And the award goes to.....

Collin Kitchin!!!! We are so very proud of our little man. He received the "Pride Time" award for respect this past Friday at his school. He was recognized at the morning assembly. Each teacher awarded students from the class this award, and Mrs. Walker chose Collin and his new little buddy, Foster. What a great way to start off the year! Collin was beaming, he was so excited and we were too! What a wonderful honor and really makes me so proud that he is showing respect to his teacher, peers and new school.







Speaking of school, Annie Frances started back a little over a week ago. She is loving her new class as well. She has the same teacher Collin had for 3 year old Pre-K and we are so happy!





Things are going great here at the Kitchin Sink! I've settled back into teaching again and loving my new little class. This year I'm also teaching the 3 year old Pre-K class and really enjoying it. So much more to do and communicate with the kids and they seem to be having a great time so far!!!! I look back now and can't believe I didn't choose education as my major in college. I love this so much!!!

Matthew's work is going well...busy, but well. He's loving coaching again and is definitely settling into his new role in the morning carpool line. Boy, do we have to all get up early! Slowly but surely, we are adjusting to this new bedtime hour and especially waking up when the rooster crows!

We got back into the soccer groove over the weekend. Now you all know how much I love watching Collin play and Matthew coach. Fall is just my favorite time of the year and soccer is one of the main reasons. We won our first game and it was so much fun!!!! Looking forward to a great season for the Wolves.

Here is a picture from Collin's very first season, which now seems many moons ago!



And here he is now, with two of his best little buddies. They've now played on the same team together for a few years. How time flies when you're having fun!

Happy Birthday Sweet Collin!

Whew! Already been a great morning! I love birthdays, especially my children's birthdays. Yes, we've already had cookie cake for breakfast!!! Yummy! My precious little man turned 6 today. It is so hard to believe how fast the time has gone. Six years ago today I received one of the most precious gifts in my life and that was my firstborn child. I never dreamed how rewarding and wonderful motherhood would be until he arrived and what a privilege it is to be his mother.

Collin is the sweetest, most loving child and truly has a heart of gold. The love he has for others is truly amazing and precious. Most importantly, I am in awe and overjoyed for his love of Jesus Christ, even at the age of 6. What a wonderful praise!!!

He is active in his sports....soccer, baseball and basketball and loves to watch football and hockey. He enjoys Wii games, computer games and his Nintendo DS. He enjoys spending time with his friends and going to school.

Happy Birthday my precious little boy. I enjoy each day watching you grow and learn and develop into the great little person you are. I love you so very much!

Ballerina Girl

AF started back to dance lessons this past week. We will be dancing at a new studio this year. We loved her old dance studio, but they will not have a recital this year and she loved that part the very best. I can't imagine practicing all year and not being in a recital at the end of the year. Kind of like going to soccer practice each week and never having a game. So, new studio, new teacher and lots of moving and shaking! AF couldn't be happier!

Also had to share a few cute pics I caught after church this morning of my little angels. Can't ever pass up a little phot opp!





Also wanted to send a very special Happy 60th Birthday to my sweet Daddy this weekend! We are celebrating big next weekend and taking him to Atlanta with my brother and SIL. Heading to the Braves game and lots of fun! Happy Birthday Daddy!



Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Mr. Kindergartner

K is for Kindergarten!!!! We are so excited for Collin as he starts his new school this year. He had a great 1st week and seems to love it! I just know he's going to have a great year. We absolutely love his teacher and truly couldn't have asked for a better one.

Little sister is missing him terribly during the day and is always ready to pick him up in the afternoon. Collin, on the other hand has been a little envious of AF and I being home together and thinks he's missing out on some great fun...can you count grocery shopping, errands, and cleaning house great fun? I've assured him he's not missing out on anything, and we start back to school this week, so I hope that will help him feel better about it.





