Ahoy Mate

Last week I decided to turn the "cubby" part of Alex's closet into a "pirate hideaway" for the boys to play in. They absolutely love pirates! Alex was very proud of his new pirate ship (as he calls it). When Sarah Kate came over to play he couldn't wait to show her. Girls aren't so fond of pirates! :-) Soooo...instead of going in the pirate ship where the "scary pirates" were she decided to use Alex's play kitchen to cook for the shipmates. Excuse the dirty fan in the picture. It would get super hot in there if we didn't have a little fan in there. They keep their Pirates of the Caribbean Legos in their pirate hideaway and that can keep them busy for a long time (until the punching & choking & biting breaks out). Behind Drew is a pirate ship steering wheel that I got at Home Depot. It actually goes to the outdoor playsets but I screwed it into the wall & they love to steer their ship!

This is a curtain I made to separate the hideaway away from the rest of his closet. Since his bedroom is upstairs, his closet has an angle in the back because of the roof and it really can't be used for hanging clothes. It makes the perfect play area.

I added a treasure map, poster, and rope lighting. I also am going to add some pirate decals on the walls. Their pirate dress up and treasure chests are in there too. I couldn't get a picture of everything since it is such a tight space.

I bought a treasure chest at Hobby Lobby and let Alex & Drew paint it. I put their pirate legos in one chest. In the other chest they have plastic rings, coins, bead necklaces...basically pirate treasures.

Little bit better picture of the wheel and rope lighting. If I can't find Alex anywhere else playing inside...I find him in his pirate hideaway.

To Rogers and Back on the Train

Today Alex and I rode the Arkansas Missouri Railroad with some friends. I have never been on a real train before so it was really neat (even though we didn't go very far). I was sad that Drew didn't get to go with us BUT I will admit that it was much easier to care for just one child. It got a little chaotic when we were stopped on the track for an hour because there was a freight train blocking the track. Luckily, my friend Amanda strategically placed us in the middle of the middle train car so that if we crashed (or got hit by the freight train) we would be safe! Very thankful for friends like Laurie & Amanda that think of those kinds of things. All I worry about is if there is a storm coming!

Sweet baby Lela was soooo good throughout the train ride and even during the HOT delay!

Alex and his friends, Neely and Sarah Kate. On the way to pick them up he said "I love Neely and Sarah Kate". He totally doesn't care that many of his friends are girls!

Kacy (event planner of the year) and sweet baby Davis. Wells is somewhere hiding behind her. Kacy is who we have to thank for our fun train ride today. Every month she plans at least one fun outing for our group of friends. I am sooo thankful for this because I would probably otherwise sit at home with Alex & Drew. :-)

Sweet little baby Kamryn. She was another good little baby girl during the ride and hot delay.

I didn't get a picture of Kinley but she was there too. Kinley & Alex are about the same age. Sweet little girls! Alex enjoying the ride.

Kade is enjoying the ride. Cute or what??? His older sister Alex was also with us but I didn't get a picture of her either. She is Drew's age and he would be disappointed if he knew he missed the train ride with his friends.

Cutie Wells hanging out during our STOP.

After the train ride we went to a mexican restaurant for lunch. The kids were great & the food was yum. BUT...I love mexican food so I'm easy to please! Thanks Laurie for the great suggestion.

All of the kids were soooo good today. They were such little troopers as we sat on a HOT and STILL train for an hour. I hope we can ride the train this fall to see all of the pretty leaves. I also would like to take the boys on the Christmas train ride with Santa.

All Grown Up

Well...yesterday the inevitable occurred at our house...Drew started Kindergarten! Of course we took about 300 pictures but here are just a few.

He doesn't look very thrilled to be there BUT it's really that he just was tired of pictures. Ha!

Inside his classroom by his cubby
This picture makes me laugh at the terrible face he is making BUT he also looks so sad. He was so happy to go though so I'm not sure what this face is all about.

Off we go to school...I'm so thankful we went as a family! As I walked out of school crying, David did everything to make me feel better. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have such a WONDERFUL husband!

Poor Alex was not happy that he couldn't stay with big brother. He begged to wear his "empty" backpack.

Before we left our house...

We are EXCITED about Kindergarten!

My precious boys...where has 5 years gone???

Awake but not happy about it. He said that he didn't like that you have to get up so early for school. David & I ASSURED him that we DO NOT like that either! Sometimes I think that God didn't make my buddy to wake up early. Laugh you may...but I'm dead serious! If I wake up early on my own, that's perfectly fine but when we wake up to an alarm clock we feel awful. Why is that???

I decided to add pictures of the last 5 years also. I didn't always have pictures labeled as Drew's first day of school so I chose pictures that I know were around the time of school starting. I have had mixed emotions about Drew starting school. On one hand, I know he is at a wonderful school and will have so much fun and learn so many new things. That part of it makes me excited for him! What makes me sad is thinking back over the past 5 years of him being at home with me. Knowing that I can't just keep him home if we feel like it or go out of town on a weekday, makes me sad. I have always been thankful that I have been able to stay at home but yesterday as I looked back over 5 years I was even MORE thankful that I was able to stay home with him from birth. I worked part time the past few years and he has always done MDO but that doesn't compare to starting REAL school everyday. Looking back over the last 5 years, I found some of my favorite pictures.

This was his first day at MDO at FBC Jonesboro where I taught 3-4 year olds for 2 years. He was 5 months old.

Fall 2007

Fall 2008 (shortly before Alex was born)

Fall 2009 (He LOVED Batman at this time)

Fall 2010