First Day of School!

We made it through our first week of school!! Between learning a new routine, going to soccer practices, church Christmas play rehearsals and mommy working a lot later than normal, we are celebrating that the first week is in the books! We are tired, but excited about the year ahead!  We are looking forward to some "down time" this weekend so we can jump into week #2!  I will say I LOVE having both boys with me on the way to school, while we are there and on the way home! I am trying to savor each moment since I know they will only be at the same school with me for three years before Z heads to middle school!  Here are some pictures from the first day/week of school!

Maddox's teacher took this picture at open house and I think it is adorable!

Last weekend daddy took the boys on an adventure hike at Stone Mountain while mommy joined the original Bakewell crew (Grammy, Grandpa and Aunt Lindsey) for a local winery tour.  I think everyone enjoyed their day!  It is rare these days that I get to spend uninterrupted time with my parents and sister and there is something special about spending time with the ones that have known you the longest and love you the most!

First day of school pictures for the future class of 2031 and 2034!

Annual first day of school picture.... with a collage for every year since being a mommy!  These boys keep getting taller!

Maddox started on Tuesday due to a stagger start for Kindergarten.... here are some pictures I received from friends and Grammy who had Maddox for his last day of summer!

Maddox's first day of kindergarten.... daddy got to come for drop off too!  Zander and Maddox matched on Wednesday so it had to be documented that I have both my boys under the same roof!

Maddox matching with his best friend, Mollie, on Wednesday!  Love the school spirit! ;)

Kindergarten and Third Grade.... Here We Come!

Last weekend we gave the boys their new bookbags to start the new school year.  Zander had his original bookbag for K-2 and we decided he needed an upgrade (a.k.a. more storage and more mature ;)).  Maddox received his first bookbag ever which also has his monogram on the back!  The boys were excited to try on their new bookbags and practice with their lunchboxes! ;) We filled up the bookbags with everything on their supply lists to take to open house on Thursday.  Since mommy had to work open house, I arranged with their teachers to have the boys visit and drop off school supplies earlier in the day.... a perk of having mommy's coworkers as their teachers! ;)  They were able to have some one on one attention and I was able to soak up being a mom for a few minutes before the craziness of the day continued!

Zander and his third grade teacher, Mrs. Servello

Maddox and his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Choplin and teacher assistant, Mrs. Moore

**Masks were taken off just for picture purposes and then everyone was wearing them again according to current safety mandates within our district.  

Zander wanted to take a silly picture too (see below)! ;)  

Rocking transportation requests at open house with my Assistant Principal, Mrs. Hill

In other news, last weekend we were able to see three of Zack's best friends that he met his first year in college! We had the best time and the boys loved swimming in Ryan and Tera's pool!  I am so thankful for these friendships that are 20 years old now!  It is such a great group of guys!

Maddox got to lead worship at KidStreet on Sunday!  He is on the far right when looking at the screen below! I was greeting so I was able to watch him from the hallway!

The boys had their last week of Grammy (and Grandpa) camp since school starts next week!  Grammy helped take care of Eli a couple days which meant Grandpa was in charge of the boys!  They entertained the boys this week with golf, the science center and the pool!  I am so thankful that these boys are able to spend time with their grandparents like I was able to do growing up!  Some of my favorite memories from my childhood included them and I know the boys feel the same way about Grammy and Grandpa!

Grammy Camp!

The boys have had a great week with Grammy while I have been back at work!  They have enjoyed the science center, a few pool days, going to the library, getting lunch out, playing at the park/playground which included some tennis, and just overall being spoiled!  They have one more week with her before school starts back and I know they are enjoying every minute as the summer comes to a close!  I cannot say enough about how fortunate we are to have her.... she goes above and beyond the role of a grandparent and these boys think she is the best!  She even went on the lily pads and waterslide at the pool this week.... how many grandparents do you know that can do that?! ;)

Other events from this past week..... Linds and I ran in a monsoon last weekend... our weekly run (which hadn't happened most Saturdays this summer) was quite wet this time!  I always appreciate this time we have together to discuss the week and help think through upcoming decisions!

