Barrett's Baptisim

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  Romans 10:9

This is the day that The Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

Family Cookout

Mom hosted a big family cookout for our family.  It was such a fun evening getting to see my aunt, uncles, and cousin!  We ate and talked while the kids played.  Can't wait for the next one!!

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Bowling

Our Sunday School class at church had a bowling night.  Brynn and Kaleb have never been bowling, and it has been a while for Blake and Barrett.  We all enjoyed the night!

The First Week

We survived the first week... barely.  Life is hard right now, just plain exhausting.

Brynn had her first ballet lesson.  She absolutely loved it!!

We had smiles every morning and three kids who were happy with their new classes and teachers.  This makes a mommy's heart very happy!

 This little guy hasn't had a smile every morning.  It has been hard on him to see all of us leave in the mornings.  Luckily he has Gram, YayYay, and Daddy to stay with while we are at school.  We always open the door to squeals of delight when we come home in the afternoons. 

 Brynn wanted to dress fancy for school one day.

 I had a little Barrett tapping on my door at school one afternoon.  He had pulled his own tooth and came to my classroom to show me.  I love moments like this!

First Day 2014-2015

Blake's first day of 4th grade.

 Barrett's first day of 1st grade.

 Brynn's first day of kindergarten.

Brynn and Ms. Cox

 Blake with his teacher, Mrs. Baldwin.

Everyone had a wonderful first day!  They all come home buzzing about their day and looking forward to the next day.  I don't think we are quite ready to bid summer goodbye... but 2014-2015 school year here we go!

Sunday

Brynn's first Sunday in "big church".

 Gearing up for the first day!  Good books and lots of prayers!

 It's so hard to believe that our little girl is starting kindergarten!  We missed out on two years of her life and now she is already going to school!  I am so glad that I teach at the school she attends and will get to see her throughout the day!  She is beyond thrilled that she will finally get to come to school with mommy!

Meet the Teacher

Robert brought the kids up to the school for our Meet the Teacher night.  They went to the gym first to check out the class lists to see who their teachers would be.  Then, they came by mommy's room so they could tell me all about it.

 We were so excited to see that Brynn got Ms. Cox.  This was Barrett's teacher last year and we love her.  She is going to be great for Brynn!

 Barrett got Mrs. Watkins as his new teacher.  We are looking forward to a great year with her!

Kaleb was slowly scooting over to be in the picture and had Mrs. Watkins cracking up.

Mrs. Baldwin is Blake's teacher, but she was taking her daughter to college and wasn't able to be at school that night.  Blake will rotate classes this year.  He will go to Mrs. Bell for math and science.

We went out for a family dinner afterwards to celebrate the new school year!

Kindergarten Luncheon

We are so blessed to have a church that cares so much for our children.  Our church hosted a kindergarten luncheon for all of the little ones who would be going off to kindergarten for the first time.

 It was a wonderful time of prayer and celebration.

The soon to be kindergartners got to practice carrying a tray and going through a lunch line.

 These guys are ready for their first day of kindergarten now!

Last Days of Summer

Forgive me if I've already posted some of these pictures.  I quickly looked back and didn't notice them on the blog, but I could have overlooked them.

My last girl's night of the summer. We made a stop at Trader Joe's to buy some Cookie Butter.

 Then off to Truck Yard for dinner.

 The three bigs and I had one last fun summer outing.  We had a great time at the water park together.

 Someone thought they needed to wear a helmet on our walk. I guess he thinks I'm a dangerous driver!

 One last evening spent cooking-out and swimming with our dear friends.

 Always time for snuggles and kisses.

 An evening on the patio eating snow cones with  the V's.

My three little plaid kids!

 Our family rule is to wait until the kids start kindergarten before they get to sign up for their first sport.  This is just our way of managing our time and not getting them too involved too early.  Since Brynn starts kindergarten this year, she chose ballet as her first sport.  She and I went up to the ballet studio, where all of the fluffy, sparkly outfits hung, and signed her up for classical ballet.  It was quite different than what I am used to, with being a boy sport mom until now.  We bought her first pair of ballet shoes, leotard, and wrap ballet skirt.  She was beyond thrilled!

  

Welcome Home

Welcome home to Uncle Joshie!!!

 We are so excited to have him home for a couple of months!

Jonathan's Place

Our adoption group at church (Mosaic) had the opportunity to visit and tour Jonathan's Place.  It is a local facility for abused and neglected children.

On September 10, 1994, Jonathan’s Place opened as the first licensed foster group home in the State of Texas to focus on specialized services for children 11 years of age and younger, including newborns.  In the fall of 1999, the license for Jonathan’s Place changed to an emergency shelter.

They have grown so much since then, added programs, and built new facilities.  To learn more click HERE.

There are so many opportunities, we are praying about what our involvement with the home will be. 

Last Week

Last week I had teacher training so Robert and the kids spent the day with Jim and Duby.  After my training, I met them at Jim and Duby's house for dinner.  We always love our time with them!

The three big kids spent a few nights with Gram and Papa for the last time this summer.  School will be starting way too soon!  Robert, Kaleb, and I had some time together!

 We were excited to have the three bigs back home!