First Day of School, Lukie-style

The electronics in my home all chose last week to go on strike since they knew Jason would be out of town, so the camera, the phones, and the TV all took turns going on the fritz. I am back in business now and have a few blogs to catch up on. The most important being Luke's first day of school. Luke started Preschool this year, two mornings a week, at our church. He was pumped to go and be like big brother (the newness has officially worn off, though). He was excited to be able to eat his first day breakfast on the special plate and couldn't wait to get dressed for his big day. He had chosen a backpack that was as big as he was because he wanted one just like the one Jacob picked out. After the mandatory pictures, he brushed teeth and we were out the door. At school he marched right into the classroom like he owned the place and began playing with Play-doh. I was astonished to see how well he handled the transition and, when I picked him up, he announced, "Suh-weet! It was AWESOME!"

ps - Now, a week later, he is running away from the classroom, kicking and screaming saying he doesn't want to go in...I'll keep you posted!


special breakfast for a special boy

check out my giant backpack...it'll be good until the sixth grade

"spider spit" (saying "cheese" isn't cool enough for my boys...ha!)

his sweet teacher, Ms. Tammy

Nine

That is how many months we have had this precious little thing in our lives. I don't plan on blogging on her monthly birthdays until she is twenty-five, I just wanted to document the first year of her life on a monthly basis. (Making up for the lack of doing so with the boys, ahem). So here we are, nine months, six teeth, pulling up, saying, "mama", "dada", and her favorite, "more" (as in food)! She is not a fan of baby food, much preferring whatever we are eating. My thoughts are turning towards her first birthday and all that we have to look forward to between now and then. Hannah continues to wrap us all around her chunky little finger and we are completely ok with that!

First Day Jitters

The first day of First Grade finally arrived this morning! Jacob has been so excited for so long now. I had mixed emotions. Bittersweet, I guess you'd say. I wouldn't want it any other way, but it is such a vivid reminder of how fast my sweet Jacob is growing up. He awakened and came into my bathroom tapping a Tinkertoy on my empty coffee mug like he was proposing a toast, announcing that the first day of school was finally here. He has to be at school this year at 8am instead of 9, so we were bustling around, but we made sure to have a special first day breakfast of pancakes with whip cream (I'll save the Cheerios for another day:)

You know we moms must have our pictures! He was all about the sports gear this year, so his first day outfit was an athletic shirt, football shorts, and his new tennis shoes and backpack.

He has posed in front of this same plant for the last four years. I guess I'd better keep watering it so we can keep the tradition going!

On the way to school he announced he was nervous. I told him it was fine to feel that way, normal, in fact. I told him that his tummy might even feel a little funny to which he replied, "My tummy doesn't feel funny, it stings. I feel like a speed bump that is about to be hit by a car!!" He has such a funny way of describing things! Once we arrived at school, he was such a big boy and just walked into his classroom and sat down. His teacher, Mrs. Carlson, was kind enough to humor us with a picture.
I love the first day of school. I always have. I wanted to go to school before I was old enough and always enjoyed it so much. My prayer for Jacob is that he feels the same way. I'll keep you posted!

All Better Now

It started out suddenly and took us all off-guard. We have been blessed thus far to not have sick children of the vomiting sort. Maybe three or four times in the last six years... well little HK really blew our average (not that it mattered) when she got sick and sick and sick until we finally lost count. Over the course of the following days, she became so dehydrated that she ended up in the hospital receiving fluids. It breaks my heart to see one of my little ones sick. So fragile and so helpless. I just wished I could take her place. She was such a little trooper, though. The nurses and doctors rolled out the red carpet for us and were thrilled to have a little baby in the house. They would pop in whenever they could to visit and play with her. The nurses even cooked her special food and brought toys in for her. She is all better now and all she has to show from her visit is a few bruises from all the poking and prodding. Praise God for healing little Hannah Bear and for carrying us, as He always does, through this trial.

A Belated Birthday Celebration

I share my birthday, July 13, with my sweet Aunt Karan. This year, we buried Uncle Weldon on that day and Aunt Kay and I decided we were officially moving our birthday to another day, as we also buried my grandfather, Papa, on our birthday many years ago. A couple of weeks later, we made up for it and had the best belated birthday weekend in the world. On Saturday, we all got together and shopped the day away in a neighboring town with lots of fun stores and an even better lil' cafe. It was so enjoyable to be among some of my very favorite people with each and every generation represented from Hannah Kate to my great Aunts Karo and Elaine. They are the life of the party, let me tell you, dancing to Beyonce and telling jokes that make you laugh until you cry. We made it home with sacks and sacks of goodies and as many memories as well. (I'll share pictures if Aunt Sarah remembers to share hers with me...there you go Sarah, that's your reminder:) The next day, we all gathered to swim, barbeque and enjoy the day. We ate steak and all the yummy sides, swam, laughed some more and even killed a copperhead that had been lounging right by the path where we had walked all evening. As my mama says, "That's why we pray, Rachel!"

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SMILE Camp

Last week was a little something my group of girlfriends does every summer called SMILE camp. There is something fun planned for every day of the week, so just about the time everyone is hot and tired of summer, we have a whole week of fun to look forward to! I love it and the kiddos (and their mommies) had a blast. We get to talk while they are busy wearing themselves out and they have a blast doing it. Oh yeah, they sleep really well afterwards too! We bounced at, tumbled, bowled, played at the park, and swam our way through the week and it was wonderful. With Jason out of town, it was a great way to fill up our time!


Jacob LOVED the trampolines

Luke only wanted to do the gargantuan slide

The Jodis and Marla (and her sweet little man)

Robyn, Ashley and their little cuties

Mimi's Birthday Weekend

Now that the virus has run its course through our family(more about that later), I can finally catch up on my blogging, since I am a little bit behind. We recently got together with Jason's family to celebrate Lesa's birthday. We visited his grandmother, Nano, and then all went out to one of our favorite spots, Mary's, to celebrate. It poured rain, let me tell you, but we had so much fun seeing everyone and spending a little time together. Lesa is such a loving, fun, funny mother-in-law, and it we are all blessed to have her in our lives. Love you Lesa!