We moved Zander into a queen size bed... he was in a twin bed for the last few years and we knew it was time for him to have an upgrade (especially since Maddox already has a full size bed in his room).  Instead of buying a brand new bed, he has the one that previously was in the bonus room.  So.... he was able to pick out a new comforter/pillow shams (to match his baseball fan which was in the room before we moved in 13 years ago) and we now have a little reading nook in our office/bonus room.  Eventually, we will get a sofa that can fold down to a bed but until then I have enjoyed my daily quiet time in the rocking recliner I used to nurse both my babies. ;)  I think Burke likes the space for now too!  And if we have company, the boys will share a room at this time.... just like Linds and I did growing up when others would come to visit!

It is always fun to grab a sweet treat at the end of the day.... these boys (and their parents) love our local ice cream options! ;)

We camped in the backyard! We try to do this every summer and since I was heading back to work, I knew we needed to make it happen!  We had a great night and mommy is equally excited to be back in my own bed in the evenings this week! haha

I was able to grab dinner with some of my co-workers this past week..... we also ran into a few more that we used to work with.... I love living in this town and seeing people you know everywhere you go!

Summer Break 2021: Week Seven

I'm headed back to work on Monday and Grammy will take over summer camp duties until the boys return to school in a couple weeks!  Here is how we spent our last week of summer!

We went to the science center one more time with Eli, Emerson and Aunt Lindsey!

We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary, enjoying a dinner at the Prescott!  The boys spent the night at Grammy's and Grandpa's! While I don't have any pictures from Tuesday, we enjoyed spending the day with them.  The weather was a little cooler so when Zack got off work, we enjoyed sitting on the back deck while the boys played in the backyard!

We fit in two more pool days!  One with each of the boys' BFFs, Mollie and Mia!  The boys are swimming like crazy and diving off the side in the deep end!

We got "back to school" hair cuts and Mommy fit in two trainings on the computer while the boys played at the house or rested in their rooms.

We enjoyed one last rest time/ cuddle time together after a day of swimming!

Thanks to Aunt Kelly, we fit in another High Point Rockers game complete with box seats, free snacks and fireworks afterwards (that we got to watch from the field).  The boys loved running on the field as we waited for the fireworks to start.  The Kennedys, Grammy and Grandpa came to the game too!  

The boys have decided they wanted to try soccer this fall....which starts in about a week.... Maddox was so excited when both of the "sized" balls came in for their divisions!  Maddox has the blue and black ball to match his cleats and shin guards while Z's is solid black to match his cleats and shin guards!  It looks like we will be back into the school/sport routine in no time!  Stay tuned.....

Summer Break 2021: Week Six

Last summer, I only had five weeks with my boys and some of those weeks still required I sign onto zoom meetings or participate in professional development as we prepared for the new year.  It seems like a bonus this year to get a couple extra weeks with my boys and I'm trying to savor each day as we countdown to Zander's 3rd grade year and Maddox's kindergarten year.... I still have a hard time believing we only have school age children at this point.... no more preschool and no more monthly payments for these childcare programs! This sixth week of summer break was a hard one, probably the hardest summer break week I've ever had.  We said goodbye to my grandma on Monday.  It is really hard to put into words how shocked and sad I am about this.  It seems that we didn't get a chance to say goodbye like I would have wanted but I do think she feels we had a proper goodbye so I'm clinging to that right now... and that I will see her again one day!  I remarked to my mom and sister as we were saying goodbye that Grandma always talked about her own grandma, Carrie, who pretty much raised her and took her to church and introduced her to Jesus.  I think as sad as it is for us to say goodbye, Grandma Nancy is so happy right now to be with her own beloved grandma.  I am excited about the day that my grandma can introduce me to her grandma!  It will make for some really big reunions for sure!  Thanks to mom's observant personality, we were able to have all of the things Grandma requested for our time with her.  Her favorite songs (Deep Purple, In the Garden and It is Well with My Soul) and scriptures (Psalm 23) were shared along with some of our favorite memories with her.  I am including a quote that Grandma mentioned was her favorite below, an Irish proverb.  Linds surprised us all with M & M treat bags for each of the great grandkids.  Grandma would prepare these snack bags weekly and Linds had just enough leftover from Grandma's weekly spoiling to hand them out one last time... cue the tears again!  All four kids did great as they patiently waited in the office area while we said goodbye (as you can see the treat bags helped with that)!  As we always say when getting off the phone "so long, Grams".

