Hannah's Birthday week

I still can't believe that Saturday, my sweet baby girl will be 5! I am always filled with mixed emotions as we get close to and celebrate her birthday. To kick off the week I bought her a Rapunzel cup and little Rapunzel plates to eat breakfast on this week. I had planned to make her chocolate chip heart shaped muffins to eat, but I have not gotten around it to yet. She wore her number 4 birthday shirt to school for the last time today. I did not think to take her picture in it. She was still sleeping when I left this morning and her shirt was dirty when I go home. She amazes me daily. I am excited to spend this week celebrating her. 

reading and counting

I love to sit in my reading chair and read, which I do not get to do near as much as I would like. I am glad the kids are taking after me. Hannah and I sat and read 3 books tonight before bed. When she got up, Hunter got in to "read" with me. He loves to look at books quickly, but no time to read the words yet. Hannah is reading some sight words in the books we read. I am so proud of her. As much as I want her to read and be a good reader, it makes me sad that she will soon enough be reading a whole book to me. Hunter just likes to look for doggies in all of the books and any other animal. I think I count to three "at" him a lot. The other day I was counting "at" him and I said 1. He said, "2, 5, 6." Needless to say I had to walk away so I would not laugh at him in the middle of trying to discipline him. At least he is learning to count, right?

consignment finds

I got the kids lots of good clothes at the consignment sale Thursday night. Hannah will have to wear SSA, Standard School Attire, to kindergarten next year. I was very happy to find her four outfits for only $23. She was very excited to try her "school clothes" on. I think she looks so grown up in them. She loves skirts and dresses. I thought I would get use to the idea of her going to kindergarten the more I talked about it, but I think I really just feel more sad. I am not sure why this is so hard? Other than the fact that it means my baby girl is growing up.

a day at home

The only place I went today was Target. Hunter can say Target now and it is so cute. After his nap we went to Target. Hannah decided she wanted to go to. They were crazy the whole time we were there. I am not sure what gets into them sometimes but I am glad it passes. I feel like all I did all day was clean and do laundry, but at least it is done. Derrick put the wainscoting up going down the steps. Hunter loved watching him and making me a nervous wreck being at the top of the steps. I finally buckled him in his seat to watch so I would not be so nervous. He once again wanted his picture made saying cheese.

5 year pictures

We took Hannah tonight to have her five year old pictures made tonight. I am very sad that she is about to turn five. How time flies. We only bought the one picture so we do not have a CD. I will have to get Derrick to scan the picture to put on here. After pictures we went to Chick-Fil-A to eat and play. She was so sweet to help Hunter climb so he could slide too. He let her help him climb but he would have not part of her helping him down the slide. We also went to Costco since we were in Cool Springs. I needed time with the family after the week I had at school. I am so glad that tomorrow is Saturday. I am looking forward to spending the whole day at home.

100th day of school

I am so happy that we were able to finally celebrate the 100th day of school. It is a really fun day in kindergarten. I am excited that next year Hannah will be at school with me to celebrate. Today Zero the Hero and 100 Day Girl came and reviled their identity. The kids loved it. We had a full day of fun!

just what I needed

Hannah has had a rough time going to school and just in general the last few weeks. Today was the best day she has had. This morning I was getting lunches together and noticed her closet light was on. I went to check on her. She was up and getting dressed. I asked her what she was doing and she said. I am getting dressed before you ask me to. I LOVE IT!! She got completely ready without me having to tell/ask her to do anything. It was the most peaceful morning we have had in a LONG time. She went into school with no trouble, was happy when we picked her up, went to her class at church good, came home got ready for bed and went to bed great. I needed to see that she can do it.


On a side note. She brought home the assessment they give at school and she did great on it. The only thing she did not know was her phone number. We can work on that. We have a little time before Kindergarten Orientation, where I know she will be asked that question.

Happy Valentine's Day

 Hannah and Hunter in their cool heart glasses from Nana and Papa. Hannah wanted to show her light up ring off also.

 Derrick put up their swings yesterday. They were very happy to come home this afternoon and be able to swing and play outside for a little while.

 My attempt to get a good picture of them both smiling. No too bad. We had a great Valentine's Day. We ate dinner together then went to Menchie's for a Valentine's treat. We came home and got ready for bed, but watch A Charlie Brown Valentine before putting the kids to bed. I think ice cream and a Charlie Brown movie will be a good tradition for us. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.  

so cute

I thought they both looked too cute to not take their picture. Hunter was so happy to wear his cowboy boots and Hannah loves her skirt because it twirls good. Thanks Nene for fixing her skirt.

Valentine's Date

 Hunter helped decorate Nana and Sheri's bags for Valentine's Day.

 Hannah made this flower all by herself. She is really creative, which she gets all from her Dad.

Hannah helped Uncle Kyle make his tuna salad before we left. He said she was a good helper. I asked him if she ate any. Of course she did not.

Derrick and I went and dropped off the consignment stuff then headed to dinner. We had a gift card to Carrabba's, thanks Papa and Nana. Uncle Kyle kept the kids for us. He will probably never have kids now. He put Hunter in his bed for time out and when we went to get him out he had a surprise. Yucky hands. I do not think I need to say any more. Thanks Uncle Kyle for keeping them. I am not sure what to do have a date two days in a row. I could get us to that. We will have to let Uncle Kyle recover before we ask him to keep the kids  again.

productive snow day

Hannah's school was open today so I took her. I called Nana to see if she would keep Hunter. I use to never take the kids to school/daycare if I was out, but I have come to accept the fact that it does not make me a bad Mom to need time away from them. I can get a lot accomplished when I am home alone. I planned on getting all of the tagging finished so I could take my things to consignment today. Well, first the Internet was down for a little while and then I ran out of pins. I did finally get all of the tags made, but did not get everything pinned before I had to get the kids. I enjoy a lunch date with Derrick. I was nice being able to eat and have a conversation with no interruptions. I enjoyed spending the afternoon and evening with Derrick and the kids.

