It's school time!

We got our teacher postcards in the mail a few days ago, but last night we got to go meet both of the girls' new teachers for this school year!

They were both super excited about it:)

We went to Lila's class first, where she and Maddie immediately joined the other kids at the sand table.

While Lila wasn't feeling brave enough to talk to her teacher, she did find a cute baby doll to love on.  Hopefully she'll remember this and want to go back next week!

Maddie was much more friendly with her new teacher and is really looking forward to being in her class this year.

She found her red folder and cubbie and was all smiles when she saw the dress-up clothes and shoes, too.  She had to pose for this picture wearing one high heel!

Look out, NSLC.

Here come two crazy girls!

Back into the swing of things

Not only did school start this week, but baseball did too.

Jackson had ball practice on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and was so happy to be back on the field.

He's going to be playing up this year, which means he's in Coach Pitch with kids that are as old as second grade.  He's with the same coach as the past two seasons and most of the kids are his team are the same, too.  Yay!

We're looking forward to another exciting Cubs season!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lyndsie!

Happy 24th Birthday, Aunt Lyndsie!!

Lyndsie and Scott are headed to Austin this weekend to celebrate her birthday.  That called for an early celebration at Urban Rio. 

Lila was super excited to get to wish Aunt Lyndsie a happy birthday AND get to sit with Maria:)

Madison was pumped about getting to hang out with Lyndsie, too, and was really excited about the chocolate cake that Memaw made for dessert!

We had fun celebrating with you, Lyndsie.  Have a great weekend in Austin!

Hard work!

Who said kindergarteners don't work hard?

This kid is completely worn out!  He fell asleep at 4:30 this afternoon. 
Sweet boy might need a few days to adjust!

First Day of Kindergarten

I can honestly say that when I started this blog almost five years ago, I had no idea that writing this post would come so fast.  Jackson was 10 months old and I loved being his mother so much that I didn't want to forget a thing.  A blog seemed like the perfect way to try and remember all of the little moments in our life.  Fast forward five years and many milestones later and we have arrived at another one today. 

The first day of school!! 

Jackson is growing up way too fast.  Last night he asked his daddy to set his alarm for 6:30am.  He was so excited, though, that he woke up on his own at 6:26.  He's my early bird, that's for sure!  The girls were still asleep and Jared was getting ready, so Jackson and I had a very rare breakfast together.

After rousing both the girls from their slumber (and thanking God that they didn't wake up moody!) we hopped in the car and drove to school.  Jackson was so proud of his new backpack and lunchbox and not at all intimidated by the masses flocking into school.

We walked him down to the Kindergarten area and he found his locker right away.  He hung his backpack and lunchbox up and got out his snack and water bottle to give his teacher.  Very calm and collected the whole time.

Then he picked out a seat for the morning.  We all told him to have a great day and then we left.  No tears, I'll have you know, from me or from him!  I was so proud of both of us:)

His teacher emailed us pictures throughout the day, which was so nice, and totally unexpected!  We got to see him doing centers, hanging on the monkey bars, eating lunch and doing a project, too.  I love this one, but for some reason it uploaded sideways, so just turn your head!

While Jackson was busy at school, Lila and I were busy making him a cake.

I got the idea from an old high school friend (thanks, Laura!) and have wanted to do this for years.  She makes her kids a cake and they eat it every day on the first day of school.  I think it is such a fun tradition and hope it will just add to the joy of the day every year.

This little guy liked it so much that he had seconds!  And that was after eating 6 chicken nuggets from Sonic.  Guess he really did work up an appetite at school today.  Or maybe that's just what happens when you have to eat lunch at 10:40am!  I forsee four meals in this kids' future for the rest of this school year. 

Happy first day of Kindergarten, kiddo!  I'm so glad you had a terrific day.

Kindergarten, here we come!

