First Day of School

Okay, so I am only a month late, but on August 20th our sweet children started school.  We had a wonderful summer and the children were great but just like everything all good things must come to an end and just like every summer, the end seems to be the hardest part of the summer.  The weather gets really hot, the pool and beach get old, and they just get to the point where they can't take not having a routine and structure to their day.

Shelby was really excited about taking the annual first day of school photos.  She was adament that Pratt photobomb the pictures and of course he is always up for fun and being funny so he jumped right in.  The funniest part was that most of the pictures I got were just the backs of their heads because they kept turing around to see what daddy was doing. 

Shelby: 3rd Grade-how is that possible??  I have a few memories from 1st and 2nd grade, but 3rd grade I have tons of memories from...oh boy!!  These days will be with her for a lifetime.

JP: 1st Grade-he was devestated all summer to be leaving kindergarten and Ms. Deborah behind.  Even the first day of first grade he was begging me to let him go back.  I told him that one of the great things about 1st grade was that there was no rest time (because what kid loves rest time......)  He said, "Oh great!  I need rest time to rest my brain!!"  I guess my kid would be the one that loves rest time.

Shelby and JP, you guys are growing up so fast!!!  I hope that you have a great year in your new classrooms with your new teachers.  You guys are prayed over everyday and I pray that you will always know how much we love you!!!



Wyoming 2013

We had a great time in Wyoming with the family this summer.  We managed to squeeze 7 adults and 2 kids into a three bedroom one and a half bath cabin.  There was a whole lot of love and a whole lot of fun!!  The kids really enjoyed getting the chance to explore the mountain and have tons of undivided attention from whomever they could find.  There was no tv, no computer, no internet, no cellphone coverage; just 100% good old fashioned family time.  What a blessing!!!!

JP and Daddy getting ready for one of many atv rides.  JP loved getting to hang with the men.

Talk about blessings!!  We were so excited to get to spend a week with our Uncle Bill from California.  This was the most time spent with him in my entire life and while I am sure some of the things we did and said probably left him shaking his head, he put up with us and Shelby really, really loved him!!

Good morning world!  The sun stays up light and rises super early in the Big Horns in the summer.  Here are the main men in my life enjoying the beautiful cool mountain morning on the deck.

My heart!

One of the children's favorite activities was to go down to the creek to play in the water and ride the zip line. 

My children and me right before they "accidentally" fell into the creek.  I don't know how they could stand it as the water was FREEZING!!!  But they loved it and a few days later they put on their swimsuits and went swimming!!

My grandpa's boots.  He loved this place and those boots have been there since the last time he visited the cabin. 

Much to my dad's satisfaction, my children may have been talked into being University of Wyoming fans.  Who knows, maybe he will get his wish and one of them will choose to go there.  He certainly couldn't convince my sister, brother or I:)

Going into this trip I must admit I was a bit nervous.  How were we all going to survive and not want to kill each other by the end of 8 days straight of being together 24 hours a day.  Don't get me wrong, I love my family to pieces but it has been a very long time since we have all been together like that and probably the last time we were there was arguing because we were all still living in the same house.  At the end, it was so wonderful and I really hope that we can make a better effort to do things like this.  It was fabulous!!!  Thank you mom and dad for a great summer vacation and tons and tons of wonderful memories!!!

JPisms

JP is coming down with a cold...atleast I think he is.  Yesterday on the way home from the pool the sniffling and coughing started; so you can imagine the long night we had last night trying to keep him propped up and medicated enough to relieve the sniffles.  Let's just say it was a long night....

This morning I expected him to sleep in a little, but not so...he was up and at 'em promptly at 7:00am and came into my room with this information....

JP: "Mommy, my stomach feels different.  But its okay because my heart is still beating like it normally does."

Then later while he was eating breakfast he was all wrapped up in a blanket and he said, "Mommy, I am cold; even my brain is cold.  I must really be sick." (imagine him sitting in the chair with the blanket wrapped around him and up over his head)

Mind you, he really isn't that sick.  Poor kid just has one of those annoying summer colds where you are well enough to do everything but kind of don't feel well enough to do anything....know what I mean?

