New Hat!!

On Monday Leah has to dress up for school like she is going camping. They have to bring flashlights, sleeping bags, and wear hats, the whole nine yards!! Well, Todd found this hat that he thought Leah could wear. It looks so cute on her. Well, we decided to go get Mexican for dinner last night, and Leah decided she would wear the hat!!

Another Birthday!!!!

Emma turned 8 years old last Saturday!! She wanted to open her gifts as soon as she got up!! That is why she is in her pj's in this picture. I think her favorite gift was a mp3 player. I am actually a little jealous. She has been like a kid at Christmas with the thing, it is the first thing she does when she gets up in the morning. We uploaded the soundtrack from the new Hannah Montana movie on it. She is in heaven!! She also received the movie. I think we have seen it about 5 times already!! I have to admit it is a really cute movie. I can't believe Emma is 8 years old. She can finally ride with out a car seat, and she is very excited about it! It seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital and our lives changed in a wonderful way. She continues to be a sweet, caring, and thoughtful little girl, who always tries to do the right thing. She is really starting to look older to me. Emma is so easy to love and we love having her in our family!! I can't wait to see what this new year brings about for Emma. We love you so much Emma!!

BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! & PRE-K

I can't believe my baby is 5 years old today!! We had a talk last night and I thought I had her talked into staying 4, but this morning she told me she was 5 already! Where in the world does time go?? It seems like yesterday we were going to the hospital to deliver her, and this world hasn't been the same since her birth. Leah is a spit fire!! She loves to be the center of attention. She will do anything for a laugh. She keeps us in stitches all the time. It is so fun to have her around. At least she still lets me hold her. Every Sunday in church she crawls up in my lap and takes a nap. She still thinks she is a baby sometimes, and I am ok with that most of the time. She loves to play with her babies, and also loves to color, cut, and glue anything, even things she isn't suppose too!! She has had a big growth spurt this past year not only in size, but in academics as well. We have loved having Leah in our family. This time next year she will be in Kindergarten, and I will be a wreck!! We love you Leah, and can't imagine our family with out you!!!



Today was a big day for Leah, not only is it her birthday, but she started her Pre-K class today!! She was so excited. We took cupcakes, and capri suns, and princess napkins to school today. She told Emma that she was going to get to stand in a chair and everyone was going to sing Happy Birthday to her!! She couldn't wait to get there!! She jumped right out of bed and was ready to get going with her day!! Normally she is very hard to get up in the mornings. She couldn't wait to put her birthday shirt on and get to school. We "met" the teacher yesterday. I say "met," because Leah and I already knew them, me from teaching music there and Leah had been over to their classroom for special occasions. I think Leah is going to have a great year, her teachers Mrs. Shannon, and Mrs. Angela are great and I know Leah will learn tons this year!!! She didn't have one bit of trouble going in and getting settled. She gave me and big kiss, and a big hug, and I was on my way. It makes things so much easier when they are happy about the next step in their life and not upset!! I can't wait to pick her up and see how her day went!!

First day of Pre-K

Walking in!!

Checking out who is here!!

Putting away her book bag and lunch box!!

Mom getting compliments for the cute shirt!!!

"signing in"

Family Time!!

Todd and I took the girls bowling. We have a wii, and Emma is REALLY good at the bowling game on there. In fact she is the only one in the house that is PRO!! Yes, you read right!! Emma is a PRO at bowling on the wii. She is the only on with a pretty sparkling ball. Well, let me tell you something... bowling in real live with these two girl was a lesson in patience for Todd and I. It took forever for the ball to reach the pins, and the balls were so heavy Todd had to help them get there balls down the lanes. The balls they gave the kids to use were 6 pounds!! Whatever, they couldn't even hold them right!! They had to do grandma shots(you know the ones between their legs!!)It took forever for Todd and I to have a REAL turn. The girls really enjoyed it. I am so glads they had the gutter guards up. We may not have had any points on the screen!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!!

Last weekend before school started back the girls and I had pedicures!! Oh, did we have fun. It was the first time that the girls had ever done anything like that. Leah scared me. She didn't understand why we were only getting our toes done. She also wanted to get her fingernails done, and wanted a design put on all of her toes and fingers. Can we say $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. She just didn't get it. I kept telling her that I had to pay for all of that. She didn't care and wanted to do it anyway!! We each did get a little design painted on our big toes!! It was pretty neat. They do that free handed. Some people have so much talent. She walked around to all the other people getting things done and was very interested!! She was soaking it all in!! I think we have more manicures and pedicures in our future.

Back To School!!!

School bells are ringing again!! I can't believe it is time to start another year of school!! Emma is going into the 3rd grade this morning, and it just doesn't seem right. In fact each year we make a sign for her to hold up with her teachers name, grade, etc. Last night when we were making the sign I actually wrote 2nd grade and Emma had to correct me. We had to make a new sign!!! See she SHOULD be 2nd grade, or even better lets go back to Kindergarten, that seems more real in my mind!! Anyhow, Emma has been saying for about a week that she didn't want to go. We have had a wonderful summer, and it is hard to get back into the swing of things. Once she got up this morning, she sure seemed excited!! I asked her if she was and she said "a little". She looked so sweet in her new outfit, and I just can't wait to see what all she learns this time around. She continues to amaze me!! When we were in the van on the way, she was singing, " and I stand, I stand in all of you." See if she doesn't learn anything else, but we can teach her to serve God, we have done our job. Emma has a wonderful heart, and I hope she can be a good example to her classmates this year!! Good Luck Emma!! We love you more than you know!!!

While The Cats Away Mice Will Play!!

Todd has been away in New Jersey for the past 3 weeks (one more week to go) and we have been doing lots of fun things. Usually when he has to go out of town Emma is in school. Well since he was going to be away during the summer, we decided to make a few trips around North Carolina spending time with some of our relatives. Here are some pictures from the Children's Museum in Greensboro. We went there with MeMe, and had a great time. My favorite part was the huge bubble that the girls were able to pull up around them. I actually wanted to try this myself, but other kids kept jumping up there. Wait a minute!!, I paid my money too!! The girls were postal workers, firemen, race car & train drivers, dental hygienist, police officers, grocery workers, rock climbers, meteorologist, made crafts, and played house. I am sure I am leaving something out because there was a ton of stuff for them to do, and they really enjoyed themselves.Nanny, have you ever been this excited after leaving the dentist!!