I really intended to sit down tonight and write a thoughtful post, but now it's 9:30 and that's just not going to happen. Tonight I made spaghetti for dinner and then the boys begged to bake cookies... as in the real kind, not the Pillsbury homemade kind. By the time we got that done and cleaned up and everyone in bed, Beck flipped out about something or other and lost his story, then Lolly had an accident upstairs (!!!) and my patience was worn thin and any cohesive or creative thoughts I had were completely zapped. So this is probably just going to be some pictures with recaps. Or, it might end up being a lot of words. I never know how these things are going to come out until I sit down and start writing. Regardless, I wanted to record the happenings of our last two weeks.
It's been an interesting two weeks. It's been fun, exciting and completely exhausting at times.
Two Weeks Ago: Thriving Week
Logan and Everett went to Sky Ranch camp every day from 9-4. It gave me a glimpse of what life will be like once they start school and it's just Beck and me. It was equal parts amazing (FREEEEE) and also kind of sad. I'm sure it's just because we've been together so much this summer, but I really missed the two of them.
Snowcones and a pupsicles one day after camp
I was really intentional that week to spend lots of quality time with Beck, just sitting and doing puzzles, lining up his cars on the floor, reading endless books, coloring, and even throwing it back to Logan's preschool days and pulling out some of my kindergarten teacher activities. That part of just having one kid I enjoyed for sure! I had to work some here and there, but nothing crazy or unmanageable at all.
On Wednesday of that week I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the White's Chapel Womens' Summer Brunch. I still can't believe it!! I was nervous initially, but since it was Q&A and I didn't have to prepare anything specifically to say, I found myself really enjoying it. We just shared stories about how God was working in our businesses mostly. But it made me wonder if there is a way I could combine my love of writing/speaking with CBL. Maybe we could take our show on the road!
Early morning Target eye depuffing mask for the win
Soooo grateful to have my peeps there!!!
We were able to set up a table and sell jewelry and ended up having fantastic sales. That was a cherry on top for sure!! Jaymi and Alli would rather die than be up in front of people and I couldn't design jewelry for anything, so it worked out perfectly!
The perfect pairing
On Thursday I picked the boys up early from camp so they could get a snack and rest and then we went down to Ft. Worth to The Agape Meal at Broadway Baptist. Teri was able to keep Beck, which was a huge help!! This is something I really love doing with the boys. I am so very proud of the bravery they show there. They have lots of questions, but never miss a beat and it can be uncomfortable even for me.
They collected dirty hand towels when the people came to eat and then helped me walk around and serve water and tea. When we left Logan said, "It makes me feel really sad when I see these people leaving, mom." And that right there told me, he is getting it and doing things like this are worth it. (Even if poor Everett got car sick on the way there and on the way home.)
Sam was at camp with Logan and Everett, so Lesley and I even snuck in a quick trip to Dallas to look at countertops one day. She just finished redoing her kitchen and is a wealth of knowledge. We split a baby-sitter and did a little countertop shopping followed by lunch at Rise! Things like this are definitely harder to swing- if not impossible- with three kids. It was a nice treat!
On Friday morning before camp Logan decided to do some fishing in our pool. Surprisingly, he didn't catch anything. He and Everett were begging to go fish at Charlie's grandparents' pond after camp, and thankfully the boys happened to be there fishing.
I am soooo out of my element when it comes to fishing, but Charlie's brother Tripp is an expert. He is so patient and kind to help Logan and Everett. Well as it so happened, they ran out of minnows which they were using for bait and also needed another "hook pack." Guess who they sent down to Yates Corner to retrieve their supplies?? Driving my Infinity around Southlake with a bucket of minnows sloshing around is another one on the list of "things you never picture yourself doing."
At one point I think there were 8 boys roaming around at the pond- my three, Charlie and Tripp and some of their friends.. and me. I tried to hang back and let them do their Tom Sawyer thing, while keeping in very very close proximity to Beck, who thinks he's one of them.
After work (and by work I mean golf) Nick met up with us thankfully. I just really don't know anything about the snares and issues that come about when you're fishing, and it's nice to have another adult there who does. Nick is such a sweet dad!!
