Another School Year Has Begun!

We had such a wonderful summer full of lazy days, busy days, and fun days. I was sad for it to come to an end but excited to start the school year again. It's been almost a full month of school already, I can't believe it! My boys started school at the end of August and this year Matthew is in 3rd grade and Riley is in kindergarten. So many great things come with back to school time. It may be extremely nerdy but I absolutely love getting together the school supplies and making lists and checking things off when they are completed. My husband has given me many things in the 12 years I've known him and of course the two greatest of those things are my sons, followed closely by a love of organizing and lists haha. So, ok maybe I don't love organizing and lists quite that much, but you get the idea. When the new school year starts of course that also brings with it my most favorite time of year, Fall (pumpkin patch here I come!!!), as well as Cub Scouts, fundraisers, Thursday packets, open house, picture day...so many great things!

The first day of school was such a big day for both of my boys. Riley was so excited to finally be going to the same school as his big brother. He has spent years talking about riding the bus with Matthew and Matthew walking him to his class and the time had finally come! Our school district now does full day kindergarten so both of my kids were off to a full day at school. They were both so happy the first day of school. They were excited to see their old friends again and especially to ride the bus together. I gave them each a huge hug and kiss and they were off, my two school boys, the first time together on the bus...



So far they are both really enjoying school. Each day when they get off the bus I ask them "So, what was the best thing about kindergarten/3rd grade today?" and I'm always excited to hear what they have to say. I was really anticipating open house, one of my favorite days of the school year. I love seeing their classrooms and having them show us around. This year was no exception! It was the first time we had two classrooms to visit! Matthew's class was first. Sitting in his chair was a "future me" he had made. It was so sweet that he made his future self have facial hair just like daddy's.




Then it was time to visit Riley's classroom. He had such fun showing us around. He made a self portrait as well and was so proud to stand next to it.




So, all in all it has been a great start to the new school year. I'm so proud of my boys and I hope they always keep their love of learning and their joy at sharing these things with me. I love them so very much. It's going to be a great school year!

Beautiful

Amazing song, beautiful video. Brandon Flowers is lovely :-)

Baseball!

Well, this season of baseball has ended. Riley's t ball ended over a month ago but I have been waiting to write this entry until Matthew's baseball season ended. He just had his end of the season picnic so the season is officially over. Matthew's season was so much longer than Riley's because he had a tournament after the regular season and then was picked to be part of the All Star team and do another tournament. Both boys had a wonderful time playing and I really enjoyed watching them play! Matthew was so proud of himself for making the All Star team. It was such a nice thing for him because he worked so hard and to see his hard work pay off was very rewarding for him. He was also very excited because one of his good friends from school was also on the All Stars team and they finally got to play together after having been on different teams during the regular season.

It's crazy how much they have grown since they started playing with the BYA. This is Matthew in his first season of t ball:



Here he is this year during the All Star tournament:



He has grown so much!!!

Here is Riley during his first season of t ball:



This is Riley during this season:



Time is just flying by. I think that's part of the reason I love photography so much, to capture these moments that are gone in the blink of an eye.

The All Stars tournament was very exciting for Matthew. He got a snazzy new jersey with his name on it! His number has been the number 1 every year that he has played baseball and he got to keep that number for All Stars as well. I loved seeing both of the boys in their uniforms, they always look so cute. It was definitely neat to see Matthew wearing a jersey with his last name on the back.



I'm a proud mommy :-)




If enough kids in his age group sign up we will be starting baseball again in the fall for "fall ball" and if not then it will be Spring time again by the time we get around to more baseball. Until then, we have a lot of things to look forward to and I can't wait for everything we have coming up.

thoughts

I love black and white photography and I love my family, so I decided to write a poem about them both. Here it is

I see in a filter of black and white
Like some long forgotten movie or a dark starry night
The most ordinary things are beautiful here
And the light that shines through the dark makes even little things clear
It captures the things so often unseen
Like that indescribable moment just as you wake from a dream

Words alone could never show these treasures most might never see
Like the veins in an Autumn leaf
Or the majesty of a worn out key
Like the wrinkles I love at the corner of your eyes
Or the joy of our sons successes after so many tries

Looking through something so small has given me a bigger view
Though I could search all the world and I would still come back to you
My husband and sons, my favorite subjects indeed
For you three boys are all this heart is ever going to need

Father's Day!

This sunday, June 19th is Father's Day. It's time to celebrate Dad! I feel very fortunate that my sons have such a wonderful daddy. From the moment we knew I was pregnant with our first son, Matt had a connection with Matthew. He would talk to my belly and Matthew would kick like crazy when he heard daddy's voice. Now, here we are with 2 sons that just adore him.





Matt is a great dad for all the things he does from the little things to the big things. He is their biggest fan when it comes to sports, from helping out their teams to practicing with them in the yard. He is proud of their accomplishments at school and helps with their homework and projects. He attends and participates in every cub scout meeting. He dances to silly songs, plays funny games, and is the best water balloon match player you've ever seen.






I have so many wonderful memories and moments that I will never forget. I know the boys feel the same way. It makes me so happy for them to have such a loving, caring, and involved dad. I know that when they become dads themselves they will know exactly what a great dad should be, because they have the best one around.

I love my boys

The 3 most wonderful people in my world :-)

I'm 28 years old!

Today is my birthday! Yes, that's right world, I'm officially 28 years old. My sister asked me if I felt older and my answer to her was that I already feel atleast 10 years older than my actual age so while it does sound a lot older to me than 27, it doesn't feel much different.

I've often said that I have an "old soul" and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I do think I have a good balance of acting like a Grandma and still being a fun woman in my twenties. Still, I'm definitely not like the average person of my age. With all of the activities that my sons are in I get to interact with quite a few other parents. I am always the youngest and usually I'm the youngest by a lot. Infact, one of the women at Matthew's bus stop says that every year on her birthday she turns "29" because she refuses to acknowledge anything higher than that. Let's just say she waved bye-bye to 29 long ago.

My husband is 2 1/2 years older than I am, so I get the benefit of seeing what awaits as the years start stacking up. I love watching stand up comedy and I can't even count how many times I've heard the joke that as soon as you turn 30 everything starts falling apart. Being a huge fan of stand up, when I kept hearing this joke multiple times from multiple people, it did send up a red flag that maybe there is some truth behind that joke. Well, I'm here to say that it's true! Within a month of turning 30 all bets were off between my husband and his body. It was as if his body had some warranty that expired the day he turned 30. I wonder what it is about that age that makes your body say "eh...I'm going to stop working now, enjoy!!"

Still, I look forward to the idea of getting older. I particularly look forward to how Matt and I will be as old people. I have a pretty good idea of what kind of "little old man" my husband is going to be and let me tell you, it's hilarious (just picture the most adorable old man you've ever seen with wild and crazy white ear hair that puts a carnival cotton candy to shame). I'm quite sure that I'll be the "crazy cat lady" and together we'll provide much amusement for our sons and their future spouses.

For now though, I'm sure even at 28 and 30 we provide much amusement for them already.