First Day of 2016-2017 School Year!

Yesterday was the first day of the 2016-2017 school year (already!). Usually the night before school starts there are lots of tears at our house, but this year it seemed as if the first day of school sneaked up on us so fast that we didn't have time to even think about being sad our summer was ending.

Jackson is in the fourth grade this year and said he wasn't nervous at all about school yesterday morning. He said he was so excited about his teacher and he was glad several of his close pals are in his class. 
(Jackson fell while we were camping this past weekend, and busted his chin on a cement pad that the picnic table was on- ouch!)

Ansley was also excited about the first day and was up and ready first thing this morning. She is in third grade and is looking forward to her teacher since she has the same one that Jackson had last year and he has told her that she never yells or loses her patience! She is also thrilled that her best friend is in her class again this year. 

Elsie is in first grade this year. While we were on our way to school yesterday morning, she said that she was a bit nervous. I walked her into school and took her to where her class was sitting in the cafeteria and she was excited to see her teacher. When I tried to leave she squeezed my hand a bit tighter and I told her I would walk to get breakfast with her. While we were in the breakfast line one of her best friends came in and she instantly seemed fine. I asked her if it was okay if I left then, and she gave me a hug and kiss and told me she was fine now. She is also very excited about her school year!

At school and excited to see their friends, and Elsie with her first grade teacher:

The first day was a half day and Vada Belle couldn't have been more ready for her big brother and sisters to get home. Vada Belle, Felix and I walked down the road to get them off of the bus and you can tell just how excited she was to see them- look at those arms stretched out to hug her siblings! Today they didn't have to go to school (a teacher workday) so she was excited to have them home today and is not looking forward to them being gone all day tomorrow (and neither am I!). 

Here's to a great year in 4th, 3rd and 1st grade!

Happy 1st Birthday, Felix!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing Felix's birth story, and now here I am writing about his first birthday!

 Felix had birthday pancakes with his brother and sisters to start off his big day:

Then since he loves water so much, we went up to Mamaw Dianne's house so he could play in the pool and he especially loved going down the slip n' slide.

 Check out his grin- he loved it!

After a nap (because birthdays are tiring, too), he had a visit from Grandpa David and Grandma Winkie and opened some presents. Great granny Ollie also stopped by to see him. Then we went to Jackson and Ansley's baseball banquet at Family Fun Zone and Felix loved going down the slides there. He was also excited Aunt Jessica stopped by to see him.

 After that we came home and Mamaw Dianne, Papaw Fred and Jennifer stopped by to sing "Happy Birthday" and to eat cake with the birthday boy!

At one year old some of Felix's favorite things inludes: Cars and trucks (anything with wheels), climbing up stairs, being outside, taking a bath or shower, eating, giving hugs and cuddling, his kitten, and he absolutely adores his big brother and sisters. He is getting to where he just laughs all day long and is always on the go!

Birthday pancakes, slip n' slide fun, playing in the pool, visits from almost all of his grandparents, playing at Family Fun Zone, and cake! Felix had a wonderful 1st birthday!

Happy 1st birthday to our precious Felix. What an amazing and fast year it has been. We love you, our cuddly little love! (Oh! And he is finally sleeping through the night most nights!).

Vada Belle & Felix's Birthday Pool Party

Happy (belated) birthday to Vada Belle and happy (early) birthday to Felix!
Yesterday we celebrated Vada Belle's 4th birthday and Felix's 1st birthday at our local pool. They both love the water and everything has been so crazy around here this summer, so we decided to have their party there. It was an awesome location for their party and I think everyone had a great time.

Vada Belle wanted a Shopkins (which was no surprise since her and her sisters are Shopkins obsessed right now) cake to celebrate her 4th birthday:

Since Felix loves his trucks and cars of all types, we decided to do a truck theme for his first birthday, and we got the cutest cake for a smash cake at a bakery from near where Tiffany lives.

 He wanted to touch the cake so bad:

 When it was time to do his smash cake, he thought it was so funny that everyone was singing and looking at him. He just giggled and pointed at everyone. So sweet!

 He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to do at first, but once we gave him a bite of the icing he knew exactly what to do after that.

It was pouring the rain when everyone first got there, but thankfully just 15 minutes into the party the rain went away and the sun came out and they said it was fine for everyone to get in the pool. The kids all loved the diving board, and Elsie shocked me since she has never even been on one and went right up the high dive first thing. 

The birthday girl had such a fantastic time:

 And so did the birthday boy!

 Felix with mom and dad after his first birthday party:

Weekend at the Lake

This past weekend we were able to go visit and stay with Tiffany and Mark at their lake house at Smith Mountain Lake. Eric was out of town working so we were bummed he wasn't able to go with us, but he told us to go on and to have a great time, and we did just that. The kids love hanging out with Abigail and Amelia, and it was an extra bonus that Mark took them out on the boat a lot cruising around the lake.

 Watching the gorgeous sunset out on the lake:

On Saturday we spent all day playing in the lake, tubing behind the boat, swimming in a cove, and giggling with cousins:

 Saturday night it started storming which made it the perfect time to snuggle up and watch a movie:

Sunday was another wonderful weather day and after we went to boat church the kids spent the majority of the rest of the day we were there jumping off of the dock and swimming around. My kids have never had any swim lessons, but I was so proud of how well Jackson was doing practicing swimming. He is very hesitant and cautious in water (which isn't a terrible thing) but I was standing in there with him the whole time he was practicing swimming with no life jacket (only in the shallow end of the lake, too, of course). Ansley started doing well swimming on her own last summer and also improved while we were there at the lake. I basically made Elsie and Vada Belle keep their life jackets on the whole time- even in the shallow end. 

 Felix hanging out with Holli (the golden doodle) and the kids playing in the lake with Abigail and Amelia:

 When it was time to head home there were so many tears from the kids. Ansley was going home with Abigail and Amelia for the week to attend American Girl camp with Abigail. The kids always cry when we leave the lake house because they said they are going to miss their cousins, but this time there were even more tears since they wouldn't see Ansley again until Friday. I love that they love each other so much.

Thanks again, Mark and Tiffany, for letting us have a wonderful weekend at your lake house!

12 Years!

Happy 12 years to my love, Eric. I love living life with you!
Thanks to my mom and dad for watching the kids while we were able to go out to lunch and a few other places just the two of us.

Here's a link to a video with some of our wonderful memories these last 12 years.

Eric and Wendy 12th Anniversary

I love you, EMC!

Elsie is 6!

Today our sweet Elsie turned six years old:

She had a sleepover last night with a couple of friends from school to kick off her birthday. It ended up coming a terrible storm and the electricity went out about 6:00 that afternoon and didn't come back on until around 2:00am. The girls went outside on the porch (once the storm passed by) and played with Shopkins since it was lighter out there than it was inside. Once it got too dark outside, they came in and played with their toys and games by the lantern until they went to bed around 11:00pm.

 This morning, on her birthday, we had birthday pancakes and she opened up her gifts from our family. She loved her new Shopkins dresses and her Dory shirt.

We then took some pics and she had to decide what she wanted to do for the rest of her day. It was a tough choice between going to Sweet Frog or getting ice cream for the house, but she ended up going with the ice cream at the house. We invited some people over last minute for some hotdogs, cake and ice cream.

 (Elsie was sneaking baby brother some cupcake, too!)

I'm not sure how six years have flown by that fast:

Elise is always giving hugs and kisses, loves playing "pretend" with her toys (especially with her Shopkins, American Girl doll, Barbies and Princesses), and she has such a huge heart and love for others. We love you, precious girl!