Gearing up for FIRST grade!

A new school year is upon us.

Last week, we came home from some back-to-school shopping and Sissy put on her new shirt and get all dressed up to go to dinner with Nonnie & Poppy while Daddy and I went to Coleman’s parent night at his school.

This girl is growing up too fast- but at least she is still my baby, and does assure me of that often!  She is STILL a baby/stuffed-animal lover and now that she’s also a clothes/fashion lover, she always picks out a baby or animal that “goes with” her outfit.  She looks at herself in the mirror WITH said baby, and even asks me “Does this doggy look good with me?”  after she gets dressed.  This girl cracks me up!!

See….

 

I made her put down the baby for a couple more shots, but she made sure it did NOT go on the ground!  Then she turned it on for her mamarazzi, just a little bit!

Little Miss Priss!!

Last Friday her sweet Aunt Anna and Uncle TyTy were both off for the day so they took her to Six Flags.

She had a wonderful time, and as I said on facebook, Shelby and Coleman are so blessed to have the best aunts & uncles in the world!!!

(Still smilin’ on her way home.)

Last night was Shelby’s Meet the Teacher night.  She is continuing at the school we moved to last year via open enrollment.  It’s an amazing school, but so is the one that we live in- both of them one of only 8 elementary schools in the district achieving an Exemplary rating last year.  We might re-assess in the coming years, when Coleman enters school (NEXT YEAR!  Booohooo!)

Daddy was able to get off work early and go with us to meet her first grade teacher.  I was so excited and pleased with the class she got in.  I know nothing about these teachers from word-of-mouth (though I am sure there is not a bad teacher at this school!) but I know about them through their biographies on the website.  (Bear with me as I ramble on as an over-analyzer!!)  This one teacher REALLY stuck out to me because our little Shelby is quite the free-spirit.  Probably as close to a hippie girl a 6 year old can be without having hippy parents or growing up in the 70’s. ;)  This teacher writes that she and her family’s favorite activities are spending time outdoors, camping and fishing.  She has 3 horses, two dogs, and six cats!  Our little outdoorsy, vet-wanna-be, animal-lovin’ girl will love this teacher, I just know it!  (Funny: Both her kinder teacher and this teacher have names that begin with “Pe___” just like Peck!)

Here she is waiting to go in and meet her teacher last night:

I am very excited for Shelby to make some new friends in this class.  Though there is only one girl in this class who was in her class last year, we saw a few potential BFFs last night ;)  I know she will be taken care of because we will pray for her every night.

Finally, Nonnie and I worked last week to “decorate” her classroom door.  We came up with this sign (Thank you Pinterest) and the cool peace sign fabric (her classroom inside is red/white/blue so we just added in some green!)

 

Stay tuned for first-day-of-school snapshots next week!

Buddy’s Day

Yesterday was Coleman’s FIRST day of Stepping Stones class.  This is his Pre-K year.  He had a good day and was happy to see all his friend that he missed all summer long.

Shelby is in her last 2 weeks until school starts, and Nonnie is keeping her during the day this week.  When she called to say that Shelby wanted to stay and spend the night, I thought it would be a great night for a “Coleman night”…we could play what he wanted, and watch what he wanted, and hear all about his first day at school, just Mommy, Daddy, and Coleman! 

When I picked him up from school and told him about our night, he was very excited.  So excited about a “Me night” that he didn’t even cry that he wanted to go to Nonnie & Poppy’s, too!  He went to the store with me and was a perfect angel (one child is so easy!), and he got an ice cream treat.

When we got home, he watched Kenny the Shark while I finished up dinner and then Daddy got home.  We all ate dinner, and then he chose to play Connect4 with Daddy.

After that, I made him put all his clothes he wore that day back on (he had taken them off, declaring “I wanna be nekkid boy!”) so we could go outside and pretend that we had taken a first day of school picture that morning. :) (What?!  Isn’t that what everyone does?! haha!)

See?  JUST LIKE that morning if you picture white Puma tennies instead of flip flops, spikey hair, and no baseball glove:

He had picked his own clothes out the night before…proud to be a Red Raider!

After the photo op, Daddy and Coleman played some catch in the front yard.

  

I took about 3 pictures before I got too hot (106 degrees!) and went inside.

When we were all back inside, Daddy and I watched the Rangers while Coleman practiced his sliding.  He went into his room and put on his football pants, cleats, and Cowboys jersey.  Then he ran back and forth, sliding like a pro on our carpet.  His heart was beating fast so he asked us to feel it in his chest.

