We've been busy

WOW- Where have we been. Let's see well May and June were extremely busy months for us. Audrey and Clara (my niece) were flower girls in my cousin, Maegan's wedding in May. It was a beautiful wedding in SC. The girls did so good and had so much fun! Audrey had Pre-K graduation from Primrose. She really enjoyed that school and made a lot of friends- none of whom will go to Kindergarten w/ her : ( She has enjoyed seeing some of them at birthday parties over the last few weeks. She had her dance recital in June and we went to the beach for vacation in June. Things were a little slower in late June and July but we are gearing up for more now. Audrey's birthday part is Friday, her birthday is next week and then she starts Kindgarten. She will be 5 next week. 5- where did the time go? I really do remember when we were scheduling my c-section (especially since I have several friends who have been or are pregnant and we've been talking about it lately!) but seriously- where does the time go?

Now enjoy some pictures from our summer so far. Be on the lookout for more on birthday parties and 1st school days!

I'm Back....

I'm back... Things have finally calmed down somewhat for me at work so I"m back to catch you up. I looked back at my post and I don't remember even telling you all about my work project. Back in early fall I learned that I was accepted into a program at work called ALP (Aspiring Leaders Program). You have to apply and be chosen to serve in this program. It was created to teach you about being a leader. There were only 30 people from our entire company in my class (there are usually 2 classes per year). We had a kick-off seminar in Oct where we get to meet w/ company leaders and begin our learning. We were broken into teams of 6 to begin our team projects for the next 5 months. We were given a real business problem to solve. We had to present our solutions at the final seminar in Portland Maine in March. It was a great learning experience for me. For the rest of the year we are given a mentor to work on self-study materials with. I will start that soon but it won't be nearly as time consuming as solving the business issue with my team.

So I visited Portland ME about 3 weeks ago. It was beautiful- definitely add it to your bucket list if you have never been. It was a lot of fun and work while we were there.

Audrey is doing great. She is learning so much at preschool. They have been taking each of the letters of the alphabet one week at a time to learn to write them well, how they sound, and what starts with each letter. She is on letter "W" this week so they are almost through. They have been learning to count money and tell time this month too. She really seems to enjoy school- which makes us extremely happy. In just over a month from now (May 5th) we will register her for Kindergartner! She is growing so fast....

She is behaving really well for us lately too. The reward system seems to really be working for her (fingers crossed!)

She started this thing lately where she gets really hurried trying to tell us something so I told her a few weeks ago to stop and think about what she wants to say and then say it so lately she start to say something then she'll say "Momma- I'm going to think about it for a minute then I'll tell you"- It is really cute but also a great lesson for her to slow down and think before she speaks!

A couple of weeks ago we were driving home and Scott popped a bubble that scared me and her. She said "Momma- I said, no I didn't say but I thought, that really scared me". It was so cute.

We are so glad spring has finally decided to arrive and I hope it is here to stay. We really enjoy being outside so it is nice to have that option.

Audrey has been to 2 birthday parties since my last post. One was a pottery painting and her lizard she painted turned out great. The other was a swimming party which was a nice party in the middle of winter!

A couple of pictures from my trip to Maine and few of Audrey.

dresses, dressing, and birthday parties oh my....

Saturday Jamie and I took the girls to get measured for their 1st ever flower girl dresses. My cousin Maegan asked Clara and Audrey to be in her wedding as flower girls in May. We are very excited for Maegan and Jordan and can't wait to see their wedding including the flower girls! The girls were very good and we got the dresses ordered. They will be here in March. A few pictures of the girls being measured.




So recently, like within the last week, Audrey has decided she wants to not only dress herself but pick out her clothes. The combinations have been quite interesting. Here's Sunday's Super Bowl outfit.


We also went to Addie's birthday party on Saturday- a carnival theme- and it was fun. We have another party this Saturday along w/ my Mom's birthday and of course, Valentine's day.

Catching Up... Christmas and Snow!!!!!

Christmas was great. Santa didn't go too overboard but could have cut back some. We had fun enjoying Santa gifts all day then we started over at Mom and Dad's with more food and gifts. Enjoy some pictures below.



New Years' was fine. Scott had to work New Year's Eve but was off New Year's Day so we spent some time together as a family.



