Just Because

Here are some sweet pictures taken by Jess about a month ago when the kids were visiting her in Memphis. Love my blue-eyed babies!

Back to School

It's that time of year again! Kaitlyn started first grade at a new school this year. "Big School" (as we've been calling it). She's been a mixture of excitement/nervousness/apathy all summer about her new adventure. But the big day finally rolled around and she was ready. Check her out. She's all decked out in her favorite attire (a skirt, sparkly shirt, and sparkle shoes) and a backpack that is just perfect for a first grade little girl who loves fairies. When I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she waffled between "cowgirl" (last year's answer) and "veterinarian." I couldn't fit both of those on the chalkboard, so I made her choose. In her perfect world, she would ride horses all day AND be ready to take care of any sick animal that came her way.

Sometimes she's six, going on sixteen. Sigh. 

And sometimes she's just a six-year old...with a little brother who was determined to be part of the action after being told to stay inside until we were done with Kaitlyn's pictures.

Ethan had a big day too--his pre-K Snoopy Day at OC. Our last Snoopy Day EVER at that sweet place. I don't want to talk about it. 

Both siblings starting new adventures on the same day. Almost too much for this mama's heart!

 We walked Kaitlyn into her classroom.

She found her seat and immediately started coloring. She didn't really want me to leave, but she stayed strong. And she came home later bubbling over with excitement about her wonderful day. I think she's going to be just fine :) I'm so proud of her!

And this little boy has been saying all summer how he didn't want to go to school because "school is boring." Excuse me?!?! Are you my child? I loved school. Every. Single. Second. Surely those genes were passed down to him in some way, right? Well, never fear. He is VERY excited now about going to school each day and loves showing me each and every worksheet and art project as soon as I pick him up. The teacher said that he's "just fabulous." And I tend to agree :)

One thing that Kaitlyn was most looking forward to was riding the bus. So every afternoon, Ethan and I walk down to the end of our street and wait for the bus. Here's some bus stop silliness! 

July

Some of our adventures in July...

Daddy/Uncle Jeff is a rock star! Jeff's band played at Crockett Park this year, and the cousins were in town for it. I think they all slept GOOD that night given how much running, jumping and dancing they did that night. 

While the cousins were in town, we all went to Lipscomb's Summer Celebration one day. Ethan and Eli played for a surprisingly long time in these little lockers in the student center. They loved playing hide and go seek in them. They entertained lots of people who walked by. Oh to be an age where you're still small enough to hide in a locker!

This is Ethan on his way to a birthday party! Not afterwards, mind you, but before. He perked up pretty quickly once we got there though.

Mommy and Ethan silliness waiting to get his hair cut.

Mimi and Papa came for a visit. Always a treat!

Kaitlyn's obsession this summer--Lego Friends! Seriously, she has spent all of her saved/earned money on some new kits and already has her Christmas list made out. Ob.sess.ed.

Other pics from June

At the beginning of June, the kids did a week of swim lessons. Both kids did great and Kaitlyn even swam across the WHOLE pool! I wouldn't say that she loved it, but she DID it, and she was soooooooo proud of herself afterward. And I was too. Now that we have a neighborhood pool within walking distance of our house, I'm hopeful that she will remember what she's learned and keep practicing. Ethan swam across half the pool, but given how fearless he is in the water, I predict he'll be swimming fairly well by next year. When it came time to do the water slide, the teachers were going to slide down with the preschoolers. Ethan marched up to the top of the slide and announced that he wanted to do it by himself. And he did--with no hesitation whatsoever. Of course, it may have helped that he just saw his sister go down by herself. Little brother has to do everything that big sister does :) 

I don't remember how this got started, but the kids started pretending that their plastic firefighter hats were really magic hats. Over and over again, they eagerly showed me how they could make objects "magically" appear under their hats. Of course, their slight-of-hand needs some work, but they were so sincere in their efforts that I had to take pictures. If you ask me, that is one adorable little magician in his red fireman's hat, his orange tiger shirt, a red tutu, a Rapunzel braid and a pink/purple necklace. 

Apparently jewelry helps you be a better magician--the more the better! What's funny about this story is what happened when Jeff got home. They were SO excited to show Daddy their magic tricks, and Daddy decided to show them some magic of his own.  His slight-of-hand was significantly better than theirs and they were in awe that their dad could do "real" magic. Giggles and gasps of amazement filled our house for an entire hour after dinner. I even heard Kaitlyn telling her friend the next day (in complete seriousness and in great detail) how her daddy was a real magician who could do real magic. The innocence and trust of this age is truly precious to behold.

Ethan and I went hiking at Radnor one day while Kaitlyn was at a church event.  He's showing off his latest addition to his rock collection.

Last week, we took a trip to Fayetteville to spend a few days with Gran. We decided to explore a couple of local destinations that we hadn't been to before. This was Falls Mill, an historical grist mill with the largest working water wheel in the country. The kids were pretty enthralled, and it was a great opportunity to look at some historical artifacts and talk about what life was like a hundred years ago.

