Fount is in Pre-K!!!

"Meet the Teacher" night was very exciting for both of the boys.

Fount is enrolled in the two day a week Preschool program at our new home church. So far, we are loving everything about it.

This is his second week of school and he was just as excited as he was the first day.

These shoes may have helped with the pep in his step, or the stomp :)

He isn't suppose to wear sandals to Pre-K and his tennis shoes that I bought in June are way too little. Mom fail. To my defense, Texas is hot and sandals are a must. Anyway, these made him scream with delight, this morning :)

First time in his Pre-K classroom.

First Grade locker 

Fount was so excited!

By this time, he had been wearing his backpack and carrying around his lunchbox for close to an hour :)

The best of friends!

I'm so happy they let me  get a picture of all three of them. This is the last year I'll have one baby at home every day. The years have gone by so fast. Just look at how they've grown!

3 weeks in

We are three weeks into first grade and Holden is loving it.

He goes in every day with a big smile on his face and comes out chatty. He has made several friends and declares "reading" as his favorite subject.  Have I mentioned his teacher? She is the sweetest!

He has also decided that he wants to be in the Secret Service. Not sure where that came from, but we just so happen to have a good friend in the Secret Service, whom we love. Holden's thinking of calling him up :) I love it! Maybe one of our kids will end up back home someday.

I thought it was about time I share the first day of school pictures :)
We started off the first day with breakfast of his choice:  pancakes, eggs, and "yummy red stuff" aka: bacon. He ate like a horse and was in the best mood!

He was soooo excited!

We took a million pictures of our baby's first day...

And this was it.

In his desk, giving Mama and Daddy the "you can leave now face."

Happy and ready.

Here is giving us the thumbs up after the first day!

I am so thankful that this was such an easy transition for Holden, but I still miss this baby like crazy!

2 week countdown

Only two weeks left. Two weeks until Holden goes to first grade. I am an emotional mess. All I want to do is hold him in my lap, eat ice cream, and look at his baby pictures.

Other than a few short trips here and there, throughout his 6 1/2 years, we've spent all our days together.

He started out as my baby and has became my buddy.

I'm going to miss him something terrible. For a person, like myself, who wears their emotions shamelessly on their face, it's been hard to not be sad in front of Holden. God help me on his first couple of days.

I know it isn't about me right now, it's about this big new life step for him. I've been worrying like  mad woman about what we did and didn't teach him yet....The truth is, even though he will be away from me (tear) for eight hours, five days a week (tear), Tim and I will still be the most influential people in his life. We know this because we're grown ups.

We taught him about how much Jesus loves him and how to show that to others through kindness.
He will be ok. I know that he will be ok.

But....You better believe I will be creepy and spy on him during recess. I don't care.

Holden,

Mama loves you like crazy.

You are so precious to me.

You are going to love school, I promise!

:)

settling in.

Every one has been asking us how we are settling in, so I thought a family blog post was in order.


We have been in our home since the second week of July and I can hardly believe it. It feels like, just yesterday, that were praying over our possible big move to Texas. He was faithful to work out every single detail.


I took this picture, of the kids, when they woke up on our very first morning in our new home. This photo is significant for me. I remember looking at them and feeling relieved. We had been "on the move" for so long and were finally home.

We decided to go ahead and "camp out" once we closed, and we moved completely in a few days later. The kids love running around the empty house.

Unpacking is happening slowly, but surely...

Before our appliances were delivered, we went to Target often and checked out all the yummy places to eat in our new town. The kids, of course, loved it!

They have adjusted to Texas life perfectly. I think Holden might even have a little Texas twang slipping through already :)

Hello Goodbye

This was the day our lives changed! I didn't know it at the time. Tim kept it a secret until he got home :) I'm so glad he did!

 

I wish this picture was a video instead. None of them wanted to take this and every one, but Holden had been in tears a second before this shot. If you zoomed in, you'd probably be able to see the tears streaming down their faces. Of course they earned a bribe...

 

Before we could put our house on the market, we had to get granite and little miss tagged along and got me a good deal :) Isn't she cute here? We picked the one directly behind her.

 

This is our most favorite room in the house in mid-stage, looking so unlike us...All the kids art is taken off the walls. No more family photos lining the shelves...no army men set up for battle on the dining table...Ahhh I can't wait to see all of that at our new house!

 

I still can't believe we did it! Though the walls began to feel small, the love that surrounded us felt huge. Ok now I'm going to cry...

That's why I have pictures...That's why I have pictures...

 

Sadie went upstairs with me on one of our last mornings at home and crawled right up here, just like she always did. I think this spot made her feel big.

For me, it reminded me of how much she has grown....how much they all have grown in this house.

What a special place!

 

The kids aren't much for home staging, and to be honest, it was near torture. Thank goodness the kids and I were able to leave early!

 

On our last day as Virginians, we went to out for breakfast to our special family place, The Silver Diner. It was perfect. We rocked out to The Beatles and Spiderman, while we stuffed our faces with the most amazing French toast ever. It was bittersweet.

 

This was our last evening at home...

 

Oh my heart...Here is their last fireplace picture at the house, the morning we hopped the plane. They look so big here, don't they?

 

The goodbye was happening too fast for somebody, and then...of course, Tim and I lost it. As excited as we all are about our move to Texas, all five of us are leaving our home. We are picking up roots, starting over, and trusting God to make it all work out. It's scary. It's sad and it's one of the most exciting times in our whole lives.

 

After all the tears, we made it to the airport and through security with three smiling faces and they did beautifully on the flight. This was the boys first time to sit together, by themselves. It was fun to watch them feel big.

 

We close on our house in VA and close on our new Texas home, all next week and we can't wait!

A huge thanks to every one who has let us crash with them while we wait.

We appreciate your kindness more than words can express!

 

 

9 years plus

Gosh, I have some catching up to do!

Right after Tim and I got back from celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary in NYC, he got a job offer in TX! From then until now, it's been fuzzy, but I didn't want to forget to document this trip. Going away together is a big deal! When can we plan another, Tim? ;)

This is us in the taxi headed to the MoMA. It was raining cats and dogs, but we didn't mind a bit.

We kept getting the giggles. I didn't get half the art :)

 

We had dinner at the Capitol Grille and it was sooo good! Please order the lobster macaroni and don't mind the calories. It's heavenly!

 We had the best time!

 

After dinner, we went to see Bryan Cranston in the best play on Broadway!!!

I wasn't excited at all....

:)

 

This guy did good. I don't know how he can ever top this trip. We had a fabulous time!

 Thanks, honey!

 

Unfortunately, we weren't able to bust through and get a "weesie" with Mr. Cranston. That may be my biggest regret. All Hail King Heisenberg!

If you ask us what else we did, besides see a Broadway show, I will tell you that we ate good, held hands, and walked and talked a lot. It was absolutely perfect!





We may or may not have pre-barred it, which may explain the goofiness :)

That's all folks!