Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam turned 3 a few weeks ago. We celebrated with cupcakes at football practice, a Birthday dinner at Chick Fil-A (Sam's choice), a football cake (also his choice!) and presents. His most favorite present was a new bike. He loves to ride that thing whenever he gets the chance.

This was taken after football practice and dinner----it was really late to be opening presents...especially on a school night!

Sam blowing out the candles on his cake. He was fired up for his birthday. He loves to tell people he is 3, or sometimes he says "i Pive" (I'm five). We sure love this kid.

Kate starts gymnastics

Kate started gymnastics last week. She loves it! I wanted her to try ballet & tap but she rarely has the same opinion as me about these things. She was quite adament about gymnastics. This picture is her, Catie, & Keeley. They are all 3 good friends from preschool and they are the only 3 in the class--very convenient! She gets excited on Mondays and is ready to go as soon as she wakes up. She says her favorite part is jumping off the trampoline into the foam pit!

School Starts

I swear, the summer passes more quickly each year (or maybe I'm getting older---no, that can't be it!). We had a great summer this year. The kids are all at such fun ages---Jackson is not too old to enjoy hanging out with the family and Sam is just old enough to tag along without needing a stroller or a nap! We had lots of great days at the neighborhood pool. It was quite the hangout, which meant there was usually a friend for all of the kids there. It was the 1st summer I can remember where I did not have to be in the water the whole time. Everyone except Sam swims now and he eagerly wears a life jacket and then swims like a fish with it on. I had no idea what I've been missing out on---great conversation with good friends while the kids play. I also found out just how great "Adult Swim" can be. The first day of summer I groaned when the lifeguards blew the whistle because I knew that meant that the kids were going to be complaining for 10 minutes about not being in the water. I soon found out that if a mom goes all of the way out to the middle of the pool, she can not even hear the kids on the side of the pool whining---especially if she puts her head under the water!

School started much too soon. I still think it is wrong to start school when the heat index is still around 100 degrees but they didn't ask my opinion so we started on August 10th. We have 3 boys all at the same school. It's Jake's last year of elementary school and Will's first. We figured out recently that Will will have 2 siblings with him the whole way through elementary school. I foresee many more years of PTA!

Will's Kindergarten Top 3:
1) Lunch
2) Snack
3) Recess

Seriously....that kid is all about the food. He loves buying lunch (yuck) because they have all different flavors of milk. It's usually the first question he asks when I wake him up in the morning.

I also found out that Will and Jake have recess overlapping. I realized this when I asked Will what he did during recess and he told me that he played kickball. When I asked him who he played with, he told me "the 5th graders". I confirmed with Jake that he and his friends let his little brother play with them. Jake told me that he is pretty sure Will is the only kindergartener in the history of their kickball game that has ever gotten to play. Someday Will is going to figure out what an amazing big brother Jake is to him.

Kate Bakes!

I have almost the same pictures of myself at 4 doing this very important job in the kitchen. It has now become Kate's very important job. She knows exactly what to do and gets a little ticked if anyone (meaning Sam) tries to take over her territory. Lately, Steve has had lots of football coaches over at our house for meetings as the youth football season begins so we have had lots of occasions to make treats. Kate has been in heaven!

Destin....Part II

Zane had lots of fun building sandcastles with his cousin....and then Sam would knock them down.

Kate loved the boogie boards. Actually, they all loved them. We were smart and bought 5 so no one was left out. They did get used quite a bit.

The boys working on one of their sandcastles on the last day we were there...

Will was especially happy since his dad let him sneak a Dr. Pepper out of the cooler! :)

Destin, Florida

This was one of the best vacations we have had in a few years. You know it's a success when we felt like we could stay another week!
We rented a house with Steve's sister and her family. The kids got along really well and the weather was perect.

Zane and Ashley enjoying lunch on the beach....it was a daily ritual.

Sam playing in the ocean. The water was so clear. We haven't been in a few years but I do not remember it being as clear as it was this trip. It was stunning.

We had Sonic drinks at least once a day (sometimes 2 or 3). My sister-in-law lives in the land of very few Sonics and she was determined to get her fill. I think we accomplished that!

Peachtree Jr. Road Race

Jackson and Zane run the Peachtree Jr. every year. It is a 3K race through Piedmont Park with around 2,000 kids. It is lots of fun.

They start the kids in groups based on age. This was the start of Jackson's age group. They start with the oldest kids (12) and end with the youngest (7). The race was on Jackson's actual Birthday this year so he will probably get to run as a 10 year old 2 years in a row!