Tuesday Night Outing

We had to run out Tuesday evening because I located the ONLY Mickey/Minnie Mouse cookie cutter in Hampton Roads after calling around everywhere. I needed it for Hannah's party this weekend, so I needed to pick it up. We went to the party store to get a few more things for Hannah's party, got the cookie cutter and then went out to eat. Here are the girls in the back of the van, which is where they want so badly to sit. We were waiting for Bo so I let them sit there for a minute and they just loved sitting back there watching their movie. Too bad I am not moving their seats like they want me to.

It just cracked me up when we got to this restaurant - Bakers Crust. I really don't think we go there all too often, but when we pulled in the parking lot, Emma says - "yea!!!! strawberries!!!!" She said this because we get my favorite dessert from this place - a strawberry crepe. I said, "Emma, how do you know this is where we get strawberries?" She replied, "cause this is where we eat lunch!" I guess we do go there more than I thought - especially over the summer, maybe! It just made me laugh. And yes, we did get the strawberries!

What are you watching?

I guess the excitement of new Fall television has gotten to Bo and I a bit - our DVR is out of control these days. Here is our DVR lineup just so Bo and I can have a post on what we like to do these days after working all day and raising two kids. When they are down for bed nothing is better than a drink, snack and some good tv.

Sunday - Jerseylicious, Pan Am and used to be Kardashians, which just ended, dang it!

Monday - Real Housewives of Bev. Hills, Two and a Half Men, Mike and Molly, Playboy Club

Tuesday - Body of Proof, Guilianna and Bill

Wednesday - Survivor, Up All Night, Happy Endings, Law and Order (bo's show), used to be Teen Mom, which also just ended

Thursday - Jersey Shore, Greys, Private Practice, Whitney

Friday - ??????????????? usually a movie night On Demand since Friday Night Lights ended

Saturday - usually Bo's football games, which drive me crazy so I go shopping :)

Thank goodness for DVR and the new fall lineup!

Playing Dress Up

Here are more pics that mom took of the girls playing dress up earlier this month!

luckily these are play scissors and i hope to never experience the real self haircutting

Emma's School Pictures

Just some pics my mom took of Emma before going to school. She loves this Mary Poppins jumper and she had her school pictures taken in the dalmation dress. Her teacher loves her. We had a parent night last week and got to see what she has been doing in class. Her teacher said she was the only one in her class who knew her numbers and who could write her name. She said that she is doing just great.

Nothing Too Exciting

The weather had been gross this weekend so not too much going on here. Yesterday we had our church pictorial directory picture taken. We actually got a pretty good one!! I was happy! Then, we got home and Hannah started running a low grade fever. She would not even nap without me holding her, so we had to both get in "mommy's bed" and take a nap - oh well. So, we slept from 1 to 4. When she woke up she did not have temp but she was still whiny.

I needed to run out to get some groceries so I did that and then shampooed the carpets later that night.

Emma started getting a cough too, so we all stayed in on Sunday morning. It too was a cloudy and rainy day. I think the girls probably watched ten videos today. I did laundry, Bo did work and the girls stayed in their pj's until lunchtime. Hannah was much better but Emma still has a cough.

I went out for a little while this afternoon and got some big Christmas items checked off the list. I refuse to be searching for the "hot items" when things start selling out due to high demands. I had called around and knew what was where and I went and got them. I was pretty excited about that. I think the girls have cabin fever and the weather is getting to all of us. Bedtime could not come soon enough. I hope Emma's cough gets better though.

I am excited for my first "real" week of work tomorrow. The library will be officially open for morning checkout and all classes will be going on! We also have a lot to do to prep for a two year old birthday party this coming Saturday!

Wendell Weekend

Last weekend we were in Wendell with Bo's family to celebrate August, September and October birthdays - so - Britt, Owen, Emma, Cindy and Hannah! We had a nice time together. Saturday was chilly so we went to see The Lion King with the kids - the men stayed home to watch football.

Later that day it cleared up enough for the kids to have a silly string fight. Later Mary and I had the opportunity to do a little shopping by ourselves - so nice!

Saturday night we made smores using Cindy's new birthday present for her patio! The girls loved them and they were a big mess!

The next time we are all together it will be in the Smoky Mountains over Thanksgiving - we are catching a ride on the Polar Express!! It is going to be so much fun!

