Bailey's Rise and Shine Assembly

This morning Benson and I got to go see Bailey perform in her class' "Rise and Shine" assembly. She had two speaking parts and did great at both of them. She was so cute and smiled the whole time. 

Here she is reading her fall poem that she wrote.

"Flag football and fun
Halloween and Thanksgiving

Yummy treats yippy"

After all the kids finished reading their poems, they all threw paper leaves into the air.

Bailey is loving second grade and she loves Mrs. Clark. She's being having a great year so far and we are proud of all her hard work. 

Good job sweet girl!

Wildcat Fun Run

Today was the Fun Run at Elm Tree Elementary. Today was also the hottest day we've had in a couple weeks. It was about 90 degrees and humid.
Last year it was about 30 degrees during the fun run and misting like crazy. Apparently we will never have ideal weather for the fun run. 

However, despite the terrible weather, both Tanner and Bailey did awesome. 

The Fun Run is a "Boosterthon fundraiser" and the kids love it.
This year the kids each raised $3.50 per lap and they each ran 32 laps. That's pretty good fundraising for those sweet kids.
They always make a big deal of this run and the kids love it. There is music playing, a fun MC announcing each class and silly fun laps during the run.
The MC announced Bailey's class first and she happily ran out with the other 2nd graders in her class. 

They ran out holding their class banner. 

Eventually they announced Tanner's class. Last year Tanner was at the very front of his class, running at full speed. So I was expecting to see him at the front of his class again this time. I watched when they called his class and searched for his little face among the crowd. It wasn't until the very end of the line of kids that I spotted him. He was running at the back of the class helping his friend Zane.
My mommy heart grew 10 sizes seeing him show kindness to this sweet boy. Zane has some developmental delays and Tanner has been spending a lot of time with him this year.
I was so proud of him for showing love to Zane and being a good friend as their class ran out to take their place before the race. 

Tanner ran his little heart out during the race and he got hot really quick. 

They were supposed to get water every 5 laps, more than once I found Tanner splashing his water on his face. He's so funny. But I made sure he drank a lot of water after his race. 

Bailey also ran hard but she took her water laps very seriously. 

She held her cup in between her water breaks and ran until she could drink again. 

After each lap the kids got a mark on their shirts showing how many laps they had completed. Tanner finished first and then we both went to cheer for Bailey. 

I'm proud of these kids and how hard they ran. They were both sweaty, red faced messes after the run but they were also smiling so big. 

Good job kiddos! You did GREAT!

Tucker's First Day of Pre-K

I can hardly believe that my little buddy started Pre-K today. He's going to "Explore & Discover" three days a week, Monday/Wednesday/Friday. He had his first day today and he did great.
He was hesitant for me to leave, but he had a great first day and is excited to go back. 

We took some pictures to commemorate his first day and I love how they turned out. This boy and his sweet smiles- he wins my heart every time. 

Yay for Pre-K!

Seriously though- this boy!

We decorated his school bag with a panda face. He has a stuffed panda that he adores and so he was excited to put a panda on his bag. 

After preschool was over, we walked down to the Wal-Mart Cafe to get some ice cream with Tucker's best friend, Tommy Fuhriman. 

Benson was pretty happy to be included as well. 

Tucker always gets the blue "spark" ice cream and his tongue always turns blue. 

Sure loves this boy of mine and I'm so proud of him and how well he did on his first day. Here's to a great year at Explore and Discover preschool!

Labor Day Weekend 2018

We had so much fun during our Labor Day weekend. We kicked off our weekend by going boating with some friends on Friday night. The Ehlers invited us out on their boat and we happily accepted.
We immediately found a cove to eat our picnic dinner because everyone was "STARVING". 

After eating dinner, we swam around for a while and then the kids were ready to tube. 

They had so much fun tubing together. They were all little daredevils and had so much fun standing up and jumping onto their bottoms while tubing. It was pretty cute to watch. 

Benson enjoyed the ride from Daddy's lap. Tucker still isn't a fan of tubing and even though I kept trying, he didn't want to tube. 

Tucker did happily watch his siblings and the Ehlers though. 

Benson learned how to "High 5" on the boat and was cracking himself up while giving Daddy all his "high 5's"

After tubing for a while, it was time for more eating. These kids shared some pineapple spears and root beer. 

I just love these cute brother. Benson was really tired by the end of the night but Tanner kept him safe and happy. 

I even tried wake surfing and surprised myself by getting up on the first try and three more times after that. I've never wake boarded so I wasn't sure I would be able to get up, but I popped up and it was so fun. 

We had a great time with the Ehlers and we are grateful for sweet friends. 

On Saturday we went over to "Wishing Springs" to play for a bit. We recently heard about this place and we were anxious to try it. The kids loved the smaller bluffs that were perfect for bluff jumping. 

Tanner was the first to jump. After promising him a dollar if he jumped, he immediately hopped into the water and loved it. 

Next thing we knew, Tucker hopped in as well. He surprises us sometimes and this was definitely one of those times. He was so brave. 

Tanner jumped a few more times before we convinced Bailey to give it a shot. 

We got her up on the bluff - if you can call it that. But before she tried jumping, we went down closer to the water to try it. 

Eventually it took me going up to the cliff edge with her to show her how close we were to the water.

Wishing Springs is an actual spring, so it was freezing- this just goes to show how much I love my kids. I wasn't planning on jumping in.

Finally we jumped together and she did great

We even got her jumping on her own after that. She was so brave. 

Benson was pretty bored with the place and played only around the shore. Seriously, this kid makes the funniest faces. 

Also, how cute is this girl? I just love her. 

 Tuck had the best time looking at fish in the water. 

Bailey and Tuck also enjoyed lounging in their tubes . 

And Tanner climbed some of the low over hanging trees. 

We had a great time playing at the spring together and we are excited to spend more time there next summer!

After swimming and playing at the spring, we drove over to "Susie Q's" diner.
We got cheeseburgers, fries and ice cream. It was all delicious! I love a good diner and this one was adorable. 

The food was yummy!

Benson was a big fan of his ice cream cone. 

Finally, today for Labor Day, we played at home and worked on our bunk beds. 

We grilled hot dogs over the fire pit in the backyard and played in the water. 

Benson fell in love with the Thomas Train track. It was adorable. We all took turns pushing Benson on his train down his ramp. 

Seriously, look at his face! Pure JOY. 

Tucker loved playing with our beach ball sprinkler. 

We all enjoyed lounging in our camp chairs enjoying the beautiful evening, but Benson probably enjoyed it the most of all. He's getting so big and just loves to be part of whatever the family is doing.

After eating dinner, we busted out the slip-n- slide and Bailey and Tucker had the best time playing together. 

Then we ended out night with a water balloon fight.

 

Oh and of course we had to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. 

I sure love this family of mine. We had such a fun weekend together. 

That's a wrap for Labor Day 2018!