Releasing Some Butterflies!

Every second grade year the kiddos get to "grow" their own butterflies and then we as parents are lucky enough to get to stand around outside and watch them fly out of their classroom cages. It's.....interesting. This year the second grade all made up songs to sing about butterflies. I videoed Rhett singing. Well, I tried. He got video-taping-fright and pretty much forgot his words. Next time I'll just be there in person and record it in my little memory bank. He looked cute in his homemade butterfly t-shirt though! 

Once we got outside and he got his butterfly trap (a tasty orange slice) and about 3.4 minutes went by with no luck, he was over it. He dropped his slice, ran around until he found a bud and then I was as good as chopped liver. I slowed him down for one second to break school rules to snap a picture (I'm such a rebel!) and then texted it to his bud's mom who had to work that day. 

Butterfly release parties are so much more fun when you have a great bud to share it with! 

Swim and S'mores

As it's the end of September, this is probably one of our last swim days. Having a heater in the pool was a great idea so we could stretch our pool days out a little longer. We invited a few friends over and did some swim and s'mores. An excellent combo! 

 There may have been dancing on the wall. With Rhett around....yeah, you can be sure there will be dancing on the wall!

 S'mores in the fire pit. 

S'mores on the face:)

Bye, bye summer! We've loved you!

Flag Football

 Both Cade and Rhett decided they wanted to play flag football this fall instead of baseball. So, every Saturday we spent a couple hours out at the field to watch. I actually like flag football as a break. It's not too serious and the kids have fun. They both ended up being on teams with their baseball team buddies. Cade's team did pretty well but they were by far the smallest team in the league. Some of those kids looked like grown men.....I mean, who has legs full of black adult hair and makings of a mustache and a five o'clock shadow in a 10-14 year old flag football league? Oh yeah. It's the 14 year olds. Woah. What? Are there really that many hormones in the chicken we've been eating? Anyway, Cade had fun. 

He ran the ball a couple times....

 made some good catches...

and called it a day. Good season.

 This was Rhett's first time to play flag and he was pumped. That's all he and his friends do at recess and half of his recess crowd was on his team. That made for a pretty stellar little team! 

His baseball bud Garet was on this team and those two....you've gotta watch them. It seems that every time they're together they end up in some kind of wrestling match or something. 

Rhett's competitive nature takes over in any sport so he was full force this whole season. 

Pulling flags....

playing a little QB....

and ending their season undefeated. 

We had a ton of fun watching this crew take everyone down. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

Family Pics With Wendy!

Bobby's sister was ever so kind to take the time out of her busy schedule to do some family photos for us. They were all great but these are some of my favorites:

This is my most favorite one of all because it cracks me up! I told the kids to act like they always do for this shot and this is what they came up with. So true, so true! 

Just an Inch Off the Bottom!

After 3 years of hair growth I thought it was time for Elaina to have a little trim. I took her to my friend Jodie's to get her first cut. She was SOOO excited! 

She was a cutie pie sitting in the big chair with the hair cutting cape on. 

Jodie went to work trimming off that bottom inch......

and voila! All cut (and not looking any different:) ) except for that perfectly straight across the bottom hair. I love her long locks and until she tells me differently she's keeping them:)

Under the Bunk Bed

Cade and Grant have shared a room for the past 3.5 years. Recently Grant has been insisting that he needs his "space". So, our house is shuffling a little. Grant has been the bottom bunk sleeper for all of that time and I couldn't help but make note of what his little eyes look at each night before he falls asleep. I just think it's precious that he put a little picture collage up of things that make him happy.....Elaina as a newborn, being the student of the week in kindergarten and getting to bring home that stuffed horse, Bobby's baseball picture from high school, a picture of he and Cade as babies, the Atlanta Braves, and him in a box on the day we moved into this house. Rhett and I feel gypped that we didn't make it on the wall of love but hey, you can't win 'em all:)

First Day of School 2013-2014

 Today Cade heads to middle school. He's very excited for the new experience and so am I! I'm very thankful that he's not pitching a fit about wearing "nice" clothes to school this year. I spent half of fourth grade and all of fifth trying to convince him that your legs can, in fact, bend in a pair of jeans and wearing something other than athletic shorts would not stunt his growth. I finally succeeded! 

 Grant faithfully wears whatever I put out. Good boy. :) He's heading to fourth grade! ( I don't know why I only had one picture of him....everyone else has two. Except Elaina. She always has the most:) )

And Rhett: heading to second grade but acts like he's heading to fifth. I suppose that's what happens when you have 2 big brothers.

 Cade's bus leaves a full hour before everyone else so my crew picture is missing a part:(

I'll be honest. Summer went by WAY too quickly for me this year. I was not ready for early mornings and packing lunches and homework in the afternoon. However, I was MORE than ready to drop Princess Petunia off two days a week for a little time away. She needs attention at least 13.5 hours a day and sometimes that's not enough so she wakes me in the night to let me know. I love that I can sit in a chair in quiet silence from 9:15-1:45 a couple days a week (that actually never happens.....I pack those days full!!) while she cuts, pastes, and colors under someone else's supervision. And we both cherish it equally....beautiful!! 

 I did go all out and fishtail her hair. She was a super sport and was quite still. I was pleased! Until I had to put her in that big ol' carseat that is a total hair monster. I'm going to start making her wear a pair of silk panties on her head in the car. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that you can do that at night and it will keep your braids from messing up with your tossing and turning. Surely it would work in the daylight, too. Albeit it's a bit more embarrassing. 

 Is she not the cutest little thing wearing a backpack you ever did see??? 

Here's to another year of schooling! Let's do some learnin'!