Hayden's Halloween Party

Friday was Hayden's party at school and you have to sign up for the parties in order to attend, but I have some connections and kind of showed up late and went up to sneak a few pictures and ended up staying for the remainder of the party.  Hayden didn't even know I was there until I snuck a kiss from behind and of course her face lit up.  Gracie went too, Colton stayed with Mimi and Aunt Vickie...he was sleeping when we got there and you never wake a sleeping baby.Right?   They had a very organized party this year and it was so much fun.  They played Halloween Bingo, which Hayden really enjoyed.  They had a bowling game which one of the classmates played the whole time I was there, the other Moms had to make him try some of the other activities.  Last they had pumpkin painting with lots and lots of paint and glitter!  They even let Gracie paint, I felt bad because it wasn't her party but they all assured me they had plenty of little pumpkins.  Then after all of that fun, we went to the playground for a relay race, they had to completely dress in a costume pants and shirt and then run to the tree and back, oh and did I mention that it was girls against boys?  Let me just say that Hayden and the girls are much more competitive than the boys.  Hayden was first and she really was going fast, she was dressed and already running before Michael got his pants on!!!  They were all cheering her on, it was so funny and she was so proud of herself!  By the time they got to the end they were just throwing the shirt around their necks and running, it was a little complicated the other way but it was so funny.   After all of the fun they were all free to just play on the playground,  Hayden stayed on the Monkey Bars and Gracie went down the slide about 100 times.  In fact,  when I told them it was time to go they both wanted to stay.  I really enjoyed talking to the other Moms and her teachers, it was one of the best school parties I have been too ever. 


They could dress up Friday, Hayden went as a cheerleader, I figured she would be much more comfortable than a Princess Dress.  Gracie had to be like her big sister so she was a cheerleader too!

Little Conversations

We have so  many amazing conversations in the car, for the most part that is where we spend the majority of our time.

We saw the same three deer in our yard Tuesday morning that we see every morning, except on this particular day it started a heated discussion between Hayden and Gracie.

Hayden "we don't shoot baby deer.  Do we Mommy"
Me "no Hayden we don't"
Gracie "we don't kill deer, it's not nice"
Hayden "Daddy shoots deer"
Gracie "Well" (with arms crossed)
Hayden "Pop shoots deer"
Gracie "Well"  (still with arms crossed and eyes all scrunched up)
Hayden "and I shoot deer" (not sure where that came from)
Gracie "Well that is NOT very nice, not supposed to shoot deer" (she was getting very upset)  Apparently she is going to be our animal protector!!!!

Other Conversations

Hayden "We don't go in strangers houses"
Gracie "Why"
Hayden "they might keep us and hurt us"
Gracie "we only go in Mimi and Pop's house and Kim's house they will keep us safe"
At least they know who they can trust!

Passing the cotton field on the way home from ballet

Hayden "look at all that cotton Mommy"
Me "I see it"
Gracie "Mommy that cotton candy is growing fast"
Me "well that isn't cotton candy, that cotton is what we make your clothes out of"
I laughed until I had tears!  She really keeps me on my toes!

I love their litte conversations!  They are so silly, there are so many more but I can't remember everything!

Gracie's Fall Party

Today was Gracie's first experience with Preschool parties.  She has been a little unsure about school and ballet this week, in other words she wants to stay with Mommy.  I made her go and of course she ended up having tons of fun.  Colton and I went back this morning to party with Gracie's class.  They had their lunch and then there was a small fall festival set up in the Fellowship Hall for them to play some games.  The parachute was the biggest hit as it was when Hayden was in Preschool, funny how all kids pretty much like the same thing.  Gracie really liked that she got candy after completing the games, and just so you know she has ate every bit of it since we got . Can we say she is a junk food junkie?   She did very well today and played good and didn't act like she did over the weekend, however when she went to play pin the tail on the turkey she refused to close her eyes....little cheater!!!   I am seriously hoping that some of this is just one of those phases that kids go through.  Not that she is acting bad or anything, just doesn't want to try new things and doesn't want Mommy to leave!  Although I did remind myself today that Hayden was 3 1/2 when she started school and ballet, even though 6 months doesn't seem like a long time at this age it makes a huge difference.   I feel so loved but I want her to overcome this and be her silly, fun, outgoing and smiling little self!!!  She is our child that has the million dollar smile and we love to see it!  We love you Gracie Leigh!

