Grandma’s Tuesdays with Mollie

Every Tuesday for the last 4 1/2 years, Grandma has driven up from Purcell to keep Mollie for us while I went to work.  It is bittersweet for Mollie to start school because now Grandma’s “Tuesdays with Mollie” as she likes to say, will be cut short. 

I hope someday she will understand how special it was to have her Grandma come see her every week and that they will always have a special bond.

It just conveniently worked out that now we have our Reed Man, so Grandma has kept coming to keep him.  Now she gets to pick Mollie up from school and see her for a couple hours. 

Mollie’s First Day of Pre-K

August 17, 2017

Skyview Elementary, Yukon

Oh my gravy…. how did this day come soooo fast!  We can’t believe that Mollie is in school all day, every day.  I have been dreading this, praying and gearing myself up all summer.  What was I going to do without my girl?  She was also such a great helper with Reed being so little.  We knew that she was ready… and that was affirmed even more when she marched right into her class and settled in without shedding a tear. 

The night before, her teachers had given us some fun “Ready Confetti” to sprinkle under her pillow.  Through tears, I read her the cute little poem and off to bed she went.  Nate made such fun of me but his time was coming…

I made sure to get everyone up extra early for mandatory first day pictures.

My heart was bursting and I had a lump in my throat the whole time.  Everyone says that time goes even faster when they start school, and now I know they are right.  Nate and I are so very proud of our big girl and love her soooo much. 

Like I said before, Mollie was fine at drop off.  I had a few tears… but Daddy couldn’t stop crying.  He had not prepared like I had, and now we had just left our baby with strangers, in a new place and it was weird.  There was no way we were making it to the tour after drop off…. we basically ran out of there, wiping our eyes all the way to the car.

The next day went a little better:

Your dad and I are your biggest fans!  Go change the world, baby girl.  This is our prayer for you this school year:

“Keep your eyes open, Hold tight to your convictions, Give it all you’ve got, Be resolute, and Love without stopping” 1 Cor. 16:13-14

Keep your eyes open…. make sure you are seeing the people around you.  Obey and respect your teachers, and look for opportunities to befriend your classmates.

Hold tight to your convictions…. you know what’s right and what’s wrong.  You know when others are hurt or confused.  Don’t ever make someone feel bad.  Remember what we’ve taught you and remember what God has already put in your sweet little tender heart.

Give it all you’ve got…. At whatever you’re doing in class, do it right.  And, do it to the best of your ability.  We know you can do it all!

Be resolute…. Lead.  Don’t be a follower and do things just because others are. 

Love without stopping… We see your kind heart.  Show your class.

Dallas Vaca

August 4-6, 2017

We didn’t get all the way to the beach with a newborn this year, but wanted to do something fun with Mollie before school started…. so to Dallas we went.

It was a hectic time for Nate.  He went to help move Mamaw and Papaw into an assisted living home and came back all in one day, so the next day he could take his little family to Dallas for some fun.  I am so proud of him for always putting his family first.

This was Reed’s first vacation at 3 months old.

We got to break in our new car and enjoy all the extra room.  The first night we went to the Rainforest Cafe and Mollie picked out a new rainbow giraffe she promptly named, Twilight.  Reed slept through the whole dinner… even during the “rain storms” when all the animals came to life.

Of course, Mollie loved the hotel.  She loves when she gets her own bed to set up with her 20 stuffed animals she insists on bringing….and of course, she loves to swim.

The next day we went to Lego Land.  It was full of fun… and full of people.  I took a lot of pictures and everyone’s favorite thing was the 3D movie and R2D2.

More family fun in the hotel room:

The next day we went to the aquarium.  It was so fun!  They gave Mollie a little book to collect stamps at every new exhibit and she loved that!  We rolled right along and they even made me walk across a glass floor… with sharks underneath.  Yikes.

And after one more night, we loaded up and came home.  It was a fun time for sure!

New “Family” Car

August 2, 2017

When Reed was born, we knew that our time with the Jeep was coming to an end.  His infant car seat would only fit in the middle, making Mollie pretty cramped on the side.  So… of course, Nate was on the hunt.  We found this GMC Acadia and when we went to look at it, I knew that we would buy it.  That’s just how Nate buys big items…. if he looks at it, he buys it.  So, with what we got for the Jeep, we just had to add $1,500 and got ourselves a “new-to-us” family car.

It is awesome!  We are loving all the room and the third row is great for when people need to ride with us.  I remember when we bought the Jeep, I had so much buyers remorse… like should we have done this?  But, not with this car.  We definitely needed it and we are definitely loving it!