~~Our Wonderful Summer: All In One Post~~

I first want to start by saying sorry for the lack of posts this summer. But, like everyone, we have been EXTREMELY busy!!! Since June 4th, we have had company on back to back visits. So, between spending quality time with the family/visitors, work, summer camps, trips to the beach, Weeki Wachee, Rays games, etc, etc, this momma has not had time to blog.

So, I will leave this post with little words and will let the pictures do the talking!

Needless to say, this has been one AWESOME summer!!!! I spent a good bit of time "reflecting" on life this summer. I have had to work on minimizing some negative aspects of my life so that I can focus on the good and only the good. And, it's working!!!

This momma is so proud of Cole who will be starting 1st grade in the morning and Taylor who will be starting Pre-K!!! But, I do wish summer could last a little longer!!!

My Big Boy has graduated Kindergarten!!!

Well, he has done it again! My sweet, handsome, loving, kissable, wonderful baby...I mean big boy has done it again!!!!!!! This little boy has managed to make my heart grow ten times bigger than it was before. Cole has grown into such a wonderful young man and we could not possibly be any more proud of him!!!

On the way to school this morning, I told Cole how very proud I was of him. His response?? "I'm proud of you too Mommy". He just melts my heart!!!

Cole led his class out to the PE court today for their celebration. Yes, in 95 degree weather, they sang 6 beautiful little songs. Hot? OH YEAH!!! But, it was worth every sweat drop.

He got a Congratulations on your Graduation card....or, Congraduation as Cole calls it!!! :)

It was a musical card, of course! My kids love to dance, they love these cards.

And, he was so happy to get a gift card....an Iron Man gift card to be exact. Apparently, those are more fun to spend than the regular gift cards ;)

Cole with the most wonderful Kindergarten teacher. Ms. Young is absolutely wonderful! Cole loves to grab her around the neck and squeeze her!

And, this is a class picture~ we are so pleased that this will also be his class for next year as Ms. Young has been offered a 1st grade position and she gets to keep the same class! We are so excited!!!

So, my heart is a little heavy today, but very happy and VERY proud!!!! My little boy who was born 4 weeks early and was so tiny is now such a handsome young man. It seems like it was yesterday that I was bringing him home from the hospital. I'm so proud. Being away from "home" is bitter sweet for me right now. But, I'm so glad that I have a way to share these moments with you all!

And, little Miss Taylor will be finishing pre-school on Friday. They will both attend summer camp and then she will begin Pre-K program in August. So, my girl is growing up too!!! So, expect her pics to be posted soon!

Until next time.....love from The Jarretts!

 

~~Cole's First Tampa Bay Rays Game~~

Matt took Cole to his first Tampa Bay Ray's game....and, as you can imagine, they both had a WONDERFUL time!!!

What a great day!!!

Love, Matt, Joy, Cole & Taylor

Tonsils, Adnoids, Strep Throat & The Pool!!!

Well, as you can tell from the title I used, it has been a little crazy at our house.

The move went great. The majority of the house is all put together...minus a few boxes here and there. And, we are still working on the guest room. I need to get moving though~~ we have guests coming very soon, so we need to make their room all comfy & cozy!

The pool was a disaster when we closed. So, after two weeks of chemicals with no "clear blue" in sight, we decided to drain the water and start over!!!! As you can see, we made it a family affair. :)

Taylor, of course, was the little boss....notice her hands on her hips as you oversees her daddy's work ;)

And, Cole thought this was the most fun!! He used it as a machine gun~ hey, whatever works, huh??!!

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So, by Sunday, the pool was filled back up with wonderful, sparkling, crystal blue water. Sounds like the perfect Mothers Day, doesn't it???? Well, not exactly!!!

The day started out beautifully with a nice breakfast, church, lunch and then BOOM! Half way through lunch, Cole turned as white as a sheep and let me know that he needed to go home and go to bed. WHAT???!!!! So, just as most mommy's do first, checked the forehead....yep, fever. So, home we go. After an afternoon of "I feel terrible", "I feel good as new", we ended up at the ER from 8:00 - 10:00. Strep Throat...or, that's what they said. I'm still not 100% convinced. He had a fever of 103, one swollen tonsil, a stomach ache, a headache and off and on body aches.  Fever broke around 10:30 and he's been fine ever since. So, who knows! I'm just glad he's feeling better.

That was Sunday...now, for Monday. Surgery Day!!!!! Yep, Taylor has had an ongoing sinus infection since December. Yes, you heard me correctly...December. So, time for those adnoids & tonsils to come out!! But, even though I knew it had to happen, I was still not in a "happy place" with it. But, we did it, it's over and all is great. That is until Wednesday afternoon......

Around 4:00, she became really congested and started coughing. The coughing scared me....but it wasn't bad until 4:00am. So, off to the doctor we go again! So, now, we have a different pain medicine and 2 different antibiotics....and, we are praying for relief.....and, for sleep!!!

So, as you can see, I haven't been away from the blog for no reason. Life is just kicking me in the rear right now. But, that's ok. My babies are ok (and will be even better in a few days) and we are loving our new house!!! We can't wait for our company to start getting here!!!

My momma, Maw-Maw, Ashley & Rebeka will be here in June and our best friends, The Johannes family, will be here for the 4th of July!!! We're so excited!!!

Sorry for the long post and lack of pictures. Just need to catch everyone up on our latest shananigans.....I do have some really sweet pictures from Taylors surgery day. Once I figure out how to get them off my phone, I will post :)

The Jarretts~ Matt, Joy, Cole & Taylor

~~~~Our New Home!!!~~~~

Well, after 10 months of being in Florida, we finally found "the right" house to make our home. Here are the photos!

One of my favorite spots!!

Living Room

Joy's closet~ I LOVE it!!!

Matt's closet

Cole's room ~ before paint

Kitchen~ small, but functional. We will remodel down the road.

Taylors Pink room

Cole's room after paint

Cole is so happy about his Star Wars room!!!

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We still have a lot of unpacking to do, but we are so happy that we are finally into our own house!!!

Joy, Matt, Cole & Taylor