Last first day of elementary school!

It's officially Hensley's last first day of elementary school! 

WOW!

That came quick! 

Over this summer Hensley has grown by leaps and bounds! One summer morning while cleaning the play room I realized we had not measured him on his growth chart in a while! So we did! It was shocking!!

He grew a solid 2 inches in 6 months!!! No wonder he has been eating us out of house and home!!!

I am so thankful we started this chart on his first birthday! It's been really fun to look back over his little growth spurts. 

Hensley has been ready for 5th grade for a while now. For the past two years we have had the same 5 teachers with the same routine and it wasn't necessarily the best for many reasons. We were all ready to move on a make a change. 

The fifth grade team was new to our school last year and they really knocked it out of the park! The kids last year LOVED them and there test scores were amazing. We were super excited they were going to be teaching Hensley. 

This year the fifth grade would only be switching between three teachers, which was already an amazing change. Hensley was excited to go to open house to see if his friends were in his class!

His face lit up when he found out his homeroom teacher would be Mrs. Nall, and almost every single friend was in his class!!! He couldn't have been happier with his placement. 

School supplies bought!

New lunch box! 

New backpack!

He was set!!!

Starting back in mind July is never easy but it seemed he was ready. We had played summer out this year. Lots of time at the water park, trips, lazy days and friends coming over. He seemed ready for routine and new adventures. 

Hensley is really into learning about animation. He has started learning on his laptop with a new program and he really enjoys it. Its his new future career goal (which is much better then YouTube star!) We went to see the new Lion King movie recently and he was really impressed with the animation. He made comments about it several times during the movie. Future Disney animator :) 

He did so well with drop off. I was a little worried with all that he has been through with his anxiety the past few years. He hopped right out of the car no problem! 

I prayed for a successful day. A day full of fun and learning. A smooth transition. A feeling of security and encouragement (something that was lacking quite a bit the past year or two). 

Seeing this face jump in the car at 3 pm made all my worries wash away. He had a GREAT day! 

Informed me they would not be having any homework this year (also a huge much appreciated change) and that they played lots of games!

The first week went well. Hensley had a little anxiety on Friday (a lot actually) but with the help of his teachers and a few others at school he is starting to work through it. He still comes home each day with a smile on his face and a good report of the day. We are so excited for this school year and all the fun and learning it will bring. 

A Decade Old

How is it possible that I have had a whole decade with this kid.

This weekend we celebrate 10 whole years with Hensley! 

Ten was a big milestone so we have actually been celebrating all month long!!!

Read all about our trips to Great Wolf Lodge and Harlem Globetrotters trips here!

Hensley's birthday wasn't on Easter this year for once! Thank goodness! It always makes it a lot more hectic trying to plan a party during a holiday weekend! 

This year he wanted to switch it up and have his party at a new place! 

He chose Lazer X in Burlington! 

We have been to several parties there over the years of friends but never had our own! 

The theme year was, of course, Fortnite. (Does anything else even exist right now?)

Hensley actually wanted cake this year!! He has never been a big fan of it, but after having Oreo cake at a friend's birthday last year he had to have his own this year! 

We had chips, fruit salad and Chic-fil-A nuggets to munch on! All of Hensley's favorites! 

No Fortnite party is complete without "Shield Potion"!!

 Hensley's friends were all really excited to play lazer tag!!

Andy was pretty excited too!

Time for a break in between lazer tag games to play some arcade games and EAT!

Hensley could have played Pacman the entire time! It's his favorite by far!

 This group of kids are hilarious!!!

After more lazer tag it was time for presents, cake and ice cream!

This giant present really had everyone wondering what was inside! It was, of course, from my his Granny and Pawpaw.

It was filled with 10 balloons and a card! The wad of cash inside was a shock to Hensley. He and my mom had a running joke for over a month that every time she asked him what he wanted for his birthday he would say "Money Granny, anything from $1 to $100" 

She gave him a stack of 100 one dollar bills! 

He got some amazing and thoughtful gifts from his friends. Lots of Fortnite gear and Xbox giftcards!
He was truly blessed to be surround by so many family and friends who love him!

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing basketball outside in the beautiful weather with his bestie Aden!

I can not get over how fast he is growing up.

Daddy and I had a few presents for him we saved for when he got home!

He will never really understand just how much he brings to my life. How much I pray for him. How much seeing him happy and smiling lights up my world. He will forever be my baby and I will forever be proud to be his Mommy. 

Happy 10th birthday sweet boy! 

The Year of the Pug

In early 2018 we added a little addition to our family. Which you can read about here.

On January 7th our sweet little Ellie turned ONE! 

Crazy to think one year ago we were hoping and searching for a little pug for our sweet boy who wanted nothing more for his birthday! We had no idea a short drive away in Raleigh she was making her way into the world. 

It had been a wonderful year full of love, cuddle and cuteness (and some frustrations too)!

Since it was her very first birthday we decided to make it extra special with a little party, some cake and gifts :) 

This is clearly the face of a dog who it thrilled to wear a birthday hat! It literally took us 20 minutes to get this one and keep it on long enough to take a few photos. 

Earlier in the day when Hensley was at school I decided to bake a few little dog friendly cupcakes for the pups. And, as always, when it's YOUR birthday, YOU get to lick the spoon! 

When Hensley came home it was time to celebrate!

 I thought it would be hilarious to do a little photo like so many do with their human babies on their first birthday and make a little "All About Me" photo.

Needless to say she wasn't amused! I think it was the hat! 

 Ellie most favorite part was of course the time to eat! 

The cupcake recipe I had looked up was actually really easy and the pups LOVED it. 

We sang Happy Birthday and she could hardly wait!

Time to eat!

Olivia (not pictured) received one as well, however she took it and ran so therefore, no photo. 

We had went the weekend before to pick out some gifts for little Ellie. There is nothing in this world Ellie loves more then her bed (other then food). She carries it around all the time. She will wrestle with it and sling it all over a room, and when she is tired, she plops it down wherever she happens to be and goes to sleep. 

The time had some that her little bed was just too little, and a bit destroyed. 

So, she got an upgrade! Hensley picked out a super cute pink bed, a few toys and some treats! She was in heaven! She loved the bed more then anything!

 These photos aren't the best, but it was a bit chaotic when the gifts came out and  Olivia was really confused why none were for her! 

 We had a blast celebrating with our sweet Ellie. She was truly a dream come true for Hensley last year. He had hoped and asked for a pug for so long, and I really think he believed it was a dream that would never come true. 

She has brought so much joy to him and our entire family. She has such a bug personality in her tiny little body! Hensley is her favorite person and he anxiously awaits his arrival from school each afternoon and can't wait to jump on the trampoline with him. She is the cuddly-est cuddler there ever was. Her snorts and grunts and snores keep us laughing! 

She is super smart and has learned to sit, stay, speak and we are working on shake. She sweet little smushed face can always make me smile. Hensley has really taken on the role of her care taker (except when we has an accident). He loves on her and protects her at all cost. He also slips her as many goldfish as possible. 

We can't imagine life without her now and are excited for many years to come of loving our sweet Ellie. 

Here are some of our favorite photos and memories from the last year. 

A dog will teach you unconditional love. If you can have that in your life, things won't be too bad!