Mills turns 4!

Our little man celebrated his fourth birthday on August 10th.  We had his fireman themed party at our church pavilion.  Mills served his guests hot dogs with chips, cupcakes and cake.  Mills had an awesome turnout!!!  Thank you to all of our family and friends who came to help celebrate!  We love all 75 of ya!  WOW!

I don't know how I did not lose my mind moving, throwing a birthday party, and starting school all in one week, but it all worked out just fine.  Even the scare of a torrential down pour passed in the early afternoon and turned to out to be a bright shiny day.  The humidity was kicking!

Mills has been wanting a "bouncy" for his party.  I had never rented one until this year.  I managed to find him a Dalmatian bounce house which fit the theme perfectly.  We did not tell him, so he was rather surprised when he arrived with his Nana.

 

Even Dad and "Dee" got in on the fun!!!  Erik's a kid at heart!  And so is his Dee!

 

To our four year old little boy,  WE LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!!!!

And Oh Yeah, We've Moved!

What? You say?

Yes, remember this post from over four years ago?  Well of course you don't, because it has been four years!
That's right, a contract was signed on our house in June, and we closed on August 2.  We are now "homeless".  Well, not really.  Mom has taken us in.  Pray for her!  A daughter, son-in-law, rambunctious four year old and a dog have disrupted her house.
We have been waiting on this for a long time, and all of a sudden, it just happened.  Now we are waiting on a new house.  Don't get all curious.  It will be several months and I will update as much as possible.  Until then, pray for speed and patience for us.

Forgive Me! I've Been AWFUL!

Blogging hiatus?  No, just a crazy summer with no time, no mind/brain, and way too much going on.  Not to mention that I have had trouble uploading pictures on this laptop.  I have a LOT of catching up to do and am working on it now.  I have several posts that were written, but unpublished due to my picture uploading issue.  So, stay tuned for a "few" posts in the next couple of days.  I promised I would never get behind on my blog, but I failed miserably!

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE WHAT WE"VE BEEN UP TO THIS SUMMER, and there's more to come!

Don't leave me yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Day of Preschool

Look out pre-k, here comes Mills.  We're on our way to TCA!

All new routine this morning.  I've never had to fix Mills breakfast for Mills during the week.  That was just one of many of Mimi's perks.  This morning I woke extra early just so that I could make sure we would not be late.  I showered, preheated our oven for breakfast and managed to get our little guy up and out of bed, happy as a little lark.  A successful open house at school made things much easier for me, but I was still anxious.

For breakfast, Mills requested cinnamon rolls.  A-ha!  Something easy as pie!

 

Then we posed for a few first day of preschool pics

The kids were instructed to bring a "bear" or animal to school on the first day.  Mills chose his Velveteen Rabbit.

 

A lot of parents chose to walk their children in on the first day, I however, did not.  Mills doesn't "work" that way.  I was afraid of creating a bad habit on the first day of school, so I braved up and let them come and get him out of the car.  I encouraged him and he smiled, so I knew everything would be okay.  If I make too big of a deal out of something, it always ends up back-firing on me, and my intuition played in my favor.  He was such a big boy.  Yes, he was a little nervous, but went right in.  Believe it or not, I didn't even cry.  I think his smile kept my tears from flowing.  Go Mills! Go Mama!

He had a great first day!  When I picked him up at 12:00, he was telling me all about everything they had done with excitement.  I was thrilled.

TCA Open House

Our big boy starts Pre-K3 tomorrow.  He is finally getting to go and is so excited.  I have been looking forward to this all summer, but then reality hit.  A new place, new people, completely different schedule, and the reality that Mills is growing up fast, led me into an emotional frenzy.  Not to mention that we have way too many changes going on at once.  I'll explain later.

We had a fantastic afternoon.  I was nervous and excited all in the same, but so was Mills.  He really warmed up to "Miss" Joy and she new exactly what to do to get him going.  He loved his room and the scavenger hunt that she had planned for her "Little Lambs."  It was a perfect ending to our day.

"Miss" Joy showing Mills his classroom

 

Working on the scavenger hunt with daddy

 He found his place at the table!

Visiting Daddy

Plans for a fire truck themed birthday party in August for the little man, led us to the fire station one afternoon. I need a picture of Mills in his dad's turnout gear and now that E is in a safer part of town, we get to visit him a lot more.  Mills loves to go and see the fire trucks, but to be honest, he isn't too wild about getting inside.  Odd?  Yes, for a son of a fire fighter.  The size of them is a tad bit overwhelming for him and I think the idea of lights, sirens, and rescues are great for him....at a distance. 
We let him explore at his own will and try not to push him.  Well, okay maybe not so much.  Erik's cruel sense of humor does not do the child justice. (pics below)

 

and here we have it- Erik tries to put Mills on the firetruck.  Laughing father and screaming child!

 

He's over it and all is well.

Golf

Mills' interest in golf has picked up this year.  We took him out with his clubs several times and let him "play".  I'm keeping my finger's crossed that he'll be sporting a green blazer one day.  Ha!  The Masters???  In my dreams! Right? 

He's Come a Long Way

Within two weeks after swimming lessons, Mills has turned into a little fearless fish.  He started jumping off the steps, then off the side of pool, and next, the diving board.  He loves to be thrown through the air by his daddy, while pretending to fly like a bird.  He us such a hoot to watch!

 

Swimming Lessons

Mills took his very first swimming lessons this year, during the first week of June, with "Miss" April.  Erik took him the first four days, and I got to take him on the last day. 

He did very well, of course, but the old saying that when momma's not around  they always do better could not have been more accurate on Friday.  I did my best to stay "hidden."  Nonetheless, within a week after, you would have thought he had been swimming for years.  No kidding, complete turnaround from last year.