Day 83: Floating the River (8/16)

Away we go! It was fun. Gavin I knew wasn't any problem, he enjoyed himself so much. Rallie loved it just as much. She wanted to be in the water more than in the raft. It was fun and a nice way to spend the day. It was perfect weather, not to hot and the water was cool. We had good snacks and fun times!

Day 82: Camping Out (8/15)

The Babinec family has decided to spend the weekend out in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The Illinois River runs through that part and it's perfect for floating. We have always stayed in the cabins but this time we were a little late in deciding to go and only tent camping was available. Luckily, every fame had a tent and it was fun. We had hobo dinners and s'mores for dinner. Only Gavin, Rallie, and I went this time. Eisley is still way to young and I don't think I could have handled three by myself so I only took the two oldest. It was nice and I know next year, we can all do it. Tomorrow, we float!

Day 81: PC- Joy Hofmeister (8/14)

We are officially reporting to school today. Putnam City has a full district gathering and we were lucky enough to here Joy Hofmeister speak, this was the second time I've seen her. In the first seven years of teaching, how many times did I hear previous State School Superintendent? Not once. So far, she has nice points in her favor. After we have this conference, we get to work in our classrooms for the rest of the day. I really needed that time. I've been helping Sami out a lot that I am a little behind. I'm not worried, I just wanna get it done. 

Day 80: Still Syncing iPads (8/13)

Son of a *****, I am still syncing these iPads. I hope I can get it done before school starts. Out of 35 iPads, I have 12 that are giving me some fits. 

Day 79: Frontier City (8/12)

We spent one of the last days of summer at Frontier City. We had so much fun! The Gavin, Rallie, & Wes love to ride any rides! They are such troopers and willing to try anything and usually end up loving it. I wish I had some video of there faces on the "big kid" rides. After spending some time in the park we made our way over the new water works area. Another very cool part of the park. It's the perfect size for our kids. Not to boring for Gavin and not to big for the twins. Eisley loved it as well. We had so much fun and the kids were so exhausted. Perfect day to almost end the summer. 

Day 78: Tuesday's Helper (8/11)

My mom had a bus driver's meeting and asked that I come to Stroud to help dad and just run the register, just in case. I drove down last night and spent the night so that I didn't have to drive in the morning. Dad said that Tuesdays were pretty slow and for a bit we were, so we made two lists. One for the upcoming floating trip and the other was what dad was going to talk about at his Lion Club lunch. I felt that once we got a little busy, I was more hinderance than help. I messed up a few times but I was able to fix it. When mom came back, she bought my lunch for coming to help. It was nice to spend time in the hardware shop without having to chase the kiddos around. I also got some free stuff so it was a really nice time at True Value!

Day 77: Syncing iPads (8/10)

I GOT iPADS FOR MY CLASSROOM THIS YEAR!! I am super excited! I didn't have them last year and was always checking them out from the library. I was so lucky to get them this year. I went up to the school today to learn how to sync them and create profiles. It was harder than I thought and I didn't get it done today. It was running really slow and there were so problems. I know that I will have to continue doing this for a few days. However, you can't rain on my parade because I have a class set of iPads!!

Day 76: My Go Bag (8/9)

I LOVE my Vera Bradley bag that Sami got her bridesmaids as a gift. I carry it every where. It's the perfect size for either a diaper bag or an overnight bag. And blue is my favorite color and I don't have any monogramed items so it's supper fun. Thanks, Sami Jo!!

Day 75: Backyard Playtime (8/8)

Summer is quickly coming to an end. The days of being naked in our backyard are almost done. I don't know what they kids are going to have to do when they need to wear clothes all day. We started out in the pool, made our way to the sand box (best thing ever!!) and ended our time on the air plane. The sand box was given to us from a neighbor down the street, we add nice sand and a few sand toys and I can't believe how much the kids love playing in it. Whenever they make it to the backyard, they always end up in the sand box. We are slowly losing sand as well but I can't complain. They love it so much. 

Day 74: Finder's Keepers (8/7)

I found this picture on my phone, one of Gavin's favorite past times.  I asked him were the dollar was and he told me, he found it and he was going to keep it. I still haven't found it and I probably never will. 