On Saturday night we had the Josephs over for dinner. (And Nick got a new truck!! Need to get a picture.) They are the youth pastors at our church, and Everett and Lincoln have been in preschool together for the past couple of years. We've always done the thing at birthday parties and such where we say we need to get together, but we never have. I bumped into Michelle, and I have no idea what spurred it, but I just randomly offered up having them over for fajitas on Saturday night.
You never know how things like that will go and making new friends can feel like going back to junior high, but it was so, so, so great! They are the nicest family and we all got along so well. The boys played well together, and the four of us sat around and somehow got into some really deep conversations. Nick shared the story of having cancer and his faith and all kinds of deep things I rarely ever hear him talk about with other people. It was so touching.
Afterwards we made s'mores in the backyard and the boys hit baseballs and kicked the football.
I know they're busy and we're busy and our paths don't overlap often, but I hope we can get together again sometime soon. They are a great family.
Last Week: Surviving (Barely)
Last week just about did me in. It was jam packed to the brim with all good things, so I really can't complain but it was A LOT. Even for me it was too much. There was no sitting on the floor doing puzzles with Beck, and I'm thankful that last week at least balanced that part of it out. It helps with the guilt. The majority of it just fell as it did and couldn't be helped. I know there are parts I could have changed I'm sure to make it easier on myself. I'm learning...
Sunday night we were trying to finish up The Dallas Cowboys order. It was one of those things were we couldn't do one thing until the thing before it was done, and it just took so much longer than we anticipated and the learning curve was steep. Just figuring out how to create UPC barcodes felt a little bit like earning a college degree. And naturally, we ran into some issues. The new glue Jaymi used to make the earrings extra perfect caused them to buckle. I got the UPC codes all sorted out (I thought) and put on the back of every single earring... only to discover that the sheet they mailed us had an error and everything was off by a line, so I had to start ALL OVER. I discovered this at 1:30 in the morning and literally wanted to cry. We worked until 2:30 a.m. and decided to call it a night and circle back in the morning.
I was so mad about those UPC labels I woke up Monday morning after about 4.5 restful hours of sleep and started trying to tackle them again. It was just the type of situation where we didn't have a choice but to buckle down and finish, and when you own the business no one else is going to do it for you. Jaymi and Alli worked in the factory on fixing the earrings and I took Jaymi's boys and my boys to a local jump park (with Morgan to watch them- THANKYOUJESUS) and did my work on the computer at the coffee shop next door.
It was also Jaymi's birthday Monday, and she didn't have a single thing planned. Alli and I had planned on taking her to dinner and a movie, and although we were all exhausted that night- we still went and celebrated her. It would have made me sad to think of her doing nothing at all on her birthday.
On Tuesday morning Jaymi had to work her hospice job, so Beck, Alli, Yesenia and I were back in the leather factory finishing the very last of the Cowboys order. Beck wasn't feeling well and was being extra threenager-ish. It was STRESSFUL trying to get it all done so it could still ship on time. Thankfully, the older boys were at golf camp in Ft. Worth and it just so happened that Nick could take them that morning and my mom could pick them up. I'm not sure what I would have done otherwise!
On Wednesday morning we left the house early to get the boys to golf camp. Beck and I ran a few errands in Ft. Worth, and then we all came home. I put Beck down for his nap and basically told Logan and Everett, I didn't care what they did but they had to give me about an hour and a half to rest in my room. I was basically running on fumes at that point.
Looking so dapper in their golf suits- both boys really loved golf camp! This was their last camp of the summer I tried to make it about 60/40 camps and home-with-nothing-to-do weeks this summer, and I feel like we struck a good balance.
Thursday morning we were back in Ft. Worth early for golf camp, and that afternoon after I got home I had to head over to Palm Tree for a show we were having.
Nick was so sweet to stop by on his way home from work!
The show was steady- never slammed- but we ended up doing surprisingly well when it was said and done. I also left with a bag full of cute clothes from Palm Tree that I basically couldn't leave without. The prize of the night was a pair of $12 jeans that are soooo cute I got on clearance because they were the last pair.
