Aldi's Slide

After months of cold weather, the temperature finally got warm enough to break out the old water slide.  Matt always jokes about how it is the best thing we ever bought at Aldi's and he's not far off the mark.  The boy's followed Matt around through the entire setup process, helping to hammer the stakes in the ground and get the extension cord and hose hooked up.  The minute the water started running you would have thought we were at Venture River.

Thrasher T-Ball

The Thrashers definitely gave us a lot of entertainment this summer.  It was fun watching the kids learn the basic rules of the game and not having a care in the world!     

Ben loved batting more than he did playing in the field.  He told me he just didn't get enough action in the field and sometimes he just liked to play with the dirt and watch the birds instead!!    The playing in the dirt was obvious because by the end of the game Ben was the dirtiest kid on the team!! 

It was a joy watching Matt coach.  I think they both had a wonderful season.  If you ask Ben he will tell you his team always won because they were the best!!!

Reelfoot

Going to Reelfoot never gets old.  We love the food and the kids love going across the street to visit the animals and look at the lake.   Like usual, Ben runs full speed and I am a nervous wreck while Sam on the other hand walks slow as a turtle and examines everything! 

Kindergarten

I know everybody says time flies, but now that I am a parent, I fully understand and agree with this statement.  It seems like yesterday was August 6th and Sam was starting his first day of Kindergarten!

Sam had a wonderful year and I give the most credit to his teacher.  She is the most amazing kindergarten teacher ever because she truly cared about her kids and she made her lessons fun!  For the most part, Sam did not want to miss school.  Now don't get me wrong, Sam was never a morning person and was definitely grumpy every morning, but once he was awake, he was ready for school!  I am so thankful Matt gets to wake the morning monster and get him in a good mood before I see him!! 

Sam exceeded our expectations in every aspect of school.  According to the STAR reading test, he ended the year on a 2.3  reading level.  He has started reading his first chapter books, the Magic Tree House series.  At night, I read a page and then he takes a turn.  Since this is the first time he isn't reading picture books, I want to make sure he is comprehending and staying focused!    I love hearing him read, but what I love most about our routine is the chance to snuggle and have some quiet time with him!  

Although he does great in reading, his favorite subject is math.  He ended the year on a 3.0 math level, which is just simply amazing.  What I love most is his desire to learn more and more math!  When we drive down the road he will ask us to challenge him.  This of course means a math problem and if we give him one he thinks is too easy, it makes him mad!  Sam can fluently add and subtract, but now he is solving for x and is multiplying.  So far, he can multiply by 0's, 1's, 2's, 3's, 5's, and 9's.  He can solve other numbers, but it takes him a tad longer to give the answer.  I am very proud of him and tell him all the time multiplying is for 3rd graders!  I guess he took his love for numbers after his Uncle John and Gram!  I love math, but I don't think I could ever compute numbers in my head as fast as he can!  

Yes, we are proud of his educational progress, but what I think is simply amazing is how much his personality has blossomed!  We love you to the moon and back Sam and we will always be proud!

First day of School 2014-2015

Last Day of School 2014-2015

My Love!

 

Happy 8th Anniversary!  I love you!!

Memorial Day

 We had a wonderful time with the whole family.  It is so nice having John, Stacy, James and Andrew back in Nashville, able to enjoy their company and see the boys having fun.  Even opening a pool and swimming in ice cold water didn't get the boys down, in fact they outlasted all of us and swam for hours.  I love these guys.

Around Town

On Thursday, FES kindergarten took a trip "Around Town" and we had the perfect day!  It was even more special to Sam because Matt took the day off and went with us.  We started the day at the fire station, which the kids loved!  They climbed up and down and all around the fire trucks and ambulances.  Next we visited City Hall and learned all about how to become a policeman.  I think their favorite was the police dog, but learning about the car and uniform was fun also!  Before going to the Post Office, we went to a local cemetery and Matt gave a mini lesson on a historical site.  I think Sam enjoyed his Dad teaching his friends!    At the Post Office, the workers let every kid practice scanning and sorting packages!   I think Sam's favorite thing at the Post Office was finding his mail slot! 

We ended the day at the park where we grilled hotdogs and had a picnic.  The weather was perfect and the kids had a wonderful time digging in the dirt, playing ball, and playing on the playground sets!  I know we can't be away from school every day, but I am so glad we were able to get outside the classroom and learn about our city!  I am sure this will be a trip they remember for a while!

 

Easter 2015

Easter weekend was a lot of fun.  For the first time in years we were able to get together with family and have a kid egg hunt.  I think it is safe to say we enjoyed good food and great company. 

The boys had a blast hunting for the Easter eggs.  I have to say, things have definitely changed since I was a child.  Gram stuffed the eggs with not only candy, but money!  I thought about getting my own basket and hunt, but I didn't!  

After the hunt, the we played some tball in the back yard and blew bubbles! 

My loves before church