The Carousel Ride

Yesterday, after Addison's birthday party, Aunt MerMer decided that she wanted to take all five big kids on the carousel at the Parks Mall.  The first (and only) time we tried to take Parker and Eden on a carousel was last year at the zoo. They cried hysterically as soon as I put them up on a horse and ended up sitting in my lap while all of the other kids enjoyed the ride. 

This time, Parker couldn't wait to try it and jumped right up on his horse next to Addison. Eden was still quite timid and unsure and tried to back out at the last minute. Aunt MerMer made her face her fears and, although there were a lot of tears at first, I think she ended up enjoying the ride.  Lily, as usual, embraced the new situation with no fear and smiled and laughed throughout the entire ride.  I love watching my kids experiencing new things and it is always more fun when Addison and Aubrey are there too! Thanks Aunt MerMer for the fun carousel ride!

Eden's First Day of Preschool

Eden started Sunshine Preschool yesterday. She will go on Tuesday/Thursday from 9-12. Her teacher is Miss Tammy, the same teacher that Parker had when he was in the three year old class. Parker has been so sweet to encourage her and tell her what to expect at school.

 

Eden was very excited about the first day of school and promised me that she was not going to cry. (You never know with Eden. She still suffers from some separation anxiety due to her extreme shyness.) 

 Even though she stayed home with Granna, Lily had to act like a big girl and get in a picture too!!

I was quite pleased with how Eden did with drop off.  She was very hesitant to join the group but no tears were shed! When I picked her up at noon, she was all smiles and talked all afternoon about her day. I hope she stays this excited about school and pray that she will love school as much as her brother does!

Super Grizzly

Parker had a GREAT first week in kindergarten!  He in completely in love with school and his teacher, Mrs. Pritchard. (He cried last night when I told him we didn't have to set his alarm for school today!) 

His favorite things about school so far have been eating pizza in the cafeteria on Friday, going to centers, and getting to pick something out of Mrs. Pritchard's treasure chest for having good behavior all week. 

We are so proud of how well he has listened and obeyed the rules at school so far.  (Finally, I can see my consistent parenting paying off!)  He made good choices and stayed on "green" every day but I always got a daily report of who in his class did not make good choices.  He was really bothered by the fact that some of his classmates had to change their color and asked me repeatedly for reasons why they would make bad choices and not listen to the teacher. 

Because he had such good behavior this week, his teacher picked him to be the Super Grizzly!  Each Friday, each kindergarten teacher chooses one student to be the Super Grizzly (aka- Student of the Week).  They get to help with the announcements by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with the principal.  They also get to wear a special Super Grizzly vest and have their All About Me poster displayed in the hall.  What an honor to be the first Super Grizzly of the year! 

After helping with the Pledge, all three Super Grizzlies got a special pencil from our principal, Mr. Blalock.

I could not be more proud of my sweet boy!  I hope he continues to love school and learning!  I am so thankful to his teacher for making him feel so special this week and can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for him!

Parker's First Day of Kindergarten

The day that I've been dreading for five years and four months is finally here... Parker started kindergarten today!

We went last week to let Parker meet his teacher, Mrs. Pritchard.  We are so thankful for her and as hard as it was for me to leave him in his classroom this morning, I know that he is in great hands!

(A funny Parker story:  After Meet the Teacher, I asked Parker what he thought about his classroom and his response was, "It was good!".  Then I asked him what he thought about his teacher and he enthusiastically replied, "Oh, it was gooder!!"  I think Mrs. Pritchard made a good impression on him!)

Parker was excited about going to school this morning.  He did not get nervous until he walked into the building and then I could tell that he was a little unsure of things by the way he gripped my hand all the way down the hall.  I was so proud of him once we got to his classroom.  He went right to his seat and started working.  Not one tear was shed (by him, at least!).  I did a good job of holding it together until I got in the hall and then I will admit that I got a little teary.  I know that this is the next step, but it sure is hard to let him go.



