Off to Kindergarten

Today was Austin's first day of kindergarten at Greensboro Academy. Greensboro Academy is a charter school with a high academic and moral focus. Students have to wear uniforms and it is a very traditional school.

They accept students through a lottery. Austin just got in last week.....he was #32 of about #275 students on the waiting list to get in.

I can't believe that he is old enough to be starting school. It seems like just yesterday he was turning 3 and we were bringing him home from Russia with no English words (and barely any Russian words for that matter).

Where did the time go??? I always thought I would be one of those moms who was like "thank God my child is finally in kindergarten.....finally, a break for me." I quickly found out today that now that the kindergarten goodbye was upon me,

I was much sadder than I thought I would be. I might have shed tears had it not been for the fact that my child was super excited to go to kindergarten and bid me farewell with a wave and a "bye, mom....see ya."

When I picked him up from school, Austin was so excited about his day, his teacher, his new friends. According to his teacher, he did "Wonderful!" I think he is going to do much better than I could have hoped for in kindergarten.









Blackmail for when he is 16 (our little teapot)

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Ocean Isle 2008

We just returned from our annual family beach trip. We have been going to Ocean Isle since I first started college.....just a few short years ago :). It is always a great time together as family and now that we have kids it is so much fun to watch them playing in the sand and water. 

This was the first year that the boys, especially Austin, wanted to boogie-board. Both he and Jacob would go out (with us, of course) to where it was almost over their head and ride the waves in. I can't tell you the number of times that they both were completely wiped out by a wave, but they were real troopers, would get right back on the board and go again. They loved it! 

This might be the first time in the history of the beach vacations that I didn't get badly sunburned, at least one day during the vacation. Several of us got a little "minor redness" but we have all gotten more skin cancer aware as we have gotten older. 

All the boys (my dad and brother, John, Austin, Jacob, and Riley) went fishing one evening. That was a definitely a highlight for Austin and Jacob. Austin got a fishing rod from his Uncle Josh for Christmas and has been anxiously awaiting his chance to use it. Unfortunately they didn't catch any fish, although Austin had already asked me if I would be able to cook all the fish they were going to catch for dinner that night :).

Grammie & Granddad bought these matching t-shirts for the boys. They say "Who's your crawdaddy?"

Austin, our famous boogie-boarder

The Three Amigos or maybe I should say, The Three Stooges

Jacob, living on the edge with his crazy hair

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