Back 2 School - my awesome kids

Welp, I guess it's time to say goodbye to summer. Or at least to summer vacation.  The kids just started back to school this week, Zoey on Monday and Gavin on Tuesday. I'm going to brag on my kids in this post so if you don't want to hear it.... now would be a good time to dismiss yourself. :)


 Zoey is in third grade this year. Seriously?! Third grade? Already?! It seems like she was just taking her first steps and now she's in the middle of her elementary school career. I was pretty worried about Zoey on her first day of school.  We moved from one side of town to the other in October of last year but I kept her in the same school until she finished second grade. She hasn't had a lot of opportunities to meet kids her age out here so I was super worried about her. Zoey is a very special little spirit.  I know that all mom's think that their kids are the best. But I honestly feel like we won the lottery with Zoey.  Ever since she was a baby she was super mild mannered and a happy soul. She hardly ever cried as a baby and even now as an older girl she doesn't get involved with all the drama that most girls do.  I've never had Zoey come home crying because someone hurt her feelings or someone was mean to her.  She just shakes off the mean stuff and gets over it. (I still have trouble doing that and I'm....well....not 8 years old.) I honestly worried about her last year because I was afraid that she wasn't sure when people were being mean to her. I had a conversation with her teacher at parent teacher conferences about this concern and her teacher said that she was not worried at all. She said Zoey is a special kind of kid.  She knows how to pick good friends and is friends with everyone.  She has the ability to walk away from the popular group of girls when they're not making good choices. I think that's what every mom wants to hear! I'm so proud of miss Zoey.  I worried about her first day of school for nothing.  She came home with two new friends who "made a pact" to meet on the benches every morning.

3 year old little Zoey Bagoey

Little Miss Sassy Pants strutting her stuff on the first day of third grade!

 I found this brilliant idea on Pinterest to take a photo of your kids and write some stats down so you can look back and reflect on how much they've changed over the years. I wish I would have thought of that before this year so I could have begun with Zoey in Kindergarten but I guess now's as good of time as any to start! Look at how much she's grown in five years!


This year was a pretty big year for us. Gavin officially started school.  Talk about time flying! Gavin has been soooo excited for Kindergarten to start.  It's really not fair for the school's to have Kindergarten round up in April.... I've had to answer the "When do I get to go to school?" question at least twice a week for the last four months. Honestly, I wasn't as nervous for Gavy to start school as I was for Zoey.  I guess I figured that everyone in Gavin's class is in the same boat.  No one knows anyone yet.  Zoey, on the other hand, has to compete with kids that have gone to school with each other for three whole years! I did get pretty emotional dropping Gavin off though.  When we got to the school the first graders were out on the playground and it was still pretty early to drop him off.  He got to play on the playground for a few minutes before the bell rang for him to line up.  He immediately found a few little boys to play with and Jon commented (this was my first tear up moment) "He's already made some new friends!" When the bell rang he got in line, grabbed his bag, and was off to follow his teacher. I was kind of in shock! I needed a hug! I needed a kiss! I needed some closure here!! I snuck in a quick hug and he was off.... just like that. No tears, no holding back... he was a pro (second tear up moment)! This next part made my mom laugh so hard.... I don't get it. So, Jon and I needed to pay Gavin's school fees and we walked around the front of the school to the office.  The office is just a few feet down the hallway from Gavin's classroom so while Jon was waiting in line I wandered down the hallway to have a little peak.  I popped my head in the open door to see if Gav was melting down or if he was fine..... there he was.... sitting like a little gentleman singing his little heart out while Mr. Green played the guitar. I just wanted to peak... Gav didn't see me but when I told him after school that I snuck a peak he exclaimed "YOU SNEAKER!"

Gavin at about 6 months with his beautiful blue eyes!

He sure does make me laugh. Of course when I got out to the car I had a total melt down.  My little buddy is growing up so fast! I can't stand it! Gavin is a total goof ball. He's always making us laugh with his silly voices and songs.  He can do a perfect Roger from Open Season 2. Youtube it when you have a chance... it's hilarious!Gavin LOVES music. I like to brag that he can sing along with pretty much anything that I listen to in the car.  Here are a few artists from his collection of songs he knows: Tho Who, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Gaelic Storm, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, FUN., and many many others.  I'm pretty proud of his music knowledge! He so gets that from me :) No surprise that on his first day of school he told me his favorite part was Music class. AWESOME!

All ready to go on the first day of Kindergarten.

Baby Tanner around 5 or 6 months old. This was his first "real food" feeding ever :)

So Tanner is still my little guy at home and I'm kind of excited to spend a little more one on one time with him.  Zoey and I got super close before Gavy was born, and then when she went to school it kind of gave me some one on one time with Gavy, and now that Gav is headed off to school I really look forward to having some alone time with my little guy.  He's so different from my other two kids.  The older two have been so laid back and pretty easy on us as parents... but then Tanner Royce comes along and turns our whole world upside down.  He's so funny and smart but he is sure stubborn and loud to boot! He likes things just the way he wants 'em and if he can't get it he will holler until he does. But as much as Tanner loves to yell and boss others around, he loves just as much to cuddle and give loves.  He's a super sweet boy and definitely my shy kid of the three. He LOVES music too! If he's in a bad mood all I have to do is crank up the tunes and he'll start dancing and the crankies are all gone. He's really good about memorizing songs too. It's pretty funny to hear him sing along with the radio. He's pretty tall for his age and I catch myself thinking that he should be farther along (developmentally) for his age.  I have to remind myself that he's only 2 1/2 and he already talks so well.  Some of my favorite things he says are: "Mammer" - instead of calling my mom Grandma he reffered to her as 'Mammer' for the longest time. I loved it! He also loves to have his window down in the car and will almost always ask Jon "Daddy? My dow down, peese?" His biggest thing right now is when you ask him to do something or stop doing something he'll say "No, I not". This most of the time winds up with him in time out for sassing but it's still cute! We also really have to watch what we say. He repeats EVERYTHING.. and I mean EVERYTHING!

Tanner B at 2 1/2 years

I had a lot of fun putting these together. I can't wait to look back when they're ready to graduate high school and seeing how much they've grown. On second thought, yes I can wait. I will wait ever so patiently and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them. And when the day comes when they're ready to graduate and move on.... I'll have these to look back on and cry over ;)