Back to School Pictures

     The school we are at now does not do school pictures. When you're only there for 5 hours a day, you only have time for learning (which is what school is suppose to be about anyway). When my friend Meg of 3 Birds Photography offered a mini session for back to school photos I knew immediately that was something we wanted to take advantage of. Then she made the deal even sweeter by allowing you to purchase an end of the year mini session at a discounted rate when you booked the back to school mini. These are my very favorite photos from the session. I'll post all of them to facebook later today or tomorrow.

Logan, 2nd Grade:

Lucas, Pre K (very first year in school!):

Brothers (Where did my babies go?!):

Logan's 7 year birthday picture:

Logan and Lucas' Birthday Party

     This year we celebrated the boys' birthday at Pump it Up! We have been there several times for pop in playtime and friends' birthday parties, but this was the first party we had there. It was seriously one of the easiest and stress free parities we have done.  I was so sick at their party that it is pretty much a big blur to me. I had spent most of the day before in the emergency room getting fluids and antibiotics through an IV for a UTI/kidney infection. I did not take any pictures at all. Thankfully they take pictures you can purchase for $12. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them with cake or opening presents. At that point, I was trying to survive until I could get home for pain medication and my heating pad. The boys had a blast and were so excited to see all their friends. Logan was excited that some of his school friends were able to come. Our friend, Shellie made the boys cupcakes that looked like baseballs. They were yummy and so cute! This was the first year Josiah and Grayson were unable to come to their birthday, and Lo and Luc were so bummed. We will be able to see Siah and Gray in October, so the boys (and I!) are counting down until then. All the kids had a great time! We are so thankful for everyone who was able to help us celebrate! 

Celebrating Lucas' 4th Birthday

     Poor Lucas got the short end of the stick this year or maybe he did get the better deal. Because I have been really sick with a UTI and kidney infection, we were unable to celebrate Lucas' special day before his birthday. His birthday fell on a Monday this year, which happened to be an inservice day for me and meet the teacher night. It actually ended up being the day I returned to work. Grammie made Lucas a special breakfast. Luckily for me, he woke up right before I had to leave so we took a quick picture together. 

     We went out to eat for his special birthday dinner on Tuesday night, the day after his birthday. He chose Texas Roadhouse. Uncle Josh texted earlier that day to see if he could come by, so he was able to go eat with us. I'm so thankful Josh was able to go with us to celebrate both boys birthdays. My brother signed his contract with the Navy and has a ship out date of March 4th, so we don't know if he'll be able to help us celebrate next year. We did not have them sing to Luc. They sang to a lady while we were eating dinner and it freaked him out. It was raining Tuesday evening. Lucas was walking to the car carrying his to go box with his hot dog and fries. He slipped in the rain in his flip flops. He fell, skinned his knee, and dumped his food all over the sidewalk. I felt so bad for him. Uncle Josh scooped him up and carried him to the car, so he got over it pretty quickly. 

     When we got back to the house, the boys had a few minutes of snuggle time with Uncle Josh before he had to leave. Then the boys had a cupcake and milk. They went to bed pretty quickly because Wednesday was Logan's first day of school. 

     

     On Wednesday while Logan was at school, Grammie and I took Lucas to McAllister's for lunch. He loves their sweet tea and mac n cheese. We actually ate there on Logan's first day of school last year, so it's becoming a little tradition for us. It's so hard for me to believe my sweet baby is 4! 

Logan's First Day of Second Grade!

     Yesterday was Logan's first day of second grade! We laid out his clothes the night before. He went to bed and right to sleep the night before, so he jumped out of bed when Daddy woke him up! I made him his favorite breakfast-cinnamon roll waffles with icing. After breakfast, he got dressed and we took some first day pictures.

     We double checked his backpack and made sure we had his lunch before we headed off. Logan wanted me to walk him in because it was the first day. He was a little nervous because he switched from the late session to the early session. The kids were excited that he had switched, and he was happy. All the nerves were gone. I made it all the way back to the car and onto 408 before I started crying. My baby is in 2nd grade; it's so hard to believe! 

     After we dropped Logan off, we went to see Calli at the hospital. It had been a week since we were able to visit because of my sickness. She looks great. Justice and her continue to behave themselves. After that Mom and I took Lucas to McAllister's lunch. We did that last year too. Lucas loves their macaroni and cheese. After a quick trip to JoAnn's, it was time to pick Lo up. 

     I was number three in the pick up line. Logan came out with a huge smile on his face. His day was awesome. He loved all his classes-he couldn't pick a favorite. He's so excited to have Mrs. Eddlemon for reading again! We stopped by Walmart to pick up a few school supplies we still needed, and then headed home for homework. We didn't have any complaints about homework either. Logan had an awesome first day of second grade!!! 