Day 73: August Calendar (8/6)

So today we had to fill out our monthly calendar. As soon as we starting reporting to school there was just to many activities to remember between Rennie, Gavin and I. After I took this picture, there were a few more events to fill and I can only imagine what it will look like once school starts for every one. 

Day 72: Feed the Children (8/5)

Once a month, teachers of different districts are able to get free supplies from Feed the Children. Sami Jo and I decided to check out the first day it was open. WOW! There were a lot of teachers there! Whataburger was sponsoring the event and was giving out free food. I don't think it was such a good idea to go on the first day. A lot of the good stuff was gone by the time we got in. Oh well, there's always September. :)

Day 71: Big Brother (8/4)

Rallie, Wes, and Eisley love Gavin so much. It's crazy how they follow him around and want to be doing whatever he's doing. Today, Gavin was play his DS and Eisley climbed up onto his chair and under the covers just so she could watch him. Gavin helped her up and under and talked to her the entire time. It warms my heart to watch Gavin, Rallie, Wes, and Eisley interact with each other. 

Day 70: Dinner Out (8/3)

Sometimes you never realize how close family lives. After spending this Saturday hanging out with my sisters and Lish, Dana told us she would be in town for a conference Monday & Tuesday. Lish mentioned getting dinner and Sami and I chimed in that we wanted to join. It was nice!! Definitely something we should do more often. Lish lives in Norman, Sami in Moore and I live in Mustang (technically Yukon) but we live within 30 mins of each other. It's silly we don't get together more than we do. :) 

Day 69: Ever Since WWE (8/2)

Ever since the boys went to WWE, Gavin and Wes have been carrying around these WWE belts and wrestling. They take them everywhere we allow. It's so funny to watch them interact. Wes will take his shirt off and ask Gavin to wrestle with him. Wes is finally understanding some of the things Gavin wants him to do to play with him!

Day 68: True Value Grand Re-Opening (8/1)

Today, my parents had a Grand Re-Opening at their True Value hardware store. They had free hot dogs, bottle water, some give aways and a chance to win big prices. All the girls showed up with all the kiddos. Grandma and Grandpa Babinec also made it down to visit and see the store! It was so much fun. PopPop was a little stressed with all nine grandkids running around the store but it all worked out. It was so nice to visit with family and promote my mom and dad's new store. 

Day 67: Bounce Craze (7/31)

Why do I always find these things when summer is almost over?! This is just down the road from us at Reno and Morgan. It's a building with four or five large inflatiables and some other fun things to do. Again because the twins are two, I only had to pay about $9 for all of us to play from 10-3. (We only made it to 12:30.) It was fun! At first the twins were a little unsure but after watching Gavin they warmed right up to it and tried everything. 

Day 66: Towel Capes (7/30)

After the kids swim in the pool, they come inside to get dried off. I'm not going to lie, my kids don't like to wear cloths. They would rather be naked and if we aren't going any where or some one is coming over, I don't fight it. Whatever floats their boats. So today after getting dried off, they turned their towels into superhero capes. They all ran around the living rooms for a while yelling and acting like heroes with capes. Eisley didn't understand but because everyone was wearing a towel and running then Eisley had to join in. It made me just stop and take it all in. When will they grow out of this stage? I hope not soon. 

Day 65: Wes' Allergies (7/29)

When Wes was young, he had all these skin problems. Looking back I fell so bad, it was all preventable if we just kept him away from peanuts. Today Wes had some contact with nuts some time during his day and this is the result. Poor baby. He takes it like a champ though. I think that's what breaks my heart the most.

Day 64: Cleaning the Toy Box (7/28)

Why oh why do I do this to myself? I usually wait until they are all asleep to clean the toy box out but I decided to just go all in today while they were around. I immediately regretted my decision and had to finish it up when they went to nap. 

Day 63: WWE Bound (7/27)

These boys are so excited! They get to go watch some WWE wrestling tonight at the Cheasepeak Arena. They meet PopPop in downtown for dinner and then the four of them went to watch wrestling. Gavin and Wes both loved it so much. Wes was so excited to see John Cena. Gavin has always enjoyed it and now we have added Wes to the group. Poor Wes fell asleep in his seat around 9 pm and slept through a lot of the action. :)

Day 62: Reunited! (7/26)

We made it home to these kids. I LOVED my vacation and the time I was able to spend with just Rennie, however I was so excited to come home to these silly kids! 

