First Day of School...for all of them!

How did we get here? I have been fighting back emotions all week. I had a bit of a breakdown last night. Brent was making me talk about it. What is his problem?! As I sit here and look at this photo, I am so proud of these three, and the young people they have become. God is good to have blessed me with these sweat babes...though babes no more! That is for sure. 

Kade? Nervous? Not AT ALL!

Maddox wasn't quite ready for 3rd grade. I told him to give it a week, he'll get right back into the swing of things. He is very much like his momma, doesn't like change. He wants his 1st and 2nd grade teachers back!

Sweet Ava is a big 2nd grader this year. Hard to believe. She got the one teacher she didn't know! Not too crazy about that, but I know she will adjust very quickly. She has a few good friends in her class, so that always helps.

This guy. Well Mr. Kade is my big Kindergartener. Just saying that makes my heart race and my eyes well-up. How did we get here? He was so confident today. That helped me tremendously. That doesn't mean I didn't almost loose it when we walking in that door, but I stayed strong. I fought those tears harder than I ever have before, I think. It was hard. My heart hurts just writing about it. He was so excited and so ready for this day. I couldn't be happier about that, for sure.

I'll just pretend it doesn't look like I cried myself to sleep...

Keens!

and this is where I almost lost it. I don't know how I pulled that one off, but I did!

I DID NOT WANT TO LET GO!

I didn't spend much time at home today. People did a good job at keeping me preoccupied. Thank you all for that! I have another day in 6 weeks that may be even harder (when Kade goes full days), but for now, I will enjoy my afternoons I still get with him. It did my heart good today.

We are going to have another great school-year. I can feel it. Once I get past this overwhelming sadness-that sadness that I am trying so hard to repress, it will all be good. I know it will. This is normal change. It is good change. It is hard change, but it is good. I love watching my kids grow into amazing little people. They don't stay babies forever, but that's okay. Because I like who they are becoming. It is pretty darn amazing being a parent sometimes.

Whirlwind

We've been busy, busy, busy this summer. I hopefully will be able to post pictures soon of all of our business. We just got back from a 3-week trip out east. It was chocked-full of goodness, but not at all relaxing! So now I'm wanting to lay around all day and do nothing, but school is starting on Wednesday. I drove past school today and my heart skipped a beat...and then it started beating really fast, and then I got sick to my stomach. All three of the kiddos will be in that building on Wednesday. All 3 of them!

Look below for updates on our trip...I can't post things out of date order...I'm crazy like that!

Last Day at the Beach

It was another full day at the beach. I know I tried to soak in as much sun as I could. Speaking of sun, it was a little dreary first thing, but by the end of the day, the sun was bright and shining. 

lots of people!

this boat was too great of a photo prop not to use. I just wish we were all at the beach at the same time so we could have gotten an entire Sawyer family picture. 

Henry, such a big boy. I love this picture!

Another family portrait for sure. Kade, what are you doing?!

Love these three.

lots of building happened today, with daddy and grandpa

the 'rents

Blake practicing his jumping skills

drip castles are so soothing to make. Silas and I started this one.

After the beach, we headed back to the house to get cleaned up. Then we headed to the boardwalk for some miniature golf. This was a bit of a production. Eighteen people for miniature golf, please. We ended up breaking up into smaller teams. It was a little funny playing with little kids, but they had fun. It was the experience, right?!

The first day, Joel and I implemented the buddy system. Hilarious. Brent later wondered what the kids would even do if they lost their buddy. They weren't always very good at it, but they tried. It was always a comfort when their were more adults around to be the buddy!

we pretty much took over the place!

daddy always gave them pointers...like a dad does!

Mr. Henry, was so into it. He didn't always hit the ball, but he was focused. So cute.

The boardwalk was so picturesque with all the seagulls overhead. Beautiful.

Grandma and Grandpa gave the kids spending money each night. They gave them the option of spending it each night or saving it until the last night. Our kids saved most of it, so we had to quickly make our purchases before heading back for pizza. This wasn't the first night on the boardwalk, so they all had a pretty good idea what they wanted. It was fun to watch them pick stuff out. It was obvious they were loving it too! Thanks for the treat, Grandma and Grandpa!

It was a little late by the time we got back for pizza. We were so hungry! We had yummy boardwalk pizza (probably would have been better if it wasn't cold already!), put the kids to bed, then sat down to enjoy a drink and the olympics. I forgot to say, this was pretty much what we did each night. You can't not watch the olympics, right? I was kind of bummed they were on during this trip. Would have liked to have watched it at home when I wasn't crazy busy visiting family! Oh well. It was fun to watch it with everyone too. 

I hate saying goodbye to the beach. I love it so much. We'll see where our life takes us, but I tell Brent a lot that I hope to end up at the beach for good someday. A girl can dream...