A Big Week

We have had a busy couple of weeks.

We had a going away party for my cousins, Josh and TJ.
Josh is headed to St. Kitts and TJ off to Korea.  

I had to bring Mason to work with me one day.  He and Mazey enjoyed each others company. 

Pickin' up toys.
I was teaching Brody a trick on how to carry more than one at a time...

We got a new backpack in the mail which can only mean one thing!!!

It is time to start Kindergarten. 

Here he is at registration.  We may have gotten lost even with the signs. 

Brody had his birthday celebration at Mrs. Pat's house.  It is always a big party with an awesome, homemade cake.  It was a superhero themed cake with a ton of Pez dispensers.  You can see the excitement on his face. 

Opening his toys with his three best friends. 

Mom has officially retired and has been a HUGE help the last two weeks.  Mason had a week of no school and then only one day of school this week.  I don't know what we would have done without her! They came and met me for lunch last Thursday.  

A competitive game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.  Brody may or may not have thrown his body down out of frustration after not getting the yellow ball. 

Just saving the world. 

Last Friday was our last day at Mrs. Pat's house.  It was tough saying goodbye.  She was boo hooing the moment I opened the door to pick him up.  Brody couldn't quite understand that he would not be back.  His best friend, TK, wanted to to wait to leave when Brody did so she could wave goodbye.  How sweet.  So her and her Mom waited until I got there to send us off.  

We have seen Pat every week for almost six years.  We can never say how much she and April meant to us.  We trusted them more than ourselves with our babies.  Mrs. Pat was a mother, grandmother, and friend to us.  There are no words to explain what they mean to us and they will always hold a special place in our hearts.  

On August 6, 2015 (Thursday) at 6:30pm, David Neill McGriff III was born!!!  He was 7lbs 2oz, just the perfect size for big sis to hold!  

I think he will have plenty of people to love on him.  =)

I mean how sweet is this little face?!  

It is always so amazing to me how we forget how small newborns are!!!  

Back at our house, these big boys had an intense Nerf gun battle going on. 

Last weekend, we got to spend some time at Robert and Becca's new house.  You can see how much fun these three were having.  I can't imagine the stories we will have during their teenage years.

Mason is so excited Reese only lives "like one minute away" which is more like 15 but still, much closer.  =) 

This is what a pantry looks like for a first time lunch packer.  CTK and Mrs. Pat have always provided lunch.  I have been a nervous wreck about packing lunches.  Of course I didn't want to send them with too little and honestly, wasn't sure what they would eat.  All I could bank on was Brody eating his chips....

Shockingly, Brody has eaten everything this week BUT his chips.  They send home what he doesn't eat.  He has eaten his entire PB&J each day.  Only a couple of bags of chips and one bag of cookies have been sent home.  He must be getting peer pressured.  Ha. 

We had a big day Monday so we went out for a special dinner Sunday night.  The boys both loved hibachi. 

I then headed home and did my homework.  Labeling every single school supply.

When I said every item, I meant it.  We even had to initial all 120 crayons. 

Que the tears and First Day signs. 

Mason still wants to be a race car driver and was super excited about going to school. 

Brody told me he wanted to be a big boy when he grew up.  He also thought he was excited about school...but he really wasn't.  

We took Brody first.  It was just as bad as I had anticipated.  He was horribly upset.  I had all these things I wanted to tell the teacher but said nothing.  I fought to hold back tears and they ripped my sweet little guy out of my arms (of course after I told them it was okay to take him).  Poor Mason was so upset he had tears in his eyes.  Sweet big brother kept asking, "Is he going to be okay?!" 

Thankfully, our neighbors go to the same school.  One of them called me a couple of minutes later and said he was fine, just clutching onto his stuffed animal.  

And when I picked him up, he was having a blast in the gym.  He continued to tell us how much fun he had at his new school with his new friends. 

Next up:  Kindergarten.  

We only went one day this week and our day was Monday.  They were not assigned a teacher yet, so he was able to meet them all.  They also showed them how to go through the cafeteria line, etc.  He was VERY excited.  

It made it easier that our big second grade friends were walking to school.  He thought he was as big as they are.  

No tears from him.  He just couldn't wait to find out what was for lunch.  They asked us to bring lunch money on this day so they could walk them through the process.  Cheeseburger, fries, an apple, and strawberry milk is what he ended up with.  He said it was the best cheeseburger he had ever eaten. 

This was right after he walked out.  He said it was "totally awesome".  

The next morning, Mason went to my Mom's and Brody headed back to school.  Mason told Brody that he would have fun at school and wanted a big hug.  

He did end up crying again on the second day.  It was because we got there earlier (which will be the normal time) and he had to go to a different classroom for before care.  He wanted to go to his normal classroom.  

But by the third day, this is what we got...

He told the lady at the front desk, "I not crying today!"  And he didn't.  He walked right in and told me bye.  I really think this is going to be a great school for him.  He seems to be having a ton of fun.


We also found out Mason got Mrs. Lavelle for his Kindergarten teacher!  We were really hoping and praying he would end up in her class, so we are so excited.  It is going to be a good year!