The Bunch Truck on Through Bday Season and Enjoy Labor Day

Wow! The fall schedule is in full swing and so far working well for us. While we absolutely loved our homeschool scout group, it has been great having the extra time. The kids now are available to attend their youth group at church during the week and are making a lot of new friends. My very shy eldest daughter even invited a couple of them to come to her birthday party! She hardly ever asks for friends to come over. The church doesn't have any adult classes meet while the youth are having their service so basically D and I have a 2 hour date night once a week now. It has been fun just going out on our own. We ate at a great Thai place on the square last week.

It was a fun place.

Peanut butter chicken. YUMMY!!!

Red Curry Shrimp

The girls took a photography class this summer and decided to enter some photographs in the North Texas State Fair. They had their photos professionally printed and then matted them themselves. They each entered two photos. One in a general division that included all age groups and one in their respective divisions. L won 2nd place in the TX category for her bluebonnet and 1st for her picture of the dock from our first campsite in Hot Springs. A won 1st place in the black and white category for her picture of Iris and 3rd for her picture of Lake Michigan. I was really proud of them. They worked really hard, paid for every thing from the money they earned, and filled out the applications and followed all the rules to submit their photos. I was just the chauffer to run their errands.

A was really happy

Iris

Lake Michigan

L was super excited too.

Dock at rv site at Lake Catherine State Park, AR

The lone bluebonnet in our garden.

We spent my birthday at Top Golf. It was really fun. We played the golf games for about 2 hours, but it had a heat index of 112 that day and even with their industrial fans blowing us away, it was still really hot. The food wasn't that great there so I say go play, have a snack, and then go eat at one of the millions of restaurants in the area. D and the kids took me antique shopping and out to a new Chinese place for lunch the next day. It was a great way to spend another 24th birthday!

This was a lot more fun than we originally thought it would be

We had a FANTASTIC time

I really need to speak to her about using my camera to take her selfies

Yep, I totally sucked. The blind in one eye Grandma even beat me (by A LOT) Still a blast though

Even the restaurant was really hot.

My kids are so sweet !

Even if they are dyslexic.

Over the Labor Day weekend, we had family come in from Nebraska. My son LOVES when his cousin comes to visit. I think he enjoys having another male in the house. He is around all girls a majority of the time and relishes another like minded male to play games and watch tv with. We also had the kids birthday party while they were visiting. A worked really had for about 6 weeks making all her own decorations for her sweet 16. She used all her spare time pretty much preparing for this party. As I said before, she even invited friends so she was really excited. Unfortunately, we have a couple family members who have a flare for drama that tried to ruin it for her, but they quickly left and all was well. Unfortunately, it has gotten to the point where we no longer wish to see these members. It seems anger and drama seems to have a permanent hold over them (my husband has suggested maybe a bipolar issue) , but we have stayed quiet about a lot of things for a long time and had more conversations in the car with kids on the way to gatherings with these members on how to act when someone is just rude and inconsiderate. T has left upset and in tears more than I care to think about. They know unless they are being actually hurt to just ignore them and come stay with us. They usually do pretty well NOT reacting (I guess kids can listen sometimes), but we all have our breaking point and I guess my youngest finally had his. I by no way condone how he reacted (and he did have to call and apologize for his actions and got in trouble here), but it takes two to tango as we all know and it has been building up for awhile. At least, I know my son did take responsibility for HIS actions, but I digress. It is always sad when you realize that sometimes for the betterment of your own family you just need to let people you love go. We have a really laid back life and just do not want constant drama around us. Other than that unfortunate incident, the party was great and we loved seeing all our friends and family. Life is short so be around those whose company you enjoy as much as you can because tomorrow is a blessing you may not get.