Friday {after the park}, Ally and I packed up and headed up to the Church for her American Heritage Girls Lock-in! She was so so excited.
Saturday morning, we got up at 7:00 am and the girls prepped breakfast, ate and we headed out to Shiloh Field. It is the largest community garden in the United States with 14.5 acres. Everything that is harvested at the garden is given to the needy. What a great ministry. Volunteers {individuals and groups} keep it going. By the time we showed up that morning, all of the crops had already been harvested, so they helped out by pulling weeds. All of the food in the bags below is what they harvested that morning. Last year they gave away over 28,000 lbs of fresh food. Amazing.
Here is a video of Farmer Gene explaining the vision and origin of Shiloh Field.
I'm glad Ally was able to go to the lock-in. All of the girls had responsibilities throughout the weekend, like food prep and clean-up. Through the games and songs, she was able to learn her creed and oath for AHG, which she needs for her joining award badge. She made new friendships with some sweet girls from her troop.
The weather has been so nice, we have been venturing out and going to local parks. Little Elm {just south of us} has some great parks and most of them are new. First up is McCord Park. The park feels kind of sunk in and with all of the trees around, it just feels like you're in a secret park. Very relaxing and the kids like the big spider!
Little Elm Park is super neat. The kids are total American Warrior Ninja junkies {obstacle courses}, so this was right up their alley. The city recently remodeled this park and it is way cooler now! Ha!
Here are some videos from Little Elm Park. One is a Flipgram of pictures and the other is a short video of the kids on the big zip-line swing.
And I saved the best for last: Beard Park. We have been driving by and stalking this park for quite some time now. Actually, the reason we went to the two parks above is that Beard Park was not open. LOL! They are finishing up the landscaping, but the play area is complete. I asked the workers if we could play, because we could not wait any longer! :-)
Beard Park has treehouse play areas all over. So many details and we have not even seen them all. This totally reminded us of Swiss Family Robinson and Disney World, where there is huge Swiss Family Treehouse at Magic Kingdom. The grass is artificial, which is neat for little ones like Mae, who are crawling around on it.
Here are the kids playing at Beard Park in Little Elm. Phase two will include a huge walking trail behind the park.
We kicked fall ball off this past weekend. Saturday morning they had opening ceremonies and his first game was later that afternoon. Shawn's parents were in town to see him play. Jase is playing 1st base this season. Hopefully his little team continues to get better each game.
Not only is Maebry 10 months old today, but 1 year ago today we closed on our house up here. Wow, a year ago!
Our sweet Mae. She now has 4 teeth {2 on the bottom and the 2 big honkers on top have broke through}. She is a great eater and there has not been one thing she has turned down. I have stopped making purees for her, because she really enjoys chewing food. I do buy her some organic food pouches for on the go or when I'm in a pinch. Nursing has slowed down; it's like she is weaning herself. Maebry has been sleeping in her bed every night {all night long} for nearly 2 weeks now. Can I get a Halleluiah, Praise the Lord? Seriously though, my quality of sleep has tripled since she has started doing this. And she has been taking several steps. I love it! This was her two nights ago.
Here is some footage of her today. She owns the shopping cart!
We love you sweet Mae and thank the Lord for you.
09.11 - Definitely a day that stirs an American's heart. I vividly remember that day, when the attacks happened. I was at college {University of Texas at San Antonio: UTSA} and I was waiting for my business law class to start and had some time to kill. I went into the computer lab and they had a TV when you entered. They had the news footage on and the first tower had just been hit, and then I watched the second tower get hit in real time. I was shocked. I ran across campus to tell Shawn, who was about to go into class. He had no clue what I was talking about since he hadn't witnessed it, and I'm sure my words were all jumbled. We stayed up late, just glued to the television, hoping and praying they would find people alive in all that rubble. Goodness. Just terrible. I was not walking with the Lord at the time in my life, but I prayed to God, asking Him to be with those people and their families. I could not even imagine. Continuing to pray for those families effected by that tragic event. We will never forget.
As I read Psalm 27 today, I thought it was so applicable, as the bible is.
