AveryAnn's First Day of 2K

AveryAnn started 2K last week and I was so nervous how she would do.  Barrett started MDO at 18 months but she had not been to any sort of organized childcare thing.  She was adamant she was NOT going to school.  She had zero interest anything school related.  SO I was pretty sure how this was going to go...

Tried to get a picture at home...

Tried to get a picture of us together..

Tried to get a picture by the fountain at school... she wouldn't pose for me but I snapped a couple cute ones on the way in. 

She cried and screamed when I dropped her off.  I could hear her screaming from the second level.  But I didn't get upset.  It was comical by that point because she was so adamant she wasn't going.  A friend dropped her daughter off after I'd left and she said AveryAnn was fine.  That her face wasn't even red.  That made me feel so much better.

Her teacher posted this picture later in the day.  I loved seeing her smiling face.  She said she loved school but she didn't want to go back.  When I dropped her off  Thursday she didn't even cry.  She was so excited.  She was less thrilled yesterday but she is always so happy when I pick her up and talks about how much fun she had.  I think this is going to be so good for her (and me!)  We're looking forward to a great year!

Last bit of Summer Fun!

We are back into the full swing of things around here.  Summer is a thing of the past, now if the weather would get the hint we'd be doing good.  Barrett is loving school.  He loves riding the bus and thinks he is big stuff.  It makes me so happy and so sad all at the same time.  AveryAnn started 2K last week and is loving it too.  

The week school started our PTA hosted Popsicles on the patio for the new families.  We got to tour the school and talk to his teacher more.  I also got talked into being Room Mother.  Jessica and I are Co-Room Mothers so we're in it together. 

These two have started playing really well together.  They are the sweetest and I love how much the love each other.

We went to a park close to our house one afternoon.  Barrett was determined to do these rings.  He ended up falling and busting his lip but he kept trying.  I'm thinking it was all the American Ninja Warrior he's been watching.

Messy hair and pb&J on her face.  She does not care!

Love this one of them sliding together!

She also loves her babies.  She's always got a baby close and I end up watching them very often.

Snuggled up together watching the ipad. 

The last day of summer we met our friends at Let's Play for one last HooRah!  It was so much fun!

Love these two!

Barrett and I had a movie night after AveryAnn went to bed one night.  We watched the Rugrats Movie and it was some sweet one on one time that we don't get nearly enough.

Jackson got to ride the bus to school with Barrett the day his baby brother was born.

They were so cute!  I was glad Barrett had Jackson because he said he cried Friday when he got to school.  

The next day was AveryAnn's first day of preschool and after I dropped her off I went to the hospital to see Jessica.  I didn't think I'd get to hold the baby because he had to go to the NICU but he got released and they brought him to the room while I was there!  I was so excited to get my hands on this baby.  He will never know how many people have prayed for him.  

This girl is something else.  She loves to wear her "fancy" hat as she calls it.

They went to workout with me.  I'm trying to get back into the routine of going but it's been really hard with Patrick working as much as he's working.

Patrick took off work one day and he took Barrett to the bus stop.  Barrett was so happy.

Last Friday night the kids and I headed to Meet the Rockets to see Ava make her debut with the Marching band.  We are so proud of her and can't wait to watch some Friday night football.

It was raining so they had to do the performance in the gym.  It was really loud and my kids didn't love that but they had fun.

Saturday night we went to see baby Jonah (again).  My kids are obsessed with him.  I captioned this photo "Welcome to crazytown"  

Barrett put this on Saturday afternoon and couldn't wait to go play with Jackson.

It's been a fun month!  I can't believe we're so close to September and football!  We're so ready, and I'm ready for boots and sweaters!

Barrett's First Day of Kindergarten

How in the world is Barrett old enough for Kindergarten?

He was so excited.  I was so excited and so nervous and so sad too.  I'm just sad that the time has passed so quickly.  It feels like yesterday that I was so worried because he wouldn't talk.  Now he talks all the time.  He has the sweetest spirit and I hope that never changes.

We brushed our teeth and climbed into bed to read.  Our last book from Dolly Parton was "Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!".  I made it through but just barely. 

Love my big boy!

Patrick was going into work late so he could go with us for drop off.  Our school encourages you to walk your child in the first day so we made it a family affair.  Barrett got up and got dressed.  He didn't want anything to eat or drink.  So I worried all morning that he would be hungry.  He was so excited about his lunch box and his new shoes.

I love him more than words could possibly convey.   

All smiles until it was time for us to leave him.  We got to his classroom and I could tell he was getting nervous.  Which did not help my nerves.  I passed a friend in the hall that also has a kindergartener and she tried to talk to me and I was like "I can't!"  I knew I would lose it if I stopped. (I apologized later).  He gets to his seat and says he wants his bear.  His teacher had already told me he could bring it, but he didn't bring it because he said he didn't want it.  (I didn't know this took place, because I would have grabbed it just in case.) So we basically just had to hug him and walk away.  He was crying but not too bad.  We passed Jackson and Jessica going in so I knew he would be ok when Jackson got in there.  His sweet teacher let him sit by Jackson and play with play dough and Jessica told me he was fine.  

Later his teacher sent me this picture.  I love his teacher so much.  She is so sweet and nurturing.  I think we're going to have a great year.  

He rode the bus home and I could. not. wait. for that big yellow bus to turn on my street.  I practically ran out in front of her so she knew to stop.  He got off the bus all smiles and was so excited!  He loved that the bus didn't have seat belts.

