First Day of School & Watermelon

Cayden looking less than enthusiastic on the first day of first grade. He actually has a little cold right now and wasn't feeling 100%. His goal again this year is perfect attendance so unless his temp is more than 103 he's going. (just joking)
Tonight we cut up our watermelon that we grew in our garden. Cayden picked out watermelon to plant and I was very skeptical. We had tons of watermelons that Brenham, our dog, played with like balls. We got several that looked and smelled and tasted like watermelon but this one was the best one by far. It was huge and the kids enjoyed eating something we grew.
The twinkies getting a bite!
Our shy one posing for a watermelon shot.
Cooper and Cutter also started school today. They are in Ms Donna's class and couldn't be happier. For some strange reason they asked Scott to take their picture with their fireman hats on. So, there you have it.

Although it's sad to see summer go it will be nice to get in some form of a routine again. We are very unstructured people by nature so actually having a bed time and something to do in the morning other than swim will be nice for a change.

Summer Goals

At the start of the summer I had two unspoken and unwritten goals with the twins. Number one was that they both be able to swim without any floaties by the end of the summer. When Cayden was a baby we swam all the time and since he was the only kid he never wore any type of float. He was a strange kid and was swimming by himself, with me walking right beside him, by the time he was one and a half. By the next summer, at two and a half, he was swimmng really well. With two tiny ones the twins hardly ever got to get in the water without a float or floaties. I would try to give each one a little swim time without them but it was very limited. At the beginning of the summer Cooper decided to try without floaties and has been doing great ever since. Cutter, however, did not want to go without his floaties. He would swim with his face in the water and body on top of the water but always with his floaties. Today we had a break through. I took them off and he was reluctant at first but then he started jumping to me off the stairs. He kept asking to put his floaties back on when all of a sudden he forgot to jump to me and just pushed off and started swimming. The rest is history. A few minutes later he was going off the diving board and swimming to the ladder by himself.
Goal number two was to have them both out of diapers. Cutter has thrown a wrench in that idea. But really, can you blame him. How convenient it must be to just go where you are and not have to take the time to find a bathroom.

Another totally unrelated but funny story:
Today when I was changing Cooper she had her hand not on her hip but on her hiney. She asked me, "Mom, why is our hiney like this?" I asked, "Like what?" Then she said, "Soft." I didn't have the heart to tell her that's as good as it gets and it's all down hill from there!

Day 7- and a thought worth noting

Today was church and Bible class with donut holes and chocolate milk. After church, a quick lunch at McAlister's and then on the road to take Hayden to meet his mom.

Just a thought about what great leaders we have at our church. To make this week possible one elder and his wife brought Hayden back to Texas with them. A second elder and his wife got us tickets to a baseball game. A third elder and his wife shared their beautiful land and let us fish and swim and he took time away from his work to play with the kids. All three of these precious families did this so two six-year-old boys could have a wonderful week. Thanks, you are appreciated and we feel blessed.

Day 6

A lazy Saturday today with cartoons in the morning, swimming and eating Bush's Chicken all afternoon, playing outside with a neighbor in the late afternoon, and fajitas and Rice Crispy treats to finish out the day.

It's been a fun week but it ends tomorrow. Until next year!

Day 5

Today we stayed at home most of the morning and early afternoon. After the little guys took a nap we headed out to Dr. Lurry's farm. We fished, swam, ate hot dogs and watermelon (except Hayden- he doesn't like watermelon!), and made s'mores. Dr. Lurry was out there doing some work so we got to ride in the gator and dune buggy with him. The kids swam and fished until about 9:30 pm. We should have taken a tent and just camped out because it was a great afternoon.

Saying hello to one of the cows.
Coop and Lurry going for a spin Cutter and Lurry
Hayden's FIRST fish!!!! It was the first of many. He is a very patient fisherman.Two for one!
Roasting marshmallows for s'mores.Thank you Dr. Lurry!!!
When it started getting dark we were catching much bigger fish and started catching some bass. Here are two of the bass we caught. They weren't even the biggest but it was getting too dark to get good pictures.Hayden with his bass and some s'mores on his face that he's saving for later!