First Day of School 2017

This week kicked off my 13th year in education and of course brought a new first day of school picture.  Since I have been taking these pictures since I was a little girl, it is so fun to see how things have changed even in the last five years of taking first day of school pictures with my boys.  Here are some of our first day of school pictures!  I still can't believe that when we take next year's first day picture, Zander and I will be going to the same school for that first day!  How can he only have one more year until kindergarten?!

 And from the last five years.....

This past week we celebrated a solar eclipse.  We had a great time watching the moon cover the sun for a moment of time.  We were all at school and the clouds held out to see it pretty clearly.  A co-worker let me borrow her glasses!

Zander loves making wishes when he sees a dandelion!  I absolutely love his enthusiasm when he finds one in the grass!  He has to make sure he gets every last wish!

The stomach bug hit the Houston Household, and Zack and Burke were the only two that "survived" with no incidents!  Maddox started it first with throwing up all over the floor and me.  Then, I had it overnight Sunday into Monday (a week ago).... what a way to start the work week?!  Finally, Zander rounded out our "fun" last Wednesday with projectile vomit in my car TWICE  as I was trying to get him home from school and from Grammy and Grandpa's house.  The car seat had to be washed twice but it seems like all of us had a pretty quick sickness and we were back to normal within a day of being sick.  With Open House last Thursday night, I was able to enjoy the morning with the boys as Zander was recovering.

 All ready for Open House.....

Maddox and Zander have been able to visit me at school a couple times this past week.  My mom has been so sweet to drop the boys off in the mornings and pick them up in the afternoons to help me adjust to our new schedule.  Maddox starts at the preschool on Tuesday so it will be back to me doing the drop off and pick up full time.... so I am definitely soaking up the little extra time I have in the mornings and the afternoons since mom is helping with transportation.... thank you Grammy!!!

Zander has had a tough time adjusting to his new preschool.  I don't know if he is missing his friends or he is just in a new routine/schedule/environment but he is getting some negative behavior reports coming home.  He has gotten in trouble quite a few times (with hitting, spitting and pinching) and has even had a couple accidents during nap time.... which NEVER happens!  I have been so confused and so worried about my big boy!  The behaviors and accidents are so uncharacteristic of him that I keep wondering what I can do to help him be successful.  I keep thinking that he has never had these problems at his old daycare or at church or any other function where he is around other kids and adults watching him without me around.  I am hoping this is just an adjustment period which will work itself out soon.  I am also wondering if someone is starting the behaviors first toward him and he is responding accordingly.  I am proud to report he has had two good days this week so far... and I am hoping for another good day today!  I have been emphasizing the positive any chance I can and he seems to enjoy the positive reinforcement!  I am including the picture below to show just how sweet our oldest truly is... he helped Maddox put his socks and shoes on one afternoon so we could go for a walk after school.  This was completely unprompted and I feel like this shows what a gentle, kind spirit he has.  I am praying his teachers and classmates are able to see what an incredible little boy he is and that Zander will make good choices as he continues with Pre-K and beyond.

We had Maddox's friend's 2nd birthday party this weekend! We had so much fun swimming at the YMCA pool and playing in the activity room.  Mollie is in Maddox's class at preschool and I work with Mollie's mom.  It is so fun to see their friendship growing since it started way back when the two of us were pregnant with these little ones!

 As an update on our four-legged son.... we found out that the surgery he had to remove a lump on his right hind quarters was a malignant tumor.  The vet believes that they were able to remove all of the tumor and the likelihood of this type of tumor spreading is minimal (especially internally).  So for now, we just have to watch for any abnormal lumps etc. and will take him to the vet if we suspect that the cancer has spread to another part of his body.  He seems to have recovered well and got the stitches removed last week.  He decided to roll in something that smelled HORRIBLE one night while Zack was away..... this meant that mommy got to give three boys a bath that night!  Of course, I had to take a picture.  I can definitely tell he is back to his playful self.... running around the backyard and finding all sorts of things to get him in trouble. ;)

Soaking Up the Sun!

While we are back to work and school, we are still trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer and get outside as much as possible with family and friends.  We had the best weekend and even though it was very HOT, it seemed like everything went smoothly and I would even say pretty perfectly! Before I get to our weekend, let's catch up on our past week....

Emmy came to stay with us last Saturday night so Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Boomer could have a date night to celebrate her new job and enjoy a kid-free evening.  Emmy's cousins loved having her at our house, and they were so excited for their first sleepover!! I am pleased to report that all children survived without any incidents and all children slept through the night making it a pretty easy evening for mommy/Aunt M! ;)

Grandpa took his oldest to the golf tournament today (more about that later) but last Sunday, he matched his youngest grandson at church (unplanned).... we had to take a picture to document their matching shirts that Grandpa got at the Old Course in Scotland last year!

Zander officially started Pre-K... meaning we have exactly one year until our oldest is in elementary school!! How crazy is that?!

 PawPaw and Granny V came for a visit and we enjoyed playing with them and getting extra hugs!

 Maddox doesn't start preschool until the beginning of September so he is spending time with Grammy for a few weeks!  I love getting daily picture texts of all their adventures.... this week they fit in a trip to get cupcakes with Aunt Lindsey, naps at Grammy and Grandpa's, came to visit me at my school, helped clean the house, and started working on the letters of Maddox's name using blocks.

Since Aunt Lindsey had one week off (kind of) before her new job starts tomorrow, I was able to grab lunch with Emmy and her one day!

We went back home to visit with Grannie and see some of our best friends for a day at the lake.  As you can see, Grannie's lap is always full with her grandsons!

Our day at the lake was absolutely perfect and just what the Houstons needed!  Jacob and Lydia are the same age as our two boys so it is so fun to see two generations of best friends spending time together.  Liz and I were able to actually catch up and talk (which typically doesn't happen at our kids' annual birthday parties) and the big boys enjoyed a boat ride and swimming with their parents while the grandparents stayed behind while the youngest kids took an afternoon nap!  I get so excited thinking about how much fun we will continue to have together as our kids all grow up at around the same ages!

 Maddox loved pointing at the boats that went by and wearing Grannie's sun hat!

I absolutely love Maddox's smile these days... and it is so hard to capture on camera because he is constantly moving.. I tried to catch it while we were in the car!  His smile is contagious!

Finally, we finished out our weekend by attending a local golf tournament.  Maddox and daddy stayed home while I was able to take Zander with my parents, Uncle Boomer and two of dad's friends.  Zander was such a trooper.... walking from hole to hole and observing the "be silent" rule whenever anyone was hitting a golf ball!  My dad introduced me to golf at a young age.  I know he always wanted me to take up golfing and maybe even get a scholarship one day in the sport.  Unfortunately, those dreams did not become a reality but I always loved the afternoons we could walk nine holes as a family, and I hope he can take his grandsons as they get older.  Zander wore his golf glove most of the time.  He met Andres Gonzales and even got a signed Callaway hat from him!  He also got a golf ball from Ben Crane as he was walking between two holes.  I was so proud of our little golfer! ;)

 You can see the trophy behind Zander in the picture below......

And the 2017 Wyndham Championship winner was Henrik Stenson.  We got to see him tee off in the final pairing.... he is with his caddy on the left side of the picture.

 This is Adonis, one of dad's best friends and the guy who introduced him to golf MANY years ago! ;)