Our Last Day with Chloe Beth

Monday was our last day with Chloe Beth. Her mom teaches at a private school, and this was their last week of school. I am certainly going to miss her sweet smile, her repetitiveness, and that bright orange hair! Hopefully, she will get to come back a few days a week this fall when school starts again.

Hurley's Blog!

My sister and fellow Lostie, Rebekah, found Hurley's blog today! It's his personal blog (Jorge Garcia). And I'm sharing it with you!

www.dispatchesfromtheisland.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

My heart. In a picture.

I love these people so much it isn't even funny. Noah's perfect smile and precious dimple. Ella's cheerleader pose. Matt's hottness :) And they all have great hearts. How blessed am I to get to love, and be loved by them.

A new story.

Almost every piece of furniture in our house has a story behind it. The piano from my childhood, the couch off craigslist, the armoire we paid full price for, island we got from my grandmothers house... My kitchen table came from the Easlers. They are a huge family in Hendersonville. They have so many children I don't know where the exact count is right now. Back when I was barely out of highschool I moved in with their oldest, and my close buddy, Beth. Their family gave us their old kitchen table to use. When Beth got married and moved out, she didn't need it, so it went with me. Fastforward 10+ years and we are still using it. It's still in great shape. The problem we have is that we get cheap chairs from thrift stores/yard sales to use until we break them. (Which is what happens when you get them that way!). We have a total of 4 chairs right now in semi-decent condition, but one is used at the computer desk, so we pull it over for dinner. I've had my eye out for some more chairs for awhile now, but haven't seen any. This past weekend I went yardsaleing with Mary and Noah. We found a steal on 4 wooden chairs. I talked the guy down to $6 a piece! We will sand them and stain them, but they really are in good shape. They should last us a few more years until I get the table of my dreams!

Cousins

It had been awhile since we had seen Jack and Nick. We've been involved in house renovations and hadn't made the trek up to Hendersonville in a few months. Jack and Nick were gone most of the day to a baseball game, but as soon as they got back Noah and Ella were ready to play!

First time in the pool - 2010

Granny put up the big pool last weekend, and the kids have been itching to come and take their first swim. They had the opportunity to this weekend while we were in Hendersonville. Ella is only allowed in the kiddie pool, but she likes having it all to herself. Noah loves jumping off the stairs in the big pool. I sat down on the lawn in between them both and loved watching them play. I have the best kids ever!

Southside Grill

We enjoyed a relaxed dinner at a new restaurant we had never been too. The Southrock Bar & grill in Flat Rock. We had to spend our $35 in order to use our gift certificate, and since they had a cheap menu, we ate like kings! Matt got the fresh crab dip. We both had huge burgers (I got the Yeti, he got the Davey Jones with shrimp on it) and sweet potatoe fries, and we had them wrap up dessert for us to eat later that evening. All that, plus a fabulous time together, and we spent $17. Thanks again restaurant.com! After dinner we came back to Mary's and had a blast with all Matt's brothers and his family.

It's Date Night Again!

Matt and I made a commitment a few months ago, that once a month we will find a way to budget in a sitter and go out just the two of us. Last month we had a ton of fun. Tonight is our reserved date night and we are so excited!

One way we can afford these dinners out is through restaurant.com. They often have specials where you can get 80% off the cost of the coupon. How you can do it is... go to restaurant.com and type in your zip code. Search through the available gift certificates. Each available restaurant offers a $10, $25, $50 or $100 gift certificate. You then buy the $10 gift certificate for $4, the $25 certificate for $10, and so on. So when you are able to use the 80% off code, you can get a $25 gift card for $2! The only catch is, that there is a minimum amount that you can spend (for the $25 gift cards we get, you have to spend $35).

Our last date night at MoDaddys
Hot wings - $7
Jalepeno poppers - $7
3 tacos & salad/chips - $10
2 sodas - $4
Deep Fried Cheesecake (oh my gosh) - $6
Tax/Tip -
= $37

We got our meal for $12, with leftovers for the next day (minus the $2 for the original gift certificate). And it was PHENOMENAL!!

Hannah Beth is 1!

Today is my sweet niece's first birthday. She is such a beautiful precious child, and her parents are doing such a great job raising her in love. Happy Birthday Hannah Beth!

Promises

Claiming this promise today.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the
earth. He will not grow
tired or weary, and His understanding no one can
fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of
the weak." (Isaiah 40:28-29)

Can you believe it's that time?

I just got off the phone with the McSmiles preschool coordinator for our county. I am enrolling Ella in the McSmiles program, a free preschool that's county wide for 3 & 4 year olds. She will go just for 2 hours, twice a week this fall (and school year), and the following year (before kindergarten - I know, can't believe that's coming too!) we will transfer her to Marion Christian Academy. To say time flies by is an understatement!

Camping at Grannys

For the past few years the Siak boys have had a tradition of camping over the July 4th holiday. This year they weren't able to get a campsite, but it didn't stop them, they stayed in Granny's back yard. Complete with tents, sparklers, fire, and smores.

Lindsey and Daniels Wedding

This weekend we had the awesome opportunity to stand by Daniel and Lindsey as she officially became a "Scoggins." I have to tell you, this was the best wedding I have ever been to! From the ceremony to the reception, the time with family and friends, this weekend was amazing. I've uploaded a lot of pictures on the blog, so you will have to click at the bottom of the page to see the older posts. Enjoy!