Here We Are and Vacation update

Its been a long time since my last blog entry. My new computer wouldn't allow me to open blogger to update. However, I did my own problem solving and figured in out. . . finally. I have a lot of catching up to do, but I will start with our latest adventures. . . our trip to Panama City Beach.
We were there from the 15th to the 23rd.  My brother David and his girlfriend Vicki joined us from California and we are so glad they did. They, on the other hand, were probably ready to get back. My two kiddos can wear you out quickly-haha! This year we stayed at Sunrise Beach Resort. It was really nice and we managed to all fit into our 2 1/2 room condo. We had almost perfect weather except for the extreme heat. We even saw a manatee! He pretty much cleared the ocean out. People were running for the shoreline at the first glance of the huge, dark, object moving through the ocean about 20 yards away!
During our stay this time, we had lots of fun eating at some yummy restaurants such as Sharkeys, Shuckums, and Calypso. We also had a group of our friends down staying the same condo which added a extra touch of excitement for my girls. The girls had an exciting experience of "cwab" hunting at night one night. And, I think we caught the grandaddy of all sand crabs! He was huge! I didn't have my camera with me that night, so I missed out on capturing those images. I was very sad to see the trip come to an end. It always goes by so darn fast. We created such wonderful memories that will stay with us for a lifetime. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family!
Instead of posting all our pictures individually, I attached a website link. These pictures are so fun and really convey all the fun we had on our trip. Enjoy!

Panama City Beach Vacation 2011

PreSchool Graduation. . Hooray!!

Ansley's big day arrived. . .she "graduated" from PreK--Class of 2023!

Yesterday was Ansley's Preschool Celebration. They aren't supposed to have graduation since its a Georgia PreK program, but they did have a great little presentation and ice cream party.

The most memorable part, was playing the graduation music while each child came and shook Mrs. Dawn's hand to receive their diploma. I didn't cry at all except the night before when I took a little trip down memory lane. It just seemed liked yesterday I held her in my arms for the first time while she smacked like a baby bird. I had no idea why she was doing it. "She's hungry" everyone said. "Well what do I do with her?" I asked. "Feed her!" they said. "How?" I asked. Its funny now to think back to that very first conversation I had with my family as a new mom holding my newborn, but I was so nervous five years ago. Today. . I am just filled with JOY! My big girl will be starting kindergarten in August at Shiloh Point and I am so proud of her. She has grown, matured, and learned so much this year.

She is a kind, sweet, and thoughtful spirit. She often thinks about others feelings because she doesn't want to hurt them.
She is a comedian. Her teacher says she loves to make others laugh.
She is very bright. She is like a little sponge and picks up knowledge so easily. She loves sharing new facts with me and I have learned SO much from her.
She is strong-willed. . .not sure this is a great character trait right now, but I can see this developing into a strong sense of independence in a few years.
She is artistic. She loves to paint, color and create.
She is very emotional. I have read that being super emotional is a sign of intelligence. Lets pray this holds true and transforms into some awesome college scholarships one day!
She is loving. She loves all people and animals. Although she has never been overly affectionate(except to mommy and daddy), animals are drawn to her and she reaches out to them. Just ask Ariel. . our new bird friend. Its a neat side of her we don't often see. Let's not forget that she loves, loves, loves her sister!
She is outgoing. She loves her friends and is always ready to go play!
She is a girly-girl. Give her pink anything, jeweled and sparkled everything and you have one happy little child!
She is my angel and I love her more that she will ever know!

Here are a few pictures. I had an awful spot in the room and couldn't get many good pictures. The classroom is tiny with all those people and the camera kept focusing in on the other people's heads. ( I have since learned to use the manual setting for times like this :-)). The 7 minute video is awesome, but I have to figure out how to upload it. Once I get that done, I will post it. Its so good and you can see her entire graduation. The rest are from her ice cream celebration that followed her party.

 There she is peeking from the second row.

 Shaking Mrs. Dawn's hand and getting her diploma.

 Presenting Class of 2023!

 Best buds!

 Ansley and another of her best buddies, T.

 Another Bestie. . M.

