Happy 38th Birthday, Tony!!!

On September 1st, Tony turned 38 years old.  Since the girls were going horseback riding on the morning of his birthday, he did some of his own riding that morning, but not on a horse.  Tony has taken to road biking and is doing quite well.  I jokingly told him he should go 40 miles on his birthday.  Well, he liked that idea and of course had to top it and went 45 miles instead.  He is really enjoying this new hobby.  After his ride, he came home and enjoyed an afternoon on the sofa watching football while Reece napped on top of him.  This brought back memories for him of watching football while his baby girl slept on him.  Well, his baby girl is now almost 50 lbs. so although he liked the cuddling he did not like how he felt when he got up.  The girls and I made Tony a red velvet cake for his birthday, took him out to dinner and then we went to a local racetrack to watch some racing with Joe and Abby.  His present from me was a "groupon" voucher for a 60 minute introductory flight lesson.  Tony is very excited and I finally surprised him with a gift he had NO clue about. 

 It takes several to blow out candles when you are OLD! :)

 A beautiful night for racing...

 Before the race there was a "Meet and Greet" the drivers.  The girls got to check out the cars, get autographs, and pose with drivers for photos. 

 This driver, JP Morgan, had no clue my daughter would later change up the race he was in and cause him to make it to victory lane! 

 The girls got to sign the back of this race car.

 Daddy's racing buddies...

 Reece and Lizzie enjoyed being together, as always!

On the way to the race track I joked with Tony that I should have gotten him a big button to wear that says, "It is my Birthday!" and maybe he would get into the race free or get to do something special.  Tony said, "I would never wear that and besides we have 3 cute girls maybe if they act real

cute they will get us something special."  Well, Riley must have been sitting there cute because she was selected to come down and draw an envelope halfway during the race to determine if the line up would change or not.  She ended up choosing the envelope that inverted the entire field of drivers.  #23, JP Morgan, had been in the back of the race most of the night but because of Riley's inversion he ended up in front and won the race! 

 JP Morgan doing a burnout after his win.

JP Morgan in "Victory Lane."  We got a good chuckle out of the small track version of victory lane.

 Racing??  What Racing??  The kids were entertained by snacks, each other and of course Daddy's phone.  They behaved well but I am not sure they even knew a race was going on.

 The brothers enjoying their time together at a race.  Abby and I enjoyed our time together too! 

The cousins chillin' together watching Strawberry Shortcake.

Horseback Riding....

For Christmas, we got the girls a "groupon" special for Horseback riding and lessons.  Our friends, the Doucet's, also got their kids the same special so our kids could do it together.  Well, we finally redeemed our "groupons" on Sept. 1st and the kids had a good time.  They got to groom the horses, learn how to put the saddle on, learned how to ride the horse and control the horse and they also went on a trail ride. 

 All the kids are very excited to be cowgirls/cowboys for a day.

 Reece grooming her horse, Twilight.

 Riley grooming her horse, Guess. 

 Regan and Hannah grooming their horse, Miya.

 The helmets the kids had to wear were huge.  We got a big laugh out of them because they looked like the characters from Wii Mario Cart.  We told the kids to put their helmets together for a photo.

 Rachel and Riley

 This is what Caleb and Reece did when we told them to put their helmets together.  I guess they are reaching the cooties stage. :)  This made Kristen and I laugh!

 Regan walking Miya up to the riding ring.

 While the Doucet's took their turn at riding, my girls enjoyed playing with this dog, Bandit.

 Regan gets a turn at riding her horse.  Regan has been horseback riding several times by herself so she knew most of this stuff already.  Unfortunately, they did not let the girls ride by themselves, they had to be led by an instructor.  My girls were a little bummed they could not do it on their own.

 After they rode around in the ring for a while they took to the trail.  Again, my girls were a little disappointed they did not get to ride by themselves.  They had to ride two people to each horse and the instructors led them on the trail.  They still had fun especially since they were with their friends!

  And they are off...

Riley's New Guitar...

In January, Riley started guitar lessons and was using a beginner's guitar we had bought at Target the year before.  For her birthday, we had told her we were going to buy her a new guitar.  However, her guitar instructor said the one we had would do just fine to start with.  So, Riley got an "IOU" from us for a new guitar.  Well, 8 months has gone by and she was still using the beginner's guitar, I guess we got our money's worth out of that "Target" guitar. :)  Riley's instructor finally said it was time to get a new guitar.  She is getting into more challenging songs and the old guitar was not working well anymore.  So on August, 29th, Riley finally got her new guitar and she is very excited.  Hopefully, I can post some videos of her playing it soon.

