It's that time again!  The summer has come and gone at lightning speed, and here we are sending our little loves off for their first day of school.

Millie Janalee will be starting her year in the four year old preschool class with most of her same friends from PreK3.  It is such a sweet class, and they have all missed each other this summer!  The child is a girl after my own heart when it comes to waking up early for school, but once the initial trauma was over...she couldn't wait to go to Mrs. Kaylee and Mrs. Catherine's class.  I know she will have such a wonderful year and learn so much!

This is the first year Smith has gone anywhere away from home.  It has taken a year for him to not cry hysterically when we drop him off at the church nursery, so I have been very nervous all summer about him starting school.  He will be starting the toddler class with two sweet ladies.  I have heard mothers singing their praises all summer, so I know he is in good hands.

I packed his little backpack with a lunch, a zippy cup, change of clothes, extra paci, lovey and blanket for nap time, and his little class folder.  Russ is off work this week, so he was able to go with us and be my moral support.

I have looked forward to having a couple mornings a week all to myself all summer.  I just knew I would be waving goodbye before I even got to the classrooms.  But the more I thought about how precious it is watching them go together to the same school, my heart became full!  And I realized how sweet this time is.

I envision many more years of saying, "Take care of your brother today."  I hope Smith doesn't actually see her today, because I'm sure that would leave him devastated that she couldn't stay in his room.  But knowing they are together in the same building makes me feel a little better.

We decided to take Millie Janalee first since we expected Smith's drop off to be traumatic.  She led the way while we followed behind...me taking pictures of her sweet little backside with that sweet backpack.  Until she said, "Mama!  That's enough."  Haha!  Oh, the threenager is still in there - inside that four year old body.

She was a little hesitant at first, but I held her hand and led her into her new classroom where all her friends were playing.  Her teacher showed her where her little cubby was, and she put her backpack away.  When she turned around, she had a smile on her face.  So I know she's good for the day!

We absolutely love our preschool!  For so many reasons.  But the teachers there are just precious!  They love our babies like their own and I know they are teaching them so much!  Not just educationally, but spiritually.  Our preschool really is one of our biggest blessings - if not the biggest - of our move here.  Very thankful!

I gave Millie Janalee a kiss and moved along to the toddler room.  Smith started crying the second we walked in.  As expected.  I was able to find the farm just like our farm at home, and he sat right down and started playing.  I sat awhile and took a picture or two before sneaking out.

And that's when the surprise emotion came! I cried myself to the car.  I kept picturing his little face when he looks up and realizes I left him.  Waaaahh!  I just left my baby!  The one I was so excited to send.

The days are so long.  But the years are TOO SHORT!  My little babies.  Wild or not - they are mine!  My wild ones.  And I love them so!

Praying over all the teachers, staff, and children this year as they begin another amazing year!

Some Beach

We're back!  Some combination of our family has been at the beach for two weeks.  And the kids and I could just move there.  Of course, I died when we came home.  I didn't realize how tired I was until I was home, but while we were there...I was living like Jimmy Buffet.  It was 5:00 somewhere all the time!

This beach trip was unlike any other we have taken.  Just like every beach trip in our future will be.  The kids are changing and so are our family vacations.  These kids.  Oh my!  These kids were at the top of their game ALL. TWO. WEEKS. LONG.

Russ and I really found our groove and worked so well together!  We haven't always done so.  [Full disclosure.]  I got the kids ready in the morning and packed the wagon, Russ did the sunscreen most mornings and packed the cooler.  We strolled our crazy family down around 10:00 every morning.  Russ and Smith were pretty ready to come up for the day for a shower and nap around 2 or 3-ish.  Leaving Millie Janalee and me down soaking up the sun and the fun.  I'm working really hard to teach Millie Janalee that we don't go up to the room til the chairs go to bed.

Tired?  Nap on your chair.  Hungry?  Look in the cooler.  Hot?  Sit in the kiddie pool for a while.  Gotta tee tee?  Walk out to the ocean.  LOL!  I had a fix for every problem and never had to leave the sand!

I think it is safe to say that the kids loved the beach.  And by the end of two weeks they had made themselves at home.  Including Smith giving in and napping on the beach a few times.

Most importantly, there was lots and lots of cousin togetherness.  And you know what they say - the family that matches together...

One thing we learned very early on was that Millie Janalee must have been a fish in her former life, because the child never wanted to leave the water.  Poor Pawpaw for being the main ocean escort.

Buck may have gotten the killer eyelashes batted in his direction, so he took her out a time or two as well.  My kids love their Buck and She She!  They also love their Kay Kay and Uncie Lee.  Well, heck.  They love the whole family actually!

Never a shortage of attention for anyone!

The summer beach nights were full of family and togetherness.  The kids played and fought and fought and fought.  The adults laughed, refereed, laughed, talked, refereed, cooked, laughed, refereed.  That's pretty much how it went at night.

But, y'all.

My summer never starts until I put my feet in the sand and listen to the waves 24/7 outside my bedroom.  Many memories were made, and complete uninterrupted family time was enjoyed.  My love tank is full!

On some beach somewhere.

Because Those Curls...

...and those eyes!!

Hello.

This is my wild man.  My precious one.  My cutie pie.  My cotton top.

My beautiful boy.

