Charlie starts Kindergarten....

And there it is.  Charlie started Kindergarten. He has been in school for over a month now.  We are coming up on his Fall Break, and I have nothing but great things to report. His teacher, Ms. Uszenski (of course he would get the teacher that is impossible to pronounce), has been a kindergarten teacher for 19 years.  She adores Charlie and I know this b/c she has already called me twice in the last month to tell me so.  She has used the word "perfection" more times than I count.  Apparently he is the model student and she thinks he hung the moon.....again, not my opinion, straight from Ms. Uszenski's mouth.  I feel a little bad for Charlie.....he is the first child, same as his Mommy and Daddy.  He is the first grandchild in both our families, so there is a little pressure to perform well and so far, he is exceeding expectations.  Of course we think grades are important, but most importantly, we want him to be a hard-working, ethical, honest, loving, caring, sharing, sweet young man.  We couldn't be more proud, and just hope that he continues to set a great example for Hayden, as well as other kids in his class.

He started off taking his lunch, but is now buying his lunch on days that they have things he likes.  He thinks it is cool to buy his lunch, and it's one less day I have to pack one, so I am fine with that.  He has PE, art, music and weekly trips to the library. His teacher says he is usually one of the last kids done with work in the class, not because it takes him that long, but b/c he wants it to be perfect.  Ha!  Can't imagine where he got that from! He does ASP on Mondays and Fridays and I pick him up on Tuesdays/Wednesdays/Thursdays, as well as drop him off in the morning.  He doesn't seem to mind ASP.  I think it involves a lot of cookies, movie-watching and playing on the playground, so what's not to like? He has a lady interest named, Chloe.  Verdict is still out on her, but he did inform Hayden early on in the month that he may not be able to marry her anymore, but she would always be his sister!  Cracked us up.  He wanted to let her down easy :)

Miss Haydini has been doing great. We have moved on from Miss Barbara in the 2's room to Miss Theresa in the 3's room .  She loves it.  She is a big girl and walks right in after hugging me and most mornings, never looks back.  She is only there on Mondays and Fridays.  We were going to do a Tuesday/Thursday pre-school class at CFUMC, but I ended up being selfish and decided to keep her with me those 2 mornings during the week.  I see how fast time goes by and I know I will never get this time back with her.  She will be in pre-K 5 days per week starting next year (it pains me to type that....where does the time go?!?!?), and I just want her all to myself for as long as humanly possible.

So, we have really started to focus on writing her uppercase letters, learning how to spell Welch, her telephone number and address. She already knows her numbers up to 20, colors, and shapes.  She's getting better at counting, sitting still and coloring....she has a little more energy than Charlie and sometimes just keeping focused for 10 minutes at a time can be a challenge! We'll practice more on printing lower-case letters and numbers next.  What else can I say about Hayden?  I enjoy my time with her so much.  She is my little side-kick.  She randomly tells us she loves us so much....which I never get tired of and she is not shy about busting out a hug or kiss at any time :) She is spunky, full of energy, strong-willed, and just plain fun to be around.

The only pictures I have from this first month of school is from the first day....

Tellus Museum

We finally made it to the Tellus Museum in Cartersville. When I was growing up and in school, we would always go on a yearly field trip to the Weinman Mineral Museum.  Tellus Museum is now a suped-up version of where we used to go. We decided we had done season passes to the Aquarium, as well as the zoo, and loved them both, so why not try somewhere closer to home where we could go even more often.  We had a blast.  There were areas that the kids loved (they dug for fossils and mined for gold/gems), but also lots of stuff for grown-ups to enjoy.  Nate and I both agreed we learned so much about fossils and rocks/mining in our area. Very interesting....we saw things that you just can't believe you're seeing in little ole C-ville :)  We are definitely looking forward to our next visit.  On a sidenote, I have pictures of the first part of the trip and then I bumped my camera on a bench while we were walking around and it was lights out after that.  But a few tears, $100, and one week later, my camera was good as new...thank goodness!

Random Summer Fun 2012

 This summer flew by.  I'm still not sure how we filled our days. We did a lot of playing inside, a lot of playing outside, a lot of trips to the pool (ours, as well as Mimi and Pop's), trips to the library, and goodness knows what else. But we had so much fun and I had lots of quality time with both kids :) We worked on Charlie's vocabulary words everyday to keep him in the groove.  Hayden continued working on her letters.  Katie stayed with them every Monday and yet, I have no pictures of her on this post.  Go figure. Anyway, we were happy to have some free time to play and enjoy each other over the summer, but we were definitely all ready to get back into our "normal" routine.

