First Day First Grade!

Today Cade officially became a real First Grader! He was actually very compliant about going and was a little excited (and nervous). Much to my dismay, he slept later this morning than he has the ENTIRE summer and I had to wake him to get ready for school. What's up with that?? Why couldn't that have happened on any given day in the months of June or July? G gave him a farewell hug. He had no heart wrenching words as he did last year. I guess he realizes the Lego freedom he will have once Cade is confined to school 5 days a week. It opens up a whole new realm of play.

We ran into our best bud going in to school. They didn't get the same teacher again this year but I'm sure it's for the better. If they didn't have the same name you might think they are brothers the way they act sometimes. The new teacher, Mrs. K. I think she is going to be a good fit for Cade. Only time will tell for sure!

This is how I left him..... Sitting at his new little desk area getting ready to color or something. Today is just a half day so I'm sure there won't be any "real" learning but I'm excited to hear what his classroom is going to be like. And waahoo! to the wrap-packs for school supplies. I didn't have to buy a single thing on my own and when we walked in it was all nicely placed in his spot already ready to be used. I'll definately do that again next year. And, yes, AJ, I'll give you a buzz about them :) Here's to the start of another school year!!

One Last Hoo-Rah

We spent a little time at the pool today. It will probably be the last hoorah of the summer having Bobby at the pool given summer coming to a close and our busy August schedule. Pool time is always more fun with the daddy because of dangerous things like this. I just don't perform as well as he does. Here are all of my boys. Deep down inside their gizzards are shivering because, unfortunately, the water has returned to sub-optimal temperatures which means they can count on me not getting in unless someone is drowning. Even then, I'll stand poolside and strongly encourage them NOT to be drowning before actually entering the arctic waters. please note exaggeration.
This is the wonderful little invention that changed Rhett's daily life. It allowed him to play like the big boy he THINKS he is. And it made his "canonball" yell really mean canonball. It will sit idly in the garage soon and hopefully will only be needed for the first part of next summer. I'm counting on Mr. Burts Swim Nazi School to kick this one in gear. What I'm really waiting for is when I can take them all to the pool and have little to no responsibility. Like, I can just sit and suntan and not worry about someone dying constantly. By the way, my suntanning days are over, really. I do wear an SPF 30. That is a big change from the highschool days where I purposefully would lie in the sun slathered in oils just hoping for a good burn. Motherhood has made me so much wiser :)
Stay tuned to see this guy become a real, live first grader tomorrow. After open house the other day he said, "My self thinks it's ready to go back to school now." I'm just glad his "self" told him something good. Usually "self" is saying things like "pinch your brother" or "eat the last piece of Grant's donut". Thanks Self for being encouraging for once!!

Just A Few

I won't be THAT person who makes you sit through the slideshow of their family on vacation when you really don't want to. I'm just going to put a few of our Mandatory Family Beach Photoshoot pics on here. If you want the full tour you are welcome to come by in 2012 when I get to this page in my scrapbooking.

No one was being 100% cooperative at during this little endevor....as you can tell from the two clowns in this picture. I was a little aggravated when I saw it in full screen once we got home but then I thought, "You know? This is just real life for us. Why would we want to record it any other way??". So, I got over it. My mom and dad.Little Buddy was the only one willing to have cute one on one shots with people. Don't go thinking that I favor him over the others. He was just the compliant one.

My crazy sister and I (along with well known photograper Roberto Morgano) tried our hand at a "real life" photoshoot. How fascinating the results........... There were many more along with this one. They will also be on display in 2012. Or for purchase on Snap-fish.
Mi madre y mi hermana. I love, love, loved this pic. Rhett was handing out all the goodness on Beach Photo Day.


And one last photo of Mr. I-Really-Want-My-Piece-of-Candy-After-This and his mommy. I'm just thankful the pink eye had cleared up for the most part and I don't look like a complete cyborg monster in the pic.This post concludes my wrap up from Beach Vacation 2008. Good times. Good memories.

So? What'd You Do?

We spent a whole lot of time at the beach. The first couple days we were tormented by algae in the water which ultimately led to the demise of my eyesight for the week as I was plagued with pink eye. Both eyes, mind you. I was not a very happy camper. Especially when Bobby and my dad referred to me as "One Eyed Willy" ( That was before it had spread to the other eye). But, the boys were still cute for a picture. Please note Grant's pirate face. You will notice it is a common theme throughout. My wonderful mother would rise in the morning and make breakfast. She made her famous "Souffle" one morning and, as usual, it was a hit. Unfortunately, this week the kids have been super disappointed in the breakfast bars they are back to eating. I've had to throw out the "Does this look like vacation to you?? Didn't think so." a couple times already.
Something worthy of noting is the souffle ingredient that almost cost my dad his deacon's position at church. The Maple Syrup. It took on an uncanny resemblance to a liquor flask. So much so that the bagger at the Publix wrapped it in a brown paper bag and gave it to my dad! HA! Little did she know that never in my lifetime have I EVER seen my father with an alcoholic beverage. That made it all the more hilarious. That and the fact that she grinned at him when she gave it to him. Just needed to throw this in because it's back. The pirate face. I can't escape it. Out of 299 photos, this is Grant in at least 285 of them.
I did a lot of this. Reading. One of my favorite things to do. It was on this day, when my chair was facing the ocean, that I was taken to some far off place almost catching the killer in my book when a tsunami sized wave brought me back to reality and drenched me (and thus allowing the ocean water to penetrate my eyes leading to the pink eye I'm sure).Bobby spent all day catching jellyfish with the boys. By the end of the morning he had 25 and Cade's goal in life was to be a jellyfisherman. Nothing like high aspirations. They also caught one crab. Obviously all the hours watching Deadliest Catch finally paid off. Sorta.Dad built sandcastles with the boys almost every day. Maybe Grant smiles in this one. Nope. Still a pirate. Preparing the crab for ultimate tourture in a sand bucket. Rhett learned that he could swim if he wore his little lifevest. All summer I have tried to convince him of this and finally it sunk in. He threw out a lot more "CANNONBALL"s and thankfully it was in the pool this time. We headed to Baytowne Wharf for some good dinner and a "Mini Gras" party for the boys. My sister helped us rangle the crazies in the swarm of people. And finally......What Grant had been dreaming of finally came true. He actually got to be a pirate.

Next up: The mandatory family beach picture day.

In Progress

I'm still working on sharing the love from vacation. This is how it is at my house all the time. Just love, sweet love, flowing around for all to experience.

Please do not refer to any of my previous posts in an attempt to discredit any statement made here today.

Coming Soon....

"Daycation" pics. It's hard to muddle through 299 photos and decide which few to blog. For now, here is one of my favs. The annual feet in the sand photo. Stay tuned later this week for a daycation synopsis. (Cade still calls it "DAYcation" and I just can't correct him. I like it too much!)

Lovin' This Photo

I snapped this photo of Little Buddy and my dad back on Father's Day and loved it. Just wanted to leave you with a cute image as we head off for vacation.....as opposed to the images from my last post.