So proud!

Sydney received her first report card of her K-5 year yesterday.  I have to say that I am so proud of her!!  She has spelling words that she has to memorize each week, as well as doing little "tests" on numbers, sight words, phonics, time, money, and more.  Here's a pic of her report card.

 

She also has not had any sticks pulled since August!  (some kids get them pulled every day!) 

 

Her spelling words for this week: 

 

Her teacher wrote this about Sydney last week: 

 

I'm such a proud mom!!

A Night Away

Stephen and I did something we haven't done since having kids- go away for the night!  The only time we've both spent away from our kids was when we were at the hospital having another child.  ;) Stephen was so sweet- he had the whole night planned, and had arranged it with my parents weeks ago for them to come and watch the kiddos for the night.  So, off we went!

We started off by driving into Atlanta and doing the new SkyView ferris-wheel type thing.  It was fun- a new and different way to see Atlanta, that's for sure!

 

Then, we headed to dinner at a place called Escorpion.  It was a Mexican/taco bar type restaurant that was recommended to us... it was good!  Though I filled up on so many chips that I was SO FULL the rest of the night.



 

Then, we went to the Whole World Theater- an improve comedy club that Stephen and I used to go to back in college.  It has that "Whose Line is it Anyway?" feel to it.  It was hilarious! 

 

Our last stop was at the Marriott Marquis for the night.  We stayed on the 44th floor and had some pretty cool views of the city.

Holy cow, I guess I've developed a fear of heights as I've gotten older.  This view gave me the heebie-jeebies.

 

It was such a great getaway- I'm so thankful to have a hubby who planned such a fun night, and wonderful parents who took awesome care of our three babies!

 



Wall o' Pictures

Do you recall a post I did in 2011 about our picture wall?  I had 3/6/9/12 month pictures taken of the girls, and I oh-so-confidently stated in that post that it was the now-completed wall of pictures.  Apparently, God didn't agree!
So, NOW, (barring some kind of miracle!) here is the completed wall of pictures with my Sassy Sydney, my Everywhere Taylor, and my Sweet Parker!

 



I had to rearrange them, due to our lack of wall space for a third grouping of pictures.  I arranged them by age... so there is a 3 month column, 6 month column, 9 and 12.  It's fun to compare the kiddos... care to join me?

3 months- Sydney's always on top, then Taylor, then Parker.  Taylor wins in the hair department!

6 months

9 months

12 months

 

And the kids got their school pictures back!  Sydney's were really cute, but T and P didn't smile.  I don't know what it is about pictures with them and no smiles!

I guess T and P have a "hint" of a smile... I'll give them a little credit.

 

 



I heart the fall (part 2)

I had the exact same post title last year.  Glad to know my opinion on my favorite season hasn't changed in a year's time!

I do love the fall.  I'm so glad it's starting to get a little colder.  I love how the leaves are finally changing.  I love that I'll get an extra hour of sleep tonight.  (Who am I kidding?  But I can dream, can't I?)

Here are some fun pics of us playing outside today while the two little ones napped!

 

Sydney and Stephen raked up a leave pile for Sydney to jump in.

 

We joined in, too.

 

We also took some backyard pics for our Christmas card (sneak peak of the outfits).  Here are a couple of the kiddos playing afterwards.

Sydney could care less that she's wearing a nice outfit.  My kind of girl!



Trick or Treat!

Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat... Yes, my 5 year-old has learned that song from a friend at school.  She likes to sing it every day, which gets it stuck in my head.  Perhaps now it's stuck in yours as well?  You're welcome. ;)

We had a great time celebrating Halloween this year!  Stephen was out of town that morning, so I (somehow, miraculously) got the kids up, fed, dressed in their costumes, and attempted to take pictures before running out the door so I wasn't late to work.  The kids did trick-or-treating at their school and came home with a candy loot! (that I proceeded to dump into our trick-or-treating stash).

 This three panel picture was how I had to get one of the three of them together smiling, because this is reality... (see below)

 

 

Sydney and her friends at school.

 

Stephen flew in around lunchtime, and we had Sydney's two best friends and their parents over for dinner and then trick-or-treating.  One of our friend's brothers brought his golf cart and set up an awesome trailer ride through the neighborhood.  The girls had a great time riding around the 'hood and loading up on sugar. 

 

Alice (with leggings and crocs, of course) and Minnie.

It was a fun evening!!!!  (but seriously, can school systems please consider cancelling school the day after Halloween?  sheesh, those kids were wiiiiild.)

 



Parker in action!

13 months!

Parker is 13 months old!!

His first month as a one year-old has been a fun one.  He's definitely acting more like a toddler than a baby!

Accomplishments include:

• He has entered the big world of... walking!  The day after he turned one, he took his first official steps.  He slowly increased in his ability, going from 2-3 steps at a time to 5-6 to now basically being a stable walker. It's so exciting!
• No more bottles!  We packed those up completely and now he only drinks from sippy cups.
• He has started "talking" more, and making lots of noises/syllables.  He says "mama", "dada" and "uh oh" pretty regularly.  His teacher said that he saw Sydney on the playground at daycare and was saying "Se Se Se Se Se".  He's getting there!
• He went to south GA for the 3rd time.  He is the best car traveler... ever!
• He's starting to be a picky eater!  If there's something we put on his tray that he doesn't like, he will pick it up and throw it on the floor. ;)
• This kid loves playing with cords.  I'm thinking be may be an electrical engineer when he grows up.  It's like he spots them from a mile away and is drawn to any cord he sees.
• He is starting to fill out his 18 month clothes!!

Here are some pics from this month!