  Thank you Mrs. Dawn adn Mrs. Wendy for everything!

Soccer Party

Ansley's 1st Soccer season is coming to a close. I know she had fun even when she didn't act like it.  This past Tuesday, was her soccer party. She was one proud gal when she got her trophy! We are so proud of her!

                                        Her team and coaches (minus a few kiddos). It was unseasonably cold and windy. Look at some of their faces, can you tell?

Her last game is on Saturday! Hopefully she will give it her all. Pictures to come!

Its Officially, Official!

I can't believe my baby will be starting kindergarten in a few months. We had a Meet and Greet at her school on Tuesday night and she was so excited to know so many kids. Mommy is the "fish out of water." But God knew that working through my kids is the most effective way to talk to me so I would listen. And, I am so glad He led me to make the decision that we made.

By the way. . . she will be Class of 2025 :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my girls (no that is not Ansley's real hair.)

My special hat.

What a great Mother's Day this year! It started off on Friday when both my girls made me a special gift at school, which I will always treasure.Kylie painted me a special box and made a card. Ansley painted a flower pot that holds a flower pen and decorated a personalized card.  Both made my afternoon,.

Yesterday, Ansley and her daddy went shopping at the mall to pick out my gift. First, she brought me home a beautiful basket of flowers in which she said, "Mommy, I am going to go put it on your table by your bed so you can seem them first thing in the morning when you wake up. "--so sweet!
This morning, the girls gave me a very pretty bracelet and a special hat. Ansley picked them both out herself and although I laughed hysterically about the hat, I love it because it came from her. (You can see part of it in the picture above.)
We also went out for a yummy lunch at Buca de Beppo. For all of you that live out of town, this is a yummy Italian restaurant that serves family size portions. I was a little nervous taking the girls since they can get a little out of hand at times, but they were amazing! The server brought them pizza dough to play with and this occupied them the whole time. I was so proud of them for being such big girls at lunch today. By the way, Chris was making me feel  bad about not wearing the hat. So I did. . . in the car to and from the restaurant.Ansley smiled and said I looked like a cowgirl.  Blossom hat, golf hat , beach hat, cowgirl hat. . .. . whatever. . .it came from her and that is all that matters.

Kylie and I on the otherhand spent time together yesterday afternoon for a while, while Daddy and Sissy went shopping. That was her portion of her Mother's Day gift to me and I couldn't have asked for anything better from her. We went and petted the puppies at a pet adoption in front of Petco. She loved giving them treats! Then we went to Brain Freeze for some frozen yogurt .She was so funny and very specific about the toppings she wanted. You can tell she has been there a time of two-haha! Her $1.95 yogurt was certainly enjoyed!  Next, off to Kohls we went to buy some new pillows for the sofa. However, I do need to mention, she is quite the shopper. She constantly browsed and threw things into the cart. She even insisted on pushing it around those narrow isles. She came to a corner and tried to turn it but ran it into the shelf and said, "Crap!" I cracked up!! It sounded more like "cwap" but it was too funny. I had never heard her say that before and it was hysterical. I love spending time with her. She is such a good, happy, little girl and always enjoys every minute we are together. Its not often she gets one-on-one time with just mommy. I need to start making it a priority to do it with her more often.

Finally, I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for my own mom. She always worked hard, loved lots, and sacrificed a lot for us growing up. Thanks mom for everything! She even made me a special Mother's Day bracelet that I will always cherish. Happy Mother's Day to you Mom! I hope you have enjoyed your day!

Here is Ansley modeling my hat and bracelet yesterday for her daddy.

Sharks!

Watch out Sharks. . here we come! Here's to a new beginning. . .its a little bittersweet, but I am super excited too.  I will be changing schools next year.  More so, Ansley will be a Shiloh Point Shark next year. Details to come! Keep checking in!

Easter 2011

Our morning started with surprises from the Easter Bunny. However, this year he was being a little silly. He moved the girls baskets from in front of their doors to a table downstairs. I think he likes to keep them guessing where their surprises will be. Here is a peek at what they got and how excited they were!