Happy 4th Birthday, Lucas Elisha!!!

Dear Lucas,

     The Lord has blessed us with another year with you! You have gone from being my quiet, laid back little baby boy to my little stinker. You definitely keep life interesting, and you keep Mommy and Daddy on our toes.

     You are very opinionated and are not afraid to share it! Last night at dinner, you cried and kept telling me how you hate cheesy spinach. You hate it and think it's nasty. Once Grammie was finally able to get you to take a bite, you announced that it was yum and it's your favorite. Silly boy, you do that to us ALL the time!

     Food isn't the only thing you have strong opinions about. Clothes is another big one too. You only like to wear certain clothes, mainly your cotton shorts or basketball shorts with long sleeve shirts, because they're comfortable. When we went to visit Aunt Calli at the hospital the other day, the only way I could get you to change clothes was to tell you could put the others back on when we got home. By the time we had gotten home, I had forgotten all about it until you marched into the kitchen in your underwear carrying the other clothes to change back into.

     I think the lesson you have taught us this year is patience. You are becoming more and more independent every day. It takes a lot of patience for both of us. You are learning patience as you try to figure out how to do the things you want to do for yourself, and it takes a lot of patience from Mommy to give you the time to figure it out. I have to remind myself not to hurry you. This is an important part of growing up and becoming a big boy. It reminds me of this verse:

"But let patience have its perfect work, 

that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

James 1:4 (NKJV)

     Lucas, you love going to church, especially cubbies. You have talked about it all summer, and you so ready for it start back up. You love being in Ms. Donna and Mrs. Anita's Sunday school class. You now go to "big" church with Daddy, Logan, and I. You love to sing the worship songs and dance. You always bow your head and pray during prayer time, and you sit quietly in Mommy or Daddy's lap or next Logan during the sermon. We know you are listening to Brother Ron because sometimes you tell us things he says during sermon. You love the devotional at bedtime. You often carry it around during the day and "read" it to yourself. Whenever anyone prays, you want to pray too. You pray in the sweetest little voice that I know brings overwhelming joy to our heavenly Father's heart in ways Mommy can't even imagine because it brings me overwhelming joy that I can't explain.

     You can be such a sweet little brother to Logan. You don't like it when someone is getting on to Logan or being mean to him (as you see it). You tell them things like: "Leave my bubba alone!" "Don't talk to my Loden (Logan) like that!" "You can't do that to him!". You even say those things to Mommy and Daddy sometimes too. You like to be Logan's helper with whatever he is doing. Logan is really good about letting you help him...most of the time. You can also be a little stinker to Logan. Sometimes you eat his snacks and drink his drinks when he's not looking. When it's Logan turn to pick out the movie, sometimes, you throw a fit because you know most of the time Logan will give in and let you pick on his turn. I think you have taught Logan a lot about patience too!

     You are not Mommy's little baby boy anymore. It makes me happy and sad, but it's apart of growing up. You'll always be my baby boy, even if you are bigger than me one day.

      Some of your favorites are:

• book-The Amazing Spiderman Reader
• TV show-Jake and the Neverland Pirates
• movie-Cars
• song-One Thing Remains by Jeff Johnson Band
• toys-tranformers and Thomas & friends trains
• games-Angry Birds, Minion Rush, & Starfall on iPad
• friends-Logan, Grayson Owen, & Jackson Ledford.

     I'm so proud of you Lucas and, I love you so much!!!! I hope you always stand up for what you believe in. I pray you grow into a man who passionately loves Christ and follows Him with everything you have. I also pray that you learn to speak the truth in love, but that you also never lose your boldness to share your convictions.

Happy 4th Birthday, Lucas Elisha!!!!

Love always,

              

             Mommy

Celebrating Logan's 7th Birthday!

     We had our family birthday celebration for Logan on his actual birthday. He started out with his favorite breakfast of cinnamon roll waffles. Yum! Then we got dressed and headed out to Toys R Us so we could use the gift cards Nanny gave them. They had so much fun picking out their toy and paying for them!

     We tried on all the different masks we could find! It became a mask scavenger hunt. After Toys R Us, I grabbed McDonald's for his birthday lunch. 

     When Daddy came home and Uncle Josh arrived, we went to Chuck E Cheese for Lo's birthday dinner. Our sweet friend, Matthew, had given us a TON of tokens so we only had to buy food. The boys had so much fun and with Daddy, Uncle Josh, and my help they got over 1200 tickets. 

     We headed home for cupcakes and a little more playtime with Uncle Josh. Logan is trying to convince Lucas to choose Chuck E Cheese for his birthday dinner. We'll see what happens.  

   

Logan and Lucas' Birthday Pictures

My sweet boys:

My sweet Logan: 

The many faces of my sweet Lucas:

Thank you 3 Birds Photography for my beautiful pictures!