Hunter is very into Sesame Street. Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar are his favorite. He is too cute when he says cookie and pretends to eat a cookie like Cookie Monster.

another snow day

 I made little heart muffins for breakfast this morning. Hannah looks thrilled about it, doesn't she?

 Hunter thought it was more fun to sit on the Play-Doh than in the chair. He is a silly boy.

 Since we were snowed in and it was WAY too cold to go out and play in the snow we decided to write Valentine Cards. Hannah did pretty good. She still likes to write capital N's in her name. I have to remind myself that she is not even 5 and writes neater than some of the kids in my class. She will get there.

 I could just eat him up. He brought me the camera and said, "CHEESE!!!" He is a little ham.

 He looked too cute riding his house with the cowboy hat on to not take a picture. Of course as soon as he saw the camera he had to say cheese.

 He thought the horse should have a turn wearing the hat. At least he is learning to share.

 This turkey was not a fan of walking in the cold snow, so she just came up on the porch. Hannah thought it was so funny.

 Valentine's completed with no fussing at all!!!! I was so happy to have this project completed.

I love the muffin pans that are shaped like things. I am trying to collect them for every season/holiday. I know this may sound silly, but I feel like I am being a good/fun mom when I make the kids muffin for breakfast shaped like the holiday we are close to celebrating.

I did not take pictures of it, but I made Hannah try on all of her spring/summer clothes to see what would fit and what I could consign. It took way longer than I expected. I am glad to have another snow day to spend with my family. Maybe I will have another snow day tomorrow and I can actually finish getting all the things tagged for consignment.

so sweet

Hunter has asked for Hannah to come sing to him the last several nights. He always wants me to rock him before we put him to bed. Usually we say prayers and I sing him two songs. One night about a week ago Hannah asked if she could sing him a song. She came in and sat on the floor beside us. (I rock Hunter in a kids rocker, so she can reach him if she is on her knees.) She sang to him and rubbed his back. The next night I was rocking him and he asked for Hannah and pointed to the floor. I called her in his room and she sang to him again. That is not a part of our bedtime routine. Tonight he wanted her to lay in the floor with him and look at the moon and stars. (We can do that every night thanks to Mrs. Donna and MeMe.) They laid in the floor and she sang to him. He did want me to rock him for one song before I put him in the bed. I love seeing them being so sweet to each other. I remember always giving my brother a good night hug and telling him I loved him. I still tell him good night and that I love him when he is here with us. I hope that Hannah and Hunter will always love each other and be close.

dentist

Derrick took Hannah and Hunter to the dentist this morning. They both got a good report. Derrick took them to Waffle House to eat before taking them to school. He said Hunter loved it and Hannah was not a fan. I am with Hannah on that one. Maybe that can be a place that Derrick and Hunter go together for some father/son time. I also had to go to the dentist today. I have to get one tooth filled in a couple of weeks. Glad it is me and not one of the kids. I am very happy that both of the kids really like going to the dentist. There are no pictures because Derrick took them.

Super Bowl Party

 These are the kids pizzas. Hunter is the one with all the meat on it and Hannah's is the one with just cheese. They could not been more different in what they like to eat.

We went to the Keeble's for a Super Bowl party. I did not watch any of the game, which was fine with me. I did see one commercial that was pretty funny, it was the one for Doritos. We cooked individual pizzas and had lots of other food to snack on and some yummy dessert. It was fun watching all of the kids play together. We left right after half time so we could get the kids in the bed. Thanks Keeble's for having us.

a weekend away

Derrick and I went to Gatlinburg with four other couples this weekend. It was nice to spend time together and with our friends without children. I love my children but it was nice to get away. We rode with the Bussell's, which was nice. It was nice catching up with them since we do not live together anymore. Saturday some people went skiing/snowboarding and some of us went shopping. We had fun eating dinner as a group Saturday night and playing Cranium. The guys did win, but it was a really close game. This morning we got up, ate breakfast, had Sunday school and headed home. Thank you Mike and Nene for coming up and keeping the kids. They had a great time. Thanks Mitch for taking pics and sending them to everyone.

22 months old

Hunter is really starting to talk. I know he is hard for most people to understand, but I think if you are around him a lot you can easily understand what he is saying 90% of the time. My favorite thing that he says right now is, "Hold you Mama."If I do not pick him up right away he will say, in a much louder voice, "Hold Me Mama!" He is still as busy as ever. He loves a bath. Tonight I was not going to give him a bath and he heard Derrick running the water for Hannah and he went crazy. At least he likes to be clean. When I went to pick him up at church his teachers told me he came right in and sat at the table. They asked him what he wanted and he told them snack. He also LOVES to eat. He is a joy and great source of entertainment. In the last picture he is trying on the new seat belts for the jeep. He loves "Dad's beep."

pizza picnic

We were supposed to go eat with other families from our Sunday School class tonight. We go eat the first Tuesday of each month. It was rainy, windy and just yucky out tonight. There were only three families coming so we decided to not go. I was afraid that Hannah would be upset. She loves to go out to eat. I do not know where she gets that from? I told her we were not going out because the weather was too yucky, but that we could have a picnic. She picked up all the toys in the living room and laid out the beach towel while I cooked the pizza. She was so excited to have a picnic and be able to watch a movie during the week. Hopefully we will be able to go eat next month.