John's first day of Kindergarten

John' first day of Kindergarten
September 10, 2009


John's first day of kindergarten was the highlight of this year. He has been looking forward to this day for months. Ever since the last day of preschool, back in May, he has been constantly asking when he gets to start kindergarten. Over the summer he practiced doing "school work" and worked on his reading skills in preparation for kindergarten. He walked into his classroom like it was just another day. Said goodbye to me, Dan and Addie and went on. I on the other hand needed about 5 minutes to get myself together and finally walked away knowing that he was going to do great. His first day was not a let down!! When I picked him up after school he jumped into the car with a huge smile on his face and talked about the things that the class had discussed and the classmates that he met. Last year it was like pulling teeth to get any information out of him about his day. Now, by the time Dan saw him last night John had forgotten everything that happened in school. A gentle reminder was all he needed to kick start his memory. Then he talked and wiggled the rest of the night.... about Transformers that is. For a special dinner we went to a Hibachi grill and he loved it. The "valcano" was the best part of dinner.
Here are some pictures of John's first day of Kindergarten

ok... i think i need to go cry again... i don't think i got it all out yesterday :...(

i bought John bigger clothes then he needs because he is in the middle of another growing spurt. So hopefully these clothes will last until Christmas.

proud papa







Addie was taking pictures of John's first day as well.


Daddy's girl, 100%!!!!








walking to school with mommy and addie


walking to school with daddy and addie


walking into school all by himself : (


hanging his bag up outside his classroom


putting his name in his name slot.
there are only 12 students in his class this year.
i hope that ends up being a good thing for him.

sitting in circle time waiting for all his classmates to arrive.

summertime fun

Summer time fun

we started the summer off by celebrating John's 5th bday.  how did he grow up so fast?  i don't know.  but some how every time i turn around i am planning his birthday party.  this year we had a swim/transformers/star wars theme.  the best and most relaxing party ever.  we had a friend take some pics but they are really small on the blog so i will forward you the pics.

john blowing out his darth vader candle

opening up his transformer towel present.  he was SO excited

daddy and addie being silly with the camera.

we went to Austin to see the Self's the day after john's birthday.  we had a great time.  but some how came away with one pic.  i guess that is what happens when you have 4 adults and 5 kids.  no time.

dan and i were able to get away for the evening and spend it with great friends and COLDPLAY!!!! : )  it was a great concert. well ok, i thought it was a great concert. dan sat in a chair most of the time wishing he wasn't there.  : )

nothing like fun dip.  john ate his so fast i couldn't get a pic.

"goggie" switch.  addie thought it was so funny to switch swim goggles/sunglasses.

crazy rainy days equals... 

crazy sick days.  

we all caught a horrible summer cold and were out of commission for a week. the kids snuggled up on the couch and watched lots of tv.

this summer john and beanie have developed a closer relationship, which has been nice to see.

john's imaginations has EXPLODED!!!!!!!!!!!!

here he has lined up his lizards, and action figures to watch the rain storm. they watched it and talked about the storm for about 45 minutes.

john spends hours a day in make believe land!!!  it is awesome to watch and hear all the conversations he has with his playmates.

today john and i wanted to be true southerners.  i was missing gogo and had too many cucumbers that were sort of unusable.  so we made lots of sweet pickles.  they were awesome.  i am very impressed with john's cooking skills.  

how come you don't write anymore?

so we have been VERY!!!!! busy since school has let out.  Not with anything big but just with the day to day activities.  So before the year gets ahead of us any further I am posting a long blog of photos. so here we go

i uploaded the photos backwards. We are starting from yesterday and will end at the beginning of May. sorry

Movie Day

With our best friends at Free Movie Wednesday

seth, addie, john, dylan, ezra, carter, chloe

New Mexico Trip

Wedding Day for Kelly

Last week I was part of the most beautiful wedding for my best friend Kelly.

John and Addie pose for their yearly Peter Piper Pizza Picture

John and Addie loving on Nana's new cat Ferguson/Fergie/Fergus

John and Braydon mixing up a saucy dip for the supper time bread.  Letting boys be boys is very rewarding...

so much that it wears Addie out

Hair Cut for Daddy

John really enjoyed getting to help daddy cut his hair.  I love these sweet learning moments in life

Not a morning person : (

Addie has a hard time waking up.  She takes after her momma. But a warm bottle and sometimes a warm dishwasher is all she needs to perk up.

Tattoo time

If you don't know that John is OBSESSED with Transformers you must be living under a rock.  He is always wanting Dan to draw tattoos on him.

Date night

 Dan and I went to the annual GI dinner in May.  This is one of our 2 set dates a year.  This dinner is for the Fellows that have finished the entire medical process and finally have REAL jobs.

Next year it will be Dans turn. 

  WE HAVE ONE MORE YEAR TOO GO!!!!!!!   YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family Photo

Practicing for our family church photo.

Cookie time

The kids made and decorated the prettiest and most delicious cookies. : )

Snake Time

John and Dan look at snake pictures everyday. literally.  As soon as Dan walks in the door John has a list of snakes that he wants to look at on the internet.  

Prepping the soil

We planted a wonderful garden this year that is growing nicely.  Here the kids are picking out all the worms in the dirt in preparation for the planting.

Time Out

Addie is attached to John.  Even if he is annoying the tar out of her she will still follow him around.  In this pic John had been sent to time out for irritating Addie.  Addie followed him to time out and started "reading" him a story from her favorite book.  One day they will deny this ever happened but you all are witnesses that they really do deep down inside love each other.

T - BALL

John showing off his tball trophe with coach Dad

John with his team mates.  He is literally a head above all the other kids. 

John hitting his first home run.  We celebrate at McDonald's

Addie was a big help with Coaching.

running to 3rd base

Sometimes other things are just more interesting

#1 fan

showing John the straight and narrow. 

Not much is cuter

there are few things cuter than a toddler walking in their daddies shoes. Especially when they are only wearing a diaper and sucking on a bottle.

Rainy Days

It had rained everyday for weeks here in NC and I just couldn't keep the kids inside any longer so we went out and enjoyed the puddles.

Sweet Southern Belle

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE having a girl.  Addie loves putting her own shoes on and wearing hats. She is a typical girly girl!!!

Beans the dog

Our dog Beanie.

We have a few bats in our Cave

Our bats.  We counted close to 30.  They were packed into the bat house like sardines.

Local Reptiles

Ratty, our rat snake, has made about 3 visits to our house this year. We saw him today and he has grown to about 6 feet. 

Johns first local snake that he got to hold.  It was a very scary moment for me but he loved every moment.  He even was blessed my the snakes musk. STINKY!!!!!