Life Lately

I haven't done one of these posts in a while! So many pictures to share- brace yourself and get comfy!

We are slowly getting into this new season-- some mornings are better than other, and holy cow, are they early!

Cal has a good buddy in his class, Jackson, who happens to have an aunt who works at the school-- she sent this adorable picture from the first day of school.  They sure seem happy to me!

Andy got a new helmet-- it is similar to a neighbor's helmet-- gotta love the mohawk!

He's allll about a skate board lately... scared me to death, I swear.  

Cal's new baseball league required a lot more equipment than anything we've done in the past... he needed pants, a belt, sliders, a cup (ahem....), gloves and a chest protector.  We tried it all on one night and he was overly excited!

 
 This sweet girl is in Cal's class-- we caught them after the first day- all smiles!

I had a birthday last week and some of the very best women in the whole wide world took me out for dinner.  I feel like I say this all the time, but every girl should be so lucky to have ladies like this in her life.  I adore each of them beyond words and I truly treasure their friendships.  

We had such a fun night and many in the group weren't feeling great the next day...! hmmmm....

Andy has loved kindergarten this week.  Both boys got picked up by car pool early, but I caught a smile.  Andy said Monday night "I don't think I want to go to kindergarten tomorrow." I reminded him that he loved it last week when he went and he goes, "well, pretty sure that was a one time thing..." hahahahaha

And yesterday, I felt like a failure as a mom.  My parents brought back these t-shirts and both boys wanted to wear it.  I totally forgot the entire kindergarten was supposed to wear RED... I know Andy wasn't the only one, but he was upset about it because, well....Andy.  And, to top it off, Cal's behavior has been less than great lately.  Just feeling like not a good mom! 

I took a walk yesterday and saw a little baby deer come walking out and it was so sweet- then the momma came out and joined it. Loved it.  

 Life lately has been filled with alarm clocks, homework for Andy (Cal hasn't had any yet...!), baseball, soccer and reading.  PHEW!

I said I wasn't going to drink this week, but I am ready for a little glass of wine... anyone else??

Oh- and the back to school pictures on social media make me SO happy! It totally makes me not hate facebook- and that says a lot.  #noidonotwanttotryrodanandfields #justkidding #ialreadyuseit #butnowistopped #hashtag #hashtag #hashhhhhhhtaggggggg



 

Labor Day at the beach

We spend this past weekend at the beach celebrating Labor Day! Eddie's parents and sister Carrie were all down and we had a great time soaking up the last bits of summer. 

There was a little hurricane brewing out to sea and we got lots of rain on Friday and much of Saturday, but it didn't dampen our fun (see what I did there?).

Sunday we woke up and it was gorgeous out-- no humidity and not too hot and just beautiful.  We loaded up the boat and set out for Cape Lookout.  

 The boys enjoying a sprite on the way out of the marina....

 Snuggles all around!

 It took us about an hour to get out to the Cape and it was so worth it! It is really beautiful out there and we had a little private beach and enjoyed every bit of it!

 We tried to take a selfie with the lighthouse, but Cal photobombed us-haha

 You can walk up to the to of the lighthouse-- but you have to have on shoes (strike one), you have to have money (strike two), and you have to be there before they sell the last ticket (strike three).  My in laws tried to take the boys three times and didn't have luck!

 I love this picture! It was such a pretty day-- and that person in the water is my father in law playing ball with the boys-- over to the left. 

 The ride home was bumpy but great. 

Andy fell asleep while sitting up and his little sunglasses kept bouncing off his face as his head bobbed.  He finally put his head in CB's lap and took a nice little snooze.  

 Some sweet friends of ours were at the Cape the same time we were and once we put it together, she sent us this picture of Eddie and Hampton kite surfing out there-- Eddie's is the greenish one and Hampton's is a little more orange. 

 Monday morning, Eddie and I took the dogs on the beach for a big old romp.  I swear, I don't think Hank will be able to walk for a week.  He played SO hard.  He still has so much puppy left in him.  He was grinning ear to ear out there while he ran and swam and chased a tennis ball.  Made my heart happy to see him like this. 

 We all headed over to the beach for some swimming to get out energy before heading home. 

 The boys were riding waves in together and laughing hysterically. 

 And, the afternoon ended with some good throwing into waves.  I love this picture so much!

