Friday, December 18, 2015

Thanksgiving 2015

We had several Thanksgiving celebrations this year, and it is always great to see our family. Every year for as long as I can remember, I spent Thanksgiving Day with my Daddy and his family. I sure missed him and all of them this year.

We got into the Thanksgiving spirit at Logan's Junior K & Senior K Pow Wow at school.

Chief Raging Waters

They did such a great job on their songs!

Graham's class go to come watch

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Brian's family. The food was delicious and the company was even better!

These boys were not into the pictures, but PawPaw's inflatable turkey had to be photographed!

Brian & his Mom

PawPaw & his little helper. John makes the best fried turkey around!

The boys were so excited to meet their new cousin- Kyle was 3 days old on Thanksgiving!

He's such a sweet baby

Grayson was so proud.

Logan could not wait to hold him

Then Grayson said, "I hold that Kyle too!"

On Friday, we celebrated with my family at the lake. We had a great time!

These boys love to run and throw leaves.

Bess with all of her boys






Halloween 2015

Halloween is quickly becoming one of our favorite holidays. Logan chose his costume (a Star Wars Clone Trooper) in March, and Grayson decided 6 weeks before Halloween that he wanted to be Captain America instead of Mickey Mouse and told us every day for 6 weeks until Halloween that he was going to be Captain America.

Aren't they cute?




My mother-in-law had her annual Spooky Dinner at our house on Halloween, and it was so much fun! Just look at all of our themed food.





All of the grandparents and cousins joined us for trick-or-treating this year, and here is a shot of all the kiddos. 

Logan, Kaylie, Graham, Grayson & Garrett

We had such a great time, and we are already planning costumes for next year! Finally, here is a look at our Halloweens over the past 5 years.








Tuesday, August 11, 2015

First Day of School 2015

School started back for us yesterday, and it is hard to believe that another school year is here again! This is Logan's 4th year at St. Luke's Day School, and I am so proud of all that he has learned. SLDS provides such a loving, warm environment with the best Director and teachers around. We are so proud to be part of the SLDS family!

Logan is starting his second year of Junior Kindergarten. Since he just turned 5, we decided to give him one more year before starting Kindergarten. SLDS has two Junior K teachers so he will have a new teacher, Mrs. Jessica, this year. We went last Friday to "Meet the Teachers" and Logan could not wait to get back to school this Monday. He asked me all weekend if it is time to go to Mrs. Jessica's class yet. I was afraid he would be sad that all of his friends from last year who are still at St. Luke's will be next door in Senior Kindergarten. However, we talked a lot about how they are all older than him and that he will still get to see them on the playground and in the gym. He seems to be doing fine so far!

Grayson is in Pre-K 2 this year, and we are thrilled that his toddler parents day out teacher, Ms. Rebekah, has moved up to the Pre-K 2 year old room this year. She is amazing, and Grayson just runs right into the room to her. She is patient, loving, and thoughtful, and she truly loves Grayson. We are so thankful for her!

Both boys get to enjoy Chapel, Art, and Kindermusik at school in addition to the regular class time. We are looking forward to a great year and praying daily for these boys' hearts and minds and their teachers' patience and understanding!

Logan all ready for his 2nd year of Junior K. He asked me why he had to wear "church clothes"- HA!


Grayson is in PK-2 and was very uncooperative with pictures yesterday!


Sweet brothers. We only have two more years of them being at St. Luke's together, and we are going to cherish them!

Logan's Favorites (JK- year 2)
Favorite color: Red, black and blue (in that order)
Best friend: Asher, Brennon, JJ, Dean, Caleb (basically, most of the boys from class last year!)
Favorite healthy food: Broccoli
Favorite treat: Popsicles
Favorite TV Show: Star Wars Rebels
Favorite Movie: Star Wars Revenge of the Sith
Favorite thing to do with Grayson: Play on the porch
Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Help cook breakfast
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Wrestle & play Star Wars
What he wants to be when he grows up: Football player or basketball player

 My sweet Logan over the past four 1st days of school. He looks so grown up!

Here's Grayson the past two 1st days of school, and he has changed so much in one year. He is the sweetest, happiest boy around!



Monday, July 13, 2015

Logan & Graham's Super Party!

We had a great time celebrating Logan's birthday all last week! We started at home on his actual birthday, Wed., July 8, with donuts. He then spent the day with his Mimi & PawPaw at the park and swimming. That evening I told him I would either cook whatever he wanted or we could go to a "dinner place" (what he calls restaurants) of his choice. Well, he chose my least favorite restaurant- Piccadilly! He goes there with my in-laws regularly, and it is his favorite place. He thought it was really funny that I had to go there even though I do not like it.

We started Logan's actual birthday with donuts, which is our family tradition. He look so old with his new haircut. He continues to tell me that we need to leave it a little longer next time, and I'm definitely good with that!

I cannot believe this boy is 5.

Sweet brothers ready to head to dinner at Piccadilly

On Friday, July 10, I took donuts to school to celebrate with Logan's class. There were only four friends there, but Logan enjoyed sharing donuts with Caleb, Jossalyn & Maya.

St. Luke's Party- please excuse my blue polo. It was an Orientation day!

Finally on Saturday, we had Logan and Graham's much anticipated birthday party. Logan was not nearly as excited about his actual birthday as he was his party. Holly and I took the boys to Pump it Up back in March to see if it might be a good place for a joint party. Logan and Graham agreed that they wanted to have their party there so we booked it. Logan's birthday is July 8 and Graham's is July 12 (he was 3!), and they knew about the party for almost four months which seemed like years to them. After the party, Logan said it was "the most awesome party ever!" so I think it was a hit. All of the guests seem to enjoy it as well! With July birthdays, Holly and I decided you either must have water involved or air conditioning to beat the heat.