There has been so much to post about Millie Janalee lately, that I thought I would just post some snapshots I got of Smith this afternoon.  I don't know if it was the way his curls were bouncing or the way these colors made everything about him pop...but I just wanted to capture his joy.

And I wanted to capture those perfectly adorable teeth!  I noticed today that both his canines also came in.  A mouth full almost!  And they just give him the cutest look!  Oh, how I love him!

He was helping me "cook grilled cheeses" tonight for supper.  I really went all out tonight!  Ha!  And I was having him repeat different words to me: "cheee" (cheese), "beh" (bread), and "buh" (butter).  Then I showed him the spatula.  Of course, he couldn't say it, but we went and found his own spatula to cook in the kids' little kitchen across the room.  He obviously preferred to eat it.

Which doesn't surprise anyone who knows him.  He is a bottomless pit when it comes to food.

My blue eyed bouncing baby boy!

Tiny Dancers

I almost forgot to post about Millie Janalee's first dance recital.  Millie Janalee LOVES dance class!  She knows that every Wednesday when she gets in the car from school that she will ask "We going to dance class??"  She loves her sweet dance friends and her teachers are so sweet!

Let's not forget how much this child loves an audience of any kind.  Performance?  Yes please!  She can be in the worst mood, but if you put her in front of a big audience...that character comes out.  I was much more excited than she was about this dance recital, since she didn't even know what a dance recital was.  I have so many fond memories of my own dance recitals.  And I never took tap and ballet, so this made it more fun!  I was a jazz and acrobats kind of girl.  Ha!

Pawpaw arrived just in time to walk our tiny dancer in.  Russ and my sister were gracious enough to be one of the first people in line to save a seat.  If there's anything this family is good at...it's getting great seats!  Arrive 2 hours early for a 15 minute performance?  You bet!  We had perfect seats on the second row right in the middle.

Millie Janalee's little class was the first in the show.  As the lights went out, little tap tap taps were heard across the stage as the girls took their place.  Then the lights came up, and the music started as the audience said "Awwww!" almost in unison.  I have to agree.  A row of 3-4 year olds in tap shoes and primped hair and makeup is pretty much the greatest sight ever!

The girls did an amazing job!  Our little group of moms talked after, and we are pretty sure it was the best we had ever seen them do.  And at least two of us may or may not have had tears in our eyes while they danced their little hearts out to "Papa Loves Mambo."

Pawpaw had to leave at intermission to make it to the wedding he was performing that afternoon, so my sister joined us for lunch after.  She brought a special gift from Susu, Pawpaw, Buck, and her family.  A special jewelry box with a twirling ballerina dancing to the music as it played.  I had one just like it as a little girl.  Such a treasure!  There was also a special tiny lace purse that Maw Maw had made years ago.  She would have loved to watch Millie Janalee in her dance recital!  She loved all things girly!

Russ and I were so proud of this little girl.  She brings us so much JOY!  Even on her moodiest days, she's my favorite girl.  And this may have been my favorite thing we did all year!  Definitely in my top five.

This makes me so excited about all the fun things ahead!  Gone are the days of mourning each new milestone...as it only reminds me that she's growing up.  Now, I know that each stage is so much fun in it's own way.

It's such a joy to spend my days celebrating my children!

Little Gymnast

The month of May has been full of so much fun!  The same week as Millie Janalee's school program, she also participated in her first gymnastics recital.  We have really enjoyed our little gym. They cater to younger children, and they only take kids up to age 8.  So it was a perfect place for Millie Janalee to begin.  Misty and Amanda were amazing with the kids!

As with any performance, Millie Janalee had her own little fan club front and center.  Even Smith got to attend this one!  Bless his little heart.  He never gets to come with us to things like this!  But he loves his babysitters too.

As you can see from the picture above, this child loves an audience.  Yep.  She is winking!  Such a ham!  It was right after this that her teacher asked her to pay attention, and she said, "But I'm getting a picture!"  LOL!  God bless this child of mine!

The kids were so proud to show us all their tricks from the year.  They did their back bends, tricks on the beam, flips, cartwheels, bars, vault, and more.  It's so fun to see all their little personalities shine all over the gym as they rotated to different things.

Her biggest improvement was on the beam.  In the beginning of the year, she struggled keeping her balance on the beam and some other activities that were specifically for balance.  We finally figured out with the help of our ophthalmologist that her little bifocals were giving her problems with depth perception.  So we sacked the glasses for gymnastics, and I think that helped her out a ton!

I am so proud of my little gymnast!  I was really hoping after signing her up for dance and gymnastics...that she would choose a favorite.  But I'm pretty sure she would love anything she did as long as there were other kids doing it too.  Haha!  

She still asks to go to gymnastics multiple times a week.  I think this is how our entire summer will be since all her activities are over for the summer.

Russ had to work, so he missed it.  The recital was at 4:15, so most working daddies couldn't come.  We took lots of video and will show it to him soon.  He doesn't need to see the video to be proud though!  She loved telling him all about it!

And of course, Smith was so proud.  Haha!  Mostly, he just wanted to be out there running around with the girls!  Pawpaw held him back by this straps.  Literally.  Hahaha!

We finished off the evening with a hibachi dinner where Russ was able to join us after work.  All's well that ends well!