beach < school

gotta love a picnic on the bay for every meal!!

 lots of big smiles!

we had the chance to take another beach trip in early october... this time with family! shannon was already there for a conference, and secured us an amazing place that we've been blessed to stay at before! my parents took a few kiddos early in the week, then trace caught a ride down thursday nite with caden and uncle josh... that means he skipped school on friday! :) he thought that was pretty cool! nate and i drove up after we worked a half day friday. the weather on saturday was perfect... exactly how you want it if you only have 1 day at the beach! we stayed on the bay, so we also had fun fishing off the pier! def blessed to spend time with family in one of our most fav places!

 the big boys!

 let's go fishin'

 little kids...

 and big kids :))

and a few tears!

goodbye beautiful beach... until next time! ;)

k-5

trace takes his lunch every day... we try and make it fun and he really likes that! :) this is not your ordinary pb&j :))

 trace absolutely loves school! he has learned so much already. it amazes me how he soaks up everything that he hears. he sings songs that teach him how to spell every color, he knows several sight words, and can spell out things and is learning to read! he is doing math like a champ, and telling me about history and science. mrs. ramsey is a great teacher, and i know she is fulfilling her calling... b/c it takes a special person to teach 18 five year olds! :)

 he is not usually a get right up and eat breakfast kinda kid, so it's been an adjustment! but he does so good... rarely ever wakes up cranky, and gets ready for school in time to catch the bus! now... when luc starts school, that will be a different story! ;)

 trace is full of tiger pride!! "let's go tigers" and "proud to be a springville tiger" is something we've heard a lot already! we went to one football game, it was homecoming... and springville played moody (nate's school!) the tigers got their booties kicked by the blue devils, but the kids loved the game!!

can't wait to see what the rest of the school year holds for trace! i'm thankful for such a smart boy... for a good school... a fantastic teacher and faculty... friends that have bonded with him... and the list goes on! it's hard to believe my baby is growing up so fast!

i can't even remember...

i can't even remember how to blog... how sad is that! life has been busy and i've been lazy. well, i just haven't made blogging a priority. which makes me sad b/c i'm sure i've already forgotten tons of things that have happened in the past few months. :( and not only have i not blogged, i haven't read friends blogs! what the heck is the world coming to? ha. so... in attempts to kind of play catch up, there will be some new blogs that i will back-date to make them sorta more accurate. and so looking back, it won't look like i was blogging about our october beach trip on christmas eve! :)) so get ready... you are about to be bombarded with whitt pics!!

1st Day of School!

 This was at Meet the Teacher... the first time Trace got to see his classroom! He went right to his little chair where his name was. and LOVED it!

 I could not be more happy with his teacher... Mrs. Ramsey! We have been friends since 8th grade! We ran track together, had sleepovers, so much fun in high school. who would imagine that 11 years later, she'd be my son's K-5 teacher?! I love how God works all things together... even the seemingly small things! And Michelle, I mean, Mrs. Ramsey, actually just had a baby! So Trace has a sub, Mrs. McWhorter, for the first month or so of class, then Mrs. Ramsey will be his teacher. I don't blame her a bit for wanting those sweet days with her tiny precious Olivia! 

 A poem my sweet (teacher) friend gave me... of course it made me cry!

 This boy... so ready for school!! He was so excited, and even let me take tons of pics! YAY! :-)

 all Batman'd out and ready for school!

 Sweet Boy! When did he grow up? I love leaving him notes in his lunchbox! He said he wants to take his lunch every single day. guess we'll see how that goes!

 absolute coolest nap mat EVER! nate is so talented and Trace was beyond ecstatic when Daddy was through decorating his nap mat!!

 loving on my baby... loves when he curls up beside me and tells me all about his day!!!

 It seems like Trace has learned so much overnight! In just a few short weeks, he has learned his numbers, colors, recognizing letters, knowing what sounds make what letters, and so much more!! he's just doing SO good!

His first project... I am so proud of him!! I videoed him explaining his poster, and i will try and post it. well how bout this... just go here and watch it! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xcwoN3ks84&feature=plcp

hope that works...

 oooh, and not to be outdone by his big bro... lucas got a special sign too~ first day of 3K! friends always ask where he's in 3K, and my answer is Bitsy and Meme's daycare! I'm so thankful that our parents lovingly and graciously keep the kids that aren't old enough for school yet. can't believe in just 2 short years we'll be capturing Luc's first day of 5K!

 silly goose! here's a little video of him... he's such a nut!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adb4Sml9iA4&feature=plcp

seriously... i could not be more proud of both of these boys! we are pretty adjusted to our new routines for the most part... but still trying to perfect getting out the door and getting everyone where they need to be on time! ;) so far, so good!

i'm so thankful for an easy transition.... honestly i was worried that trace wouldn't like his class, or being gone for so long, or riding the bus... but so far, it's all been so smooth!

i am praying for trace to let his little light shine at school this year!!

before school beach bash!

 school was supposed to start august 8. but at the end of may, alabama made a new law that kids couldn't start back any earlier than august 20. so, we planned a last minute beach trip before trace started school! he was sad that he didn't go to hawaii with us (boo hoo!) ;) and so i'm always loving an excuse to go to the beach! we went to PCB and had a great little trip. the weather was not so good... red flags every day, and a double red flag the day before we left! of course, the day we had to check out, it was finally gorgeous! but we still had a good time... played on the beach some, swam, shopped, and ate! :) rob, amy, and jack came down the last 2 nites... it was jack's first time ever at the beach! he had a great time, and i loved to hear him talk about all the excitement that a first beach trip brings! the boys were crazy and silly the whole time, but it was so fun for them! even though i didn't get to layout near as much as i like to, we were able to relax and so it was still fun!!

 the boys slept in a bunk bed together and oh my word... look what i found when i went to check on them one night before i went to bed. MELT.MY.HEART.

 eating at sharky's... can we say silly boys?!?

 we waited almost too late to take family pics, but we snapped a few before the sun went down!

 love my sweet family!!

 water gun fight!!

 yay for friends at the beach! :)

 i was SO super impressed with how good my boys were swimming... of course they had gone at least twice a week with the grandparents during the summer, but i was still surprised with their swimming skills! luc isn't scared of anything... i bet next year he won't even need floaties! and trace, wow! that boys jumped into the pool and swam ALL the way to the other side. it was amazing to me! maybe we have the next phelps/lochte on our hands?!? ;)

i LOVE LOVE LOVE the beach... as always, another fun trip with the family is in the books! :)