Back to School!

School started back on Monday. I am not so sure that the boys were ready to give up their summertime freedom of playing all day, but tonight, I overheard Nathan say, "I sure wish school was open every day of the week! I guess that getting back to school is not such a bad thing!

David is in Second Grade, and his teacher is Mrs. Adams, who goes to church with us. We are all very excited about it. She is a great teacher and a good friend, and I am excited for all the things David will learn from her. It is only the first week of school and already we have learned that he wll have to work on is his talking! That has become a hot topic at our house because we have also been reminded this week that Nathan also needs to work on talking during class! Where did these kids come from?!? :)

At the end of last year, we decided that it would be good for Nathan to stay in Kindergarten another year just to give him a little more time to mature, and I am very glad that we did. Nathan has a great teacher, Mrs. Barden, and since he wants to go to school every day of the week, he apparently thinks that she is pretty great!

On a funny note, before school started on Monday, Brian asked Nathan if he was excited about his first day of school. Nathan responded, "Dad, it is not my first day of school! I have been to school before! This is the first day of the new season." He then walked out of the room and came and found me to say, "I used to think that Dad was smart, but now I know better!" Such a silly boy!

Here are a few pictures from the first day of school.

I am not so sure that David is into the whole hugging thing anymore! :)

The boys being silly.

Nathan at his desk

David at his desk

It's Time to Dust Off the Ol' Blog

Hey everyone! It has been awhile since I've been on here, but I think it is time to start this blog back up. Schools about to start, so what better way to kick off some new posts. Check back in a day or two for some funny stories about the boys. For right now, I need to do a little more work on the new look of the blog.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Today we celebrated Nathan's 6th birthday. He got to celebrate the big day at Grandma Sandy's house with his cousins, which made the day pretty special. When he woke up this morning, Grandma Sandy made Nathan snowmen pancakes. He had asked for a snowman cake, so we also made that today. Tonight, Uncle Steve, Aunt Rachel and all the cousins came over for supper, cake and ice cream, and to watch Nathan open his presents.

The whole day would have gone off without a hitch, except Nathan happened to fall headfirst down the stairs that go to the basement. He ended up with a bump on his forehead, a rug burn above his upper lip, a bloody lip and what will probably be a black eye in the next few days. That put a small damper on the day, but he recovered quickly and the birthday ended well.

Here are some pictures from his big day:

A snowman pancake to start the day off

Getting ready to open his first present of the day


Nathan with his cake. He was not excited about getting
his picture taken because of his injuries.

This picture really doesn't show his injuries very well. They are much more

pitiful to see in person, but you can get the gist of the swollen lip,

the rug burn and a little bit of the swelling under his eye.

Dear Brian,

Nine years ago today, we shared a pretty big day together. We stood up before a group of people and made some promises to each other, exchanged rings, and shared an awkward and very long moment at the unity candle wondering why we picked such a long song. You sang to me as I walked down the aisle towards you, and you still won't let me forget that I didn't cry a single tear during that whole ceremony. We gave each other our hearts, and you gave me your name. What a day!

Well, here we are nine years later. Some days it seems like that day just happened, and other days it seems like we have been together forever. We have grown up and grown together these past nine years, haven't we? We have handled some tough experiences and experienced some great times together.

There are so many reasons for why I am so thankful for you, but since we have been married for nine years, I will share nine reasons why I am thankful for you and why I love you.

