Disney on Ice

On December 15 we treated ourselves to an early Christmas gift. We went to see Disney On Ice in Tupelo! We all LOVED it!

Breakfast with Santa

The boys were both excited to see Santa, eat some pancakes, and do a little Christmas shopping in the $1 store at FUMC.

Joe quickly changed his mind about visiting with Santa, but Jack enjoyed his visit.

We've enjoyed this breakfast with the Adkersons for the last 4 years!

Jack is a "ring barrel"

We were so honored that Allegra asked Jack to serve as the ring bearer for Arthur's and her wedding. He and the flower girl were a great match. They had a great time playing and dancing, and they both did their jobs during the ceremony perfectly! (Jack referred to his role as the "ring barrel" :-)



Brent, Jack and I went to the new Muppet Movie. It was GREAT!

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we picked out our Christmas tree.

(We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving in Natchez with Sue, Todd & Bec to celebrate Sue's 70th birthday. Then, on Wednesday, Grandmommy, Grumps & Mimi came up to Starkville for Thanksgiving...but my camera was dead, so I don't have pictures of any of that!)

Halloween & Broken Arm

In September Jack broke his arm. This was our first incident with a broken bone, and he handled it like a trooper! He was climbing a tree that had a bench under it, and when he was trying to get down, his upper body came out before his legs. He hit the bench on his way down. He was in a lot of pain, but I didn't realize it was broken. Later that evening, I started to worry it might be broken, but he was ready for bed at 7:00 and seemed to be OK. We borrowed a sling from a friend, and I sent him to school the next morning while I waited for the doctor's office to call me back. I arranged for an x-ray later in the morning, and I check him out of school. It was definitely broken, and by lunchtime we had an appointment with the orthopedist. Jack decided he wanted a red cast, and he was very brave throughout the whole thing!

Over the summer Jack and Brent read the "real" Winnie the Pooh books. I commented that Jack reminded me a lot of Christopher Robin, so he decided that's who he would be for Halloween. We used tiger costume to dress Joe like Tigger. They were quite a cute pair!

Pink Fire Truck visits Sudduth

The Pink Heals Tour made stop at Sudduth this year, and it happened to be while Grandmommy was in town for a visit. The pink fire trucks and firefighters wearing pink tour the country to raise money and awareness for women's cancers.

Goodnight Gracie

Our sweet dog Gracie was diagnosed with lymphoma in June. She hung in there for longer than expected and we were lucky to get some sweet pictures with her a few weeks before she died.

Joe turns TWO!

It is so hard to believe that Joe is already two years old.  He had a little party at school with his class on his actualy birthday, August 11.

Then, we enjoyed a some cupcakes that evening after dinner.

And, we had a party with all of our family the next weekend.

Jack still....

Ok, so I just did one of the hardest things I've ever done.  I dropped my baby off at kindergarten.  Now, let me clarify, it wasn't hard because I'm worried or anxious.  He is very ready for "big school" and was so excited this morning, that I really enjoyed walking him into his classroom and seeing him jump right into the activities that his teacher had set up.  I LOVE his teacher and am confident that he's at the right school.  The hard part of sending him to kindergarten is stomaching the emotions that are tied to this milestone.  I know it might sound like I'm going a little overboard, but I feel like this is the first big step in "letting go" of my baby.  I know he's still only 5, but he's FIVE!  He's not a baby anymore, and I know the string of events that lies ahead is going to result in him really becoming independent from me...which is what I know is supposed to happen.  I feel strongly that our goal as parents of boys is to nurture and grow them into strong, independent men...not wimpy, dependent, momma's boys.  But, oh, how my heart would like to keep them my babies forever!

So, in honor of Jack's first day of kindergarten, here are a few things he's doing now:
-tying his own shoes
-brushing his own teeth
-buckling and unbuckling his seat belt
-recognizing letters and numbers (generally reliably) and even putting some letter sounds together

But, he still...
-let's me hold his hand in the parking lot or when we're going into new places
-sits in my lap and asks me to read to him
-cuddles up close when we watch movies
-kisses me goodbye and goodnight
-is excited that I'll be visiting his school to have lunch with him and read to his class

Before I know it he'll be too cool for a lot of this, but my prayer is that he'll grow up like his daddy.  Brent's parents did a marvelous job of growing him into a man who is a strong leader in our family but who still loves and respects his mother and would do anything for her.  So, I know it can be done....lots of prayers to get us there!  And, here's what most of you are really interested in; the first day of school pictures:

Joe doesn't really care that it is Jack's first day of school, but he wanted to be in the picture.  He is OBSESSED with his lawn mower and continually announces, "Joe mow grass."

Jack and Mrs. Brittney

NOLA

We made another visit to NOLA for a visit with the Lagraizes and the Bowies. On Saturday we had beignets in the Quarter, visited the aquarium, and ended the day with a streetcar ride to the Creole Creamery for some ice cream. That night the boys went to Covington to spend the night at Paul and Anna's with Grumps, Mimi, and Gramps and Brent and I joined Leah and Aaron, Caroline and Grant, and Jim and Jodie for dinner. Sunday we met the Bowies at the zoo.