Psalm 27 27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! 8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” 9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. 12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
As the school year gears up, so do the activities. Ally has a dance class {tap + ballet} in Denton one night a week. She has only had two classes, but she has really been enjoying it. And she really likes getting dressed up! {shocker!}
After dance, we got changed {in the car} and headed over to church for our American Heritage Girls {AHG} meeting. Her uniform came in last week and I put her patches on and got it all ready to go. She can either wear a skirt, skort or pants. I bought her a skirt and then pants for when it starts getting chilly. I also found navy blue knee-highs {EEEK!} and they are the cutest part of the uniform to me.
She loves her new uniform. I know she's mine, but she melts my little heart.
At her meeting this past week they started working on a toys and games badge. One criteria of the badge was to make 3 different dolls. The made handkerchief dolls {top left in the picture below}, paper dolls, and corn husk dolls {bottom middle in the picture below}. The handkerchief doll has a neat backstory to it. These dolls were easily made by mothers for their daughters on the way to church. They kept the children quiet while others listened to the sermon and if dropped, they would not make any noise. When she showed the boys this doll, they liked them so much that I made red bandana boy dolls for them. They were a hit at the French household.
She also made a mini corn husk doll to match her original one, which was completely her idea. Super cute. The girls also got to bring their own doll to show to their friends. She brought her American Girl Doll, Wendy. When it was time to rejoin the group at the end of the meeting, Ally's group {Tenderhearts} had a little doll parade to show the rest of the troop. It was sweet.
Ally has been practicing her oath for AHG and she has it down. Below she is singing it.
Last Thursday night, Shawn and I got to get away and go see our Houston Texans here in Dallas. The AT&T Stadium is so nice! The Texans did not pull off a win, but we'll let it slide since it was the last preseason game.
We went to the game with Jennifer and Rhett, who are now in our Home Group. We had a super fun time being with them! Felt great to get out and laugh.
And me and my man at the game!
PawPaw showed up Tuesday around lunch time, but Mae {and Mama} were still in their PJs.
Saturday we drove into Denton and had dinner on the Square there. Do you see Finn in the picture below? He is our color master. He will not leave an inch of white on the paper.
We relaxed on the lawn and listened to a little live music.
I think it's safe to bet that Finn enjoyed his {dairy free} ice cream!
And on Labor Day, we cooked out and let the kiddos play in the water. We soaked up the sun and 96 degree weather. I am ready for some fall weather.
I need to back up to last Tuesday, September 1st. That was Ally's official birthday and boy was it a busy one. Shawn took a vacation day, and he and Jase woke up early for a little dove hunting.
Since the big boys were out and about, I decided to take the 3 kids for some breakfast. We rarely go get donuts {especially with Jase's dairy allergies}, but I thought this was a special occasion and we would splurge. Our little donut shop had the cutest donuts and Elsa juice! The worker even gave Ally the Hello Kitty donut {and other ones} to us for free.
We were also celebrating because Finn pooped in the potty. Super big deal around here these days.
When Daddy and Jase made it home, Allyson opened her presents from us. A couple of the things we got her included the new Cinderella dress and a Princess Ariel Lego set. She was excited!
Later that evening she had her first night of ballet and tap class. Our little dancer.
And after that, we changed clothes and headed up to our church. It was Allyson's first troop meeting with the American Heritage Girls. They are similar to Girl Scouts in that you do certain activities to earn badges with your troop, but they are a Christ-centered group. The conversation always circles back around to the Lord, whether we are opening/closing in prayer or having conversations at the table. I really think Ally will enjoy it, and she is excited about it too. Jase also signed up for Trail Life for boys. It is similar to Boy Scouts, but again is centered about Jesus. And Shawn signed up to be an assistant Troop Leader. We have a family campout in October coming up! Should be a fun time.
Every Monday evening we have bible study with our Home Group. It consists of members from our church {Denton Bible Church} who live in close proximity to one another. The idea is to get in the word with each other, be real and do life together. What a blessing this group of people have been since we moved to this area almost a year ago. They have welcomed us with open arms and loved us, and more importantly have shown love to our kiddos.