1. I love to talk to you. I am so thankful that I can tell you anything. I am thankful for the insight that you have on situations and how you are able to make me see things from a different perspective. You listen to my thoughts, ideas, problems, concerns and dreams, and you never dismiss them as silly, dumb, or something you don't have time for, even if you don't agree with them or if they are crazy.
2. I love how you make me laugh. You have that sarcastic sense of humor, and you know exactly when to use it. I can be boiling mad, and you always know what to say to bring a smile to my face and a chuckle from my heart.
3. I love to watch you be a dad. You are a great dad. I love that you have taught our kids to place God first in their lives. I am so thankful that you are involved in our boys' lives and there is nothing better than watching you with them.
4. I am thankful that you help with the dishes and the laundry. You help me out so much, and I really appreciate it.
5. I love it when you stop by my office to bring me a cup of coffee. Nothing makes me feel better than knowing that you want to go out of your way to see me.
6. I am thankful that you let me work on cars with you. We haven't worked on a car together in awhile, but don't think that I have forgotten or will ever forget our first date! :)
7. I am so very thankful that you get rid of any mice caught in the mousetraps in our house and that you will kill the spiders in the boys' bathroom without me having to ask.
8. I am thankful for your God-centered heart, and your knowledge of the Bible.
9. Last but not least, I am thankful that you chose me. You could have picked any other girl, but you picked me and have completely given me your heart. I could not ask for anything more.

Brian, you are my best friend, and if you asked me to do it all over again, I would gladly marry you again in a heartbeat. Thanks for choosing me and for all that you do to make this family a great one.

I love you and I will never forget...

Stacey

Elvis

The other night the boys and I were eating dinner, and Elvis came up in our discussion. (Don't ask...I cannot remember how.) As soon as his name was said, Nathan said, "I saw him in a concert, and Brock was there too." Here is the rest of our conversation.

I kind of chuckled and said, "I don't think so Nathan. Elvis is dead."

Nathan: "UH-UH!! ELVIS IS NOT DEAD!!! I SAW HIM!"

Me: "Seriously Nathan, he really died. People dress up like him sometimes, but Elvis really is dead."

Nathan: "NO! ELVIS IS NOT DEAD! I saw him and Brock was there too."

David: "He saw him at the Redbirds game Mom. Remember the guy who dressed up like him and was singing his songs. Brock was at that game too. Nathan, Elvis really is dead. He started Rock-N-Roll and then took too much medicine and died."

(At this point, I am sort of staring in shock at David.)

Nathan: "Ohhhhhhh. I guess he didn't have God in his heart, did he?"

Me: "Ummmm...he definitely made some bad choices in his life."

David: "Like what? What other bad choices did he make."

(Nothing like being put on the spot by your 7 year old.)

Me: "Well, he drank a lot of alcohol and got drunk, and God tells us in the Bible not to get drunk."

Nathan: "SOMEBODY DRANK ELVIS?????!!!!!"

Me: "Noooooo! He would drink stuff called alcohol and that can make you act crazy and it is called being drunk."

Nathan: "Ohhhhhh"

David: "So what is alcohol?"

(At this point, I was thinking, "Why isn't your dad here for supper tonight?!?!")

Me: "Alcohol is something that is in certain kinds of drinks. Beer has alcohol in it."

David: "ROOT BEER? I have had root beer before. Why did you let me drink something that would make me drunk?"

Me: "Root beer doesn't have alcohol in it...just plain ol' beer. Look, Elvis made some bad choices, and God wants us to make good choices instead. Now finish your supper up so that you have some time to play before bed."

That ended our Elvis conversation. I am going to bet that Nathan went to school and told somebody that Elvis is dead because someone drank him and that David probably will check the ingredients on the root beer next time we offer him a drink. Oh my!

I've Been Tagged!

Trisha tagged me several days ago, and here is my attempt at getting caught up! I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and nominate 10 other blogs for the "I heart your blog" award. Here goes...

1. Where is your cell phone? One word???? How do you say "I left it on my desk at work" in one word???? Okay here goes.....Work.
2. Where is your significant other? Work
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Amazing
5. Your father? Gone
6. Your favorite thing? Home
7. Your dream last night? Frightening
8. Your dream/goal? Self-growth
9. The room you're in? Living
10. Your hobby? Kids
11. Your fear? Failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Happy
13. Where were you last night? Driving
14. What you're not? Super-model
15. One of your wish-list items? shoes
16. Where you grew up? Everywhere
17. The last thing you did? Email
18. What are you wearing? Clothes
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet? None
21. Your computer? Frustrating
22. Your mood? Intense
23. Missing someone? Grandpa
24. Your car? Dirty
25. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Hot
28. Love someone? Brian
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday

For the record, this was kind of hard. I kept wanting to explain why I answered things a certain way. Sometimes, I had more than one answer for the question, and I wanted to put both down.

