The Big Day!

Well, today Austin officially has two days of first grade under his belt! He is loving school and comes home and tells me about his day. He told me that he sat by Autumn Hood for lunch and played with Tyler during recess. He said his favorite part of the day was playing (figures!). He did such a GREAT job yesterday! He got up when asked, ate ALL of his breakfast (biscuit, eggs and apple slices), got dressed and brushed his teeth. He was very excited to get the day started and give Mrs. Mosby her gift. He was all smiles...no crying. He didn't cry last year either...tough guy!

Austin's Power Ranger lunchbox all ready to go. He did inform me after school that he wants to "buy a tray". That is fine, but I do like packing his lunch. When I do, I feel like I am sending a little love with him.

Eating a good breakfast! He was a hungry boy!

Big first grader ready for the first day of school...with his new camo backpack!

Russell went into work a little late so he could join in on the fun! The whole gang is ready to walk big brother to school...Sammy was excited too. Notice her lunchbox! She can't wait till it is her turn to go to school!

Austin & "Big Daddy"

Austin & Me before school

Austin was very excited to give Mrs. Mosby her gift.

Sammy enjoyed walking Austin to school. She wanted to know when it would be her turn to go to school. She had to take her lunch box to walk Austin on his big day!

The "Grand Entrance" into first grade! Mrs. Mosby loved her gift. She laughed when she saw the Tylenol.

Austin went right to his chair and started to color. He did such a great job! No worries...he already knows some of the kids in the class.

Austin had a GREAT first day and the girls and I were so excited to see him! We missed our Austin at home!

I took all the kids to McDonald's to celebrate the first day with an ice cream cone! They had fun and enjoyed cooling off after a hot day!

I watch Alyssa Davis before and after school. This will be my second year to watch her. She is in second grade and is sooooo good!! Austin and the girls LOVE to play with her and she is such a BIG help! We love our Alyssa!

Twas The Night Before First Grade...

and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...well, except for mom! Austin is very excited about his big day tomorrow. We talked about all of the rules to follow in first grade and how to be a "good student". I want my kids to know how to behave in the classroom because I remember what it was like with the "wild ones". I told Austin that if he acts good, he teacher will look forward to him coming back. I think he gets the picture.

Austin helped me pick out what clothes he would wear for the first day. He is going to look so handsome! His new backpack is hanging and ready to go to school! I made Mrs. Mosby a goodie pail for her beginning of the year present. I like to let the teacher know how much we appreciate them! I filled the goodie pail with chocolate, a bottle water, Tylenol (I know a teacher needs this from time to time!), markers, stickers, notepads and gum. Mrs. Mosby can put all of this to good use! It turned out pretty cute! Austin and I read a few books about the first day of school before bed. He is becoming a good reader! I can't wait to see how much he grows this year!

Lauren and Sammy wanted to lay down and go to sleep with Austin. Russell and I had to remind them that summer is over and a bedtime is a must...and in their own beds!

Well, it is 11:00 PM and I have to get up at 4:40 for a 5AM workout class. Better get off to bed. I am sure I will have a hard time sleeping tonight...like all of the other parents, students and teachers!

Sundaes on Sunday

Today we had Meet the Teacher at WEE school from 4-6 pm. WEE school always does the "Sundaes on Sunday" for meet the teacher. Sammy was soooooo excited to go back to her school! Lauren and Sammy both got to meet their teacher, see their new classroom and meet some new friends...and the best part was the ice cream sundaes! I am very excited about who the girls got for their teachers! Lauren got Ms. Kristen Spath (Sammy's teacher last year) and Kelly Howard. Sammy got Heather Rose (love her!) and Christine Bramer (love her too!) I can't believe that WEE school starts next Tuesday, Sept. 4th! The girls will go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00-2:30....so I will have two days a week with NO KIDS to get things done! And boy do I have PLENTY to do!

Ms. Christine , Sammy and Mr. Heather Sammy made herself right at home and found some toys to play with. Lauren & Ms. Kristen Sammy enjoyed her ice cream sundae! She got vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and two cherries. Lauren enjoyed her ice cream sundae too! She got vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles...yummy!

"All Boy" Back to School Bash!

Austin went to Jordan's house today for an "all boy" back to school bash. He had so much fun hanging out with his other first grade buddies! They at hotdogs for dinner and swam for three hours!

Eli, Kalen, Sam, Reggie, Ben, Cage, Austin, Gavin, Jordan & PrestonTaking a break for some dinner.

I have the greatest husband ever! Russell stayed home with the girls while I was with Austin at the swim party. When I got home at 8:15 Russell had given the girls a bath, dried their hair and painted their nails and toenails (he is secure in his manhood!). He said that the girls had a spa treatment while I was gone. They had so much fun with daddy and were proud of their nails! Russell said that while he was painting Sammy's nails she informed him that "He was the best in the west." Cute girl! I always say that to my kids.. "Who is the best in the west?"...."Mommy is!"..."and Daddy!"

Flag Football

Tis the beginning of starting back with sports! Austin is going to play flag football this year. We chose flag football instead of tackle because we wanted him to have fun, learn the rules and save getting beat up for another year! He is enjoying going to practice. He tells me that they stretch, run and practice playing. He also tells me that all of the exercise is good for his body. The games start in a couple of weeks and all of the games will be played in McKinney on Saturday mornings...rock on! I do not enjoy games in the middle of the day! Morning games are great...go, play and then you still have the whole day!

Stretching is serious work!

Practicing blocking

Austin is having a blast!