C: "Feel my heart."
D: "You've got a strong heart."
C: "Does it ever break?"
D: "No, it won’t break."
C: "Because I'm so hard.  I can't even rip myself."
M: “you can’t rip yourself??”
C: “Yeah, see?” (((pulling/stretching skin off his arm)))  “I get taller when I exercise.”
M: “Yep.”
C: “Is baseball exercise?”
M: “It sure is.”
C: (((Shy/proud grin))) “I just got a lot taller then.”

After a little more tv time to SLOW our heartbeats and ready ourselves for bedtime, our big buddy went straight to bed after his happy night.

This little buddy just cracks me up constantly, and I wish I could bottle up all his little sayings to hear forever!  Last week in the car, I asked him what his afternoon snack was at school.
M: “What did you have for snack?”
C: “I’m afraid to tell you but … Animal Crackers.”
 
(I have no idea why he was “afraid to tell me” about animal crackers!!)

I had been telling him for a few days that he needed a hair cut, but he kept insisting that he wanted to grow it long (like his buddy Jackson.)  I hadn’t said anything about a haircut for several days, when he said out of the blue one afternoon: “OKAY!  We can cut my hair!  But you have to do it after dinner tonight.”  I guess it is like ripping a band-aid off?? ;)

We love him so!

July Rangers Game vs. Toronto

Jess & Jason were busy on this game night that they had tickets for, so they graciously gifted them to us.  It was kids’ Josh Hamilton jersey night so we of course HAD to take the kids.  Hmmm, probably should have showed up more than 10 minutes before game time if our goal was to get them jerseys because all the jerseys were LONG GONE by that time. :(  Booooo!

Early in the day Shelby got herself all ready to go…not exactly a baseball game outfit but whatever! :)

  Our little hippie-girl, she makes me laugh!  (in her hand she has her coin purse and her hand sanitizer.)

 

Next I took Coleman’s picture (who also got himself all ready.)  I have no idea who he thought he had his arm around.

The game was fun.  It was hot but the kids were GREAT and we stayed through the whole game (which only lasted a little more than 2 hours.)

Some more game pictures:

 

She took this of herself.  Not bad!

More from the little photographer:

Anna’s Quarter Century Birthday

 

We were in Arkansas on Anna’s 25th birthday.  We all went out to a fun hibachi / sushi restaurant for dinner.  Then, the brother and sisters all went to a wine bar for a bit to just relax after a very emotional and draining week.

Some pictures:

 

Happy birthday Anna Banana!  We love you!

4th of July Weekend

After our Friday night Pre-4th-of-July fireworks, we woke up Saturday for a day with Gram.
We went to eat and shopping (a hobby both Gram and I share!)  I just had to take her to Marshall’s. :)
When we got home, we noticed that Coleman had written on Gram’s shirt during lunch:



Then, with the camera out, Jeff decided to host a little photo shoot (with bad shadows!)  Our kiddos are SILLY BILLIES!  I want them to Never Grow Up.

     

At Marshall’s, Gram bought Coleman a new pair of shoes.  They are awesome and fast Pumas.  Every time Coleman gets a new pair of shoes, he has to put them on immediately and see how fast he can run in them.  This is him running.  Pretty fast, huh?



Thanks, Gram, for coming to visit us!  We miss you!

Sunday came and we headed out to our friends the Davis’ house for some swim time and dinner.  Unfortunately, as soon as we finally got to the pool, lighting filled the sky around us and the pool closed.  Shelby, Jess and I were at the very top of the slide, completely dry, next in line to go down when the whistle blew!  Such a bummer, especially for Shelby and Coleman!  We were able to go back after dinner for about an hour of swim time, but their cool big slides were closed by then so we will have to go back again and let Cole and Shelby experience the slides!
I didn’t take my camera out (I was way too busy spending my time with sweet Jocelyn!) but Jess got a couple of cute pictures of Shelby reading to Joe.
 


In this one she’s petting his head…such a little Mommy.



Thanks Davises and Meikles for a wonderful evening!

On Monday, 4th of July morning, we woke up with plans to have a family day and cookout with family at Nonnie' and Poppy’s pool, but one phone call brought devastation and tears with the news about Aunt Jan.  That evening back at home, Jeff, Shelby, Coleman and I decided to run up to a local parking lot and watch the city’s fireworks from the bed of our truck.




