Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend we ended up heading to the lake.  We spent a little time with family and a little time with friends, a perfect balance.  We did all the normal lake things and to be honest I didn't take very many pictures because I was starting to think all of my lake pictures were looking the same every year just with new swimming trunks.  Fast forward a couple of months however and now I realize that I missed some great opportunities because Chad's family recently sold the family lake house.  So this visit to that lake house was our last.  Lots of great memories in that house, we will surely miss going there.  But I have faith this family will continue on making memories at the lake just in different locations.  Chad thinks we need to buy a place at the lake now.  I'm not resistant to the idea because I don't love going because I do love it and the boys do too.  Maybe when we have the opportunity to go more than twice in one year he will have an easier time convincing me, but for now I'm pretty content just crashing everyone else's pads!  So if you're looking for some house guests just let us know :).

Bennett's First (okay and second) Soccer Game

It was finally Bennett's turn.  After literally years of watching his brother play soccer weekend after weekend it was time for Bennett to shine.  And as luck would have it his first game was against one of his best little buddies Connor.  Connor's mom and I were so conflicted as we cheered on the sidelines.  We wanted our kids to score, but we didn't want our team to score when the other's kid was playing goalie.  It was complicated!  Turns out at their first game neither of them got a whole lot of action anyway! It was also super sunny and I did not come prepared with a zoom lens soooooo I'm combining his first and second game pictures because it was at the same field against the same school anyway and I figured I could fool you all (if I hadn't just told you anyway).  At his second game Bennett was on fire, scored three goals and was all over the field.  I thought a soccer stud was born...until we went to his third game!  Super star or not, he LOVES playing whether it is a game or practice and he REALLY loves hanging out on the bench with his new little buddies.
  

Bennett's 5th Birthday

Bennett turned the Big 5 and we celebrated with one stellar birthday party at Rockin' Jump. Gone are the days of cutesy themed parties, and while that makes this Mom super sad it also makes her a tiny bit happy as these parties are WAY easier!  He did request a dinosaur theme, which I embraced, but at a place like this a theme doesn't mean much.  So we did some jumping, played some dodge ball, did some climbing, ate some pizza and (dinosaur) cupcakes and called it a night.  Done and done.  Might be the easiest birthday party ever.  Now if we could just make the 5 year old himself a little easier we'd be in good shape!  Surely once they turn 5 they lose their attitudes, right?

First Day of School (and some bonus footage)

Well the day had finally come, the first day of Pre-K 4 and 2nd grade.  We had some excited boys and some excited parents.  This marked the first time the boys would be at the same school for an extended period of time.  Did you hear me?  Do you know what this means?  1 Drop off..1 Pick up.  I think we might be in HEAVEN.

So Day 1 was ALL SMILES while we were at home and even when we got to school.  UNTIL we tried to walk out the door of the classroom.  Bennett was definitely that kid that was crying for his Mom.  And I was definitely that Mom that was fighting back the tears as I "just walked away" like we were instructed to at Open House.  The thing is at Open House I was thinking about all the other sappy Moms there and laughing to myself thinking there is no way they are "just walking away".  And here I was on stage all eyes on me and I had to do it.  I felt like a giant a-hole, but I did it.  Surely my ribbon is coming in the mail.

***Since I'm posting this about 2 months after school started I can report that Bennett is doing awesome.  Day 1 was tears, but by Day 2 he was hopping out of the car and walking himself to class.  I think he might be a little bit of a social butterfly but that's no different than at his last school.  Bennett has no problem making friends, and getting those teachers wrapped around his little finger.  God help us.  

I'm not very timely with anything these days, "first day of school" pictures included.  But I'm committed to my project of taking a picture with the old desk for every school year so I finally did a little photo-shoot with Nolan to document his "first day" of second grade.  Sure, it was about a month and a half late but I figure I got it in the first semester so it's a win.  You'll note that I didn't make Bennett partake, partly to be nice to him...partly to be nice to me.  I'll torture him for the next 12 years, he got this one off.

And a couple of outtakes, because these are Nolan's favorite where I let him "be creative"...

Lake Visit

To say we had a busy summer would be the understatement of the year, but we couldn't let the summer pass without at least one trip to the lake.  So we planned to go down a weekend when both my family and Chad's family would be down there.  Two birds, one stone, two families...both happy.  It was a crazy fast weekend but we got to hit up a few of our favorite spots and get in some good quality time with both families.  One day when our lives slow down (you know in like 15 years) I hope to spend a lot more time at the lake.  For now, I'll just have to be satisfied with one whirlwind trip.

 

Open House

Well, it was that time again...back to school time and that means Open House.  An opportunity for the boys to meet their new teachers and for us to drop off our 1 MILLION school supplies.  Yes, I said 1 MILLION.  I swear I bought the entire Target school supply section this year.  But by God, they should have enough crayons and glue to get them through college.  Anyway, we started with Bennett meeting his teacher and checking out the classroom.  At first he was a little standoffish, but then he dug into some toys and coloring and decided it wasn't such a bad place to be.  Then we headed over to Nolan's class where it was a lot quieter.  In fact, we were the only ones in the classroom.  A lot different from the preschool room where there were 20 kids and 40 parents.  Next year Nolan will probably just want us to drop him off and pick him up in 20.  It was a successful trip though and we were getting excited for the first day of school!