first day of school 2013

We're going to miss you summer, but we're excited about the first day of school. Addison and Morgan had their outfits picked out and backpacks loaded for the first day of school. To my delight, they both let me take pictures this morning.

Addison had a cute little jean dress to wear with her pink headband and shoes, but changed her mind after Grandma took her shopping this weekend. She loved this shirt and decided it was first day worthy.

Poor Morgan didn't get much this year. Actually, I think the only thing I bought here were these shoes. My mom hooked her up with some new things though so she wasn't without. She chose the purple over the pink outfit. And the whole thing was $5 at Old Navy.

I was a pretty happy mommy this morning when they were smiling for pictures. I can't believe how much they have grown. 

Addison went with me to drop Morgan off first. This is her third year at the school so she was an old pro. All she really wanted was to go play with her friends.

My last goodbye. She was sitting at the computer with her best bud Ruby. She kissed me and waved goodbye like it was nothing.

I was so excited to actually be able to walk Addison to class this morning. Neither one of us was really emotional, but she was a little nervous. 

Coloring was the first thing on the agenda this morning. No problem for this girl. It's definitely one of her favorite things to do.

Addison gets to sit right next to her best friend Scarlette, who was in her class last year. She also has an old VPK and summer camp friend in her class. I have a feeling she's going to have a great year once her first day jitters are gone. 

No tears this morning. For any of us! I couldn't be more proud of my sweet girls and the young ladies they are becoming. Here's to a great year. 

vbs

This was the first year that the girls officially went to vacation bible school. They have gone with the preschool in years past, but I was not able to attend with them. Now that they are older and understand it a lot more, I signed them up and we went at our church. There was a lot of crafting, which is right up their alley.

Outdoor games and activities.

More crafting. Let's face it. They were in activity heaven.

I loved this. The kids took turns pulling each other along the ground. Addison happily volunteered to be the one getting pulled.

Who doesn't remember snack time at VBS? When you're 4 and 6, this is a pretty big event. It ranked right up there with dancing to the songs.

Addison was so worn out this day. She had spent the entire day at the waterpark and was whipped. She's a trooper though. She made it the two hours with sunburned shoulders and bloodshot eyes.

They both had a really good time. So did I! The church had everything family style so I was able to participate and help out where needed. I can't wait until next year.

summer update on morgan

This girl of mine. She's a mess right now. She won't sleep for crap. There's been long nights and a lack of sleep for everyone this summer. Sometimes I run on two coffees a day. If anyone has any advice I'll take it. We've tried just about everything. Some nights she sleeps with Chloe.

This night she fell asleep with Izzie on her chest. The picture is crappy, but the child was asleep. There was no way I was turning the light on to risk waking her up.

Then there are the nights that she won't fall asleep unless one of us is sitting right next to her.

Her addiction to all things Apple continues. Seriously though. You can't stay upset with this face very long.

 My favorite one from the roll above. She'd make a good actress someday.

Last month she got stung by a wasp. No big deal until days later when it started to get red and hard and looked like this. I took her to the doc and they put her on an antibiotic to be safe. It took a couple of weeks and daddy finding the wasp nest before she would swing again.

One night she just wanted me to take a picture of her before bed. No problem there.

I went to eat lunch with her one day and then tucked her in for her nap. I gave her a ton of kisses before I left.

The no sleep thing is driving me insane, but this too shall pass. I keep reminding myself that it's just a phase and that it will pass. Hopefully sooner rather than later. For now I should just take advantage of all the extra snuggles.

adventures in babysitting

Two weekends ago I did a little babysitting for my sister. Michael was off on a golf outing so it was just me and the three girls for the day. We love when Aleyece comes to spend time with us.

For breakfast she had oatmeal and some of the girls biscuit from Chick-fil-a. I think more ended up on the floor than in her mouth. Before naptime she got a bottle. Addison was so eager to help. She did a pretty good job.

And just like big sister, Morgan wanted to help too.

After nap Aleyece got a little lunch. Courtney packed some applesauce for her, but I let her have some chicken noodle casserole as well. Yummy!

How cute is this face? Her complexion and those blue eyes melt me every time.

That afternoon she and I ventured out to the mall for a bit before meeting up with Courtney. Aleyece hung out in her stroller while I looked around. I introduced her to Goldfish crackers while we were there. She loved them! That's what Aunt's are for. That, and giving a million kisses.

sharks game

Jacksonville has an arena football team - The Sharks. I happen to know the make-up artist for the cheerleaders and she hooked us up with some free tickets. We figured we would take the girls and make a fun family night out of it.

We had club seats for the game which meant we had food, drinks and bathrooms that were easily accessible. The girls had hot dogs and then later I took them to pick out a snack. Addison chose a pretzel the size of Jacksonville. I made her share it with me.

Morgan just wanted a pack of m&m's. She shared a couple, but she mostly are the entire bag herself.

 The girls had a blast. They were yelling and cheering right along.

It was a fun night. And since it was late they both crashed as soon as we got home.

fourth of july

I'm not sure how things were in your neck of the woods, but where we were in Tennessee, it rained for 5 days straight. On the way there we got out to stretch our legs. These are Morgan's legs all bruised up from the playground.

Wednesday morning the rain started. We were at lunch and things were already getting out of hand.

Everything was cancelled on the 4th. No fireworks, no fanfare. And since it was raining, we decided to go to the mall and the movies. We still displayed our American pride and got all decked out in our red, white and blue.

I didn't get to go to the adult movie with the boys, but that's okay. These sweet girls loved Monsters University. I thought it was cute, but I liked the first one better. My favorite part was the popcorn.

What's better than fireworks on the 4th of July? A long bath in Aunt Angela's giant tub.

Both the girls thought they were hot stuff when Aunt Angela and cousin Hannah did their makeup. It was fun putting it on. Not so fun taking it off.

By Friday night we had all gone stir crazy. 

They rescheduled the fireworks for Saturday, but it was raining harder that night than it was on Thursday. I was for sure they weren't going to do them until we heard booming sounds around 9:30. Needless to say, we really didn't have a 4th of July. Maybe we'll have to do our own display sometime in the fall to kick off football season.