Friday, July 29, 2016

And we have a SECOND GRADER!!!!!

I am not sure how I am even old enough to say that!!?!!

Second grade seems so big and grown up! 
Our little  BIG guy is off to second grade!
He is practically a pro at this whole school thing!

We are so blessed to have the opportunity to be in Mrs. Cottle's class again this year. She looped up to the 2nd grade and all of us parents got to choose if we wanted to loop up with her. Needless to say it was a unanimous decision for the whole class. Having the same AWESOME teacher in the same classroom with all the same friends (plus a few new ones too!) has made the last few weeks leading up to 2nd grade pretty easy!

There wasn't as many nerves or anxiousness from Hensley or us in the weeks before school started.

We had a great open house and even though we were in the same room his teacher had totally transformed it into a camping theme and it looked AWESOME!


This really made Hensley excited to start!!!

We took our yearly first day of school pictures :) He is getting so big!!!


Just look how much older he looks from last year :(



We had a nice little talk on the way to school. He was excited for everything. I thought for myself this year would be super easy because we had done it so many times before......however it wasn't. I cried all the way home :(



I went to school on the second day and had lunch with Hensley and his sweet friend Noah :) 





Going back to school also means we get to see all the early morning glory :)




The first week of school was amazing! Hensley has been dressing himself and he clearly doesn't care if his shoes match his outfit! He is getting so big and we are so proud all his amazing talents and abilities. He is so smart and independent. We pray for him every day to continue to have a good heart, follow GOD, and do his best in everything he tries.


Can't wait to see what 2nd grade has in store for our sweet boy!



**Update: The next two weeks of school came with lots of fear and anxiety. We were not sure where it was coming from but he would be very nervous the night before and we even had a few mornings with tears. He had one morning where he had a full blown panic attack in the drop off line. We spent lots of time talking about his fears (which most of the time it came out that he was afraid I would not be ok while he was gone or that something would happen to me while he was gone.) We did a lot of reassuring and giving extras hugs. We also did a lot of distracting in the mornings looking out the windows at things or talking about video games so he didn't have time to think about the day ahead. It finally did pass and his teacher was super helpful. She would allow him to come in the class room each morning and play on the computer instead of going into the gym with the entire student body. This was so great for him because he could be alone and also focus on something else for a little bit. We were very blessed to have her and are so thankful that he has now moved past it :)  

Friday, July 15, 2016

Independence Day Weekend 2016


Happy Independence Day!
We love this holiday! It's full of fun times, good food and celebrating our wonderful country. 

This year the holiday fell on a Monday so it was a good excuse to celebrate the whole entire weekend!
We were lucky enough to get an invite by our sweet friends, the Denson's, to head out to the lake and have some fun on their boat on Saturday!

We headed to Kerr Lake which was about an hour away from us and we were very excited because we had never been there before. We are all about going to new and different places and so far this year we have been to a lot! This lake was beautiful! We couldn't have asked for a better day or more perfect weather!!!




We set up here close to the water where the boat could pull right up. We were going to be swimming here and also grilling out for dinner :) 




Hensley absolutely loved the water. I was worried he would be hesitant since he had never been to a lake before but he had no fear and really loved floating and jumping off the tube!


 
We spent all day swimming and floating. We took a few rides on the boat and it was so nice to just curl up with my sweet boys and enjoy the view :)





I love Hensley and Noah's friendship. Noah is such a sweet boy and they both keep each other laughing!




The many faces of Hensley! 





We ate lunch and Andy and I both soaked up every minute with Hensley and seeing his little face :)

It was a beautiful evening and probably the best part of the day was all three of us getting to go tubing for the first time. We had been wanting to go for so long and we were so excited to finally get the chance. Hensley liked it more then I thought he would he just didn't want it going too fast :) 



I have to get a little sappy for a moment. Bare with me......Today Andy and I tubed together side by side and it was literally my favorite memory with him ever. I had NO idea it would be as fun as it was. I was terrified and screamed at the top of my lungs everytime we hit a big wave (or what I thought was big) and Andy laughed til he cried at me! I looked over at one point after we had went pretty fast and he was laughing so hard. It made me laugh even harder. My stomach and face hurt so bad after getting off that tube from laughing and smiling. It was seriously just a moment of pure fun where we could let loose and enjoy each other and I will remember it and treasure that memory forever. 



After dinner and relaxing on the beach we headed out to get a great spot on the lake to watch the fireworks. I think everyone was exhausted and so so happy to have had this day together!


I really hate that neither of my cameras could capture how amazing it was on the water in the dark. There were boats as far as the eye could see in both directions. After all the fun we had that day it was incredibly peaceful.

I think the 4th of July is always time that we can be so grateful for the country we live and for our freedom. It's something that's so easy to take for granted and this is always a nice reminder of just how blessed we are! It was awesome looking around at all the boats while listening to the band play the national anthem in the backgroung. It was literally picture perfect!




 Happy 4th of July everyone :) This was definitely one for the books.





P.S This all went down on the 3rd of July! Lots more 4th of July fun to come !


Monday, July 4, 2016

Independence Day 2016 Part 2

So we have already looked back at our memories of the lake for the 4th of July celebrations. You can see that here.

So since all that fun was the 3rd of July we were just beginning our Independence Day celebrations. 
Andy was working on the 4th (BOOOOO!) and my parents were out of town, but we still have a lot family in town so Hensley and decided to head down to my Grandpa's and enjoy a little cookout! 

My uncle Johnny is the cook of the family and he certainly did not disappoint this day! 

It was oh so hot but we had a great time eating and making my Grandpa laugh! 
We don't get together too much like this during the year but it's nice when we do and we always have a good time catching up! 



Hensley got to spend some time with his newest cousin....Jace :) 


Our family...most of them!



The boys!

 Everyone was trying to get someone else to take a photo of them with my Grandpa...it was a little hectic...I sat down beside him and told him we didn't need anyone to take out picture...Grandpa's first selfie :) 


My Grandpa loves Hensley so so much.



Well after all that fun....we headed home but it just didn't feel right to spend our 4th of July night all alone since Andy was out of town.....so we went home spent literally 10 minutes packing, loaded up the car with the dogs and off we headed to South Carolina for a few days to see my parents. Hensley was so so excited and thought it was so cool we just decided on a spur on the moment to take an adventure.





We'll catch up with you in a few days and let you in on all the fun we had! It was a gorgeous end to the weekend!