End of School and Start of Summer

Disclaimer: please forgive the length of this post and the amount of pictures.  I am nothing if not nostalgic this time of year.  

School is out!  James finished Bridge last Friday, and I am left with mixed emotions.

My attempt at a first day and last day of school picture comparison fell a bit short.  This technically wasn't even his last day, but rather his last day in uniform as the last week was "free dress".  
  

James grew so much this year, and although I was worried about him switching schools, he definitely found his niche in this world at Second Baptist.  Each day I picked up the happiest child.

Mrs. Jobe was a wonderful teacher for James: strict, no fuss, but always loving.  She must have told me 10 times that James reminded her of her own son.  At his end of the year conference she told me that "I have a winner, and that she has loved, loved, loved teaching my son".  She set high standards, and James met them.  By the middle of the year, James was taking school serious and loved "being on green and listening".  His standard response to the best part of his day: "being on green and listening".  And his standard response to who he played with at school: "William Carlson".  Green Jello.  He loved Bible class the most, and he even participated in singing during chapel!  It helped that the songs had interpretive dance :)  

The end of school also meant parties, parties, parties.  Grandmama and Grandaddy came for a visit and were able to enjoy the fun.

After school swimming at Caleb Walker's house (Caleb, Logan Walker, James, Logan's neighborhood friend, James Thomas Garret, and James Clarke).  Yes, there were three "James" in his class this year.  

James Thomas hosted the end of the year baseball party.  And when your grandparents own a party rental supply company, you usually throw a spectacular party complete with all things inflatable.

James and James Thomas received "Big Red" for the end of the year, and yes, that is James picking his teeth with his baseball trophy. 

Little girl has her mom's sweet tooth.  No, I don't think any of the three cupcakes were actually hers.

 

I imagine she was thinking "What? Oh come on, you would have done it too" in this last photo.

We have so enjoyed the amazing temperatures in May.  Lots of outdoor play.

 

I believe we have been at the pool every day since it opened, and Mrs. Georgia captured these sweet photos of me and Luke.  I am usually the one behind the camera (no offense to my dear husband, but his photography skills are a bit lacking), so I treasure these.  Much to my surprise, this little guy loved the water!  The coloring is a bit strange, but he is actually grinning in these pictures.

 

Funny Luke loves James's goggles, and on this particular day he walked all around the house wearing them.  I don't know why, but it was so funny.

After an early morning of tornado warnings, the sun came out just in time to play on the playground and enjoy donuts and Pentecost cupcakes (who knew) after church.  Again, I am so thankful that Gary captured the entire moment of Luke shoveling as much of the donut into his mouth that would possibly fit.

 

Here's to a fun, laid back summer filled with lots of sun, smiles and pancakes

The Best Little Helpers

Lately Luke has wanted to do nothing more than help clean, sort, put up, etc.  He's the cutest little thing when trying to get a sweater that's as big as he is in the hamper.  Now if only the other two would be so eager to clean up behind themselves

This sweet little love must not belong to me because the two household chores that I detest the most are laundry and dishes.  But this helpful guy could unload the washer and dishwasher 'til his heart's content.  

On this particular morning, Luke decided to "cook" with his Cheerios.  He took his cereal bowl over to his play kitchen, put the Cheerios in the "pot" and started cooking what I would image was a delicious soup.  When they eventually spilled, he grabbed the broom and started sweeping.

  

And while Natalie might not be the biggest fan of household chores (let's face it, her room is usually a disaster area because she has her panties out and with her at all times), she is a fan of cooking.  Baking is her specialty.  She loves helping make oatmeal breakfast cookies and egg salad.  (a little tip--the easiest way to dice eggs: place a cooling rack over a bowl, and press the egg through it.  It helps if the rack is one with little squares)

And these next two pictures aren't related to the topic, but they were irresistible.  Natalie is nothing is not persistent, especially at bedtime.  She fights sleep for a solid hour through various means.  On this particular night I had just about had it and was on my way up the stairs to give her a pop (please reserve judgment) when I was met with this sight.  Needless to say, she got a big grin from me and no pop. 

And this one is just cute of Luke.  This is how he wears sunglasses.  Not very effective, but funny.  

I missed Mother's Day in between postings, but here are a couple of pictures.  I was spoiled with brunch, sweet hugs, and Garth Brooks concert tickets.  

Sports, Snow Cones and Surgery

May has been a busy, busy month with us constantly on the go.  Everything is being squeezed into the last month of school.

James finished up baseball this past weekend and has started swim team.  Because if one sport wasn't enough....... I'm not sure what I was thinking.

Swim team is interesting at 5.  It's basically trying to survive and not collapse from complete exhaustion before you make it the length of the pool.  And don't even get us started on the backstroke---really, the backstroke at 5?  But somehow the coaches get these kids to do it.  Or so I'm told.  James has apparently forgotten the basics of how to swim, so most of the time he looks like this

 
As I said, just trying to survive.  I'm hoping we make great strides over the next few weeks :)

Baseball was a great experience.  James had fantastic coaches, and although I grumbled about the time commitment, he learned so much this year!  And with a team motto of "Play Hard, Love Well, Go Redhawks", it's hard to go wrong.  I mean, if this doesn't scream "childhood" I don't know what does.....

This is a picture from the last game, and these are James's sweet friends from his class: Will White (whose mom is my amazingly talented friend, Amanda, that takes unbelievable pictures), James Thomas Garret, and Caleb Walker.  These four have life figured out.  

James was awarded the game ball a couple of weeks ago, and he couldn't have been more excited.  Whoever thought of the "game ball" was genius: you want to make the day of a 5 year old, give them a random baseball with their coaches' signatures on it.   

So while James is busy in the outfield, these two little cuties have enjoyed their fair share of snow cones.  I discovered late in the season that there is no better way to pass the 2 hours than to give them a $.50 cup of crushed ice.  On this particular day, Ms. Priss didn't realize that her dad was walking up just as she was showing me her snow cone.

After all of these sporting events, everyone needs a little stretching, or "yoda" as Natalie calls it.  Brad took these pics while I was doing yoga one evening---I'm pretty impressed with these two.  James was so funny about it--very serious. 

Last Friday Luke had surgery to have his adenoids removed to help with his sinuses and runny nose.  The procedure was done at a private facility rather than the hospital, so the little dude spent his time playing with the toys before surgery.  I'm not sure why he looked so cute pushing this truck, but I couldn't get enough of it.  As expected, he was a huge hit with the nurses, and other than a little trouble coming out of anesthesia, everything went perfectly. 

He was back to his usual self by the weekend.  I know I'm a bit biased, but is he not the cutest thing