It's That Time!!!!

The most wonderful time of the year is upon us!!!  Yes that's right college football season has started!  Always such an exciting time of the year.  Matt and I could sit around for hours and talk about football games.  Some of our best memories are tied to football games.  I really do think on a Saturday in the fall we could sit from 9 am until 11 pm watching football games.  Doesn't even matter if we care about the teams.  We just love football.  Things have changed now that we have kids.  We sure don't get to sit and watch for that long.  We are lucky to catch some of the Auburn game (plus we don't have cable so we don't get watch that many games).  But we still love it.  

One of the best things about football season is that your wardrobe is set for Fridays and Saturdays.  You must wear your team colors!  The kids just looked so cute the last couple of days sporting their Auburn gear.  

We are ready for the season.  Now we just have to figure out how we are going to watch the game tomorrow.

The New Reality

So this whole having a Kindergartner has brought a whole new reality that I don't know if I am ready for.  The joys of car pool line.  Thankfully Granna takes Ben to school a couple of days a week so I don't have to do it every day.  There is just something about saying car pool line that makes me feel old.  I sit in my mini van in car pool line.  Really?  When did I get old enough for that.  We are slowly figuring out how early we have to leave and when I have to get in line for pick up.  It is a balancing act.  Here is the morning view...

 And the afternoon view...

 Just lots of waiting.  Thankfully I have a fun girl to help keep me company.  Afternoon pick up is during nap time so we are struggling a little bit with that but we are making it.  I think we are getting close to giving up the nap which is just sad!

 All the waiting is worth it when we get to see this guy...

 He is still loving school.  He even enjoys doing his homework.

Tuesday Randomness

No real theme to today's post.  Just a few random things.  First off - Sweet baby Grace arrived last Friday.  Our awesome friends Brad & LeeAnn welcomed Grace and we are so excited for them.  Isn't she the cutest.  I cannot wait to get to hold her! 

 I put the Auburn wreath on the door yesterday which means it is almost football season (my favorite season)!!!  How exciting.  We can't wait for the game on Saturday.  Not so sure how the Tigers will do this year but that's ok.  It will still be great.

 And just a few pictures of the kids.  Ben really enjoys playing basketball in the driveway these days. Soccer starts up on Thursday so that will be fun!

 And the crazy girl.  Really she is crazy!  Her hair is just insane and she has the personality to match.

 Her new favorite thing to do is dance.  If she hears any music she just starts dancing away.  So cute!

I told you it would be random.  But that is our life - totally random!

Low Key Weekend

We had a super low key kind of weekend.  Those really are the best!  It will probably be the last one for a long time.  The fall gets busy with football games, soccer, baby showers, retreats and other things.  I get tired just thinking about what is coming up.  After the long week I was exhausted by the time Friday night came.  I fell asleep at 8 at night and didn't wake up until 8 the next morning.  It was really nice!!  Saturday we hung around the house.  The kids had fun playing army men.  

 Matt and I worked in the flower beds.  I carried the bags of mulch and he spread them.  We got the yard looking good!

We then spent the rest of the weekend celebrating Matt's birthday.  Saturday night we met my family for dinner at Outback and then after church on Sunday we went over to Matt's parent's house for lunch.  It is always fun to stretch out birthdays!  Then the rest of Sunday was spent getting ready for the week.  We were back at it today!  Ben was so excited to start back to school.  I am so glad he likes it.

I'm A Cool Mom

I get the cool mom award for today!  I let the kiddos eat cake for breakfast.  Yep this dietitian let her kids eat cake for breakfast (don't tell anyone I might have my license taken away from me).  I figured we made it through the first week of school and we deserved to have a little fun.  In my defense I did make them eat blueberries with it!  

The Happiest Age

Today is a super special day!  Matt turned the big 3-3!!!  Woo hoo!!!  How fun!  Birthdays are always so much fun.  Well today wasn't the best day for fun since everyone had work and school but we made the best of it.  The kids loved hugging and hanging out with daddy when he got home from work.  