Regan's First Cross Country Practice...

On Wednesday, August 22nd, Regan had her first Cross Country practice.  It was a very hot and humid day but that did not keep Regan from smiling.  There are not many places to run on their school campus so they did 9 laps around the school which is close to 3 miles.  It seems like just yesterday I was the one running for my school and my parents were cheering me on.  Now, I am that cheering parent and Regan is the one running for her school.  It is so hard to believe she is old enough to compete in a sport at school!!!!  I really am enjoying that she chose a sport that I can relate to and can do with her.  She and I have been enjoying a lot of runs together lately.  She used to run with her daddy but his foot has been hurting him lately so now she runs with me.  It brings me great joy to run with my daughter!

 She is all smiles...

 

1st Day of School.....

Regan and Riley started school on August 22nd and Reece started on August 27th.  All 3 girls had a great first day of school.  Reece has to wake up much earlier then her sisters and leaves 1 hour before them.  On the first morning, she came down and knocked on my door.  When I opened the door at 6:25 am she asked, "Mommy, my alarm just went off but it is still dark outside, are you sure you set it right?"  I laughed and replied, "Yes Reece, welcome to the EARLY morning!"  She said, "Ok" and bounded upstairs excitedly to get dressed.  She was full of excitement that morning.  Two days later, Reece came downstairs woke her daddy up and once he was out of bed she climbed in and tried to go back to sleep.  The excitement was starting to wear off.  On Day four, Tony actually had to go wake her up.  So, she is not enjoying the early mornings but she is enjoying school.

 Poor Regan woke up on the first day of school with a Stye in her left eye.

Meet The Teachers....

Regan and Riley had "Meet The Teachers" day on August 21st.  The girls enjoyed seeing their new rooms, unloading all their school supplies, meeting their teachers and seeing old friends and previous teachers.  Regan is excited about changing classes this year, having 3 different teachers and also the fact that she can participate in sports this year.  Regan is very excited about running for the Trinity Middle School Cross Country Team.  Regan was sad that her best friend, Hannah, did not get in her class this year; however, they will still see each other at breaks, lunch, band and Cross Country.  It is nice to have a friend that has so many common interests!  Riley is very excited about her teacher, Mrs. Tyndall, and the friends in her class.  She got several of her closest friends in her class and the ones she did not get in her class, she will still see them a lot on the playground.  Riley is excited about starting recorder this year in music class and having reading buddies (3rd graders are paired up with Kindergarteners and read to them).  Reece's "Meet The Teacher" Day took place on August 26th.  Reece is at a new school this year and it is a brand new building as well.  Reece enjoyed meeting her teacher, Ms. Hill, and also learning that she has 3 girls in her class she already knows.  She also saw a lot of old friends from her preschool days and a few from her Kindergarten class last year, so she knows more people than she thought.  I am sure this is going to be an exciting year for all 3 of our girls.

 Regan's grade will be studying Medieval Times this year.

 I am sure this will be Regan's favorite place in the classroom.

 This poster in Regan's class made me laugh.

 Regan with her teacher, Mrs. Smith-Fendt.

 Riley at her desk...

 Riley with her teacher, Mrs. Tyndall.

 Riley is ready for 3rd Grade!

 Reece sitting at her assigned seat.

 Reece is ready to start 1st Grade.

 Reece was excited to see drums in her music classroom.

 Reece trying out the xylophone in her music classroom.

  Regan and Riley are jealous that Reece has a technology class for one of her specials.   

Reece's Last Hoorah of Summer...

Reece's sisters started school 3 days before her, so she had mommy to herself.  Reece also had her cousins to herself and enjoyed her last hoorah of summer with them.  We went to a place that has a bunch of inflatables and let them wear themselves out, and they wore Abby and I out too! :)  Lizzie and Reece had fun running all over the place and I could not keep up with them.  Lizzie finally wore Reece out so Reece started playing with Josh and I tried to keep up with Lizzie.  That girl has some major energy and everytime I turned my head for a second she was gone.  Abby and I took shifts keeping up with her. :)  Josh and Reece were very cute and enjoyed going on slides together.  After our exciting morning, Abby and I took the kids to "Five Guys" for lunch and then ended our day at "Yogurt Mountain."  YUM!!!  It was a great way to end our summer with family.

 Although this picture is blurry, it still captures the morning well.  Josh and Reece going down the slide together and Lizzie always about 15 steps ahead escaping to the next adventure. :)

A very fun time with cousins....