Amy's 40th birthday Surpise Party

Matt did a fantastic job of pulling off a huge surprise for my 40th birthday.  My birthday was on Friday this year.  I had already planned to take the day off from work when we found out he would be out of town for work.  He would fly home on the 23rd but wouldn't get in until almost 11pm .  Since Matt was going to be out of town, my parents decided to come into town and help me celebrate my big day.  They drove in Friday afternoon.  I decided to keep the day off and dropped the kids off at school then did some shopping.  By the time I got home from picking up the kids from daycare, my mom and dad were here.  We decided to order dinner from a local restaurant and go pick it up.  My dad ordered two meals and I thought it was odd but never imagined he did so because Matt was coming home early to surprise me.  Just as we were sitting down for dinner the doorbell rang.  It was Matt with a bunch of flowers!!!!  I was thrilled.  Saturday my mom and I had planned a shopping trip in the morning and we were going to meet my dad, Matt and the kids for lunch.  Much to my surprise, Matt had arranged a surprise party lunch for me.  My best friend, Jennifer, from Louisville drove down with her husband and baby.  My best friend, Amy, drove from Indiana.  Brian and Lori drove in from Macon.  My mother in law drove in from Memphis. Then several of our best friends from the Nashville area made it with their kids.  Completely overwhelming!  He is a keeper that one!  VERY VERY blessed.  It was an AMAZING day.  If you have to turn 40, this is the way to do it!

Trying to process the surprise of everyone in the room

Me and Jen

Loving chatting and catching up with everyone

Room full of a lot of my favorite people in the world.  Thank you Matt!

Cassidy is 9 mo

Cassidy is still a very happy baby!  She wants to be in he middle of everything her big sister and brother are doing.  Luckily, they both adore her and are usually happy to have her in the middle.

Another tooth gone

There has been a little too much growing up this week in the Lynch house for this mommy.  Cassidy is pulling up and cruising. Carter has started Pre-K.  Ella Catherine started first grade and now has lost another tooth.  She didn't just lose a tooth, she pulled her own loose tooth.  She never ceases to amaze me.  We put her to bed after Matt said the tooth wasn't ready yet.  She decided otherwise and this is what I found when I went to go check on her.

 

She couldn't be more please with herself.  So excited to go to school and tell her friends she pulled her own tooth

The tooth

She wanted to wake Carter up to show him but I told her it would have to wait until the morning.  Then she reminded me that the tooth fairy would come and take her tooth so she couldn't show him in the morning.  We compromised on a picture of her with the tooth for evidence

Love that sweet snaggle tooth smile

Daddy wanted a close up to really show the space where the tooth used to be.

Ella Catherine first day of 1st Grade

Pretty girl



Super excited for first grade.   How did she get this big this fast?

I asked them to take a picture together.  Can't you feel the LOVE.

Carter warming up but Ella Catherine still not on board

Out of 8 pictures of me and the kids, this was one of the best ones.  Seriously!  I'm in stitches laughing as I scroll through them all.

At least by this time Carter and Ella Catherine are standing closer together and actually participating in the photos

Can't leave Daddy out.  Great picture of all four of them

Love these 4 so very much! 

Time to Harvest Carrots

Today when we got home from running errands, we saw that we had a few carrots that were ready for harvesting.  Carrots are tricky as they grow really long and they grew down into our harder soil.  So, the first one I tried to pick snapped in half.  Oopsie.  Therefore, Matt showed Ella Catherine how to dig the carrot out a little and hers came out beautifully.  We cut it up and ate it with our supper.  Delicious!

Mimi's visit

Seems like lately I have been awful at remembering to take pictures when we have family come visit.  So, Matt and I decided that after church today we would try to get a good picture of the kids with Mimi.  It shouldn't surprise me that this photo shoot went much like ones in the past.  Wrangling 3 kids and trying to get them all to smile or at least look like we aren't torturing them is no small task.  However, it makes for some funny pictures and ones that I'm sure the kids will love to look back on and laugh one day.  At the time, no one was laughing but as I sit here adding them to the blog I can't help but laugh.   Luckily, Mimi is easy going and went with the flow.

Mimi with her girls



Mimi took the kids to the dollar store and let them each pick out 2 toys.  Carter picked out this little green cap gun and has not let it out of his hands except for church this morning.  It was a battle but he finally conceded that there are no guns in God's house.

We made him put the gun down

Still not happy about the gun.  "This is taking a long time"

And this is the smile we got when we bribed him with a piece of candy (please notice that Cassidy and Ella Catherine's expressions have not changed.  Cassidy looks mesmerized and Ella Catherine looks pained)  And Mimi is a sport and is laughing along with me.

Mimi and Cassidy



Sister time

Mimi came to visit this weekend and she brought Cassidy a swing.  We didn't have a good tree to hang it from but luckily it could clip onto the swing set we already have.  Cassidy LOVES it!  I had to get a few picks of her and Ella Catherine enjoying some swing time this afternoon.

 

getting some fresh air

Sisters

Love that look

Ella Catherine is really getting the hang of being able to swing on her own.  She is able to get really high all on her own.  Love the look on Cassidy's face as she is watching Ella Catherine.  Wish I knew what that little mind was thinking.

In this picture I think it looks like Cassidy is trying to lean forward like Ella Catherine. 

Happy Girl

Talking to momma.  Love those chompers!

Ella Catherine's first grade orientation/registration

Ella Catherine had first grade registration today.  We had received a letter about 2 weeks ago from her new teacher, Ms. Verell welcoming her to her class and she enclosed the school supply list.  We couldn't find everything on her list (i.e a clipboard) and some supplies we had to buy at the school bookstore, but the rest of the supplies we loaded up and went to meet her teacher.  I think she was equally excited to see if any of her friends from Kindergarten were in her first grade class.  She was happy to find out her friend Camilla was in her class.  She also had 3 boys that were also in her kindergarten class, Connor, Po Zo and Jordan.  We sat in her chair and listened to Ms. Verell introduce herself and tell us the rules of the classroom.  The kids each had the opportunity to pick out their own cubby.  The parents had a lot of paperwork to fill out.  While we filled out the paperwork the kids got to explore the room a little and catch up from the summer.  Ms. Verell also told us that she was engaged and would be getting married over fall break and her name would change to Mrs. Hairston.

Ready for first grade registration.  Backpack full of supplies and VERY heavy.

Ella Catherine and her friend Camilla

Ella Catherine and Ms. Verell

Pulling up

Cassidy has started to pull up more and more.  She loves to pull up on this toy stand at daycare.  Couldn't resist the photo opportunity especially because she is wearing her Go Dawgs dress. It was wear your favorite college team colors day at daycare in celebration of football season starting soon.  YAY!

Cutie Pie

First Day as a SuperStar!!

It is so hard to believe that Carter is moving up to the last class at Vanderbilt child and family center, PreK 4.  He started at the Center when he was 8 weeks old.  He has been with almost all of the same friends his entire time there.  I know oh too well from experience that this year is going to fly by.  I hope he enjoys it as much as his big sister.  Luckily he will have the same great teachers.  looking forward to a fun year ahead.

First day as a Super Star

Shopping for school supplies

It is already that time again.  We took Ella Catherine today to shop for her first grade school supplies.  I always find this list a little excessive.  I realize that we are buying extra to make sure the supplies make it through the year, but 30 glue sticks?  I expect to get some kind of glued product daily.