School Daze

The boys started school today. Hudson started first grade and Reed started 5th. They had a great day. Reed said 5th grade is better than he expected.  He was very disappointed after finding out that his good friend from last year is in another class. But he came home today saying he thinks he may have made a new friend. Hudson was excited to see his friends again and I received two texts today - one of a picture of him in class...

And another from a friend that was with him at lunch. I put notes in the boys lunches and he evidently really liked it. :)

It made my day!  

I think we're going to have a great year! 

This summer has been flying by.  After the flood a couple of weeks ago, we had about a week of furniture shoved over on the tile with multiple carpet drying fans and a dehumidifier.  It seemed to have worked... there no stink yet, so I think we got everything dried out before it could mold/mildew (or it will be good enough until we move.) :)  

We finished up Seals practice and the boys have started to really sleep late, especially Reed.  I think I'm getting a taste of the teenage years - I finally woke him up at 1:00 in the afternoon a few days ago!

We've had lots of visits from the turkeys...

I've seen that large group (5 mommas and 35 babies) a few times and it's still amazing to be every time.  Then today i took this picture through the back door.  It's so cool to have all this wild life right outside.

Reed got a free ticket to Six Flags from school (by reading 600 minutes) and so we decided to go on Tuesday since it wasn't 1000 degrees outside.  We haven't been in a couple of years and I thought Reed was just too young.  But what I've realized is that he is not a thrill ride type of kid - it's just not fun to him (and it totally reminds me of Brian).  We still had a good time and I totally bought the picture from the log ride... I told them where the camera would be and to act silly.  Too funny. :)

We're having a great summer!

Summer Rain

We got a RIDICULOUS amount of rain today.  It started this morning about 6:00 and by 3 in the afternoon, we had gotten 10.75 inches.  Yep, you read that right... almost 11 inches in about 9 hours.  We didn't realize that there was a possibility of flooding so after church we had a leisurely lunch and when we headed home and the closer we got, the more we were starting to think there might be a problem.  Our house is on a low spot and when it rains, the garage always looks like it's going to flood, but we've never had a problem though.  Well,  when we got home, the yard looked like a lake and when we pulled up to the house and opened the garage door, stuff started floating out.  We opened the door into the laundry room and stepped into about 4" of water (which is a step down from the rest of the house, meaning that the water was RIGHT at the top of the step but thankfully hadn't flowed into the kitchen yet.  It was coming in the front door too.  Brian got out on the skid steer and tore up the front yard to help the water drain.  While he was doing that, I was keeping the drain in the laundry room floor clear which helped it finally drain out.  Mike and Susan came over to help us (the boys just happened to be at my parents house).  Brian's digging efforts thankfully made a huge difference and no new water came in.  I could not care less about the front yard being torn up. :)  At this point though lots had already come in, and we using shop vacs to suck it up.  The living room carpet is soaked (like you step and water shoots out) and our bedroom carpet is soaked on the front wall edge.  Good times.
As for the outside... when we went out to get these pictures, the water had already receded quite a bit.  You can see how full the tank is...

 Just for a reference point, this next picture is from the last big rain - we were so excited about how full the tank was!

You can see across the tank that the chairs that I sit on when the boys swim are more than halfway underwater.  They are usually about 4 or 5 feet from the edge.

That little black flag (sticking up in the water) is to mark the edge of the tank when it's "full".  I think we're there.

The water got REALLY close to the new house.  It washed the materials (lumber, roofing stuff, etc.) from the front of the house over against our neighbors fence.  Two things I'm thankful for - that it didn't make it into the house and that it wasn't sheetrocked yet!

The water flowed over the new driveway and washed out some of it.  When Brian had come out there to get the skid steer, he said the water was almost up to his knees.  But the good news is that seeing where everything flowed will help to know exactly where the culverts need to go. :)

 Now we're sitting in the house with the fans on high hoping they'll dry out the carpet.  It could have been so much worse, so I'm quite thankful. :)

Summer

We've finally gotten our summer started! Reed was sick almost the whole first week with some kind of stomach bug.  He missed almost all his Seal practices and then proceeded to give it to Brian (I was using essential oils like crazy and Hudson and I never got it.  Brian jokingly calls my oils "voo doo" but look who ended up getting sick). :)  Reed finally got well, but then the next week was Seals practice in the morning with VBS in the evenings.  We didn't get much done then either. :)  

Here is what we have been up to:

One project we did do was painting canvases.  I let the boys pick out a shape, cut it out on my Cricut in vinyl and stuck it on the canvas.  Then we put blobs of paint on the canvas and used a paintbrush to smear it all around.

They turned out really cute and the boys were so proud - they are both excited to hang them in their new rooms in a few months.

I'm finally starting to see turkeys again!  I've missed seeing my turkeys, but the other day, they showed up and were eating the birdseed that had fallen from the feeders under the tree out the back door.  The first day there were 2 mommas and 11 babies!  The next day, there were 3 mommas and 20 babies!  I had never seen baby turkeys, so it was cool to see so many! 

We had our first swim meet of the season on Friday night in Weatherford. Both boys did a great job.  Reed placed 3rd in both his 25 free and 50 free.  He placed 5th in his 25 breast.   It was Hudson's first time to compete and we put him in 2 events - the 25 free for ages 6 & under and the 25 free for ages 8 & under.  In the 6 & under, he placed 4th and in the 8th and under, he placed 15th.  He told me at the next race that he wanted to swim a longer distance, but he was struggling towards the end of the 25, so I think we'll keep him there for a bit. :) 

This week we stopped after Seals practice to try out the new bake shop off the square.  The boys shared a ginormous piece of chocolate cake and some cake balls. :)

During all of this, we've been busy with the house.  Not me NEAR as much as Brian - he has made so many decisions and getting everything lined up... he has really been working hard.  You can click here for the latest updates. 