It was a long, difficult day, and I thought about Aunt Jan as we watched the big explosions in the sky, as I know we all will every year for the rest of our lives.  Janet was very sentimental about trains and the sound of train whistles reminding her of her daddy.  I think she’d be honored that the booms of fireworks lighting up a dark sky will forever make us think of her.

Bright.  Shiny.  Sparkly.  Loud.  A Celebration.

Fireworks July 1st, Grapevine, TX

 

We were so excited to get an invitation for a family date from Chris, Kelly, Reagan & Rylee for dinner and fireworks!

We had dinner at Flips, and then headed out to Grapevine Lake for a little fireworks from the grass.  It was a lot of fun!

When we pulled up and parked, there was an ice cream truck just waiting for us (smart truck!)

After getting all our treats, of course the kids all had to explore the mucky lake shore first.

This is Rylee Campbell and she is quite a sweet little character!  Love her!!

 

She and Shelby wrestled around for a while.

   

…and then she spent some quality time with Jeff :)

Our little artist had all of her coloring supplies, of course!

3 girls and a boy!  Ages 4, 5, 6, and 7.  (Oh, and 36.)   Doesn’t Coleman look thrilled?

He’d prefer a break from the girls sometimes, I think… haha!

 

When the fireworks started, we all stopped to enjoy them.

 

It was a perfect night.  Thank you Butts family!!

Blessings

This has been such a busy summer.
We have been blessed with many family visits and little vacations.  Just since March, we have been to Disney World, camping at Lake Tawakoni, had 2 trips to Arkansas, and just returned from a lovely time of relaxation at Mustang Island beach (Port Aransas, TX)  We do not know how much time we have here on earth to enjoy our family, to love our babies, to make people feel what they mean to us. I want my life to be about striving to love my Lord, my babies, my husband, my family and friends.

"Enjoy the little things in life, for someday you will realize they were the big things."

On Monday July 4th, our family was hit hard with the death of a very close and very adored aunt.  In fact, I wrote of Aunt Jan's visit in my last blog post before this one.  How lucky we were to have that weekend with her!  Shelby and Coleman remember their "date" with her in the pool on the morning of the last day she was here, and of coloring with her at our house while we watched the Mavs play.  My memories of her are countless, which is such a blessing.  Jan passed away on Monday morning of a sudden massive heart attack.  We miss her so much.

Janet is my mama's baby sister.  As my mom put it, "I truly don't know how people without hope in a Risen Savior make it through times like this. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.  Because of a world full of good people like you, I can even smile. Thank you."

This is the first close loss that many of us "kids" aka nieces and nephews have experienced (within our memory.)  It is a pain that is unexplicable, and also something that really makes songs and words touch you that otherwise might have not.
There are numerous songs that now and will always remind me of Aunt Jan.  Cat Stevens "If You Want to Sing Out" which Luke amazingly played for us all as we said goodbye to her on that Friday morning...I had never even heard the song and yet when we played it, the lyrics are exactly how Janet lived her life.  Other songs are  "You and Tequila Make me Crazy" and others that we all listened to as we were gathered in her kitchen with memories swirling. A song that Mom put on her facebook the day we returned from Arkansas.  "Save a Place for Me" by Matthew West.  (  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbsBUf9VKyc )

I saw this song on another blog this morning and it really touched me.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  -Romans 8:28
 


 

"Blessings"

-Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights 

Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life 

Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights 

Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life 

Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win

We know the pain reminds this heart

That this is not, this is not our home

It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears?

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the achings of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst

This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise?

Janet lived her life with no regrets. She loved being a teacher and obviously made a huge impact doing it. She had kids that she taught 20 years ago telling stories about her...she was that ONE favorite teacher that everyone remembers. She had tons of students come to say goodbye to her at the funeral home. I really don't think many teachers make THAT huge of an impact...but it sure is an honor when they can!
She loved her husband more than anything. She loved her mom and her family. She was always in the moment, and always, ALWAYS made sure everyone was enjoying themselves. In fact that last weekend she was here in Fort Worth, I was really into the book I was reading and one day was just kind of carrying my Nook around with me and reading it when I sat down or when there was downtime. At one point, she looked at me and yelled, "STOP READING!!!" She wanted me to be "there" with everyone and talk to her! I laughed and put my book down. :)
Her donor status on her driver's license allowed her to continue the GIVING even past her lifetime. She was taken to Little Rock med center, where they were able to use a lot of her to help make other people's lives better. Just that fact has made many of us make sure we have our donor status and wishes known so we can help out in the same way when it's time.
We all love her so much, and she will be missed and thought of for a lifetime to come.