First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for my sweet babies. Emily is in the 5th grade and has the best teacher -- Mrs. Cutshaw. Caitlynn had her two years ago and loved her so much. So, Emily was so thrilled to have gotten her. Ryan is in the 3rd grade this year and he has Mrs. Butler, who is a wonderful teacher, too. Emily didn't have her in the 3rd grade and neither did Caitlynn or Hunter, so I don't have much to go on, except that from what I hear, she is great. Ryan had a wonderful first day with her. He said that she was so nice. Emily had the best day, too. I'm so happy that they were still smiling when I picked them up.

We did have a bit of a fiasco this morning, though. This has been the first year that we have been allowed to ride the bus, because they said that we lived too close to the school to ride the bus. However, this year they changed the boundaries and if you live 1/2 a mile, or more, away from the school, then you can ride the bus. We live a mile away. Anyway, we were out there early, because we walked to Kelli's so that we could get a picture taken with Caitlynn and Hunter, before they went to school, and the bus was supposed to come at 7:26am. Well, by 7:38a, we got the car and just took them. We are going to try again tomorrow and see how it works. I have no problem taking them, so I will do that if we continue to have a problem.

After school, Kelli, Scott, and I took all the kids to Dairy Queen to get ice cream. They have a fun time. I'm going to close with some pictures from the day!

Emily, my 5th grader ~

Ryan, my 3rd grader ~

My sweet babies. They are growing up too quickly ~

Emily, Caitlynn, Hunter, and Ryan ~

Ryan, Emily, and Jessie (our neighbor), waiting for the bus, that NEVER came ~

All the cousins, after their tasty Dairy Queen treat ~

TEN THINGS TUESDAY (on Wednesday - again)!!!

It's that time of week again. A time where I reflect upon the things that I am thankful for. I am a day late, again, but I still believe in the old saying, "better late, than never!" hahaha!! This week, I am thankful for:

1. Rob having a safe trip to Orlando. He flew out yesterday, to teach a few classes, and will return home on Friday. He's enjoying his time there and it's a nice break for him. I pray that he has a safe return flight on Friday.

2. Girls night tonight with my Mom and sister!! This will be so much fun. We are meeting at Ruby Tuesdays, for dinner. Then, we are going to see the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie. Kelli and I are both excited to spend time with our Mom.

3. My wonderful in-laws who are watching Emily and Ryan tonight, so that I can go out with my Mom and sister.

4. Emily's shopping spree, with Nana and Sarah yesterday. Nana also gave me money for Ryan, so that I can take him out. Emily has a ton of cute clothes and a new pair of shoes to start the school year off right! I will take Ryan out tomorrow, for him to choose some outfits.

5. Matthew!!! He has been one of my best friends for 22-years now!! He is ALWAYS there for me, no matter what. I'm so sad to say that I'm not nearly as good to him, as he is to me -- but, he loves me for all my flaws. Although, I will say that IF he ever needed me for anything, I would be there in a heartbeat. He lives in Maryland, so we hardly see each other. But, he is one of those friends where you can just pick up the phone and start right back into a conversation, like no time at all has passed. Thank you, Matthew, for your friendship!

6. Jenn, and my wonderful surprise card that I received in the mail from her last week. You are always so sweet and I love you, my wonderful Bostonian friend!!!

7. My Dad and taking my van to get inspected for me yesterday. Yikes!! We had let it expire last month.

8. My sweet, precious children. I love them so much and am so thankful for them EVERY single day of my life. They never cease to amaze me and I am blessed beyond belief to be their mother.

9. A wonderful summer break. We didn't go on any fabulous vacation, but we enjoyed every single day of our summer, which was fabulous for us. We have 6 days left until school starts. So, we will have fun and enjoy the last few days of a non-hurried and rushed schedule!

10. The weather yesterday, today, and for what seems to be the remainder of the week. It is beautiful ~~ nice breeze. In fact, I have the windows all opened and we are enjoying the nice, fresh air. God is soooo good!!!!!!

The Name!

After two days of being undecided, about his new pet's name, Ryan has come up with --- "Lucky!" So, we have "Lucky," the Albino Leopard Gecko! I knew that you all were in suspense as to what his name was. hahaha! He's very active and is a lot more curious of his surroundings, than "Leppy" was. So, we're pretty sure, when comparing the two, that "Leppy" was sick. He was definitely more fragile than "Lucky." I will post more pictures tomorrow, when Ryan can take him out of his new habitat and play with him.

Emily's Ice Skating Jam Fest Program!

Last night Emily had her Ice Skating Jam Fest Program. What a nice ending to a wonderful week at camp! They had a ton of ice skating numbers, along with the guest Olympians who performed. The kids from skate camp, did their routines at the very end of the show. Emily's group skated to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." They all wore a different color ice dress. She wore her pink one. She did such a wonderful job. I was so proud of her. Unfortunately, where we were standing, I couldn't see her right away, because they were in a line and she was right beside a very tall girl. Here is a video of her routine. She is the one in the bright pink skate dress. Make sure that you scroll down to the bottom of the page and 'pause' or 'stop' my music, so that you can hear it. Also, remember that the video is not the best quality because I'm behind plexi glass. hahaha!!



Here are a few pictures of the evening. I don't have very many because I was recording the routine with my camera.

The group lining up, to take a bow~

Emily is in the bright pink~

Nana and Emily, after the show~

Me and Emily, after the show~

Introducing ~~~~~~

~~~ our newest family member! Yikes, did I just call a replacement Albino Leopard Gecko a "family member?" Ooops, I think I did! Well, here is the new little guy or girl. It's still a little too young for us to tell what we have. Ryan hasn't named it, yet. So, I will just show you the new pictures. Without further ado, here they are ~~

Here it is, in the container, before we put it in the aquarium:

This one is pretty active, so it was hard for me to get this picture:

Poor "Leppy" has passed away!

Yes, you read that correctly, Ryan's Albino Leopard Gecko, that he just received at his birthday party, only 4-days ago, has died!!! He was absolutely fine this morning. When I picked Emily and Caitlynn up from ice skating camp, Caitlynn wanted to come over because she hadn't held "Leppy" yet. Well, when they went into Ryan's room, they noticed he was laying on his belly and they touched him and knew that he was gone! Poor Ryan was so upset when we told him. The only good thing in this entire situation is that PetSmart has a 14-day policy on returning pets, and getting new ones, in the event something like this happens. So, Ryan actually picked "Leppy" up and put him in his little container and we ran to PetSmart to get a replacement gecko. Unfortunately, they were completely out of them and will not be getting a new shipment in until tomorrow. So, bless Ryan's heart, he had to come home without anything but a new book about 'caring for your leopard gecko'. We decided to purchase a manual on how to take care of him. I will post pictures tomorrow of the newest member of the family. By the way, the above picture was taken when "Leppy" was alive!

Thank you, Jenn!!!

Tonight, when I went to get my mail, because I was super late at checking it today, I got the best surprise!! Here it is:




My sweet friend Jenn, from Boston, sent me this card! I hope that she doesn't mind me sharing it. It definitely put a smile on my face and made me so happy! She is definitely one of those "true" friends that I talked about in my "Ten Things Tuesday" list! I am so blessed to have her in my life! I love you, girly!! Thank you so much for making my night! xoxoxo