Today is the last day before we start a brand new chapter in our life.  Somehow, someway, our little boy has grown up and is starting school in the morning.  I will refrain from getting all emotional just yet:)

We have been preparing for it all week.  First, I took him back to school shopping at Old Navy, Carter's and Dillard's. 

Once we got the clothes taken care of it was time to work on the shoes. 
The kid is now wearing a size 1!  Oh my!  His feet are huge.

Friday evening we went up to his school for Meet the Teacher.  It was a big day, for me and him.

He got to see his locker and practiced opening it a few times...

and he also got to meet his new teacher!  I'm hoping they will bond over a shared love of sports.

We were really impressed with the whole kindergarten area.  They share two big common areas and all of the classrooms are open with no doors on them. 

After we toured his room, we went to check out the rest of the school.  I predict the gym will be one of his favorite places this year.  They have P.E. four days a week, so he'll get to run around plenty.

Kindergarten, here comes the J man!  We hope you're ready!

First Haircut

Miss Lila's first haircut--August 23, 2012.  I took her with me when I went to get my hair cut this week.  She sat in the chair and ate her snack and had some apple juice and didn't make a peep the whole time.  She didn't even get out of the chair--just watched me and smiled the whole time.  Then it was her turn. 



She did great!  Miss Shannon cut off a teeny bit from the length and just evened it up. 

Last week of summer

It finally cooled down around here, so we got to enjoy our backyard again this week!  Yay!

For the past two months we have basically forgotten that it was back there.  The kiddos and I have loved being outside in the mornings.  The girls love playing in the fort and jumping on the tramp while Jackson and I play some baseball.

To get the munchkins ready for school, we had story time...

and practiced writing as well. 

Jackson had had enough of that within a few minutes, though, and came back from his room as Batman.

Very soon the girls had followed suit.  They are such a fierce little superhero squad!

Watch out!  These three are mighty strong, especially with their sword and cowgirl boots!

Santa Rosa Review - Last day

Friday was our last day at the beach.  We were so sad, but were determined to make the most of it!

We got up and outside bright and early.

We finally remembered to bring our video camera and got some good footage of the kids running loose on the beach.

Running around...

and jumping some waves--a great way to start the day.

After the sun came out, we went upstairs and got all our gear for the beach.  Boogie boards, umbrellas, chairs, cooler, drinks, beach towels, sunscreen, camera, sand toys.  We basically moved in and out every day!

It was a gorgeous day.  Jackson and Daddo were busy playing football while Lila and I made sandcastles and Maddie looked for fish with her new goggles.

Learning the three step drop...

evading a tackle...

and trying to outrun dad!

These boys worked up quite a sweat...

so they had to take a break to rehydrate themselves.

After break time was over, Jackson's little friend Alex asked him to play paddle ball.  Daddo was grateful for the short break!  A few minutes later I took Lila out into the water to float around on the boogie board.  The girl goes to sleep with any kind of motion and this was no different.  In no time at all she was snoozing, so I took her all the way back to the condo for a nap.  Of course, by the time we got up there and laid down she was wide awake!  It had just started to rain, though, so we stayed in and watched the storm clouds roll in.  It was a very restful afternoon and everyone got a nice nap--yeah vacation!

That evening we got ready to go out to dinner.  I got a cute picture of Mr. & Mrs. Scott Hays...

and of the engaged couple as well:)

We drove into Destin and were so ready for some good food at The Back Porch.

Big props to the hostesses for giving us the perfect set-up.  A kid table where they all did amazingly well...

And an adult table with a beautiful view of the ocean.  The food was fabulous and our favorite meal of the trip.  We can't wait to go back again next summer!

Some of our group was brave enough to eat oysters (yikes!) but the rest of us just enjoyed more main-stream seafood:)

After dinner, we went out to the playground and let the kids go down this cool slide a time or two.  This restuarant had it all--good drinks, two outside bars, great food, and a playground on the beach.

We were so not ready to go home the next day.  The kids summed up how we all felt with their "sad faces."  Goodbye, Santa Rosa Beach!  We'll see you again next year!