Labor Day weekend

Jarrod had to work Friday night and part of Saturday, so the kids and I went to Hickory Ridge Friday night and spent the night so Jarrod could actually rest when he got home! We played and swam and took naps! Saturday at lunch Doug and Kay and Grandpa came over and ate at mom and dad’s. Then Jarrod got there later in the evening and we headed to Searcy.

The kids built a bear cave with the couch cushions.

I think her baby is a little big . . .

Jarrod finally got off work and met us in Hickory Ridge and we got on the road to Searcy. On the way, Stratton decided his tooth was loose enough and it needed to be pulled. I gave him a kleenex and a few minutes later he had it out! Three down in a month!

We got to Searcy late and tried to stop at the Bulldog for supper but Miss Attitude was in one of her lovely moods so we just went on, then she screamed the whole drive to Searcy that she wanted to eat supper and go back!! Not happening sister. We slept in on Sunday and had breakfast before getting around and then we met Jennifer, Daniel and Archer for lunch. We all went back to Terry and Margie’s and ate a late supper from Taco Bell! Then we waited till Nan and Pa got home and visited with them before heading to bed. Sunday we had lunch with the whole crew!

Sunday afternoon we left the kiddos with Nan and Pa and headed back home. Sunday night we had dinner at Matt and Carla’s for Matt’s birthday and then went home and crashed! Jarrod got up Monday and rode with Dillon to Hickory Ridge to get my car. Then came home and worked in the yard and garage. I took the opportunity to clean the kids rooms out since they were gone! I pretty much spent all day going though closets, bins, drawers and toy boxes! It was productive though! Lots of stuff for the garage sale next time! Jarrod loaded up most of the stuff and took it to our storage unit. Then Nan and Pa brought the kids back and we had supper and went back home and got ready for a BUSY week!

A year has passed. . .

And hardly a day goes by that I don’t think about her.

 

There are several times this past year when I will see something or remember something randomly and it hits me and I will have myself a little cry. Like cooking with her dressing pan, or finding a card she made Stratton in his treasure drawer, or even seeing a crystal hummingbird in TJ Maxx. Ha! I had to buy it by the way, since it made me cry and all!  But overall, I think it’s been an easier year than I thought it would be. For all of us. I think in my opinion we’ve all done better and been better at going on without her than I thought was possible. Not that we are used to it, but I think life just moves on and we all had to deal with that rather quickly. It’s of course not the same and I feel like we will adapt to the new normal, but we will never get used to her not being around. I miss her terribly some days more than others,  and sometimes I think about her and get really sad, and sometimes I think about her and smile. I guess that’s the cycle of grief though. I can easily let myself get emotional over the fact that my kids are growing and changing and I wish they could have had more time with her, but then I have to remember that while they can’t see her and have a relationship with her on this earth anymore, she is a part of everything they do and she is continually watching them grow and experience life just from a different perspective. This year has just been one roller coaster, and I have learned so much. Mostly, that we can’t take one single day for granted. And that I am so greatly blessed!

Bye- Bye Summer.

Well, the last days of summer have come and gone. It’s hard to believe it’s September. We are busy as ever! The last few weeks have been slower than normal. I think getting back into a routine of being in school has helped a little.

They sure drive me crazy, but I love them so!

We’ve spent time at Gigi’s pool. . .

Arden at the Kirksey family reunion

Look at that! They are touching and not fighting! Cherish the moment!

We have had ice cream a time or two!

We had family pictures made with a local photographer. Still waiting on her to finish editing!

We had a few really nice cool days, so we enjoyed playing outside!

One day after school. This was in the 5 mins in between school and our house! He was pooped! And then he was furious I took his picture!

One Saturday evening it was nice so we went to play putt putt but they just wanted to ride the animals, go figure!

We have a bunny living around our house somewhere. We have seen it a lot lately!

Arden is really testing us! Hello, terrible three’s!

Snaggle-tooth has been to the dentist and lost 3 teeth in the past month! He’s racked up $15 from the Tooth Fairy!

Arden’s first day in the White house!

Arden’s first day in the White House!

August 24, 2015

Montessori School

Arden got to move up to the White House! I think she’s perfectly happy, but I’m the one that’s is not dealing with it so well! It just makes her seem so BIG! I’m not ready for her to grow up. She had a great day and her new teachers just went on and on about how sweet she is! I think she (and I, eventually) will like the change. It’s just hard leaving the ladies at the Byrd house. I have really come to know them and trust them. I know how much they love Arden and I just hope she gets the same attention and care at the White House, and I’m sure she will! We just love Montessori!

First Day of 1st Grade!

Actual 1st day, not such a great morning.

Retake on day #2- much, much better!!

Stratton’s first day of 1st grade!

August 17, 2015

Valley View Elementary

Mrs. Valerie Mason’s Class

Helmet and Heels 2015

Seriously one of my most favorite nights of the year! We had so much fun! Lori got us a table and invited a fun group of girls, there was only one I didn’t know. But we had a blast! I even got picked up and dropped off at home which was super nice! Jarrod’s parents came up and helped Jarrod out since he had to work late and thought he might have to go back in before I got home. But he didn’t have to go back out after all. I didn’t stay out too late, I think it was about 9pm when I got home.

Oh, and we got picked up by the limo. . .I will never forget this moment as long as I live! Too hilarious!

