Catching Up

Lately I've been using my phone to do most of my picture taking.  I'd love the newest iPhone just so I can get a camera upgrade, but I do NOT love the price tag on them. So like I tell my kids "You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit."

We are part of a small group at our church that started off as a group for 20's and 30's but has evolved and includes all ages of people, but mostly families with kids.  It is seriously my kids favorite part of the week.  We take the summer off and so our first small group after starting back was a few Sundays ago at our house.

I randomly saw this posted on Facebook and text it to a few friends. We decided to take the challenge so 4 of us have been doing this every day.  I may die before we get to Day 30.  We are only on Day 12!!

Love these girls!  I picked them up one day and can't even remember where we were going.

We've been making some changes in our formal living room to make it more usable. One thing we decided we want to get is a recliner, so one evening we headed over to the LazyBoy store to test out a few. Of course the girls picked out the most expensive ones, with remotes and a million buttons that recline, raise, lower, vibrate, and anything else you can think of.  Kevin picked up Karsten and told her they had to test it out together...

Our evening routine is that Kevin reads Kate a story and tucks her into bed, and then I pop in to give her a kiss goodnight.  I tuck Karsten in, and then Kevin gives her a quick kiss goodnight.  Karsten has finally started actually wanting to listen to books, so I'm loving this new evening addition to our nights. 

Not sure what it is about turning 6 years old, but apparently there is some unwritten rule that you HAVE to throw up a peace sign anytime mom wants to take your picture. Happens every single time. Good think she is cute.

And then I have to say "Ok - now let's take a REAL one."

Go Dawgs... ???

Clearly I am a Clemson Tiger fan.  And Kevin is a Georgia Bulldog fan.  Our girls have yet to make the determination as to which team they'll like.  For all we know, they may pick a different team completely or decide they hate sports all together.  We are an equal opportunity family though - so it's totally up to them!

Since we live so close to Clemson, we're usually able to take them to a game every year.  Athens is a bit further and while Kevin and Kate have gone to a couple of games together, Karsten hadn't seen the Dawgs play until this weekend. Kevin's track record at seeing his team play is pretty poor too.  He's gone to a game almost every year, and Georgia hasn't won while he was there since 2012.  

So this weekend we took the girls to see Georgia play Samford.  If his team had not won this game, I'm not sure I would have let him live it down.

They are ready for Saturday in Athens!

 

We've officially reached the "fake smile" stage. 

The game was a night game, which was great since it was a million degrees outside!  We left our house with plenty of time to eat dinner on the way, and got to Athens early so we could walk around. A quick stop in a Georgia fan store landed the girls with new hats and Georgia "G's" for their faces (glittery ones, of course).  Then it was game time!

We'd originally planned to stay till halftime and knew we would call it a success if that happened.  When Georgia scored another TD late in the 3rd quarter to make it pretty much a guaranteed win, we figured we were safe to start walking back toward the car.  The girls did great throughout the whole game.  I will go ahead and put it out there, I packed the iPad in my bag for Karsten.  Knowing that the game was starting only 30 minutes before her normal bedtime, I needed to be prepared! She only played on it for maybe 30 minutes total and did really well.     

 And now both kids have been to Georgia games.  In about a month, they'll be sporting the Clemson orange that I love to see on them. But for now, I'll admit that they look pretty cute in the red.

PS - I listened to my game (Clemson vs Louisville) on XM radio while watching the Georgia game. Multitasking at its finest. 

Weekend Favorites

I better catch up from LAST weekend before we get to this weekend, right?  We've had a lot of low-key fun lately and I love spending time with family and friends. 

The girls have grown so much lately, and the weather is starting to cool down just a tiny bit (in the mornings only), so I know they are going to need some warmer clothes before too long.  They can't fit into a single thing from last year, so it's time for shopping!  We attempted to go to Carters on Friday, only to get there at 8:08pm and realize they closed at 8. Boo.  The girls spotted Mr. Knickerbockers next door, and so we walked over. 

$40 later, we walked out with 2 stuffed tigers and 2 sets of tiger ears. 

Saturday morning, we pulled out one of Kate's birthday presents.  Kristi and Davis gave her a kit to make gummy Trolls (think troll-shaped gummy bears).  She had a blast and they actually turned out well. But the green was gross. 

Also Saturday - game day!   The girls wore their Clemson jerseys.  Although, to be completely honest, Kate does have her UGA jersey on underneath her Clemson one.   Clemson and Georgia both played at the same time Saturday night, so Kevin and I were each stationed in different rooms watching our respective teams.  Luckily, both teams won!

We had to take a picture of our boys - Kevin said they were praying for a Clemson and UGA win.

Sunday afternoon, I left to run errands and get groceries. Kevin said he was going to put the girls down for a nap and I came home to THIS.  We got a new mattress a few weeks back and our old one has been sitting in the floor of our formal living room. We left it there for a little bit because the girls have enjoyed using it as a trampoline. Looks like we may need to take a page from Clemson's playbook and turn this room into a nap room. 

The End of an Era

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This week was a big one in our house. Karsten started "school" on Tuesday. Boy was she excited!

Side note - I have gotten lots of questions about Karsten's dress.  It is by Genuine Kids from Target. And if you are thinking of ordering it, use the link below to get 20% off!

20% off Genuine Kids with promo code GK20. Valid 9/10-9/16

Last week we went to meet her teachers.  We were only there for about 20 minutes so we could find out all of the rules, etc and so Karsten could see her new classroom.  When it was time to leave, she didn't want to go! She thought she was going to get to stay.

Needless to say, when the actual first day of school was here, she was ready.  We got to class a couple of minutes early and were still about 5 kids back in the line to drop her off at her classroom door.  The entire time we were waiting, Karsten was begging to go inside.  We finally got up to the front of the line, and as I was handing Karsten's bag and lunch box to her teacher, she took off inside.  I didn't get a hug, a wave or even a "bye".  That's how ready she was.

And now, she's already asking when she goes back.  It's a little sad, as this is the last year our family will have a kid in the "baby" program.  It's the end of an era. Next year she'll be in 3K - an official preschooler.  So for now we'll savor the last few months of the little kid stage. We are looking forward to a great year of Parent's Day Out!

Summertime Fun

For her birthday, Kate got an outdoor chalk/paint set, and the girls got to try it out a few weeks ago on one cool, sunny Sunday afternoon.  These two girls are all about arts and crafts.  And this Mama is all about OUTSIDE arts and crafts. :)

 

Kate is my main little artist. She loves all things that involve painting, glitter, drawing, and coloring.  This set was right up her alley! 

 

 

Karsten loves anything that Kate loves. And she loves getting messy.  See below Exhibit 1.  I took the first picture, and then by the 2nd picture, I realized she was no longer painting the driveway.... she was painting her legs!!

See what I mean?  Messy and proud.

This was Kate's masterpiece. Since it didn't rain at our house for a couple of weeks, it stayed on our driveway for quite some time. She loved seeing it as we drove in each day.  Between the swing set in the back yard, swings hanging from the trees, and colorful artwork displayed all over our driveway, our house is clearly one with kids! I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.  I'm so thankful for these two little girls, and even their messes. There's not much that a good scrub in the bath tub won't fix.  Though Karsten was a little Smurf colored for a few days...