My sweet cutie pies!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!  Please be safe and happy!  Here's some pictures of my cute kids (and a couple extras that are just as cute) to start the weekend out right... ;)

Sydney and her "Pup-pups"

Tickle, Tickle!

Sydney and Hunter

The Jake and the Neverland Pirate boat was a hit with all the kids!

Sydney stole all the figurines and was lining them up in the window sill.  Her face and the crazy hair just add to the cuteness of this picture! ;)

Sweet little man

"CHEEEEEEESE!"

Sydney and Mason having a milk stare-down...

They were watching the sprinklers outside

Crazy kids!!

Not sure if you can make them out, but my son drew all of his numbers on the sidewalk by himself without asking for a lick of help!  Aren't they beautiful?! *tear* ;)

Coloring in mommy's ladybug

A rare, quiet moment of my children playing...

Daddy and Sydney talking 

Grandma Bonnie made it!!

We have been begging Braydon's mom to come out to visit us.  She runs a small store that I think I've mentioned before, Bumbleberry, in the north Georgia mountains.  It's really hard for her to get away since she only has a few employees.  It worked out that she got some coverage for this week so she could visit some family (including us!).  We were so happy to see her since the last time she was out here Sydney was only 2 or 3 months old!  A LOT has changed since then!

We had so much fun spending quality time together.  Braydon and I both love her company and the kids really loved her too.  Landon remembered Grandma Bonnie, and wanted her to play with him.  Sydney took a little bit, but she warmed up pretty quickly and they spent time playing together.  For only four short days, we got to have Bonnie all to ourselves. :)  It was great!

Sydney and Grandma Bonnie were mailing post cards

Putting a stamp on a letter

In the mail it goes...

Right back out again

Sydney loves her Grandma Bonnie

While she was here, we even got Landon outside to play with his new t-ball set.  I noticed Landon has a pretty good arm when he throws a ball, and wanted to see if he would enjoy playing t-ball.  Come to find out, he's pretty good!!  He needs some reminding to keep both hands on the bat, but he picked it up pretty quickly and more importantly was having FUN!!  He hit the ball around and Sydney gladly tried to take it away from him...it was a rat-race!  I think if I was one of the neighbors, I would've been laughing at Bonnie and me.  Both of us were scrambling around trying to keep Landon interested and Sydney where we could see her, but not where she could steal the ball!  It was funny but tiring at the same time! We both had a huge sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from our brow when we went inside. :)

Grandma Bonnie giving Landon a lesson in hitting the ball

Landon doing it all by himself.  He did pretty good for a first timer!

Now Sydney wanted a turn.

Landon getting the ball he hit while Sydney took her turn.

Grandma Bonnie turned into the target at one point. :)

This was Sydney the whole time we were playing in the front yard.  At one point, I peeked around the corner and she was in the neighbor's sprinklers!  Silly Sydney!

Landon loves his Grandma Bonnie

Off Sydney goes again!  Sigh.

Braydon and I wanted to steal Bonnie and keep her here, but unfortunately, that didn't work.  I'm thankful for the time we got with her and we can't wait till she comes back!  Or maybe the next time we see her will be in Georgia...who knows?!

Our new front yard

Since September of 2009, when we moved into our house, I've dreamed of the day we could landscape our front yard.  We built our house, so our front yard was just a bunch of grass...a clean slate, that's the best. :)  Other projects took precedence over our yard and this year we decided it was time.  I was excited and went back and forth with different ideas that wouldn't make us broke. :)  We finally decided on an idea and we went with it.

Braydon's happy face while working on the retaining wall

Sydney really wanted to help Daddy

"Good job, Dad." -Sydney

Then she started digging...such a good helper!

This is the side we started with.  I tackled this one on my own, therefore there are no pictures for evidence. :)

After we were finished and the plants were put in.

Front view of the house.  Please excuse the grass.  Right after we completed this project was when Mother Nature decided that it needed to be 100* everyday for about 3 weeks.  Our grass didn't like it very much and frankly, we gave up on watering it.  Water bills doubled that next month and we were glad we gave up. :)

Even after all this work, it's still a work in progress.  We will be adding in a small island for our third attempt at a tree in the front yard. :)  We haven't had much luck with our front yard tree, so if anyone has some good suggestions for a nice shade tree that's easy to grow, let me know.  Apparently we need help. :)  Since we face east, we need a good tree to block the morning sun.  It gets hot out there in the morning!!

