T Bar M Camp

Carter is in New Braunfels this week staying with Aunt Shanan and Uncle Shannon along with his cousins Cole, Mason, and Grant.  Cole and Carter are spending the week at T Bar M Camp just minutes away from the Shans house.  They just go for each day and then come home every evening. 

From the little bit I've talked to him this week it seems they are having a great time.  Carter and Cole are in a group with 10 boys and a counselor.  Carter was most excited to tell me that someone had pooped in the pool and they couldn't go swimming one day.  Oh, the joys of camp.

Cousins and Buddies!

Hanging in matching PJs after a long day at camp.  I can only imagine they are having a great time.

The other day my friend Amye asked Caleb if he missed Carter.  Caleb told her, "Oh yes.  He's my best friend.  I miss him a lot."  Ah... heart be still.  When I asked him the same question he told me, "Yes, I miss him," as he wiped tears from his eyes.  Shanan called me yesterday saying that Carter was crying himself to sleep because he missed us.  She consoled him and assured him we'd be there in a few more days.  Caleb wanted us to get Carter a Welcome Home gift.  He picked out this book and wrote him this sweet note.  I do miss my boy!!! But it has been nice to have zero fighting for the week!

Caleb's Baptism

Following VBS this year Caleb decided to get baptized.  Such a special day for our boy!

Hail Storm

 2:30 AM, Tuesday, June 21st

We awoke to a very loud storm.  What started as gusts of wind and rain quickly turned into hail... then more hail, then louder hail... it got so loud that Steve and I were yelling at each other in order to communicate.  The noise was so deafening that I raced upstairs to the children thinking they had to be terrified.  Caleb was awake and hiding under the covers, but the other two remained deep in their sleep.  Unbelievable.  The hail was hitting our home so hard that I felt like the house was going to implode on itself. 

 Looking at the photos you'd think it was snowing.

 We stepped outside quickly so I could pick up a piece of hail.  I've heard of ping pong or golf ball size hail, but I've never seen it before.  Wow...

 The hail was piling up so high I had to get my yard stick to measure it.  4inches deep!  Yep, 4 inches deep.  It was a hail drift against the house.  I was so thankful that our vehicles were safely parked in our garage and that our children were asleep (Caleb fell quickly back to sleep once I assured him all was well).  I thought about our sweet dove who was sitting on her second nest and I knew that this storm would have fatal consequences.  (the next morning we found Dovie on the ground alive but unable to fly and her nest had two cracked eggs.  so so sad)

Ironically Tuesday was Steve's "work from home day".  This was not the work he had planned on doing.  After about eight hours of raking, sweeping, and picking up he filled nine yard bags.  My beautiful flowers have been decimated.  Our trees have been stripped.  Our dove lost her babies.  The house has taken a beating and will likely need a new roof and various cosmetic repairs.  Thankful that our home kept us safe.  This storm was nothing compared to what others in the country have had to deal with lately.  I'm just hoping we don't see hail for a very long time.

A Flag Day Birthday!

 We celebrated Carter's birthday ON his birthday!  Novel idea.  It was a Tuesday, but I really wanted it to be on his birthday this year.  Since he's a Flag Day baby I thought it would be fun to have a Flag Day pool party. 

 His cookie cake turned out so cute!

 His goody bags were filled with Red, White, and Blue things (except for the silly string).

 We hired a life guard to help watch the deep end.  It made my job as hostess so much easier.  I actually sat back and enjoyed the party while the life guard tended the pool.

 My birthday boy had so much fun with all of his friends!

So many gifts!  He truly treasures everyone who came to help him celebrate! 

 His 2nd cousins came too!  John David and Drew both had lots of fun; although Drew didn't want to pose for a photo.

 I had to keep a flame on the candle throughout the song. 

 Big brother celebrated with him while little brother napped in the house.

 Caleb and his long-time love, Emily.  (they've been going strong for 4 years now).  Caleb has told me that they she is his "pretend girlfriend" (they don't want anyone at school to know because they don't want to get teased) and when they get into 8th grade she will become his "real girlfriend" and when they turn 16 then he will take her on a date to Red Robin.

And what's a party without the crazy group photo?! 

Happy Birthday to Carter!  Hard to believe he's 7 years old!