Yay Mommy you came!!!

 Silly Girl

Best Friends

5 Months Old

I can't believe that my precious boy is already 5 months old.  He is such a wonderful baby, he just goes with the flow well that is unless he is hungry.heehee!  He has been rolling over from his back to tummy for quite a while and he actually knows how to roll back over but chooses to cry for help instead of doing it himself.  He loves for anybody to talk to him and play with him, he just smiles and laughs.  He has one of the cutest little laughs you will ever hear, oh and he thinks his big sisters are hilarious, especially Hayden.   He has also said Mama in the last couple of weeks, but I am not going to officially count it until he is consistent with it.  Mark heard it first so there is no denying it this time.  He is so ready to be sitting up, he likes to be propped up with all of his toys around him playing, he is pretty much done with laying around on his play mat...he says that is not as much fun anymore.  He looks so handsome when he is all dressed up in his button down shirt, blue jeans and boots, well he looks handsome no matter what he is wearing but you know what I mean.   He is finally getting good at eating his baby food, took him a little bit to decide if it truly liked it or not, yesterday was the first time he was really opening his mouth for it, but he has only been eating for 2 weeks and has now tried all of the level 1 foods.  He will let you know that he is not a fan of carrots at all, I still keep trying but he acts like he is going to throw up and I know I don't like to eat anything that makes me feel that way!!! 

We love you baby boy!!!

Conference for K5

This morning was my conference with Mrs. McDaniel for Hayden.  As I said before her report card was great and that is basically what Mrs. McDaniel said this morning.  There are only a few things that she needs to work on and that was handwriting, which she really just started this year other than her name, and number recognition, which I already knew too...we have been working on numbers at home and she still has a hard time with the "teen" numbers.  Mrs. McDaniel told me today that they call 10, 11 and 12 the Tricky Teens in class, so maybe that will help us at home too.  Hayden is doing excellent in Math, which makes me very happy because that was my best and favorite subject.  She said that Hayden is very  conscientious of what is going on around her and I feel like sometimes she is so conscientious that she thinks she isn't doing as well as someone else is maybe.  One of her good friends is already reading on a 1st grade level and I think she compares herself to that, which we don't want her to do because she is exactly where she is supposed to be.  She gets it honest because that is always how I was too. So Mrs. McDaniel and myself agreed that she needs to be encouraged at whatever stage she is at and let her know that she is right there with everyone else and not falling behind.  In fact, Hayden is above some of the kids in her class, not that I am bragging but hey I am one proud Mommy!   The last thing that Mrs. McDaniel told me was that Hayden makes her day everyday with that sweet smile and attitude and that she just loves her, I had to try really hard not to cry...I didn't want to look silly but it made my day to hear how much she loves my angel.  Hayden has the type of personality that will make your day no matter what kind of day you have had!  She is my Angel, Star and Sunshine!!!

Hayden,

We are so proud of you.  You amaze us with your intelligence and attitude.  We love you baby!!  Reach High and and always set big goals because you are the best.  You are a Shining Star!  We love you!


 Mommy and Daddy

Growing Up

Well in the process of trying to catch up on the blog, I totally forgot some very important things.  Hayden has not one but two loose teeth.  She is so excited about them, one on the top and one on the bottom.  The one on the bottom is pretty loose, the top one still has a way to go.  I am having one of my friends make her a tooth fairy pillow, Hayden wanted it to be hot pink and purple...I can't wait to see what she comes up with.  It should be ready sometime tomorrow!  Mimi is having a very hard time with this, she actually broke down in the grocery when Hayden and Mark told her.  Hayden was very confused but we explained that she just wasn't ready for her to be that big yet, however it is official that she is a big girl now.  I am excited for her and also emotional because she is growing up so fast.  Gracie is already trying to tell us that her teeth are loose too, she is such a little copycat.  We told her that she still has to wait a few years for it to be her turn, but now that she is 3 she has to go to the Dentist for the first time, oh how that should be interesting.    Oh and I think that Colton is trying to cut his first tooth, he is drooling and chewing on everything.  We have a lot going on at our house with teeth, as you can see!