This sweet little nugget below has been having a hard time going to sleep lately.  He will come into our room multiple times with various reasons while he needs one of us to cuddle with him.  I am trying to cherish these memories as I know they will be gone too soon and I will wish to cuddle with my little boy!

Grandpa would have been 92 on Friday, the 30th, so I had to get my annual hamburger, fries and shake to celebrate!  Of course, the shake machine was broken after I had already waited 15 minutes in line, fortunately the hamburger was good and you can't compete with those delicious McDonalds' fries!  Happy birthday, Gramps!

I did have to attend a three day leadership retreat this week for work.  So while the boys and I are still on summer break, I had to have a brief pause from our daily fun to transition into full time working mom mode!  Grammy took the boys to the YMCA pool one day and they were excited to earn their swimming bands.  Zander can now do the water slides and deep end without an adult nearby (he had to swim half the length of the pool, tread water for 30 seconds and swim back using the backstroke without touching the whole time for his swim test) and Maddox can swim in all parts of the pool except the deep end without an adult nearby (he had to swim half the length of the pool and back without touching at all for his swim test)!   I have two very excited boys!  I am wondering if next summer might be the first summer where I sit on the side and just watch my boys swim for hours!  Although I think I will miss some of the fun of getting in the pool and splashing around with them.... maybe next year I will attempt the waterslide too! ;)

Grammy had all four grandkids one day since Linds also had a work meeting.... she entertained them at our house....going to the neighborhood playground and using the sprinklers in the backyard!  Fortunately, all four kids had a pretty decent nap/rest time!  Grammy really is a superhero!! I am not sure how she does all she does and always with a positive attitude! We are so lucky she is ours!! :)

I made my way "back home" to our happy place, the mountains, on Friday! We were able to see Grannie, Aunt A, Uncle Jay, Henry and Uncle Henry while enjoying the beautiful mountain views!  We even got to visit the local fire station, which made three boys extremely happy!

We got to visit with Uncle Henry's goats as well..... it cracks me up that the boys got in the pasture with them!

On Saturday, I took the boys to visit one of my best friends and her family!  We enjoyed a day on the lake! We were able to go on a boat ride, tubing, swimming, and they even had a slip-n-slide in the backyard!   These kids had a blast!  Our kids are roughly the same age (within a couple weeks) and I was able to finally meet their newest addition, Madeleine!  Due to Covid precautions and Liz's pregnancy, we haven't been able to see each other or hug each other in TWO years!  I needed this day so much and I know both of us are already planning when we can get together again!

On the way back to Grannie's house, I showed the boys my grandparents' house and my house that I lived in from 4th grade until moving out on my own.  We also stopped by the high school Zack and I graduated from and I showed the boys the drum major stand I used my senior year.... since its been 20 years since I graduated high school, I enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane! ;)

While we were in town, we also got to see GranDan, Granny V, PawPaw and Uncle Grant! We even got to meet Uncle Grant's new dog, Jethro, who is about the same size as the boys and the sweetest pup!  While week six started out pretty hard, we ended it on such a happy note, seeing some of the people that love us most and creating new memories with each one!