Meet Lucky.....Nanny and D's new dog!!

Beach Trip 2012

We went to Santa Rosa Beach for the first time this past July.  We wanted to try somewhere new.  We found a 4 bedroom house just a wagon ride away from the beach, and were able to bring both dogs (Lola and Molly with us). Mom and Dad came for the whole week and Katie came for a 4 day weekend.  She was smart and stayed away the first part of the week, since there was a tropical depression threatening to ruin our entire vacation.  Luckily after a full day of rain, and many tears (on mine and Charlie's part), we woke up to sunny skies and the rest is history.  The kids LOVED the beach.....Hayden loved the sand, and Charlie the water.  We put up our tent each day, along with our umbrellas and chairs and had a perfect set-up. Mom also brought a little boat with a rope attached and the kids had a blast in that.  There was also a huge sandbar most everyday, which we all enjoyed.  So, so much fun this year....didn't have to worry about naps every single day (although we did have to make a special trip up to the house for Hayden to take one mid-week b/c it caught up with her and she just needed a nap) and we were able to have lunch on the beach several days.  It was so nice and we can tell with each passing year, the trips are becoming more fun and less hassle.  Can't wait to go back next year!

This rainbow was a happy sight after all of that rain :)

She is such a ham!!  She probably posed for 5 or 6 pictures, asking me to take another one :) 

Slip & Slide...kinda

We had gotten a slip & slide a while back.  It had stayed in the box out in the garage, until the other day when the kids were getting sick of playing with the same old stuff in the backyard.  I didn't know how much they would really like it, since our backyard is flat and they are technically still too young for it.  But I shouldn't have worried because they LOVED it!  I literally couldn't get them off of it. We pretty much flooded the backyard (which did not make Nate too happy :) because it was on for so long. I'm still not sure how nobody sustained any broken bones or internal injuries, but they both came out unscathed for the most part.  They definitely had unorthodox ways to make it from Point A to Point B....but as I said, fun was had, so what more can you ask for :)

Recent funny sayings:

Charlie -
He was trying to remind me of the time I took him to McDonald's for his first Happy Meal the other day, but he kept calling it.....Miss Donald's!

He has started saying "I'm bad, I'm bad" when we're throwing a ball and he drops it.  FINALLY figured out he had picked up on myself or Nate saying "My Bad" when we do something on accident.

OBSESSED w/ Kwazii from Octonauts....constantly asking for an eye patch now b/c this character has one

Hayden-
"trinangle" for triangle

"matos" for tomatoes....loves them

loves new show called Doc McStuffins

She recently became obsessed with the birth mark on her forehead.  She couldn't understand why it was there, no matter how many times I explained it to her.  So, finally I said, "I bet that is where God kissed you before he put you in my belly." And now, she constantly (many, many times a day) points to her forehead and says, "You know where that came from? God gave it to me when he kissed me.  I want to hug him." So sweet.

Beginning of Summer

Welp, haven't had too much to write about lately. We have eased into the start of our Summer. Our activities have included swimming at the big pool/little pool, playing in the backyard, playing in the garage, going on walks, watching movies, wii bowling and playing with the batcave/samurai castle.  Fun, fun.  Charlie was officially done with Pre-K on May 11th.  He and Hayden continued at Kids Time Academy until yesterday.  We (mainly I) do not like their summer program for Charlie.  I'm not crazy about the teacher or all the different aged kids in the same room and on and on.  I have a seriously bad attitude about it. Finally, after much discussion, we devised a plan for the remainder of the summer (which is only 8 weeks, 7 if you don't include vacation). Aunt KT graciously agreed to watch the kids on Mondays and Nate/Nanny & D/Mimi & Pop are going to alternate the Fridays.....and there you have it.  We are so happy to know that they will get the summer break we want and they deserve....fun with some of their favorite people.  When I told Charlie, he was ecstatic! Whew.

