Summer's End

Once school started back, it has hard to find time to soak up the end of summer... but we did!

Here is Chyenne on her first day of Cheerleading practice.

 Modeling her new uniform. Go Wildcats!

 One evening, after dinner, the kids were running wild around the house and I decided to surprise them with the sprinkler. They ran around for nearly an hour in only their undies. Oh the joy! Cohen kept shouting, "this is the best day ever!"

My sweet, beautiful babies ready for school.

 

Finally, their well-checks. We delay vaccinations, so Chyenne finally had her 5 year well check. Due to her vitamin deficiencies, she is never truly "healthy" so she only gets one shot at a time.

Cohen is now 43 pounds. He turned 4 on August 4th.
Chyenne is now 45 pounds. She turned 5 on March 25th.
They both have perfect vision and are growing right on track. They are both developmentally off of the charts for their ages. WOO!

 

We had to soak up the end of summer by swimming a few more times.
We are so proud of Cohen because he learned to SWIM without floaties this summer. Chyenne has always been a fish (swimming at age 2) but Cohen was more hesitant in water. This year though? He was a little shark!

 

Chyenne has perfected her underwater tricks.

 

Summer's end allowed for a date night... not a traditional date night for most people. Hubby and I prefer low-key nights of going fast & getting dirty. Yeehaw. ;)

 

Quite possibly my favorite part of the end of summer, beginning of fall is SOCCER! Soccer season is in full swing and my two are quite impressive on the field.

 

 

Chyenne is getting better and better at balancing, but her real skills are on the field. She is our most aggressive player with great ball control.

 

Another goody about recently is obtaining joint custody of this little princess. Meet Cassidy, my niece who is with us now 50% of the time. While it's definitely tough, it is such a joy to help her learn and grow, especially knowing that spending time with us is one of the only way she gets attention. Poor baby.

 

Chy had her first parade for cheerleading. She was adorable.

 

Cohen also rode in the parade with his uncle who owns a body shop. ;)

 

One of my best friends (since kindergarten, yall!) and I attended a gorgeous country wedding for another bestie. We had a blast.

 

And if you guys didn't already know, I really, really, really want a farm. I would totally settle for hanging out with my kids, hubby and lil piggy with a barn though.

 

We also have been enjoying the sky! Oh our Lord certainly knows how to paint the perfect backdrop.

 

Shooting rockets is another favorite. Cohen and Daddy worked hard to build their rockets, but it was even more fun when Pops, aka Colt's dad, came over to help build and launch them. Below is a picture of Colt and his dad launching a rocket.

Chy & Coh had a blast helping fire the rockets. I loved watching them get excited with Daddy.

 

Riding four wheelers (through the field) before a soccer game.

 

First soccer game of the season. I have the pleasure of coaching my two kids and my niece on one team this year. I am so very proud of them.

 

Here is my outstanding U-6 soccer team. We are currently undefeated after 4 games. They are really incredible, which is really awesome considering we moved Cohen up to this age bracket before he was technically old enough to play.

 

He has fit right in with the rest of the team. He is very aggressive and is our best goalie on the team.

 

 He also works really hard on getting stronger kicks. He has scored twice this season so far! :)

In other, super amazing news, BOTH of my babies won Terrific Titan. Chyenne won Terrific Titan for her kindergarten class for August and Cohen won Terrific Titan for his Pre-K class for September.
Terrific Titan is an award given to students who exhibit exceptional behavior, listening skills, friendship, etc! I am SO PROUD of them. I knew I had good kids, but it is nice to know that others recognize it too. Btw, they are both loving school.

Chyenne is quite the soccer star this year. She spends the most time with the ball in her possession. She has scored several times and has assisted a TON of goals this year. She is our best defensive player and plays goalie like a champ too!

 

She's also really fast this year. My girl is very competitive, just like her mama. ;)

 

So between juggling school, work, soccer, cheerleading, helping raise a 14-15 month old, and everything else in life, we had a great end to our summer. Bring on fall!

Back to School & New to School!

Well, the time has come for both of my babies to be in school. A real school. Elementary school.

