What was once my pride and joy is practically my biggest failure!

For over 4 years, I was diligent and fairly timely in keeping this blog up to date... and then, the worst summer of my life happened! My job is accounting/ bookkeeping/ and general number-y type things.  This summer, one of my clients had a major software switch, and I was 100% not prepared for what that entailed on my end.  As a result, I barely saw my family, had multiple sleepless nights, didn't stay on top of anything and suffered through over 5 months of miserable-ness... So, this blog was once something I was so proud of myself for doing, and now I am so disappointed I keep it going.

But, despite all of that, I would love to re-cap our life over the past 8 months!  Carrington and Trey wrapped up their 1 yr and 3 yr classes at Memorial Preschool.  Trey's class performed an adorable Spring Concert, and he did a fabulous job!

We also had some pretty adorable last day of school pictures, formal 'school pictures' and class pictures.  They are just way too cute!

 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

This summer brought lots of time at the pool (at least for the kids, not so much for me!) and Carrington took her first dance class at Dancin Kids in Cornelius! Carrington did so-so in dance- she was awesome, as long as I stayed IN the class with her... which would have been fine if it were a mommy and me class.  But, it wasn't, and I was the only mom actually in the dance class, while all of the other parent's got to chat and watch their kids in the monitor in the lobby. Oh well- maybe Carrington will be more brave as she gets older!

Father's Day was spent fishing... actually a LOT of our summer was spent fishing.  This is a great activity to do with kids- they can explore the woods, most parks in our area have fishing AND playgrounds, so Doug gets to relax, the kids get to play, and I get to, well, be with the family! <br>

Next up in our lives??? 4th of July!!! We continued the tradition of spending this time with Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn! And how did we spend the day? FISHING!!! Big Surprise! We didn't throw a big party this year.  I was just so mentally overwhelmed with work that I couldn't face hosting a big blowout.  I don't regret the decision at all, but I will admit that on the actual day of 4th of July, I missed having everyone at the house celebrating!

In the middle of July, we vacationed with our other Uncle Brian and Aunt Melissa with their family in Lake Gaston.  This was an incredibly relaxing week in the simple fact that we had NO Internet access and barely any cell phone reception.  It was like God forced me to disconnect for 7 days and just enjoy my family, and I did!!!! It was exactly what I needed! We rented a boat, bobbed, went fishing, ate, and just did a bunch of nothing!

 Nice house, right? Not ours, it was a neighbors- talk about a difference in one lot to another!

And, as soon as we arrived home, Carrington went into 'Diva' mode! :) I think she felt like she had been roughing it for the past week!

On the heels of vacation came Aunt Kristyn's baby shower, as we were all excitedly anticipating Grace Adele's arrival! :)

As summer was coming to a close, we had a few milestones in our family! One afternoon, while the kids were at Ms. Jean's house, Carrington (who had always- and still does- napped in a pack n play) decided to make a break for it and climb out of the pack n play.  At this point, Carrington was 2 years and 10 months old.  I have to admit, we had a good 'run' in a crib, but Doug was adamant on it being time to move Carrington to a big girl bed.  So, that evening, we took down the crib, put up the bed I had growing up, and made the switch to BIG GIRL! She did awesome, and from the moment she went into a big girl bed until even now (with the exception of one night), she will not get out of bed until someone goes and gets her in the morning. 

There was one exception- one night, at about 2am, I heard her get up, open the door, come running across the hallway and into our bedroom (which was pitch black dark and everyone was sleeping). She immediately came to a hault, turned around, went running back into her bedroom, got back into bed and started wailing!  I think the reality of everyone being asleep in the dark was too much for her to handle- she'd never seen what it's like for everyone else in the middle of the night! And, she never has since, either. :)

 

Trey also started back with Strikers in their 4 year old soccer program! His team was the Tigers and they were pretty good- not the best, but they won 5 of the 8 games, so not too bad.  Trey made a goal during 6 of the 8 games, so that was awesome! I was extremely proud of him! By the way, 4 year old soccer is hilarious.  The coaches are constantly reminding the team which goal is theirs, and to stay focused.  The term 'play defense' means nothing, and EVERYONE is on top of the ball.  They are learning to not constantly touch the ball with their hands, and the idea of passing is completely foreign.  If you ever need a good laugh, go ahead and stop by to watch a new team play!

Another tradition we try to do each year is the Know Your Farms Tour.  This is where local farms in the area all join together to open up their farm to the public and educate the community about natural and healthy ways to live and support the community.  This is always a lot of fun for us and the kids- we got to see so many animals, paint horse shoes, buy fresh produce, local wines, cheese, meat,... A ton of fun, and extremely informative!

As summer came to a close and we got ourselves ready for another school year to begin, we did make a few more changes.  Up to this point, both Trey and Carrington had been going to school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and spending Tuesday and Thursdays at Ms. Jean's house. Now that Trey is in K-4, his teacher had told us that almost all of the kids in his class were going 5 days a week, and they were also starting the process of learning how to read, and sometimes students felt 'behind' when they missed days throughout the week.  So, with that new information in hand, Doug and I felt like Trey should probably be going to school 5 days a week.  Luckily, Ms. Case, the school director recommended Ms. Anita to us- she had been watching another little boy after school a few days a week and thought it may be a good fit for Trey.  Turns out, it wasn't just a good fit, it was PERFECT.  Trey loves it there, he loves going to school every day, and we are having a really fantastic year!

I will continue to get caught up on the blog, and take you through our adventures in the Fall, but for now, this recapped our Summer! xoxo