{graduate}

Babygirl is a preschool graduate.

This milestone brought so many emotions that I really wasn't prepared for. I know now after looking back over the past two year why this hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm so thankful and overwhelmed at the loving and nurturing enviroment that we chose and just looked at as "school"... it was so much more than that for her, for us.

I think back to that very first day. D was three. She was and is such a smart little girl. I've everyday been amazed. She had only ever been at home with me, but I had been realizing that she would just blossom in a structured learning enviroment. I knew it would be good for her, too. It's not that she lacked interactions with other kids, but I knew that it would boost her social skills.

Just look... at this babyface!



I tagged this picture with this that day:

My baby is at school!
Despite our rough night (she was up for hours starting at 12:45) we got up bright and early for her first day of preschool. She was so ready to go. I couldn't move fast enough. When I dropped her off, she wouldn't even look back at me so I could tell her I was leaving. Miss Independent. The house is so quiet... granted we're usually still sleeping at this point. I guess I'll go buy groceries. :)


I mean does it look like she missed me? :)



That first day was different. She did just as I expected, fearless, went in and never missed a beat. I didn't cry even when she walked away without a care in the world. I was proud of her independence and her quick adjustment to change. Yes, I'd be lying if I didn't welcome a few hours of quiet time in the house a few days a week.

First Impressions was a new school two years ago and Delaney was the first student enrolled. (Her teachers shared with me last week that when they put in their resignation letters they only had 4 students enrolled. What a leap of faith!!) So, I guess you can say that she was just a little special to them as they are to her. Just as I imagined, her skills took off... she was learning, growing, and loving school so much that we kept her on a part-time schedule through the summer. This babygirl would cry when she missed school. :)

This photo is the first day of her second year and what would be her year of VPK. Her schedule changed to going to school everyday instead of three days.


Nothing ever changed. She always loved going to that school. She loved her teachers.

I can't tell you what that did for me as a mom, to know that she was so happy and content in someone elses care. It showed me that she was in an enviroment where she was growing and adjusting and that I didn't need to worry about her well being. She was comfortable. Everyday learning, exploring new things, and being shown the love of Jesus through her teachers.

May 27th was her last day. We were actually counting down to summer time. If yall really know us we were counting down to the day of no alarm clocks. The girls in this house like to sleep! That morning was just like the rest, I thought nothing of it. Got up, dresses, fed her in the car, and kissed her goodbye at the door. What I didn't expect was the emotional pick up. I had forgotten there was her cubby to clean out, I had forgotten that so many days this was her day and and day out and that we were all attached. I walked up to the playground where I saw one of her teachers fighting tears. I told her she had to stop. But, just like that the three of us were crying. We cried all the way to our next stop. We were so pitiful. But, it had all hit me in that instant.

WE are very excited for the next chapter ... KINDERGARDEN! But, this ending was a little sad. It closed a chapter that we enjoyed so much and opens another.

I'm forever grateful for First Impressions, Mrs. Tammy, Mrs. Deborah and staff and for their positive influence on Delaney's life.

Here are a few snapshots of her graduation day :)

{hello long lost blog...}

I'm sorry to have been a stranger. I just don't know why I can't keep in better touch with you.

We visited the flower field yesterday. It is quickly drying up so there wasn't much left, but due to an accident here with the girls, a bat, and A's sweet little face we haven't been able to take many photos that I'd like to blow up and hang on my walls. You may notice some bruising still on her sweet face. That's a totally different post by itself!

So here are a few photos from our quick trip. It turned out nothing like I had pictured. But, when does it? :)

lately.

Most of you have already figured out that we fly by the seat of our pants around here.
And sometimes I forget to stop and come check in.
I think about it all the time, really, but sometimes I'd rather just take a hot shower or go to bed.
Selfish? huh?
Sorry if I got ya'll excited over all those posts in a row! :)

I guess you've also noticed that I've fallen behind on posting my photo projects. I do plan to bring them current. Lately, my computer is being a major source of pain in my booty. So some things that should take just a few minutes take wwwwaaaaayyyy too long. Hope to fix that soon.

Here's a quick recap of what we've been doing.

Running. Trying to find love for it again. I know its out there somewhere... I'm currently trying to complete a training program to run a 5k. Last night I completed week three of seven. Something must be happening because on my first run series last night I didn't feel the urge to stop when the timer told me I was allowed to walk for 90 seconds. And later, after I completed yesterday's series and still wasn't back home, I decided to run my cool down period of 5 minutes. Baby steps, but I'm seeing progress.

Tee Ball: Baby girl started. She has her first game on Saturday. This is one of the reasons things have been so hectic. We have thrown 2 practices into our already busy schedule... so it begins right? She's loving it. Mostly because she loves to run. She's playing at 2nd base. It's so cute seeing her out there. Let's hope she gets Daddy's ball playing skills because Mama playing ball is a J.O.K.E. :)

School: I received registration dates for Kindergarten in her school newsletter. I almost wanted to cry. I am anxious but excited that come August she'll be in school full time. I'm anxious because she's my baby and she's growing. I'm excited because I know she'll love it. Her teachers were telling me the other day that she will sail right into it with no problems, that she'll be a model student. She's a little over achiever it seems. I sure was proud to hear it.