He's already made a few new little friends, which I am so grateful! The first day he came home with big tears in his eyes and scared because he didn't know anyone in his class. Can I just tell you this truly ripped my heart out! I hated seeing my precious angel upset and nervous. Collin is shy and it takes him a little time to open up and get comfortable around new people. Once he does, everything's great and he has the greatest little personality. Fortunately, by end of the week he was doing much better and found a few boys that love Star Wars and Wii, so I think we're doing pretty good! I'm also lined up to be a co-room mother with 3 other ladies, so I am looking so forward to getting involved and spending lots of time volunteering at his school. Oh and let me just tell you, I can't wait for field trips and class parties. Okay, so I'm just a bit excited for him, but that's how it should be, isn't it?

Now, I'm not the only one excited for him. Matthew is just as thrilled and involved. This week, the boys spent the evenings while I cooked dinner, hitting the neighborhood selling cookies for the school fundraiser! What great fun they had together. Matthew will be joining Collin this week on Wednesday to have lunch with him at school for his birthday and to take cupcakes to his class. We all love Kindergarten!!!!!

Collin's 6th Birthday Party

Splish Splash!!!! And that's just what we did. Collin wanted a "Super Soaker" birthday party this year with a waterslide, slip 'n slide, water balloons, water guns and basically anything that involved getting wet. So, I did my best to accommodate his request and had an absolute ball as well! I also want to add we had a little bit of a shark theme going on with the invitations, the cake, and Collin had a cute shark swimsuit with an appliqued shark t-shirt my mama made for him.





The waterslide arrived that morning around 7am and my children started playing shortly after it was blown up and didn't stop until 3pm when the man came to take it away. Collin was so upset as he thought this was his actual present from Matthew and I and couldn't understand why they would take it away. I guess we'll have to rent another one for next summer! A good time was definitely had by all. After the party was over, both kids, Matthew, his brother John, SIL, Carrie and myself decided to give it a try as well! I'll save you from the horror of those pictures, as I've already begged my mom to delete off the camera. What on earth was I thinking getting into a bathing suit in front of the whole neighborhood? And believe me, by the next morning after playing on the slip 'n slide and going down the water slide, FAST, I was in quite a bit of pain! All in all, it was lots of fun!







Looking forward to celebrating his actual day this Wednesday! Can't believe he will be 6 and is in Kindergarten! Happy Birthday sweet boy!!!!

Twinkle Toes

This was probably the biggest event so far in Annie Frances' little life. In June, she performed in her very first dance recital. Let me just tell you what a hightlight this was for our entire family. It was bittersweet to watch my little angel up on that stage dancing away, just like I did so many years ago. She loved the makeup, curling her hair, being on stage, she loved it all! Most of all, she really did so well, knowing the steps and learning the little routine. Dance has definitely become a wonderful, fun part of her little life. She's little Miss Twinkle Toes and dances wherever she goes. She can shake it, shuffle step, twirl around, and I couldn't be more proud of her. She's definitely looking forward to getting back to dance lessons this fall and especially performing again next summer!

Farewell Sweet Summer

Oh, it has been so long since I have blogged. I have so much to tell and so many pictures to upload that it will surely take me several posts to recount it all! For starters, we have had a wonderful summer doing as much as we can before my sweet little boy starts kindergarten. Yes, for those of you who have followed this blog and my sweet family over the past few years, a new chapter is beginning for precious Collin. He is starting Kindergarten full time next week. We've had a few "phase in days" over the past two weeks, but next week it's full time..sniff sniff. More on this later...

We have had some really great days over the past few months playing harder than I think I've ever played. We've spent time at the swimming pool, time on the ball field, dancing our feet away at AF's 1st dance recital, watching some of the most amazing fireworks, enjoying a new yogurt treat place on warm nights (weekly, yes weekly!), spending time with family, attending summer camps, VBS, birthday, my list could just keep going and going, but I think you probably get the picture. Isn't this what it's all about? Soaking up every minute to the fullest with your kids? I sure believe it is and I have loved and cherished every moment with them, my husband, my parents and great friends.

Here's just a little look see of the Kitchins lately...