Huge day...Huge!

 You are looking at the man of the hour...well, after the groom of course!  Brayden was the ring bearer in my nephew's wedding this past weekend!  Besides looking ADORABLE, he also did an awesome job:)  He kept calling it "My Special Day".  He was pumped!  We put his tux on during rehersal and you could just see his mood change from...I'm a cute boy...to...I'm a stud.  It was hilarious.  He kept telling me, "I look great!"  The day of the wedding was long, but he was such a trooper.  We set up camp in the nursery and he was content to eat his snacks and watch a movie...thankfully:)  A funny now, but stressful then, thing that happened when Brayden walked down the aisle is that when he reached Jacob (the groom) he walked to his spot...good...but then when Sammie (the bride) came walking down the aisle, he stepped in front of Jake so he could see her...and stayed...bad:)  I kept trying to get his attention to move, but he was memorized.  Thankfully one of the groomsmen saw what was going on and came to the rescue right as she approached so Brayden wasn't sandwiched between them.  A few pictures from "His special day"...

Brayden and my niece, JoEllen...isn't she gorgeous:)

The happy couple!  Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Cripe:)

 Of course I had to put in a picture of my brother and mini-Lee:)

 Brayden caught the eye of one of the flower girls...if we couldn't find Brayden, we would just look for her...they were ususally together:)



I'll leave you with Brayden and his smooth moves...

1st Grade!!!

Huge day.  Huge.  Jarrett started 1st Grade.  Thankfully Jarrett loves school and was so excited for this day to come.  I was excited for him, but it's just hard for me to accept that I'm only going to see him for a few hours in the day.  So with his new school outfit on, hair slicked over and backpack locked and loaded, he was ready for the big day.  Isn't he handsome:)

Jarrett and Brayden were hilarious this morning. Let me allow you to be a fly on the wall for a moment.

Jett:  I'm really going to miss you today Brayden.

Bray:  I'm really going to miss you.

(They hug)

Jett:  Will you be okay with out me?

Bray: Yeah.

(They hug)

Jett: I'm going to be gone for awhile.

Bray: How long?

Jett: 7 hours

Bray: Whoa, that's a long time.  I'm gonna miss you.

(They hug)

...this went on for another 5 mins, I'll spare you the rest...

So when I was trying to get Jett's picture he insisted that Brayden join in too.  Kyla of course has to always be in the picture so she jumped in.

This picture cracks me up because I can just read Kyla's mind..."Gees, Bray, he's just going to be gone for 7 hours, keep it together."

So we arrive at school to drop Jett off.  I of course can't help but snap a picture of him heading inside.  I love his look, "Seriously mom, not cool."

Jett came home super happy about his day.  A few highlights of the day...

-Lunch

-His desk and locker

-His teacher has nice hair

-Gym

-He had a Popsicle and TWO cookies

I'm here!

Where have I been all summer...busy! Who ever came up with the quote, "Lazy days of summer," must not have had a life or three very active children. Wow! It has been such a good summer and I can't believe it is coming to a close in two days. A few things that have been keeping us on our toes...

The boys took swimming lessons this year. We were swimming up to 3-4 times a week (pretty much I was a prune for the month of July), so I thought it would be good to get them a little more comfortable with the water. They improved so much this year. By the end the of the swimming season the boys could both jump off the diving board without floaties. Jett can hold his own swimming in the deep end without help, but Bray is not quite there yet. However, he was a little too overconfident when he jumped off the diving board a few weeks ago without me knowing. I had to do a reenactment of a Baywatch episode to get to him...yep, clothes on and shoes when flying when I dove in after him! That's right, super mom was on the prowl...well, minus the part of me missing him jump in...but after that...super:)

Miss Kyla loved swimming too...so much that even when we were home she still wanted to walk around wearing her floaties. No seriously, for hours she would walk around just like this. The girl cracks me up:)

FULL PULL! Of course we had to attend the tractor pull at the fair this year. Kyla's first appearance and she LOVED IT. It was a long day, but the Cripe Pulling Team came in with 2 firsts and a second.

We've been spending a lot of time outside enjoying the awesome weather while it lasts. What is a summer without skinned up knees, scavenger hunts, muddy shoes and tons of mosquito bites.


I'm going to give a little shout out for my brother, Lee Snider. He is the new principle at Harrison Elementary in Warsaw. So one day we took a little field trip to see Uncle Lee's new school and office. I'm so proud of him and I know he is going to do a great job!!!!

So that's pretty much it. One very busy summer wrapped up in fun:) As I reflect on the summer's awesomeness I am reminded of how lucky I am to be able to stay home and enjoy these memories with my kids. Life is good!