Back in the swing of things

We are officially back in the swing of all things school and after school activities. The girls had their first official week of school. Jolee managed to get her first cold of the year, lol and Jaina attended the first football game of the year. 

They also started back in Girl Scouts. This year Jolee is a Junior and Jaina is helping teach the Brownies. Jaina loves teaching and helping little kids, maybe she will end up being a teacher one day, who knows. She has been super excited about this chapter of Girl Scouts. This year she can earn community service hours which will go towards her college applications. She can also earn some awards at the end of the year and will get a special pin when she completes the year of teaching. 

I think it's great! Not only does this teach her responsibility but it prepares her for her future :) 

Jolee will be a Junior and will attend meetings on the same night Jaina is teaching. This year Jolee is looking forward to the horseback riding class they will attend. 

Their first event was an ice cream social at Cornerstone Nursing Home. The girls passed out birthday cards and ice cream with sprinkles to all the residents. The residents really enjoyed the girls being there.

They also got to play a round of bingo with the residents. 

They had so much fun!

Along with the girls being in school Jewell has been having her own fun at home. She's enjoying all that one-on-one attention and playing in her playroom with no distractions

I've been working a lot the last few weeks. I have been doing a lot of services out at our state cemetery in the RAIN. Yes, we have finally gotten rain. Working outside in the rain isn't any fun but it's also hard to complain about the rain when we haven't had any in months

The girls have even been enjoying the rain.

Jewell had to bust out her umbrella and dance in the rain :)

A Big Huge Problem

One of the reasons why we drove straight from Tennessee to Texas without stopping was because our air conditioner at the house shut off completely 3 days before we came home. My boss's son was coming over to feed our animals and he let us know that our AC in the house had reach 92 degrees! Something wasn't right. Our AC has done that once before but a couple years ago. It's been a huge problem since we bought the house. We had been having some other AC unit issues for a few months leading up to us leaving for Tennessee. We had a leak in in our kitchen several times, along with several AC service calls out to the house. Luckily a friend of ours owns the AC company and told us that the reason why we have had so many issues was because our duct work was put in wrong, and we were needing a new entire unit. Well, when we went out of town this box that you see burnt up somehow came loose and melted the entire box and by the Grace of God somehow did not catch our house on fire. We were so close to coming home to a burned down house. We ended up going 3 days without any AC in the house. Luckily, we have window units in each room that saved us from going to a hotel. We finally got a new outside ac unit installed and we are set for the next couple years. 

Another reason why Jaina wanted to come back home early was to finish her room. We had started painting before we left for Tennessee, and she wanted to get it finished before school started. She of course wanted it all white with tan accents and green plants. Kinda like a boho style. I got it all painted, ordered a few decorations off Amazon and let her decorate it the way she wanted it. Now she is set for a while with her room the way she wants it. 

While Jolee was still at Grandma's we kept in touch with her every day and night with Facetime phone calls :) Seeing her little face would light up my day. I sure did miss her. The house is way too quiet without her here.

We did a little last minute shopping for Jaina right before school started. She was pretty much set with everything except her school shoes so off to Dick's Sporting Goods for a new pair of Nike's.

Jewell soaking up all those Sissy hugs

She's a mess, LOL

And we've had lots of pool time this summer. We get in usually in the late evening, relax and enjoy playing. It's been so nice to have the pool for the kids. I definitely couldn't imagine life without especially in this Texas heat!

A New Red Fence

Is it as hot and dry where you live? It's been an awful summer here in Texas. It's been sooooo hot and dry. Nothing but 100-degree days and lots of fires. Back in the beginning of August Justin went to one of the biggest fires I have ever seen. The pick and pull used car lot caught on fire and cars were actually exploding. They would work to get one section put out and then another car would explode. It was crazy! The fire was huge, and they fought it several hours into nighttime. We could actually see the black smoke from our back yard. Justin came home the next day really tired and ready for a nap.

Luckily, we have had lots of rain since then and it has cooled off some and our 100-degree days are behind us. 

We had a great time while Grandma DoDo and Richard were down. We spent almost every night in the pool playing hot potato and pass the ball with the girls. They also took the girls shopping and out to eat and they even started a big project while they were here too. 

They painted our fence for us! Richard cleaned our yard and got it looking really good and then sprayed our fence down. Then they started painting it. It looks really good so far, we still need to finish it up but are waiting until it gets just a little cooler outside.

This chick, haha she cracks me up!

Jolee’s Adventures with Grandma

Jolee had so much fun while she was in Tennessee with Grandma DoDo, Richard, Grandpa Tim and Linda. She spent an extra week and a half up in the mountains while we all came back to Texas. 

It's so important for kids to spend special one on one time with their grandparents. You get that extra special bonding time and all the attention. I know, because I spent many summers with my Granny, and I loved my Granny so much. I'm sure you can tell she was a special person to me and the love I have for her with the stories I've shared over the years. 

I know Jolee was looking forward to it but also missed home too. But Grandma kept her busy for sure

They went to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge lots of times and ate at lots of places

She baked with her and just got to hang around the cabin

She got to stay the night with Grandpa Tim and Linda, and they took her to the creek to swim

She had lots of fun on the rides with Grandpa Richard

She lived it up!

And enjoyed her time

I'm glad she had such a fun time. They started their journey back to Texas staying the night in Vicksburg and then making their way back to our house. Jolee came back with lots of goodies, clothes and prizes from all those games she won. She was glad to be back home. She couldn't wait to go swimming and have her birthday party. 

It was definitely a summer to remember. 

Our Mountain Girls

The girls had a great time with Grandma and Richard while we were gone in Georgia. They went on a lot of adventures to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

They went school clothes shopping in Knoxville

Tim and Linda came along and bought the girls shoes for school

They got to sleep downstairs and stay up late and watch movies

They ate at a lot of fun little restaurants

They went to a water park called Soaky Mountain Water Park 

The girls said it was lot of fun

So spoiled and doesn't even know it, lol

They went to Pigeon Forge tons of times to ride rides and play games

Haha, trying her best! LOL

Winning those tickets!

Eating at the 50's diner for dinner

Having fun with Grandma

I'm so glad these girls had a blast in Tennessee this summer. I know they look forward to it every year. They are truly blessed.