Brady's first day of school

School started for Brady last week.  He is going back to the same preschool he went to last year.  He is in the Pre-K/5 yr old class this year and his teacher is Mrs. Brown.  Last year he went Tues/Thurs for 2 1/2 hours and this year he goes Mon-Thurs for 3 hours.  So it is quite a lot more than he went to last year.  But he is really enjoying himself and me and Collin are having fun with our own one on one time too. 

He has already made a best friend at school.  And he made sure to say that Raymond is his best friend at school and that Tolson is still his best friend though! :)



Sun in his eyes but excited for his first day

Backpack shot!

 This year he gets to go to the library at school and they have field trips about once a month that they get to go on.  I think this year will be perfect to get him ready to start kindergarten next year!  Yikes!!  How did he get this big?

Conversations with a 4 year old

I really have to write this stuff down or I forget what he says or how he said it by the end of the day.  That being said, I am documenting what several of our conversations were today!
We were out eating lunch.  Brady and I had just finished and Collin was still eating more and more of his food. 
I said something to the effect of  "Wow, you're a good eater Collin!"
Brady didn't skip a beat and said "They just grow up so fast, don't they?"
I know I say this all the time but where does he come up with this stuff??

The next story has a little "potty talk" that you may choose to skip if you don't want to hear!
I was upstairs putting Collin down for a nap and when I came back downstairs he said
"Ah, that's what I need!  A good friend just in time for me to go poop!"
I was laughing trying to figure out what he meant until I realized, he couldn't go to the bathroom until I came back downstairs to hear him call for me to help him wipe!  Crazy kid!

Rest of birthday weekend pics

The air show was going on here on base the weekend everyone was here.  So of course they had to go to it.  So while me and my sister were decorating for the birthday party, Aaron, my dad, Aaron's parents and sister, and the 2 older kids went to the airshow while we decorated and my mom watched the little kids.

Working for the General here has it's perks for Aaron.  He got invited to his VIP tent but since he had a crowd with him, he didn't go in there but he did use the VIP parking pass and got a great spot for them!

Here's some pictures from that:



Sadie and Brin enjoying the planes on the back deck



Ava sitting in Aaron's old plane - Compass Call!





B2!  This plane is so awesome and this is the only air show
they have ever had one on display at as well as a fly by! 
Those planes are awesome and if you've ever seen one fly
by you will know what I am talking about!




Brady and Gma Gray by the F-16, which her brother flew in the AF



Climbing wall



Spiderman!!!  He got his face painted at the air show. 
That is why in the birthday pictures he had this face! 
By the end of the day it was a little smeared and he
looked like Darth Maul from Star Wars!



And Ava got a sparkly Hello Kitty tattoo!




My mom's attempt to get all the kids in a picture
first thing in the morning.  Chaos as usual!



On Sunday, the Grays had to leave but the Purcell/Phillips got to stay an extra day.  Since me and Melissa didn't get to see the airshow the previous day, we loaded all the kids up in the truck and drove up the the gas station at the entrance to our neighborhood.  You can see right across the highway to the base for a perfect view of the planes.  We had snacks and drinks and the lawn chairs and had a great time for a couple hours on a perfectly beautiful day.



The bigger kids watching the planes from the back of the truck



This picture captures Collin's personality perfectly!
My mom took this pic so I actually got to be in one for a change!
(not that I want that all the time, it's just nice to have one!)

The whole weekend was fun and I always love having all my nieces around!  It's nice to have a little girl power around the house for a change!  Can't wait to see all my sweet girls again!

This day is forever in our minds and hearts

September 11, 2001.  I really can't believe that 10 years has passed since that day.  Watching the memorials and all of the footage on TV over the past week still makes my heart ache for those directly affected, as well as the rest of the country that will never be the same again.  Trying to explain it to a 4 year old that only knows what "playing bad guys" means.

I saw this quote a lot today and I wanted to include it:

"One of the lessons of 9-11 is that evil is real and so is courage." 

-President George W. Bush

I am grateful for all of those willing to do whatever it takes to keep this country safe here and abroad. 

I am proud to say that I have one of those in my own house!  And I personally know so many more.

Here's a couple pics of my man in action



This one always makes me smile because I'm not sure what
he was doing or saying but this was taken in Afghanistan





The flag he flew for me on Sept. 11, 2006 (5th year anniversary)
over Afghanistan in his plane



Him and his crew in the back of the plane on Sept. 11, 2006



Another with his crew outside the plane

We will never forget where we were that day and what we were doing.  It is forever in our minds.  I also remember the sense of unity we had as a nation.  I wish that had continued a little longer and we didn't so easily turn back to taking sides and blaming each other for all the problems in our country.

I hope we also take a little time today and always to remember how blessed we are as a nation to enjoy the freedoms that we do have and the cost it took and the cost we continue to pay to keep it that way!  God bless the USA!

Thanks to Jeff Cretz, one of Aaron's crew memebers, for the pictures from Afghanistan!  Aaron is not good with taking pictures so I'm glad Jeff took some so I have them now! :)

Little Man's Party

 Here are the pictures from Collin's birthday party!

Made this little onsie for him to wear to his party.
I took this pic in the backyard a couple days before and used picnik
to edit and it came out even better than I expected!



Here's the invitations I made

Here's some of the decorations we made.  I can't tell you how much fun I had making these things and decorating for the party (with help of course).  I figured that a boy's first birthday is the only time I can get away with "cutsie" decorations.  And since I have no girls to do cutsie stuff with, I'm going all out!



Here's the hanging tie garland I made to go across the
kitchen and the hanging balloons in the background.



Tissue balls and more of tie garland



I had a blank wreath and a whole bunch of scrap fabric so my
sister whipped up this wreath that turned out way cute!



 

Me and my sis Melissa by the dessert table.
We had rice krispies balls, dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles, cookies and
of course the cupcakes with the little cupcake toppers I made to go on top. 

I found those cute buckets and striped plates in the clearance aisle at Target after Easter.  I know, that was quite a while ago but that's how I found the inspiration for the colors and I went from there! :)  You gotta grab things when you see them or otherwise, you might never find exactly what you want later!

Made a collage print with some of the other pictures I
took from the backyard in his tie onsie.



I found this "C" in the dollar bins at Michael's and added it to the
banner I made with some of the matching fabric I had left.

Cupcakes!

He stuck his finger in there as soon as I set down the cupcake
before we were done singing.  He wasn't sure what to do
at first, but it didn't take long to figure it out!



He really enjoyed making a complete mess out of the cupcakes!
They were green and blue to match everything else of course!

More party pics-I had too many to choose from so I just made some more collages!

Can you find Spiderman Brady in there?  I made him a tie shirt too!

 

Loves his new basketball hoop!  He especially liked
climbing up and down the box!

We had such a fun time at the party and were so glad we had so much of our family here with us to celebrate!  Thanks for the fun weekend and for all the help with the party!

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