Surround yourself with people that believe in your dreams!
My sweet girls and I bought these beautiful flowers at the farmer’s market this weekend.
~Photo processed with Florbella actions~
Tomorrow my sweet girls will be starting school. Kinley will be entering the third grade and Hadley will be going into second grade. The summer went by at an amazingly fast rate but not without leaving us with many wonderful memories!
A Letter to my girls…
Dear Kinley & Hadley,
Tomorrow is your first day of second and third grade. As I sit here tonight I cherish these days that you are still small. I loved every minute of our summer together but it is now time to start another chapter as you enter a new school year. Your Daddy and I have so many wishes for both of you. We pray each day for your health and safety but our wishes extend far beyond that. We want you to be quick to help others, to not pass judgement and to be a good friend. We want you to try your best in school, extracurricular activities and in life. We do not care if you are the best or if your are the smartest but we always want you to give it your best effort.
We want you to be happy and we want you to learn how to choose joy. Life is not fair and things will not always go your way so we want you to understand that God gave you the ability to make your own choices as to how you will react to things. No matter what you are handed you can choose to have a positive attitude. If someone hurts your feelings we hope that you will choose to be kind anyway. Please do not ever tease another child and please treat others the way that you would like to be treated. Childhood is a sacred time and I hope that you would stand up for another child who was being left out or made fun of. You always have a choice and your Daddy and I pray that you will always choose kindness. Be brave my sweet girls and do not be afraid to help someone or to be a friend to a child that may not have any friends, make a difference in someones life and make others smile.
There are so many things that Daddy and I want for you. We want you to eat healthy, brush your teeth, do your homework, get good grades but mostly we want you to find what drives you, what excites you, what makes you want to be a better person and what makes you sparkle. You were given gifts when you were born and now is your time to discover them. I want you to try new things and I want you to get excited about life. You have blessings to offer and the time is now for you to start figuring out what your passions are. Don’t sell yourselves short with one thing, you have more than one gift. Daddy and I don’t care if you want to do underwater basket weaving but we want to see you light up, we want to see you get excited. Life is a blessing and your opportunity to live is now.
Do not be afraid to make mistakes, that is how you will learn and we would never expect you to be perfect. Follow your heart and listen for God’s voice i n all that you do. It is not important to impress others so always go with your gut and do what you know is right.
Maybe you do not understand everything that I am saying so I pray that you will live by a few golden rules:
Always be kind to others no matter how you feel
Be quick to apologize and quick to forgive
Think before you speak
Laugh Often
Do not Hold Grudges
Choose Happiness
Choose a Positive Attitude
Do not judge others
Be Respectful
Try your Best
Be a good Listener
Have Faith in the Lord and Pray Everyday!
Daddy and I love you both so much and we are so proud of you!
XOXO ♥
September 9, 2012 - 9:28 pm
Beautiful girls + beautiful photos! 
Thank you so much for linking up this week! Rebecca
September 10, 2012 - 7:01 pm
Thank You Rebecca!
September 12, 2012 - 8:32 am
Aimee you are such an amazing mother. You inspire me…I want to be a mother just like you. I really look up to you and the way you raise your two beautiful girls.
September 14, 2012 - 9:25 pm
Awe Christy, you brought tears to my eyes! Thank you so much, you are so sweet!! XO ~Aimee
Please meet our newest member to the Pool family
Miss Merida Izzy Pool
My friend had rescued this sweet girl after she had been abandoned by a family that moved away and left her. Unfortunately, she did not get along with her other cat so they needed to find her a new home. I was not sure about taking in another animal since we already have two dogs and two rabbits but my girls have been wanting a kitty for so long. After lots of begging Reggie and I finally agreed to let them bring her home.
Miss Merida is the sweetest cat. She loves to be held and cuddled. I was a little worried about how she and our dogs would react to each other but it has been extremely smooth. Merida fit into our family so fast that it feels like she was just meant to be with us!
On August 10th 2012 Reggie and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary by renewing our vows.
We choose to do our vow renewal on the beach in front of the Hotel Del on Coronado Beach, CA. The entire evening was perfect! It was a beautiful and warm night that was followed by a pink sunset. Kinley and Hadley were both so excited to be able to participate and we were happy that we could do this with them. It was important to us to renew our promise to each other and to our children. Although Sean was not there to join us he was mentioned in our vows and was in our hearts. All three of our children bring something unique to our sweet little family of five and we celebrate each of them.
This day meant a great deal to both Reggie and I. Marriage is a commitment in good times and bad and I am so happy that he is the one that I am spending my life with. No matter how challenging things have been at times our love for one another and our commitment to our family have always seen us through. I feel fortunate that we have grown closer every single year and that any trials that we have faced have only made our love stronger. I am very much looking forward to our future together and I am excited to live this wonderful life that God has blessed us with.