Today the boys and I went up to Fort Worth to look for some house stuff.  After 4 "boring" stores (Hobby Lobby, Target, Kirklands, etc.), I took them to the trampoline park and Toys R Us (where they spent every bit of their allowance/birthday money.) :)  

I'm looking forward to more swimming, water parks, and fun summer stuff!

We had quite the busy lady few days with it being the last week of school and all. Monday was Memorial Day - it was cloudy and we didn't really do anything which was nice. The boys had stayed the night at my parents house on Sunday night and my mom texted me that Hudson was running a fever.  When I went to go pick them up, I told him that he probably wouldn't be able to go to his Kinder graduation the next day and he got tears in his eyes and his little lip started shaking. I diffused Theives in the living room after we got home and in his room all night (yes, I have gotten into all this essential oils stuff- if you want to know about it, I'd love to tell you. It's pretty great stuff). He woke up feeling good on Tuesday, so he got to go.  They sang a couple of songs and he got to hold up the first "e" in the word "Kindergarten". 

He was voted "Funniest Kid in Class" which does not shock me at all. He certainly keeps us laughing. Here he is accepting his "diploma". :)

It was been raining off and on for a couple of days, so the ground was soaked.  On Tuesday night, it came out of nowhere and rained HARD for 20 or 30 minutes.  Brian has done a great job with directing the water runoff into our tank - it is filled up.  The water was rushing in and it was such a nice sound!

Of course the boys had to get in it... Even if it was on the chilly side.

Another couple of fun shots I captured...

Then on Thursday, it was Reeds 4th grade awards ceremony. He had a great year. He was on the A Honor Roll all year, he got the Six Flags reading ticket (reading 600 minutes), he was Student Council Representative for his class, and he was 3rd place in his class for AR reading points. (The little girl who won first place in his class had 670 points - the HIGHEST in the entire school district. WOW!)  Here he is accepting his certificates.

Friday was the last day of school. The tradition of decorating the car continued... 

(Hudson liked it, it was just really bright outside and he was annoyed at my constant picture taking.)

And we topped it off with some tank swimming... 

I'm so glad summer is here. Looking forward to some fun with my guys. :)

Reed's Field Day

Yesterday Reed's field day.  It was supposed to be last week, but we got rained out.  I was worried about the weather again, but it ended up being perfect.  It was raining in the morning, but quit by the time we got to the track.  It was a mixture of a little sun with clouds and a nice breeze.  Third through fifth grade field day is a little more hard core - there were tons of events.  Reed started out with the 400 meter relay.  At the starting line...

The kid gave it everything he had...

I was really proud of him.

He's just not much of a runner, so he was very disappointed that he didn't do better.  He really doesn't like to do things unless he's good at it... we're working on that. He also did a 200 meter race and a 50 meter.  Check him out on the far right... just off the starting line and checking to see who is ahead. :)

His last event was the 3-legged-race with his friend Austin.  They were off to a good start..

and then they bit the dust.

They were back up and laughing in the end. :)

We ate lunch and he was done with his events (and wasn't at all interested in the tug of war), so I signed him out and we went to Sonic for a treat.  

It started raining and so we signed Hudson out of school a little early and got home before the hail hit.  We had a nice rain though, much needed around here!

We went down and fed the fish on Friday.  I don't always go, but when I do, I get the sweetest pictures.

We have quite a few fish and they are really starting to get big.

One of the framers asked if he could fish in the tank during their lunch break and we told him yes as long as he threw them back.  He told Brian he caught a bass "about this big" (I would guess about 18" from what Brian showed me with his hands).  :)
We had a huge rain yesterday - no idea how much because our rain gauge broke - but the tank has gotten some much needed water.

Kindergarten Field Day

This morning was Hudson's field day.  Kinder field day is pretty easy - lasts only a couple of hours and it was nice weather today, so it was fun.   We slathered on the sunscreen and he was so excited to be able to wear a hat.  He has a couple of old hats of Brians' from when he was little, so Hudson chose to bring the Chargers hat.  I'm sure it's from the early 80's... and awesome. :)

The first event was a relay race (and I use the words event and race loosely) on a hippity hop.  Hudson was a pro.

The teachers even raced at the end - it was pretty hilarious and the kids LOVED it.

They also did a sack race and this is Hudson waiting his turn... 

Hudson in a nutshell... :)

His teacher asked me today how I got such a sweet boy.  I honestly don't know.  He has always been such a sweetheart and I hope he always retains that quality as he grows into a man.  God has given me two awesome boys and I am so blessed and proud to be their momma.

Pastries with Parents

This morning was Hudson's Pastries with Parents. The kindergarten teachers do it every year - they invite us to the school and we get to eat breakfast with our kiddos. 

It hit me today that this is our last Pastries for Parents.  It made me kind of sad, but I am proud of the little men that our boys are becoming and look forward to all of the fun things the future has in store for us. I sure do love my little guys. 

Super Citizen

Reed was nominated by his teacher for the Kiwanis Club Super Citizen for this six weeks.  It's along the lines of the Terrific Kid, but just for the older ones - 4th & 5th grades.  We were invited to a lunch where they honored all the 4th & 5th graders that were nominated for Super Citizen.   Here he is listening to Mrs. Gibson read why his teacher, Mrs. Herbold, nominated him (he's so shy - he hates stuff like this.)

We're so proud of this little guy.  He's a great kiddo!