Summer Time is Here Again

Tuesday, my girls finished their last day of school. (Yes, the TUESDAY after Memorial Weekend. Yes, it was silly. Whatevs.)

I cannot believe that my sweet girls are done with another school year. (I know I've said a MILLION times that I can't believe how quickly they are growing up. But, it's SO true!)

Emma had a wonderful year in 3rd grade. This little girl blows me away with her writing and story telling. She is SO creative and funny with her narratives. And, boy does Emma love to read. I cannot keep her kindle stocked. It seems like every time we go through and get her several books, I blink and she's ready for more. I LOVE that she loves to read. Emma did NOT get the math-gene from her mother. She had a couple of quizzes/homework where she struggled a bit. It was so hard for me to help her understand the "rules" of math. But, I am so proud of the fact that she managed to pull off A's every quarter in math except one. Believe me, there was confusion (Emma), repeating rules (me), frustration and even some tears (both of us!), but she worked hard and her grades show it (All A's except one on the entire report card!). She loves her Gifted and Talented group and always does some of the most creative research projects. I am so proud of my creative little, now, 4th grader!

Hannah finished kindergarten with flying colors. She is reading everything she can get her hands on and loves to read to us. Same as with Emma, keeping fresh books on her kindle is a chore because she flies through them. Hannah's teacher laughs so much about how "in charge" (read: bossy) she is. During one quarter, Hannah's class didn't have an intern to help. Hannah told her teacher, "Are you sure you will be able to handle it without an intern? I am here for you." LOL! Hannah loves math and it shows. It doesn't surprise me that my little OCD child loves the rules and black and white answers that go with math. Hannah has worked very hard this year as well and even has had to let go of a little of her bossiness. Travis and I loved watching her at her Kindergarten graduation on Tuesday! She makes us so proud and is officially a 1st grader!

Catherine is "done" with preschool. No more baby classes for her after the summer ends. She will start pre-K in the fall. Catherine is my baby child and I just cannot fathom the fact that my BABY is going to be 4 in July and start "real school" so soon. She is getting so smart. We definitely didn't help her out any by giving her such a long name, but she has just about mastered writing "Catherine"...good luck with Williamson! :) She is still so stubborn, but makes us laugh all the time. And...she will do ANYTHING for a laugh. All I know is, she will be the class clown and I will say a special prayer for her teacher in the fall! Welcome to "real school", Catherine!

My sweet girls are growing up. We cannot wait to spend this summer making memories and enjoying everything about a more relaxed schedule. WELCOME BACK, SUMMER TIME!

 

 

Vegas, Baby!

Last week, my mom, my dad, Jon, Nicole, Travis and I went to Vegas for a few days. Sunday after church, we drove to Little Rock because our flight was crazy early in the morning. On the way...we had a flat tire.

Some of us were up and at 'em Monday morning. Some of us were VERY tired that morning....

 

We got to Vegas before noon to be greeted with a limo...and no bag for Travis.

(This is where I will complain about how AWFUL it was that not only did they lose his luggage - and lots of his new clothes - but they STILL haven't found it)

While Jon, Mom and Travis were checking us in, I tried to find someone to make an excited face with me. Only one person was as excited as me...it must have been his cool hat!

We had lunch at a FANTASTIC burger place in the Mirage called BLT. Then, we walked around, played blackjack and checked everything out.

That night, we went to the show "Love", which was pretty cool...kind of weird at times...but still cool. After the show, we went to dinner at Yolo's.

Tuesday, we had breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi and it was delicious! We shopped (and bought Travis a new wardrobe) and gambled the rest of the day.

That night, we went for cocktails at the Ghost Bar and to dinner at N9NE. Talk about delicious! Wowza! It was so good! Travis almost finished a while 22oz steak, but decided to save a couple of bites for breakfast the next day. :)

Wednesday, we spend most of the day at the pool and walked over to the "trashies" (this is what my dad calls the 'lower end' casinos that have $5 blackjack tables all day and night) Travis got several work calls while we were at the pool and I expressed my opinion about that.

Wednesday night, we went to dinner and to the Belagio to see the fountains. Then, we went to a comedy show at the Flamingo. After the show, we all called it a night fairly early.

We had SUCH a great time in Vegas. It was even better knowing we had such a fantastic sitter keeping the girls. Camryn did such a good job taking care of them while we were gone. The girls never missed a beat. And, nothing is better than coming home from vacation to a clean house and handmade welcome home signs from the girls!