Big Second Grader and My Tiny Dancer

The day finally arrived!  Time to go back to school, my little man.  How soon is too soon to let him watch Billy Madison?  "Back to school, back to school, to prove that I am not a fool."

 

New "2nd Grade Rocks" shirt.  Check!

New backpack with 55 compartments.  Check!

Everyone drove their kids to school so we had to park a mile away.  Check!

Mom even showered and put on make-up for the big day...you know it's big time!

How in the world is that my child standing next to a Second grade sign?  He's getting so big, so fast.  Next year he probably won't even let me bring my camera into school.  Then I might cry.

Thank goodness this guy got a top locker again. 
He put away his bag and walked right into Mrs. Tillery's class. 

We have heard lots of great things about his new teacher.  She's been at Hunt since it opened and is known for being able to handle lots of rowdy boys, too!

After school was over, we had our annual cake with Miss Maddie.  Both kids had a fantastic first day.  When I asked them how it went, they both said, "awesome!"  Jackson reported that Mrs. Tillery was a really fun teacher and that they will get to use lap tops in class this year.  Madison was pumped that her crush, Adam, is in her class.  Oh boy, this girl cracks me up!

It wasn't just a big day for Maddie and Jackson, though.  This tiny dancer was all smiles for her very first dance class.

And she even had two friends, Henlee and Lila, in class with her.  Bonus!

My little ballerina was a little shy at first, but then her teacher put on the Frozen soundtrack and that was all it took.  Lila looked at me with this big smile and then sat down and joined the other girls.

Sweet Cami even had fun, too, and played on this big purple chaise lounge the whole 45 minutes.  I actually got to have a conversation with another mom and it was really nice! 

I might have taken a few peeks through the door when Lila wasn't looking. 
Every time she was doing great.

Halfway thru the class, it was time to change into her tap shoes.  These girlies tapped liked no one's business and loved every single second of it.  Dance class, you were a big success. 
See ya next week!

Gotta Keep Up

We are a movin' and a shakin' around here these days.  It's hard to keep up! 

Here's the 411 on our news of the week.

 

Cami graduated to a highchair both at home and at restaurants.  She loves being able to see more and be part of the conversation at the table.  We're working on her inside voice, though.

Jackson, Lila, Cami and I went to meet his teacher at school last Friday.  He got to see his desk and made sure all of his school supplies were in order.

He seriously looks so TALL to me these days!  He found his name and his assigned task for the first day of school. 

An added bonus of Meet the Teacher night is that you just might run into a good friend.  When Caleb saw Jackson, he sprinted across the cafeteria to come say hello.  It was so cute! These two have missed each other.

Madison Reese is also getting ready for her first day of First Grade.  When she goes back, she'll be able to tell her new teacher that she's learned how to be a GREAT babysitter this summer!

Lots of action is happening with Lila Lou, too.  Her daddy took her to Soccer City last weekend and got her all set with new shin guards, soccer socks and a new pink soccer ball.  She has practiced a few times and is pumped about finally getting to play on her first soccer team.

As ready as she is for soccer, she's equally as excited to be starting her first dance class, too!  Her first ballet and tap class is tomorrow and this little ballerina cannot wait to show off her twirls and spins. 

And finally, this was too cute not to share.  Jackson was at a sleepover at Gigi's house, so Lila got to pick the movie.  She went super-girly and chose The Secret of the Wings (starring Tinkerbell) and Cami was all about it.  These two are going to be such good friends one day, I just know it.

We had our back-to-school breakfast this morning and all pigged out on Monkey Bread. 
Tomorrow is the big day!  I'm so happy that school is starting!!!  We've had a fantastic summer, but it is time.  For real.  This mama has got to have a break!

Sleeping Beauty

Our very own Sleeping Beauty!  The other morning Jackson reminded us that we still hadn't made it to IHOP this summer.  We had talked about doing that before school got out in June and somehow we got down to the last week of summer and still hadn't darkened the doors of the pancake mecca.

It's not like we haven't thought about it, but it's just so hard to wake a sleeping baby.  This was the scene in Cami's room at 8:45am on Thursday morning.  Such a beautiful sight, right?  Why would anyone ever disturb her slumber?  Because we wanted a chance to order the Rooty Tootie Fresh and Fruity, of course!



Thank goodness she was all smiles when we opened the shutters and woke her up.  Love this child. And we finally made it to IHOP, too.  I'd call that a good morning.

Baby Love

Last weekend we showered Hayley with lots of fun gifts for her sweet baby boy.  We cannot wait to meet Colby Lawson Rachavong in about 6 more weeks!

Hayley, you simply look fabulous! 