Okay....I am not going to tag anyone. If you want to do it, then you consider yourself tagged by me.

Getting Caught Up

I know. I know. I always say that I am going to stay up to date, and then I continue to post nothing for a month. I have had so many stories tucked away that I want to share, but I just haven't logged on to do it. I haven't even spent much time reading blogs lately either. I am not going to make any promises for future posts this time, but I will try to share the funny and cute stories a little more often. After you read this post, you can get caught up with some new pictures from Grandparents' Day, soccer, and the zoo.

I do have to share a funny prayer story with you. The boys were saying prayers a couple of night ago before bed, and in his prayer, David said, "God it will be so great to see You on Your throne by the River of Life." When it was Nathan's turn to pray, he didn't want to be left out and said, "God, we will see You at the Nile River." Then the next night, Nathan got the name of the river right, but he said, "When we get to Heaven, we will go swimming in the River of Life and I hope there is not a waterfall."

Grandparents' Day!

October 17th was Grandparents' Day at the boys' school. My mom has never been able to come visit during the school year because she was teaching; however, she retired this past May and got to spend the week with us. She got to watch the boys perform in a program and then got to go to their classrooms. Here are some pictures of the boys during Grandparents' Day.

David with the Wildcat

Nathan and his friend Sienna going into their classroom

Even though it was a super busy week, it was a lot of fun having my mom here. She and I got to spend a day in Little Rock Christmas shopping and also had some time to sit down and talk in person. My mom and I are close, and I always cherish the time I get to spend with her.

Grandparents' Day ended with another special surprise. My best friend and college roommate came to town for a few hours, so we got to spend some time catching up. I love seeing Cindy, and even though she only lives a couple of hours away, we just don't see each other as often as we should. So, that was a great way to end the night.

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Nathan's class was discussing what they wanted to be when they grow up, and they got to go to school dressed as a person in that profession the day before Grandparent's Day. Mrs. Wells asked us to direct our kids towards real professions rather than superheroes. After finding out that he could not be Batman or a Jedi, Nathan decided that he wanted to be an eye doctor. I know a lot of eye doctors wear dress clothes with a white lab coat, but I thought it would be a whole lot easier to make scrubs. Thankfully, Grandma Sandy was here to actually make the scrubs for us because they look so much better than what they would have looked like if I had sewn them. He also took an eye chart and an eye cover thing-a-ma-bob as props.

He was quite proud of his costume and seemed to have a lot of fun on career day! Thanks Grandma Sandy!!

More Soccer Pictures

Soccer is officially over. David had another great game two Saturdays ago. He scored 5 goals (although he claims it was 6 goals). I have a few videos that I will try to edit and post them online so you can watch the boy in action. He is fast and has great control of the ball. It is amazing how much he has improved since the beginning of the season.

Nathan has also improved since the first game. He almost scored in the past two games, which is a pretty big deal for him. I can't say that Nathan is a natural at soccer, but he is a scrappy player and has no fear of getting in the middle of the pack to kick the ball.

Both boys had good coaches and we are thankful that they will get to have the same coaches in the spring.

The boys together after their games

David headed down the field

David about to score a goal

Nathan, Jaxson & Canon doing a belly buster after Jaxson scored a goal

Nathan throwing in the ball

Getting ready for a kick-off

Zoo Pictures

Nathan's class had a field trip to the zoo, and since it was on a day I was teaching, Brian got to go with him. I missed getting to be a part of the field trip, but I loved how excited Nathan was about getting to experience it with his daddy. I think his daddy kind of enjoyed the time too. Here are some "classic" Nathan pictures from the trip.