Goodbye Summer, Hello School!

This summer flew by! It seems like Caleb just barely finished school and now he’s already gone back again. Our summer has been busy with lots of fun. We were able to take a family trip to San Diego and did Sea World and the beach. I’ll probably make a separate post for that since it will be picture overload!

But for now, I need to back up a bit and catch up on a few things. The last time I posted about Layla.

A few weeks ago, Bree had her check up with her doctors and everything is still looking good. Yea! Bree has her 1^st set of scans in two weeks. The time has flown by!

The same day we were at the docs, Layla was upstairs getting her last chemotherapy before her surgery. Bree and I were able to visit her and surprise her with lots of toys. It had been her birthday the week before, so it was great to see her reaction to all the toys.

Layla’s favorite color is purple so I bought a whole bunch of girly toys, purses, necklaces, coloring books and fun things to do. She also loves baby dolls, so we picked out a few with purple accessories. She absolutely loved the babies!

Layla’s surgery is coming up on August 20^th. Please keep her in your prayers. This little girl is such a sweetheart! Her motto is “Boo stupid tumor! Yeah Layla!” Aren't these the cutest girls!?

As for our family, we’ve been having a great time being together. It’s been wonderful. Bree has thrived being home for this long. She’s starting to take a few steps and say a few words. She’s also been signing more and her personality is growing everyday. It’s amazing how girly she is already. She’s reintroduced me into the world of “girl.” Since I’ve had my boys (Justin included), I’ve just kind of thought about boy stuff. Like wrestling, bugs, swords, guys, etc. But it’s nice to be reminded of why it’s fun to be a girl. Bree brings it out in me! She loves to wear my bracelets and necklaces. She loves her shoes and she likes to bring on the drama. Already, if her feelings are hurt, she’ll put her hands over her face and put on a fake cry. I can’t wait until I can capture it on video. All the things that a Mom would love of course! I call her my little diva princess because lately she can really give me some attitude yet is so sweet at the same time!

The boys had a busy summer. They did swim lessons and Caleb & Gunner both had summer school. Are you thinking I’m a terrible Mom to put my kids in summer school? Well, this was more of a summer cool! Caleb did SEEK AZ and Gunner was with Ms. Stacey. We love Ms. Stacey! We also did the summer movies, lots of swimming and Gunner did a soccer camp (I'll put that in a separate post). And now it’s time to say goodbye to summer, even though it’s still hot as heck here!

Mr. Caleb is a big 1^st grader now! He started school on July 27^th! He had the cutest first day pics.

All ready to go! What a cute boy we have!

So far he is loving being back in school. This year he has the same teacher, Ms. Martin, for his homeroom and then goes to a typical 1^st grade class for chunks of the day. We love Ms. Martin. In fact, during the summer she came over and picked Caleb up and took him to a movie and McDonald’s. Caleb loved every minute of it! So, by the old age of 6-1/2, he’s had his first date! Hubba Hubba!

Gun man also started preschool this week. It was cute to see him so big and ready to go to “class” as he calls it. He loved to see all his friends back together again! He was so proud to show everyone his new shirt, shoes and backpack. He's growing up on me!

Hugs on the first day of school.

Gunner's class: L to R: Maddi, Hayden, Gunner, Carter, Will, Lucy, Ellie, Guire, Burton & Max in the background.

Oh and notice the new blog design? My sweet friend, Jessica, did this for our family. I didn't know her before she started our design and through the past few weeks we've become good friends. She has such a good heart. She's worked very hard on our design despite some personal tragedies of her own. Her Dad passed away a few weeks ago and she has been inspirational to talk to and share feelings with. Thank you Jessica for your wonderful design. You are amazing! Click here to check out her website. She's awesome!