Reggie~ Thank you so much for this beautiful evening. I could not imagine a better way to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. You came into my life 12 1/2 years ago at a time when I was not looking for a relationship, let alone love or marriage. You caught my eye from the first moment that I saw you and the rest is history. You are everything that I need. You are gentle and kind, loving and affectionate, loyal and supportive and you light up my life and give me butterflies like never before. You are my best friend and I feel so lucky to have you as my husband.
God is good all of the time and I truly believe that we were always supposed to be together. You are an amazing husband and father and I cannot imagine my life without you and your friendship. I am thankful to God for bringing us together and for the life that we share!
I Love You Most!! ♥
August 17, 2012 - 11:52 pm
congratulations… such a lovely post and wonderful way to celebrate
August 18, 2012 - 5:47 pm
Such beautiful photos!! I hope my husband and I can have a vow renewal this romantic when we hit the 10-year mark!
August 19, 2012 - 10:00 am
Well Happy Anniversary & Congrats!!!!! That is one of my favorite places. Grew up there & my best friend got married there at the Hotel Del Coronado. Lovely place!
This summer Kinley has been frequenting the orthodontist’s office. Yesterday she received a top retainer and a lower lingual arch. My sweet girl was so excited at her appointment. Kinley has been very self conscious of her teeth for the past three years and she never smiles in photos with her mouth open. Yesterday, for the first time, in a long time, she was happily smiling with her mouth open when she received her retainer. As we were sitting in the orthodontist’s office I was overcome with emotion as I watched her express so much excitement over the thought of correcting her teeth. My sweet girl should not have to feel this way at nine years old but sadly, she does. The reality is that we live in a world that makes people feel that they need to be perfect to be accepted. She has been teased at school and called names that she will unfortunately never forget and that breaks my heart!
I am trying my best to raise my girls to be kind to everyone. It should not matter what someone’s outer appearance looks like. Our society today puts so much pressure on our youth as well as adults to look like super models. We live in world of crazy diets, botox, plastic surgery etc. I try to make a conscious effort to not complain about my weight or my looks in front of my daughters. I do not want my girls to grow up and measure their worth by a number on the scale. So many women are obsessed with their weight and I personally think that is very sad! I am not saying that I don’t care about my weight or that I don’t watch it but I try not to obsess about it. I want to model healthy behavior to my girls and I don’t ever want them on any crazy diets or to have an eating disorder because they feel that they are fat.
I think that Kinley looks beautiful just the way that she is, however, it fills my heart up with some much joy to know that we can correct her teeth so that she will feel beautiful.
My little Boo, I love you so much my precious girl. You are a beautiful little soul on the inside and out. You have always radiated beauty and I hope that this will help you feel more beautiful and give you self confidence. Don’t ever let anyone’s hurtful words change who you are. Choose Joy my little one and always love yourself. God created you perfectly and you are so very loved!
Kinley has years of dental work ahead of her and I will be documenting her little journey.
Awe…I love date nights, and they are even better when you get to go with friends and just cut loose and be silly! Last night we went out to dinner at Kianti’s and then we headed over to Kuumbwa Jazz to see Terrance Blanchard. We joined Kummbwa last January after Reggie feel in love with the little local jazz venue.
Last night we went with our good friends Rebekah and Jason and we also took my sister and her husband. During the show a man sitting next to us was eating chilli and when he was alsmost finished he kept clanking his spoon very loudly on the bottom of the bowl. For some reason I found this to be exteremly funny and I could not control my laughter, it was one of those moments when you know that you need to be quiet and you cannot stop laughing. Reggie kept squeezing my arm, which only made me laugh more and my sister was egging me on. The harder I tried not to laugh the worse it got, I just could not get control of it. Finally, I was able to distract my mind but I have to say that I love laughter, it is a part of my daily life so I have no regrets!
My mind…”don’t think about the man banging his spoon on the bottom of his chili bowl very loudly at the concert, take a deep breath, don’t look at my sister, focus and do not have another sip of that champagne!”
I LOVE MY BFF and all of our belly laughing good times!
Teri - I love these shots!!! So beautiful!
Susan - Oh my!! Love those flowers/vase. What a beautiful picture.
And so sweet of your girls. I’ll be back!
Aimee Pool - Thank You Susan!
Aimee Pool - Thank You Teri!
Nancy - Gorgeous colors and photo. Well done Aimee and thank you for sharing at Your Sunday Best this week. xo
Lee Ann L. - Beautiful glass (vase) and flowers.
{@Unfocused!}