County Fair Time

Like most people this time of year, we headed to our local county fair last week. The kids had spent weeks looking forward to expensive games, low-quality rides, and the coveted cotton candy. They could hardly contain themselves as we picked my mom up and drove out to the fairgrounds.

We started our night by cruising through the exhibit hall. Ting entered some photography in the Junior Photography division, and we were ecstatic to see she received ribbons on each piece. She received first place in human interest and nature, and second place in still life. (Side note, they took her two first place photos to district fair, so fingers crossed)

After the exhibits, we hit the midway for rides. After a quick start on a fast ride to get our blood pumping, Hubby took Bug to ride some small rides while my mom and I hung out with Ting and rode big rides. Can you believe she's big enough for big rides???!!! She rode the scrambler twice, but once was enough for me. I got off stumbling and mumbling!!

I had been hearing about the bumper cars for days, so I was happy when she passed the height requirements to get to ride those alone. She also rode the big swings and made two loops on the ferris wheel with my mom.

Bug stuck to all the smaller things. Some he loved. Some, not so much.

After many dollars in games, arm fulls of toys and prizes, and the much sought after cotton candy, we headed home for a late night into bed. Both kids were exhausted but said they had a wonderful night at the fair.

Bedtime Prayers

We say prayers at bedtime with our kids. It is something we have always done, and something I plan to continue until the day they move out of our house. Our routine is for me to say a quick prayer for them, and then they say their prayer.

Ting's bedtime prayer has been the same for over a year. She has the same prayer, word for word, that she prays every night. Occasionally she adds a little something on the end if we have a specific something we have been praying for, but she mostly keeps it to her routine. It takes her about 30 seconds to get through her prayer; then she is ready to head off to sleep.

I used to be concerned with her recited prayer but remembered I was a routine pray-er growing up, I can remember laying in bed each night and saying the same thing night after night. As I grew up, and my relationship with Jesus grew, I started changing it up. I feel she will also.

Bug is a different story. Bug prays for everything. He has figured out mommy will not make him quit praying, so he takes advantage of the situation and makes sure he covers everything. I have been known to sit on the edge of his bed for ten minutes while he goes through his list. He lists every member of our family he can think of, all his friends by name (and their siblings), each stuffed animal, most of his cars and truck and toys, and other random things.

He also throws sweet little tidbits in at times, such as "please be with the bad people and help them turn into good people."

He prays for vacations and dreams: "Thank you for places we get to go, like the lake. And thank you for places we don't get to go, like Disney World." He also prays for all the Disney characters after this.

He prays for everyone's vehicles and begs to grow bigger so he can get out of his car seat. He prays for his books and the characters in them. For his tablet, and the shows he watches. He prays for his furniture, curtains, bedding, floor.

See, you get the idea. Bedtime prayers are vastly different at our house, but I would not trade one word of prayers that come from my kids' mouths. I am thankful we know Jesus, and we can teach our children to talk to Him as well. I know these bedtime prayers will be memories I cherish many years from now.

Bug: First Day of Pre-K

One more year and my baby runs off to Kindergarten. But first, we are going to soak in our year of Pre-K. 

Bug is SO excited about heading to Pre-K. This is his first year in an official learning center at school, he has Lollie (my mother-in-law) for a teacher, big sister is in his class, and naps are not on the schedule. He basically thinks school is going to be grand.

He has been asking all summer when school is going to start and he could hardly contain himself as we put him to bed on back-to-school eve. But before he headed off to Pre-K, I had a few questions for him. (And be sure to click the link at the bottom to check out Ting's back to school questions)

Grade: Pre-K

Age: Four

Teacher: Lollie

What was your favorite thing about summer?

Summer? What is summer? Oh, I like going to church.

Why are you excited about going back to school?

Because I’m going to be in Lollie’s class

What is something you hope to learn at school this year?

Talking funny

What is your favorite thing about school?

Playing

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Policeman

Click here to see Ting's back to school questions

Ting: First Day of 2nd Grade

It is the first day of school for us, and Ting is a second grader. She has been ready for school to start for several weeks now, and I know she is going to have a great year. She has one more year in the learning center with her Lollie (my mother-in-law), and she is looking forward to being the oldest in the classroom.

As she heads off to school, I had a few questions for her. (And be sure to look at the bottom for a link to check out Bug's first day of school questions.)

Grade: Second

Age: Seven

Teacher: Lollie

What was your favorite thing about summer?

I got some time off from school

Why are you excited about going back to school?

New school supplies, get to be in the same class with my brother.

What is something you hope to learn at school this year?

Cursive

What is your favorite thing about school?

Learning things

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Nurse

Click here to see Bug's back to school questions

The Next Decade: Year One

This coming Saturday will mark our 11th wedding anniversary! We celebrated with a little getaway last weekend. While our weekend was not as extravagant as our 10th-anniversary celebration, we still had a great weekend.

We kicked off the weekend with a Friday night dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse with my friend Jessica and her husband. Jessica and I have been friends for almost four years, but our husbands had never met. From the talk of deer hunts, duck attire, and fishing lure, I would say they hit if off pretty well.