He wanted to ride the bus this morning so I let him.  He thinks he is big stuff!  I thought it would be easier putting him on the bus...I was wrong. He climbed on and I had to run back home because the middle school/high school girls waiting on their bus saw me. I'm just so proud of him!  I just can't believe he's this big.

Kicking off August & Back to School Shrimp Boil

Summer is winding down around here and it makes me so sad!  Barrett starts kindergarten this week and I'm feeling all the feelings.  My boss asked me today how many days until Kindergarten and I my reply was "too many and not enough"  because that is exactly how I feel.  I'm so excited and I also cry every time I think about it.

I was hiding relaxing one afternoon and this little booger found me.  She said she wanted to relax and then talked for 2 straight hours.

If I'm sitting down she's almost always in my lap.  I'm not complaining.

We had meet the teacher last week.  I'm afraid these two are going to get into trouble together.  But I'm also excited that they'll have each other.

We had to wear our donut shirts for the last donut Friday of the Summer.

It's back to school time so that means we get to help teachers do fun stuff like decorate their classrooms!  This is one of my favorite things about my job.

Then we got to put some numbers on my nephew's go cart.

I finished this book and loved it!  I'm going to buy a copy for AveryAnn to read when she's old enough.

Sister can wear Barrett's old boots and she thinks she's big stuff.

We had our 2nd Annual Back to School Shrimp Boil Saturday night.  We moved the location to Cassi's house since she has a pool and it was so much fun!  I think this is the first time we've all been together, kids, husbands and all.  We all had the best time.  Let me let you in on a little tip, when you've got a bunch of new swimmers, hire a lifeguard.  We did for two hours and it was amazing.  We were all still right there but we could carry on a conversation with each other without being stressed out.  It was the best idea we've ever had for a get together.  She was so sweet and I was so thankful she was there.  We had a cannon ball contest and all the boys had a blast.  I hope they still want to come to our 14th Annual Back to School Boil when they're all about to be seniors.

Little Miss is warming up to the water.  She still doesn't want to wear her puddle jumper but I'm just glad she will put her feet in.

This was after a lot had eaten!  A shrimp boil is one of our favorite meals.

After church and lunch.  She was pooped!  

Saw this on the way home yesterday afternoon.  It was beautiful!

Birthday Celebrations & the end of July

July 15th we celebrated my birthday with the Hortons. 

It was a nice afternoon.

These two kiddos love this dog!  Millie gets so much attention all day long.

I was on baby duty one afternoon.

Ally got a much needed haircut.  She was like a new dog.

We finished the Summer Reading Program at our library.  We finished with 77 books and around 2,800 pages.  I'm so proud of these kiddos. 

Checking out the fountain at school.

Friday, July 20th, my friends and I went out to celebrate my birthday.  Jessica wins the prize for most loyal friend.  She is so very pregnant and she sat on the patio in the July heat.  Then she endured karaoke stone cold sober.  Bless her.

We had dinner at Bartaco and it was so good.

Our group had dwindled.  Brittany and I did not care.  We would have sang to an audience of zero.  We love karaoke so much.  I can't sing to save my life but I love it.  We have pretty good song selection and that makes all the difference.  There were more people there this time than last so we didn't get to sing as many songs as we'd hoped.

Saturday we met my sister in law, Leslie at her brother's house to swim.  Her nephew and Barrett are both going to be in Kindergarten together at Bryan so it was fun for them to get to play.

The Sunday afternoon Cassie invited us over to swim and we had the best evening.  Barrett started swimming without his puddle jumper and he's doing so well.

Best I could get of them in their matching swimsuits.

This one let me hold her and then she fell asleep.

We came home and snuggled on the couch until bedtime.

Barrett had his last day at CEC.  He has had a wonderful experience but he's ready for big school!  

So, my parents have this broken down hot tub on their deck and it is a breeding ground for tadpoles/frogs.  We brought a few home to watch grow into frogs.  We've also delivered a few to friends. It's become a thing and we've laughed and laughed about it.

On Thursday, the 26th we went to the Alabama Theatre to watch the Lion King.  Barrett had never seen it and we love the Alabama Theatre so much.  It was a fun morning.

Jessica and Jackson met us there.  

Love these babies so much.  We've had so much fun this summer.

We went to the Big Spoon Truck to grab some ice cream that afternoon.

We've been watching Big Brother and Barrett loves watching the competitions, so he's very into it.  The guys wear these bandanas around their heads and he thinks hes so cool.

This is out of order but the Police horse was at the Alabama Theatre and the kids got to pet him.

For my actual birthday I'd been wanting to go to the lake and spend the night.  Patrick was on call but we were going to chance it.  Until he got to work Friday morning and they told him he had to be there at 7:00 am Saturday morning for an event.  So we cancelled the lake and decided to go to dinner as a family to celebrate.  Barrett decided he didn't want to go to dinner because restaurants are boring.  So we called my parents and asked them to keep them and they agreed.  So we got a little date night and it was perfect.

My dad offered to ride up to the lake with the kids and me for the day if we wanted so we took advantage of that and had the best afternoon.  My mom ended up coming up too and we stayed to watch the moon rise.  It was beautiful!

I loves these two pictures of my parents with the kids. I love getting to watch them be grandparents.

Ally got to go and she loved it too!

On Monday, Anna invited us to tag along with her and Drake to the Cullman Aquatic Center for an afternoon of fun.

We had the best time!

Barrett wasn't scared of anything.  He even went off the high dive!  I was shocked!

Tuesday the 31st, we went to work at the local elementary school putting up vinyl.  The kids did so great. They were pretty good and played together so nicely.  I was so thankful!

That's a wrap for July!  We've got one week until Barrett starts Kindergarten and we are soaking it up!