Avery: She's growing so quickly. She's starting to act like a true two year old. Her favorite words are MINE and NO...... all because she is two. She still climbs on everything using the little chairs around here. She runs around the house in circles during dinner squealing and dancing. I guess she thinks we need nightly entertainment. She's much more mischievous that what I am used to with babygirl's toddler days. She's talking up a storm and is still a little shy in public. She doesn't like to be dirty and just now she brought me a perfectly matched outfit. She changes clothes multiple times a day. She's our little diva.

There's more to share, but I have to cut it short for now. Time to prepare for dance and ball practice. It's 2 p.m. and we'll be on the run all night. Did I mention I'm tired today? Maybe I need to stop for a coffee!

xoxo

{heart crayons}

My girls love to make stuff. Most of you already know that babygirl is a little artist... well just like everything else, little bit wants to be just like her. I had seen this project done last year and I wanted to do it with my girls. I'm going to focus on doing some fun at home crafts/projects with them this year... and I'll be sure to try to share them as we go.

This makes for a wonderful rainy day activity. As I mentioned here, we made these last Friday as it rained to pass the time!

I used this silicone baking sheet that were heart shapes. (I picked mine up at Target.) You could use any shape pan, I'm sure. I just found the hearts fun. ♥

Gather broken crayons. There are always broken crayons!
Peel the paper off, this took a little time for D. So, I helped. She had crayon all under her nails when she was done.

Fill the hearts and your ready to go...



Heat oven to 200 degrees.
Bake for around 20 minutes or until melted through.
I found that crayola seemed to melt faster than other crayon brands.



Once melted. Let cool and pop out your new heart crayons. :)
(excuse, my dirty oven)..



The girls loved this. So I'm ready to find another project for them....





and i love.... her dirty face and cute personality. No, she didn't try to eat the crayons.. it just doens't matter how much I wipe her face it is dirty again in a matter of seconds. So... it is what it is. :)

i love...

a fresh haircut and pretty color :)
not the best photo of my hair but here you go...

six: fifty two

Snowy adventure. Love this moment. More below.

I love love love.....

♥ my little family.
♥ spontaneity.
♥ that we love to have fun.
♥ that on a whim I can say lets give this a shot and that B will always say... lets do it.
♥ that this was the best friday night EVER!!!!



Friday was so so so cold here in Florida. It was also rainy. The weather was crazy, and I was loving it. With snow predictions all the way down into south Georgia ... I couldn't help but have the urge to possibly just jump into the car and go try and find some. I thought about it all day. We did some fun little valentine crafts to pass some time.. (more on that later). When Brad got off of work I brought up the idea to him...he was open to doing it. So I got really excited. I decided to throw together a quick dinner so that no matter what we decided to do we were already fed.

As I cooked, we watched the weather reports on the news. We watched the doppler and I started getting a little discouraged as it looked like it wasn't going to hit as far south as they had been predicting. I changed news channels and good ole' Tim seemed pretty confident that Waycross (for those of you that are not local friends, that's only 45 minutes from our house) had a pretty good chance of flurries between 7:00 and 10:00.

Brad and I looked at each other and decided we would give it a try!
We inhaled our spaghetti, left our dishes on the table, dressed, grabbed the camera and a few blankets and we jumped in the truck.

It was 8:00 when we left, we came into Waycross at 8:45. Avery was sleeping and Babygirl had to potty. We pulled in to make a pit stop. We went into the restroom, nothing. Came out to snow flurries. Delaney was sooooooooo excited. They quickly became bigger flurries. We were all so giggly. It was clear that it was a little to wet for them to stick so we decided to drive a little further and see what happened. I was on facebook in the truck. Thank you Iphone! Were there was talk of snow sticking in Alma, which was 20 more miles. With each mile the snow was coming down harder. It was awesome! Yes, we are crazy Florida people and I'm sure everyone that passed was laughing at us. Delaney just wanted to get out. Avery just wanted to sleep.

We pulled into Alma at about 9:15. It was coming down pretty good and sticking. We found a really small used car lot with a little hill and we decided to just stop and play there.

Here are some photos! I loved hearing Delaney giggle as she ran through it. I loved Avery's looks of amazement, not really sure what to think. We never could get her to put her feet down on the ground. Poor thing was much more interested in sleeping than waking up to us crazy people yelling at her to look at the snow. ;)

















The snow was sticking to the bottom of her boots, so it looked like she was walking on snow platforms...






By 10:30 there was probably an inch to an inch and a half of snow on the ground. Conditions had lightened back to flurries and honestly, we were getting a little cold. Laughing all the way to the truck we settled in and headed to get a cappacino before heading home.

All bundled up, tired, and ready to sleep.


I file this away as one of our favorite family memories to date. We had the best time together. And I can't wait to do something like this again. I challenge you all to do something fun, be spontaneous, even if it seems crazy... just do it. Leave the laundry, leave the chores, leave the dinner dishes and go make a memory. ♥

xoxo