Update Via Pictures

I'm in a major writers block so I took the easy way out:) Here is our goings on in a nutshell.

For the love of soccer

A very proud moment for me!!! My little girl playing soccer. Buying her equipment, showing her how I laced my cleats, teaching her skills. The nostalgia was flooding. Luckily I am able to co coach her team and lend some of my knowledge and love for the sport. Our first game is this Saturday and I am beyond excited! I can't wait to see the progress of all the girls over the next few weeks.

Diesel

Meet our handsome new baby boy, Diesel. He is a sealed brindle(black) boxer. He has been such a joy so far and the kids are learning responsibility real quick,he's a chewer:) its fun training a new pup and watching his budding personality form. He makes me miss OZZY and I'm often reminded of our early days with him. I know he would have enjoyed him! Gracie seems to like him. They just started snuggling and doing the weird boxer straddle, sleeping positions. She's 9.5yrs old so keeping up with him is impossible but it definitely hasn't slowed her butt from wagging!!

Back 2 School 2012

Well, it's crept up on us again. Summer just seems to get shorter and shorter every year. This year however I greeted it with open arms. The girls were ready to go back and I was just as eager to let them:)
We started off with quite a snag in Ava's kindergarten class. She had originally been signed up for 1/2 days and the day of "meet the teacher" I received a call saying they had to add an extra class due to the overflow of students and that Ava was now without a teacher(they were in talks of hiring one at the moment). I was beyond upset. How can they just spring that on us like that? So we went up to the school anyways and met the principal. He then informed us that she would be in a room in the basement of the school on the complete opposite side from the other kindergartners. This really fired me up. So A. She has no teacher at the moment. And B. your going to stick them in the basement of the school where they will miss all the other kindergartners and the designated kindergarten hallway. We were not happy. We came home and decided to enroll her in full day class. We had Elise go 1/2 day and due to the fact it's $300/month we were hesitant. The school left us no option. I want Ava to have the same great experience Elise did. So now Ava's class is actually right next door to her big sis El!! I couldn't be happier, except the fact that we are now dealing with a "mean" teacher. It's been 3 days so before I investigate further I'll give it a few more days. Stay tuned...
Elise walked into her class like she's been going to school all her life. She talked right away with a few other students and proceeded to introduce herself to some she didn't know. I'm glad she is so outgoing! I am looking forward to this school year and all the fun activities we will be involved in!!

Blue

We had been planning a trip out to the Berry Patch for a few weeks now. Things kept coming up and we kept postponing. Finally we made it out there. Of course we picked the hottest day of the year thus far:/ we left earl and were out there by 9am but by 10 it was all ready 93 degrees! We picked our berries and filled our buckets all while drenched in sweat and longing for the a/c. Worth it? You bet! I came away with almost 6lbs of blueberries for under $13! Can't wait to continue this tradition next year!

Pool Rats

It's official, summer has begun!! The girls just completed their swim lessons. They both passed with flying colors! I'm not surprised but due to missing 2 days from illness I was a tad worried. The final day of lessons was "fun day". Elise's class began on the giant slide while Ava played with the water features in the shallow end. They would then rotate. Elise's class made it over to the diving boards. Now, she can swim but never has been in 13 feet of water, let alone off a diving board. As I walked up I saw her sitting on the side and watching all her friends run and jump off the board. Broke my heart. I told her to go get up there. Her instructor got in the water but was about 6 ft away holding onto the side. She cautiously walked to end and JUMPED! I was sooooo proud! She came up and slowly tread water to the the side. She immediately got back in line. What's next is nothing short of amazing. She ran down the board jumped on the end and did a complete FLIP into the pool. As the instructor and I were picking our jaws up off the floor she paddled over to the side and got out. She ran right over and gave me the biggest hug. That was literally one of my most proud moment thus far with her!! What an amazing kid!!


We generally get to the pool 3 days a week and while the girls swim I am kept busy chasing after my little guy. He is so busy! He's up then down, in then out. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Here's to hoping the rest of summer will be just as awesome!!

Black thumb

Every year I pride myself with my beautiful flowers. This season started as any other, hit the city market up and bought the most gorgeous flowers. Everything was blooming and thriving. I was quite pleased.

Fast forward 3 weeks.

My wonderful "helpers" decided that they would miracle grow all my flowers. No problem, right? Well they filled the watering can with about 3-4 cups of the miracle granules and just enough water to make it into a slushy. They then proceeded to "feed" my plants to their death. I believe I was mowing the lawn when this happened. So now I am left with wilted, brown, decrepit looking flowers:( one planter was salvaged, but to say I am sad is an understatement. I know they were trying to help but at the same time I'm frustrated. I flooded the soil to try to flush the fertilizer. Hopefully i can save them.My veggie garden is thriving so I will focus my energy on that! Here are some pics of my flowers.

Schools out for Summer

We survived our first year of school!! We are so very proud of Elise and her accomplishments this year, she has done amazing! It's bittersweet as we enter the summer months for she will miss her teacher immensely. Here's is her first day and last day photos!!

Recap

I just realized I haven't updated or written in almost 8 months! I must be busy:) things have been great! The girls are chugging to the end of yet another school year and have both done exceptional in school. I can't believe that next year I'll have 2 kiddos in elementary school! Kellan is ever changing and making his mark on this family. He captures everyone's heart with the bat of an eye. He turned one in march and everyday since has been surprising me with his wit, charm and love for exploration. He is very busy, into everything. The girls were retry active but he is by far the busiest. I'm wondering if it's a "boy" thing?! The end of march also marked a very sad time for our family. We had to say good bye to our beloved Ozzy. He was 10 and barreling stage 4 kidney disease. Watching him suffer on a day to day basis really took its toll on me emotionally and finally Wes and I together had to make the horrible decision. I know in the end we gave him the greatest gift and that was eternal happiness and a life without pain. It certainly doesn't make me miss him any less. I really never realized what a integral part of this family he was until he was gone. Gracie his counterpart has been in a funk and his departure has changed her as well. It's sad to see her look for him every time the front door opens:(
We have been steadily making more improvements to the house. Flowers are planted, garden is growing. We are also getting ready to do a complete kitchen makeover. Lots going on. This summer is already filling up with swim lessons, camps, vbs, bbqs and visits from the grandparents! I look forward to a nice packed break with the kids! Leaving y'all with a few pics!