We have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our fall break this year. It started Friday with Fall Festival at RPS. Rylee Love said she had a blast and I had a kind friend to send me a few pictures of her enjoying the festival. Then after school, I took Bailey and Rylee Love to DQ to get some ice cream to celebrate the beginning of Fall Break. The girls talked and laughed and enjoyed their treat. It was a nice way to begin our break.
Saturday morning, I caught up on housework and let Ryan catch up on sleep. Then we dropped the girls off at Nonna and Granddaddy's and headed to Jackson for a date night. While we were getting ready for our date, I made a slight change to my hair color. I like change especially when it comes to my hair. Anyway, we had some much needed alone time, and the girls had a blast being spoiled by their grandparents. I'm beginning to realize that date nights are a win-win. I used to feel guilty for leaving the girls, but now I know they enjoy those nights just as much as we do. It's harder for me to leave them after working all week, though, because I simply miss them and want o spend time with them. But when it's a break from school and I know I'm going to get a lot of time with them, it doesn't bother me so much to spend a few hours away from them.
Sunday morning we went ti church. Then we headed to Liz and Brandon's for some family time. My parents came to visit and the kids had a blast playing together and playing with Grandma and Grandpa.
Monday morning, I got up and got the girls ready for Fall Pictures at daycare, but neither of them would cooperate for the photographer, so I gave up. We ran a few errands and did a little shopping, then we headed home. When we got home I was able to get one cute shot of the girls in their matching outfits, so I felt better about them not doing so well at daycare. Tuesday, Grandma and Grandpa came over to spend a little bit of time with the girls before they headed back home. Rylee Love made Grandpa read to her for the entire morning, and she even impressed him by reading to him. She is getting so good at reading. I can't believe how well she's caught on to it.
Wednesday, we met up with Liz and Kaden and headed to Union City to the Discovery Park of America. It was really neat. The kids really enjoyed all the exhibits and baby Payton enjoyed taking in all the new sights. Rylee Love went down a slide that was a story tall. She amazes me how brave she is. She said that was her favorite part, but I know the pumpkin patch was a close second. She ran the pumpkin maze at least a dozen times. After we got back from the Discovery Park, we headed to our town square and took some pictures of little miss Payton. She is such a pretty little baby model.
Thursday, I did crafts with the girls. We started out by painting pumpkins. It was Payton's first time finger painting, and she loved it. She wanted to paint everything. She coated her entire pumpkin with paint, she didn't want miss a single spot. Rylee Love preferred to use a paintbrush. She was much more intentional with her painting, which of course would be expected since she's 3 1/2 years older than little sissy. After we painted pumpkins, we made feet ghosts and hand turkeys to hang on the fridge for fall. It was a lot of fun. I enjoy being able to do things like this with my girls. I wish I had more time to do fun little crafts with them.
By the time we were done painting and cleaning up, it was time for lunch and nap time. While Payton slept and Rylee Love had some quiet time, I got some school work done. I ended up working on school work until after dinner, but at least I know I'm completely caught up so hopefully I won't have to work late playing catch-up all week. I want to be able to spend as much time with my girls as possible. Friday, we woke up and it was rainy, so we decided to have a lazy day at home. The girls and I played in their playroom, read books, and snuggled and watched cartoons. It was a perfect day.
Saturday, we took the girls to Chuck-E-Cheese. It was Payton's first time and she had a blast. She tried to help sissy play all the games, and she loved the little rides. After we were done playing, we went to steak-n-shake for dinner then headed home. It was good to spend time together as a family. Today we went to church, and it was a really great sermon. Brother Ryan was preaching about the differences between being a fan of God and a follower of God. God doesn't want to be our #1, He wants to be our EVERYTHING. I had never heard it put exactly like that, and it was a really moving service. We had 2 people come to Christ, and that is always the best feeling, to watch someone give their life to Him. It was a good way to start this week going back to work.
I am sad that Fall Break has come to an end. Little breaks like these make me realize how quickly they are growing up. A lot has changed in the last 10 weeks since summer break ended for us, and I hate feeling like I'm missing out. I love what I do and I love every single child in my class, and that is what keeps me going. I just have got to do my best to get my work done and get home when the school day is over so I can have the best of both worlds. These girls will only be small for such a short time, there definitely isn't any time to waste. I am thankful for the memories we were able to make this week. I love, love, love spending every minute with these two precious girls.
