa and we all sat and visited while we waited for the show.It was such a beautiful night to sit by the lake and chat.
The show itself was AWESOME! I was really impressed with how many and how big the fireworks were.It lasted about 25min,that is a long time for fireworks.Cleburne for sure went all out!
The kids loved the fireworks.Alex was especially happy when Kevin joined us for the show.
She kept saying each one was her favorite one over and over!
The day and night were great and I could not have asked for a better 4th!
Daddy had been complaining about us not going to swim at Nana's so we headed out there Thursday afternoon. The kids had such a great time swimming! They are so big and brave now with their swim rings.Gage even went out by himself with his ring and kicked about the pool.This was his first time without one of us holding him.I honestly thought it would be next summer before he attempted it.
We had pizza by the pool and then more swimming.Those kids swam all afternoon and early evening! They had to be exhausted because the adults sure were.
It was a great way to start our holiday weekend.Thanks Nana and Paw Paw!