Emma's First Dance Class

Emma went to her first dance class today. She was such a big girl. She walked in, changed her shoes and went right to the line to start her class. What makes it more special than anything is that this is the same dance school I went to. I think I took dance for twelve years. The instructor that owns the studio does not teach all of the classes anymore but she is still very active in the studio. Her friend does a lot of the teaching, especially the little ones. I also had her as a dance teacher when I was in upper elementary school. Emma loves to dance and because she shows so many similarities to me I can see her really enjoying it.

leaving home

at the dance studio

joining her class - last on the left

me and Emma with my two former dance teachers

Hannah's New Room

Hannah's new room was delivered and installed today! It looks really cute. The only thing missing are the new curtains. I am really pleased with everything. The colors from the nursery match perfectly with the new bedding. I was also able to reuse the wall hangings from the nursery to keep a little "baby" reminder in the room. I am not one to cry easily and I have accepted the girls growing up very well, however I cried like a baby when the crib was taken down on Wednesday. I hated seeing it all taken apart. For now we will keep it in the attic. Once we get a new house that we are working very hard on then maybe we can use it again - maybe. I can't believe my little girl has a big girl room! Love you Hannah Boo! We decided to keep the bed "lowered" until she is a little older and then we will raise it up with the play area underneath.

her last night in the crib :(

The Old Room

The New Room

Weekend

Here are some weekend pics! Not too exciting of a weekend, but it was nice to be home and get things done around the house!

Bo sent me these flowers the first day of school and I forgot to post them! I loved them! Thanks honey!

Here were the girls playing on our bed Friday night before getting ready to leave. We decided to go to the NSA (my alma mater) football game. It was nice seeing a few people I knew, but the girls loved the cheerleaders, band and the popcorn the most.

watching the halftime show

Saturday I already mentioned that we went furniture shopping and I cleaned closets, switched seasons of clothes for the girls and that is about an all day project in itself.

Today, September 11th marks the 10 year anniversary of the terrible attacks at NYC, DC and PA. I cannot believe it has been ten years. I remember exactly where I was - walking from class, meeting up with Bo at college coffee and then hearing his fraternity brothers telling us a plane hit the pentagaon. Bo said, "no, it hit the World Trade Center." Neither of them knew the whole story yet. Bo went to class and I went to the sorority house and watched the coverage all day.

Now we are married and are remembering the day with two children. As we watched some of the specials about it this morning before church, E and H were both pretty tuned in about it. There was a children's chorus singing and the bagpipers playing. I told E it was a sad day, that is why nobody is laughing or smiling at this music. One day they will understand, but it is pretty crazy that it is so fresh in all of our minds and now ten years behind us.

I had Hannah's Sunday school class this morning and church nursery too. Emma went to big church and a lot of our family came today. We all had second Sunday lunch at church, which was delicious. At lunch Emma saw the little boy in her preschool class that she has talked about this past week. I told her to go tell him hello. She went up to him, said, "hey Max" as fast as possible, then darted away. His parents and my whole family absolutely cracked up. Whenever I asked her this week who she played with and what friends she met, she has responded, "Max." So, we got to meet Max today and his parents! So cute!

After church I went to Target to check on some of Hannah's bedding for her new room. Bo went to another church service tonight for 9/11 but I stayed home with the girls. A little almost two year old that lives here decided not to take a nap today, so I knew she would be cranky going back to the church nursery tonight. So, we stayed home and cleaned. After I vacuumed the floor, Emma wanted her vacuum. Then, I saw her being her mommy with the detachment from the vacuum under the couch cushion - she is so her mama!!

It was a nice weekend and I am remembered of how thankful we are to have our God, our family and a country that can pull together at the worst of times.

Hannah's Big Girl Bed

Even though she has not been interested one bit in getting a big girl bed, it is time. So, we thought we would take her shopping for one and maybe that would help her get more excited about it. So, we went to this really cool kids furniture store called Ark Outlet today. It is apparently furniture made in Denmark but has really cool "kid"features. The girls had so much fun in this store and there was even a bed with an attached slide. Hannah's room cannot hold much at all, let alone a slide, but we did find a bed that suited her. We also got two dressers (they were pretty small). We will probably put one in her closet. We also got her a bookshelf. This bed can "grow" so we got all the attachments to make it bigger when she is a little older. Then, she can play underneath the bed like a tent. For now, we are just going to use the twin part and store the rest away for awhile. She was pretty excited. I told her now she has to get rid of "C" (pacifier) to get her big girl bed. She said, "no."

The delivery will be here Thursday. I still need to get a mattress and bedding. I will post pics when everything is done!

First day of preschool!

Today was the first day of school for mommy and emma! She was pumped this morning and ready to go. I dropped the girls off at mom and dads and gave Emma a "Yay Preschool" Elmo card. She wanted to put it in her bookback, which she is quite obsessed with. I left it up to my mom to drop her off and felt completely confident with that decision. I obviously had already met her teacher and there was no need for me to walk her in and delay the process any longer. She just needed to go on!

I was worried though that she may cry a little but my mom said the only tears shed were by Hannah, because she wanted to stay!! Emma's teacher had play doh all set out and ready so that was a great activity for Emma because she LOVES play doh.

such a big girl

posing!

in front of school

getting to work!