But the best part of the trip was the shallow creek at the base of the falls that was a haven for aquatic life. There were lots of very hungry fish who jumped out of the water when the kids tossed in bread crumbs. The kids discovered "crawdads" for the first time and had a ringside seat watching those creatures forage along the bottom of the creek for food. We even saw two snakes (!!!) in the creek--thankfully from a safe distance. My little nature lovers were in heaven.

Afterwards, we went to a local restaurant and enjoyed yummy burgers and shakes. And then we went to a local horse farm where they let us walk freely through the barns and pet the horses as much as we wanted to. Kaitlyn was over the moon. All in all, a pretty perfect summer day. I'll leave you with this picture of Ethan winking at me. It doesn't get much cuter than that, folks!

Random pictures from April and May

Having an iPhone means having a camera with you 24/7. And while it sure is convenient to be able to take a picture whenever and wherever you want, I've discovered that it's hard for me to keep all my pictures organized when they're on different devices (digital SLR, phone, small point and shoot). Since I'm not an instantly-share-my-pics-on-Facebook kind of person (not that there's anything wrong with that), I sometimes forget about the pictures I have on my phone. Tonight, I was catching up on my role as "family historian" and decided to upload all of my pics to my computer so that I can store them in the same place as our other photos. It's been fun discovering forgotten pics, so I want to put them here so that I can remember them.

A few pictures from my time in Puerto Rico in April...

Beach at our hotel

Hiking in El Yunque Rainforest

Luquillo Beach

Hotel pool

Kids wearing Puerto Rico shirts I brought back

Every once in a while, the siblings are adorably cute and loving to each other.

The kids went to a birthday party and there was a climbing wall. My fearless little boy didn't hesitate to climb right on up to the top. And I was pleasantly surprised when my not-so-fearless little girl decided to give it a try too. Way to go, kiddos!

Speaking of climbing, it took Ethan about two days to discover this perfect climbing tree at our new house. I decided that I could either help him in and out of the tree multiple times a day, or I could teach him how to safely climb the tree by himself.  I opted for the latter simply because I had an entire house that needed to be unpacked! Not surprisingly, he quickly mastered the art of climbing solo and hasn't had a fall--so far (knock on wood!).

Kaitlyn's kindergarten class had a big end-of-year party at a local park during the last week of school. Here's Kaitlyn with her BFF Kate. They're both so sad that they have to go to different schools next year--and I am too!

The party moms knocked this one out of the park with a fabulous lunch for the kiddos and moms + fun goodies for the kids + beautiful matted pictures of each child and the whole class.

Her kindergarten class with their little Otter shirts

I'm all about creating a fun backyard space for the kids, one that encourages play and exploration and one that keeps them happily contained while I get other stuff done. To that end, we decided to install a wooden play set in our yard. This turned out to be one HUGE project for Jeff and I to put together. We completed the thing in stages, and the fort/picnic area was one of the first to get finished. On the day we got it done, the kids sat out there for at least an hour doing artwork and having a picnic. They even had dinner there too. I think this is going to be a wise investment and a sanity-saver :)

May

May is always jam-packed with activities (end of school, birthday, etc.), and this year was no exception. We  started off with Kaitlyn's 6th birthday celebration. In keeping with her love of horses, we had a horse-themed party at our new house. 

Horse Cake and Snacks

Party table ready for friends

She invited all the girls from her school class, plus a couple of other friends and their siblings from church. We definitely had a full house of precious little girls (+ Ethan!), as you can see below.

9 six year olds + 3 little siblings + sugar = craziness!

Blowing out her candles

A very happy 6 year old!!

To add to the craziness, Kaitlyn's ballet recital was the same week as her birthday. We had two evenings of recital practice leading up the the big event Saturday morning. 

Kaitlyn and her class in the finale--she's on the far left (hard to tell with her ballet bun)

After the recital--she was SO thrilled to get flowers after her performance

Gran came to the recital--and so did Mimi, but I don't have a picture of her :(

Daddy and his little girl

My little ballerina!

After the recital, we went back home so that we could have another birthday celebration--this time a family celebration for Noah, Kaitlyn and Papa. 

More cake! That never gets old :) 

Most of the extended family. So fun to be all together!

We reached a bittersweet milestone in May--the end of Kaitlyn's time at OC. What a precious, precious place that is, and I am SO sad that she has reached the end of the road at that school. We had a sweet kindergarten graduation ceremony. I wasn't feeling particularly weepy that morning, but when her little class walked in holding the hands of the precious women who have been her teachers for the past four years and started singing a song about love, I lost it. We're talking big, ugly tears. I don't have very many decent pictures from the ceremony itself, but we did take some family pics afterward. 

Kaitlyn with her wonderful teacher Miss Melissa

Kaitlyn and Kate--inseparable at school!

So now that school's out for the summer, we've moved on to other things--like learning to ride a bike with no training wheels! She still has a ways to go, but we have the whole summer ahead of us :) More about our summer happenings in another post...