End of Pre-K

We were beyond lucky to get into the program that Eddie was in for Pre-K this year. BEYOND. His teacher was absolutely the best choice for us...she would probably be the best choice for any kid, really, she is just that amazing. It will be so hard to say goodbye, but hopefully we'll get to see her around the Y, as we both take the same classes :) Not to mention Eddie was hounding her to go to Portillos with us (oh yes, asking his teacher on lunch dates the whole school year!) so we've been chatting to make that happen as a surprise! In addition to the love Eddie had for his main teacher, Finn fell in love with the assistant teacher. My boys, what charmers!

I tried to take a copy photo of Eddie from the first day of school on his last day, and unfortunately was in such a hurry that I totally forgot to check my settings. Of course, this resulted in a totally blown out picture. Boo. I tried to save it the best I could, and if anything it can remind me how hectic it was trying to take pictures and manage Finn!

{ugh. it makes me want to cry just looking at it. it would have been the perfect picture! such is life, right?}

{we got both teachers a plant and Eddie wrote his little note. Adorable, no?!}

{eddie and mrs. f}

{finney hunting down his favorite!}

{goofy boy and mrs. m}

{eddie and mrs. m}

Even just typing this up, Finn is freaking out over the pictures of Mrs. M and Eddie just announced that he missed Mrs. F. awww! 

BBQ Mac

(totally un-edited photos to follow. i'm lucky i'm posting at all!)

So my brother recently got into BBQ-ing. Like, hardcore, make his own sauce and smoke all day long. Wait....that last part sounded wrong, but you know what I mean.

We first sampled his BBQ when we went down for one of his test runs. It was a super hot day, Finn cried the whole drive down to Mac and Amy's and then continued to cry the whole time he was there. We tried to have fun while he was miserable.

{that pulled pork in the back? best ever.}

{a sprinkler game quickly turned into "lets squirt Mac"}

{wwaaaahhhh}

{eddie and Maddi throwing buckets of water! i know how thrilled maddi's mom was of her lack of change of clothes!}

{oh, lovey little water boy}

We came home that evening and Eddie tore into BBQ leftovers right away. It was awesome. A couple weeks later, Mac had his official competition at the Homer Soda Festival. The festival was about 3 hours away from our house and in the middle of almost-Indiana-Illinois...a tough drive! We made it, though, and settled in for a long day of soda-ing and smoking (bbq kind!) and hanging out. 

{got there just in time for the first check and adding some sweet potatoes to the smoker!}

{uncle Mac and his boys}

{eddie's first soda. thank GOD it was a small little sample cup!}

{daddy's boy}

{freeeeeeedom!}

{finney loved the bluegrass bands. silly boy danced and swayed}

{swaying to the music. lololololol}

{huggies! eddie is so into this, obviously}

{cheers-ing our soda!}

{need to keep a baby occupied? supply giant sucker. Uh....not a great choice there, Momma}

{getting the judge's samples ready}

{that sucker....two pictures up? it equals sticky baby! we were dying laughing at this...finn stuck his face to this balloon over and over and would slowwwwly pull it off. it was awesome}

{it's a little more uncomfortable with almost 60lb eddie up there!}

{my roommate from freshman year of college lives about 15 minutes from Homer and came to visit! We haven't seen each other since my baby shower with Eddie. Can I just say how special it is to watch an old friend jump right in and love on your kiddos? Goodness, we're a lucky clan.}

{me and sierra!}

{cool kid rockin' the shades the whole way home}

Mac didn't win for any of his entries, but we had a blast and as Eddie put it "I love you anyway, Uncle Mac!".