This week was a little more laid back. On Sunday at Life Group, it was Lincoln's turn to talk about the beautitude "Blessed are the peacemakers." He did a great job!
Monday and Tuesday we went to Swim Team practice, swam at the pool, and played at home.
Then, on Wednesday we woke up early and drove to Jessieville, AR to dig for crystals at a crystal mine with our friends, the Stephens. This is a picture before they got busy.
Me and Stacey. Stacey is just one of those friends that loves to do things that you wouldn't normally do. I love that about her.
The kids loved it and I have to say it was pretty fun digging in the dirt looking for beautiful rocks and exciting when you found one. You got to keep everything you found too!
All done and dirty.
We cleaned up as much as possible and found a little park where we ate lunch and then went on a hike.
Right as we got started on the trail, Layton yells "Snake!!" Sure enough he was slithering right across the trail closer to us than I wish he had been. I am so glad Layton saw it before walking right into it. I know it was probably a measly grass snake, but still it was a snake.
We hiked back to a fishing pond.
When we finally got home, we had to clean all the crystals. These are some of the best ones after we got the dirt off. We really had a great day!
On Saturday Lincoln had his last regular season swim meet. He did the backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke, and freestyle relay.
He got first in his heat on the backstroke and beat his previous time by 2 seconds which was awesome!
He beat his freestyle time by about 2 seconds as well and finally moved from the bronze division to silver! This was a big deal! He qualified for the Meet of Champs which was awesome! He has really improved a lot this year. We have been so proud of his hard work and dedication!!
The kids stayed in Texarkana with Mimi and Pappaw after Casey's wedding so Kris and I had until Friday by ourselves. I had a list of things that I wanted to get done. I did some of them, but didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. It was still a great week though!!
On Sunday night a group of girls and I from church had our first Book Club meeting. I wish I would have taken a picture of all the girls that were there. We had 8 girls show up and a bunch more that couldn't make it that night, but hope to participate. This is something that I have wanted to do for a while now. My mom is in one with a bunch of ladies from church and I have loved getting to read many of the books that they have read.
Our first book was Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. I love this book and thought it was the perfect one to start off with. We had great discussion. It was so much fun and I can hardly wait for our next one!
So, when school starts I will have my first real job in over 10 years. YIKES!!! I got a part-time job at First Southern Baptist's preschool. I am called the Music Teacher, but to me it is more than music. It will be on MWF from 8:30 to 12:00 (somedays possibly longer). There are 3 classes at this school and I will get each one for about 25 minutes each day. On Monday I will teach a Bible Story. On Wednesday, we will do music, and on Friday, we will do P.E./games. Each week everything will revolve around the letter of the week. I get to make my own lesson plans which is exciting and stressful at the same time. I also am responsible for their Christmas Program and End of the Year Program. Since we decided not to send Layton on to Kindergarten this year, he will be able to come with me. They have a 5 year old class specifically for kids that have late birthdays like him. I am really excited for the both of us, but it is definitely going to be a change!
On Monday I went and looked at my room and tried to get a fill for things. We don't start until September, but I have a lot of work to do! This is what it looks like right now. I am trying to figure out how I want to decorate it.
On Tuesday night, Jeff and I won our first tennis match! We were so happy! It was a blast!! I am loving doing this with my brother and loving the competition itself. I haven't done anything like this since high school and it just brings back alot of memories of sports and competing. I love it!!
Wednesday I got my hair cut and then we went to PV's 4th of July Picnic. I hated that the kids missed it because it is a lot of fun! But I did enjoy just getting to chat with my friends.
Thursday night Kris and I had a date night. We went to eat at Copelands. I tried to get him to take a selfie with me and it ended up taking forever to get a good one.
When I saw this one, I couldn't resist putting it on Facebook. I laughed and laughed at this picture. It is so us.
Friday morning we picked up the kids. They had a great week at Mimi and Pappaws. Here are a few pictures they sent.
They went to the library and apparently Lincoln played Shrek in some kind of little skit they did.
Layton basically learned how to ride a bicycle without training wheels while he was there. Couldn't believe that!
They went to the Splash Pad one day, rode and drove the 4 wheeler alot, and apparently Pappaw put Layton to work. He sent me a video of this little booger mowing the yard. It cracked me up. He was doing it so well--even went around a tree without bumping into it. His serious face was hysterical.
Thanks Mimi and Pappaw for all the fun and memories and for the much needed break for us!
Saturday we went to Downtown Little Rock where they were having a big 4th of July celebration.
We ate at Gusano's Pizza which was yummy and very cheesy.
Then, we went to the Clinton Library because it was free that day. Lots of other people went too.
They had a dinosaur exhibit going on.
It was pretty interesting. I wish I would have had more time to actually read more of the stuff though. This was a model of the Oval Office which was neat.
The Cabinet Room
Lincoln sitting in the President's chair.
Afterwards we came home and Layton tried riding his bike on the concrete for the first time. He got it! It was kind of bittersweet for me because our baby is riding his bike. Sniff Sniff.
To top off our 4th, that night we met up with the Cheesman's and Dockery's and watched the Benton fireworks.