After an exciting morning, we headed off to church. We go to Perimeter Church and so did alot of other people this morning! We had to ask for help finding 3 seats. We decided to let Ansley try the "grownups" church today to see how she did.We finally got seated on the 5th row! Perimeter is a huge church so this felt like we had front row seats. Wow. . . what a service with such great music and meaningful message. Ansley did amazing at the service and never talked once.
Here are some sweet pictures of the girls in the Easter dresses. Unfortunately, with the busyness of the morning, we couldn't get a family picture and then Chris changed out of his clothes right away once we got home. :-( Maybe next year. 
    By the way. . .my first attempt at cooking a ham wasn't that great. I overcooked it by 2 hours. I wasn't sure how long to cook it. At least, it wasn't too hard and still tasted okay. Our sides of loaded mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and creamed corn tasted delicious.

Then off to hunt a few eggs and watch a movie that the Easter Bunny brought and relax outside on this absolutely BEAUTIFUL Easter Day.

Big Girl Bed At Last

Well, I finally did it. . . I took down Kylie's crib and converted it to a full bed! The urge has been creeping on for several months now. She can scale down the sides of her crib in two seconds flat. So its really pointless to even keep her in a crib anymore. I started with taking off the bumper a few weeks ago. But after several interrupted nights of sleep in a row, I was tired and needed it to stop. I am always too tired to stop the meltdowns at 3am when I try to carry her back to her room, so I end up putting her in our bed. She is an active little sleeper and pillow hog! That stinker also snores. So needless to say, I have been waking up more tired than usual here lately and its no fun.


I decided that maybe I can keep her in her bed by making her excited about a new bed. Well, I hope it works! She hasn't officially slept through the night yet, but I am hoping by letting her and her sissy have a "sleepover", she might decide she likes her bed after all.

Off to Target I went this afternoon to pick up a quilt we have had our eyes on for a few months. It matches Ansley except hers is "puwpul". We still need a dust ruffle, new sheets, and some new decorations but we will get those things eventually. Here is a picture I took this afternoon. Can you tell they had been jumping on the bed??

We love Dying Easter Eggs

The girls waited patiently ALL day to dye our real eggs. The love hunting the plastic eggs with candy but always enjoy making thier own. After an attempt to use a fancy dye packet from the store, we all quickly decided it wasn't a good idea and threw it all away. Out came the food colors, vinegar, water, and coffee cups and the dipping began. Here are some pictures of our annual fun tradition. . .

Willow Brook's Easter Egg Hunt!

Today, I was just a mommy. I took off my teacher hat and spent the day with my girls.My family comes first and when my girls do something exciting or important, I take personal days. So that is what I did today. I was going to their Easter Egg Hunt at their school. Kylie's hunt was at 10:15 and Ansley's was at 12:15. However, I got behind the slowest driver on the road Friday AND a group a bike riders on Shiloh Road(which is a curvy, two lane road) and I wheeled into the parking lot at 10:17. . . ran full speed inside without locking my car, only to get to watch them have a class picture made holding their baskets of eggs. I totally MISSED the egg hunt. They were ahead of schedule and the kids hunted very fast. To say I was upset is an understatement. I felt like the worst mom in the world. I know the owners felt bad too. They were outside with the class taking pictures. They started suggesting that they let the kids hunt again, but decided to let Kylie hunt again with Ansley's class a little bit later. They were sweet about it and very apologetic. Still a little bummed, I managed to get some sweet pictures of Kyky and her friends and teachers.

 Senior Two's Class

 Miss Ashley

 Mrs. Amber

 Kyky and her friend RyRy--Poor thing was upset they took her basket away :( to hold up front.

More of Kylie's friends. . so sweet!

On to Ansley's Egg Hunt. . . ( and yes, Kyky got to go too!) They were also very quick but had lots of fun! I don't think I managed to get any pictures of Ansley actually hunting. She was very focused and darted around the playground pretty quick.  We just all wish the weather was a little more cooperative. It was a little bit dreary and cool outside. Needless to say, the eggs were all found and there were lots of happy kids!!

 Excited for the Egg Hunt!

Almost a pro at this now!

 Having fun at her 2nd hunt of the day!

 I am doing good, Mommy!

Proud of her find!