I Have a 1st Grader

Everyone told me time flies by when your kids start school. Wow, they were right!!!!! We were so blessed this year to be in Mrs. Morgan's class. Gracie had a wonderful teacher and classmates. This step from K-1 is just hard for me. Kindergarten to me is young and sweet. First grade sounds so official. We're in and there's no turning back. Gracie loves school and will be fine. It's me that's not ready for homework, projects, and tests. Oh well, for now I plan on enjoying summer and the time I have with the kids. May has been busier than Christmas I think. We have finished dance/baton with her recital. Cole completed swimming lessons this week and was oh so EXCITED to be done. For Mother's Day we took off to the beach for a long weekend. It was fabulous!!!!! May is the perfect time to go. The past few days Ellis and I have party hopped from one school to another. Gracie will start gymnastics in June. Cole started T-Ball this week with his buddies Miles & Carter. They are sooooo cute!!!!! Ellis and I are just along for the ride. We will be going home in June to celebrate Ellis Faith turning 1 with friends and family. This has been the fastest year of my life.

A few of my favorite things...

Ellis Faith turned 9 months on the 11th. Each day she becomes a little more adventurous. We have mastered crawling and are now onto pulling up. She is very proud of herself when she does successfully pull up on a table, in her bed, on the bar stools, etc. A few of her favorite things are potted plants, reading daddy's newspaper or mom's magazines, and the blinds on the back door. I can't believe how fast her first year has gone. I started putting baby items this month in consignment sales. Going through everything was quit an emotional process. Gracie and Cole are in Dallas having a blast with the their grandparents. Ellis loves her brother and sister and can't wait to see them! We are ready for our Gracie and Cole to come back home too.

From snow to sunshine

I'm so behind on blogging these days. We've been blessed to spend our weekends with family and friends over the past month. Our parents came to celebrate Gracie's birthday in Feb. Uncle Clint and Allison came the first weekend in March which turned out to be a fabulous snow day! Sunday morning we woke up to huge snowflakes. A winter wonderland. We couldn't believe how heavy the snow was coming down. It was perfect for building a snowman, sledding, and snowball fights. This past weekend was just as beautiful but more spring like weather. Our dear friends Eric & Daphne invited us and the Slaons for a fun filled weekend at the Lake. Hiking, fishing, camp fires, we had a blast! This week I'm getting the kids ready for Spring Break. Gracie and Cole will be spending their vacation next week with the grandparents in Dallas. Luke, Ellis Faith, & I are going to enjoy some quiet time at home. I'm looking forward to completing some unfinished projects. But will miss my babies!!!!

Gracie's 6

We celebrated Gracie's birthday on Valentine's day with family & friends. She chose to have a Princess dress up party at Sweet & Sassy. The girls enjoyed a spa day getting there hair, make-up, and nails done. After selecting the perfect Princess gown they were ready for the runway. It was fun for all!!! I can't beleive how fast 6 years has gone by. Before the party guest arrived Gracie got her ears pierced. She is such a big girl.

The Greatest Show on Earth

We had a fun weekend with the Pruitts at the Circus. The kids have all been talking about the circus for a month. The show didn't disappoint. We were all well entertained for 2 hours with elephants, tigers, and crazy acorbatics. The kids are all finely getting well. Bronchitis kept Gracie and Cole down Dec. Ellis just hasn't been able to kick an ear infection since Thanksgiving. This week looks to be better. Everyone slept great last night, YEA!!! Not one cough was heard. Ellis is sitting up and beginning to rock on all fours. I'm not ready for crawling. She has to stay a baby just a little while longer. Gracie will be 6 next week. I could cry just thinking about it. This week is full with dance pictures and planning a birthday bash. Life is never boring.

Last week started the Christmas festivities for our family. Saturday morning Gracie was in a parade with her dance class. They dressed up as Santa's elves. It was cute and fun for the girls. Thankfully the weather wasn't to cold that morning. Gracie said her favorite part was throwing candy to everyone. Saturday night Luke & I took Gracie to see the Rockettes. WOW!!!! Gracie and I loved the show! I think Luke enjoyed it too. After the show we went shopping for toys for tots. She picked out two gifts one for a boy and one for a girl. Then off to dinner. It was fun having a night out with just Gracie. This week is school parties and the Polar Express Train ride on Saturday. My parents Nana and Pawpaw will also be in town this weekend. Christmas is here!

