Back to School: The Dudes

While we are on the topic of back to school, I thought I'd go ahead and post about the boys' first day of preschool/Mother's Day Out yesterday!  They had a super day and I am reminded how lucky we are to be involved in such a great program with amazing teachers that teach these kids how much God loves them.  I am so glad they had a great day!

 

Here is Jack before we left...I am so glad we had this bus shirt for him to wear -- he was a little sad that he wouldn't be riding a bus to school, so had the next best thing!

And then another cute one on the swing that our neighbors have out front!  He loved sitting on it and it made for a cute spot for sure!

And he actually cooperated for a picture with the first day sign! I'll take it for sure!

And then this little ham.  I can't believe I actually caught this grin (and laugh)!  He cackles when somebody pretends to sneeze, so I recruited Jack to help me.  And I am so glad I did!

And this was the best I could do with the first day sign and this little guy.  Goodness.  He tossed that sign off the rocking chair every possible direction!  So this was the best I could do.

I thought that was challenging.  I was wrong.  Whew! Attempting a picture of both boys on my own made me sweat like I had just finished an intense cardio class!  And this was the best I could do.  They had had about enough of the picture taking!

This one.  This really sums things up for these boys!  Jack likes to play rough.  The best part is that Ryan is starting to stand up for himself!  He has started pouncing on Jack and patting his head (and sometimes pulling his hair).  Oh my.  Should be interesting over the next few years!  And for now, this is a pretty realistic picture of the two of them!

And then it was time to go to school!  And we managed to get there a few minutes early!  The boys did great at dropoff, which was super.  Here is Jack with his teacher - he loves her!  He actually doesn't like to leave when I get there to pick him up!

But this.  I think this sums it up pretty perfectly :) I was pretty excited to have time for just me!  Woohoo!!! The day flew by and it was time go get them!

I love getting these notes home for the wee ones.  Ryan got loved on for sure and had such a great day! 

What a great first day - and I think they are going to have a fantastic year with amazing teachers!  I can't wait to see what all they learn and how much they grow this year!

 

Back to School: First Grade Edition

Wow!  How can we have a first grader?!  After going to the meet and greet, Katie was so excited to start school!  She liked her teacher and was happy to know some friends in her class!  And she even cooperated for just a few pictures before we headed in for her first day!  Here are a few of them!

And then it was time to load up and head to school!  And I even grabbed a quick picture with my girl! 

And then one with Daddy - so glad he got to come to school for the first drop off too!

And our big girl ready to go inside.  I love that outfit - and yes it is Matilda Jane :)  I had planned on letting her ride the bus for that first half day, but she wanted us to drop her off - so of course we did!  I know there will come a day when she doesn't want us to walk her in, so I take advantage of these opportunities!

And then it was time to head inside!  Jack was so excited to go inside and see Katie's classroom.  I think Katie was as excited to show him around!  And we got to see her teacher from last year too - so fun!

And here she is at her desk! 

And Jack gave her a big hug before we left - I was so proud of him for being so sweet and not having any meltdowns when he couldn't play with playdoh or sit down in someone else's chair and when it was time to go!

And just for fun, here is a comparison of the first day of K and the first day of first grade!  Amazing how much she has grown and changed in just one short year!

And then it was time for her first full day of school!  And of course she wanted to wear her first grade shirt :)

Then we headed down to the bus stop!  Here she is about to hop on the bus for the first time this year!  She sure loves riding the bus!

And then a short week later, our kindergarten buddies started riding the bus!  Here is some of the bus stop crew - such sweet friends!  We have a great bus stop!

I'm so glad Katie is loving school this year!  I can't wait to see what all she learns this year and how much she will change by May!

 

 

Back to School Prep

Just wanted to interrupt my mission to catch this blog up so that I could post about Katie and going back to school!  She was so excited to start back!  The day before school started, they had a meet and greet for us to go see her room and meet her teacher.  She and I had a couple of hours for some fun beforehand and then we met Daddy and headed to school!

 

Katie wanted to use the money she earned from her first lemonade stand to buy some new Shopkins!  She couldn't wait to open them and see which ones she got!

Then we went and got her nails done.  It is a must to have pretty nails for the first day of school, right? ha!

Then it was time to go!  Here she is with one of her besties - it is so fun to watch them as they grow up!  They've been friends for 5 years! Wow!

After getting her box of supplies and her field trip shirt, we headed to her class room!  There's her spot!

And her teacher is so sweet - Katie loves her! 

And I got all Pinterest-y and put together this basket for Katie to give her teacher :)  All things pink!  Some gum and nail polish and fun things paired with some school supplies! I was pretty proud of that one :)

As we were leaving, we saw her boyfriend from last year! :) I actually asked her recently if he was still her boyfriend and she informed me that he is not - but he is her "BFF" (I asked her if she knew what that meant and she did not.  So I filled her in. HA!).

