The Last Two Weeks

Well, we have had quite a busy few weeks. John Adams and Riley started school.

John Adams is in 5th grade. He also got braces right before school started. FUN!!!

And Riley is in the 3rd grade this year. Yes, these are the only pictures I have of them from the first day of school. They were totally embarassed that I even took these. We have reached that point. So sad :(.

Ellie liked the picture taking experience a whole lot more. That is just her personality, at least for now. She started kindergarten a week later.

We have also had Ellie's birthday. It was yesterday. She turned 6. We had to have a "pretend" birthday for her because her birthday fell on a Sunday. Charles is a minister and, well, Sundays are our busiest day of the week. So we celebrated, as a family, on Saturday. We have a tradition where the birthday person gets to eat whatever or wherever they want and we all do whatever they want to do that day. Ellie wanted to go swimming. Or relaxing, whichever you want to call it.

Charlie splashing, which is all he does in the water :).

Maybe he is just thirsty. HAHA!

The big boys played football.

We then went home, ate dinner (her selection), got ready, and went bowling. So fun!

Sunday we actually did have a celebration with the whole family. It was short and sweet, but I don't think she even noticed. Loved the cake! Our friends, Ricky and Amanda Chilton, made it and it was so cute and delicious.

Charlie was napping during picture time.

Ellie has been such a blessing to our family. She is always smiling and laughing, which makes the rest of us smile and laugh. If she isn't happy, something is very wrong. I absolutely love that about her. She also has a very big imagination. She plays pretend all the time. I will just watch her sometimes and wonder where she comes up with some of the things she does. I hope she enjoyed her birthday "weekend".

We have been busy but have had a lot of fun. You know, the first few days of school are always fun. When the new school year or birthdays role around, I always get a little sad. The time is going by much too quickly. Sometimes I wish I could just make it stop, for just a few hours, so I could savor those moments. Maybe I should just be trying to savor it at the pace it is already going. Not getting so caught up in the details. We are so blessed to have these busy times. To have all the chaos that comes with a lot of children. Jesus, You have blessed us above and beyond what we could have ever asked or imagined. Thank you!