The Last Day of School

I always remember the last day of school as being one of the most exciting days of the year when I was growing up.  It's bittersweet to me now...a lot like birthdays. 

The last day of school, means the end of another school year. It means my boys are almost a whole year older than they were when the school year began.  It means we're growing closer to entering Elementary School and leaving the days of carefree Preschool life.  Gone will be the days of  knowing that they are in a super safe environment.  Gone will be the days hearing God's word and being hugged on all day.  I won't be on a first name basis with all of the staff in the building.  I won't know every child in the class and be friends with their parents.  I won't be able to walk inside the building anytime I want, and take them home with me.   It scares me.  All I can do is lay next to them as they fall asleep at night and hold on tight...hold on as tight as I can... praying that they'll always love me as much as they do at 4 and 2.

Last Day of School.  It was a Sprinkler Day for Ryder that was topped off with a Blue Sno-Cone.  Life just doesn't get much better than Sprinklers and Sno-Cones when you're four!

I love this.  I shouldn't, but I do.  This is what they do fifty percent of the time.  The other fifty they actually do love each other!

 

Lastly...I had to share these Teacher gifts.  Thirty-one has some really cute totes at a really good price.  We stopped at our favorite shop yesterday...Nothing Bundt Cakes and order "Bundtletts" to stick inside these small totes.  Happy Summer Y'all...I'm gonna try to wipe away these bittersweet tears and enjoy every second of it with my boys!

Mother's Day-2012

Ryder brought this home from School the Friday before Mother's Day. Its a little hard to read from the picture, so I've typed it our below:

"My Mom"

My mom is 34 years old, and she has darker hair.
She wears a size 5-14's shoe and looks so beautiful when she wears a beautiful dress.
Her favorite color is pink.
Her favorite thing to eat is apples and pizza, but the
best thing she cooks is pizza and sprinkle cookies.
My mom's favorite TV show is Mommy shows.
My mom loves to work, and it makes her happy when she gives me a hug and kiss.
She always tells me go to bed every night, and she gets really angry when I argue.
My mom loves me because she loves me so much! and she is special to me
because she loves me so much!

by:  Ryder Smith (4 years old) May 11, 2012.

Note:  Ryder got my age right, my shoe size falls in that range, and I do like pink.  Ryder's favorite foods are apples and pizza (not mine).  I cook pizza so well because it comes straight out of the freezer and into the microwave (singles from Costco) and I have to give Nabisco credit for those Sprinkle Cookies.  They are the Oreo Cookies Birthday Cake edition.  Mommy shows come on around 6:00 PM and are generally the "News".  I don't love to work, but I do seem to do a lot of it these days.  He's right... nothing makes me happier than giving him a huge hug and kiss.  I do tell him to go to bed every night...and I do ask him not to argue with me.  So thankful that he realizes how much I love him and pray that he always knows that!

The Rangers

 We love us some Texas Rangers.  We were lucky enough to get tickets to a Saturday afternoon game last week from a good friend.   It was the boys first game and an awesome way to spend Mother's Day weekend.

For me...the best part about going to the  Ballpark is not the game itself.  It's the the food.  I could literally eat an entire order of nachos, two hot dogs and baseball helmet full of ice cream...before the 3rd Inning.  I love it that much.  

 

 Rustin was in love.  Give that boy a bag of popcorn and he is golden. He cheered when the players took the field and chanted "Lets Go Rangers!" as they fielded the ball.   He never took his "Texas Rangers" hat off. Never budged from his seat and never took his eyes off of the action.

  Ryder on the other hand..is our Ryder.  He thought it was a little bit too loud, and asked if the game was over...before the National Anthem had been sung.  I love him so much though...its moments like that when I realize God made him just for us.  He's not your average 4-3/4 year old.  He is curious, busy, outgoing, sensitive, rule following, temper flaring, apologetic for no reason, spontaneous, courageous and timid...all wrapped into one.  He survived the loud noises, all of the cheering and resisted the need to get up and run around.  Here are few pictures from our trip courtesy of my handy-dandy phone!

 

Mother's Day Weekend 2012. 

Dress Up

I love that he plays dress up.  I love even more that he uses my accessories.  I should probably start suggesting that we use some more gender neutral items, but for now I'll just let him pretend he is a spy going through the airport in heels.

PS...I'm so glad that all of you post about Teacher Appreciation or otherwise I would've had no idea that it is this week.  Here is an easy idea that you can put together in five minutes.  Print the tag below and cut it out.  Punch a hole at the top of the tag and tie it to a jar of M&M's!

Wordless Wednesday- Batman Edition

Super Excited

A huge thank you to one of my sweet friends for giving my blog a much needed facelift!  Its a work in progress right now...but I can't wait to see the finished project. 

I'm tackling our guest bathroom this week.  I promise.  I'll do a before and after post.  It is a small space, so I think I can handle.  The playroom taunts at me...I see so many awesome rooms on Pinterest...but I don't know if I have it in me to pull out all of the creative stops and make it the room I want it to be.  It is also our family room, so it can't be all toy.  So, I'll take baby steps and hit the bathroom.  Stay tuned :)

Updates

We've been MIA from my weekly all things Smith updates....mostly because my calendar looks like this these days.

I'm ready for things to slow down, but feel extremely blessed to be so busy at the same time.

Here is some of what we've been up to courtesy of my phone:

 Rustin had an Easter Feast with all his little Buddies

 Ryder had an Easter Egg Hunt on the Playground at School with all of his Friends

 Charlie Pretended to be the Easter Bunny

 We went to see Anna Easter Morning at her Church in Dallas

 They sported these cool new shirts from Grandma

 We hit the Zoo one Morning

 Played with Shaving Cream in the Shower

 I ran my first Half Marathon in 2 hours and 3 minutes on Sunday morning.  I can't even begin to explain how rewarding it felt to complete something that I had no idea I could ever do. 

More updates soon!