After we left school, we went to eat dinner - just the 3 of us!  That never happens and it was so nice!

As we were prepping for bedtime and such, I got a text from one of my sweet friends.  It was so neat to know that other people were praying for her and her first day of school!  Amazing.

And I layed everything out!  Her backpack was ready and the sign and "1" were ready for a few pictures!

She had a great day and continues to love school!  I have orientation on Thursday night and can't wait to see what her school year will look like!

 

 

A Few Katie Pics

During the first few weeks of summer, I had a day out with Katie.  She only had some mild groaning and complaining when we stopped at a park for me to take a few pictures of her with my nice camera :) I keep telling these people that they will appreciate them one day!  There is a park with hiking trails and a historic home and a bunch of beautiful space - and it is perfect for pictures!  Here are some of my favorites of Miss Priss!

 And this one.  I can't believe I actually took this!  I absolutely love it!  Sparkly blue eyes and a real smile!

Love my girl -- even if she isn't the biggest fan of me taking her picture :)

 



May Moments: Part Two

And here we go finishing out the month of May!  Slowly but surely getting there :)

 

Ryan got his very first pair of new big boy shoes at Stride Rite!  And while we were at the mall, I used gift cards I had been collecting to buy some new rings for my right hand - my ring finger had been feeling naked for a while (lots of jewelry drama...our cleaner stole a bunch of stuff from us on her last day cleaning about a year and a half ago...long story.  not fun.)...so I got these three Pandora rings!  And I love them!  And I also bought new shoes for me :) HA! I was busy shopping for sure!

And Katie had a soccer game!  She and Annalane were ready to go!

And after the game - which was the last of the spring season - I had to get a picture of Katie with her coach!  He is such a great guy and is the main reason Katie keeps going back to soccer!

There was a day (that seems like yesterday!) that the weather was amazing and a bunch of the neighborhood kiddos ended up playing at our house.  It was amazing and made me so thankful to be where we are!

I caught the perfect picture of Jack jumping over the cones he had set up.  Love this!

And then they all decided to make a train with ride on toys and hula hoops!  Pretty creative if you ask me!

Love that sweet boy!  And I also like that he will ask for me to take his picture and actually cooperate now!

Cute boy!  Gosh he is changing so very much!

Who knows what Jack did to his head - always a bruise!  There is no way I could get this kind of picture now that Ryan is walking!

We also went to the Touch A Truck event and the kids had a blast getting to climb into and on all kinds of different things that go!

The next day, Katie and I had a girls night with friends - we ate at Margaritaville and went to the Kidz Bop concert! It was such a fun night!

And see that curly blonde hair?  Yes - that would be Keith and Nicole sitting just three rows in front of us!  I love my town :)

And the next day we headed to church!  The kids all looked so springy!

We took advantage of our first day of summer break by walking and stopped at the park!  Ryan had a great time in the swing!

Jack loves swinging in the big swings now - of course he wants to be pushed really high into the sky!

And I love this picture of Katie - hair flying around and a big smile!

I did the Color Run!  Here is the before and after - we got pretty messy for sure!  It was fun to run through downtown Nashville!

And on Memorial Day these cuties were sporting their red, white, and blue!

We went down to visit Grandma and got to go to a new splash park near her house!  It was overcast so hardly anyone was there - it was perfect!

Another action shot (imagine that) of The Dude!

And a sweet picture of Grandma and Ryan!  He didn't get out there in the water...if we took him now I think he would have to get in the middle of all of that!

And love this one of Brad and Ryan!  Think they're related?? ha!  Ryan favors Brad a lot!!

We also tried on hats at Target!  Ryan was not so sure about the hat - and Jack liked it for about 5 minutes.  Needless to say we did not buy them :)

And the boys were matchy matchy one day and I managed to get a decent picture of them when we were visiting Cee Cee!

Love this picture of Jack!  Looking so grown up and handsome (I know - I am partial)!

We also went to the zoo with some friends!  Just the boys :)

And here is Amy and me!  We have been friends since high school - we don't see each other very often but when we do it is so much fun!

That night, we went to eat some BBQ and I took this picture of Jack and me...I love it!

And all the crazies ready to play in the sprinkler!  We had some neighbors over for fun and dinner - they had the best time!  They played outside for hours - literally until after dark!

And the mamas! Love them!

And we walked to the pool for a swim and then walked home!  It was Ryan's first time in the kiddie pool - I think it is safe to say he loved it. 

And some clean, matching brothers!  I do believe this set up ended up with Jack "giving Ryan a hug" - which means a chokehold.  Oh my.

Such a fun night!  It did also include several things that I've already posted - Field Day, end of school, etc! :)