Track #1 wrap up

Jace is on year-round school, so we just finished our first track. He is now off for a few weeks. He loved school and has been really sad not getting up at the crack of dawn to be at the bus stop at 6:50- crazy kid!! Ive been giving him worksheets and projects at home to keep him occupied. Yesterday he said "This is awesome mom- just like kindergarten! except now I don't have to miss you!' Aww

highlight of Brenna and Biscuits day- the bus pickup

Eating lunch with Aunt Shanny, mom and Brenna

His favorite place is "Sub-where"...no matter how many times I correct him Subway, he always reverts back.

Brenna visiting Jace's school- I mean HER school. She jumps right into line and acts like she is suppose to be there. To be honest, she is just as tall as any other kindergartener. I could probably get away with leaving her ;)

Fav homework assignements-- Family Banner(he was so proud to come up and cut out the squiggly lines himself)

Class gets to take turns taking Freddy the frog home- they have to document their adventures..

"reading Dr. Seuss and playing Spiderman"

"practicing violin and being shark food....just kidding!"

ok yes I look like a blimp! 2 weeks away from birth people...and it was a bad angle...

Mrs. Bond asked if Jace and I would bring our violins in to show the class. We played "guess the song"--Jace played 1 line of Old Mcdonald, Spiderman and Twinkle to see if the class could guess what song. He was so proud and excited--nothing like positive motivation to practice

more!!

Jace's fav song- Allegro

check out Jace's interpretive dance during my fiddle piece

Lately..

Jace has been having this random eye pain all year long....after many failed attempts at finding a solution, the doctors decided to have an MRI done. So sad to see your child like that--hope it never happens again. He had to be sedated for the 50 min MRI. Poor kid was sick as a dog from the meds. However he was so brave and excited about his lego present he got after he was done.

We were very fortunate to find the results clear. However the eye pain is still a mystery....

Our fav aunt Shanny came into town for a week to help me out and visit the kids. The kids just adore her. They had a blast at the pool, playing dress up, jumping on the tramp, doing dance parties, and eating brownies. Come back Shannon!!!

Brenna(3.5 yrs) is now OBSESSED with unicorns and ponies. Not sure where it came from. She sings baby Natasha 10 min long made up unicorn songs everyday. She asks mom every 5 min to look up unicorn pics on google. Love her to death-she is ALL girl.

another fav activity- lipgloss

and once its on, she has to keep her lips frozen like this...

2 weeks to go!

the highlight of every baby doc appt---the automatic hand sanitizer

Our first yard sale--after hours of preparation, standing in the hot sun, dealing with "classy" people bargaining over $1 items(Chad especially liked this customer)....we greatly treasure the $175 bucks we earned. never again.

Oh and it was Chad's bday! He was so happy to spend it doing the yard sale. We also took him to his fav place Shuckers for shrimp and grits. He got cool swim stuff to help him on his quest on doing a triathlon. Happy 31st birthday to the hottest dad I know!

Jace's Primary Talk

Jace gave a sweet talk today about how to prepare for the temple.

From the primary hymn- "I'll prepare myself when I am young. This is my sacred duty".

He said he is most excited to go to the temple to be a part of a forever family.

The two things Jace is doing to prepare:

#1 Obeying the commandments: 10% tithing, word of wisdom-no smoking, eat apples, go to church, read the scriptures, and be nice to people and pets.

#2 Get baptized when he turns 8

Such an important message...I had to save it ;)

Engaged!

Finally my baby brother sealed the deal! We are so excited to have beautiful, smart, talented Brittany in the family. and we are so excited to not hear about Brett talking about how much he wants to be married....

Nov 19th!!

(yes that gives me exactly 2.5 months to lose all my baby weight)

Random July pics

Offspring

Chad's biking buddies- every Saturday morning. (Dave, Patrick, Ben, Mitch)

The "temple"

My chair...that I'll have...eventually

typical..

Caught Biscuit snuggling with Brenna's Zuzu pets

first bee sting

BTW- 7 MORE WEEKS TO GO! I need me some Natasha.

Kindergarten!!

Am I really blogging about this?? Wow how time flies. Jace has been DYING to go to kindergarten. He missed the cutoff last year by one day, so he is a very smart, eager, and old kindergartener. Why is it when they finally turn perfect, you have to send them away? Jace is my little best friend. He is such a great helper, never complaining, always wanting to learn or read something new. This is going to be a hard transition for mom. However we are on year round school, so he'll be tracked out again in a few weeks.

His favorite thing about starting kindergarten? "Not taking naps anymore!".

Meet the teacher day--Jace and Mrs. Bond(wonderful southern lady-love her already)

Brenna was so proud to take big brother to school.

Staggered entry day only 5 kids per class. He was SO excited to see his name.

Best part of the day? "The bus is sooo cool mom."

He didn't get off at first until I came up to the bus driver. He said he couldn't get off because he didn't see our house yet. ha

Brenna(and mom!) missed Jace sooooo much. She had Jace's favorite candy- Reece's waiting for him. It is not quite the same without him. Mom is excited to have some one on one time with her little girl though.

4th at the beach

Nothing like celebrating the 4th at the beach!

2 days in Surf city! Kids loved swimming with cousin Ella, looking for crabs, playing in the sand with mermaid dolls, reading decorating magazines, and looking for sharks teeth.

Kids always look for the big crock every time we drive down to the beach.

They did fireworks over the waterway on the 3rd. We had great seats to a fun concert beforehand. Jace and Brenna jumped right on stage to show off their dance moves. Once the fireworks started, Brenna covered her ears and closed her eyes. She is terrified of loud noises. Jace was in heaven though! We drove back on the 4th to rain and thunderstorms in Raleigh...and a broken AC. So glad we were able to celebrate the day before.

priceless- we love grandma so much. We got to eat shrimp from Sawmill Grill and play grandma's favorite violin songs O My Father and Abide with Me. Biscuit and grandma would swing out on the back porch all day together. They became fast friends ;)

While we were sitting next to grandma in testimony meeting, she told Chad "well arent you going to bear your testimony?". Cant say no to that! Chad talked about what a wonderful example grandma has been to a whole generation and how stalwart she has been in the gospel. Attention Jace and Brenna: Remember to always bring honor to the Barnes name! You have a lot to live up to. Grandma Barnes knows that the church is true and that Heavenly Father and Jesus live and love us. She wants nothing more than for you to always live up to your potential as children of God.