A little Labor Day Fun

This has truly been a "laboring" holiday weekend in every sense of the word, but we had a little fun in there too! Rodney & I had been planning a weekend sans kiddos this weekend for quite some time.  My sweet parents kept our boys from Friday to Sunday so we could organize, clean out, and just have a little time together to reconnect.  It was a TON of fun, but we sure did miss our boys!!  They had a ball hanging out with their Mimi & Papa and Rodney & I just soaked it up as much as we could for those 2 1/2 days.  Ahhhh.... :) 

I wish I had a picture of our closet BEFORE the clean out!  You should have seen the pile of clothes we had! I just get giddy when I walk into the closet now.  It's so clean and organized!!!   Organizing is one of the things in life that makes me a VERY happy woman!  After bagging up 7 garbage bags FULL of clothes, 2 boxes of shoes, organizing my office, and the mudroom, we felt we deserved a night out on the town!  We got to see a movie on Friday and & have some sushi on Saturday night.  It was glorious!! 

Here are some of the organization "after" pics....

Our closet... Now I need a new wardrobe! ;)

The mudroom with some wonderful new baskets!

My amazingly organized office....and notice the diploma hanging up.  Yes, I graduated from college over 12 years ago and that is JUST NOW getting hung up!

We did a little eating outside tonight... Ahhhh, glorious weather!

The boys got to do some playing OUTSIDE!

Don'tcha just wanna EAT.UP.THAT.FACE??!!

Boys will forever be boys! The higher I can go the better, MOM!

AND Riley-Roo decided he was ready to walk all on his own this weekend! The sad part was, he decided to start it all at my mom & dad's house while we were at home in the midst of organization central!

"Look at me, Mom!  I can do it all by myself now!"

LOVE.THESE.BOYS!  We sure did miss you both! 

I think we tuckered 'em out... Happy Labor Day weekend. Thanks again Mom & Dad.  We can't thank you enough for the gift of TIME!   Hope those boys didn't wear you out too much! 

 WE LOVE YOU!

Mickey Mouse & Oatmeal

Yesterday morning I got Reid to watch something other than Barney!!!!  YAY!!!  AND.... He loved it!

He also ate oatmeal... his normal breakfast is waffles, french toast or pancakes. 

AND, he liked it!!!!

ALL GONE!!!  Whew hoo!!!

YAY Reid!!

Even little Riley took some bites and seemed to like it, but when I tried to feed it to him this morning, his little mouth was clamped SHUT!!  I just had to laugh... Oh well!

So proud of you for trying new things buddy.  I know it's hard!  Mickey Mouse is cool....I promise!  ;) Mommy used to watch that cartoon when she was a little girl.  It was her favorite!  This was a monumental day in our house, so I just HAD to share!  Trying two new things in one day is no easy task!  Great job Reid and Riley too!

And soccer begins.....

Reid all ready for his 1st soccer practice!

Complete with cleats & shin guards... Mommy didn't know the socks are supposed to go OVER the shin guards.  Silly Mommy!

When it's 120,000 degrees outside, you can sometimes have a hard time keeping your head in the "game."

Reid is playing soccer this fall.  He's never played soccer, so I wasn't sure how this would all go. He has been taking t-ball classes all summer and is SO.IN.LOVE with that, but of course little league won't start till the spring.  

He did really well at the 1st practice considering it was so dang hot.  There were a few tears during the practice because he was so hot, but luckily he made it through and I think he was proud of himself after it was all said & done.  He kicked the ball well and tried his best to pay attention to the coach while beads of sweat were running into his eyes!  It looks like we're in for another 10 days of over 100 degree heat.  UGH!  Happy soccer season!

New year, new teachers

Reid is officially a preschooler this year.  He is in the preschool 3's class!

I love this little face... looks like he's about to get into some mischief!

Riley-Roo is even going to MDO this year 1 day a week. 

It was like pulling teeth to get them to BOTH look at the camera at the same time.  We took MANY pictures to get this one shot below....