Taylor ordered this Colby banner off of Etsy--so cute.

Emily bought lots of precious baby boy outfits and we hung them up in the kitchen.  These two girlies agreed that it was super-fab. 



We had such a yummy brunch, too!  Breakfast casserole, monkey bread, kolaches, fresh fruit, chicken minis and muffins were all in the dining room.

 

And then yogurt parfaits (aren't we fancy?!) in the kitchen.

 

Lyndsie did the custom iced cookies and they turned out ADORABLE!  Check out all her cute designs at How Sweet It Is Bakeshop on Facebook.  She's amazing!

 



Flower child.  Love that sweet smile.
 

Sami and Cami are so excited to meet their new friend very soon!

Kids Play Fore Kids

Jackson's first ever golf tournament was this past Friday and it couldn't have gone any better.  He got to play in it for free because he attended golf camp through the North Texas Junior PGA earlier this summer.  The tourney was called Kids Play Fore Kids and benefited Children's Hospital this year.

 

They encouraged all players to raise at least $100 and we doubled that, but really, we could have done so much better.  Next year we are going to be on the ball!  Jackson played with his buddy Cole, Cole's friend, and a random kid, too, that didn't want to get in the group pics:)

They started off around 9:30 am and played 9 holes at Firewheel Golf Course.

 

The girls and I made it in time to see him play the last three holes.

Thankfully, we even scored our own cart!

Daddy made it back right after we did and was there to give Jackson a few pointers on the green.

He lined up every shot...

and played really well!

They finished right before noon and we headed back for the awards ceremony.  Next year maybe he'll be in the running for a top fundraiser! 

Seven Months is so Sweet!

Cameron Nicole has had a big month for sure.  She got to start eating real food, and quickly progressed from oatmeal cereal to other things.  She loves apples, bananas, pears, sweet potatoes and carrots.  She does not care for squash one bit and gagged with almost every bite!  She's rolling over both ways now and sitting up like a pro.  She has been sleeping much better in her bed this week and often doesn't wake up until after 9am.  I think she will be sad when school starts next week, too!

She is now waving and saying "hi" to all new people that she sees, sometimes even greeting the waitress at a restaurant.  Such a polite young lady.

Cami has the most kissable cheeks I have ever seen, too, and gets plenty of kisses from all of us.  She squeals with delight when her daddy gets home from work, waving her arms in the air and saying hi.  She also loves watching her big brother throw a ball in the air and is fascinated by his hats, too.  And she's finally realized that peek-a-boo is a very funny game.  Love you, little girl!

Northbound 35

which isn't nearly as exciting as Southbound 35, but we made the most of it!  We packed up our hotel room said goodbye to our new friends.

Miss Kennedy gave Cami a big hug...which was reciprocated by a little hair pulling.  Oops!

Jackson hugged his new friend and we were off!

The only thing that made leaving ok was that we were stopping at one of my all time favorite restaurants, in my favorite city in Texas.  HULA HUT!!!

We sat outside by the dock and got our waitress to take a picture to commemorate this special occasion for me.  See how Miss Cami is reaching for something?  I thought she was just waving at the camera--wrong!  Right after the picture was snapped, Cami pulled that entire large cup of iced tea right over onto me.  Soaked everything!  Oh well, at least I was wearing black shorts, not khaki or white!

Nothing was going to derail me from my happiness, though.  I mean, just look at this view.  Love this place so much.

Then a few minutes later my roasted chicken pipeline arrived and all was even better.  Jared made a solid choice with his BBQ chicken tacos, but I totally out-whataburgered him!  I shared a few bites with him and both of the girls.  Thank goodness the pipeline is enormous because we polished off every last bite.

Until next time, Austin.  Hook 'em Horns!

And hopefully the next time I come see you, Hula Hut, it won't be noon.  Then I can enjoy the Mexican Martini and be able to enjoy the greatness of you.

 

On our way out of town, we decided to show the kids some cool sights.  We drove down Congress Avenue and had a great view of the State Capitol.  The kids were actually impressed!  Then we went by the Govenor's mansion and headed towards campus.  I showed them the UT campus and the dorm I lived in my freshman year--it was so nostalgic and kind of surreal having my kids back there!  We swung by the football stadium on the way out, which J man thought was pretty darn neat.  Jared and I would love to bring him back for a game some time. 

 

If we would only have been able to hop on a helicopter and take it back to Murphy from Austin, things would have been a total success.  That didn't happen, though, and we sat in a lot of traffic for the next 4 hours.  We finally made it home around 7:00 that night--only 4 1/2 hours later, with our sanity barely in tact!  Praise the Lord!