The first week of school {and the weekend}

Well, the first week of school has come and gone.

I cannot believe that I have a 3rd grader and a 4th grader!

They had a great first day and they both love their teachers!

  C Girl has really been in to fashion this year. I bought her this sleeveless cardigan and she loves it!

 On Monday morning, I went to my friend, Kelly's house for her 2nd annual back to school brunch. It's always fun seeing friends and getting to catch up. There were several this year who had kids starting kindergarten.

Tuesday morning, I had my bi-monthly meeting with my mentor. It was nice catching up after our summer break!

Our church had our annual clothing giveaway this past Saturday and on Wednesday, I went to the church to help put clothing out on the racks.

Tim had to hire 2 new assistant principals this summer. One is now a principal at one of the middle schools and the other relocated to another state. It has been super busy and stressful for him this summer. He has basically been doing the job of 3 people. We will be so happy when he can be home with us more and be less stressed!

On Thursday, C Girl got back to piano lessons after a short summer break. We also had back to school night. Each teacher goes over classroom and parent expectations, curriculum, schedules, etc. We are very excited about this school year! Both teachers seem very organized and both are very big communicators and proponents of technology!

We celebrated the end of the first week with slushes! 

It was SO HOT this week!

 For dinner we decided to try Chipotle again. Apparently, our local location is just very "meh." I would possibly eat at one somewhere else, but we have so many other great food options that I'm not going to waste my time here again.

On a side note, I've made some BIG diet changes to try and help me feel better. My Humira makes a big difference, but I've still been struggling even with cutting dairy out. I'm doing a "low residue" diet. It basically an extended version of the BRAT (banana, rice, applesauce, toast) diet. It is food that is extremely easy on the digestive system. I have been feeling GREAT so far! I haven't been able to say that in a loooooong time.

Friday night, I had the chicken burrito bowl. I had chicken, rice, lettuce, guacamole, and pico de gallo. Everything was great except the chicken was too spicy so I avoided it.

We went to the downtown square for First Friday. It was the back to school theme. The kids got free cotton candy and we got to watch kids perform martial arts. We also listened to the music for a little bit. We didn't stay long because it was so hot!

 He can barely pick these big kids up anymore!

 Saturday morning, we got up at 5:30 so that we could be at the church at 6:45 to help with the clothing giveaway.

I posted this on FB after we got home:

When I tell people that I LOVE my church, it's because I really mean it. These are the people who have made Bentonville home for me. This is the place where I learned and keep learning the depths of God's grace and mercy. This is the place that is teaching my children about God and Jesus.

Today is our church's annual clothing giveaway (until noon! Free clothing!) 

People bring clothing donations and then people from our church spend MANY hours sorting, washing, hanging, folding, organizing and planning for this event. A few people got up before dawn today to hand out breakfast to the people outside waiting to come and shop. I'm so thankful for a church filled with people that have a desire to bless others and expect nothing in return except to share Jesus with them. I'm thankful that our church encourages kids to come and help throughout the week and at the event. My kids are seeing people in our own community who are in need and they have the opportunity to help them.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the people who have spent many hours at the church this week to make this event happen.

(C Girl and her sweet friend, Emily)

 I went shopping and got started on birthday party planning! I have 3 parties to plan for this week!

I took the kiddos to church Sunday morning. They had their last lessons in 2nd and 3rd grade Sunday School. Tears.

After eating lunch, we ran to Target to get a few clothing needs and then I took the kids to Amazeum to play.

 They LOVED the Tinkering Hub!

 They were playing with circuits.

 One of the teachers at Tim's school volunteers at Amazeum and she sat down and demonstrated some new materials they are going to start using soon in the Hub.

They had such a fun time!

We are out of school today for staff development and had plans to go to a local water park, but it's RAINING! I may take them later if the rain clears out!