Since then we've had 2 snow days. The first didn't really produce much snow but we bought a sled just in case. We didn't get to use it. Then this past Friday it started again. Originally they said the snow/ice would be here about 5 pm so I planned to leave work around 2:30 pm. It was about 3 pm when I finally got out of work and by then they said it is here NOW. It was a nighmare to get home. I was a nervous wreck. I called Scott (on speaker phone) to talk to me while I was driving because I got scared. I saw a mustang get sideways and when he finally stopped sliding he was turned around going the other direction but at least there was no wreck. When I got to a 4-way stop that started up a hill a truck (a bigger one not some small pickup) started up the hill sliding around like crazy so I turned down another street that was flat. I made it down that street w/o much sliding going about 10 MPH. I got the end of that street, turned into a strip mall where there aren't really any stores anymore and stopped. Scott came and got me in his SUV that has 4X4. Boy was driving my little honda vs riding in his a big difference. My nerves were completely shot by then but Scott got me home safely!!!

Today we went out in the snow and finally got to use the sled we bought!!! Our backyard had just enough slope to be great for a 4-year old. The first time she went down she said 'Again, Again, Again!!!!' We built 2 snowmen and threw snowballs at each other. Audrey made snow angels too. We pretty much did everything you are suppose to do when it snows!!! It was fun and completely tiring. Maybe more tomorrow. Enjoy some picture

Ready for Santa...

The presents are bought, wrapped and ready. The cookies have been made. Now we are off to eat our traditional Christmas Eve BBQ, then Santa is coming (we hope).

Things here are good. I'm off work until January 4th and have a lot of items on my to-do list before then.

A much longer post will be coming after Christmas but I thought you might enjoy a few pictures of Audrey making cookies for Santa and tasting them too!

Merry Christmas to all!

Thanksgiving, Birthday Parties, and Snow

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My uncle Keith and my grandmother were able to join us from SC for Thanksgiving. Also my friend Paul joined us for dinner. We had great food and good company- what else could you ask for?

Mom and I did some major shopping on Black Friday. I sent Scott to Toys R Us at midnight for a few things and it took him an hour to just get into the store but he got all 3 things I sent him for. Mom and I went out at 4:30 am and shopped until after lunch. It was fun and we got a lot of things but neither of us finished our Christmas shopping.

Audrey had 2 birthday parties this past weekend. Savannah's was at Pump It up which the kids always love. Luke's was at the Chattanooga Zoo. We have never been to a party at the zoo and it was fun. They have a room to do food and presents in. Then they give the kids a tour of the zoo. Luke's parents then gave all the kids a ride on the carousel and the kids loved it. Luckily it was cool but not freezing cold as part of the zoo is outside.

On Saturday we woke up to snow. Audrey was at my SIL house for her 2nd sleep over so she got play in it w/ her cousins for a short time. She had fun.

We are just getting ready for Christmas now. We got the Elf on the Shelf "Jason" but he is not really keeping Audrey behavior in check- I think maybe the opposite effect is true for her. She's definitely been acting 4 lately.

Enjoy some pictures.

From this point forward

I just can't seem to find time to download pictures to update the blog with. I'm getting better and trying to get everything off my camera before the holidays arrive and I need more space.

There is no way to remember everything we've done since my last post. I attempted to take Audrey to Atlanta to see Dora Live that she has been asking about for weeks and we ended up leaving in the 1st 20 mins because she was so scared and threw a fit. Jamie and I did take the girls to see Disney on Ice -Finding Nemo recently and she did much better at that show.

She has had PJ day, crazy hair day and sports day at school. They had a costume parade for all the parents to enjoy the day before Halloween. She continues to take Ballet/Tap and do tumbling weekly.

Audrey is still in school at Primrose and doing well. She still doesn't like for me to leave her in the morning but is fine as soon as I walk out the door (or so I'm told!) She loves playing with the kids and learning her letters. We print traceables out at home for extra practice and she loves doing them. She has also really gotten into doing puzzles lately. I LOVED puzzles when I was little so I hope she continues to like them. We have bought several and after we help her once or twice she really enjoys taking them apart and putting them back together by herself. The ones w/ only 25 pieces or so are hard to find though.

We had a great Halloween weekend. We enjoyed a hay ride at Ansley's house, Clara's 3rd birthday party at Pump It Up, trick or treating w/ both my brother's and their families, and another birthday party for Jackson (from her school) at Pump It Up. 2 parties at Pump It Up in one weekend- you can believe she was tired.

Audrey is growing tall also. I was sitting on the couch the other day trying to brush her hair and I couldn't see over the top of her head. She has been playing soccer - when it is not raining that is. She has 2 makeup games left and she'll be done. We asked her if she wanted to play basketball again and she said (I was a little disappointed but maybe she'll come around). She really like baseball and everytime we talk about playing something she ask me to sign her up for baseball so that might be her sport.

We are all excited about the upcoming holidays. My mom gave Audrey the big toy book from the paper this past weekend and told her to circle what she wanted. She has been taking it very serious and trying to make a list and everything. It is cute.
I promise to try to update more often! Enjoy some recent pictures.