Happy 10th Birthday, Jonnie!

Jonnie is a treasure
A blessing from above
He is laughter, warmth and special charm
He is happiness and love

Jonnie brings a special joy
That comes from deep inside
And as he grows into a 10 year old
He fills my heart with pride

With every year that passes
He is more special than before
Through every stage, through every age
I love him even more

No words can describe the memories
The pride and gratitude
That comes from having a son that is wonderful…
a son just like you.

I love you so much, Jon. Happy double digit birthday!

Mom

My Preschooler

Sawyer's big day finally arrived! He has been so excited to start preschool all week, especially after the other two started already. I knew just how excited he was this morning when he was up a little before seven. He hasn't gotten up before 8:30-9:00 all summer. I made him a smoothie because that is what I did for the Alaina and Jonnie on there first day. Also, he wanted me to pack his lunch like I do for Jonnie. It is so darn cute!!





And we're here. He LOVES his cool Twins back-pack he got from Grandma Karen. He's been wearing around and playing "school" all week.




When we walked in he became pretty quiet. We found his name tag where to hang his backpack, then we had to use the bathroom and wash his hands before I left. This is a requirement from the teacher, and I think it's a great policy-definitely saves her time and hopefully minimize germs and sickness.



I walked him back to his classroom and his teacher showed him a few things and asked if he wanted to play cars with her. That was all it took and he hugged me, said goodbye, and I was off. I wasn't really sad at all like I thought I would be. I was more excited for him because he was so ready for preschool and he wasn't sad or scared at all. Maybe a little nervous, but that's normal. I couldn't wait to pick him up and hear all about it! Here's one last picture before I left.



And here he is at the end. I should mention quickly how wonderful I think his teacher is. She has been teaching there since 1974 and definitely knows what works-everything runs so smoothly! She is very soft-spoken and the kids just really seem to listen to everything she says (: He had a GREAT day and said he really liked it. Here he is checking his mailbox before we left.



When he first ran over to me, he said "All the kids are really nice to me and their going to be my friends!" This actually made me a little teary by the sweetness of it. He also said he loved it all and couldn't wait to go back! So relieved and happy for him, but honestly, did my baby just go to preschool? Sniff sniff....

Back to school

School has arrived. I could not sleep last night and laid awake for hours it seems. Once I finally fell asleep, Sawyer woke up screaming and scared and I had to lay with him for awhile. Then it took what seemed another hour to fall back to sleep. Six-thirty was very painful this morning. I don't think I have been up this early since the last day of school last spring. I made smoothies and packed lunches and felt pretty good, but I know it will all hit me tomorrow morning-it's going to be tough getting back into the school routine!

Here's my 7th grader. She couldn't sleep last night and was pretty quiet this morning so I knew she was nervous. She seems to be growing up at lightning speed these days, especially as I look at her pictures this year compared to last. I always worry about her and pray she has a great year. Pulling up to the Middle School this morning it hit me how cruel it is to lump all these Pre-teens and early teens all together in one large school. Hopefully, she is happy and talkative at the end of today and she had a great day!





And here is my 4th grader. He bounced out of bed, drove us all crazy with his crazy giddiness, and was generally beyond excited. I know this will be the one and only day he wakes up like that this year. He has some great kids in his class and his teacher seems pretty awesome so far. Time will tell with that one and I am sure he will let me know all about it if it's not (:






Good luck, you two! Here's to a fabulous 2010-11 school year!!

Geocaching

The kids start back to school tomorrow and it is hard to believe it's here already again! I will post pictures of the kids tomorrow as usual. Sawyer doesn't start preschool until Thursday, so he has a couple more days to wait. He's excited, especially now that he got a new Twins backpack today from Grandma Karen.

Last Saturday we got together with friends to try Geocaching. For those that don't know what that is, it's where you use a GPS and find clues throughout the woods and trails to find the box of treasure at the end. It was fun and the kids enjoyed themselves. Here are few pictures of the day:

Welcome Coconut!

Alaina has a new baby! He is cute and sweet and will be very loved.







I've always loved Coconuts myself!