Construction Zone

My parents have officially broken ground on their house. We are so excited for them to be building in our backyard! Sutton is especially happy to be able to dig and play in the dirt whenever he wants.

These Tonka trucks have been beloved by all three of my boys. I don't think I will ever be able to get rid of them!

First Day of School

Back to school for my favorite little kiddos!!!

Vance is headed into fourth grade. He is excited to start rotating classrooms and get to experience more teachers.  He doesn't have any of close friends in his class but that doesn't bother him too much. I'm sure he will make some closer friends in his class in no time!

Keller is repeating kindergarten this year. That was always our plan due to his late summer birthday. So far I'm feeling very confident in our decision. He just seems so much more ready. He is excited to show the new kids around the block. Haha. Two of my besties daughters are in his class. He was thrilled to have some familiar faces. His teacher is Ms. Burchett and she seems great!

 Sutton is headed back to First United Methodist for preschool two days a week. We love their program and I can't wait for him to start back up.  He has become so much easier but I still like having him go to a classroom a couple days. I can work without feeling torn between being mom/employee but we still get plenty of time with just the two of us. He has a few more pictures because he is such a ham!

 This last summer was by far our best summer yet but even with that we were all ready to get back into a routine. The kids had a great first week and fingers crossed they will have a great year!

This & That

Sutton and Papa crashed on the couch together one afternoon :)

I made LOTS of cookies for my niece's missionary farewell. Lots of cookies means lots of ingredients!

Vance and Keller attended Vacation Bible School at our church. They had so much fun learning about God and hanging out with their friends. The theme was Galactic Starveyors and they learned about how God created all things: large and small.

 We had our church class over for a couple's outdoor game night. We had about 30-35 people attend and had so much. Chad and I both LOVE seeing our backyard get so much use!

 Much to Chad's dismay sometimes the boys ask me to play Pretty, Pretty Princess with them. I love it ;)

 They were cracking me up with the awkward pictures they were taking.

 Keller and Sutton are ALWAYS wrestling on the ground together.  At home...in public...everywhere!!!

 Our boat hasn't been working this summer and we haven't been able to figure out the problem.  Well I think we finally got it up and running again. Chad wasn't with us so I snapped this picture to send to him!

 Keller was practicing the piano one day and seeing his little feet just dangling there made my heart smile.

Everyone always loves a Razor ride with Grandpa!

 Sutton likes to help Vance carry his football pads after practice. They are almost as big as he is!

 Chad and I went to a wedding reception for one of his old coworkers. The photo booth is always the best part!

I asked the boys if there was anything they wanted to do before summer ended. Vance immediately requested Torchys Tacos and we happily obliged. Torchys is the best!!!

 For meet the teacher I made a few cookies for each of the boy's teachers. All the teachers seemed nice and I'm looking forward to a great year!

 Chad and I have been playing in a coed volleyball league. We finished the season undefeated and to top it off we won the tournament! It was SO much fun and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It felt so good to feel like an athlete again and doing it with Chad made it that much better.

I haven't regularly set an alarm clock since I graduated high school about 12 years ago. Unfortunately  I decided I had to start waking up before the kids this school year to help our mornings go a little smoother. I absolutely hate that dreaded buzzing!!!

My parents moved in with us! We wanted them to really feel welcome and not feel like a guest while they live with us so we had a little welcome surprise on their bed for them on moving day.

 The kids love having them here but I think they are a little bummed they can't get a break from me at Grandma's house for the next few months ;)

Summer Swimming

We had SOOOOO much fun by the pool this summer. We swam and swam and swam some more. It was perfection! Here are a few of the random swimming photos from the summer -

We swam with friends a lot but plenty of days it was just the four of us hanging out by the pool together.

The last Friday of summer I bought donuts and we headed to our friend's community pool. It was the perfect way to spend the last weekday of summer!