First Day of School

So the first day of school came and went and my baby headed off to Kindergarten. So far it has been a great year for both of them. We're so grateful for such a wonderful school, right around the corner from our home.

Happy Birthday Cole!

Dear Cole,
Today you are 9, which if you ask me seems a little ridiculous. I mean, 9 is half way to 18 and that I cannot even deal with. You are one truly amazing kid and I've cherished every second I've had the honor of being your mom. You have taught me so much about what it means to be a parent and I am grateful for that.

You have a huge heart and are the best big brother Kiley could ever ask for. Thank you for always being so kind to her and always welcoming her to play with your Legos even though I can tell that you would probably rather her stay out. You are a kind and generous friend and everyone at school loves you (including your teachers). I honestly could not ask for a better son.

This year has been amazing for you. Watching you grow and thrive brings tears to my eyes. Your emotional and social development this year has been spectacular. You love school and learning and you love being with all your friends. This year, after 5 long years, saw the end of speech classes. Your hard work on articulation has paid off in big ways. You even had a speaking part in the 2nd grade program, which was amazing. I mean, 5 years ago I never would have guessed that we would have come so far.

Thank you for being an amazing little human and for loving our family as much as we love you. My world would never be complete if you weren't in it.

Love,
Mom

PS - I love this picture because I love how much you love cactus.

Cole...

Ugh, I hate these pictures because he looks so old in them.  Some pictures of Cole from our recent photo session.

Eight...

Dear Cole,

What the fresh hell is this?  Eight?  Are you kidding me?  Eight is half way to sixteen and only ten years from eighteen.  I mean, seriously?  You're killing me kid.

But seriously, eight.  It's kind of hard to believe.  It feels like just yesterday my water broke in the middle of the night and I spent the next few hours doing laundry and dishes until I decided to wake your dad at 6am to head to the hospital.

Cole, you are one amazing kid.  You are kind.  So kind.  So much kinder than I am.  I mean, for the love of monkeys, you win awards for kindness.  Sometimes I'm just amazed by the boy you have become.  I feel like the luckiest mom in the world to have you in my life.  The absolute luckiest.  

I'm grateful every single day to have you as part of our family.  I could not ask for a more compassionate, caring, amazing son.  Thank you for always being you.

Love, 

Mom

Little Bahia Key...

We took the kayaks with us to the keys, and one day when we were feeling particularly adventurous decided to kayak out to Little Bahia Key.  It's a small limestone island right off the main State Park.  The waters were VERY rough on the way out, but we made it.  It was totally worth the effort because the kids had so much fun exploring the little island.

Cole Surfing...

Whereas Kiley is adventurous, Cole is far more cautious.  No surprise that he wanted NOTHING to do with learning to surf.  He had no desire to take a class, no desire to even try it.  That's where the mom-overide comes in.  I told him that he had to take the class part on land (where they teach you all about how to get up) and that he had to try it 1 time.  THEN and only then, if he didn't like surfing he could choose to never do it again.  

Well wouldn't you know he LOVED it.  And not only did he love it, but he was unbelievably fantastic at it.  He got up and stayed up the whole way to the shore almost every single time.

Let's Go Surfing Now...

Kristi and her girls were here a few weeks ago for their annual girl's trip to Jacksonville.  While they were here all the kids (and Jonathan) took a surfing lesson.  Jacksonville Surf & Paddle did a private lesson for us and they were phenomenal with the kids.

Cole's Portraits...

This summer each kid has had a week of camp.  Unfortunately for me, they've been different weeks.  The nice thing about this is that I get to spend a little one-on-one time with each of them.  One of my goals for the week was to take each kid out and get a few portrait style pics of them.  Here are my favorites from Cole's mini photo session.  

Soccer {part 2}...

This was Cole's 5th season playing soccer and he loves it just as much now as he did when he started.  

Belle...

One of the things we were able to do this trip was to go to the Storytime with Belle attraction that wasn't quite open when we were there the last time.  What a fabulous time!  The kids got to be part of the "show" and dance around with Belle.

Spinning on the Teacups...

Our kids LOVE them some teacups.  I'm glad I pulled the big camera out of the bag before getting on the ride because I love these pictures.

Jumping Water...

The kids always love seeing the jumping water at Epcot.  Since it was a warm day we let them get a little wet jumping up and trying to catch it.

Epcot...

Our first park we hit was Epcot.  Epcot has always been my personal favorite.  We went during the Flower & Garden festival, another one of my favorites.  

Soccer {Cole}

A few pictures of Cole playing soccer.

Winter Soccer...

The kids are playing winter soccer this year and although most have the games have been very, very cold we had a make up game on Sunday afternoon this week and it was nice and warm.  Warm enough for me to actually bring the good camera and take a few pictures.

Will and Cole practice at the same time.

I love this picture of her dirty little knees so much.