Last Day of School...First Day of School

These past few days have been a whirlwind...Gracie's last day at Bent Tree was last Thursday. I had been so worried about her first day of school it never dawned on me she would have some reservations about leaving Bent Tree. She acted out a bit more than usual last week saying her friends were going to forget her and Ms. Grace was not going to remember her anymore. Broke my heart. Here is a picture of Gracie & Ms. Grace.

Friends Forever! (Morgan, Mackenzie, Allie, Porter, Paitlen, Gracie, Robin)

Gracie & Cameron's last day at Bent Tree together....xoxoxo

Our 8 year anniversay was also last Thursday. It kind of came and went so quickly with all of the transition. Saturday, my sister Yaya and the kids came over and watched the kids so we could go out to dinner. I think it's been over a year since the last time we had a "date" night so we were excited. We had a wonderful dinner at Jaspers and walked around the Shops at Legacy. Below is one of the few pictures of us recently. I was extremely proud of Gracie as she was our photographer.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Gracie on her first day of school.

It was a wonderful morning so we walked to school. We waited in the cafeteria until her teacher came to get them. I was pretty good up to this point. I just watched her taking it all in and I started to fight back the tears. I reached for my "new parent" zip loc bag that contained a little cut out hand and a packet of tissue and read the following:

My First Day of Kindergarten

It's my first day of kindergarten,

I'm a little bit scared.

You hugged me reassured me

and now I'm prepared. Here is my hand to hold while I'm away.

It's okay, don't worry.

I'll be back at the end of the day.

Try not to miss me, wipe away your tears.

Next time you see me

there will be lots of "cheers"!

Here is a hug and some kidsses too

It's my way of saying "I LOVE YOU"!

After I read that, I started bawling. I kept trying to compose myself but the more I looked around the more overwhelming it all became. I was not in control of my emotions. As Ms. Fowler came in to get her kids, I was once again overwhelmed watching these children so calm, collected and composed. I truly believe we don't give children enough credit. They are very resiliant.
After we dropped off Gracie, I headed to take Cameron to school. He too had a big day, new teacher at Bent Tree. Ms. Nikki is great, she was Gracie's Level II teacher at BT as well but it did NOT go well. He screamed "mommy, come back" and "mommy, don't leave". Goodness, I left his school crying too. By 10:30 a.m., I felt I had cried rivers. Tomorrow is another day! Here are a few pictures of Cameron before we went into school.

Where did the time go?

I know it's been awhile since my last post. Things have been extremely busy this past summer. SO much so I can't believe it's almost over.

Gracie's last day of daycare is tomorrow and will start Kindergarten on Monday. I have such anxiety I don't know what to do. I know she will be fine, it's me I'm worried about. Gracie has had about 11 inches of hair cut off this summer. Last weekend, we took off another 3 inches (see new picture below). She is such a big girl. She started taking showers this summer using Bath Bodyworks lotions only. When I tuck her in at night she looks at me and says "please get out of bed now mom". She wants to do everything on her own.

Cameron is growing like a weed. He is all over the place and testing his boundaries. He definitely keeps us on our toes. I am truly amazed that I can carry a conversation with my little man. Last week, I had him holding the door while I gathered backpacks to load into the car; he looked at me and said "come on girl". I was astounded at what he said, how he said it and that he said it at all! He loves coffee, yes, coffee. On the weekends I usually let him have a little coffee (very watered down with milk and creamer). This one morning we were running late, both kids were grumpy and difficult. I hurriedly poured my coffee into my travel mug and Cameron looks at me and asks "where's my coffee"? I tried to convince him his milk was much better for several minutes. After about 3-4 minutes of crying and screaming he said to me "I need my coffee mommy", I had no other choice but to give in! He was in heaven! We have also transitioned Cameron to his "toddler" bed. We had talked about it for awhile and decided to wait a little longer but that changed last weekend. We had to go visit the dr. Saturday morning to find out he has a double ear infection and a sinus infection. Since Mimi and Didi drove up from Houston Saturday, he slept with us and fell off the bed. Pretty big fall so I put the bed together. It has actually been a pretty easy transition (fingers crossed). Same goes for the binky, he only has it when it's nite nite time. He is really good about putting it on the bed when it's time to wake up. I've also started giving him gum when he asks for it during the day (fingers crossed).

I thank the Lord each day for these two precious gifts he has given us. Time seems to moving at light speed that I want to absorb as much of them as I possibly can. I'm NOT ready for them to grow any faster.

Beware for the picture overload...

I love this picture. This is the first morning after his first night in his "big boy bed". We talked it up as I got him dressed. He was SO proud of himself. He looked at me and said "I a big boy mom, I did it myself". I had to capture that moment.
Gracie & Cameron waiting anxiously to see Dora.

Pre-K Graduation

I can't believe Gracie is about to move onto Kindergarten. I get extremely nauseous at the thought of her going to school this fall. I haven't been able to figure out why but I do know I am going to have a much harder time than she will. Pray for me on August 24th! Here she is graduating from Pre-K. They looked so cute in their make shift little caps...

I had so many tears when she came walking through the door. What will I do when she's graduating high school?

This is a funny story. Ms Grace thought it would be nice to give each child a "big" candy that best described them and their personalities. One was a Laffy Taffy, another a Hot Tamale and so on. When it came time for Gracie she said, this child is "smart and out of this world", as Gracie walked up to get her Milky Way, Gracie burst out, Ms. Grace, I don't like Milky Ways...I was speechless. We got home and discussed all of the ingredients and she had a bite. Since then, her candy of choice now is a Milky Way. So Ms. Grace, everytime we eat a Milky Way, we will always think of you.

Gracie, Jackson, Schyler & McKenzie.
We are so proud of you little one...we love you lots.

Where Has The Time Gone?

We had such a wonderful weekend. We have been extremely busy we don't have much of these days so we enjoy them to the fullest when we can. I have so many pictures to post and I promise I will. First, I wanted to share this picture of Cameron, isn't he handsome? I don't know why I love this picture so much but every time I see it my heart tingles. How I love this little boy.

Daddy surprised the kids this morning with a special donut! Boy were they happy.

Can you tell who dug in first?

Cameron got a big boy bike for his birthday from his "girlfriend Yaya"...he loves her so MUCH! He rides his bike every day. Since it's been getting really hot this past week, he rides up and down the hallway.
We were on the way back home today from bike riding and noticed Kenny had the sprinklers on. I had this sudden memory of my and my brothers and sisters playing with the water hose as kids. I looked and Cameron and asked him if he wanted to play in the water. He gave me this "are you serious" look and jumped off his bike and ran toward the sprinkers. He had such a wonderful time.Snuggling with Gracie - they wouldn't let me in the bed with them. I was sad and happy at the same time. I'm hoping we can have many more relaxing happy weekends.