We have a busy weekend planned and school starts on Monday!! Yikes!! Here is the run down for the weekend:

Saturday:
~ go to Kristina's to go swimming

~ take Austin to a "boy swim party" at 5pm

~ go to church to get a classroom ready for Sunday morning

Sunday:

~ go to church (of course!)

~ WEE school "Sundaes on Sunday" and Meet the Teacher (I am VERY excited about who the girls got as their teachers!)

~ finish making Austin's teacher's gift for the first day of school

~ pray that I won't cry Monday morning!

Is this legal?

Russell brought home is boss's dog (Lucky) last weekend. He was a cute little Beagle! I didn't a picture of him...darn!! Anyways, his boss had to go out of town and the boarding place he usually uses was full so Russell offered for Lucky to come home with him. The kids loved it! Austin was so responsible with him. He took him outside to go potty, took him on walks, made sure he had food & water and put Lucky in his kennel when we asked. Granted this was only for TWO days, but hey we will take any responsibility we can get! The great thing about this dog spending the weekend with us was the kennel that came with him. My kids LOVED that kennel!! They would get in it and play for a while. They thought it was so much fun to pile in then close and lock the door. Hey, good for me! I knew where they were (out of trouble) and they were preoccupied doing something fun. I wonder if Russell will let me buy one for the kids to lock (oops) I mean play in!

Craft Time

Our kids LOVE crafts!!! They love to paint, color, glue and cut! So my neighbor (Kris Grover) was so sweet to bring over ALL of the supplies to make wind chimes. The kids had so much fun painting the flower pots! I let them choose the color they wanted and they went to town painting!! I still have to put the wind chimes together (I need Kris to help me remember how to do that). They can't wait to see them done. I will have to post a picture of the final product later. Here are a few pictures of the fun...and mess!

Austin did a great job painting!! Miss Mess busy on her little project. She did a great job!! See, not too messy mommy! Lauren was a busy little bee and ended up choosing several colors for her pot...cute. Lauren ended up wearing the most paint. Notice the several different colors...kinda looks like her flowerpot! She was proud!!

The Ending Of The Summer...

I can't believe that the summer is coming to an end! I had so many things planned for us to do and well, I think we did about half of it! It didn't help that I rained nearly ALL of June! This past week has been crazy! We had meet the teacher on Tuesday night and Austin got to meet Mrs. Mosby. I was so excited to hear that she was going to be his teacher! I have heard great things about her! She had little treats sitting at their tables...yummy!! Austin was excited when he found out who was going to be in his class: Maegan Thomas (oh no! Julie and I are praying they will act like friends than siblings!) Autumn Hood, Kerrigan Servati, Reggie Smith, Gracie Tagert, Trevor Austin, Kalen Clark and Leslie Eposito. These are all kids that he has either grown up with (since birth!) or had in his class last year. Yesterday we ran some errands. We went to Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart and had lunch and ice cream at Braums. When we got home, we got ready to the pool with Stephanie, Elizabeth and Emmye. I let Alyssa spend the night...her and Austin were super excited about that!

Today I had to get A LOT of stuff done so the kids just hung out and played and I worked. Kristina came over to help me...she is a LIFESAVER! We took the kids to the pool for a couple of hours. Tomorrow my plans are to just spend time with the kids, play games and yes, go back to the pool!! My kids are FISH! They love going swimming!

I scream, you scream

We all scream for ice cream! My kids loved having an ice cream treat here at home. Here are a few pics of the fun.

Austin's favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate. Sammy's favorite flavor is vanilla...but she rather just eat the cone because that is her favorite part! She likes to eat the cone from the bottom up...this makes for a BIG mess! Lauren likes any ice cream flavor! She also eats the cone from the bottom up. I think this is from watching her big sister!

The Big Birthday Party

Yesterday was Lauren's birthday party. It was so fun to have her little friends come and join in on the fun! I love watching them play with their friends. We had her party at our church family life center. We had a blow up slide, pizza, and the traditional cake & ice cream. Lauren looked "tu-tu" cute!! I bought her "It's My Party" shirt at my friend Catherine's store, Home Team, and my friend Stephanie made the super cute tu-tu. Of course, I had to make a matching set of piggies. It is just too fun to get the girls all dressed up! Lauren had a blast at her party and playing with all of her friends! We were missing a few important friends at the party! Lee & Julie went to the beach, so Maegan & Zachary couldn't make it. Kristina & Andy went out of town, so Meggy wasn't there and Stephanie went out of town as well with Elizabeth and Emmye! The Woodwards were MIA...just kidding Jamie! I know we live far away and life is sooooo busy!! We missed all of them...maybe next year...better yet, next "Moore" birthday party!

Lauren going down the slide head first.

whew...safe landing

Hmmmm which string should I pull on the pinata?

I little sucker before cake and ice cream never hurt anyone.

Sammy made sure Emma got some of the goodies!

Tinker Bell was the theme of Lauren's party.

Daddy brought Lauren her cake as we all sang Happy Birthday!

Austin helped Lauren blow her candles out. Lauren ate her cake on her special birthday plate that has her one-year-old hand print on it...too cute! Honey does a good job as the cake server...and videographer...and pizza delivery man....heck, he is good at a lot of things! What is a party without presents? Lauren walked away with some great gifts! She got shoes (she LOVES shoes), clothes, games, educational toys, more shoes, money (girls like that too!) and some fun toys! She was excited about getting a Barbie car from Aunt DeAnn and Uncle Tracy.

Aunt Emily, Uncle Casey & Emma (Sammy & Lauren's future accomplice) Uncle Tracy and Aunt DeAnn...all I can say is silly...just silly!