The Meltons

Welcome to the September Snapshot! Here's a glimpse into what we've been up to recently:

Jeff went to Chicago for most of a week for his Renovare Cohort. He had an amazing week of intense learning and digging deep into Spiritual Disciples. The Cohort met and stayed at the University of St. Mary's of the Lake. It was a bit strange for Aylin and I to not have Jeff around; thankfully up until now Jeff hasn't had to do any travel without Aylin and I aside from his trip to Honduras a couple of years ago. We managed just fine while he was gone, but it felt weird not to have him around. We like having our Hairy Guy around. 

While he was gone I did some crafting, and organizing; I finally got around to decorating the room we have dubbed Spare 'oom, and I also got around to organizing the office. I got a lovely mom's weekend when Grandma Linda asked to take Aylin for the weekend and spoil the little monkey at Silver Dollar City. Plus I got to do a little shopping for some smaller clothes!!!

 

I hit some fun milestones with my weight-loss journey. Not only did I break down and finally buy some smaller clothes, but I love the way my clothes fit/look/feel for the first time in a long time. I hit an all time low (lower than I hit 4 years ago when I started trying to run), and have erased more than 10 years of weight yo-yoing from my body! It's been hard work, but it feels so so so SO good!

Aylin had some fun school happenings in September. The school did a Fun Run fundraiser and Aylin won Student of the Week.

Papa Joe also came to the school and talked to a group of 4th graders Student Choice Group "All About Dogs". I think both Aylin and her Papa were equally excited about the day. 

Less exciting: I tried on what seems like a hundred pairs of glasses and still haven't landed on a pair I like... 

And last but not least - We got to have a LOVELY weekend away at a cottage in Kingston thanks to the super sweet hospitality of friends. We sipped coffee while watching the sun rise (and set), we played a lot of games, read lots of books, soaked in bubble baths, and just generally enjoyed some exceptional family time unplugged and recharging. 

And that's a wrap for September! Maybe I'll get October done a little sooner in the month! Ha!

The month of August was jam packed with all sorts of exciting things. Here's a glimpse into all the goings-on at the Casa de Melton.

While celebrating Laura's birthday; we introduced Aylin to the fun, spunky town of Eureka. We enjoyed poking around in shops and I thoroughly embarrassed Aylin by putting on a purple yarn wig. It was so fun, I really think I ought to go back and purchase it. We tried on all sorts of festive headgear... Aylin also enjoyed entertaining her sweet little cousin Eliza at the restaurant.

Aylin started FOURTH GRADE!!! She's Big Girl on Campus this year, and they start getting a taste for Middle School next year with having a Homeroom Teacher and a separate teacher for Literacy. She is loving it so far. 

I bought myself a paper planner for the first time since owning a smart phone. It has helped tremendously in ordering all the things that swirl around in my head. Plus it has lots of fun stickers, one can't go wrong with stickers. 

We decided to head over to Jenks, OK and visit the aquarium. We hadn't been there since Aylin was 3 or 4, so it was fun to go back and see things with our Big Kid. We saw all kinds of incredible things; a giant sea tortious, river otters, a beaver, sting rays, a giant octopus, pregnant sea horses, sharks, glowy coral, there was a super cool exhibit with electric eels where it had a speaker so you could hear the electric charges as well as a meter so you could see the voltage!

Jeff and I have both had scale victories this month; and both of us able to fit into smaller clothes that we hadn't worn in a while. Further proof that sticking to meal planning and healthy eating and exercise is finally working for both of us at the same time. It's not an easy journey, but it is so worth it. 

Little Brother decided to move to Charlotte and say Au Revoir to Bentonville, so Little Sis came to help him with driving. I had a little farewell dinner before they drove out.

Another family fun weekend was a trip over to Blanchard Springs Cavern near Mountain View, AR. I did not take an photos because it would have been hard for me to do so in the low light of the caves and o figured the website had better photos than I could take any way. So do click over and see a bit of what we went through. We went on two cave tours; the Dripstone Trail and the Discovery Trail. Both were truly magnificent. The Dripstone Trail was an easier stroll with decently lit walkways and handicap accessible. The Discovery Trail, however, was a fast paced tour up and down wet stairs with metal handrails slick with bat dung. There were a few places I had a little trouble with my vision, but between a cane* that we purchased in the gift shop, and following behind Jeff and Aylin so I could watch where they were and how they stepped I managed alright. We started out with the more easy Dripstone Trail, then headed into Mountain View for a bite of lunch and found a little BBQ joint, then headed back to Blanchard Springs Caverns to do the harder Discovery Trail. Even though it was a challenging tour I was really glad we did it. It truly is amazing to see the awesome things that happen below the surface of the earth. A few thoughts from Jeff on our trip to the caves. Once we were done with our tours of the caves we matched up with Papa Joe and Grandma Linda in Yellville for more BBQ. One can never have too much BBQ. 

*It seems to be that we've started a tradition of sorts where I intend to bring my cane somewhere and then forget it, or think "Bah, I'll be fine. I don't need it" and then realize that I'd do better with one. So at this point I now have 4 canes. My white tip blind guide cane, a wood hiking stick, and 2 metal adjustable hiking sticks. This now begs the question as to whether or not I should get an umbrella rest to store all my various canes in. Maybe even find a way to creatively label them. "Blanchard Springs Cavern Cane", "Chimney Rock, Colorado Cane", etc. 

And a few random  snippets from the month:

And so ends the exciting journeys of the Melton Clan for August!