Celebrating Carter and Nanny

 We have two June 14th birthdays sitting on the couch!  Carter and Nanny share the same day.  My parents drove up to have a yummy hibachi lunch in honor of them both.  It's only fitting that Carter is the one that shares his birthday with my side of the family since he's the one that looks most like them!

 The perfect gift from Papa and Nanny- the Maersk Lego train.  It's been on Carter's list for a long time.  He immediately put it together and on display in his room.

Happy Birthday Sweet Tart!

Major Hunk

I couldn't resist posting these.  I mean, come on, this little guy is such a cutie.  He loves hats and he loves sunglasses.  So fun to have someone who will play dress up! 

First Day of Summer

And what do my boys want to do on their first day of summer?  It's obvious, isn't it?  They wanted to go buy new 4th grade and 1st grade workbooks.

Last Day of School

June 9th was our last day of school.  Every year we seem to inch further and further into summer.  Next year, we will be getting out no later than June 1st.  So excited about that!  Here's the boys waiting for the morning bus along with Ethan and Hayden.  They have ridden the bus every morning all year.  They get picked up at 7:05a.m.! 

 We love Ms. Charlotte, our bus driver.  She takes such great care of the kids.  She loves them like her own.  On their birthdays she gives them each a dollar.  Isn't that sweet?  We hope she continues to drive our route for many more years!

 All of us moms were waiting at the end of our street to greet the kids when they got off the bus... with confetti eggs!  SMASH!! We got them all really good!  They loved it!  You can see all the kids ride the bus home in the afternoon.  (not every family can make the 7:05 pick-up!)

And off to the Raburns for our annual pool party and ice cream celebration.  It's hard to believe I have a 4th and 1st grader!

7U Yankees

We finished baseball last weekend.  Coach Kloske (our elementary PE teacher) came to our last game.  Most of the kids on our team all go to Heritage.  What a special game for the boys!

Coach Kloske with Hunter and Carter.  Coach scored the game and gave them each a copy along with a game ball.  So fun!

Here's another photo from our swim party.  All the boys from the team made it to the party.  It's been a great season!

Kindergarten Awards

Mrs. Nikkel is retiring this year.  She's been the principal at Heritage for a long time.  We will really miss her! 

 Carter enjoyed his awards ceremony.  All of the kindergartners get a Reading Counts award (their goal was 5 points and all have reading buddies help them reach their goal).  Carter ended up with 13 points so he also got a special award.

Here's all the kindergartners lined up on stage.  Our class is the first 4 or 5 on each row of the left side.  Carter's on the 3rd row looking the other way. 

Carter and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Kristi Larkin.  We had her before and are really close with her.  Kristi and I have lunch throughout the year and have become great friends.  She adores my boys which is an added plus! 

 Mrs. Larkin's kindergarten class

What a wonderful year with a wonderful teacher! 

Carter and his classmate (and baseball teammate) Jake 

Carter and his neighbor (and classmate) Ethan.  These boys have been friends since birth.  His mom, Tammy, was our room mom this year which made things so easy for me!

3rd Grade Awards

 I went to Caleb's award ceremony last week.  This is the first year where the kids actually have to accomplish something to get an award.  In the younger grades everyone ends up getting an award for something.  I was so proud of Caleb because he achieved 2 of the 3 big awards.  (the 3rd being Perfect Attendance which would have happened if you don't count our Disney trip last November.)  Above is Caleb's "All-A Honor Roll" award.

 Here is his "Reading Counts" award.  They had a goal of 100 points per student.  He got 218 so he got a special award for doubling his points!  This is a big deal to us because in the past years we struggled to make our goal.  This year he became a fan of Harry Potter.  There's a lot of points with Harry Potter books!

 So proud of you, Caleb!  Also, Caleb got commended in both the Reading TAKS and Math TAKS.  That's the highest honor as well.  After a few years of struggling with reading I feel like the extra work paid off. 

Mrs. Betty Jackson

She is "Mary Poppins" in a 3rd grade teacher form.  She absolutely loves her job and loves her students.  Caleb has had a magical year.  The first thing she told us at parent orientation was, "I love Jesus!"  I could not have picked a better teacher for Caleb this year.  In fact she was in the top 5 of all LISD teachers the past year.  We are so lucky to have her.  Hoping we get to have her again in the future! 

Here's Caleb with a couple of his buddies that he's been with for a few years.  Can't believe 3rd grade is over!