After dinner we found a comfy hotel to rest our heads and then spent all day Saturday shopping. We spent over an hour browsing Every. Single. Section. at Academy, found some great deals at the local Walmart (when in big cities, check out the Wally World), scored huge savings at JC Penny, and had time for a quick trip to Ulta.

We feasted on a late lunch/early dinner at Red Lobster before browsing the aisles of Sam's Club and heading home.

Our trip home revealed we had just missed a huge storm that came through our town. Luckily we had no damage at home and the temps had cooled off to a tolerable degree. Since our kids were in good hands for another night, we took advantage of the kid-free time and Hubby took me to his favorite place - the local lake.

Although we didn't catch anything, I had fun learning to bass fish. The lake was so peaceful after the storm, and the temps and light rain made it so relaxing.

I missed our kids, but the weekend with just the Hubby and me was a perfect way to celebrate another year together. I'm looking forward to decades more.

Church Camp 2016

I have never attended church camp. I attended a summer camp growing up, but never a church camp. A few weeks ago, that all changed.

The kids and I packed our suitcases, gathered in the church parking lot, and loaded the buses with 61 other youth and adults from our church. Well, Ting loaded the bus. Bug and I loaded into my air-conditioned minivan with my in-laws for a more enjoyable ride than that of a church bus!

We arrived at Dry Creek Baptist Camp on Monday afternoon, and I was excited to kick off my first camp experience. Bug and I settled ourselves into our hotel-style room and checked on Ting in her bunkhouse before heading to the counselor meeting. I quickly found myself signing up to be over our church's junior girl campers for the week (girls just completing grades 1-5). Our schedule predicted it would be a busy week, but I had no idea what was in store for me.

Our days started early with breakfast and then to the junior chapel. The kids sang songs, played games, and heard lessons from a great children's evangelist. Then we headed to morning activities. Although Bug was younger and quite a bit smaller than the other kids, he jumped right into all the activities and never missed a beat. All the kids were great to help him out and give him extra turns in all the games.

It as HOT at camp, and I was always ready for lunch to roll around. After lunch, Bug headed to take a nap with my mother-in-law while Ting and the other girls worked on their scripture memory for the week.

Then we headed off to more activities. One of the activities was zip-lining. Ting and I both signed up for this. I had talked to Ting about how scary it was going to look, but to be brave. I was SO proud of her as she made her way up the rock way. She went up it so quickly without a care in the world. Then she got to the top and refused to go down the zip-line. I climbed to the top to try to reason with her, but after a short bit, I did what any loving, caring, nurturing mother would do (after checking all the safety requirements) - I pushed her off! She went down the zip-line screaming, but was smiling in the end!

The cousins were also at camp and my kids had a blast hanging out with them all weekend. It is always great to spend bonus time with our family.

All in all, it was an exhausting, but wonderful week of camp. I had a blast, and already have camp marked on my calendar for next year!

The Ears Have It

It is a rite of passage for a little girl. The day she climbs up in that tall chair and lets a total stranger poke holes in her ears. I have very vague memories of the day my ears were pierced, but I do remember the tears that fell that day. And I remember my hair getting wrapped around my fresh earrings and my mom having to spend forever trying to clean them.

Hubby and I discussed it years ago and decided Ting would wait to pierce her ears when she was old enough to care for them herself. She asked once several years ago, then never brought it up again. Then she discovered Claire's. We started stopping into Claire's each time we visited the mall about a year ago. She always took her allowance money when she knew we would be shopping, and she always happily purchased bracelets and necklaces. But I always saw a hint of longing as she passed the earring racks.

A few weeks ago we visited Claire's again. They were having a sale and I found Ting parked in front of a huge display of earrings. They were "buy three, get three" and she had a few in her hand. She told me she really liked them and if her ears were pierced she would buy them.

"Well," I said. "All we have to do is call and ask Daddy if it is okay and we can get them pierced."

A quick text conversation later and I found my baby girl perched in that tall chair with total strangers aiming for her ears. She panicked for about five seconds, and then she was ready to go. They had two girls working so they were able to do both ears at the same time. She never even cried!

I love the small gold crosses she picked out to have her ears pierced with. The calendar is marked for six weeks out, and six cute options are awaiting the day we can change her earrings.

My girl is growing up. Oh so fast.

Bye, Bye, Teeth

It has been a while since Ting lost a tooth. It seems the first several came out pretty quickly, and then they just stopped.

However, I noticed a few weeks ago some adult teeth coming in on top of the baby teeth. The adult teeth were pretty high, and I knew the baby ones needed to come out. I called the dentist, and they said to have Ting wiggle the baby teeth and try to get them to fall out.

After two weeks of wiggling, those little teeth were holding on. I called the dentist and took Ting in last week. We thought we were going for an exam and evaluation, but as soon as the dentist saw her, he said he could get them out quickly.

Ting did great! She got very nervous and a little scared when he said he was taking her teeth out. But by the time he pulled her teeth she was fine. He had her baby teeth out in about 30 seconds.

On our way out, the dentist surprised Ting with a certificate for a free ice cream cone at our local McDonald's. Of course, we wasted no time heading to Micky D's for our treat.

Ting spent the whole day talking about how she was glad the teeth were out and she didn't have to worry about it anymore. And she was very excited when the remembered the tooth fairy was heading to our house!