Praying we get this out of the way before school starts in a a week!

Happy Independence Day

First and foremost we thank all the men and women and their families who have sacrificed in order for us to celebrate July 4th!!  Without your passion and willingness to protect, this day and the many fun memories we have would not exist.  So thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!

The Second Annual Reed/Shell Fourth of July party was once again a super fun time.  A little rain in the afternoon would not deter us from celebrating our freedom.  Last year we had a great dance show put on by the children and this year we had fun with sparklers and other small fireworks before heading to the big show.

Nothing says Happy 4th of July like extra long sparklers.  I have never seen sparklers this big before.  Usually the children are disappointed because the sparkler is finished real quick but these were so long that they got bored with them before they were even half way done.

After dinner and a few very stinky stink bombs we made our way to see some real fireworks.  Of course by this point we were getting giddy with excitment and anticipation.....

No, I wasn't bloated from bad food (we ate really well and the food was delicious); that ever expanding belly is because of the Pickle that is growing.

Another funny picture moment....Pratt and Shelby showing me how to act like I can't jump.  So thankful I have those two to guide me through life:)



Jumping for freedom...I feel like Toyota should be written across this picture (do you remember the old Toyota commercials where the happy people would jump at the end?)

We had a wonderful night. The fireworks show was amazing and lasted forever.  Then the children enjoyed running around for a bit.  I paid for the late night the next day with tired/crabby children, but the memories of that night with friends and family were well worth it!

Happy Birthday 'Merica!!!!

JP's First Lost Tooth

In keeping with the idea that second and third children don't get the documentation of major milestones like the first I am pleased to share with you that JP has lost his first tooth....about a month ago.  I know, bad mommy!  But better late than never.

JP had a loose tooth for quite a while and one night last month right before bed it just fell out.  The tooth was so ready to come out that there wasn't even any bleeding.  It just got pushed out by the big tooth growing in behind it.  JP was so excited and of course we had to write the tooth fairy a letter.  Shelby quickly volunteered to write it for him and the next morning we found that JP's tooth fairy's name is Jingle.

A few days later we were swimming at the pool and a friend bumped into JP while swimming knocking his second tooth out.  It was a traumatic experience for him as the tooth was completely lost.  We have no idea if it was in the pool or if he swallowed it.  As a result he got extra money from Jingle telling him that it was okay because sometimes things like that happen.

So now he is two teeth down.  My baby is really growing up...bitter sweet!

One Way to Survive

We all cope with changes in life differently.  Some live in denial, some face the change head on, others pout and complain, some try to recreate the "good old days"; me, it depends on the change as to how I respond, but in the case of my children growing up and gaining independence I have gone the route of a little bit of everything.

There are days where I live in denial and try to keep them little, there are days where I embrace the change as good and look forward to all the fun things to come with older children, sometimes I have been known to pout and complain about it (shocking, right?!?!?!) and then there is recreating the good old days and we have done just that....

Baby Reed #3 will be coming sometime in early October!!  We are so excited to have this precious gift and look forward to getting to meet her very soon.  Yes, I said her!  We went against our norm and found out that we are having a baby girl. 



The children are excited.  They are asking tons of questions, some of which are easy to answer and others that aren't so easy but each question proves to be a good time for teaching them.

JP goes back and forth about whether he thinks this is a good idea or not, especially since we found out it was a girl.  One day he is hugging on my ever growing belly saying how much he loves the baby and then the next day he is upset that the baby is a girl.

Shelby is eagerly awaiting baby girl's arrival.  She is looking forward to helping, but has made it quite clear that she will not change any diapers.

Kindergarten Graduation Part 2

How can it be that my baby boy went from this....



To kindergarten graduate in the blink of an eye?????

It is truly hard to believe that next year he will begin first grade and that in 12 very quick years we will be packing up his stuff and sending him off to college.  A mother's heart can barely stand the thought.

JP, we are so proud of you and how much you have grown and learned over the years in the Sunflower Room.  We can't wait to see what amazing things God has in store for your life and are honored that we get to be your family in this great adventure!

Love you buddy!!!