First week of school down

The kids started back to school last week.

 Aidan began 5th grade on Monday and the girls began PreK on Tuesday afternoon.

Aidan absolutely loves his teacher and class and is excited to go to school every day.

The girls are thrilled with their new everyday schedule but, haven't quite figured out the afternoon thing yet. For the past two years they have gone three mornings a week.  Now they attend every day but in the afternoons.  About 10:00 every morning they break into "I am ready to go to school now" or "I am ready to see Juanita" routine.

They are also VERY tired.  Up until a few weeks ago Alayna was napping daily for a couple hours still.  The first night of school they both were in bed sound asleep by 6pm.

As the week progressed they still went to bed early but Alayna decided to wake up early too so she was beat by Friday.

Tiredness and grumpiness aside both are loving the school year, riding the bus every day and seeing their friends and Ms. Juanita everyday.

Doesn't get much better than that.

As our tradition, we always have warm cookies right out of the oven after school on the first day!

I am looking forward to a couple weeks when the girls aren't as tired and grumpy for me in the mornings.

 Maybe they will even sleep in a bit.

A girl can always dream can't she?

Adopting again?

Yes, it is true we love adoption and all it does for your family.



That is why we are super excited to announce that we are again on the adoption trail.



We have been sniffing out websites for weeks trying to find out that perfect someone who will be added to our family.



We are happy to announce that we have finally made a decision.....


18 month old........................

Shadow!

Now before you go yelling and throwing things at your screen let me say I couldn't help to have a little fun.

Unfortunately with my cancer diagnosis I would have to wait at least 5 years until I am all clear before we could adopt a child again but, you know what?  The pound doesn't care if I have cancer or not.  They are glad to see this boy break out of prison and go to a loving home.

I am not sure who was more excited Aidan or our dachshund, Champ.  Both have been pretty lonely since April when our Ellie ran away and never returned.

Shadow is a perfect gentleman.  Loving, quiet, and loves Aidan to the moon and back already.

I think he is a perfect fit.

Back to school

Last week we had our back to school nights for the kids.  Aidan begins 5th grade tomorrow morning and the girls begin preK on Tuesday.  The girls will be going every day all afternoon this year in preparation for kindergarten next year.

Aidan was excited to meet his teacher for his last year of elementary school (sniff, sniff).  She sounds like she will be a perfect fit for him and keep him enjoying learning while motivating him to excel even further.

Friday night we had the girls welcome back night at Pre K.  They napped to be sure they were ready for the big adventure.
They could hardly contain themselves as we pulled into the school parking lot.  When Alayna spotted Ms. Juanita she took off towards her like Flo Jo sprinting for the finish line.  I truly have NEVER seen Alayna run so fast.  Both girls have missed school and their teachers and are so excited to start on Tuesday.

Alayna continued to run around like a crazy girl the whole time we were there while Dariya sat right down where circle time usually is held and was ready to begin the day's lesson. Haha.

Praying for super successful years for all three!

Thanks teachers for loving our kids and helping them grow and learn.

Post surgery opthalmology

Alayna had her follow up appointment with her ophthalmologist today.

Her eye is straight and very much in line now after surgery.  The doctor was very pleased with the surgery outcome.  However, Alayna is still favoring her right eye, albeit slightly over her left so we must continue with the dreaded patching everyday.  She has gotten out of the routine with our beach trip and all but refused to wear the patch last week for my mom while I had treatment.

Thankfully Alayna starts school next week and is usually very good about leaving the patch on during school hours which is plenty of time each day for her to wear it.

We will follow up with both girls at the end of October for their yearly vision checks.  Dariya's poor glasses are so out of shape they hardly fit her anymore.  Hopefully by then Alayna's brain will kick in and recognize that left eye so we can stop patching!

Beach Bums

We had an absolutely WONDERFUL vacation in Gulf Shores.  We loved being beach bums.

We met another RR family, the Simpsons in Memphis on the way down and spent the afternoon with their family.  What a joy it is to meet in real life!  Kim is sweet, funny, and super talented, check out her awesome Etsy store here.

Alayna was swooned by Jack immediately, they were pretty cute to watch.

I hope Jack is free for Prom in a few years!

The next morning we were heading down through Mississippi when another RR friend posted on FB that she was driving across MS.  I sent her a message and amazing enough God had placed us each 30 miles outside of Meridian.  We met and were able to visit for a little while before getting back on the road.  I was so thankful for this sweet blessing!  Renee is one of those people that were on my bucket list to meet.  Not only is she the sweetest southern girl you ever would meet but, her hubby Steve is awesome too.  They are currently adopting again and she is selling the most fabulous toffee ever, check out her blog here to order. It is seriously the best treat I have eaten!

The Tam and Cannon kids

Once we arrived at the beach you couldn't pull us off of it for anything.  Well, we did come off to sleep and go on a dolphin cruise but, other than that we lived on the beach.  We had great weather except for some rain on Thursday.  We ended our vacation by coming back through Little Rock and staying with Jason's sister. Saturday night we met several friends at a restaurant and were able to show off our kids and catch up.

I truly didn't want to come back.  Here are a few of the over 300 pics I took from the week.