Atlanta Trip 2016

We visited Dot Dot and Paw-Paw Dick (my great aunt and uncle) again this year in Atlanta.  We ended up coming a little later this time.  Usually we come over spring break or late May but this is the first time we've come at the end of June.  The girls were thrilled that there were vegetables to pick this time and enjoyed helping pick lots of things including; corn, potatoes (several types), okra, squash, green beans (2 types), cucumbers, and a lot of blueberries.  And of course they loved riding the tractors with Paw-Paw Dick.

The girls were also invited to their first sleep over.  The 'big' girls, Courtney and Samantha, had invited them over to have a sleep over at their house.  The adults including Nancy went out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  It was a really nice meal without having to watch any kids.  We went back to Nancy's for desert with the girls and checked on everyone.  Olivia had said earlier she wasn't going to spend the night but to no one's surprise she didn't want to come back with us.  Dot, Dick, Scott and I played Mexican train when we got back and I actually won which might be a first for me.


On Saturday morning we all slept in a little (some of us a little more than others) and then headed out around 10 to do a little shopping on the way to get the girls.  We stopped at a consignment store and several yard sales.  Each of us bought a few things but nothing too wonderful.  That evening Scott and I prepared dinner.  We fixed my mom's crispy chicken, yeast rolls, aspargus, and corn from the garden.  Dick also fixed some fried okra that was really great.  For dessert we had also used some of the blueberries to make a blueberry buckle which was really yummy.  We celebrated Father's day that evening too and the 2 father's got lots of homemade cards from the girls and some of their favorite snacks.

After dinner the girls caught fireflies for a while then we played the pie face game they had brought, Dot Dot was a good sport and played with us but Dick wasn't excited about the game and the girls shrieks and fits of laughter hurt his ears so he retreated to his room for a while.  We played a few card games with Dot and Dick and the girls afterwards.  Apparently when you reach a certain age you forget how to play go fish and old maid so they needed a little refresher.

On Sunday we went to Sunday School and the girls recited/sang the books of the New Testament for Dot and Dick's class before going to their own class.  We had hamburgers after church and the girls all got to ride on the tractor again to pick some corn to take home.  We came home with lots of good vegetables and blueberries.  The ride home was uneventful and we gave Scott the rest of his Father's Day gifts after we got home.  I hope he had a nice day, we will celebrate with my family next Sunday when my sisters will be able to come.

20 weeks

I finally took a belly picture of me at 20 weeks with Pickles. He moves around some now almost everyday but it is still too faint for the girls to really feel.  I tried to stop taking my nausea medicine but I still need it so I am taking half a dose now which seems to be working.  Otherwise everything seems to be going smoothly.  We have lots to do though before this baby comes so we are keeping busy painting rooms and putting in a hardwood floor for the guest room so we can move everything out of the baby room.

20 Week Picture with 1 baby






















19 Week Picture with 3 babies

Last Day of First Grade

Today was the girl's last day of the First Grade.  They had such a good year this year and really loved their teacher.  They all grew a lot and made new friends.

























Here is a little about each girl.

Emma: Her speech is still holding her up a little in the reading and writing.  When she tries to sound things out it sometimes gets jumbled.  When she writes she will use a 't' instead of a 'd' and she also writes backwards sometimes.  She is going to get some OT next year a few times a month to help her with writing backwards, some of this may be contributed to her having a mixed dominant side, she is left-handed but she is dominant on her right side with other things.  She does really well in math and scored the highest (by 2 points) on her math test at the end of the year.  Also her comprehension of a story and memory is great which helps her keep up even though her writing/reading is a little behind. Emma had several friends throughout the year but they seemed to change from time-to-time, she really likes playing with Aliza and we have had a few playdates with her.  One little boy really annoyed her in the beginning of school but he ended up going to another school later in the year which made Emma happy.

Olivia:  Last year Olivia was not much interested in school work and reading or writing but this year she received some extra help from one of the assistants and it really boosted her confidence.  She has improved so much this year I am so proud of her reading.  She has the best and clearest writing of her sisters and really tries to sound things out so her spelling is improving too.  She continues to excel in math and really likes to learn.  She is consistently asking us to do math games or read with her which we are happy to do.  Olivia made a friend that she hung out with most of the year, his name is Jake B. I don't know why Olivia is drawn to the boys but she picks the really sweet, gentle ones.  I really like Jake B. and it is sweet that they both seem to be very fond of each other.  She said she was going to marry him too.  Guess we better watch out.


Savannah:  This year Savannah really seemed to come out of her shell and excel.  She did great in kindergarten but this year she was challenged a little more and really did well.  Her reading is terrific she is ahead of her grade and can comprehend most books several years ahead of her.  She reads chapter books and though it has taken some time to find the right books that interest her she is starting to read more for fun.  Her writing is a little sloppy and her spelling needs work but she has gotten better in both of those areas.  Her math was a little behind at the beginning of the year but she is now doing well in that too.  She needs very little help with her homework and gets it done pretty fast.  She is a leader in her class and seems to have ideas that everyone wants to follow.  She has several close friends, Jake O. who seems to be her co-leader, Anna, Gabby, and Anath.  She and Jake O. started this whole 'Brickey' thing in the fall when they found a brick and drew a face on it and named it.  The whole class became obsessed with Brickey and made it the class pet.  The other big thing this year was the shopkins club which I think the whole class was part of but again Savannah, Jake O and maybe Anath seemed to be the leaders.

We celebrated the end of the year the same way we did last time.  The girls had remembered our water balloon fight and had asked about it before going to school but we won't say if we would do one or not.  When I drove up with them there was a little bucket on the front porch and Olivia immediately so it and started shouting 'waterballooons' the others saw it and I couldn't convince them that it was anything else, they made record time jumping out of the van.  They grabbed a waterballoon from the bucket and took off to the backyard where they knew their dad would be waiting for yet another end of year waterballoon fight.