Hayden is also learning to ride her bike without training wheels.  She is doing a great job, when she sets out to do something she is determined to get it, which is one of her best qualities.  She has also crashed into a tree several times, but she gets up and tries again, now I'm not saying that she doesn't sling a little fit and get frustrated but she does try again.  In fact today she crashed into the Soccer net, she got up off the ground, picked the net up and slung it not one time but two times out of her way!  Then she got back on the bike and took off again.  Gracie has got the tricycle down now and she tries to keep up with Hayden but her little tricycle just isn't as fast.  Although she isn't quite ready for a bike yet, even one with training wheels so maybe from Santa she will get a more advanced tricycle that will work better for her in the yard.  Don't worry everyone they both wear helmets, we are all about protected their precious heads!!!  Sorry the video is not the right way, I couldn't find anywhere on the computer to rotate it!!! 

Pictures and Fall Festival

Well we went to have pictures with Santa today...at the same place we have used for the past 3 years.  He is by far the best Santa ever, he truly loves kids and can't help but hug and love on them.  He makes them feel so special!  I was really worried about Gracie, because in the past she has been scared and uncooperative.  Well today she went right in the room and gave him a hug and then it began, she completely froze up and wouldn't smile or anything.  She basically sat there sucking her thumb with tears streaming down her face.  As a Mommy I was very disappointed because I just knew this year she was going to be as excited about Santa as her big sister, yeah not so much and it can be very aggravating, but then we decided that we will have some really good blackmail pictures of her later.  Colton was not to sure about Santa either, he was fine until he looked up and realized that a strange man was holding him, however he still did much better than Gracie.  Hayden was a doll as always, smiling and being a little angel.  She took the American Doll magazine to show him which one she wanted and we even managed to get Gracie to show him which one she wanted too.  I never thought they would want one of those dolls but guess what they do!  There were lots of great pictures of Hayden and there were even a few good ones of Hayden and Colton with Santa and as I said before there are no good pictures of Gracie, she told us later that she was scared and just wanted to go home.  We did take one family picture with Santa in hopes to get a smile out of Gracie, but I don't think she smiled then either.  I can't wait until next Wednesday when we go to view the pictures...it should be very interesting!  I love my little Gracie, she does get it honest being that I didn't take professional pictures very well either until I was about 5 years old, my Mom and Grandmother both say I am getting paid back!

We also took the kids to the Fall Festival in Monroe today.  We met Kierstin there too, which made Hayden so happy.  They all wanted to do the Spider Jump, so we all stood in line for an hour and a half so that they could jump.  It is finally our turn and they are getting ready to buckle everyone up and Gracie starts pitching a fit and decides that she is not going to do it, instead of arguing with her I just picked her up and took her back to her Daddy and we all watched Hayden and Kierstin have lots of fun.  Hayden almost mastered the flip today, she was right there at it when the time was up.  She was very proud of herself.  Next we went to get their faces painted... all three of them were so excited.  We got there and Hayden got a butterfly and guess what...when it was Gracie's turn she pitched a fit and didn't want her face painted.  Kierstin got a bat painted on her face, which surprised us all that she actually wanted a bat instead of something girly.  Next it was on to the Pony Rides, which I was sure Gracie would love, well not so much she refused to ride on one and was just ready to go home.  Hayden and Kierstin rode the ponies and then did the rock climb not one time but two times.  Hayden and Kierstin had so much fun today, but for some reason my little Gracie just wasn't into it.  I know one reason was because she was tired but she is a lot more shy than most people realize and she absolutely does not want any strangers touching her at all, which I guess could be a good thing too!  Colton rode in his stroller at the Festival and as always he was so good, he even took a nap for most of it

New Ballet Class

Yesterday Mimi and I took Hayden to Charlotte's School of Dance in Loganville.  She is ready for a more involved Ballet class and in this class she does Ballet and Tap, which is very exciting.  She will be getting her blue leotard and skirt, tap shoes, and bag next week!  I can't wait to see and hear her in the tap shoes, yes I realize I will probably be taking that statement back after a couple of weeks of listening to it!   She really liked it yesterday and she asked this morning when she was going back again.  Gracie is staying at with Mrs. Kim for now because the class she would have been in is at 6:30 on Thursday nights, which is not a good time for her being that she is usually in bed around 7pm.  Although, she is a little jealous about the tap shoes, so Mark and I decided that we would buy her a pair of those fancy black tap shoes for Payless.  Who knows she may just teach herself how to tap...I am certain that Hayden will show her a few tips.  I love that they are both involved in Ballet and they really love it.    

