So, I'm going to rewind for a bit. After all the excitement of school being out, a trip to Atlanta to celebrate my birthday and Roman being born all within a 4 day span, things settled down and summer began. Usual stuff like sleeping late, lazy mornings and staying up way past our bedtimes.
We had a week off then a week of VBS and then this... a week long summer camp for my boy at Camp Lookout. What?!? Wasn't he just in diapers yesterday? He's not old enough to go away for 4 whole nights. But he was. And he did. And I felt like someone had cut my right arm off. His daddy threatened to go get him about 5 times between Monday and Friday but he made it, and so did we! I am BEYOND proud of him for even attempting it. Because, honestly, he didn't get that from his mama. I was a junior in high school before I ever left home for that long. Lol! Sigh.
I've never been so happy to see that face as I was on that Friday afternoon. He had no voice and was exhausted but hugged me SO tight. The jury is still out on if he'd do it again, but time will tell. I think he had a really good time. He couldn't wait to get his hands on his iPad. ha!
We spent a lot of time at the lake this summer and even made friends with Billy Bob Joe. He got face to face with Timber (bless his heart) and Jimmy even snatched him up one day for a little cuddle.
We enjoyed the Braves so much in May that we headed back down in July for another game. This time we stayed close enough to walk to the stadium. We went to White Water the next day to use our season passes once more before school started. It was so much fun!
Look who was sitting 3 rows in front of us. Love them!
We went to Mimmies/Sheilas for the 4th of July and had the best time as always! We promised Trace we would spend 2 nights there and wait for Nelson, SK and Alex to get home from the beach. I absolutely loved this family tradition!
Decorating water bottles...
The next day while we waited for the Elliotts to get home, Kate and I took the kiddos to Finding Dory.
One of my failed Pinterest attempts. Rice krispie treats, watermelon style. It was a MESS!
Finally all the cousins were together and the party round 2 began...
This girl got her monofin to go with her mermaid tale and couldn't be happier.
This little guy has stolen our hearts this summer. He is growing and changing everyday and is so precious!
I knew I couldn't hold off much longer. My 2 begged and begged to hold him. So sweet!
I LOVE his little wrinkled brow.
He was finally big enough for Uncle Jimmy to hold. He doesn't do itty bittys except for his own. ha!
Trying out the new rope swing on Granddaddy's dock...
The last week before school started, we hit the zoo. It was H.O.T. but so much fun.
This little guy had escaped from his pen and about gave us a heart attack when we came around the corner.
Roman's first trip to Nanny and Papaw's house...
In Papaw Ned's catchers mitt...
And then the big day arrived. My baby girl was headed to Kindergarten. Wow, that was fast. I can SO clearly remember right after she was born thinking that one day I would be sending her to Kindergarten and him to 4th grade. Trace was barely 4 years old at the time and it felt like a lifetime away, but here we are. Time is going way too
fast for this mom.
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This is at desk day. I put on Facebook, when your BFF of 25 years is your baby's Kindergarten teacher, it makes it a little easier. Lol! How lucky are we? I couldn't ask for a kinder soul to be Keatyn's first "big school" teacher. I'm not sure if she pulled strings or not to get her in her class or if it was just God's hand, but I am so grateful. I promised I would be her homeroom mom and be at her beck and call. Love those 2.
After desk day, we went and celebrated Jimmy's 46th birthday with Sisty and Granddaddy at Longhorn.
And then this nearly brought me to tears. Keatyn's first "homework" assignment was to decorate her nametag with things about her. I dug in Trace's keepsake box and found his. Look how little she was when he was in Kindergarten. Oh, my heart!
Getting out of a warm cozy bed in the morning is tough for these 2. Even when it's 95 degrees outside. So as a back to school bonus, I bought them both bathrobes. The deal is, they have to get up, GET DRESSED, and then put on their robes and come down for breakfast. We shall see if this helps...
This dog needs a lot of love.
And finally the day arrived. We were all smiles and full of excitement (Trace, not so much. This wasn't his first rodeo and he knew what was coming. ha!)
Love this one! I hope they both find comfort in knowing the other one is just down the hall. Although they want to break each others arm 50% of the time, family is family, and knowing they are in the same building gives me peace.
It was a good drop. No tears or drama. I made it all the way to the car and then lost it when Jimmy said a prayer once it was just the two of us.
I walked into Target at 8:30 in the morning with the strangest feeling. Where was my sidekick? I've had one for 9.5 years now. Every. single. buggy I passed was a mom and her toddler/preschooler. I felt the tears again but had to laugh because shopping with my kids made me CRAZY most of the time. It's such a bittersweet thing. I ran into my friend Trinity in the shoe aisle and started crying again. lol! Oh, what a mess. I barely made it out of the store and then cried all the way down 153. By the time I ran some errands and went to pick up their cookie cake at the mall, I had no makeup on and was counting the minutes until pick up time. My sweet hubby met me at the mall and rode down to get them on their first day.
I missed these stinkers. But as we do every year, we celebrated the first day with a cookie cake.
Now we are 4 days in and still working out the morning kinks of us all getting up and out at the same time. I'm adjusting to my "new normal" and praying for a great year for them both!
