Happy 8th Birthday Maddox!

Dear Maddox,

We celebrated your 8th birthday this weekend!  You asked for a birthday party at Surge, a trampoline park.  None of us had ever been to this particular location but you had heard about it and remained focused on this being the location to celebrate #8!  I love that you are at an age where you can put together a list of friends you want to have at your party and you can have a "vision" for what you want to do for a birthday celebration.  You quickly picked out your cake and had a plan for all the fun you were going to have with your friends at the trampoline park!  These friends are so cherished as they encourage you at school and sit with you in church.  I love to see these friendships developing as you are getting older.  Most of these friends you have known since you were born.  You are at such an awesome age! I continue to love our bedtime cuddles.  I love listening to you practice scripture verses and read chapter books in the evening before bed.  You are so determined on the ball field.  No matter what sport you are playing, you give it your all.  You continue to enjoy soccer, basketball and baseball.  On the day before your party, you scored 4 goals at your soccer game!  You are so fast and aggressive when it comes to making a play but you are equally humble when you score the goal.  There is minimal (if any) celebration after a big score.  You calmly move back to your spot on the field to do it all over again!  You scored the winning goal last week and I jumped out of my chair to cheer you on! You are so incredibly smart.  Your handwriting is immaculate and you have such thoughtful sentences when you are writing.  You love math too and are starting to show some great mental math skills as well!  I love your heart for your friends and family.  Just last night you gave your brother one of your new toys to have since you said you had plenty and could share with him.  You are constantly sharing your belongings with family and friends.  You are equally "rough and tumble".  I have to worry about you a little bit more since you don't tend to see danger ahead.  I think your optimism for life makes it hard to see that anything bad could happen.  I pray you keep your optimism and positive attitude while also being mindful of any challenges that your decisions could yield.  You have the best smile (even if those four front teeth refuse to come in).  You have finally stopped sucking your thumb at bedtime thanks to some fancy gloves you started wearing to bed.  You wake up each morning early, ready to start the new day and go 110% until it is time to go to bed.  I pray you will always know how much I love you and how proud I am to be your mommy.  I hope you enjoyed celebrating #8.  We will continue to celebrate you this upcoming week with donuts at school and after soccer practice (birthday boy's request) and you might have a few presents waiting for you on your actual birthday.  We love you so much!

Love,

Mommy (and Daddy)

Fall Fun!

Things have been so busy these last few weeks! Here is a catch up post of all the fun we have been having!

We had our Fall Fest at church last night.  We decided to join in the dressing up fun and go as characters from the Super Mario Bros!  I present to you:  Yoshi, Peach, Mario, Luigi, Baby Peach (although I won't say that in front of Emmy) and Toad!  It was fun joining in the theme this year and the boys loved us dressing up with them!

Zander had three teeth extracted, to make room for the adult teeth that are already starting to come in.  He bounced back quick!

Two of my close friends from work had this print made of Burke.  I absolutely love it!

The neighborhood kids enjoying a Friday night in the front yard!  I love that they have friends about their age on our street!

It rained a couple Saturdays ago.... we started a puzzle!  We are continuing to work on it.

First neighborhood walk without Burke.... we miss him a whole lot!

Maddox won a game at Awana and got this cool rock kit.  He has started painting some of the rocks so between the puzzle and the rocks, we don't have a dining room table to eat at right now! haha

Another close friend from work gave me a wind chime and ornament to remember Burke.  I love how thoughtful my friends are.  These are perfect reminders of a sweet pup. :)

We quickly got hair cuts before soccer this past Saturday.... we had to be ready for the birthday boy's celebrations (which will be in the following post)!

Twinning with one of my besties at work last week!

Soccer Season!

We continue to stay busy at the soccer fields most days of the week.  The boys have practice on Mondays and Thursdays with games throughout the weekend!  Last weekend, Maddox had his classroom teacher, Mrs. Morgan, and his art teacher, Mr. Neagle, come to his soccer games that he had on Saturday and Sunday.  Both boys scored goals for their teams in the weekend match ups!  We had a great cheering section on Saturday since the boys had back to back games at the same complex (even though Z already changed out of his uniform prior to pictures).  We love having family cheer on our boys while they are on the field!

Zack snapped this picture of Z reading his bible before bed one night as he was working on his T & T book for his last year of Awana.  I think it is such a sweet picture of him looking at God's word. 

Maddox continues to work hard memorizing verses for Sparks and he finished his first official chapter book that isn't considered a graphic novel.  I am so proud of his determination and commitment to finishing this book.  He has started the next book in this same series.

My Florida Gators beat Angie's Tennessee Volunteers so she had to rock Gator gear again this year... this would make year 6 out of 8 that she has had to rock UF blue due to our bet! ;)

I love seeing my sweet niece around campus and driving her to school each day.  I know we continue to have a special bond because of this. :) 

Maddox is super excited that today we are going to his best friend's birthday party.  Austin turns 8 a couple weeks before Maddox and they have been counting down to their birthdays!  Austin's mom sent me this picture yesterday when she brought a sweet treat for lunch to celebrate the birthday boy and Austin was able to invite a friend to eat outside with him.  These boys are growing up so fast!