We don't know when we will be back down to the beach again-- fall is a busy busy time.  It was a great weekend to end the summer on... although I am in denial summer is over. 

 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (Andy)

CalBoy had his first day of school last week, and Andy was READY to go when it was his turn! The do a staggered start, which was different this year than last.  They break the grade into groups and then those groups are assigned a certain day to go: Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Once they go, they float around to all the kindergarten teachers and are "assessed" and then they are placed into their classes.  This process is to make sure the classes are well balanced, etc. 

Andy's assessment day was Wednesday so we treated that like the first day of school.

This kid had ZERO nerves and was pumped to go! (please excuse the date mishap on the sign.  Clearly momma was tired.)

He was not feeling the pictures at first--

  This picture makes me laugh SO hard-- I mean, how funny if this was the first day of school picture I posted of him- hahahaha I am sure there are plenty of kids who feel like this their first day of school.  Thankfully, he wasn't feeling upset at all-- just annoyed by me!

 Eddie came with us for the "first day" of school--

 The three of us- pretty sure Cal was long gone by this point.  No time for this. 

 

He walked into his assigned class and wasn't even slightly hesitant. He was smiling and happy-- seriously couldn't ask for a better drop off.  I almost got a little emotional though! No tears were shed, but it was a little sad to think about my baby starting kindergarten.  I just feel like I will blink and he will be gone to college. 

He had a GREAT assessment day and had a lot of fun. Cal's assistant teacher from last year sent me this picture from recess-- love love love her!

Thursday night we had meet the teacher at the school for all kindergarten kiddos.  We got a call earlier in the day that we got Cal's same teacher from last year so we were super excited.  I have a cute picture from meet the teacher, but the thing will not load.  Oh well.

Friday, Andy went to school to his real class with his real teachers and real classmates...

 We took some pictures before school and I was going to get some walking him in, but we were late and well, there just wasn't time!

He got in the car after school and goes "kindergarten was amazing!" and then a few minutes later he was looking out the window and he says "today was just a really great day."

I.WILL.TAKE.IT!

And now we fall into the routine of school... we start so much earlier this year.  It's been an adjustment so far!


 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (cal)

The FIRST day of FIRST grade!

Woohoo! (The school does a staggered start for kindergarten kiddos, so Andy will be going later in the week-- I am not just leaving him out- haha!)

 We were up EARLY-- actually, Cal was up a few times in the night and the last time he got up (4:45), I couldn't go back to sleep-- but he could...! so I started the day then.  I woke Cal up at 6:30 and Andy soon after that. 

 A yummy breakfast to fuel him (although he eats lunch at 10:20! haha!)

Then, obviously, we had to take some pictures!

Bruce had a FIT during this whole process.  Can you see him in every single picture?!

 Hey, buddy-- you look HUGE.  When did this happen? Weren't you just learning how to crawl?

 And he picked out a super cool Under Armor backpack that I kind of want to steal.  I won't.  But I want to. 

 Bruce still wanting to see what's going on-

 We finally had to let him out for a picture-- look how happy he is! All three of them!

 Then they insisted on bringing Hank out too-- all four of my sweet boys! Love them...

 The whole family took Cal to school and it was pure craziness, and this one was super excited to be there!

He walked to his classroom and immediately unpacked and found his seat.  Sweet boy was pumped!

 He got immediately to work...

Andy wasn't too sad to be not at school yet-- especially since he got a trip to Dunkin!

Can't wait to hear all about the first day! I hope it is a fun and wonderful year for our big 1st grader!


 

Start of soccer season!

Another soccer season is upon us! Practices started this week and the boys were excited! Andy moved leagues and is now playing on a U6 team in the same league as Cal. Cal is now playing on a U8 team-- but it's pretty much all the same team mates as last year. 

Sweet little soccer players. 

During practice tonight, a bunch of Cal's buddies skinned off their shirts and were kicking around the field. As he walked over to the car, I swear, it was like I was looking at a high schooler. 

I swear he wasn't mad. Maybe that's just his game face?!? Bwahahahahaha 

We are really looking forward to another soccer season! Bring on the practices, the games and all the fun!

A good boy

Hank goes to sleep in Andy's room every night. He sleeps right next to the bed-

Step one: fall asleep next to dog. 

Step two:

Fall out of bed, land on dog and remain asleep. 

Found them like this when I went to check on Andy. 

Sweet boys....