First day of school!

Monday was the first day of school for the boys.  Daniel started the 3rd grade and Connor started daycare.  Yes, I am that mom that takes pictures of their children at ungodly hours of the morning in their first day of school outfits.  I have done it every year with Daniel so far and have no plans on stopping that tradition with either one of the boys.  So there. 

Both of the boys were very excited.  Daniel walked away from the car with 100% confidence.  He amazed me.  Last year he had an anxiety attack so bad we almost did not make it to the first day of school.  So to see him as confident and excited as he was made me so proud.  He has come such a long way in the last year.  I teared up a little as we were pulling up to his school.  First, because I could not believe that my baby was already in third grade.... and before I know it he will be in college.  Second, because he has been through so much and has come such a long way.  Words cannot truely express how proud I am of Daniel.  He is amazing.

Connor was very excited.  He got to wear his Elmo shirt and his new shoes and even his Elmo backpack.  He walked in and saw all the toys and the people and he was just so excited.  And then we went to leave and the excitement was over and the tears started.  I tried to rush Allen out of there, but he had a hard time leaving Connor that way.  This was Allen's first experience with anything like this, so it was a little harder on him.  I hated it, too, but I knew that Connor was in good hands and that he was going to be okay.

Here are the proud parents with the boys:

Both boys had good days for there first day.  I am excited about this year for Daniel.  I think that it is going to be a great one.  And I am excited for Connor.  Once he gets over the seperation, he is going to have such a good time making new friends and learning new things.  Yay for my boys!

Rodeo and Bowl-a-thon

We tried to fill the last weekend of the summer with tons of fun for the boys.  We wanted to celebrate with them before they headed of to school Monday morning. 

Naomi took us shoe shopping Saturday morning to help us find shoes for Connor's box feet.  It was a successful and quick trip, so then we headed to lunch.  We ate at Hopkins and then headed home for nap time.

Rhonda, John and Naomi came and picked up the boys and I and we headed to the Redneck Rodeo.  Allen and Dawn met us there. The boys loved it!  There were dirt bikes, bulls, barrel racing, and live music.... all kinds of things made esspecially for little boys.

Connor was a little scared at first because of all of the noise, but we got him some food and that seemed to help a little:

Not really haha.  The dirt bikes were first, and they were loud and the cheers from the crowd were loud as well.  Once that calmed down, he settled down and really seemed to enjoy himself.

Daniel had a lot of fun, too.He liked standing right along the fence, but the bulls scared me, so I made him move during that part of the show. 

After the dirt bikes were done, one of the guys went around to all of the kids and said hello and allowed us parents to take pictures.  Daniel was really excited.... this guy was the coolest!

The boys had such a great time and I hope that the rodeo comes back next year so we can go again.  We were all pretty tired and filthy afterwards, but it was very much worth it!

Sunday morning we got up and I took the boys to church.  After church, we rode up to Thomasville for the bowl-a-thon.  The bowl-a-thon was a fundraiser for the Ash Hamilton Foundation.  Ash was Allens best friend and he passed away in May of 2010.  He was an organ donor and before he passed his organs saved at least 5 people's lives.  His father, Keith Hamilton, has now dedicated his life to educating and spreading awareness about organ donation.  This was one of the many fundraisers that he has and will do to keep the memory of Ash alive.  (for more info:  http://www.theashfoundation.org/ )

Allen was at work, so it was just me and the boys, but they had a great time.  Coonor bowled a strike (with the help of Mr Keith and the ramp thing) and Daniel did really really good on his own!

For his last summer meal, Daniel requested meatloaf.  So, Sunday night I cooked meatloaf and we ate dinner and rainbow sherbert as a family.  Then, we packed backpacks and picked out first day of school outfits for the boys.  Suprisingly, they went to bed without much struggle.  I think a jam packed weekend helped tire them out!  Next post:  First day of school!

Til then, have a great day!

What have we been up to?

Sorry about the lack of posts lately.  I have tried to spend less time behind the camera and computer and more time enjoying the last few weeks of summertime with my family.  So, this will have picture updates from the last month or so...... here we go!

About a month ago, we had my 10 year high school reunion.  Because of the price of the tickets to the dinner, we decided to only go to the family picnic at Tom Brown Park.  There, we spent most of our time on the playground.

I have a pic of Daniel in the same place about 3 years ago.... scarey

We have also spent a bunch of time swimming at Grandma's house.



Allen and I have spent some "adult" time with some great friends:

My beautiful friend Dee graduated college and we got to celebrate with her and her family and friends

We spent some time with the platoon boys.... if you were at the wedding, this picture is self explanatory haha

We had a summertime family picnic at Lake Ella and Connor got to experience the ducks for the first time that it really effected him...

We are teaching Connor how to feed himself since he will be starting school soon...

Spaghetti night!

The church that I do Zumba at had a family fun water day.  I took the boys and they had so much fun.  It was over 100 degrees out that day, so it was difficult for the parents, but it was worth the sweat!

We went to a BBQ with all of my new Zumba friends and had a blast.  Most of them have more than one child, and the children there ranged in age from 13 to 2.  It has been really nice getting to know and spending time with new friends..... as an adult, I have learned that finding new friends can be rather difficult, so I am excited about these new friendships.

Connor was a hit singing karoke with the girls!

All in all this summer has been filled with fun and new adventures.  Allen and I have been social butterflies and it really feels good.  Hopefully, we can continue this trend once school starts back up. 

School starts on Monday!  Daniel will be in the 3rd grade and Connor will be starting daycare.  I am so very excited for them both and our family. 

As the last summer celebration, we are taking the boys to the "Redneck Rodeo" on Saturday.  They will have monster trucks, dirt bikes, bull riding, all kinds of stuff little boys drool over.  I can't wait to take the boys and share pictures of their faces!

Until then, have a great week!

One Fabulous Weekend!

I was so busy having tons of fun this weekend.  And since Allen had the entire weekend off, we tried to fill almost every minute.  I was having so much fun that I forgot that I had a camera with me and did not take any pictures.  So, this will be a words only post. 

Saturday morning I woke up and went to my Zumba class.  That is always a fun way to start the weekend.  Then I raced home and Allen, the boys and I got into the car and went to Wakulla Springs.  We had not gone as a family yet, and I honestly do not know why.  Anyways, there we met up with my friend Laura and all of her children.  Let me tell you how amazing this girl is.... her husband is out of town working.  She got 4 kids ready and got them to Wakulla Springs in one peice.... all by herself.  If it were me, I would've probably hidden in the house for the weekend.  Anyways.... so we met Laura, Eric, Laila, Sierra, and Kason.  The kids had so much fun.  By the time we left, the all had purple lips.  Gotta love that freezing cold spring water.  And it was nice to have a little girl talk in there as well while we were watching the littlest boys play.

After we got home, Rhonda and Naomi came and picked up the boys for a little spend the night party.  Allen and I had the night to ourselves.  We went to dinner at Barnacle Bills.  It was so nice to enjoy fresh from the gulf seafood again.  Its been a long time for me.... ever since that BP incident.  Anyways.... from there we went on to the platoon boys' house.  We always have a blast when we hang out with these boys, and if you were at our wedding or have seen the pictures, then you know why.  These guys are some of the nicest, funniest, greatest guys in the world and every time we see them we leave wanted to spend more time with them. 

Sunday, we met my mom and my Grandma for brunch and spent the rest of the day being lazy.  It was so wonderful.

This weekend was full of things that we rarely get to do and it was so nice to be able to do all of them.  And do them all as a family.  I am so blessed with such an amazing family and such awesome friends.  Thank you to all that participated in our weekend!