The Wires Family: August 2015

Anniversary Date To The Botanical Gardens

Our tenth (TENTH! HOLY COW! HOW ARE WE THAT OLD???) anniversary is at the end of June, but we'll be on vacation in Michigan, so Steve surprised me with an early date to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and dinner at the Café Intermezzo. At dinner, I had the lobster ravioli and Steve had the pot roast...enough said.

It was so beautiful and incredible, and man, do I love this man!

Some Family Pictures

My parents came to visit at the end of May, and I may have suggested that if they brought nice outfits, we could take some family pictures. I also may have suggested some color schemes.

Look how pretty we all look in our blues and oranges! (Yes, I said that out loud.)

Such handsome men in my life! There's something about seeing my dad, my husband, and our son all together that makes my heart so happy!

All the ladies looking sassy!

It was a really fun visit! We missed having Rachel with us, but we got to spend some great time with Papa and Mimi!

The Last Day Of School!

We did it! We survived! Bella and I are so done with school! I think we're just exhausted. It seems like everyone is...teachers, kids, parents...it's been an awesome year and Bella has had so much fun, but we are ready for the freedom and laziness of summer. And...BONUS! I actually remembered to have them hold signs to celebrate! Woo hoo!

Evelyn's up first: she rocked preschool! Miss Betty and Miss Tracy were wonderful and they loved her! (duh!) She went from a baby to a little girl, and she just grew up so much!

And then there's this little one...she's a full-grown Big Kid now! In Kindergarten, she learned how to read like a boss, count money, make words rhyme, make new friends, and so many other things!

I forget why, but Evelyn was feeling a little emotional that morning.

Bring On Summer!!!

Henry's 7 Month Pictures

I'm probably a little out of order with the last day of school, but I thought I'd take a break and write a Henry post. This month was Henry's first "illness". He got pink eye, but he was a trooper. After getting super angry the first day of eye drops, he took it pretty well. And, thank you Jesus, neither of the girls caught it!

We took advantage of sunny days and met some friends at the park. One of the parks near us has a creek, so we skipped the playground and headed straight for the water. Henry was able to nurse and fall asleep in his baby carrier, which was pretty perfect!

Kindergarten Graduation

My biggest struggle with this blog tends to be: the pictures or the backstory? Do I just post the pictures, or do I take the time and talk about what was happening, how we were feeling, and all of that? With this post, you're going to get the feelings...

Bella will never remember it, but I blew Kindergarten graduation. I had these huge expectations built up in my head (you'd think I'd learn), and wanted her to perform like every other kid there. Bella loves being in pictures; as long as family are the ones taking the pictures. She doesn't do well with other people's expectations, she doesn't like the unexpected, and she hates the pressure to perform.

Looking back, she did a great job. She really did! But she didn't perform like I wanted her to. Which I know was totally unfair, but in that moment, I just didn't care. All 35 children before her had walked across the platform, accepted their diploma from the principal, and turned to smile at their parents. Since our last name is a "W", Bella was the last child to go. She was on the stage all by herself when they called her name. She walked towards the principal with a smile, took her diploma, and then turned towards a see of hundreds of adults, all with their cameras out and staring at her. It's like I could see it in slow-motion and just know what was going to happen. Except that, instead of doing what was best for her, I got frustrated, teared up, and practically missed the moment. As everyone clapped, Bella put her hands over her ears and stood there with her head bowed. Once the attention was off her, she was a different kid - excited, sweet, and talking to all of her friends.

It was a learning moment for me to be sure.

Putting her flower in the class' vase.

Looking out into the audience for us. She did this for a solid 3 minutes; it was hilarious!

Accepting her diploma from Rusty Hill, our principal.

And celebrating afterwards...

With her teacher, Cheryl Thornton

Bella and her best friend, Kate

We are so incredibly proud of how she did this year! She has come so far, in Reading, Math, attention span, focus, social skills, everything! We are so excited to have a break this Summer!

Field Day For Bella

Bella's Field day was so much fun! It was freakishly cold, but we powered through! Bella could have cared less about the competition factor, but that was just fine with me. She doesn't like to do things that she doesn't think she'll do well, so I wasn't sure how she'd approach the different games, but she seemed to have fun.