We headed to Dallas for Thanksgiving this year. The kids did great flying and had a blast visiting their grandparents. We spent Wed. & Thursday night with my family. Friday and Saturday with Granna & Papa Luke's parents. The food was yummy!!!! We ate way to much but that's what you do during the holidays, right.? My cousin Robbie and his family came intown with my 92 year old PawPaw Flash. It amazes me he still gets on the floor and plays with the kids. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of this. Karli is Robbie's little girl. She turns 2 next week. Happy early birthday Karli. Luke's Aunt Janice and Uncle Tom came over with Grandma Byrd. She is in her 90's as well. I hope I can get around as well as our grandparents in my later days. We spent Saturday with Aunt Lisa and got to meet her new little dog Miley. Too cute!!!! Uncle Dusty, Aunt Lilta, & Eric came over Saturday night to watch the Oklahoma game. We returned Sunday night exhausted but anxoiusly awaiting our next visit. Thankfully, everyone will be traveling here for Christmas. Hopefully, we will return to Dallas this Spring. Or maybe we'll just send the kids. The week before we left the kids celebrated with their Thanksgiving Feast at school. Gracie lost 2 teeth and Ellis discovered she likes rice cereal. I can't beleive she's 6 months old the 11th. She's a great baby and a blessing to our family. Christmas will be fun this year!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy

We celebrated Luke's birthday this week. The kids love to celebrate birthdays. Getting ready with balloons, gifts, cake, it's all fun for them. Mommy is excited as well for it means date night is coming soon. So, Wednesday night we sang happy birthday and were honored to have Franklin with us. It was Gracie's turn to take home Franklin this week. He also enjoyed the festivities. We stayed up talking Wed. about how we don't feel 33 and can't believe where life has taken us. It seems like we just got married yesterday. Time goes by so fast. We love having our family complete. While it's busy and crazy we love having 3 kids and wouldn't change it for anything. Our prayer is to enjoy each year with our babies. They grow up to fast. I may find myself exhausted at the end of the day but there is no better feeling than knowing Luke is home safely from work and my babies are tucked in sleeping peacefully. I know one day I'm going to miss this.

Turn it up!!!

We started our FALL activities last weekend with trunk or treat at church and our neighborhood fall festival. This past weekend my parents, Nana & PawPaw, came for a weekend full of Halloween fun. We cooked out with our good friends and neighbors the Pruitts. Then off for some trick or treating and the neighborhood hayride. I think the parents on our street enjoy Halloween as much as the kids. It was a blast for all!

Gracie had a soccer game Saturday morning then we headed out to the Summit for some fall shopping. Gracie's team, the Kickers, are pretty good. We have tied one game and won three. Only 2 more to go and the season will be over. So, at the Summit we started at Gymboree then went to Pottery Barn Kids. Now my kids love Pottery Barn! It's one of their favorite stores. So it's not unusual for us to spend an hour playing. Even though we have the same toys at home. As soon as we walked in Cole spotted the Shark costume. Cole loves sharks. We have shark toys, books, shows(Kenny the Shark), etc. He put the costume on and didn't take it off. Cole is my sensitive kid. A very picky dresser. So for Cole to put this hot heavy costume on and run around the Summit (an outdoor mall) on a warm day is quit shocking. He was precious! We had cars stopping to look. He differently made people smile. I just had to post his pics since we don't know if he will actually wear it on Halloween. You never know what a 3 year old will do.

The best brother!

Cole is such an awesome brother to Gracie & Ellis. He is always thinking about them and making them laugh. At school he comes home with 2 items from the treasure chest. One for him and one for Gracie. He always shows me the toy/candy for Gracie that he picked out. Then asks me to put it somewhere special so we wont lose it. When Ellis wakes up Cole is the first one to say Good Morning and rub her little feet. He just can't wait to love on her. We love you Cole!

Busy Days

September has started off with many activities keeping our crew busy. Gracie and Cole have enjoyed being back in school with there friends. Gracie started in early August. Cole went back this week. Tuesday after school we head to Gracie's dance class. She loves dance! We've been blessed to keep their class together the past 3 years. Ms. Nina has done a great job with our girls. It's so cute to see the girls change and grow up together in class. Thursday afternoons we head to soccer practice at 5:30. Gracie loves that daddy is one of her coaches this year. Cole starts soccer in October. He will play with an indoor league of 3 & 4 year olds. He can't wait! Ellis and I are enjoying some mommy and me time. After a busy summer I couldn't wait to sit and rock my baby. I now realize how fast time goes by. Ellis is a joy! She's my easiest baby by far. When everyone is home she sits back and watches the show. You may hear her cry when she gets hungry but that's about it these days. She's going 6 hours at night. I can actually feel rested most days. We were blessed to have Uncle Brandon and Lisa come for a visit this past month. We love to have visitors! This weekend is full of birthday parties and soccer activities. Life is busy but lovin every minute of it.

Ellis Faith 8 weeks

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