Busy Bees Back 2 School!

Today, Caiti started Preschool!! Most of you know she attended Preschool on base in 29 Palms for a few short months and it did no good for her. Well, this time Caiti is attending an actual Preschool where they teach actual lessons!! She is attending the school at our Church and I am super excited to see the difference from her last school!! She waited for this day all Summer and when it finally came she could hardly contain herself. She was so anxious to get to school that we were about 25 minutes early, ha ha!!! She got into her classroom and was confused with the way things work in there but I know in just a few weeks she'll have it all down!! She is part of the Busy Bee class and her teacher's name is Ms. Kim. She's really nice!! Jason and I are looking forward to watching her grow spiritually here and learn so much education-wise! They will be doing bible stories along with regular curriculum. God in education...YAY!!!!

BACK 2 SCHOOL!!

Today Cory is starting 3rd grade!!! He was so excited about today but a little nervous because today was the first day he would be taking the bus to school rather than Mom driving him. Cory has worked so hard this Summer on his math thru tutoring at Sylvan. We all look forward to seeing how he applies everything he's learned at Sylvan in his new classroom. We're hoping he is able to enjoy 3rd grade and not worry so much about not understanding how to do math. He gave up a lot of play time this Summer so he could better himself and I know once he sees how it helps him at school he will be so glad he did it!!! He's not quite done with Sylvan though. He's still got a few weeks to go and will be heading to Sylvan afterschool before he goes to football practice! Such a busy schedule for an 8 year old (okay almost 9) ha ha!! He handles everything with such ease though!!

He had said he wished Caiti was still little so she would still be staying at home and I wouldn't have to take her to school that way I could drive him, ha ha!! When the time came this morning to head out to the bus stop (which is right in front of our house, yay!) it was a different story. He kept hurrying me and Caiti so he could stand there and wait. Then when the bus came he was ready to just get on and go that he didn't even give me a hug!! I wanted so badly to just call to him and have him come back to give me a hug but I didn't. I let my little man go and be independent!!! It's what he wants and I know that! I'm so proud of who he is and everything he is turning into!!

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was a long weekend for Jay. He was able to come home on Friday afternoon and stay all the way to Monday morning!!! It was so nice to have him around just one extra day. We had a low-key family weekend. We started off by having the kids favorite for dinner---Finger Food Friday!! Then we sat together and watched Race to Witch Mountain. On Saturday, Cory and Daddy went to get Cory's haircut so he could look fresh for his first day of school. Once they got home we headed out to Fredericksburg to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. We had lunch and they played their favorite games and got prizes when they were done. We came home, relaxed for a bit then headed over to the Cruise In to see some old cars and have some ice cream! Sunday we had to go to Sams Club to get the kids their lunch stuff for school then we came home had lunch and headed out again. We took the kids over to the skating rink!!! They had so much fun and I think that was their favorite part of the weekend!! After we went skating we came home and Jason BBQ'd some food while the kids and I watched The Hannah Montana Movie!! We enjoyed a nice family dinner and the weekend ended as wonderfully as it started!!

Chuck E. Cheese!!!! The kids had so much fun at one of their favorite places! The ate tons of pizza, wings and mozzerella sticks!! Caiti got lost for a minute and couldn't find us but a worker helped her find us! Jason and I then decided to walk around with them and enjoy the games with them!





Cruise In!!!! Every Saturday night Stafford holds a car show near Bruesters (an ice cream parlor). Cory has been wanting to go for some times but the last time we tried to go it began to rain so there were no cars. Luckily, this weekend was beautiful so we were able to enjoy looking at a few cars. We walked around and ate our ice cream while enjoying the night. Jay kept looking at the cars saying he wanted them, ha ha!!

Rollerskating!!!! This was the kids favorite part of the weekend!! When we got there they were a little unsure and kept saying "but we don't know how to skate and we're going to fall" We explained that they have to learn how to do things and if they fall they just get right back up and try again. I gave them a quick skating course--how to stop and how to fall, haha!! We helped them out onto the floor and after our first time around the rink they had it down! No holding hands, they were doing it all on their own. Falling down, laughing and getting back up. They've already asked when we can go back!!!

Gumby & Lil' Pokey

Cindy & Erica!! I won't go into our nicknames and how they came about, ha ha!! Erica is one of my dearest and closest friends from high school! She lives in Ohio and we don't get to see eachother as often as we would both like. Erica left California when we were 17 years old and then we didn't see eachother till we were 23 years old and now again at 30 years old!! However, we always pick up right where we left off. Both of us having very busy schedules makes it hard to find time to sit and chat but the internet helps keep us connected! Erica was driving thru a part of Virginia that is a little over an hour away from here and asked if I could meet up with her for lunch!! I was so excited so I packed the kids and I up and we headed down. We had lunch and chatted for a couple of hours. It was so nice!!!! I miss her so much and miss her even more when we get these times to see eachother! It's twice now she's come to my neck of the woods so the next visit is on me!! Cant wait to see her again!! Love you, Erica!!!

Waterpark Fun

A couple of weeks ago my friend Jeannie and I decided to get out of the house and take the kids to the Waterpark. So glad we did because we all had a lot of much needed fun that day!!! Cory and Gracie were on their own, running around the waterpark doing what they wanted to do while Jeannie and I stayed with Caiti and Maddie and watched them play together. Our kids get along so well so it's always fun to watch them. It did start raining and Cory had a scrimmage that night so we didn't get to stay long but this is a place we will definitely spend more time at next Summer!

My Water Babies

These two love playing in the water and would be in the pool everyday if possible!!! They both have as much fun as they can in this little pool because unfortunately our bigger pool is very hard to put up alone!! I love sitting and watching them. They play so well and have so much fun together! I truly was blessed with two amazing children!!

Our Little Diva

These are just some random pictures of Caitlyn over the past few weeks. She absolutely loves being in front of the camera!! Always asking me to take a picture of her so she can do a pose, ha ha!! She's growing up way too fast! She is into fashion and anything super girly!! She loves to look her best and always asks, "Mommy, do I look fabulous?" It's so cute and I love it!!! She does take after her mommy so I know what to watch for, ha ha!!

Down By the River

As the kids and I ran some errands we drove past the Rappohannock River and I decided to stop the car so the kids could get out and see just how beautiful it really is! Of course I had my camera so I was able to get some cute shots of the kids! They had fun climbing on the rocks along the river, looking at all the little fish and watching people go by on their tubes!! It's such a beautiful river and hopefully next Summer we'll be able to tube down it as well!!