It was nice for Hannah to have some one on one time with my mom too and all in all it was a great day. Emma brought home a paper with an E that she drew. She also said they went outside and that she met a friend named Max. She also said her teacher read "Brown Bear" which is their class mascot. I could not be happier seeing her excited about school.

Today was wonderful for me as I got to see the children I would be working this year - literally I will work with all of them. I saw some very nice families and helped escort some lost children this morning, but normally I would have my open library at that time. I was just helping out because it was the first day, but I really enjoyed being on the other side of the classroom door. Everything has been wonderful and I cannot complain one bit about my change so far. I was also thinking about what it would be like if Emma and Hannah were to come to this school and be in the same building as me and how wonderful that would be in a few years. This school year is going to be amazing. I am so thankful!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great weekend! Saturday morning after getting ready we went to Verizon because my phone upgrade was good. So, I got an I-Phone to go with my I-Pad and I-Pod. Sometimes I think this has got way too complicated, but it is nice and takes great pictures. Then, we went to my cousin's daughter's 1st birthday party. Adair was just adorable and they had a really cute "bug" theme party for her.

Emma and Hannah with Adair

yummy cupcake

After the party I took Emma shopping with my mom and grandma while Bo took Hannah home for a nap. I had a "to do" list to accomplish this weekend - birthday presents, fall clothes, shoes for me, new fall wreath, Hannah's birthday invitations, etc. I did a pretty good job thanks to the extra day!

Dillards was having a great shoe sale. I got a pair of Steve Maddens and two pairs of Antonio Melanies for $88.00. That is really the original price for one pair of those shoes. Limited was also having a great sale - 40% off the entire store. We hit the Disney store to do some shopping for Hannah boo's birthday. Loft also had 25% off card holders purchases. We also had to go do Toys R Us - no big sales, but got some more things done. Then, we went to Office Max to get Hannah's birthday invitations printed, which are soooo adorable and I can't wait to post a picture of it! We had a "lovely" dinner at McDonalds thanks to Emma who had to "poo" in the car so bad she could not hold it, so we pulled over to the first place we saw! I wish I had taken a picture of the car when we got home - between me, my mom and grandma, we did some major damage and barely had room in the car.

Sunday we went to church and it was "get the house in order day." I cleaned my closet - I should have taken a picture of that too. I switched all my spring/summer to fall/winter clothes. I also got rid of several pairs of shoes to make room for my new ones. After cleaning all day we decided to take Emma out to the Tides baseball game. We knew Hannah would never sit still long enough for that so she went to mom and dad's house. Emma was adorable and had a great time watching the "animal" mascaot as she called it. She also ate cotton candy. It was a perfect night for a ballgame - the weather was beautiful. They had an awesome firework show after the game. Watching the fireworks made me think of how summer is really over and how much fun we have had. We did not get back in until 10:00 so it was a late night. Then, Bo and I stayed up to 1 AM watching some of our shows.

Monday we split the girls up again. Today I took Hannah to do some more shopping - yes, I swear I still had more to do. Bo took Emma to the park and at out for lunch. Hannah and I went to Kohls - I had to exchange some sizes I had already bought for them for fall clothes. I also found another pair of shoes for me! (I am not lying, I really needed some new shoes for the fall in black and brown, flats and heels). We went to Hallmark to get my Sept. birthday cards and some other cards. I also got the girls their Christmas ornaments before they sell out. We then went to Olive Garden for lunch. I talk all the time about what good eater Hannah is. I took pictures of her eating her salad with olives. She would eat a salad over french fries any day. We then went to Michaels - great sales - I needed a fall wreath and some other fall decorations. Then to Target, but it was sooooo crowded and I didn't see any "must haves." Lastly, Gymboree had 30% off so I got the girls some Halloween shirts. Oh, and I still had to run to get some gift cards for some special people I need to send things to!

salad!!!

she was hungry!

showing me her olive

back at home - she went through my bag, found the stickers I had bought for her party, opened the package and put them all on her shirt - she is something else.

Tonight it has been laundry, packing E's bookbag, my schoolbag, lunches, clothes ready, shoes ready, hairbows ready, etc. We read Emma three new books about going to preschool. Tomorrow is her first day. We are keeping the routine normal - I am dropping the girls off at my moms and she is going to take Emma to preschool. Bo is out of town tomorrow night. I am really okay with my mom taking her and not me. I am comfortable with where she is going. Emma is going to love it because it is familiar to her. Emma is excited and happy about going. Hopefully there will not be any problems although I do expect her to have a little anxiety when my mom leaves her tomorrow. We will see how it goes! As far as my job, I go to work but I do not see kids until the 19th. There are still plenty of things I need to do to get my media center up and running. It is official - summer is over and back to school we go!