Madison's first week...

I'm so proud of my sweet girl. I got this email from her teacher this afternoon...

Good Afternoon! I have been so blessed to get to know Madison this week. She truly is one of the sweetest and most thoughtful little girls I have taught. She is SO scholarly and smart, too. Her work is always done with such care, and she truly loves to participate and give her scholarly answers to our class discussions. I am thrilled to teach her this year and I thank you for allowing me to do so. Have a great weekend! Sincerely, Kasie Jackson

Another wonderful teacher.  Madison has really been blessed with great teachers, all who have really touched her life.  So excited for this new school year!

Bounce fun!

Since the boys are starting Pre-K next week, we got together with Jana and Andrew today.  We were going to go to Bounce Town, but it was closed for maintenance, so we headed up to Bounce U.  The boys had a blast, and we almost had the place to ourselves!!

I'm so sad because their school schedules don't line up at all, and we won't be able to see them other than holidays and other days off.  I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful friend who has a son that is a great friend to Nathan!  We always have so much fun together, and we will miss them SO much!

3rd grade!

I can NOT believe I have a third grader...how did this happen??  She is still excited to wake up on the first day - I think she always will since she loves school so much!  She did, however, say, "I'm sooo not used to this...I'm exhausted!"  But she was in a great mood and super excited.

She's so excited to have Ms. Jackson this year!  She got the Teacher of the Year award last year, and she's so nice.  I already love her, and so does Madison!

I wish I had started this tradition in Kindergarten, but I guess 3rd grade will have to do!  Here's her "Back to School Interview".

Name & Age:  Madison -8

Grade level: 3rd

My school: Groves

Teacher's name: Ms. Jackson

Classroom number: 305

Best friend: Brynn Guillory

Favorite color: Pink

When I grow up, I want to be: A teacher

Favorite snack: Raw veggies

Favorite cereal: Lucky charms

Favorite book:  Dear Dumb Diary

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Favorite food:  Steak and pizza

Least favorite food: Rice and chicken with mixed vegetables

Favorite game: Skip-Bo

Favorite summer memory: The beach - Pensacola

3 words that describe me: Kind, caring, smart

I can't believe my sweet girl is so grown up....I just love the person she's becoming.  I pray she will have a wonderful and memorable year.

Another summer gone...

These summers sure do go by fast, although, we had a really good summer and it feels like forever ago when we went to the beach.  We went to several birthday parties, playdates, 2 VBS's, weekly gymnastics, Going Bonkers several times, the zoo, the library at least once a week, bounce houses, Hawaiian Falls, Rainforest Cafe, our mini hotel getaway in Grapevine, movies (Brave, Chimpanzee, Madagascar 3, Ice Age, Diary of a Wimpy Kid), and swimming, swimming, swimming!  We had sleepovers, Lacey and Cody for a week, and Nathan's birthday!  Even though the kids really need a break from each other, they had many sweet moments and lots of fun together.

We had a taste testing "party"...they didn't know what was on their plate for lunch!  This was one of the items on their summer activity list.  I think we finished all of them!

Madison spent a LOT of time doing this all summer.  I lost track of the books she read....it was definitely over 35 or 40!  We would go to the library once a week (and sometimes more than that) and she'd check out 10 or 11 books at a time!

I love the lazy mornings, and seeing the kids make memories together like these.  I'll miss summer, but I'm ready to get back to routine, and all the exciting things that happen during school time!  Praying for a wonderful year ahead for both kids.

Playdate!

The kids went over to Brynn's house today for a playdate.  Brynn has a 5 year old brother (Caden), so it works out perfectly for playdates!  Madison and Brynn played together, and Nathan and Caden played the Wii the entire time!  Caden is a technology lover just like Nathan is...they are just alike!

Brynn's mom took them to Yogurtville to top off the fun day, and sent me these pictures.

Madison has developed such a wonderful friendship with Brynn, and I hope that Nathan can do the same with Caden!

Ladies man....

Nathan has always been into the girls, ever since he was 18 months!  He loves them, especially older ones.  He actually prefers playing with girls most of the time!  Yesterday at church, he met a new friend...an older girl about 9 years old.  We were leaving and I told him to tell his friends bye.  He ran over to her, hugged her, and said "I love you".  Today I asked him why he loved her so much.  He said, "Because she's pretty!"  I told him he was quite the ladies man already, and he said, "Yep, it's because I love the ladies."  It was all in his voice...so funny!  I'm in trouble in about 10+ more years!

Bridging to Juniors!

Wow, I can't believe Madison has been a Girl Scout for three years.  Tonight, they all bridged from Brownies to Juniors.  My big girl!!

They sang some cute songs...

And they got yummy junior mints for being juniors now!

They've got THE best troop leaders ever...I'm so lucky that we're in this troop.  It's been a wonderful experience, and I'm excited to see what this new year brings for Madison!

With Meghan and Kayla...(I forgot to get a picture of she and Brynn!  I wasn't too with it).

Just a flashback from her first Girl Scout outing in kindergarten (with Kayla)!!  Look how little they were.

And Nathan was there, loving on Katie!  He would NOT leave her alone...I think he missed her over the summer!

Summer is almost officially over....just another week and school starts for Madison.  Then a week after, Nathan goes to his new school!  We've had a great summer, but I think the kids are ready to get back to their school routine!

Underwater fun!

For the longest time now, I've wanted a waterproof camera.  Well, it just hit me that Madison got one from Santa this past Christmas - we had forgotten about it!  I had surgery on Friday, so I've been pretty worthless around here.  Daddy took the kids swimming a lot these past couple of days so I could rest (he's the best), and he got lots of pictures with the camera!  Looks like they had fun!

Nathan's 5 year pics...

Here are some of my favorites.  I think we did pretty good with extreme heat...not a lot of sunlight (it was 8:00!)....and a tired little boy.

See, I told you he was tired!!!

Can't believe my big boy is FIVE!