First days of school...

On Wednesday, we sent our little Cade off to K-4~ needless to say there were alot of tears...on MY part. Cade did just fine! At GCA, the boys have to wear ties, dress shirts, pants, and dress shoes for chapel. On the other days, as you can see in the last pictures, the boys can wear polo shirts, shorts, and tennis shoes or sandels. This was actually Cade's first time wearing a tie! (we are really into "comfort" in our family!) To help the kindergarten students have a better "first day," our school has them start a day before the 1st-12th grade students. Therefore, while we are taking these pictures, Xander is making the MOST of his last day of freedom by sleeping in!

Sending our little Cade off to school! (sniff!)

Cade and his best buddy, Lowell. GCA will never be the same!

Cade with his K-4 teacher, Mrs. Stephens.

When I picked Cade up after his first day, I asked him what he had learned that day at school. After considering it for a moment, he answered, "EVERYTHING! I don't need to go back anymore!" Oh, if it were ONLY that easy! :)

Thursday was Xander's and our first day of school. Xander was very excited to get the teacher that he was hoping for. Our school starts on Thursday, and Thursday and Friday are both half days. We believe in "easing into the year"!! :)

Xander, the "old pro," is enjoying showing Cade the ropes at school.

Shane and I with Xander on his first day of 2nd Grade!

They're getting so big!

The boys with Grandma Golden and Hayes before heading off to school. We are very fortunate to have Grandma watching Hayes this year for us; he is getting plenty of TLC!

Xander with his 2nd Grade teacher, Mrs. Vick.

We had a great first "week" and are looking forward to an exciting year!

A great week!

This past week, my family came down from Michigan to visit us. Although my parents were able to spend time with us down in Disney, it was the first time my brother Steve was able to meet Hayes. We even broke him in babysitting, which is the first picture you see in the slideshow below. When we ran to the store to pick up some items for dinner, Steve was blessed with the opportunity to care for all three boys... We came home to find him standing there holding a sleeping Hayes. After trying desperately to get him calmed down, Steve finally realized if he stood and held him in that exact position, he would stop crying and go to sleep. Any attempt to put Hayes down in the swing or crib held dire consequences...thus the picture I could not resist taking! :) He insists he will never have kids.
Because of the extreme heat and the fact my "Northern" family members were not accustomed to such heat, we made sure we had a place to swim each day they were here. On Tuesday, we drove to the beach for the day. It was a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun. It was Hayes' first trip to the beach, and he wasn't all that impressed. Although it was a little hot for him, he was very good and just sat in his seat with his portable fan! :)
Steve was a little distracted throughout the week by a certain "someone"; however, I will let you draw your own conclusions on that matter. In this case, "a picture is worth a thousand words"; therefore, I will leave it unsaid so as not to jinx anything that may be in the fragile stages of beginning.
The last night they were here, we had several people over for dinner and a rousing game of Scattergories. As you see in the pictures, it would most appropriately be called "Cheatergories" because there were several players who spent most of their time arguing why their BIZARRE answers should be acceptable! (Doogenheim is most definitely NOT a "foreign city that starts with the letter D" although one player, to whom I happened to be married, insisted it was just outside of Scotland...hmmm...) We had a good time, concluding an extremely enjoyable week.