Coach Taylor and Lori, Jesse and me after the event in the parking garage- oh, the memories!

We are ready for football season to start now!

St. Louis Trip

I hope as I look back on the early years of my kids lives, I will forget how hard it was to make memories!!! I want us to go places and have fun as a family, but man these kids make it so difficult!! The trip to St. Louis was a little bit of a last minute decision (for me anyway- by last minute I mean I started planning and booked hotel rooms about a month prior) and I had hoped it would be a good trip before school started and a good time for us to bond as a family. It seems like we haven’t had much time together lately, as Jarrod has been working so much. Well. . . . it was HOT, and everything was PACKED, and high temps + crowds + off schedule + no naps = super cranky kids. We left Thursday evening and had planned to stop in Sikeston and eat at Lamberts. We got there around 7pm. The line was out of the restaurant and almost into the parking lot.  At 7pm. On a Thursday night. What??? So we ate at AppleBee’s instead. Jarrod’s steak was horrible. The kids were tired and didn’t want to sit and eat. Not a good start. . .

We got to the hotel (after it taking a while to find our way) and it was LATE. I think we finally all got settled in and ready for bed about midnight! Yikes!

We didn’t really sleep in much the next morning, but it was later than I really wanted us to get up and out. I knew everything was going to be crowded and the earlier we got around the better! We decided to do the zoo on Friday and the boys had tickets to a Cards game that night. The zoo was really busy (AND SO HOT!) we walked around and waited almost an hour (INSANE!!) to get on the train,  then tried to eat lunch. We had to wait for someone to get up and grab a table since there wasn’t any vacant. We ate, but the kids picked at their food, Jarrod didn’t eat because they put pickles on his hamburger and everyone was in a horrible mood! We had to walk the rest of the way around the zoo. We decided the train was just too crowded. Before when we had been we would jump on and off the train from area to area and didn’t have to wait much if at all. It was so insanely crowded! We had to wait in line a long time for everything! I’m learning that we aren’t the family that can do a crowded amusement park. I think we’d better wait and do something like Disney when the kids are older and in the (WAY) off season!

See Lions were a hit!

They both loved the Sting Rays

I think we finally finished up and headed out about 2:30. The kiddos were both exhausted. Arden fell asleep in the stroller while I was getting us drinks for the road! Stratton fell asleep on the way back to the hotel too. We were all so hot and gross we went back to the hotel and got showered and cleaned up and headed out to dinner at a Italian restaurant that was close to our hotel, Angelo’s. It was super! We had authentic toasted ravioli, me and the kids had probably the best caesar salad I’ve ever had and we also had pizza and pasta! So yummy!! After we ate the boys left and walked to the stadium for the game and Arden and I walked back to the hotel and had coffee (for me) and dessert (for her) at Starbucks, then we browsed the giftshop and walked around the hotel a bit.

The boys at the game. Lucky for them their seats were in the shade!

Arden and her pink cake pop and selfie with my phone

Saturday we got out a little earlier but still later than I would have liked! We got to Grant’s Farm before the huge crowd but it was crowded enough! The kid’s favorite part was feeding the goats. Of course. I bet they would have stayed for hours. Arden just wanted to love on them and pet them. But it was hot and the goat area wasn’t shaded much, so we hurried them up!

On the tram to Grant’s Farm- Stratton was being grumpy.

Feeding a Llama

Feeding the goats.

The rest of the pictures are of Arden. Stratton was majorly grumpy and didn’t want to do anything especially be in a picture. But Arden was being quite the ham!

She actually asked me to take this one of her in front of the big horse!

We left Grant’s Farm and went to lunch at a place called Schafly’s bottleworks. I had heard good things. I heard wrong. It was not good. The kids were cranky and tired and didn’t want to act like they had been in public before. That’s always nice. We were all in a bad mood I think. Well, I thought we could spend the afternoon inside at the Children’s Museum. We got there about 2ish I think? It was crowded but I bet it’s always that way on a Saturday. We started the afternoon with Arden going down an enclosed climbing/ladder thing in the middle of the house (that went from the top floor to the bottom. She got scared and froze, Stratton had taken off down it without her and she couldn’t see me. Oh. Man. Talk about a crisis. Stratton got to the bottom and realized he didn’t know where he was and couldn’t find us so he also had a melt down at the same time! It was horrible! Luckily a nice older kid helped Arden down and out to me and Jarrod found Stratton with a worker. Geez! It got better after that (thankfully!) and we did have a good afternoon there. The kids played with all kinds of stuff! There was a room/area for just about anything you could think of!

In the electricity room- Jarrod is taking care of a power outage even on vacation!

They loved the library and of course the art room!

Playing in the water area!

We were all starving after the museum, so we decided to head out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Arden fell asleep on the way there, and stayed asleep while we got her out of the car and waited on our table!

After dinner, everyone was in a much better mood so we decided to venture out to the outlet mall. There were a few stores I wanted to check out. We ended up not buying much of anything, but Arden found a baby (of course) and we ended the night on a good and happy note for a change!

We had a good trip, despite the heat and crowds. I think we did learn that maybe St. Louis in August isn’t the best place for us to spend a long weekend. Hopefully, the kids will look back and remember us going places and doing things together and having a good time. I’m sure they won’t remember the fits, fights, crankiness, and unpleasantries of taking trips with these crazy precious kids! But I will. . .