I peeked in on him at lunch and he seemed to be doing great!  I am counting down the minutes until we get to pick him up.  Eden has asked about Parker at least a half dozen times so I know she will be just as excited as I am to see him!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ryan!

Yesterday we celebrated my sweet nephew Ryan's first birthday!  It's hard to believe that we've been loving on this happy little guy for a whole year- it's just gone way too fast!  Ryan continues to be a very content, easy going and very active little boy.  He's not walking yet but can stand and take a few steps so we know it won't be long before he is officially a walker!

My sister planned to have a swimming party for Ryan but the weather had different plans!  It started raining just as everyone arrived so we had to move the festivities inside.  The kids didn't seem to mind at all- they were just happy to be playing together!

While we waited for the pizza to arrive, we watched Ryan open his presents.  His favorite was his new bulldozer that made noises.

After pizza, it was time for cake!  Eden started asking me after breakfast when she was going to get to eat some cake, so I think she was the most excited out of everyone that it was finally time!

Ryan was not sure what to think about his cake at first, but it didn't take him long to figure it out!

It is a tradition in our family to have a number "1" cake for the first birthday.  It's a little bittersweet that this is the last time Emily or I will ever use it for one of our kids. 

Parker loves his Baby Ryan.  He told me yesterday morning that he wanted to build Ryan a special tower for his birthday.  I am so thankful Parker has another boy in the family to play with.  He loves his sisters, Addison, and Aubrey, but sometimes you just need another boy to play rough with and I can already tell that Ryan is going to be great at that!!

We love you Ryan David!  Happy 1st Birthday to You!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today Cory turned 37.

We started dating when he was 16 which makes this my 20th time to celebrate a birthday with him.

  Where did the time go?
And how did we get so old?



The kids enjoyed making Daddy feel special tonight with a yummy fried chicken dinner, four layer dessert, presents, and lots of swimming. 

Everyone knows that when you become a parent, you no longer get to open your own presents! Lily and Parker were more than happy to help!

We are so thankful for Cory.  He is such a blessing to me and our family.  I definitely got the better end of the deal when he agreed to marry me!  I hope he always knows how much we love him and how special he is to us.

Happy Birthday Daddy!  We hope you had a great day!

The Lazy Days of Summer

Two weeks.

I start back to school in two weeks. How on earth is summer almost over?   And how on earth do I have a five year old who will be starting school with me? 

We have not been doing a whole lot lately.  We're spending a lot of time inside trying to avoid the 100+ degree temperatures that August brings and looking forward to the cooler temps that fall will bring so that we can go outside again.

A couple of weekends ago, we attempted to go to the park.  The kids enjoyed feeding the ducks and then after less than 5 minutes on the playground were begging to go home.  The slides and swings were so hot that their legs were getting burned and I have to admit, I was kind of glad they didn't want to play.  It was just too hot!

We've had lots of play dates with Jolea, Trip, Addison and Aubrey...

and lots of trips to Sonic for Happy Hour slushies!  (Notice that Parker is still in his pajamas!  There have been several days that he has asked to stay in them all day!)

I've been working on a few projects around the house, including this alphabet wall in the kid's playroom.  It took me over a year to finish it, but I was very pleased with the final product.  (Thanks to Pinterest for the inspiration!)

Most of our outings this summer have been to Granna and Granstan's house to swim!  The kids have turned into little fish and they can't get enough.  Eden usually asks me as soon as she gets out of bed in the morning when we are going to go swimming.  Parker has been learning how to do a front flip into the pool and Eden has finally gotten brave enough to jump off the side of the pool.  I'm so proud of how well they are both swimming and thankful that they feel so comfortable in the water.

It may not seem very exciting but I am loving spending my days with these three kiddos.  They fill my days with joy and I am so blessed that they are mine.  I sure am going to miss them when our lazy summer days are over.