First Report Card of K5

Whoo Hoo, Hayden got her report card yesterday and as I expected it was EXCELLENT!  I haven't had my conference with Mrs. McDaniel yet, but judging by the report card it should be good too!  She also turned in another set of site words, the orange ones to be exact and she passed 100% and brought home the next set of red words.  This is a really big deal because after the red words she has completed the rainbow of words and gets to start on the Raindrop Words.  She is so excited, she immediately wanted to start working on them when we got home from Ballet last night.  Words cannot describe how proud of her we are, she is such a blessing and we are the luckiest parents in the world.  I can't wait to have my conference to find out the things that she needs to work on, I am pretty sure it is forming numbers correctly and recognizing numbers.  She knows all the numbers but gets very confused with 11-19 for some reason.  Although I try to remind myself that she has learned a ton of words, letters, numbers, money and all sorts of other things just in the last two months.  Mrs. McDaniel did tell me one day last week that Hayden is definitely a visual learner, she gets it honest because I always was too!  

Good Job Hayden!!!  Keep up the good work and we love you very much!

Weekend

Saturday we went to George Walton for the Fall Festival but by the time we got there everyone was packing up.  The girls still got to jump in the jumping thing and play on the playground, which is all they were worried about anyway.  Hayden got to show her Daddy how she twists and turns while doing the Monkey bars at school, it amazes me every time how good she is at them!  I used to love the Monkey Bars too but I can only do about half of them now and it really is hard.   Mark was pretty impressed too but he wouldn't try to do them at all.  After the Festival we went to Mimi and Pop's house so that Colton could meet his Aunt Julie.  Life is so busy that we all have a hard time getting together.  Colton loved his Aunt Julie, he talked to her and gave her lots of his smiles!!!  Then it was back home to watch football, which is Mark's favorite thing to do!

Sunday we went to get a pumpkin and we got home to carve it and guess what....it was Rotten!  Yea, that is right completely stinking rotten.   Instead of carving it, we let the girls paint it, which made them very happy anyway.  They were excited about their pumpkin and that is all that really mattered!  The pumpkin is beautiful, I know it is supposed to be scary but hey Hayden and Gracie are way to sweet to make scary pumpkins.  Our pumpkin has hearts and flowers..heehee!

I would post pictures of my beautiful kids but for some reason blogger is not working properly so I will try to update pictures as soon as it starts working again!

Big Surprise!!!

My best friend Stephanie called last week and wanted to know if I was interested in 4 free tickets to see Disney on Ice,  and of course my answer was YES!! I love going to those as much or maybe even more than the girls do.  I was so excited and we kept it a secret from Kierstin, Hayden and Gracie all week, which was very hard for me to do.  Mimi and I took the girls to the Friday night show and we had a VIP parking pass, which was nice too.  We basically walked from the car to our seats.  The girls asked a million questions and tried to figure out where they were going the whole way there, but we kept it a secret until we got to our seats and Mickey and Minnie Mouse came out to start the show.  They had no idea what they were about to watch or that Kierstin was already there.  Their little faces were totally worth making it a surprise.  Kierstin and Hayden hugged each other immediately and they couldn't believe where they were.  The show was one of the best ones we have been to...they did Princess and the Frog, Cinderella and this was the first time for Rapunzel!!!  You should have seen their little faces when Rapunzel was flying around the arena by her hair, it was really neat.  Gracie was in total amazement,this is probably the first one she really understood.  The girls also enjoyed their snow cones, boy do those little girls love snow cones, I don't know where they get it from...but I think Pop and Aunt Kim might be guilty!!!   It was such a fun night!  Thanks to Stephanie and her Mom for the tickets and to Mimi for driving us there and spending the evening with us!   It is so much fun making all these wonderful memories with my girls!!!

Lunch with Hayden

Thursday I took Hayden and her class to lunch so that Mrs. McDaniel and Mrs. Baxter could go to a teacher luncheon catered by the Varsity.  Gracie went with me because she had a doctor appointment to go to right after we got done.  Hayden was so excited, I didn't tell her that I was coming!  She kept telling me how everything worked and what we were supposed to do next.  She is such a smart little girl!  There was another Mommy there helping out too and I must say Hayden has a great class.   They were all very good and are excellent listeners.  After lunch we took them to the playground to play while we waited for the teachers to come back.  Mrs. McDaniel and Mrs. Baxter were so thankful that we helped out.  I told them anytime I enjoyed it and so did my little girl!  I am so glad that I get to be a part of these things, it makes her day and mine!!!  Gracie enjoyed it too and she was very shy. The whole class thought she was a baby and she told them that she was a big girl too!!!

