A Thousand Words Thursday

It was 45 degrees this morning. Sigh...Come back summer, come back!!! This adorable picture is from about 3 years ago!! My sweet beach babies!!!

Hard to believe...

...that this little girl....

...is the same as this one...

...and this one...

Where has the time gone? My sweet little punkin is walking and I'm sure keeping Mommy and Daddy movin'!! :) She will be a year old next month!!! :O

I'm so sad to be missing out on all of it. I love you baby girl!!!! Even if it's from a distance!! xoxoxo

Growing up...

It's amazing how quickly the kids can just grow up before your eyes. I remember people saying it when they were little - but their words just can't describe it.

Mason will be 10 in December and it's neat to see the things that he can do now. Last year he expressed an interest in cutting the grass. Unfortunately, he was still a bit too light to do it. Our mower requires a certain amount of weight on the seat - it's a safety feature. If it doesn't feel the weight, it turns off. This year - he must have put on a few more ounces :) because now he can do it. He was very excited. Rex did the outside perimeter of the yard and Mason finished off the middle.

He was very proud of himself.

Such a big boy...

Sydney is certainly doing some growing of her own. She has outgrown the little hand me down bike we got from friends. She has learned to ride it by herself and really wanted to do it more often. The smaller bike wasn't helping. So she had been talking about getting a bike for her birthday. We talked to her and she decided she'd like to have it now so she could ride now, until it gets too cold. So she picked out her new bike and was very excited to get out and ride!! :)

Looking very cute and proud!!! :)

Daddy is such a good teacher. She's doing great. She hasn't mastered turning or stopping yet, but she's getting there!!!

Very excited to be riding and being silly with her Daddy!! :)

Sigh...my babies...where has the time gone....

Ahhhhh...

We had a wonderful addition to our home in August. Unfortunately, Rex's aunt and uncle had to sell their house and move because of a gas line going in their neighborhood. When they found a new house - they were unable to take everything with them. It's been a benefit for us. They asked us if we wanted their hot tub. Silly question!!!! :)
We were so excited to get it and it's been great. The funny part is how much the kids like it. I still worry about exposing them to too much heat, so we make sure to turn the heat down before they get in and they are only allowed in for 5 mins at a time. But they love every minute of it. :)

Ahhhhh....enjoying a soak....

However, they don't really like the bubbles that much and would rather just "swim" around in it.

My two hot tub babies... :)

First Day of School

Wow - did the summer fly by or what?!?! Here it is...school time again!! Mason was pretty blah about it (as I would expect from a boy) but Sydney was SO excited! Her first year going all day and eating lunch at school!!! :) I asked her what she was looking forward to the most and she said RECESS!!!! Lol - and here I expected some deep, intellectual answer!!!! ;)

Here are the pictures I got before we left for the bus:

He looks so big!!!

And so darn handsome!! :)

4TH GRADE!?!?! How is that possible? I can still remember putting him on the bus for the first time!!! How times flies...

Yep...still got the 'ole prop!! :) It will be neat to see how they've grown next to it over the years! Think they'll let me do it when they are in High School? :)

My precious little first grader - ready to go!! :)

And such a cutie!!!

Wow - First Grade...hard to believe...

And hard to believe since they are usually fighting, I got a great one of the two of them together!! I just love it! My adorable babies!!!

So Mason goes to a new school this year and it's just down the street from our house. Sydney gets her bus at his school to go over to hers. So we drop them off together now. Mason walked right in on the first day and that was the last we saw of him! Here's my girl getting on the bus to head off for her first full day!! I'll admit - I got choked up watching her leave. Does it get easier?

So far they both seem to like their teachers. Mason isn't as forthcoming with information as Sydney is - but that's ok. I'll take what I can get. :) We go to the Open House tonight to meet with their teachers and see their classrooms!! I can't wait!! :)

A little facelift...

I'm SO excited!! A wonderful woman posted a tutorial on her blog on how to create a picture banner. I DID IT!!! :) I just love how it turned out!!! Let me know what you think!!!

So I'm hoping this will be my incentive to keep up with my blog. So check back often - hopefully you'll have something new to read!! :)

Never Forget...

Remembering the events from 8 years ago. I can still remember the day as if it were yesterday!! It was a day I'll never forget. We must never forget...

Highlights

There has just been too much going on in the last 4 months for me to do separate posts, so I thought I'd try to do highlights!!!


Unfortunately, it starts with the most recent and goes backwards, so bear with me!! :)


Rex and I were so BLESSED to be able to get away for 5 whole days by ourselves (thank you Nanny and Pappy!!!) We went to the Dominican Republic with our friends Dane and Ilse and what a FABULOUS time we had!! We really did not want to leave - it was a little slice of heaven!! The pictures won't capture the fun and beauty of the place, but it gives you an idea!! :)

"I can't believe I'm here!!"

Taken on our last day about 1 hour before we had to leave.

The resort was gorgeous!

"I could TOTALLY get used to this!!!!"

Bathing beauties poolside...

It was awesome that the 4 of us got to go together. We've talked about it for years!

At the airport waiting to go to PUNTA CANA!!!! :)

July: Mike, Shannon and Bradee came to stay with us over the 4th of July!! They came in a day early and then hours earlier than we thought and surprised us!! It was great because they were here for our picnic and I was able to show off my girl!! :) While they were here, we took the opportunity to take pictures of the kids together!! They turned out great!!! :)

Mike and the kids took a walk down to the creek!! (See the resemblance at all...lol!)

Our beautiful little Boyd family...love you guys so much...

Wanted a family pic, but Rex was at work. Love this one!

My handsome boy!! Can't believe how much you've grown!!

My beautiful girl!! How can you be six already??

Love this picture!!! :)

My precious angel - oh how I love you punkin!! Isn't she gorgeous?

And we were SO excited to get such a good picture of the three of them!

Such a beautiful couple - I loved having them here!

Little pudgy bathing beauty!! :) Love that Watermelon hat!

Me and the Bean at the pool.

Once we distracted her from the hat, she loved it.

June: The kids spent the majority of the summer, they went to summer camp. The remaining weeks were spent with Mikayla at our house or theirs. Here they are on the first day of camp! They were so excited!!

My cute babies...

June: LOTS of baseball this summer!! He played on the regular team (which Daddy coached), then he was selected for the All Star team which was three weeks of road games! He did great and got better as the season went on. Now he has been selected to play on an 11-12 year old Fall Ball team. He said last night "I have found my favorite sport!" (He's not playing football this year.)

"SAFE!!" I was so busy watching the game, I didn't get a whole lot of pics!

June: Daddy's Birthday

Cutest chef in the house!!! :)

Bunny ears for Daddy!

LOTS of lost teeth this summer. Her SIXTH tooth is loose right now!!! Say hello to "Gappy!" :)

April / May - Elbow surgery for Mommy. This picture shows me in July - pretty well healed. It was the best thing I did - no more pain!! Yay!!!!!

Here I am post surgery in my cast. I was incapacitated for 2 weeks!

All in all, it's been a crazy 4 months - this is just a small piece of it. Summer has been so busy. We are happily enjoying a visit with the Kruest's in Ohio in August and then hopefully a family weekend trip at the end of the month!! Then school will be back!! Sydney can't wait - Mason, not so much!!! :)

Gonna give it my best shot to keep this updated. Please check back for updates!!! :)