Christmas

Santa Visits

 We had a great time seeing Santa this year!  Will and Katie did great - Katie initially had a big frown, but quickly loved Santa once Will turned her frown around. 

Katie asked for a real baby and Will asked for a laptop.  Luckily Santa shut them both down, and Katie then asked for a dollhouse and Will asked for an Leap Pad 3.  Santa said he would work on those requests.

Katie's trip to the Dentist

Caterpillars to Butterflies

Another soccer season in the books!

Will's School Pictures

State Fair

We had a great time at the State Fair this year!  The rides were the biggest hit, and we left with our first "won" stuffed animals.  I think we mainly played games where every player wins. 

Armstrong Bike Rodeo

Armstrong has an annual bike rodeo where the kids get to ride on an obstacle coarse for 30-minutes.  The course gets more complex as the kids get older.  Will was just thrilled to be able to ride his "two-wheeler" through the course.

Pumpkin Patch

Sight Words

 Chad has done such a great job working with Will on his sight words.  They both enjoy this bond so much so when I offered to help Will with his sight words he told me no, that is something he does with Daddy. 

Carpooling with Eisley

 Will's best friend (and love of his 5 year old life) lives down the street from us and her mom takes Will to school some mornings.  Will loves driving in her convertible with the top down so "he can feel the wind his face."  His words.  It's a good life!

I love how young he looks here!

Carpool!

Did I mention he loves Eisley?  Here is an excerpt from his school work.

Flagged

We got flagged!   I think this is the equivalent of being papers but without the mess!  We will take it!  The kids thought it was fantastic and we look forward to paying it forward!

First Day of Pre-School

Katie wasn't super excited about her first day of school today.  She really enjoyed her relaxing mornings in her pajamas, so she wasn't quite ready to get her uniform on, hairbrushed and out the door at 8am!

Once at school, she did great.  We dropped her off with no problems and when I went to pick her up, she told me she needed to finish her picture before we left.

Katie has Mrs Fadda - the same teacher Will at for Beginners-  and Miss Smith who Katie fell in love with as soon as Miss Smith taught her a cute song - 5 Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree.  Katie loves "Ms Mith".  I love hearing her say her name. 

First Day of Kindergarten

Will could not have been more excited about his first day of Kindergarten.  He was up, dressed and ready to go well before it was time.

The first thing he was told to do was put his backpack in his locker.  This might have been the highlight of the day.  I just love the picture of Will looking at his locker like he is in awe.

Ms Finlay is an amazing teacher who has taught Kindergarten for over 30 years at Armstrong in the same classroom!  She truly loves what she does and it is evident.  Will is crazy about her and wants to know if she will babysit for him.

Will has two kids from HPPDS in his class - Parker and Jacqueline.  It was great to see familiar faces on the first day.

There are some really neat traditions at Armstrong.  As the kids were walking into school, a bagpiper was playing.  The HP Senior class came to all the Kindergarten classes and gave them a Class of 2027 shirt.  In a video of the event, the Seniors were telling the Kindergartners about how they will Seniors one day too and they will be visiting the Kindergartners.  It really was a neat event that left an impression on Will and me.  After school the Dad's Club served snow cones to the kids.  It was a great first day!

I think it will be a fabulous year at Armstrong!

Look at this locker!

Will and Ms Finlay

Snow Cones!

Ms Finlay's class in their new t-shirts!

Almost time for school!

 The week before school started was somewhat magical for me.  There was a lot of anticipation of what was to come while I was trying to soak up every last minute of summer. 

The kids attended a manners camp that they loved and have already asked if they can attend again over the Christmas break!  They learned to set a table, how to introduce themselves and many more positive things.  I had to smile when they argued over who would set the table.

This really was the best summer so far.  The kids are at great ages for spontaneous road trips, beach trips and they are also able to entertain themselves which makes the days at home enjoyable for all. 

 Katie tries on her day school uniform

Lower Greenville with friends

Steel City Popsicles!

Will and Eisley the morning after a sleepover

Our princess Elsa

Roadtrip

 We took a spontaneous road trip right before school started.  We spent 2 nights in Houston and 2 nights in Austin. 

We had a great time visiting my best friend Amye and her family.  The kids all got along so well and they introduced us to bowling!  It was a huge hit with the kids and something they continue to talk about even weeks after our trip.

On our trip to Austin, Ahma and Bapa took the kids to Target to get a toy.  Katie got domestic and picked out an ironing board (which she calls her "blow dryer") and Will got a Power Ranger toy.  The kids felt like they hit the toy jackpot.  We also got to celebrate cousin Guerin's birthday!  Will was in awe of the cash he got from Great Grandma Jo! 

Bowling in style

Amye teaching Katie how to bowl

Katie and her ironing board

Katie and Lola

a penny for Will's thoughts here

playing with Guerin's new toy

Facetime

Will loves our neighbor Eisley.  She lives just a few doors down.  When they aren't together, they facetime. 

Seaside Day 5

The last day in Seaside is always bittersweet.  While I don't really want to go home, I do want to have more home cooked meals and less sand all over the place.

We headed to the beach for another fun day.  Today's beach surprise was baby jellyfish!  They were all over the water and you could just barely see the pinkish tan outlines of their bodies.  They didn't sting so after a while we started collecting them.  If that wasn't fun enough the kids made friends with some other folks on the beach - Will with a man next to us who was catching small fish and suddenly we had a few of our own, and Katie with some older girls who were building a "drizzle sand castle" and asked Katie if she wanted to help.  While we often see Will make friends with strangers, it was fun to see Katie do this as well. She used to be shy and may not have done this a year ago, but she is now 3.5 and not nearly as shy as she used to be.

The kids literally run to the beach

Katie holding a baby jellyfish

Will and Katie getting some fish from Will's new friend

Katie showing off her jellyfish 

Building an aquarium for his new fish

Off to catch more fish with his new friend

Katie and her new friends building a drizzle sand castle