The nurses that Matt works with gave him some really fun balloons that the kids had a blast playing with!  

 Of course there were presents!  We got him a new watch, an Auburn shirt, some new gardening books and a Wii game.

 We had his favorite dinner of baked spaghetti and then I made a red velvet cake from scratch.  The cake didn't turn out that great but the kids loved singing birthday to the birthday boy!

What a fun time celebrating Matt!  It was pretty low key but we will keep celebrating over the next few days.  I read a recent study that says the age 33 is the "happiest age."  I don't know what that means exactly but we sure hope Matt's 33 year is the best ever.

We feel so blessed to have him in all of our lives.  I don't know what I would do without him.  He completes me for sure.  He is amazing father and husband.  The spiritual leadership he provides our family is the best.  He challenges me to be a better person.  I am so proud to call him my husband.  Happy Birthday Sweetie!!  We love you!!!

Getting Into A Routine

We are now 3 days into our new normal of school.  So far so good.  Everyone is just loving school which makes it so easy.  Ben wakes up so excited every morning to head to school.  What a blessing!!  I am loving that I get to spend more time at home this year.  Since I am not driving over the mountain 2-3 times a day I feel like I have way more time which is awesome!!  Kate and I have had a lot of fun together the last few days when she has been home.  It is fun to have her by herself. She cracks me up!  We are figuring out our routine.  I have to pack lunches at night and we have to be in the bath tub by 7:30.  But it is all going great.  

On Monday Matt, Kate and I went up to the local nature preserve to have a little picnic.  We enjoyed being outside (the weather has been really nice for August).  

 We of course had to go to Sweet CeCe's to celebrate back to school.  Nothing says school like frozen yogurt!

Tonight Ben started Mission Friends at church.  It is a wonderful program on Wednesday nights where they go and learn about missionaries all over the world.  He was super excited because he loves missions but also because he gets to see his church friends in the middle of the week.

Well, I guess you can say we are adjusting.  Off to a great start.  Will see how it continues to go.  I'll keep you posted.

Kate's First Day

Sweet Baby Girl (although she doesn't let me call her that any more - she says "I am not a baby) had her first day of "school" today.  She was super excited to get to go to school since Ben got to go yesterday.  It was a tough morning getting everyone up and going early but we did it!  Of course we had to pose for those traditional start of school pictures.  

 I know her bag is a little crazy.  We had a fun design all picked out we are were going to do with puffy paint but we had a little accident with the paint so we just went with it.  It is 80's retro splatter paint.

 She was so happy to get to school!  She ran right into her classroom and didn't look back.  Love that!

 I enjoyed getting to go to work and get caught up on things.  I love mainly being home in the summer having fun with the kids but it is good to get back to a routine and back to work.  Kate seemed to have a great day.  She didn't bite anyone so that is always a good thing!  She was worn out and fell asleep in the carpool line to pick up Ben.

So glad everyone had 2 great first days of school.

First Day of Kindergarten & A Letter

Today was the big day!!!  My sweet little guy headed off to his first day of kindergarten.  Last night we had a sweet time of prayer over Ben for his school year.  This morning it was up early to get his lunch packed.  

 And make a big breakfast for his first day.  Must have bacon!!!

 We had to take our traditional chair picture.  Can't believe how big he is.

 And of course that traditional front porch picture.  I love the fun new signs I found.

He was excited to take a special present to his new teacher.  

 Had to get a picture with my kindergartner 

 We are so thankful Matt was able to take the morning off and help with all the fun.

 We headed up to the school.  I LOVE this picture!!  We were worried about the traffic but we easily got in.

 He sat right down in the hall with his class and started talking with his new friends.  He was so excited.  He just waved good-bye to us.

What a special morning it was.  Such a major milestone for us.  No tears were shed by anyone surprisingly (I was not worried about Ben crying but me).  How could I cry when I know he is right where he is supposed to be!

I thought I would write down some of my feelings about it in a letter to my boy.

