First days of school

 Today was a dreaded day for me but an exciting one as well....the first day of school!

It is an honor to see my kids grow up but so many mixed emotions that go along with that too.  I am sad to not have them around as much, excited for new beginnings for them, and nervous to send both of them out to new friends and new experiences.  Although I knew Karis would be a little nervous, I knew she would do great but I was nervous for Brayden and this "new" thing called school.

I didn't have to wake either of them they were up and ready to go to school!  They were eager to get ready, eat and GO!

Brayden's breakfast and coffee...I wonder how many other Kindergarteners start their morning off with (decaf) coffee?! Ha!

Karis excited about her first day in 2nd grade!

I didn't want to leave Lucy out of the pics...she was posing so well.  I think she will miss brother and sister!  She kept asking when she got to go to school and I kept saying, "2 more years" and she would respond with "Yah in 2 more days!"  A little longer than that honey, thank goodness!  I couldn't take another one just yet!

We got ready early so we could have time to take pics of course.

LOVE these two so much!!!!

You can view Karis' previous first days of school in Kindergarten here and 1st grade here.  But here are just a snippet of her as she has grown up over the 2 years.

First day in Kindergarten...

And here is the first day of 1st grade....

And here is first day of 2nd grade...wow she has really grown up sniff sniff!

Can't believe my boy starts Kindergarten today!!!!

2nd grade!

Lucy wanted in on all the action shots!  She was sad she wasn't starting school today!!!

Us with our school kiddos!

Jay and I both went to take the kiddos to school.  We decided to drop Karis off first since she has done this before and we knew she would do great.  She went right on in and sat in her seat and started working on her first day of school packet. :)  We kissed her and said our goodbyes and then off to take Brayden to his Kindergarten classroom.

I was soooo nervous about how Brayden would do after Thursday night's open house.  But he went right in and sat down at a table of boys and started playing away with blocks.  He did great and NO tears (for him...I was a different story!).

Here is his cubby...

Ready to begin the day!

We kissed him goodbye and told him to have a great day and I knew at that point I had to leave because the tears were coming fast.  As soon as I hit the door, I cried all the way out the school.  It was kinda funny because every mom that walked out of the Kindergarten hall was crying.  There was a lady standing in the hallway comforting all of us Kindergarten mommas that were boo-hooing, "It's gonna be ok mom!"  I was just glad he didn't see me crying.

I wondered about them all day and what they were doing.  I could not wait until the end of the day!  Not only was it the first day of school, but it was the first day to ride the bus too.  Jay takes them in the mornings but we decided to try and let them ride the bus home in the afternoons this year since they have each other.  They were both really excited about it!

Of course, the gang and I were at the bus stop early and excited to see them and hear about their day!  Hazel had already left for the day.

We waited eagerly and impatiently for the bus to arrive!!!!

And then it was here and my heart skipped a beat!

Luckily, they were both smiles and had a FABULOUS day!  And they LOVED riding the bus!  They were the 3rd stop and I told them they had to sit at the front and sit together.  They said that kids kept yelling, "Shut up!" and they know they are  not allowed to say that.  So Brayden's only complaint was that and he said he kept putting his fingers in his ears so he wouldn't hear it haha!

Karis said her days was GREAT and when I asked Brayden about his day, he gave me a thumbs up and replied, "the best day EVER!"  He couldn't wait to go back tomorrow!  They both loved their teachers and met several new friends.  Of course I had 101 questions!

After snacks (fudge...their request!) and homework (not much), I decided to take them to the pool to celebrate their first day!  They were so excited!

Apparently Brayden learned this today at school and since Karis remembered it, they were quick to teach Lucy and perform for us.  It made me smile!

https://vimeo.com/47100305

This was Brayden's homework the first day.  I loved hearing about his first day of school.  His favorite part of the day was getting to go outside of course and when I asked him about his least favorite part of the day he said, "I didn't have one...I loved everything!"  Yah for a successful first day!

And he was on GREEN!  Yah!  Hopefully there will be lots of these!

And just for kicks, here is Karis' first day homework from Kindergarten...

(Sorry it is a little fuzzy when I tried  to blow it up. Hopefully you can still read it.)

Looking forward to a great year and some special time with my sweet Lucy.  :)

Open House and a God sized reminder

Tonight was Karis and Brayden's open house for the 2012-2013 school year.   Karis will be in 2nd grade this year and Brayden will be in Kindergarten.   I know Karis will do great but putting another child into the school system, Kindergarten, will be hard on this momma.  It's not that I worry they won't be taken care of because that is far from the truth but it is that separation between a child and their mom...a time for them to grow up and no turning back.  Just the thought of it brings tears to my eyes.  It makes me sad to know our time is now limited and I question whether or not I have used the limited time I did have with them wisely.

