Darling Duo

Obviously I haven't had too much to say lately. I need to download pictures from my camera to see what's actually been going on around here because my memory fails me these days. haha

Anyway, Jaime made this darling dress for Scarlett as a birthday gift and then made sweet Jemma a matching dress. Scarlett thinks they're twins...it's so cute. Thanks Jaime!!

Let's just hope they don't get matching lazy boy's

Before I start my post I just have to say, y'all, that my kids are both in school on Tuesday and Thursday and yesterday was the first day I was ALONE in my house all day in six years. HOLLA!!!

OK, now on to the real reason for this post. My dad worked HARD for the same company for 38 years. He finally sold his business and things were final September 1st. So, to celebrate he took us all out to dinner :) (seems a little backward, but none of us are opposed to a free meal-without kids. ha!) ((and I know this sounds like I don't like being around my kids...I do. I love them dearly. But a grown up dinner is a luxury!!!)

Can you see the excitement on their faces?!

They don't look old enough to be retired to me!

This is blurry...sorry guys.

The food was delicious. I wanted to take pictures of all the goodness, but before I got a chance Brody's plate looked like this:

Cheers! Poor Jaime came down with strep the next morning. At least we got our night out before she felt like death. haha

We got Dad a gift basket...some funny things and some real gifts to celebrate.

I'd blame the wine for his expression, but I think he only had one glass and that's really just the way he is...now you know where Clark gets his funny faces for the camera. :)

It really was a wonderful night out and we are so happy that he and Mom can enjoy some traveling and time off.

Big Boy

Yesterday was a big day for my little guy. Preschool!!! Actually, it's just Mother's Day Out and he still has two more years until he's in the Pre-K class, but he calls it Preschool. Clark is a bit of a mama's boy and sometimes still cries when I drop him off at Bible Class so I was a little nervous about how he would do.

But because my kids like proving me wrong all the time, he was SO excited to go. He had been asking every day when it was his turn to go to preschool and when it was open. He woke up knowing today was the day!

It wasn't really the best day to get out and about because tropical storm Hermine happened to blow in right about the time we were heading out the door, but Clark didn't seem to mind. He did keep telling me to drive faster and hurry to preschool. haha

When we got there, one little boy was really missing his mommy and screaming at the top of his lungs. I thought for sure it would make Clark cry too, but all it seemed to do was cause him to stare open mouthed at the crying kid. After one more goodbye kiss we were off. I made Brody stand by the door and spy for a while, and when we were certain there would be no tears we left. I was FREE!! Ha! I cry for kinder, but Mother's Day Out is a treat and something I really feel like Clark needs so I didn't get weepy at all...I'm sure it helped that I knew he was fine.

As I got to the school to pick him up, I heard a weird siren going off. I was afraid there was a tornado around or something so I ran in the building, but apparently the power kept going off which set off their fire alarms. Lots of poor babies were beside themselves in the dark screaming for their mama's, but my guy was sound asleep. We had a trial run one time at home with him sleeping on his nap mat and it didn't go so well, but shock of all shocks...he took a nap at school AND slept through power outages and sirens. I guess he already feels right at home there :)

Puzzlemania

I've never really been into puzzles. My dad loves them, and it seems like almost every time I went to my grandparents house there would be a puzzle on their card table...but it just never really was my thing. However- Scarlett got a 300 piece puzzle for her birthday and really wanted to put it together. As much as I like to foster self confidence and independence by having the kids do things for themselves, I was pretty sure this would have the total opposite effect. SO, I told her that I would help her and every night after Clark went to bed we worked a little bit on the puzzle. I have to say that it was so much fun! Maybe I just liked the time alone with her since she's gone all day, maybe it was because it seemed relaxing, I have no idea. But we had a great time, and after about 2 weeks we finally finished!!

I think this may become a new nightly activity. :)

Party time (a week late)

Since the kids have birthdays 6 days apart, I am going to have one big party as long as they will let me! This year, I decided on an art theme since Scarlett really loves to draw. Clark is an easy going guy so he goes along with just about anything still. (I hardly got any pictures, but thankfully my family and friends did...thanks gals!)

When the kids first arrived, they decorated their goody bags.

Then the owner of the art store (and party coordinator) read the kids a book. I could choose any theme I wanted. Scarlett loves Fancy Nancy right now and Clark loves monkeys. Because I couldn't find a Fancy Nancy book about monkeys (ha), I opted for a gender neutral ABC book. The "teacher" read the book and then each child had a chance to decorate a canvas with their first initial.

After all the hard work, it was time to eat! We ordered pizza and it was so good! I think it was especially yummy since we were the first order of the day. The pizza came hot and fresh!!

Instead of a cake, I made cupcakes for the kids. Pink with Fancy Nancy toppers for the girls, and chocolate with monkey toppers for the boys.

I'd say it was a great party. There were a lot of kids, but the activity was engaging and I think everyone had fun. Plus, it was so easy for me...all I had to do was order pizza and make cupcakes...that's my kind of party! :)

He's got moves

Big Day!

Today was the big day...Kindergarten!! I resisted the urge last night to look through old baby pictures, but it really does seem just like yesterday that she was sleeping right beside me with that big green passy in her mouth. And now...enough of the sap. My last few posts have been full of emotion, so this one will just be fun! Scarlett was SO excited this morning!!

We made the decision this year for Scarlett to go to a Christian School. I know that's not for everyone and there are things we will be missing by not starting off at a public school but for us this year, it's what we felt was best for our family. I'm trying to just take it one year at a time so who knows what we'll be doing next year.

One funny thing she said this morning:

"Mommy, everyone is going to wear their red shirts and blue bottoms or bouncers."

Me: "Bouncers?"

Scarlett:"Yes, those dress things"

Me: "Oh, you mean jumpers!"

haha. I guess to her, a bouncer is the same thing as a jumper :)

I did get a little teary this morning when we all met in the gym to pray and sing songs before being dismissed for class. It truly made leaving her so much easier...for me. She was already so into being there that she hardly noticed us walking out!

My big girl!