What's Up Wednesday

Hot damn am I proud of myself!  Last night the girls and I laid in my bed at 7:30 and I knocked out some blog posts that have been sitting in my drafts.  There just hasn't been much time these days...

WHAT WE'RE EATING THIS WEEK:
I was really hoping we would have a ton of food left over from Rachel's grad party, but nope.  I had a half a pan of my moms lemon bars left over and I've been rationing them so I can enjoy them, haha!  I may have hid them...

WHAT I'M REMINISCING ABOUT:
Well, with having Rachel's grad party this past weekend, I've been doing a lot of reminiscing about her school years, and just how fast it goes.
Just look at these babies....





WHAT I'M LOVING:

NOT PLANNING FOR A GRADUATION PARTY!!!  Ya'll, I LOOOOVE planning parties, I really do. I just love hosting, but this one was a lot of work, lol!  I am soooooo exhausted.

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO:

So here's the deal.  The last 2 months have been so busy not only getting ready for graduation, but we also had many other things come up.

Rachel had Baccalaureate at church, they did such a nice job for our graduates!

April 23 our sweet Emma celebrated her sweet 16, on the 24th she got her license, and by that night she was in a major car accident.  I still can't look at all of the pics I have without crying.  I did write a blog post, but mainly for our records.
Bottom line is that the accident was not Emma's fault, and we are still waiting for the possibility of charges against the other driver.
My Acadia (thank God she was driving it) was totaled so we've been dealing with our insurance company in getting a new one.



Rachel had her honors banquet where she received the highest honor cords.  SO proud!

Memorial weekend we had Brad's family over here for a cookout and bonfire.

Last day of school for these beauties!



Alayna's last day of 7th grade.  Emma was at a friends house, so no pics.

On June 3, Brad and the girls took Josie back to the kennel where we got her for 2 months of puppy training!  They will do behavioral and hunting training with her (praise Jesus!).  I am hoping this helps with her ridiculous sock addiction...



We got the pool cleaned out and filled up early this year!  And then proceeded to have cool weather, so haven't used it much.

And then the weekend before Rachel's party our 4th level flooded.  The pressure valve on the hot water heater burst spilling hot water.  Emma noticed it Saturday night around 11:30, so we were frantically sucking up water with shop vacs and carpet cleaners.  We were able to get the carpet pulled up and tons of fans blowing. Funny enough we were scheduled on Wed to get new carpeting upstairs, so we had him check the basement carpet and re-lay it for us.  We are hoping the crisis was diverted and everything is ok. 

WHAT I'M DREADING:

I'm really just trying to enjoy our summer now and not think about moving Rachel up to Bemidji in August...

WHAT I'M WORKING ON:

Nothing!  Haha, just trying to relax now.  House and garage are clean and organized, planning is done!

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT:

We are heading to Colorado this summer for our family vacation, can't wait!

That's about all I've got.  I haven't really been reading much the last couple months, hence not time.  But, I have found Dance Moms and I have to say....obsessed.  Seriously.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Rachel Graduation 2019

I can't even believe that I am writing this post.  I still am trying to wrap my head around the fact that my oldest baby graduated this year.  It was such a wonderful bittersweet day.  We were so lucky to have all the grandparents and godparents there to celebrate her.

Since Rachel was last getting her diploma, she was the one to initiate the tassel flip.  I balled!

She received the highest honor cords at the honors ceremony a few weeks before.  She worked SO hard this year, completing 5 college courses this year and maintaining a high GPA.

In her class of 197, 56% were in the National Honor Society!

Rachel and her boyfriend Matt.  He is going to the University of North Dakota to play football this fall.  Rachel will be attending Bemidji State University for nursing.

Momma and her girls.  Hailey is Rachel's BFF and has practically lived with us this past year.  Love that my girls want their friends at our house.

She really met an amazing group of girls, we are so proud of all of them!

This picture makes me so proud.  Growing up I was always scared I wouldn't be able to have kids, I think because I wanted them so bad.  When Brad and I got married, I remember praying for girls.  Of course I would have been happy with boys too, but I was tripley (is that a word??) blessed.  

These 4 are my world.

The week after graduation Rach decided to get a tattoo on her side.  The symbols mean "God is Greater Than our Highs and Lows".  She also decided to have them tattoo my favorite Bible verse in my handwriting.  "Do not be anxious for anything, instead through prayer and supplication, make your requests known to God."  That had me in tears.

Her graduation party was June 22 from 2-?  The weather was not supposed to be the best, forecast called for rain and cool weather.  It ended up being perfect, cloudy but no rain and a slight breeze to keep the bugs away!

My dad made this sign, which was so awesome!  I don't want to take it down!

Rachel wanted a taco bar and then we had someone smoke 30lbs of pork for sandwiches.  We had nachos, pasta salad, chili cheese dip, a sno cone machine, cupcakes and tons of desserts.

For the table decor Rachel planted these white flowers in tin buckets and put her pictures in a photo holder I found on Amazon.  I also bought the cute little battery tea lights.  She wanted swedish fish and goldfish on all the tables.

I really loved how everything turned out.  We bought a large letter R and then she cut and pasted all her graduation pics on it.

We borrowed three big pallets from friends of ours to hang all her pics on.

I couldn't believe how many people came, it was an amazing turn out!  There is nothing Brad and I love more than having all our loved ones at our house, it really was such a special day!

And now we are completely wiped out!  The last month has consisted of getting things ready, plus we had our basement flood the weekend before the party and then got new carpeting installed in the living room 3 days before the party.  It was slightly nuts.  But, we made it through and are excited to just chill now!

Alayna #13

I pride myself on doing the girls' birthday posts on their birthday, well, mouses is just a tad late haha!

What can I say about our mousey?  She is the funniest, spunkiest, full of life girl you will ever meet.  She LOVES people, and loves to be around people.  She is 100% her daddy!  She is his errand buddy and my cleaning lady.  Seriously.  This kid cleans house better than I do.  AND, she organizes too!

She hates sad or awkward situations, and will be the first to make a joke to get everyone laughing.  She loves school and is doing so well!  I can't even believe she will be in 8th grade.  Ugh, time needs to slow down.

Alayna loves her little cousins and is probably they're favorite person.  She is truly our little mother hen.  This summer she is helping grandma babysit Ellie and it's so cute to see the things she has planned out for them to do.

I say it every year I do her birthday post, but life would be so dull without her around.  With her humor, constant singing and all around craziness,  we enjoy every second with her.  Even when she doesn't stop talking....

Alayna, don't ever let anyone dull your sparkle, you are such a joy to have and we couldn't do life without you!!