3 Year Check Up

Gracie had her three year check up last Thursday. Usually she is scared and does not cooperate at the Dr. office but this time she proved to be a big girl and was so good and cooperated with everyone.  She weighed 29lbs and was 37 inches tall, which is 10th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height.  I bet you can't guess who she is going to be like!?!  She has had a snotty nose for about three weeks and she has even been on an antibiotic from Aunt Kim on one of those weeks for a sinus infection.  Aunt Kim and Dr. Beeber both confirmed that she has allergies, which is something I have never had nor has Hayden.  It is all new to us, so he put her on Flonase nose spray for the rest of the month and that stuff has really worked so far.  We love you big girl and are so proud of you!

4 Month Check Up

Colton went for his 4 month check up on Thursday.  He is a perfect, healthy boy.  He weighed 17lbs and was 25 1/2 inches long, which means he was 90th percentile for height and weight.  He can now have baby food and he seems to really like it so far.  He has had the cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots and apples.  He still makes funny faces as he is trying new things and getting used to the texture of food, but he eats it all up!  Dr. Beeber says that he is such a good natured baby and he is.  He is so sweet and precious.  He is wanting to sit up so bad and I figure in the next month he will probably figure it out!  He is getting so big and I can't wait for all of his accomplishments in the next couple of months.   We love you baby boy!!!!


Well once again I forget to update the blog, so I will try to remember all of the important details from the last week that our amazing kids have done!!!  Hayden turned in her Yellow site words and got them 100% correct so now she is on the Orange words.  This is so exciting because she is making a rainbow with the words and she is getting really close to being done and starting the raindrop words!   She also turned in her two challenges for the month of October, yes I realize it is the first week but what can I say she is so SMART and proud of herself too!   She recognizes money, capital letters, punctuation marks and sentences, those were the two challenges we did.  She is also doing great with her reading skills with the words that she has already accomplished.  It is truly amazing how fast she learns things and let me just say that she has a fabulous memory! 

Gracie had a great week at school.  She is also learning so much.  The fire truck came to visit the Preschool Tuesday, so she was very excited about it except that it was too LOUD!  She doesn't like any loud noises at all.  She loves to act silly, and she has really started playing pretend.  It is so cute watching her pretend to be a Mommy.   She has mastered the tricycle and boy can she pedal that thing.  It is hilarious watching her zoom around.  She is getting so big.  She goes for her 3 year old check up next week, which should be very interesting. 

Mimi and Kim brought back lots of shrimp to celebrate my birthday yesterday, since they went to the beach for my birthday...just kidding!   Grandmama and Linda brought a cake and everybody brought presents.  It is very important to Hayden that we all celebrate our birthdays with parties.   It was so yummy and the girls were so excited to see everyone, it was a fun night with family watching football.  Thanks everyone for the gifts and party, I love you all very much!!!

This is how we have to grocery shop now!

My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a great day!  Mark, Hayden and Gracie had been working on my present in the evenings and were so very excited about what they were making!  When I woke up yesterday, Hayden sat up in the bed and said "Happy Birthday Mommy I love you" now that is the perfect way to start the day!  Then my little Gracie sat up at said "Happy Birthday Mommy you are the best Mommy ever"  then I really felt special!  Oh I almost forgot my first birthday wish came from my wonderful husband when he left for work at 5am!!!  Colton woke up happy as always, so as you can see I was off to a great day!  After picking the girls up from school we went to see Mema and Pop before Ballet, I refused to sit in the car all day on my birthday like we usually do on Tuesdays!!!  Then we went to Ballet and when we got home the girls were in a hurry to eat dinner and take their baths so that when Daddy got home they could give me my presents.  I got the most amazing gifts, they both painted a picture frame for me and then picked out their favorite picture they wanted to put in it.  It was perfect because they were so excited about it and of course I loved it!  I have gotten some wonderful gifts this year from everyone.  Thank you to everybody, I really do have an amazing family!!!