Shelby's 8th Birthday!

Shelby turned EIGHT years old on Monday! We had so much fun celebrating her over the weekend as a family. Derek got home from work early on Friday afternoon, and Shelby had birthday mail she was eager to open! Grandma and Granddad gifted Shelby a telescope, and I don't know who is most excited about it! Unfortunately, we have been in inundated with rain lately. But last night was finally clear, so Derek & the girls got to take it outside before bed to look up into the night sky--the girls were still talking about it over breakfast this morning! 

It was pouring down rain on Saturday morning, so we went to Main Event to celebrate! It was our first time going there as a family. The girls had fun, but I think it was a little over-stimulating for them! Bowling was definitely our favorite part!

On Saturday afternoon, Shelby & I snuck out for some birthday fun while Brady napped and Derek & Hadley watched football. We had our annual Barnes & Noble birthday date followed up by a trip to Target b/c her gift card from Grammy & Grampy was burning a hole in her pocket!

On Saturday evening, we baked Shelby's birthday cake together! She selected chocolate cake and purple icing.

On Sunday, it was STILL raining! We went to church in the morning and then Shelby opened up one of her gifts from us--a tie dye set! Shelby had first spotted a tie dye set on one of many post-PCS trips to Wal-Mart this summer, so I tucked that away as a birthday gift idea for her. The girls had so much fun doing this activity and proudly sported their shirts to school on Monday morning!

On Sunday night, we went out to dinner as a family to Panera per Shelby's request. And then on Monday, she specifically requested hot dogs, mac & cheese, and apple slices. After dinner & cake, we opened the rest of her birthday gifts!

And last but not least, a little birthday collage b/c what's a birthday blog post without a trip down memory lane?! I love oohing and ahhing over old pictures of Shelby when she was itty bitty, but I never get too sad about it b/c really and truly each new stage of parenting we enter into with each of our kids has been better than the previous! What a joy it has been to watch Shelby grow up over these past 8 years, and we can't wait for what's to come next! We are so proud of you Shelby-girl, and we love you more than we ever thought possible! 

Life Lately

I'm warning you in advance, this will be a major photo dump of the past three weeks! First, we'll start off with two sweet "Welcome to Texas" gifts we recently received--the shirt is from sister {she knows me well!}, and the personalized door mat is from our neighbor down the street. I was blown away by her thoughtfulness!

 {crazy post-nap hair}

Brady is adjusting well to his big sisters being gone all day at school. The girls have recently started riding the bus home from school in the afternoons, and Brady's favorite thing to do is wait for them at the bus stop. He starts clapping and cheering every afternoon when he spots the bus coming down the street--it's the sweetest! As much as he loves his sisters, I'm pretty sure he doesn't hate having the house to himself during the day though. ;)  He has a tendency to be a little more territorial than normal when they come home in the afternoons. There is no doubt that school is a big adjustment for the entire family!

The next couple of pictures are from my first Target run with just Brady in tow. I allowed him to walk in the store for the first time ever, and he was in heaven! When he saw the big toy food trucks {the second picture below}, he kept saying: "Wow! So nice!" He also enjoyed "helping" me push the cart to our car.

{starting off Labor Day Weekend with a new National Geographic magazine=heaven} 

{Brady and I waiting out a rain storm inside Target} 

{new routines..waiting at the bus stop after a trip to the mailbox} 

{came downstairs dressed as Moana courtesy of Hadley} 

The afternoons are the hardest part of our day. I'm so eager to see the girls get off the bus, but they are often tired and worn out from a long day at school. Brady wakes up from his nap right before they get home, so he still has some lingering post-nap grumpiness and then throw in the fact that he gets territorial when they get home... and it's just not the prettiest scene. We're still trying to find what works best for all of us in the afternoons, but we got it right one day this week and I had to capture it! Hadley was happily puzzling, Shelby was working on math homework, and Brady was coloring. Gotta celebrate the little victories when we get them!

Shelby's first piece of birthday mail arrived earlier this week, and she was delighted to say the least!! So hard to believe she'll be EIGHT in just a couple of days!!! Where have the years gone??? She is proudly holding up her 8 dollars and new bookmark from BooBoo!

We have had soooooo much rain here lately, it's just crazy! But the upside of rain is lots of mud to play in! The kids had so much fun playing with the mud and observing worms one evening this week after dinner.

{building before school yesterday morning} 

And last but not least, Brady and I went to eat lunch with the girls at school yesterday! It was so much fun getting to see them in their element there. Each time a new class entered the cafeteria, Brady had to wave to the kids as they walked by and yell "hey" to each person. I think he thought it was a parade just for him, ha!!