WHEELER FAMILY REUNION

This past weekend we went to the annual Wheeler Family Reunion at Lake Murray. We always have so much fun when we go there. We love getting to spend time with our families. There were tons of Wheeler's there and some that weren't able to make it as well...we missed Randy's sister and her family and his other sister and her husband as well. Randy's family always makes us feel so welcome and just so comfortable. His papa cooked food for everyone (for about 60 or so people) the whole weekend. On Friday evening when we got there, he already had most of the food ready for dinner. Randy's uncle owns a meat Market (Wheeler's Meat Market) so all of the meat comes from there. There was brisket, baked beans, pototoe salad, okra/tomatoe salad, and tons of delicious dessets. I had eaten enough to last me the whole weekend and it was only Friday evening. Then on Saturday morning when we woke up we went back to his grandparents cabin and had breakfast. For breakfast there was bacon, sausage, grilled ham (decilious!!), eggs, biscuits and I'm sure other things as well. Of course I couldn't pass up the biscuits with bacon and ham. It was delicious. Then for lunch they grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and had chips. Needless to say...I skipped lunch. I was still full from breakfast...I don't normally eat breakfast at all. Then for dinner we went into Ardmore to Interurban.

Also on Saturday we found a beach area at the lake that was perfect for all of the kids to swim in. Alexis got to hang out a lot with her Aunt Mackenzee (she is 2 1/2 years older than Alexis!) and her cousin who is the same age as Mackenzee. They were so sweet and always included her in everything that they did.
Isabella got to hang out with one of her cousins that she has never really gotten to hang out with before. His name was Trey and he is in kindergarten so they hit it off fast!! They were absolutely hilarious together. They played together the whole weekend. At one point, they had managed to get outside without anyone noticing and Trey's dad had found them walking to the park together! The park was within walking distance but not for a 5 and 4 year old by themselves!! Too funny!! They sat beside each other at the restaurant and could not stop giggling and talking!
The kids had a great time swimming in the lake, playing put put golf and hanging out with their aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great grandparents.

On Sunday morning they always have a catered breakfast in the dining hall of the lodge. His papa talked about how great it was to be a Wheeler and that the Wheeler's are always hugging and kissing one another. Boy do they ever...that is the kissin and hugginest family ever!! His papa loves it when all of his family is together! We had a great weekend and can't wait until we go again next year!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Today was the first day of school for both of the girls. Alexis is in the 5th grade this year and Isabella is in Pre-K. How in the world is Alexis already in 5th grade (she'll be in middle school next year!!!!) and my baby is starting school?!?! Well overall it went really great for both girls. They are at separate schools this year so the drop off each morning is going to be a little crazy but this morning Randy was off, so he was able to help me out. He took Alexis to her school and I told him "Please walk to her to her classroom or if she has to go to the gym make sure she finds her teacher and everything is good before you leave her." Well, he informs me that she said "she could handle it from here" as he was signing in. Needless to say...she thinks that we don't really need to walk her in or make sure she knows where she is going! That girl LOVES school!

I took Isabella to school and made sure that she felt confident enough for me to leave her. I absolutely HATE leaving my kids somewhere where they know absolutely nobody. She was really brave and at first did really good. In fact, at one time she shewed me to go ahead and leave. I "pretended" to leave and just kinda walked out into the hall where she couldn't see me but I could still see her. Once all the other parents left she started getting a little weepy. She decided she'd march herself over to her teacher's lap for a little while. Her teacher said that she was absolutely fine after that! I was so proud of her! Now I have to convince her to go back tomorrow and have a good time!!

We had chocolate chip cookies for an afternoon snack per Alexis' request.

LAST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION

Wednesday was the last day of the girls summer vacation. My mom and dad had the girls spend the night and had a little shin dig. They ate pizza and opened a gift from my parents. They got pencils, notepads, things to make cards, and candy. My girls LOVE all of those things. Then on Wednesday afternoon we went bowling. Randy is on vacation this week so he joined us at the bowling alley!

They had such a blast on their last day of summer vacation!!!

BACK TO SCHOOL

Well tonight was back to school night. Wow, where did the summer go? Isabella is going to a different school than Alexis is so we had to go to two different schools tonight. Alexis is going to be in 5th grade and is so ready to get back to school. She LOVES school! She got the teacher that she wanted so she was excited. Isabella is going to be in Pre-K and she was excited last week but not so much this week! She became very shy when being introduced to her teacher and suddenly couldn't talk. Yes, Isabella suddenly COULD NOT talk!!!! When we got home and we were sitting at the dinner table I asked Isabella what she thought that she was going to learn this year at school and she said "how to write my name perfect and straight and how to obey!!" Oh that girl cracks us up! All weekend I have been asking her over and over what she is suppose to do when the teacher is talking and she says "shut your mouth and lock it!" We'll see if she can manage to do that and stay out of trouble.

Alexis was reading over some of the paperwork that I got from her class and and reading it all she said "Dang...5th grade is expensive!!" Oh I think that it has just started with the "expense" of having two daughters!

Well I will leave you with a picture of how I found Isabella in her room (after being sent to her room for not obeying!!). This is a result of only being at school for 20 minutes....oh how I hope that she does this everyday after being there for 2 1/2 hours!!!!!

(Sorry about the blurry pictures again!!)

The BEST Papa In The Whole World!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!!!! My dad's birthday was a couple of days ago and he was out of town so we decided to celebrate it this afternoon with a swim party with the family except for one of my sisters who was on her honeymoon! (What else would we do if we didn't swim??!!) Well it was a little cooler this afternoon for the adults enjoyment for swimming so just the kids swam. The cooler temps didn't seem to bother the girls at all! After we finished swimming we grilled some yummy burgers. Drew seemed to be our entertainment for dinner and afterwards. He is on a deadline for learning to walk so we tried to practice with him as much as possible with whatever we could find to bribe him with!! The girls enjoyed giving Papa their gifts that they had made him and he seemed to like the shirts that we gave him!! The girls love their Papa SOOO much!!

We love you!!

(Sorry about the blurry pictures~I think I may need a new camera!)

CUPCAKES

This evening after dinner I told the girls that they could help me put frosting on the cupcakes that I had made earlier in the day. They love to help me with my cupcakes. See, I have this obsession with making (and eating!) cupcakes. I will make homemade cupcakes with homemade frosting about 2 times a month. I have to leave some each time in my cupcake stand that I have in my kitchen otherwise that would look kinda weird. (I think) Usually I am the one that ends up eating most of them! They sure are yummy and fun to make!!

Learning To Swim

When we went swimming on Monday Alexis decided that she would teach her sister how to swim without her floatie. She gave her a few example swims and then told her to try it for herself. Isabella did really good trying it by herself. Alexis then told me that if we can back on Tuesday with daddy she felt confident that with both her and daddy working with Isabella they could really teach her how to do it. So on Tuesday, we went back. Alexis and daddy showed Isabella some more swim moves and Isabella is really making progress. She is really doing good and just needs a little more confidence that if she starts to go under someone will be right there to pull her up!