Dear Firstborn on Your First Day of School,

As a mom, this is one of the days that I have dreaded since the day you were born.  But along with that dread also comes a lot of excitement.  We have been entrusted with an amazing gift from God. I remember holding my sweet little baby and thinking I would never ever let you go.

Our job as parents is to make sure that we raise you to be the man God has created you to be.  Up until today, we have had total control over that.  Things changed as you left for school this morning.  We have to turn some of our control back over to God.  I have often heard it said that as a parent your goal is to work yourself out of a job.  Today we began that long process of loosing our job!

You are so ready for this big step.  Your kindness and compassion amaze me everyday. My prayer for you is that these characteristics just grow as you start school.  I am excited for all of the new things you will learn and how much you will grow.  I also pray that as you experience new things it will increase your knowledge and faith in God.

You are going to make so many new friends.  I pray that they will be a positive influence in your life and that you can impact them as well.  This part is scary to me but I know that this is part of God's plan for your life.

All of the details have worked out perfectly for the school situation for you this year.  We know you are right where God wants you.  We are excited to see how He uses you this year.

Your Daddy and I love you so much!!  We are so proud of you,
Mommy

Last Weekend of Summer

School starts back tomorrow so we knew we needed to have a great last weekend of summer.  Friday night the kids went to the church childcare and got to play with their friends.  Since we were kid free, we went out to dinner with the Johnsons.  We always have so much fun with them.  Lots of laughing.  After dinner, we went to Barnes and Noble and looked around.  That is such a fun way to amuse yourself.  I am super sad I won't get to see Kim everyday this year since the boys will be at different school.  Just means lots of girls nights in our future.  

 Saturday morning I hit some yard sales and got some fun things!  Then we went to a local park for a picnic with our life group.  We had a blast getting to see friends and play.

 Kate and her BFF Genevieve.  These 2 are impossible to separate when they are together.  They have so much fun.  Two very strong willed little girls together makes for some interesting fights but they quickly get over it.

 The boys had a great time playing, running and climbing.  This was right before a big fall by Micah.

 The dads enjoyed playing some bochee ball.  It was a great time to hang out with our awesome friends.  We don't get to do it nearly enough.

 I then got to do something really special.  I went along with Kelly and Andrew as they registered for baby stuff.  So fun!!  I love baby stuff so we had a great time checking everything out.  Things have changed a lot in the 6 years since we registered for Ben.  There are some many new great baby things out there.  Doesn't Kelly look so cute?  Can't wait for the little guy to get here.

Today we enjoyed a great day at church.  The afternoon was spent getting ready for school!!!  AHHHH!!!  We filled out so many forms and wrote a bunch of checks.  Got lots of lunch food (the grocery store was crazy).  The lunch box and backpack are ready to go.  I think we are all systems go.  So exciting.  Now to get to bed.

Orienting

We have had a crazy last 18 hours.  Over that time I have been to 2 parent orientations and 2 open houses for the new school year at 2 different schools.  There has been lots of back and forth but it has been great.  I am a little overwhelmed at all the paperwork and things to figure out but I will get it all done (sometime).  

First up this morning was Kate's open house.  She is moving up to the older 2's class this year.  Most of her friends from last year will be back along with a few new friends.  She ran right into the classroom gave out hugs and started playing.  She is ready for the year!

 She has two great teachers - Mrs. Janice and Miss Kristina.

This afternoon Ben and I got to go over to his new school for him to meet his teacher and see his classroom.  He carried all of his supplies in.  I thought he looked so cute with his backpack and nap mat.  

He was so excited to meet his teacher - Mrs. Davis.  She is amazing!!!  We are thrilled that Ben is in her class.  She has been teaching kindergarten for 26 years.  It is going to be an awesome year.  Ben was so cute introducing himself to her.  They hit it off!

 Here he is in his desk.  He is all ready for school to start Monday!!

Wow!!  What a whirlwind it has been.  So excited for things to get started next week (so much to do before then though)!!