Happy 5th Birthday Wyatt!

Over Labor Day weekend, we celebrated Wyman's 5th birthday! I can't believe he and Macie are FIVE!! Seriously, where does the time go?? 

Maylee was staying with us for the weekend while the rest of her family went to the Bama game. So she got to join in on the festivities. 

The fort at Pops and Memaw's never disappoints. 

The kiddos had a great time playing outside and getting all hot and sweaty. 

Piñata fun! 

Watch out Macie Claire! This birthday boy's got muscles! 

Pops didn't play fair! 

He was a little nicer to Maylee bug. 

Brenna's turn! 

The string on the piñata broke- and Uncle Joey got brave and HELD IT! No way would I have been that brave. 

I would have come more near holding it for Macie than Wyatt! 

Cake time!! A chocolate Cake with chocolate icing covered in M&Ms! Aka: death by chocolate! 

Sweet boy making a wish! 

When it comes to chocolate cake and ice cream...it doesn't matter if you have to share a chair with your bestie....because CHOCOLATE CAKE! 

After presents were opened, I noticed some segregation going on..... Boys playing with the new boy toys in the living room:

And girls playing in the playroom:

Cracked me up! 

It was a great party! My Wyman's got tons of fun stuff, including the toy from us that he found in my laundry room about a month prior. Little turkey! 

This was the picture Emily posted on Facebook later that afternoon:

I'd say it was a good party! That is one tired, chocolate-wasted boy! 

After the party, us girls went to watch Carter play a little football. These monkeys sure do love their "big babies"! 

Then it was home to play. 

I love these sweet smiles! 

And this is too much cuteness! 

No better way to end a fun day than with princess jommies, popcorn and Peppa Pig! 

First day of School: 2015-2016

It finally happened. Summer ended. School started. 

But I would be lying if I said we weren't all ready. Our summer was full of fun things and memories made! But it was time to get back to routine. We all needed it. 

Brenna was excited to get ready and start 3rd grade! 

I need time to please slow down. This sweet girl is getting too big too fast. I am so proud of the sweet and caring heart she has. She can test the limits like no other, but she hates for anyone to be upset with her. She played with her sister and misses her when they are apart. Yet- can agitate her to no end of given the chance. She's the perfect balance. I pray she never gets too old to want to cuddle before bed. It's my favorite part of each day. 

Macie was excited about her new adventure too- as was expressed with this look... 

Pretty sure this expression could be interpreted either way- excited or scared to death! Ha! 

I did manage to get a normal smile though. 

A group photo was also in order! 

Of course I managed to get sunburned the day before school started....on one HALF of my neck. I have wised up a little bit over the last 13 years though. No heals on the first day of school! The day is long enough without your feet hurting! 

The worst part of being a teacher is not getting to take your kids to school on the first day. Luckily Josh has been able to take them every year, except for one. And MeMawMom spent the night with us that year and Josh met her and Brenna at school. These little girls are lucky to have such great group of people that love them!! Memaw even arranged her schedule this year to pick them up on the first day so that they didn't have to ride the bus. Lucky I tell ya! 

My biggest concern was how Macie would do. Preschool was a nightmare for the first month last year. She cried every. Single. Day. I cried most of them. It was rough. So I was very apprehensive as to how Kindergarten would be. 

Luckily- it all went great! I think it helped that she already knew Mrs. Boecker. Josh said she was all smiles when she went in. She sat right down, and began coloring! 

Maybe one day soon we'll looke this fake smile. 

Way to go Macie Claire!! 

They both had great days! Even my first day was easier than some ice had in the past! Yea! Maybe that's a good sign for the school year! 

That night, we were all ready for bed a little early. Macie even asked me to "snuggle" with her! 

Here's to hoping 2015-2016 treats all of us Pool girls well! 

'Twas the night before the first day of school

We started something new this year. On the night before the first day of school, Memaw fixed her famous tacos for dinner. Brenna has already declared it a new tradition. That girl loves her some Memaw tacos!! And as luck would have it- this was the ONLY picture I got! 

We all are until we were about to explode! It was a great time with family. 

The girls already had their clothes ready to go for the next day. So as soon as we got home, they got ready and got tucked in for the night. 

Out soon to be 3rd grader...

And our soon to be Kindergartener... 

I will admit- I wasn't nearly as emotional for Macie to start kindergarten as I was for Brenna to start Kindergarten. It had nothing to do with my love, because I love both of these munchkins more than they could ever comprehend. I think it was mainly because I knew she would be in great hands with Mrs. Boecker, and I knew her big sister would be there with her. 

Now I know that Brenna isn't going to be right there with her all day long. However, it is just so nice knowing that Brenna can walk in with her each day and show her where to go. And take her to class if she forgets where it is. And that Brenna will be with her after school when it comes time to get on the bus. It just gives me a peace of mind. These two may argue all day every day, and act like they drive each other completely crazy (driving me completely crazy in the process) but in the end, I know they do love each other and will not let anything happen to the other one. It just gave this Mama a peace in her heart knowing that B would be there looking out for her little sister.
My only concern was how Macie Claire would handle that first morning drop off.... would she cry? I had no way of knowing. But I went to bed and prayed long and hard that it would be a much smoother transition for her than preschool was. It had to be easier. I couldn't take it if it wasn't....