Day 61: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (7/25)

On our last day, we spent it from around 9 to 5 on the beach. We got in and out of the ocean. Rennie tried paddle boarding for the first time and we bought new hats. We ordered drinks and ate lunch out on the beach. Rennie and I have different thoughts on how vacation is supposed to be spent. The first days we did things and explored and the last day we sat on the beach and did nothing. Can you guess who likes to do things and who likes to lay around?!

Day 60: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (7/24)

Today, we took a city and tropical tour of Puerto Vallarta. We went into the old part of Puerto Vallarta, took shots at a tequila distillery and ate a fresh, seafood lunch off the river. It was so neat to explore a foreign city. 

Day 59: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (7/23)

Today, we did an excursion with Vallarta Adventures. We did the Extreme Adventure with zip-lines, ATVs, and a water slide. It was so much fun! An experience, we will never forget!!

Day 58: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (7/22)

We explored our surroundings today. We have a hotel down on at the beach.  Rennie also go to parasail right off the beach outside our hotel. They took him out into the ocean and over the city. We also explored downtown Puerto Vallarta. They have a flea market and a boardwalk. It started raining then so we don't have any pictures. It's a wonderful place to visit. 

Day 57: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (7/21)

Today, we flew out of OKC and landed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for five days... without kids. As soon as we landed we ate lunch at the hotel. It's a good way to start off a vacation. 

Day 56: Where's Wes? (7/20)

He thought this was the funniest thing ever!

Day 55: Mornings by the Pool (7/19)

Photo credit: Rallie Claire

Mornings are usually spent around the pool. I don't think I can really tell people how much time we spend outside in the pool. It amazes me actually! The kids really love it. Also whenever we are outside, our dog Bella loves to join in. She hasn't made it into the pool yet but she watches the kids to make sure they are doing what they are supposed too. 

Day 54: TWINS! (7/18)

This time three years ago, we found out that we were having girl/boy twins. We knew that we were having twins but we didn't know their genders. I love timehop. It's nice to see the past things I've posted. I know that one day my kids will read this blog and see all the things we did together and my thoughts. I like that. 

I can't believe three years ago we found out we were having girl/boy twins. We didn't know what we were in for but I wouldn't change it. It's been an amazing experience so far, Rallie and Wes are two of our greatest blessings! Sometimes I look at them and think, we're doing it: TWINS!!

Day 53: True Value Tech (7/17)

The other day, my dad called me and said he needed me to create something for their new hardware store, True Value. After working for years at McDonald's my parents thought they needed to start thinking of retirement. If you know anything about my parents dad, you know that change isn't his thing. He's talked about doing similar things but never buckled down to get it done. However, this time they did it!! They bought the hardware store in Stroud. They've learned to manage it and run it daily. They took over this summer, starting June 1st. 

On August 1st, they are planning a grand reopening party. Dad wanted some things created to put in the paper. He called me to help. I'm good on computers. It doesn't take me long to figure something out or create needed documents. I would like to take a coding class that's another post! So whenever my parents need some help with technology they call me. I enjoy it! I feel involved. Dad had me create the above postcard for the paper.

I brought the twins and Sami with me to Stroud. They love being at the store. For my fee, I required dinner out. Mom took us to the new Chinese restaurant on Main street. Rallie never left Nana's side. 

If your on Facebook and haven't yet, you need to like: Stroud True Value.

Day 52: Random Pictures I Find (7/16)

Sometimes when I look in my pictures, I find lots and lots of random pictures. I never know who taking the pictures until I see who else is in them. This time Gavin took some nice pictures around the house. He takes the best. When either on of the twins gets a hold of my phone and take pictures, I get a lot of floor or close up of clothes or blankets. It's like a little treasure each time. 

Day 51: Backyard! (7/15)

Well after a year of working on the backyard, Rennie can officially say that the deck and pool area are mostly done. He's done an amazing job! We are outside most days and as you know the kids are always in the pool. Don't you worry though there is still plenty for Rennie to work on in the back yard but I wanted to take a moment to show off all the hard work he has done.