The day after we got home from the beach, it was already time to put our swimsuits back on again! My parents got some new neighbors this year, and the family has 3 little girls (6, 5, and 3 I believe). Anyway, the girls are constantly looking over the fence to see if "Tommy and Ethan are here!". We were so glad they invited us to join them for Laura's 5th birthday :)
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| Tommy jumped right in the mix as soon as we arrived! |
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| The three sisters: Julia (dark hair--6), Laura (white swimsuit--5), and Emma (pink shirt, 3) |
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| Ethy didn't have much interest in the water play, but he found an orange balloon to keep him company! |
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| Tommy set up his "post" and fired away and the crowd inside the pool! |
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| Tommy had a blast! |
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| Time for cupcakes, Laura! |
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| Happy Birthday! |
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| She blew out the candles on the first try :) |
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| Grandma and the boys sitting on the porch together enjoying a cupcake! |
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| Tommy ate his whole cupcake--first time ever! |
After the beach and the birthday party, we took a few days to settle back in at home (and do LOTS of laundry!). Once we were back in the swing of things, we were excited to go over to our friends, Olivia and Colin's, house for a play date!
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| Spoiler--the boys are eating out of their new lunch boxes for the first time. Don't all the kids look so cute sitting at the table together?! |
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| Tommy and Olivia were FAST friends! |
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| Colin and Olivia were so cute watching the mailman come for the day :) |
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| How cute is this little stinker?!! |
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| Olivia is as big of a ham as Tommy!! |
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| Ethan and Colin actually played together....for a couple of minutes anyway! |
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| Olivia LOVED having her picture taken... |
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| HAHAHHA...Tommy acting as the paparazzi, and Olivia happy to play the superstar! |
The following morning marked the first Wolfpack football game of the season! As usual, we dress for Gameday!!
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| Wolfpack in the HOUSEEEEE!! |
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| And, SURPRISE, so is Aunt LoLo--the boys were so happy to see her! |
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| My cheeseball :) |
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| Oh NOOOOO, NC State's QB broke his foot :( Thankfully, the Pack was still able to bring home the "W"! |
After the game, we headed over to Grandma and Granddaddy's house to celebrate our Laura's birthday!
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| I was pretty impressed that Tommy can "load" his water gun solo! |
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| Ethan having a seat at the kid's table! |
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| Mommy and Aunt LoLo enjoyed a few good laughs on the porch! |
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| HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!! |
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| Grandma came out for a quick spell in between cooking a delicious meal of country bbq ribs, green bean casserole, baked apples, macaroni & cheese, and blueberry muffins! |
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| Poor Tommy played in the pool by himself for about an hour.... |
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| hmmmm, maybe he wants it to stay that way! |
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| Ethy checking out his dinosaur trunks |
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| Tommy decided he needed to take a bath... |
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| and, so did Ethan apparently--SNEAK ATTACK!!! |
After hanging outside for a while, it was time to come in and enjoy the food! Somehow, I neglected to take a picture of the main course, as well as Laura's dessert pick--Nutter Butter Banana Pudding Trifle! Ethan was pretty much ready to go to sleep after dinner, but we let Tommy hang out with us as long as he was being a good boy!
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| Nolan and Tommy snuggles <3 |
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| And, a little chat on the phone.... |
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| hehehehe |
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| Tommy knew the key to staying up--snuggle buggling with Granddaddy!! |
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| He stayed up longer than Granddaddy did ;) |
We decided to stick around the house over Labor Day since Davey and I were fighting off colds, but the next day marked the very first day of preschool for Tommy!! This year, both boys are attending Woodhaven Baptist Church Preschool on Kildaire Farm Road--we LOVE it!! The boys both did really well at orientation the previous week, but I was eager to see how they'd do in a full day!
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| Look at my adorable big guy <3 |
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| Ethan wasn't set to go to school until the next day, but he wanted to wear his "pack-pack" like Tommy!! |
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| Have a great day Tooterbear!! |
Tommy had an AMAZING first day, and I think he might even be one of his teacher's favorites :) It was SO NICE to hear, "Mommy, can I come back to school tomorrow?!" as soon as I picked him up...and before bed....and the following morning!
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| My Ethy's first day of school!! |
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| How mischievous (and adorable) does that little Honey Badger look?! |
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| Best buds <3 |
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| We all know who the star of the show is ;) |
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| Have fun boys--I know I will!! |
So, this marked the first morning where both of my guys were out of the house at school. While many of my "colleagues" seemed to be nothing short of devastated that their children were going away to school, I couldn't help but feel.....well.....like this:
Listen, there was a little nostalgia for sure, but I wasn't even close to shedding a tear! As I drove to Starbucks to meet my friend Iris for a nice, long 3 hour chat (sans kids) and a mocha light frappuccino, I was feeling kinda like this:
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| Dang it feels good to be a gangsta! |
In all seriousness, I really am looking forward to this next chapter in our lives. I don't feel like I'm giving my kids away or not "living in the moment". I feel like they are growing up, and as they do, we will do our best to cautiously extend their freedom while protecting their hearts. It brought me just a ton of joy this week to see them taking the first of what will hopefully be many steps along that road. They both seemed to take such pride in going to school, and I know we were so proud of them. Letting go, even for just a few hours, can be sad and even scary, but I've already enjoyed seeing the confidence and independence it is fostering in these two small boys who we are trying to raise to become Godly men. And, truth be told, I'm all the more excited to see them, talk to them, and spend quality time with them when they do return home <3.
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| It turns out that their daily folders had to be squished to fit in their other backpacks, so we ordered them some new ones that they were able to proudly sport on Friday! |
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| Monsters U is all the rage around here! |
Both boys had really good first weeks, and the most important thing to us is that they both LOVE going to school! I had a chance to chat with both of the boys' teachers and the school director on Friday, and I must say I am just tickled with all three of them (and, that's not a word I say all that often!!). Here's the initial report on both boys!
Tommy: I probably heard the word "sweetheart" about 20 times over 4 days <3. I also heard "well acclimated", "social", and everyday was capped with a, "Tommy had another GREAT day!"
Ethan: I was pretty impressed with how quickly his teacher figured him out! In only 2 days, her assessment of Ethan right now is--"He likes to do his own thing! You hardly know he's there during free play, but he definitely lets you know he's around when you manually move him or tell him to do something he doesn't want to--most of that is his age and gender, and the fact that it's his first time in school. He is extremely bright; he seems to know most, if not all, of the 'cognitive' components of the year already." So, in Ethan's class they receive an attitude "grade" daily--either a smiley face (excellent), a "straight mouth" face (good), or a frowny face (needs improvement). We are 2 for 2 for "good"--ha! We're striving for some "excellent smiley faces" next week though!!
Did they nail them both or what?!?! Again, I'm just so impressed and thankful for how warm and gracious the teachers and director have been, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful year of fun, learning, and growth!
