A Week of Firsts

A few new things have happened this week. Nothing overly exciting, but remember,

we are boring people.

 

We had our first official day back to school. Matt didn't have any kids sent to his office on the first day and week, so that was pretty good. He looks sharp in his slacks and tie.

 



So, it's my 10th year of teaching. Woohoo! I have a great caseload of students. They are sweet, sweet kids and mostly boys. Learning these middle school boys will hopefully help me later in life. To top that I even cooked dinner on the first day of school. I shocked myself with that one. I thought for sure I would have to whip out the PB and J.

 



Pops got Fulton some sunglasses and he actually wears them. Sister got him some last year, but he nearly broke them because he likes to pull the legs out as he tries to put them on. This pair has been a little more successful. He needed them for the boat ride yesterday.

 



Speaking of yesterday, another first occurred. We picked okra. My sweet mema had rotator cuff surgery and when we went up to visit her yesterday morning the only thing she was worried about was that someone was going to get down to her garden and pick the okra. Sister and I looked at each other and said the guys would take care of it. We decided to help. Dad, Pete, Matt, Sister, and I tackled the task. Matt and I had a little competition who could pick the most. Of course I won. Pete was the chef and actually fried a bunch of it for us. It was yummy! I am not much of a gardening gal, but I sure do like to eat the veggies. 

Drop Cloths are for More Than Just Painting

We have had a little project planned for a while and just haven't taken the time to do it. It involves our screen porch. 

Since we put this porch in we have really wanted some sort of shade type thing to block the sun and the rain. These shades are expensive... more than frugal Kristen wants to spend. So, the alternative, search Pinterest and see what we can create. 

Mom also wanted to do this for the lake, so we let her be the guinea pig and try it out first. They gave us some tips and we set out to make it happen for our porch. 

Matt put up conduit pipes and we sprayed them brown (in hopes to save a little instead of getting the fancy copper ones like mom and dad). We got curtain ring clip things and hung painters drop cloths as curtains. 

We ended up doing three panels and they can be pulled all the way across or tied back with the burlap ribbon. We have already enjoyed using them. They shade the TV from the sun and that makes Matt's heart happy. So, this project really costs us way less than $100 and that is about how much one roman shade would have cost. Woohoo for that. 

It's back to the real world around here. Little buddy went back to his "school" last week. He was excited to see his friends, but he made claw marks in my arm when it was time for me to leave. Praying for a great school year!

Thursday Rundown

Thursday we headed to the zoo with our friend Ford and his sweet mommy Lisa.  

Just a little comparison from the beginning of the summer. The left is from last week and the right is from when we went right after school got out in May. Look how much this little guy has

 grown in just two months. 

These two had fun together. My favorite part were the indoor animals. You know the ones where there is air conditioning. Boy was it hot. 

No trip was complete without a visit to the splash pad. They had bubbles this time and he was loving it. I think he would have stayed here the rest of the afternoon, but we had to move on. 

We came home and took a nice long nap and woke in time to head to get a hair cut. I am telling you, I cannot keep up with how fast his hair grows. I am afraid we may have lost his curls in the back this time. So sad. But I guess I got this face because he is sick of me always taking pictures. It's going to take more than this to stop this crazy camera lady.

We ended the day with a bubble bath to help feed our love for all things bubbles these days. 

Family Visits

This past weekend we loaded up for a weekend at the lake because our family, 

the Bouchillons, were in town. 

Fulton and I went on up with mom and dad on Thursday night. Matt had to work Friday, so he came later. Friday we hit up Papa's grocery store to make sure we were well 

stocked with goodies for the weekend. 

Mark, Caleb, and Susan on a quick boat ride after lunch. 

This little guy was ready for some fun on the water. Daddy got away from work early and 

made it there just in time for our ride. 

Caleb and Fulton are about a 13 months apart and they played pretty good together. It might not look like it in this picture, but I think they really do like each other. 

Aunt Keri and Pete arrived just in time for dinner at Mema's house on Friday night. 

Mema bought the boys this tricycle to play with for the weekend. The tires on that puppy were heavy duty. I may or may not have tried it out a couple of times. 

And there is a new baby in our family. Caleb has a baby brother, Joel. So we got to do some lovin on him. All boys for the great grandchildren. 

Friday night we also celebrated Kevin's 22nd birthday. Nothing like spending your big day with your WHOLE family. Precious. 

Saturday we took a break from the lake and played a little corn hole and ladder ball. Sister has stocked us up on activities this summer. Matt and I were the corn hole champions. Not bad for my first time. 

Our family was in charge of dinner Saturday night. These two kept themselves occupied while we slaved away in the kitchen. 

We enjoyed a big dinner (steaks on the grill thanks to the men) and just enjoyed being with family that we don't get to see often enough. We were missing my cousin Amber, her husband Patrick, and their little guy Samuel. They have already moved to Slovakia on full time missions. 

So we got a little too much loaf bread for sandwiches on Saturday and sister had a great idea to make some french toast for breakfast Sunday. Oh it was delish. Pops and Fulton had some good reading time while waiting on breakfast. 

This little guy was thrilled because Papa's farm helper came down on the tractor and Matt took Fulton for a ride. In his PJ's... that's the kind of stuff you do in the country. 

Fulton found a new love over the weekend. Ricecakes. I personally have to force myself to eat these, but Pops shared his with Fulton and he kept coming back for more. 

Look who had on matching suits and I promise it wasn't planned. Aren't they cute??

We enjoyed the rest of the day getting wet and prepared to say our goodbyes. 

Enjoyed the weekend with our sweet family. 

The Week's Happenings

Another week of summer has  (almost) come and gone. So sad. But, it's been a fun one. 

Sunday afternoon after church we met the Baccus family at the pool. These two are a mess. 

They were just chilling and relaxing. 

That didn't last long and then they had to practice their jumps. Can't say it enough, love this family and their precious kiddos. They mean a lot to us. 

Monday Fulton had a dr's appointment and did awesome. We stopped to eat in Homewood at a fun little place and saw this yogurt place next door. It was a special treat kind of day. He never and I mean never gets sugar (gasp, I know.. my family makes fun of me) so this was a real treat for him. 

Tuesday we had to get up and get going and were trying to be at the tag office before it opened. Didn't quite happen. I was worried when I pulled into the parking lot and there was already 100 people lined up outside. Yikes. Thankfully the line moved quickly. Fulton did great waiting... it may have been the whole bowl of cheez-its I let him eat while we were in line. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Wednesday our friend Ford came over to play. These two are silly together. They got to running really fast and had a slight head on collision. No blood or passing out, so I guess they were all good. 

Today's adventure included a trip to the pool with a friend and her little guy we haven't seen in a while. No pictures, but I snapped this one after we came home and got a bath. Which by the way... this little guy took off running after I got him out of the bath, ran to the kitchen and peed in the floor. Really?  Then he tried to blame it on Harley. Poor guy (Harley, not Fulton). 

Don't let this innocent little face fool you. Happy Thursday!!