Burke

Truth be told, I have been dreading this post for years now as I knew I would never be ready to say goodbye to our pup.  We said goodbye to our precious beagle, Burke, on Monday, September 25th.  He was with us for almost 14 years and I don't think it was ever going to be long enough.  He was our "first born", my running partner, the boys' companion, a sock-snatcher, a crumb catcher, a loyal friend, our favorite "redhead", a cuddle bug on a cold day, welcomed us home every day after school, had the softest ears and the kindest eyes, loved frozen yogurt treats (especially on his birthday each year) and kept us on our toes.  Our family has been absolutely a mess this week as we have processed this loss while continuing with our daily schedules.  I don't think we realized how much Burke was an integral part of our routines until he was no longer with us.  We miss his pitter-patter on the wood floor as he would follow us from room to room. We miss being greeted by him when we would walk in the door after a long day.  We miss his evening "zoomies" when we would get home.  We miss his howl.  Honestly, I even miss the fur that constantly piled up on the floor.  Burke had been sick for awhile, dealing with cancer that had probably spread past the point we really even knew.  He began having accidents this summer which was so unlike him.  He fell about two weeks ago and had a hard time walking.  Then, he had fluid on his chest that had to be aspirated.  The final signs that it was Burke's time to say goodbye was that he stopped eating and being fully mobile for the last four days of his life.  Zack and I made the hard decision to say goodbye while we were at the vet rather than taking him home or having him stay at the vet for further observation when we felt Burke was telling us that it was time to go.  I do believe there are pets in heaven and I cannot wait until I see him running up to me with his big ears flapping in the breeze.  Until then, we pray that this loss hurts a little less each day and we are comforted by all the positive memories shared over the years.  Burke added so much joy to our lives and we pray that we did the same for his. :)

Here are some of my favorite and recent pictures of Burke.

This was the last picture I took of him, the night before we said goodbye.  He was such a good boy to the very end, having Zack carry him outside so he could use the restroom even though he wasn't able to walk on his back legs. We were with him when he took his final breaths.  His precious eyes never left mine. 

Mia drew this picture for Zander.  Zander has started making replicas for each of our family members.

We brought Burke's body home with us so we could get some paw prints made, and we were able to bury him in our wooded backyard where he enjoyed getting many sniffs.  Prayers are appreciated as we continue to remember the best pup!

This verse has shown up in two of my quiet times this week (the first time on Monday, the day we said goodbye to Burke) and in Maddox's Awana verses.  I love how God speaks to you when you really need to hear from him. :) 

UF vs. UNCC

When your dad and your husband are alumni of the two colleges playing in the Swamp, you must make a trip to Florida to see it in person!  That is exactly what our crew did this past weekend.  We drove down to Florida on Friday and came back on Sunday.  It was a quick trip but while we were headed south, we got to see my Great Uncle Scott and my Great Aunt Barbara.  We were also able to see Grandma Harriet while we were there.  It was a great weekend seeing family and cheering on our teams.  We were a "house divided" with Maddox and me wearing Gator gear and Zack and Zander rocking Niner Nation attire.

The boys had a pretty nice set up with their technology options for the trip south!

We ate at Cracker Barrel since this was always a favorite of my Grandma Nancy's on road trips and Friday would have been her 92nd birthday.  It was great seeing Uncle Scott and Aunt Barbara.  It made me think of my Grandpa Woody so it was special to have this time with family.

The kids enjoyed the pool at the hotel when we got off the road Friday evening!

Ready to cheer on the Gators and the 49ers!

We grabbed lunch from one of dad's favorite restaurants when he was living on campus at UF, Sonny's BBQ, the original location!

The kids enjoyed exploring at Grandma Harriet's with Daddy/Uncle Zack!

Enjoyed being on campus and introducing the boys to the Swamp.... the best in college football!

We stopped at Buc-ee's on the way home.... It was an experience.... very crowded but we can say we did it! ;) haha

In the last couple weeks, we have been attending a lot of soccer activities... the boys love it and I love watching them on the field!  This was taken as we grabbed lunch on our way to a game after church.

Burke continues to not be 100%.  Prayers are appreciated as each day is getting harder to see his health deteriorate.  

The boys tried to fit into the small picnic table they used to love when they were little as we grabbed frozen yogurt after church last Sunday night!

I love seeing Emmy at school... she was enjoying recess here!

We celebrated Grandpa's 74th birthday at Fire and Sticks!

Maddox got a BRIGHT award for his awesome behavior and modeling positive character traits.

I went to Angie's son's wedding.... it was a beautiful venue and I enjoyed the company this evening.... it was a girls' night while daddy stayed home with the boys!