First day of Preschool

September marked the first day of Preschool for Tatum and Levi. They were both beyond excited to begin. For 2 months, Tatum had been telling everyone she met that she would be going to preschool. Well, the big day finally arrived! 

Tatum sporting her ACU backpack, princess nap mat and new pink lunchbox. 

Levi is excited for school. He actually hated his first day :( When I picked him up, he was on a nap mat in the corner of his room, away from all of the other little boys. He said there were too many rules at preschool and he didn't like it. My guess is that his teachers were trying to set some boundaries the first day. On the 2nd day, he said school was ok. By the 3rd day, he had made some friends and has loved school ever since! 

Cutie patootie! 

Daddy came with us for drop off

Sweet girl… almost 3 years old. Sporting her "Princess Leia" hairdo. 

Big girl walking to her class. She was a little bit nervous, but when we got to class, she gave us big hugs, then walked on in! Tatum loves school too and her teachers Ms. Karin and Ms. Stacey. 

Colt's first day of Kinder

To continue our summer of 2013, we decided to move into our new house in Austin before the work was completed because… our oldest son was entering Kindergarten!! Wow, where does the time go? We didn't want to drive an hour plus each way to and from school each week, so braved the construction (all the bedrooms and bathrooms were livable as we didn't do any remodeling to them) and moved back to Austin. Here is our kitchen on the morning Colt started school: 

Notice we have no fridge, sink, oven, microwave, stove, dishwasher. We ate out for 8 days straight :(

Actually, our fridge was in the garage, so Colt had some Cheerios and milk for breakfast on his first day of school and had to eat it on the back porch. Great way to encourage a kid as he launches his educational career, eh? 

My mom was in town for this big day. She actually stayed for a week and watched the kids while I unpacked and figured out how to homeschool Colt on the days he is at home. This was the most productive week I've had since we moved into the house. Thanks, Mom, for coming! 

Colt, I remember when you were as little as Zoe, and now look how big and handsome you are! 

Pushing your sister from the parking lot to your school. You were very nervous but held your head high and didn't drag your feet. 

Colt's class all lined up and ready to head to chapel. You are the tallest one at the back of the line. 

Big man on Campus

I love how you can be so serious...

...and so silly.

Apparently lunch time is only 20 minutes, so Colt didn't finish his lunch. After I picked him up, he unpacked his lunch and finished it for a snack. He was excited to have finished his first day at school.

When we got home, we received a special delivery from Nana and Bang Bang! An edible housewarming gift. 

It was the perfect treat to end a special day! Thanks guys! 

Adding another boy to the family!

On the night of August 1st, my sister called saying she was in labor. It was such an exciting night that I had trouble sleeping! My dad and Jennifer had been at our house watching the kids all week as I had been at Family Education Week for Colt's school, so conveniently the 3 of us woke up early the next morning and drove to Houston. Alethea had asked me to be her doula for the birth and I was honored to be a part of her experience. We couldn't get there soon enough! 

Prior to this day, I had always wondered how nurses and midwives could be a part of so many labors. I mean, this is the likely the most painful day of a woman's life. I just couldn't imagine being around so much pain all day, every day. As you can guess, the experience of my sister's labor has totally changed my opinion of their jobs and I can see the reward of this type of career. To watch my sister and her husband work together was a thing of beauty. Emmitt supported her, encouraged her, loved her, soothed her, worried for her, coached her, prayed for her, and cheered her on. To watch the depth of their love for one another and their teamwork during this daunting task (did I mention Alethea labored for 18!! hours?) tells me they are definitely up for parenting the cute little face in the pictures to follow. 

Introducing Axel Ezra Savannah 

This little baby melts so many hearts! 

God has big plans for this one!

Sleep tight little one. Aunt Charis loves you! 

Lost PInes in Bastrop…. our family staycation

 This year we signed up for Family Camp with our church. We happened to write it on the wrong weekend of our calendar (and since we were living in Marble Falls, we missed all of the church bulletin announcements leading up to the event so we didn't notice our mistake). We only learned of our blunder when we saw friends on Facebook talking about how they were packed and headed to the camp. Um, what?! We already had commitments we couldn't reshuffle to go last minute. So, we used the days Ty had taken off of work and instead went on a mini vacation in Bastrop.

We headed out to a Worm Digging activity. The boys were really excited to get some shovels and dig for worms in the dirt. They had big plans! They were disappointed to get to the activity only to find gummy worms hidden in whipped cream on a plate. Tatum dug right in though after Daddy showed her the ropes! 

The activity staffer ended up pushing Colt's plate in his face… and you can see how well received that yummy goodness was on his face. 

A selfie with my sweetie! 

We had a great time in Bastrop. Spent lots of time in the pool and lazy river, roasted marshmallows, enjoyed some room service, hit up the arcade, went for a bike ride, played some horseshoes, swam some more and had some great food! Our scheduling blunder turned out in our favor.