I thought I'd include some pics of what we've been up to, which as I said, hasn't been much.  We've been to the pool 2 times so far and it is COLD.  I mean FREEZING cold.  The kids lips are purple and they are ready to go home after 45 minutes.  It takes so long to get stuff together and get them over there, that 45 minutes is hardly worth it, but we will keep trying.  Charlie is getting really good at swimming without his floatie.  His favorite thing to do is snorkel!  He had been asking for a snorkel for awhile.  Then he got a horrible tummy bug a couple weeks ago, which landed him in the hospital for fluids.  He "got 2 needles" that day (as he says) and after he was so brave with that and started feeling better after 6 days of stomachache and vomiting, I said he could pretty much have WHATEVER he wanted.  Hence, the snorkel.  He loves it! For now, we will continue to stick close to the "pool" in our backyard.  If you fill that thing up and let the water sit for a few hours, you have bathwater temperature...can you say spoiled?!  No wonder they can't hack it at the big pool :)

Haydini is a mess.  Driving her big brother crazy.  She is a bundle of energy, but does take time to stop and snuggle.  Still the woman of a thousand faces.  She does not know the meaning of the word "listen", but we keep trying :)  We have continued to work on her letters, numbers, colors and shapes.  I really want her to start writing her name, but she's just not interested yet. Charlie is still working on his sight words.  If I can keep him from forgetting all that he learned last year, before school starts in August, I will consider this summer a success.

**2 quick, funny stories I don't want to forget that happened this week. As I said earlier, we have been enjoying some wii bowling in our household lately. Charlie is really good at it.  As in, he beats Nate on a fairly regular basis :)  The other day he kept getting strikes and then spares...over and over. Nate goes, "I'm gonna start calling you Spare if you don't watch out!"  And Charlie without missing a beat goes, "Then I'm gonna call you loser!" Lol!! We are still laughing at that one.  And just this morning (I was at work) and Nate said Hayden was annoying Charlie to death and Nate kept getting on to her, but as I said earlier, the child does not listen! So, finally Nate said, "Charlie, you are a big boy now, just ignore her!"  So, a little while later, Nate heard Hayden start up again, and Charlie started saying things back to her again.  And Nate said, "What did I tell you to do earlier?"  And Charlie says, "You said if she starts bothering me again, I should annoy her." Ha!

** Funny sayings....

Charlie - "Tied for Tie" ....if there is a tie in a game, instead of saying we are tied 4 to 4

Hayden - Strawblerries....for strawberries
               Mecidine.....for medicine
               "Can you believe that?!"....says this all the time

Charlie's Pre-K Graduation

Man, oh man, I am feeling old. And not because I am old (thank you very much, Nathaniel...who will very soon be the same age as me again!), but because Charlie is officially a kindergartner, come August 1st!! We had his Pre-K graduation last night at Freedom Middle School and it was a very long, somewhat entertaining production. I'm not saying I could have done it better because I don't think it would be very easy to entertain (66) 4 and 5 years olds for an hour and a half (not to mention all of their siblings and cousins that were up way past their bedtime....because there were a lot of people there).  We got to see them walk across the stage and receive their diplomas, take part in a couple songs, and re-live a few of their happy memories over the last year in a slideshow put to sad music that would make any parent cry!  I remember when Charlie was born and he was so fussy and cranky from reflux or colic or whatever you want to call it.  The days couldn't go by fast enough.  And then I remember not being able to wait until he made it to each milestone....that when he could sit up it would get easier, or when he could walk it would be better or talking would definitely make a difference.  Like one of those things was going to magically make being a parent a little bit easier! Ha!  My Mom would say, "Don't rush it, it comes and goes faster than you can imagine.  Try to enjoy it."  That was hard to hear during one of his crying marathons as an infant.  But slowly it did get better and easier in some ways, harder in others.  And before I knew it, he was starting pre-school and then Pre-K.  And come August 1st, he will enter the front doors of Sixes Elementary School (where he has informed me you don't have to be six years old to go :), where he will begin the next 6 year journey of his life.  It's like I am now the parent of a child that has "chapters" in his own life.  Crazy.  So, as my Mom said, it does go by fast and I am going to do my very best to try and enjoy each and every little moment I can. We are honestly so blessed that God chose us to be the parents of such a smart, handsome, caring young man.  We couldn't be prouder!

 (Sophie and Jalyn....two of his best buds)

 (Ms. Rodriguez)

 (Ms. Griffis)