I get sad even thinking about it and they have been in school since the 8th. Sheesh.

First, we had the Pre-K parent meeting. Here was Cohen's reaction to that. HAHA! He's in the same class Chy was last year... the Pink Pigs. If you know my manly man child, you would know that he doesn't like anything pink or girly or anything less than macho. LOL. Luckily, he loves his teachers.

Next, we had open house. I can't believe my girl is a kindergartener already. She has grown up way too fast. I also cannot believe my boy is a Pre-K student. It is amazing how quickly these years have went by.

Chyenne was ready and really excited to meet her teacher. She was also anxious to figure out which friends were in her class.

Cohen? Well he was much less excited about Open house. In fact, he cried in all of the pictures I took before we left the house. He fell asleep in the 4 minute car ride to the school. Poor buddy.

Chyenne started to get a bit nervous when we got there. It was open house for Pre-k through 5th grade so there were a LOT of people there and we had to park by the road. My girl is a bit like me...she does not like crowds.

Cohen finally woke up, after Daddy carried him up to the school. He was a lot more excited than he first was.

Here is Chyenne meeting her teacher. Oh boy she was shy. She barely spoke a word to her teacher, the teacher assistant, and the student teacher. It was too funny.

Cohen sat right down, ready for school! He talked to his teachers and told them all about his summer. He found his name easily on his table, his cubby, and his lunch tag. He acted so grown up. He had just turned four years old two days prior to open house! He shouldn't be this big! :(

Afterwards, Cohen was in good spirits as he showed off his HOUSE he drew for open house. Oh my boy, you are the best!

The night before school brought a lot of excitement. We had a favorite dinner of turkey spaghetti before our baths. After baths, we got ready in our favorite pajamas and read several stories about school. Cohen was so excited. Chyenne was excited, but very nervous. Mind you, she cried a LOT last year in Pre-K, so school has not been her favorite thing, despite how smart she is. We said our prayers and gave tons of hugs and kisses before they drifted off to sleep.

While they were sleeping, I decided I had to make the first day of school morning extra special. I decorated the kitchen in red and green apples and set up a great back to school breakfast of sausage biscuits, boiled eggs, fruit and milk.

They LOVED it. They both said it was a back to school party. Oh I love them!

Next, we got all ready for school. First day of school outfits, check! Fancy hair, check! Clean teeth, check! Cute signs, check!

Cohen: When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter! (and a soldier too, mommy!)

Chyenne: When I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian, that is an animal doctor!

They donned their backpacks and lunchboxes, ready to go.

Daddy and I both walked them into school, carrying all of their extra supplies and teacher gifts (not picture, but trust me, they were cute!)

They each led the way to their classrooms. We walked Cohen in first, so that Chyenne could give her old teacher a hug and we could all wish Cohen a very happy first day of school. He looked so small walking down the hallway with his backpack bigger than he was. He knew exactly where to go and almost sprinted to class.

 He put his backpack and lunchbox away and sat right down to get ready for school. I was so nervous that he would cry. I mean, he had just turned four only four days prior. But in true Cohen fashion, he surprised me and gave me the biggest hug as he told me he would see me later. I am SO SO SO proud of my boy.

Next, Daddy and I walked Chy to her classroom. She led the way, very slowly. She is in the green frogs class this year. Ironic that my frog-loving boy is in the pigs class while my pig-loving girl is in the frogs class. :)

She put her things away very quietly as she found her cubby and her place to sit. She refused to make eye contact with me or daddy as she hugged us goodbye. I just knew she would cry, but she gave us quick kisses before I told her I would see her in a few hours. She was so quiet. It sort of broke my heart.

Overall, no tears were shed from either one during drop off. Man, I am so very proud of my babies. I cried a little when we got back home to the eerily quiet house.

Pick up time could not come soon enough. Unfortunately, it was raining when it was time for school dismissal. I was worried about Chy as she is very scared of rain. Poor kid.

Luckily, they both had amazing days at school. Chyenne only cried once during gym time when she missed me. Oh my sweet girl. Cohen said he didn't cry at all because he's a big four year old.

