Kindergarten Kiddo 1 Day 1 Down :)

We made it through the day!!!! A few tears were shed but we did good.

Big boy Bryant ready for school.
Mommy and her big boy.

Daddy and his handsome boys

Casey ready to take big brother Bryant to school.

Armstrong Elementary, here comes Bryant!!

Bryant in his classroom...after he shed a few tears and didn't want to stay at school.

Casey eating his sprinkle donuts they had for us kinder parents so we could all sit around and drown our sorrows in food :)

All in all, it was a good day. Casey was SO happy to see Bryant when we picked him up and I think Bryant was just as happy to see his little brothers. They must've missed each other. Bryant said he had fun, even "more fun than 3 year old and 4 year old school." That made me smile :) He also said they tried to teach him things he already knows. I told him that's because he's so smart! He said he made friends, had fun, and wants to go back tomorrow. I'm sure there will still be a little hesitation but I'm also sure there will come a day when he'll just go.

OH MY...

Where did the last 5 years go????? I cannot believe that my baby Bryant will be starting kindergarten tomorrow morning. He seems to be okay with the idea and somewhat excited. Me? Not so much liking the idea so far. I mean, I'm happy to get a break with only 2 kids, but not happy that it means my first born is growing up.

We met his teacher the other night and she seems pretty nice. Her name is Mrs. Favila. Bryant said she seemed nice too so that's good. Casey, on the other hand, was totally excited about Bryant's school and classroom. If we could send him to school, I think he would be super happy!

Here's to my big boy Bryant:

I love you dear Bryant more than you'll ever know. I can't believe how fast the years have gone and what a wonderful little boy you have become. You are a funny, smart, amazing son and big brother. We are so lucky to have you in our family. I pray that, as you start this new chapter in your life, God will bless you and keep His hands upon you and keep you safe. I pray you enjoy your time, learn as much as you can, and grow in so many ways. Please always know that I will be thinking about you and loving you every minute of every day! You are my sunshine!!

Love always and forever,
Mommy

Fit and Ready for Duty

I took my personal trainer exam yesterday and PASSED!!! WooHoo....I'm now a nationally certified personal trainer here to meet your physical fitness needs :)

Summer in Pictures

Pool time (was supposed to be last pic but I'm technilogically challenged :)

All the babies in New Mexico...Are they all cute or what???

Loving summertime fun with some watermelon.

San Saba for a reunion

Hanging out with Grandpa Gary.

Getting his morning jolt!

This is how Casey rolls at VBS.

Tubing with Mommy and Ashley...first time :)

Zoo...that's where we should've left those monkeys :)

More zoo

Speed

I am speed :) Those who are fans of the movie Cars knows that quote. It seems to be a popular one around here. The boys have "taken a liken" to that movie. It's pretty cute. Plus it is fitting for life around here....fast, furious, with some crashes and good times :)

To sum of life at the Sands' house quickly here is our individual rundown:

Dayden: He is the one who has the most to update. He started crawling on July 3. I remember the date exactly b/c Chad and I were both standing there in our bedroom and watched it happen all at once. Now he's unstoppable. He even started pulling up at the beginning of this week. He's so busy and loves to play with his big brothers. He can clap now (past couple of weeks) and sometimes will wave bye bye. He is getting 2 more teeth (for a total of 4) one on top left side and one on bottom right side. He talks ALL the time and is the sweetest baby ever!!!!!

Casey: He loves Cars right now and Tow Mater! He loves to play with cars and he loves to pretend he is a car. He also has a love for playing soccer, however, it's usually by himself. He's quite the character. He is a funny little boy who keeps us laughing all the time. He's also pretty darn smart just like his big brother. He knows most of his shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, star) and some of his colors. Right now his favorite color is blue.

Bryant: He is still the best big brother in the world. He plays so sweet with Dayden and loves to carry him and help him. He's still pretty good with Casey (most of the time). Although, he's discovered just how to push his buttons and really enjoys doing so. He is also quite the character and never ceases to amaze us with the things he says. He is also sporting a new buzz cut thanks to the crazy lady who just happened to screw it up and then use the razor without the guard on a spot of his head. All is good though b/c he is still the most handsome boy and looks fabulous :)

Parents (AKA Angela and Chad): We finally bit the bullet and got a new A/C unit!!!! Boy does it work better. We can finally turn the air down to a whole 79 during the day and it actually cuts off :) Now paying for it is another story :( So if you want to know what we'll be doing for the next year or so, it will be a big fat NOTHING. We'll be sitting around saving our money.

Oh but before we bit that bullet, we had a great 4th of July. We took the boys to Holly's parents' lakehouse and had a blast. The boys got to ride in a boat and go tubing!! They had so much fun. I even got up on skis for the first time in a LONG time. It was great. Then we made it home in time to see a good firework show. That Monday, Chad was off and we took the boys to the zoo. It was a wonderful time for everyone!

So that's life here in a nutshell. Always busy, on the go, with a few squabbles and lots of fun.

(I PROMISE I will get pictures up soon.....PROMISE :)

On the road again....

We have been SOOOOO busy the past month (as if you couldn't tell by the lack of updates). We have been here and there and back and there again. It's been a whirlwind.

Over Memorial Day weekend, the boys, Nana, and I went to New Mexico and had a great time. We haven't been able to go there in over a year so it was nice to visit again.

When school was out, the boys had a week of swim lessons. I had to do the lessons with Casey and Bryant did them all by himself...Dayden just hung out and watched. Casey seemed excited at first but as the days went on and he had to do things other than play, he didn't care too much for it. Needless to say, we did the last class with lovey just to make it through. Bryant on the other hand did good every day. He had one on one lessons to mainly just get him comfortable in the water. He held on to the wall and did "Spiderman", he put his cheeks in the water, and had fun. He didn't learn to swim (which I knew wasn't the plan) but he had fun and even got in the pool by himself the next week without being scare!!

The weekend before Father's Day, the boys, Ashley, and I headed to San Saba for a reunion. Not the best of times, but was good to go and make Grandma happy :)

We rushed back from San Saba so we could start our week of VBS. We had VBS Sunday through Friday from 6:00-8:45. I worked in the nursery with Casey and the other 1 and 2 year olds. He had fun and did lots of fun crafts. Bryant had a great time as well. I would watch him sometimes during the worship rally and see him singing and acting crazy, so that equals fun times for Bryant!!

This past week, I went to personal trainer classes all day long. The kiddos stayed with Ashley and Holly and had Camp AH HA (that's what Ashley and Holly came up with and even made shirt :). They planned fun things for the kids to do such as make a pinata, go to the Aquarium, make shakers, play in water, and just have fun. It was a great time for the kiddos. I also had lots of fun at my training. The classes were very informative and made me excited about my new adventure. Now I just need to study more and take my certification test and I'll be good to go and train :)

Dayden has been making all sorts of new progress in this growing up thing. He's been scooting and pushing himself around for a couple of weeks now. He can get just about anywhere. He'll get up on his hands and knees but no crawling. He can push himself up to sitting, and he's also just now (today I saw it) getting another little toothy on the bottom. He's also talking ALL the time. He loves to just chat it up with anybody (or anything). He's still my happy smiley boy.

Whew....that made me tired just writing all of that. I'm sure there was still tons more we've done, but my brain is on overload just trying to think about it :) We've had a very fun and busy month as you can see, so you'll understand when I say I'll have to upload pics later :)

GRADUATION

Big boy Bryant graduated PreK today :( He's getting to be such a big boy! I can't believe he'll be going to kinder soon. Where has the time gone? He received the Math award for being so good with numbers. He's such a smart boy. We're all so proud of our little graduate!!