Kindergarten?!?! Already??

So, speaking of time flying, why is Landon already going to kindergarten??  This summer, Landon attended a program for incoming kindergarteners called, "Jump Start".  It's basically a program to get kids accustom to what will be expected of them.  I signed Landon up based on a recommendation from his preschool teacher. She thought he would really benefit from the program, since it takes Landon a little longer to do things, and also get used to new situations.  We were hoping he would get used to the way things went, so when school started, he would be an example for other children.

The program lasted three weeks and was only for four hours a day.  That's a little over half the time he would actually be in kindergarten and about the same amount of time he was in preschool.  He got to eat lunch and breakfast while he was there.  I ended up packing his lunch since he is still working on biting things and he has some foods he can't eat yet (like carrot sticks, for example).  So I figured it would be easier if I just packed it for him. He got a new "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" lunchbox from my dad for his birthday, so he was excited to get to use it.

The first week of the program was hard.  The first couple of days, he did really great and didn't cry or anything...the next three were a mess.  We wouldn't even get near the doors of the school and he would break down in tears!  I would ask him what was wrong and he would tell me in between sobs, "You have to leave!".  It broke my heart.  His preschool teacher was one of the teachers in the program.  She actually had to unglue him from me everyday.  The last two weeks were the complete opposite.  He was a champ and would tell me when I dropped him off, "See you after lunch!".  :)  It made the whole process so much easier! I spent a few days that first week worrying about him and hoping that wasn't how he would be in kindergarten!  Mrs. Ackles (one of the preschool paras) reassured me that it was completely normal and it was probably because they were expecting more out of him than in preschool.  That made a lot of sense to me and it comforted me.  I knew all those teachers wanted what was best for Landon.  Plus, we all know that Landon needs a little pushing sometimes. :)  The rest of the three week program flew by and Landon became more independent everyday.

So, when today came, I wasn't as worried as I thought I would be.  I knew he would do great!  Don't get me wrong, I was panicking on the inside, but not because I was unsure about Landon...I was mourning the idea that my boy was growing up!  Today was a start of early week mornings with only 4-5 hours to spend with him after school before bedtime.  I hope that time won't be filled with homework!  Do they give out homework in kindergarten??  I guess I'll find out! :)  I'm sad that for the next 12 years, Landon will spend the majority of his time with his teacher and classmates.  I guess you can say I'm jealous of them. :)

On this morning's menu...waffles.

Showing off his new shirt...it's so him!

Sydney gave me a big "cheese" as I was putting Landon in the car.  She was excited for her breakfast date with Mason. :)

So, today was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Neither one of us cried. :)  Thank goodness!  I think I was spending most of my time trying to seem excited so Landon wouldn't worry!  If I hadn't, I definitely would've cried.  When Landon walked in the doors of the school with one of his teachers, I sat there for a minute with Sydney and thought, "What next?".  I didn't know if I should wait there...what if he needed something...or the teachers had a question...or he wanted one last hug?  It took me a minute to realize he wasn't coming out and that I could go.  Talk about a hard moment.

Standing outside the school.  He's so big in this picture! Tear.

The little boy on the left is Jonathan.  Jonathan was in Landon's preschool class and they were best buds.  Landon picked him out of the crowd and said hi to him without any prompting.  He loves Jonathan.  I was sad that they didn't get in the same class...maybe next year.

Mrs. Ables helping Landon up the stairs.  She is going to be helping him get to class so Landon doesn't get trampled by the other kids.  

This is where I had to keep it together and put my brave face on.  He turned around and started pointing at me.  Mrs. Ables is explaining to him that I'll be back later.  That was hard.  Doesn't he look scared?

By the end of the day, Mrs. Ables was one of Landon's favorite people.  She said that he was telling her that he loved her.  My boy is such a flirt.  He knows how to work it. :)  Speaking of flirting, Landon made a friend today.  Not just any friend, but a BEST friend...named Chloe.  Oh boy! :)