LOVE these precious faces!  Just wanna eat 'em up!

Reid's new teachers this year-- Ms. Cindy & Ms. Tina

They already seem sweet as pie :) 

I can't believe it's time to start another year of school for Reid and now Riley TOO!  Reid went right in as if it was no big deal, but Riley was a whole different story.  I handed him over to one of his teachers and just as I walked away from the door, I could immediately hear him crying.  Broke.my.heart.  Hence, no picture with his cute teachers!

I know he will be fine once he gets to know these sweet ladies, but oh the tears.  Riley is going through MAJOR separation anxiety right now and dropping him off anywhere is not easy.  

Mommy has a day off this year with no kids, so life is a little different... and fun! I see a few mommy lunches with friends in my future! :) Here's to a new school year!

Air mattress fun & the hiccups

While we were at the beach house one afternoon, we were hanging out and I hear laughter coming from the master bedroom.  When I went in, Riley-Roo is crawling around on the air mattress and having an absolute ball! While watching the video, you will hear hiccups... yes, I got the hiccups as I was videoing.  Riley thought it was hilarious, so I almost made myself keep doing it just to hear his cute belly laugh!  

First Beach trip with the boys

We took our first family vacation this past week and it was a blast!  My sister-in-law & husband recently bought a beach house in Port Aransas, so we thought it would be fun to take the boys on their first beach trip this summer.  We had a nice time and it was so fun to watch Reid & Riley experience the ocean & sand for the first time ever.  What great memories for our boys! 

Reid's first trip on a plane... he was just a wee bit excited -- thank goodness he isn't crying after our 5 hour delay waiting to get on the plane to go to San Antonio!  They both did well considering all that.  :)

The pilot even let him take a little "ride" in the cockpit before we left the plane.  This boy was in heaven!

We got to celebrate Madison's 13th birthday... well, almost 13. Happy birthday on August 27th, Madison!  Can't believe you will be THIRTEEN!!!

The cousins before we left to drive to the beach house...

Reid seeing the ocean for the 1st time in the daylight... we went the night we got there and he got to see the ocean by moonlight!

 Funny story .... after Reid was at the beach a little while, he said, "Mommy, can we go home and come back to the beach next week?"  I don't think he was a big fan of the heat & waves at first.  We had to pretty much carry him into the water both days because he was pretty afraid of the waves.  He loved digging in the sand and taking the outdoor showers after the beach!

Little Riley-Roo getting his first crawl on the sand.

Hmmmm.... is this supposed to be fun?  I'm not so sure yet...

Love this pic of Rod & Reid walking into the ocean together for the first time.

"Now I think I'm gonna like it here!"

Rod, Riley, Aunt Suzanne, & Reid

Reid & Mary-McKinley.  They had a ball together all week!

Mommy & Daddy-- we got to have a little fun too!

A beach trip wouldn't be complete with making a sand castle!

Can I build a sand castle too?

"Aw, nevermind... I think I'll just eat the shovel instead."

"And eat some sand while I'm at it.  A little sand never hurt anyone did it? "

My brother's rendition of a sand castle with some twigs.

The new beach look... a little sand go-tee.  It goes with my outfit, don'tcha think?

Riley loved clapping when we were at the beach... it was so cute! 

The boys... notice Riley clapping-- again! :)

Reid got in on the boogie board action... this was the most fun I think he had all week!

And me trying to pull a 200+ pound husband on the boogie board... not that fun, but it sure made for some great entertainment for those watching! HA!

Sweet cousins

The dads gettin' a little beer hang time together.

We got to take a dip in the pool after our last day at the beach.  Their house is complete with an awesome pool.  How great is that??!!

All the cousins together -- Madison, Riley, Monroe (back), Reid, Mary-McKinley (front) 

Thank you Person family for a fun week and all the wonderful memories we will take with us from our first family vacation.  The boys had an incredible time and Reid is STILL talking about going to the beach!   Thank you for your sweet hospitality.