Karis found out she has Mrs. Page and she is very excited about it.  She seems like a really nice teacher and since Karis is so easy to get along with, I have no doubt she will have a wonderful year.

My 2nd grader Karis...

Karis and her teacher Mrs. Page

Karis and her assistant teacher, Ms. Brittany (who you have seen before because she is Landon's big sister!)...

Here is Brayden with his Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Mary Catherine (whom you have also seen before because she was Karis' Kindergarten teacher!).  She is WONDERFUL!  For those of you that know Brayden (or any of our children personally), you know that they are shy until they warm up to you.  Tonight was true of that and he wouldn't even take a pic with her without me.  I know he will LOVE Kindergarten (and his teachers) however he will have to warm up to the idea and it may take a couple of days.  He is my social one but he has to be comfortable first.  Monday morning has the potential to be difficult for the both of us, but I am praying that is not the case!

While I filled out the paperwork he played in his new classroom.

He even got a treat bag from his teacher which of course was a hit!

We loved Mrs. Mary Catherine when Karis had her and we know we will love her this time around too!  We may just have different struggles round 2 (every child is different!).  I am a little anxious with Brayden's medical issues too.  I had tons of medical paperwork to fill out due to his epi-pen, inhaler and benadryl.  Again, I know they will take great care of him that is not what I am concerned about.  You moms out there know it is just hard to hand your child over to someone else and let them take the reigns.  I have had many a talks with Brayden (until I am blue in the face) about knowing when to tell his teacher that he needs Benadryl or his inhaler.  His asthma has been very controlled this past year so we are hoping for minimal issues.

Karis and the Gator....Brayden and Lucy wouldn't get near it!  

After open house I let them play on the playground for a bit.  

While the kids were playing on the playground, I was actually talking to my mom on the phone telling her how surprised I was at the way Brayden acted and how nervous I was about dropping him off Monday.  I expected him to be shy, but not to that extreme.  Monday has potential for there to be tears on his part and then rivers of tears for me consequently.  I will be holding back the tears as it is (if he does great), but if he struggles, I fear I will lose it completely!  I was tearing up even talking about it to my mom.  Then I turned around and saw this and DID lose it....tears that is.

It was quite literally the ray of sunshine I needed, pun intended.

It was like God made that sunset just for me to remind me that He is indeed FAITHFUL and He has my son (and 2 daughters) in His hands.  When I can't be in control of my children, I have someone who is better than I to take care of their needs, to watch and protect them, to help them make good decisions,  and to guide them to honor Him with their words and actions.

I mean have you seen anything more beautiful?!

It's neat how God speaks to us through His word giving us just what we need.  As if the the sunset wasn't enough to remind me God is faithful, as I was reading this morning, I came across several amazing verses.  Again, felt like God was speaking directly to me.  He was, in fact.

I do choose to TRUST the One who formed my Son and Daughters in the womb, has their best interest in His heart and knows their tomorrows.  And because of that, I will have PEACE knowing they are exactly where they are supposed to be...

In their Father's hand.

Monday might not be so hard after all. :)

Without a care in the world

The other day when it rained, the kids were wanting to play in the rain.  "Sure!  Why not?!" was my response and there were hoops and hollers all around.  

They put on their bathing suits and this was the cleanest I saw them for the remainder of the day ha!

How much fun is it to be a kid with not a care in the world other than how many rain droplets you catch on your tongue?!  Oh, to be a kid again...I would definitely appreciate it more than I did the first time!

Not too sure why kids are drawn to dirt but they are...especially after it rains ahem!

Just some country kids goin' muddin'...without the four wheelers and monster trucks of course.

You should have seen my bathtub, floors and showers when it was all said and done.  It was a pain to clean up but the kids had a ball so it made it all worth it.  Being that school starts back next week I wanted them to soak up the last days of summer....and they sure did.  

Without a care in the world.

Our friends are back!!!

Wednesday our friends came back and we were all excited to see them after our long (but so very short) summer!  It always goes by way too fast!

However I couldn't wait to see all the kids and how much they had changed from last year!  It will be a smaller crew this year with Trey going to Kindergarten and Axton and Landon going to preschool.  But the "babies" aren't babies anymore but are so much fun and full of energy!

Everett getting so big...walking everywhere and babbling often!

Hazel sweet as ever and walking some...

Pointing to that camera in her face ha!

Ax cheesin' for the camera and showing you all his teeth....

Into everything ha!

We all love watermelon!

So glad to have all my kiddos back!  Here's to a new school year! :)