Last Day of School

No, the last day of school is not in January. That's just how behind I am. I am scrambling to get caught up on all this stuff!

 Both of the kids had excellent teachers this year.  Tyler's fifth grade teacher was Mrs. Shelton.  Mrs. Shelton is an extremely talented teacher.  She makes learning so much fun for her students.  She pushes them to their full potential and doesn't put up with any misbehavior.  My only regret is that she is retiring at the end of next year, so my other children will not have the opportunity to learn from her.

Mrs. Shelley was Emily's second grade teacher.  She was so loving and caring.  Just what Emily needs.  Emily woke up every morning, excited to go to school.  She learned so much from Mrs. Shelley and truly enjoyed her school year.

Thanks to both of these outstanding women.  It's teachers like you that truly make a difference in the lives of our children! 

Kate's Birthday

My baby girl turned three December 8.  I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack the night before her birthday when I laid her in her crib for the last time.  Then I got in the bathtub and cried :*(  It's so hard to see her growing up so fast.

Kate LOVES giraffes.  Not quite sure why she loves them so much, but was so much fun to surprise her with a giraffe birthday cake!  She was SO excited!

It was hard to think of anything that Kate really needed for her birthday.  She is a little young to understand the concept of receiving gifts.  When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she would reply, "a birthday cake".  That's easy enough.  We decided that this would be a good opportunity to buy her a big girl bed.  Here she is for the last time in her crib.  She is growing so fast, as you can see, that it was clearly time for the big switch.

Travis asked me if I could disassemble the crib while he was at work so we could put her "big girl bed" together when he got home.  I told him no.  I'm sure that I could have physically taken it down, but emotionally, there was NO possible way.  Time is flying by so quickly, it makes my head spin.  Taking down the crib for the very last time was really difficult for me.  BUT, she adores her new bed and I love to see her so happy!

 We had a relaxing night with the family. We had the grandparents over for a chicken pasta dinner (one of her favorites), opened gifts and enjoyed our cake and ice cream. If you look close enough, you can see how much Kate enjoyed hers ;)

Kate is so much fun! She is sweet and sassy! She refuses to wear anything but a dress or a skirt. I am finally getting the hang of matching fingernail polish to the shirt she is wearing and which leggings look good with which skirt. I had no idea that such a little girl could have such a big opinion ;) Travis insisted one day that he could get her to wear jeans. He dressed her in jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes and she cried and cried and cried. Then he put her in a skirt. I have come to accept that if that's how she is comfortable, so be it!

She was so excited to go to sleep. I was a little bit worried that she would be in and out of bed all night. She has been such a great sleeper that I was dreading the switch. She did great! No problems at all! Way to go, Kate!!!

Happy birthday my sweet Kate!  We sure do love you!

Kate's Advent Calendar

It was bound to happen.  Sooner or later, someone would eat their entire advent calendar in one day.  It happens every year.  I have been very careful for 17 days to let each of the kids open one day on their advent calendar.  They would savor the sweet chocolate found inside and yearn for more.  This morning I forgot to place Kate's calendar out of reach.  She came in my room and said,
Kate:  "Mommy, I ate all my chockits.  Are you happy?"
Mom:  "No.  Not very happy.  You will be very sad tomorrow when you don't have a chocolate to eat."
Kate:  "It makes me happy."

I hope she feels the same tomorrow :/

Emily's Birthday

Emily celebrated her 9th birthday in October.  So sad that I'm barely getting around to blogging her special day.

She LOVES Angry Birds.  There was no hesitation when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted!

She also loves Monster High.  These pajamas were the perfect gift for her.

Emily and Grandma Great

She loves to scrapbook.  A great choice from Grandma Paulette

Tyler made her a survival bracelet.  She was thrilled!

Emily is a very good girl.  She is such a sweetie and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She is a friend to all and would do anything for anyone.  She is a great student and is finally beginning to love reading.  She loves to sew and has started piano lessons this year as well.  She is a wonderful athlete and especially loves soccer and running. 

Here's a little bit more about Emily:
Favorite food:  Bajio salad
Favorite animal:  Dolphin
Favorite color:  Lime green, brown and white
Favorite song:  Knee Deep
Favorite artist:  Adam Levine (She think's he is dreamy.  Should I be worried?)
Favorite TV show:  The Voice
Favorite movie:  Soul Surfer
Favorite toy:  Monster High dolls

Piggy Back

We came home tonight and found our reindeer like this.  Emily noticed and said, "Oh look, mom.  It looks like one reindeer is giving the other one a piggy back ride."  It has been super windy today so I just laughed and replied, "Yes, it does.  The wind must have blown one on top of the other one."

Pretty funny.  I couldn't stop laughing.

Now who's the jokester?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We have been listening to Christmas music today.  Santa Claus is Coming to Town came on and here's what Gavin said:
Gavin: "Mom, this song is lying."
Mom: "Why?"
Gavin: "It says you better not cry."
Mom: "I think it means that you shouldn't have tantrums. Santa is watching and he only brings presents to kids that don't have tantrums."
Gavin: "Well, when I was little I used to cry and have tantrums all the time and Santa still brought me lots of presents."

Oh, the wisdom of a five year old.

Play Ball!

We had another successful baseball season! All thee kids played and I really enjoyed spending so much time at the ball park.

Tyler's team struggled.  It was a bit frustrating for him to have a winless season.  However, he played really well.  He played second base and had some really good hits.

 Good eye, Tyler!

Gavin is just Gavin.  He has a killer arm and can really hit that ball.  But, he tends to get a little bit bored when playing in the outfield. 

 Here is is picking and throwing grass. 

 And here he is again with his best back somersault!  Daddy was so proud ;)

Emily wasn't going to play this year. She had decided to take a year off. However, her soccer coach, whom she dearly loves, talked her into playing on his team. She did FANTASTIC! Teams her age are still playing co-ed and she could definitely hold her own against all those boys. She loved playing catcher and was never intimidated.

 During her last game, she really got a hold of the ball and hit a homerun! I was super excited and wish I could have gotten it on video. 

Here she is, running into home. Awesome!!!!