Logan's cute invitation. Graham's was exactly the same with his picture of course! We did separate invitations for each boy's friends.


Super cousins ready to party!


Wonder Woman, Deadpool (who is that anyway?), Super-Man & Batman are ready to party

My party co-planning sister!

Holly's friend Cameron made the boys' shirts, and they were so cute! Logan was adamant about just having "Batman" on the front and not his name or age, so we put it on the back.

Brian & Jason jumping onto the target. The Dads had as much fun as the kids. 

Logan with school buddies Asher & Lincoln.

We had Logan & Graham "real" capes made for the pizza & cake portion of the party.

We made capes out of felt for the boys' friends. We had a room full of 3-5 year olds!

Sweet boys blowing out their candles.



My favorite picture from the party. Graham is such a sweetheart.

Grayson is a sweetheart, too! He loves "boons" (or balloons).

Asher is not going to school this summer, and Logan tackled him when he arrived at the party. These two have become big buddies!
Here's a cute picture of some other school friends at the party- Beau, Asher, Lincoln & Sophie. They had a blast and looked so cute in their capes!

Happy Birthday, Logan & Graham! I'm sure we will have many more joint parties in the future.


Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Logan is 5!

Why does age 5 seem like such a milestone? Logan is so excited to finally be 5, and he is growing up so fast! He is still wild and energetic, and he is fearless, inquisitive, curious, loving, smart, and sweet. He also has a little attitude and edge to his personality, and he sometimes has a serious side. He is my big boy who knows he will always be my baby, but he is just growing up so fast.



Logan asks questions constantly. If I say a word he does not know the meaning of, he immediately asks what it means. He wants to know how things work and why. He also likes to know the "plan" for whatever we are doing- whether it is a new school routine, what we are doing over the weekend and when, or just what our plan for the day will be. I have found that from a very early age, Logan responds much better to all situations if I go over the details beforehand.

The past year has been a hard one in many ways with my Dad (Logan's Papa Coburn) being so sick and then passing away in February. Logan is very sensitive and aware of my feelings and has asked a ton of questions.  I have been really honest and not shielded him from how painful it has been because death is something that will always be part of life here on earth. I'm pretty sure he thinks that everyone dies of cancer, and he still asks me regularly how Papa Coburn got cancer and how people get cancer. Logan (along with others) has helped me get through one of the hardest times in my life, and I am so grateful to him. He still talks about Papa Coburn regularly, and I do not want that to change. I want Logan to remember that he was much more than cancer! This terrible situation has given us a lot of opportunity to talk about God, Jesus and Heaven. My mother-in-law bought Logan "Heaven is for Real for Kids" because of his many, many questions and need to understand everything. Honestly, that book has helped both of us.

Logan loved playing withe live crawfish before they were cooked!


This year Logan completed Junior K and learned so much. He can write all of his letters, and he is beginning to sound out words at the very early reading stage. They also learned some math this year, and he is always wanting to add and subtract small numbers. I hope he always has a thirst for knowledge like he does now! He wants to know everything: why, what, and how. We have decided to hold off on Kindergarten this year due to Logan's July birthday. It has been a decision I am still questioning! Logan is very smart, and I know that he is academically ready for Kindergarten. However, I think that with boys' maturity typically coming at a later age, it will be better when he hits preteen and teenage years to be on the older end of the class. Plus, schools are pushing the birthday start date back every year with private schools in Memphis now requiring age 5 by June. So, we are sticking with holding off a year! He will certainly miss his JK friends who are moving into SK at St. Luke's this year! Luckily, he will be right next door.

Logan loves boat-riding and especially swimming in the lake/river

One of Logan's favorite things is Star Wars, and this is definitely something he gets from his Daddy. He has seen all of the movies at this point, and his favorite book is "Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection."  He has spent countless hours pouring over all of the action figures and characters, and it is amazing how much he knows. He always wants to "play Star Wars" where we pretend to be characters. He will only let me be girl characters, and those are fairly limited on the dark side!

Ready for church



Logan had his 5 year old check-up a couple of weeks ago, and he is 3 ft., 11 inches tall and weighs 54 pounds. He is still way off the growth charts for his age, and it looks like he will be a very tall adult!

One of my favorite times with Logan continues to be lying down with him at night. He says he always wants me to lie down with him, and I know that one day his opinion will change! During this time is when I get the most information from him about his day, what happened at school, or what he is thinking. I treasure that time with him!

This sweet boy loves to be outside

Logan is so sweet and is still a Mama's boy in many ways, although he and his Daddy are big buddies. He tells me that he wants to marry me, and that he never wants to drive a car. I asked him how he would get to work, and he said that I could just drive him! Logan has always been completely fearless when it comes to trying new things, and rarely is he scared to try something new. Maybe he is showing more discernment in his older age with being hesitant to one day drive a car. I'm sure it will wear off in time!

He melts my heart!

Logan, you know you are my #1 boy who made me a Mommy, and I could not love you more. I cannot wait to see what your future holds, and I know your fearless attitude, energetic personality, and inquisitive nature will permit you to do whatever you set your mind to. We are so proud of the sweet big boy you have become!

Here's a collage of Logan over the years. I cannot believe how he has grown!