They have been doing great every morning and every afternoon. They both love school. They are both making new friends. Oh school, please be good to my babies.

Superhero Party: Happy 4th Birthday Cohen!

Last weekend, we celebrated Cohen's fourth birthday.

Superhero Style!

 

I can hardly believe that my sweet, 8 lb 13 oz newborn baby boy is now 43.5 lbs and four years old! He is really into superheroes lately. In fact, the day after his Shark party last year, he said "mama when I four, I gonna have a superhero party!". So we stuck with it.

 

AWWW. Look how precious he was and is! Newborn, 1st birthday, 2nd birthday, 3rd birthday and almost 4th birthday! He has grown up way too fast but I am so proud of the little boy is!

As usual, I made his cake. He doesn't even eat cake, but he requested a "blue superhero cake with four sides because I'm gonna be four!" So, that's what my boy got.

Saturday morning was fun! He woke up while I was at the bi-annual soccer meeting and daddy told him he heard a bull frog outside. Cohen ventured out to find him, still in his pajamas. He adores frogs and lizards so I was not surprised when I returned to find him toting a frog around.

I was a little surprised when I looked over to see him with the frog IN the house... he said his frog was hungry and there was a fly on the window trim, so of course, he had to bring the frog in.
He also put the frog on his head, asked me (with a shovel in hand) if frogs eat worms, and asked if we had any frog-sized clothes for the little guy. It was the sweetest thing.

 

As a young girl, I had always dreamt about having kids of my own... a girl who loved crafting and playing with babies and a boy who was the ultimate, rough and tough, frog-catching, mess-making son! And that's exactly what God blessed me with. Cohen is everything I have ever dreamt of and I am so thankful God saw me fit to be his mommy.

We didn't get the basement ready in time like we had planned... one word: RAIN! We had the rainiest summer here in GA ever!!!
But on to the party, I still managed to set up a little so my little superhero could have a cool party.

Cupcakes

 

Some outdoor decorations. The weather was ehhhh not the best, but we still had a decent turn out. A lot of girls. poor guy. ;)

Cohen was thrilled to be surrounded by superheroes and his friends.

Happy Birthday handsome boy!

He smiled so nicely for pictures before we sang happy birthday.

He then made a big wish, "I wish I was a real knight in shining armor!" (the same wish he makes on every single dandelion he blows) and successfully blew out all four candles!

I cannot believe that my boy had FOUR candles on his birthday cake this year! Four is SO old!

The little stinker just wanted vanilla ice cream and white cheddar popcorn while all of his friends munched on cake, cupcakes, ice cream, and oreo pops!

A super cute Hulk pose!

He was so precious sitting atop the table eating his treats. Gosh I love him SO much!

He is at THE BEST age for opening presents. His face lit up with each and every one. He mostly got superhero toys, legos, and puzzles.

Me and my birthday boy!

Wonder Woman, Superhero Cohen, and Iron Man! Family! :) (Chy was still swimming at this point)

BALLOONS! (That he punched so hard they floated into space after he knocked them off of their ribbons).

Trying out his new Hulk Mask with his Hulk Hands. Sweet boy! (In the background, girls are still working on their superhero masks, rings, and bracelets).

Superhero Fight.... Cohen with his closest cousin and best friend, Cayden (5 months younger than Cohen).

He had a great birthday party. He was thankful for everything and everyone. I am so proud of my boy!

The next morning, Sunday, was his actual birthday. He woke up early (no surprise there, as he was born at 5:48 am!) and asked "Mama, is I four now?". Yes sweet boy with horrible grammar, you are four years old. Happy Birthday, son. Thank you for being the boy of my dreams.

We played with his new toys and games and then he was ready for breakfast. Bullseyes per his request. I am so glad I was able to celebrate my beautiful boy.

Cohen, I hope you know how loved you are. I hope you know how happy you make us. I love you more than words can even attempt to express. You are the boy of my dreams who just so happened to complete our little family. I cannot imagine life without you. You are spunky, smart, creative, imaginative, thoughtful, kind, loving, fierce, strong, beautiful, hilarious, sincere, and simply amazing! Happy birthday baby boy.