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

The Saturday before school started the girls and I decided to meet up with Graddy and do a little fishin on Eagle Mountain Lake. The girls were super excited to go fishing, which was mainly due to a false idea of what fishing actually is....(patience is not a virtue when you are 8 and 5!)
I will say that getting on the boat without Mom hasn't gotten any easier. In fact, it's almost harder as time goes on. GRIEF has gotten harder instead of easier as time has gone on too, but that's a post for another day. This one is about having fun with Graddy!
Of course Dad was on the water when the sun came up. We were not. In fact, we were about 10:00 getting there! But we made it. Before noon at that! ha!
Macie Claire decided that she needed a hat for the day! I love this little girl in a hat. The cuteness is almost more than I can handle. 

And this big girl is pretty cute herself! 

Graddy drove the boat over and picked us up. Brenna was eager to get her new life jacket on and couldn't wait until after her picture with Graddy. 

These girls sure do love their Graddy. And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. 

Aahhhh. Swimsuit. Fishing shirt. Sunshades. Hat. Oh my. 

We "went fast" for a few minutes and then found a good spot to get started! 

Graddy casted, and they reeled it in. 

Over and over and over. 

And over. 

What is it about becoming a grandparent that mellows people out?? I am certain that this man who is Graddy to my children is not the man I grew up calling Daddy! This man has patience. (At first I typed that he has the patience of Job. But let's be real. He has some patience. "Some" is more than the "little" he had 30 years ago!) but there is something that happens in the delivery room when a baby is born. Not only do 2 people become parents, but 4 people become GRANDPARENTS. And it fries their brains. Makes them soft. It's crazy I tell ya. Crazy. And wonderful. 

I remember one time when Brenna was about 2 1/2. I walked into Mom's house to get her after work and she came around the corner in the kitchen riding her tricycle. In the house. I said "what do you think you are doing?" And my Mom chimed in and said "she's fine! I told her she could ride it in here." Ummm. Hello?!?! Who are you and where is the woman that raised me?? Because that lady certainly wouldn't have let me bring my bicycle inside just because I wanted to! 

Ok. Ok. I got off track. But my point is- becoming a grandparent changes people. Grandkids love it. Kids walk around scratching their heads all the time wondering what in the world happened to our parents! 

This guy right here has a soft spot for these little girls. 

The fishing went really well. For about 3 minutes. The girls loved reeling their lines in. But after the 4th cast, Macie fell apart because "why haven't I caught a fish yet??!!" The thrill wore off pretty quickly. But it was fun while it lasted! 

After a little more riding around, they talked Graddy into letting them swim. 

They found some ducks. 

But Macie wasn't so sure about that at first. 

Sweet girls! 

They enjoyed feeding the ducks our cheeseits. 

This girl needs to quit growing up. It's killing me! 

Time for more riding around! 

Macie and Graddy checked out all the really big boats. She's his sidekick. They are bff's ya know. 

Melt. Me. 

This girl almost fell asleep while we were cruising around. 

We rounded out the day with lunch at the restaurant on the lake. The girls thought it was pretty cool to drive the boat up to the restaurant! 

And any day that Macie gets to eat mozzarella sticks is a good day in her book! 

And any day that I get to spend with my Daddy is a great day in my book! We all had so much fun. And I know Mom was smiling down on us and proud of us for having fun with her girls. 

Meet the Teacher

On the Thursday before school started, we got to go find out which teachers the girls got for the year. We were super excited to find out that we got our picks for both kids! 

Brenna was excited to find out that one of MY former students was her teacher. Mrs. Hargrove was in my teaching intern class when I did my student teaching. (So I guess technically she was Sara's student, but I'm claiming her too!) I love Tara! 

And we were all excited that Macie ended up in Mrs. Boecker's class. She was already comfortable with Mrs. Boecker, as were we, so I just knew that this would make the transition to Kindergarten so much easier. And on top of that- her new friend Kaleigg is in her class too! Double win! 

 It's going to be a great year! I just know it! I am blessed to have these two ladies investing their time into my children's lives this year. God answers prayer! 

Splash Kingdom

For Christmas this year, the girls (and Wyatt) got season passes to Splash Kingdom. It turned out to be one of the BEST gifts! I'm so glad I thought to ask Aunt Kim for one for myself too! (Since the kids can't drive and all- I guess it was good to make sure I could get in each time too!) 

We used our passes as often as possible! Nikki and Tia also got passes, as well as Jamie, Landry, Carter, Emily and Wyatt! It was a great summer! 

Both girls got so brave over the summer. Brenna would go and do her own thing and check in with me. And Macie went from only playing in the kiddie area to riding the big slides all by herself! As I said about Six Flags.... My little dare Devils! 

Here are some pictures from the end of summer that I haven't posted in another blog post: 

Oh Wyatt- crazy boy! 

Goggles are sometimes needed for this slide. Because that drop off at the end is upwards of 3 inches! 

These sweet cousins love each other so much! They had a blast playing together on our water park days. Brenna was always too busy to be bothered with pictures. 

SHARK sighting! With Wyatt's friend. 

We loved having Madison and Maylee join us one day! 

On one of my inservice days, I left a little early and picked up Brenna, Macie and Tia and took them for one last trip to the water park. This was (of course on our last visit of the season) the day Macie decided to get super brave and ride tube rides by herself and even ride the big slides at the front! I was so proud. And Daddy even got to join us for a bit. The girls both loved getting to show off for him. 

Sweet friends. 

Macie and those goggles.... 

Macie and her Daddy rode the double tube several times. 

And then she got super brave and rode by herself!! This was a HUGE improvement from the beginning of summer. 

Even big kids like to ride slides! 

And here she is! My big girl riding the big slides in the deep pool. My heart swelled with pride. 

It was a fun summer full of friends and memories! Can't wait to do it again next year!