I'm Back!

Hi world. It's me. It feels overwhelming to be back here in this space because I left for a bit... But my sister said she talked to a dear old friend (Hi Nancy!) who asked where I had been! I didn't know people other than my Nana and Mama read my posts. It's nice to know that someone in the West "misses" my words. So I decided to be as brief as possible today. I don't have a lot of time to write, but I DO have a million pictures.  So between my short time limit and my endless photos that I cannot possibly fit in here, I need to just try really hard to highlight the last 2 months and keep it short and to the point. 

Here's a summary of each of us. We still have 2 dogs.  We don't however, have 2 cats. Bear disappeared when we were in Idaho this Summer and it has been a really hard loss. Harder than I could have guessed, and hardest of all for Piper. Sweet girl truly has a broken heart over it.

Shawn: still has the same job.  He unfortunately has a new manager who is really hard to work with so that's been a big stressor for him.  He works way more than 40 hours a week and we don't see him as often as we'd like, but I know that's just the way it is. He lights up my world, so when he is home, it means everything!  LSU is getting rid of Coach O so he's not too happy about that. But it's football AND hunting season so he's generally in a good mood on Saturdays ;-)

Me: I started substitute teaching at the kid's school. I only work 1 day a week (I am moving up to 2 days a week though for the Holidays because goodness gracious the Holiday season is expensive!). I love subbing the 3rd and 4th graders the most.  Pre-K and Kindergarten is exhausting. I just don't have it in me anymore! And the 6th graders are pretty cocky, seeing as how they're the oldest in the school.  They're also huge. I am 5'8" and most of them come to at LEAST my chin; some are even my height! It is CRAZY to me!!! But the 6th graders are also the most independent so it's pretty easy once you get past their attitudes. I feel like I'm being spread so thin most weeks.  For JUST the kids there is Soccer, Cheer twice a week, early morning choir, Dance, Bible Study, Tutoring, School, Homework, friends, etc.  For ME there is being the chauffeur to it all, along with grocery shopping, never ending laundry, cleaning 24/7, errands, scheduling everything, vet appointments, more errands, more cleaning, volunteering at the school (they're slowly letting parents back in! Woo hoo!), phone calls, bills, doctor appointments, more errands, etc. Not to mention all the games we go to on the weekends and every single night I make a home cooked meal at dinner. I feel like I can't keep up! But we have 2 more weeks of Soccer and 3 more weeks of cheer and then we will have a tiny little break before Spring Sports start up again. 

(I did get to have a Mom's Night Out over the weekend! It was sooooo needed! I love those rare nights when we all get to leave our kids at home with our husbands and laugh late into the night!)

Lucy: She decided to join a before-school Choir this year!  It's called Honors Choir and she has to be at school an hour early every Monday and Wednesday.  It's exhausting for me to wake up with her, but she really enjoys it! She's in hip-hop dance as well and loves it! She wants to try Soccer in the spring, but she's never played before. Her being in 5th grade means she's going to be really far behind. But if she wants to try, I don't want to stand in her way.  She's also going through major growing pains this year.  Girls in the 5th grade can be really mean- hello hormones.  She's struggling with fitting in and finding her "place." She's also struggling with grades.  We have signed her up for weekly math tutoring which has been a HUGE help, but it's a constant battle!  She's excelling in dance though, and loves to be social! Life is just a little bit hard right now. Prayers are welcome for my little Lucy Lu!

Piper: She still might be full of sass and attitude, but she's also my biggest helper!  She helps her brother every day with something when I need her.  Not only helps him with tasks, but also plays with him ALL the time, which is more helpful than she could ever know! She always does her chores right when I ask. She's super smart- she tested at a 4th grade reading level in the 2nd grade and scored REALLY high on all of her state testing and needless to say, she gets straight A's. She is a model student- every teacher adores her and come out to support her on Saturdays at cheer! She loves making cards for people and praying for them when she knows they need it, even without any prompting. She's had the same friends since she was 4 and 5 and really loves school and everything that comes with it.  She loves cheer, but I don't know if she will stick with it forever.  We paused piano lessons for her because we couldn't squeeze it in during cheer season but hopefully we will start up again soon!

Sully: Oh, Sully.... what can I even say?  He's still a crazy Tasmanian devil.  But he channels all his energy on the soccer fields and is an awesome soccer player! Ninny and Baba came to one of his games a couple of weeks ago and he showed off by scoring 9 goals! He is so awesome! He wants to stick with it and I am all for it! I really wish he'd do football next year but he wants to do soccer and soccer only! His teacher tells me he is GREAT in school! He's following all the rules and is a good friend to others.  He is a great kid.... at school.  He saves all the hard things for me... ;-) But as long as he's a kid that teachers like I'm okay with that.  It could be worse! Academically I'd say he's a little behind, but not far enough to where they are "worried" about him.  We will circle back in January and see how he's doing.  But as far as school goes, he's a hard worker and get's stuff done! Yay Sully!

Life has been flying by and it's hard to believe it's almost November! Ninny and Baba finally made it down earlier this month and it was oh-so-sweet! They hadn't seen our new house yet, even though the kids have made it look 12 years old instead of just 1.5 years (insert eye-roll here).... and just having them around to hang with us at home was everything. I will never stop missing them and wanting to be with them. I am so thankful they came. We all are. 

The kids have had fundraisers for school, a Daddy Daughter Dance, cheer and soccer games, pool days, chores and pets to care for, doctor and dentist/orthodontist appointments, parties, school projects, and so much more since August and it's taking a toll on us! Plus we are in this lame drought here that seems to be never-ending.  This has been one of the driest Summers and Falls we have EVER had. I know some people love warm weather year-round, but I'm not one of those people. I don't like frigid temps but I do love crisp, cold Fall days (even dreary rainy dark days!) and sometimes October here has given us days like that, but not this year. I wish we would have had a Fall this year.  Saturday and Sunday were still in the 90's and I'm just really wanting a cold night and a cold day to snuggle up inside and wear cozy clothes.

Sorry I sound a bit pessimistic tonight! I'm tired. We're all tired. We had Fall break 2 weeks ago but we were so busy during it that it didn't feel like much of a break, haha! 

I will say, Shawn and I were able to sneak away for a few hours last month and go to a Blake Shelton concert. It was SUCH a fun night. So at least in the midst of all the chaos, I still was able to go dancin' and singin' with my man :) Dates with him are RARE but worth every single second. It was MUCH needed!

Oh! And we bought land! We are now owners of 10 acres of land in a town called Tuskahoma, Oklahoma! Haha! It sounds funny, but land is so expensive right now that we wanted to buy some and just sit on it for a few years.  If its value grows, maybe we can sell it someday and make a pretty penny.  If not, maybe we can build on it and have a place to grow old. Who knows. But they say one of the best investments you can make is real estate and you have to start somewhere! So even though it's 2 hours away from our house, it's OURS. There is a locked gate and everything! I feel good about it! So does Shawn; he can hunt on it whenever he wants ;-)

Gosh... that was the longest "high-light" post ever. I should have known better! But I tried!!!! :)

I'll try to be back soon, but if I'm not, don't worry- I DO promise to finish out 2021 in the blogging world, even if it takes me until 2022! ...  so until next time... adios!