8 years old

We have had a great time celebrating our big 8 year old this week! Case and his classmates were treated with Gibson's Donuts at lunch on Thursday. I promise donuts are a bigger hit than cupcakes and much cheaper and easier for this non-baking momma! 

Then the kids and I hit the pool after school and nearly had the place to ourselves. We hope to squeeze in a few more after-school pool days before it closes at the end of the month! 

It was Case's choice for dinner and he chose Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken. What can I say...that kid has good taste in food! CJ joined us which was the icing on the (birthday) cake for the birthday boy.  

And then with the start of school so early this year, I just didn't get around to planning a "party" but we did invite a couple families to join us at the pool Saturday to help us celebrate. It was a great low-key afternoon of pretending that summer isn't over. Super thankful for these people! 

Cole, Case and Ethan

Nora, Millie, Emery and Jordan

Love this crazy crew!

Case, Happy Birthday, buddy! You are such a great kid. You are considerate of others, quick to give out hugs to everyone you know and sometimes you speak more like a (thirty) eight year old. You love to sing in a super high pitched voice (especially in the car), rarely interpreting the lyrics correctly. So funny!  Your soccer coach calls you "Mr. Literal," you hate being late and you are excited to go to school every single day. These are just a few of the things we love and never want to forget about your eight-year-old self. We are grateful you are ours!

First day of school 2016-2017

Ready or not...here they go to second grade and kindergarten! For the record, they were ready!

We celebrated a great first day with a yummy treat from Mempops after school! And just so happened to run into some of our favorite people while there...icing on the cake!

Closing out summer

How can summer be over already? It's gone by so fast! Recapping the last few weeks via pics (and a few videos) so we can remember all the fun we've had! 

James and I headed downtown to help celebrate our friends' (Hayley and  Kelby) birthdays. We enjoyed a nice dinner followed by a ride with River City Peddlers. It was a super fun night out! 

Emery enjoyed a week of art camp at The Art Project Memphis in Midtown while brother did another soccer camp and I worked from Starbucks. It was a fun and productive week for all three of us!

We finally crossed the dentist off our summer bucket list and it was Emery's first trip. I don't think she minded it one bit! We heart Dr. Clay!

Who's the dentist here? 

Emery also enjoyed a three-day cheer camp to prepare for her cheering debut at the upcoming Back to School Bash.

Piper, Emery and Addison

The last (week) day of summer, the kids and I decided to treat ourselves to a fun lunch at Stacks Pancake eatery. Oh, yeah, and somewhere in there the kids had back-to-school haircuts and Emery decided to go short. She loves it, therefore so do I.

Finally...Back to School Bash time!!!! Emery was so excited. Like, the most excited I've ever seen her. I mean, she was beaming! And the stands were completely packed. So. Many. People. She didn't seem to be nervous but I don't know how she couldn't have been. She did such a great job and we were super proud!

One of our favorite lions, Marquavious! 

All their hard work paid off! 

And then we enjoyed a super fun Saturday afternoon at the Butler's chowing down on ribs, watching the Olympics and just generally having a good time. Our last summer hoorah!

Jordan, Millie and Em

Summer 2016, you've been a great one! We will miss you but are excited to see what the new school year brings our way!