Halloween!

Just a quick photo of Halloween!

We had chili dinner at Travis and Tara's house which was delicious! Then it was off to trick or treat in Nana's neighborhood. It was a blast! This is the first Halloween that Jack rememebers and could really participate in. He was so cute running from house to house. After every house he would find me and say, "Mommy! I got more candy!" It was adorable. He would also tell each house Happy Halloween until they said it back to them. He was the hit of the show!

What a fun night! And during the day Joshua had the Chocolate Chip Bowl for football and his team won! 28-8! Go Gators!

A few of Joshua's birthday photos

Joshua turns 8 years old!!!

It is hard to believe he is 8 years old! We have loved every moment of this little mans life over the last eight years. I have no complaint about this gift from God. From his birth to his big 2nd grade year in school he has been a joy to parent and watch grow. God has given him such a sweet heart and amazing spirit. He is so tender and very sensitive to others. He has amazing patience and a giggle that is infectious. He is loved by his brother and sister and his cousins and all his friends.

This has been a big year of growth for Josh too. He is doing great in school, has worked very hard at tackle football this season and still finds time to squeeze in his favorite love of xbox and nintendo ds.

We are so proud of him!

He got to celebrate in style this year. You all know how the Nichols love birthdays!

He had a friends party that was the Olympics theme again and then his party with his cousins, followed by a trip to California Adventure the day of his birthday and then a team cupcake and class chocolate lollipop celebration.

I think turning 8 willbe in his memory for a long time. What a fun celebration and

First Day of School!!!

It is amazing the extreme spectrum of emotions you feel as you see your kiddos start their first day of school. I thought it would get easier eacch year, but am finding that the emotions just stay the same each year. You experience total excitement for them but also worry about how they will navigate their day, who will they make friends with and what is their teacher like.

With my 2 school age kids being so different in temperant, I found my emotions all over the place the first day of school. We started the morning with letters from their teachers from the previous year, which were so awesome and encouraging to read to them. We got dressed and packed up and drove 1/2 to school. We walked in and made our way through the people to their classrooms. Mimi was so blessed to get Joshua's teacher from last year, but Josh had a teacher that was new to us. She has proven to be a jewel and Josh loves her already but leaving him with a stranger was a little tough. He was totally ready and not nervous at all. I was so proud of him. Mimi was very brave and went right in to her class as well with not a tear.

As we walked back to the car with just Jack, we realized how quiet our days were gonna be and that Jack was going to miss his big brother and sister alot. He just lay his head on Troy's shoulder and was very quiet. We of course went to Toys r Us to pick out surprises for everybody to celebrate their first day accomplishments which helped distract Jack and mommy from the bit of lonliness we both were feeling. I will love my time with just Jack and have already been savoring every moment because he will be in school in a year too. I don't want to miss one moment of their childhood. So Jack and I are having fun, but also love it when it gets to finally be 3:20 and we can go pick the big kids up!

First

Disneyland but not Disneyland...

Our very last event of the summer was to take the kids to the Disneyland Hotel for some much needed relaxation. We had an absolute blast this summer, but were in need of a little down time so we decided to do an overnight at the Disneyland Hotel. Whenever we go up and stay we are so involved at the theme park that we never really get to enjoy the hotel so we skipped the park and did the hotel! What a blast! We swam in Captn Hooks pool for 3 hours! Then we went to our room and showered and had a little rest before we took off to dinner at Goofy Kitchen. That was a while fun event in and of itself! Then we attempted the theme park but it was so crowded we just went back to our stress free room and got snacks! The room server surprised us and brought the kids up 4 huge mickey mouse cookies. What a treat! After a good nights sleep, we were of course awakened by our Mickey Mouse wake up call and breakfast in bed. The kids loved the special treatment! It was a great end to a great summer!

As a mom sending 2 of my 3 kiddos off to be at school all day it was so nice to reflect on the summer and see all the time we had playing, hanging out and going on adventures. It was truly a summer to remember and I will never for get the last 8 weeks I had with them. What a TREASURE!

End of summer road trip!

We decided to take another road trip before school started! It was going to just be the kids and I but daddy surprised us when he came out to the car to tell us good bye and told us that he couldn't bear to see us leave on a road trip without him again so he packed a bag and JOINED US!!! We went to visit our firends in Atwater, CA. We learned all about sweet potato farming, drove a John Deere tractor that had tires bigger than us, learned all about a dairy and saw a calf just after it had been born. It was one of the most educational trips I think we have ever taken.

The best part though, was seeing our friends. We had so much fun visiting our friends and felt sooo loved! They loved on us and made us feel so special. They are the most amazing people and give of themselves so much. Thank you to Dr. Susie, RObert and all the kids, Christina and Brent! It was a very special time with all of you!