Something old, something new....

Actually, I guess I should say someone old and someone new (I'll take the "old" part, Shannon). Shannon came up this past weekend so we could celebrate our birthday on Saturday together. What a great day it was!! We did a little shopping, went out to lunch, layed out by the pool, and hung out with family. I don't like getting older, but any reason to get together with family is alright by me!
And this little guy is our someone new. Sullivan Cole is the newest member of the Primm family. He is Seth and Joy's sweet baby and was born on the 11th. How adorable is that face??!!

Note: I'm going to save all you blog readers some time over the next few days and let you know that there will not be any new posts from me for a while. I can sense your disappointment, but life these days is CRAZY!! We're leaving Saturday night for a cruise to the Virgin Islands (if they're still there and if we can fly safely through a hurricane...) and will be gone for 8 days. Yes, I'll have beautiful pictures and amazing stories to tell of our adventures when we return, but I just started nursing school. Let me try and convey the level of stress this has caused: It's one of the hardest and most time-consuming things I've ever done in my life, I'm missing one whole day of vital signs and another entire day of dosage calculations while we're gone, I have to test on said skills the Tuesday and Wednesday after we return, and I have a major test that Thursday over everything taught the first 3 weeks of school. I know I've added to the stress by taking a vacation in the middle of all of this, but it was booked in January and vacation insurance doesn't cover stupidity. So..... I'm going to stay up all night, sleep in late, lay on the beach, eat 7 meals a day and not think about school for a whole week. And then totally flip out on the plane ride home!! Anyway, I'll be MIA for a while. But, don't worry - I'll be back.....someday.

First day of school

First of all..... how beautiful are these girls?? I may be a little biased since I'm their mom and all, but seriously, they are just lovely.

And so, here we are once again with the first day of school. I've been blogging for a whole year now and doing a lot better job of keeping up with it than I ever thought I would! Do you recall the pictures from the first day of school last year?? Some smiles, some tears. Well, this year it was all happy (or for the most part, anyway.....)! Holland was too nervous to eat breakfast and spent a good bit of time in the bathroom this morning, but was a real trooper about starting the 4th grade. She got just a little misty at the last moment when I had to say goodbye and leave, but I can't blame her a bit. She gets every bit of her anxiety about new situations from me. I may even cry when I have start school next Monday - who knows?! Payton ate her mini muffins and then said several times that her tummy hurt because she was so full (also a case of the butterflies, I'm sure). Somehow 14 kids from her 2nd grade class ended up in her 3rd grade class, which is a pretty sweet deal. Even I knew every one of the kids at her table! She won't have any problems adjusting.

And so, they continue to grow up way too fast, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I just have to enjoy this ride right along with them and remember to make the most of every day and enjoy this precious time...... Does anyone have a kleenex???

Crazy cat lady

Do you know what you do when your kids are gone? You take pictures of your cats. The one on the left has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer anyway, but for some reason she thinks that cats are supposed to lay on their backs. Poor girl. She's never going to amount to much....

One last hoorah

Well, it's hard to believe, but summer vacation is officially winding down. The girls still have one more week before they go back to school, but they're spending it in Branson with their grandparents. Since we won't be seeing them for a while, we decided to have a family night last night and spend some quality time together. We had supper at Red Robin, then went and played putt-putt. It was a gorgeous evening, (thanks to the rain this week that made for cooler temperatures) and we all had so much fun. 2 of us (not naming names) made a hole-in-one on the 18th, so we walked away with 2 free passes. Oh, and Scott won in case you were wondering. No surprise there. Fun times!


But, now the girls are gone and I'm wondering what the heck I'm gonna do all week by myself. I'm sure I'll think of something :)

Cute kids everywhere!!

Tuesday was a day full of fun and kiddos! Leslie is out of town, so the girls and I went and picked Blaire up and brought her back to our house for the day. She is so good and such a doll! I miss those baby days.... just not enough to have another one! Then in the afternoon, Jill and Lauren came over to swim. It was a great afternoon of relaxing and NOT thinking about the stress to come in just a few short weeks once school starts. After they had left, Seth, Joy and Oliver came by for an evening swim. Oliver liked the water for a while, but he really enjoyed the ride on Scott's new mower. Hey - maybe if we started charging a small fee for rides on the mower, we could get it paid off a whole lot faster! Now, there's an idea!

Time for a new post

but don't get too excited because this one is about a rat. The girls and I had planned on getting in the pool Saturday, but quickly changed our minds when we saw this big nasty thing swimming around. Does it get any worse than a rodent doing the breaststroke right outside your window?? Plus, Scott went on a 75 mile bike ride (yes, you read that correctly) and was gone for almost 6 hours. When he called, he told me to "just get a Wal-Mart sack"..... and that's where I cut him off. Not in this lifetime!! So, we patiently waited until Saturday afternoon when the pool was rodent-free to swim. And have swam every single day this week. It's definitely summertime in Arkansas!
In other news, we met Leslie and the girls at Jason's Deli yesterday for lunch. If you haven't been, you're missing out! It was fantastic - I can't wait to go back this weekend!!

What's been goin' on

We've been busy the past few days, but I like it like that! We went to Silver Dollar City on Thursday with Jill and Lauren. It was a great day to go - overcast most of the day and not too crowded. We've been twice this year, so I guess we've justified getting the season passes!

I don't know exactly what this was called, but I would not call it a "ride". It was more like a "work". You had to pull yourself all the way up to the top, and then you got to slide back down. Payton did her best to help, but we're gonna have to get her in the gym before we go back and try that again....
The bunny that kept pooping on Payton (3 times to be exact). At least they only shoot pellets....
Oh look - it's a picture of Payton sleeping! This was 4th of July morning on our way to El Dorado.
Scott and Oliver doing the guy thing and shooting hoops!

Going for a ride around the house. This is one of the kids' favorite things to do at Papa & M'laines. The all-time favorite - sparklers! You have to get closer than that, Paty!
Our friends Leslie, Paige, Ryan, and Blaire came over yesterday for lunch and a swim, even though Leslie and I were the only ones in the pool most of the time. Here are the girls having a picnic snack in the garage.
And Leslie & cutie-patootie Blaire in the pool.
Then today, my uncle Henry and aunt Pam brought their grandsons over for a visit. Corey and Christian live in NC, and we hadn't seen them in a year and a half. They all had so much fun! We'll have to get them together again soon - and longer next time!