The last Monday of every month we have "family night" where we all fellowship together: adults and children. This gives us time to interact with all of the kids and build relationships with them as well. Since Allyson's birthday was the day after the last Monday {following me? Ha}, which is today, September 1st, I asked if we could have Home Group at our home and have a little party for her. It really could not have worked out better.
We decided on an Art Party theme. She really enjoys drawing and coloring, so I thought this would be perfect. I gathered some of the kids' artwork and hung it up as a banner in the breakfast area. Personalized and free!
Originally I wasn't sure what I was going to do about food signs. I got on the computer a couple of days ago and started creating signs, but just wasn't feeling it. When I went to Walmart to get a few things this past weekend, Ally and I went down the craft isle and came across mini canvases {5 small square ones below}. Then I saw they had other canvas boards. I picked up a pack of both 8x10 and 5x7 {3 canvases came in each set, and each set was less than $3}. And with a little hot glue and craft sticks, Shawn and I put together some mini easels. Super easy {thank you Pinterest} and quick too. Later that night {or early morning}, after the kids were in bed {and the hubs} I got the sharpies and watercolors out and had some art time. I did not have a game plan, but knew basically what I wanted each one to say.
Since my party prep crew was back in Deer Park {ha!...and my cake decorator!!}, I decided to keep the food as simple {and clean} as possible. Here is our run down on the food list, keeping the "art theme", of course!
Fine Art Fowl - Rotisserie Chicken from Costco
Art Studio Salad Bar - Lettuce and all the fixins' with homemade ranch and strawberry vinaigrette
Picasso's Pasta - Italian Seasoning Pasta
Complementary Chips and Dips - Pita Chips with Hummus and Tortilla Chips with Guacamole
Vibrant Veggies - Vegetable Tray
Fancy Fruit - Fresh Fruit {ROY G BIV sure came in handy!}
So pretty. I'm unsure where year 5 went. This was her last day as a 5 year old!
We have quite a few kiddos in our Home Group, so I wanted to make sure I had an activity for them to do. I bought all of their first initials {8x10 Chip Board} from Hobby Lobby last week when they were half off, so they ended up being less than $1 each. Paint was also on sale, so I let my kids pick out some new colors {I had quite a few already}. And I had all of the 12x12 scrapbook paper on hand already, so I used that as their mat.
All of the kids really enjoyed the painting activity. No rules or guidelines, just their imagination. I wish I would have taken a few pictures of the finished letters; they did a great job!
The After table makes me smile. So many colors and brushes used. And all of our guests took their letters home. So fun!
The cake = complete mess. I made it Sunday afternoon, and the icing from scratch. Dairy free so Jase could partake. I burnt up a blender making the icing and then woke up Monday morning to find the icing from the cupcakes had slid off the cupcake and the icing on the cake was sliding down as well. Geez. I shoved it all in the fridge before we left for our Co-op. As you can tell, it isn't the prettiest, but it did taste good. So glad the cake is behind me! Ha.
While Ally was trying to blow out her candle, the candle fell over. Poor thing, we need to work on blowing out a candle!
Check it out here!
And it happened to be Isaiah's 16th birthday, so we sang to him as well!
She also got some precious gifts from friends.
Remember I posted a few weeks back about Rockin' with Rhett? Well, his family have since joined our Home Group. They are great people, very easy to talk to. He brought his guitar and sang some of his songs before it was time to go. It was such a treat for all! Thanks Rhett!
Watch some of the videos here. So fun!
After the party was said and done with, Finn was just getting started. He was asleep in my room for the first half of it. Finn found the punch and was feeling the sugar!
What a super fun night. After everyone left, I asked Ally what she thought of the party and she said "Best Day Ever. I got to listen to Rockin' with Rhett, play dress-up, visit with my friends and do activities." Awesome. This is why I love celebrating the kids' birthdays. One day out of the year, to focus on them and give thanks for their life. Happy birthday sweet Ally, we love you.
Shawn and I are high school sweethearts. Married for 12 years with 4 beautiful children and reside in the great state of Texas. We are sinners who have been saved by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. In our home we enjoy: laughing, praising and learning about God, watching sports, and homeschooling.