Again, I'm not trying to complain but just to be honest... by Friday morning I woke up and felt like complete garbage. I caught whatever Beck had earlier in the week and I just ran myself into the ground doing so much. I made some coffee and a homemade foot soak, and by some winning jackpot Nick was able to take the boys to camp that day. Beck and I had a few errands we had to run that I hadn't gotten to during the week, but other than that we took it slow that morning.
Everett was lucky enough to spend the night with the Allshouses that night and Logan was lucky enough to spend the night with Grammy & Papa, so Nick and I decided to leave Beck with Sheli and grab dinner and a movie. Everyone was happy where they were at, and it was such a treat for us!!
The train kept on rolling because Saturday morning was Jaymi's surprise birthday party Alli and I planned several weeks back before we had to move our Palm Tree event, when I looked at my calendar and thought all I had was a wedding this entire week. HA! But hey- it came together perfectly!!
Jaymi needed some celebration, and I think this was the perfect thing for her. Alli of course did all of the flowers and decorations, and I planned it all, got the paper goods and cake.
It was just a small gathering of Jaymi's closest friends; Alison, Ginger, Alli, Mary and me at Breadwinners. She really seemed to enjoy it so much.
And for the grand finale of the week... Saturday night was Emilee and Drew's wedding outside of Weatherford. And what a grand finale it was!!! WOW! I have never been to a wedding that was that Pinterest perfect without feeling fussy or overly formal. I can't think of a more gorgeous, warm and absolutely perfect wedding I've ever been to. It was like they searched weddings on Pinterest and then did every single thing they found.
It was at a vineyard with the most beautiful hilltop views. The bridesmaids dresses were cream and her flowers were the prettiest I've seen! They got married outside and somehow got sooo lucky with the weather. That was a bold move in August! While they took pictures they had all kinds of lawn games set up for the kids and appetizers and drinks. One thing that really stood out to me was how joyful and relaxed their families seemed to be.
Love these gorgeous girls so much!! Almost like a member of our family got married.
The Manns were invited also, which made it extra fun. The food was catered from Reata, but I will say the one negative of the entire wedding was that it took FOREVER to get our food and it was cold by the time it came to our table. The boys were pretty good considering (of course Emilee had made each of the kids buckets with activities and snacks at their seat)... but by 9:00 when we still hadn't eaten they were getting antsy and restless, especially Beck. They were chomping at the bit for some reason to see the wedding party come in.
Here's one for the baby book... as they announced Bailee's name in front of the room full of 200+ people all seated at tables, Beck slid down from his seat and like a flash took off running across the room, across the dance floor and into Bailee's arms. (During the entire ceremony he stood in his chair waving at her emphatically and yelling that he was going to marry her while Nick and I scrambled to make him sit down and muffle his love proclamations.)
This ^^ is how I felt going to reclaim my son in front of the entire room. Thankfully, Bailee seemed to love it and I think (??) most people thought it was pretty cute. I was so embarrassed though!! (And also amused because that's proof how different my kids are. Logan would never in a million, billion years have done something like that. Everett would have wanted to, but ultimately would have been too shy.)
The beautiful bride and groom!
We danced late (for the boys) into the night and enjoyed the adorable VW Bus photo booth, late night Chic Fia A, glow sticks and fireworks!!! The list of wedding perfection just went on and on. Everett and Beck shoved mouthfuls of cake into their mouths in between running back on the dance floor. They both LOVED dancing. Drew held Everett up and danced with him a lot, and Everett was star struck. Beck only wanted to dance with me. Logan wanted nothing to do with dancing and was mortified at the thought, totally true to form.
WHAT A WEEK! So many happy, joyful and exciting things but here's hoping August is a lot less eventful.
Sunday was a mandatory pj day of rest for us. Not even fake resting where I sometimes do projects- but real actual being lazy. The boys and I played a game of Monopoly that lasted until 10:00 that night (with Logan as the victor). We did go to dinner at my mom's, but didn't really change out of our pj's too much to go. That was fun and the boys enjoyed seeing Peyton. It was a much needed cap off to our week of joyful insanity!
