Ready for Fall

Just a quick update while I pause my online browsing of bathroom tiles....

Things are moving right along and we are all happy that Fall is finally here.

That means, for one thing, matching Halloween PJ's.


Colby and Miller are having more nice moments and fewer struggles, although I still wouldn't say we are in the clear.


One of Colby's projects for school called for a family photo. Much to my shock and horror, we had not taken one of the four of us since last November!!!! It's always of one of us with the kids, but never all of us. I will do better!!!

One afternoon during one of our Friday playdates, I asked one of my friends to snap a quick picture. It actually turned out pretty cute, although it's not great of me because I'm laughing. (probably at myself for telling Colby to say "poo-poo pee-pee" instead of "cheese"...I know my son and what will make him smile) I think it's especially good of Colby and Lee.


And of course, with Fall comes Halloween costumes. Colby has been practicing for the real thing by dressing up as Batman almost daily.


Miller will be a garden gnome, but I have yet to get her to wear the hat. (she doesn't even like it why I try to get her to wear a new outfit or new pair of shoes) I bet once she understands that dressing up gets her candy, she will be all for it.

I'm heading out of town for 2 days for house meetings, but hopefully more Fall pictures we be coming soon.

Airplanes and Witches

Miller has a mind like a steel trap, and certain things make VERY big impressions on her. Lately, she has been talking daily about two things. The first is her trip to see Nana and Granddaddy....literally, the transportation. She talks about riding on the airplane and the school bus (which is the bus that take you from the parking lot to the airport) several times a day.

The other thing that she talks about daily (since last weekend) is the witches we saw in the Halloween store at the mall. They were life sized automated witches and Miller was TERRIFIED. She grabbed on to me and burst into tears, and we had to leave the store immediately. She has been talking daily about those witches and how they are "pretend" and "not real".

This is not a very exciting video....just a little glimpse of everyday conversation with Miss Miller.



(Oh, and be sure to read the post below this one about leaving your e-mail address before I change my privacy settings!)

Blog changing to invitation only...

Howdy folks,

Due to some security concerns, I'm soon going to change this blog to be invitation only (by e-mail address) That will be nice because I can post more info about the family, our new house and neighborhood, etc. Right now, I just feel very limited as to what I can say and what pictures I can post, and since this is the only way I'm documenting our lives, I don't want to be restricted.

I know most of the readers of this blog (mainly family), but I know there are also other readers that check in regularly. I am fine with sharing this with you, I just need to know who you are and your e-mail address.

If you are interested in getting an invitation by e-mail, please leave a comment below. I will write down your e-mail and delete the comment ASAP.

Thanks!

First day of school

Colby and Miller both had a great first day of preschool! It helps that they have FANTASTIC teachers this year. (the two best, in my opinion) However, this was the first year that there were no tears...and I'm including myself in that!

In Miller's classroom, there are 12 kids ranging in age from 2 to almost 3. (Miller is one of the youngest, but there are 2 kids a few weeks younger) The teacher said that in all her years of teaching, she has never had a class this well behaved on the first day- there was not one tear from anyone the entire day (well, all 2 hours). She said every single one of them followed directions and did what they were told- wow! I peeked in before pick up time, and Miller was doing hand motions to a song while sitting in a circle. I couldn't help but laugh because if Colby had been in that class at age 2, there is no way he would have been sitting in a circle or following directions. (My memory of Colby's class at age 2 was of his teacher holding him down to a chair.....it didn't take long for her to get fired)

Colby had a great day as well. I haven't gotten much information out of him and didn't have a chance to talk to the teacher, but he was very happy at both drop off and pick up. He was placed specifically with this teacher because she supposedly loves boys, and loves very active boys. Well, I've got just the student for her!

I did get called into the director's office right after I dropped them off....she said it in a very hushed tone like we needed to discuss something behind closed doors. This was the first morning of school- I could not imagine what could be so important! It turns out she read the form I filled out for Colby's teacher, and she wanted to understand more about Colby's potty training (or lack thereof) habits. I told her about his withholding from last year and how he refuses to go #2 on the potty, and we don't really know what to do about it. She said that hopefully peer pressure will help....I'm not so sure, but we'll see.

All in all, a very successful day and I can't wait to see what they learn this year.

Before I post pictures, here are a few pictures from previous years.

2007- Colby at 1 year old (this was a few days before school...I don't think I took a first day picture that year)


2008- 2 year old class


2009- 3 year old class (Couldn't get him to pose for a picture)


2009- 3 year old class and seeing his friend Wyatt in the hallway


And now this year....my, how things have changed!

Colby was such a big boy posing for his pictures.


Big girl ready for school!


It's tough to get a good sibling photo...


We are SO big!


One last attempt.


Gosh, I have such perfect and well behaved kids!


Pssst....Here's what the photo shoot was REALLY like...

Preschool open house

Colby and Miller had their preschool open houses, and judging by their experience, they are both going to LOVE school this year!

Miller enjoyed emptying a bucket of puppets...


but she spent the majority of her time doing puzzles (naturally).


She shocked me by picking up a baby doll. Wow! Maybe she's got some girly in there after all.


Colby loved his new classroom and teacher. Here he is with his friend Lori.


The Dynamic Duo is back...Jack is in Colby's class again this year. Colby was doing great listening and sitting still even though Jack tried his hardest to distract him. It's still very apparent that Jack has issues. (Note to self: do not give blog link to Jack's mom)


And just for fun, I'm enjoying the fact that someone in this house is taking my picture....it's nice to see that I really exist! Here are a couple cute ones that Colby shot this morning of me and Miller.

The lake in pictures

We started off each day by lubing everyone up with sunscreen...


And then headed off onto the boat or jet ski.


This is one of two pictures taken of me the entire trip, and Colby took it!


Colby and Miller loved the boat rides...


They took turns driving the boat.




But Miller really preferred kicking back with her sippy cup cocktail and cracker.


They enjoyed new books...


And a trip to the children's museum. Miller especially loved the pretend grocery store.


She made sure to buy a year's supply of ice cream sandwiches...


I hope none of the other children were planning to buy any.


She also bought 2 birthday cakes.


Colby very politely checked her out. He did not even question the ratio of sweets to healthy foods.


Colby's favorite part of the museum was dressing up like a fireman.


But his ALL TIME favorite thing at the lake was the jet ski. He could not get enough!


Even Miller loved it! She would say "Go faster".


But mostly, Colby rode it with daddy and Miller hung out on the boat.


Miller did a lot of swimming, and Colby did a lot of jumping...


Did I mention the jumping?


Thanks Nana and Granddaddy for a wonderful trip! We can't wait to come back!

Where I've been....

THE HOUSE. The house. The house is consuming my life. We are building a house 2 hours away, and every spare moment of my spare time is spent on the computer doing research about something house related. I can't sleep at night because my mind is constantly going over and over things. (It doesn't help that we are still moving walls and the foundation is already down) It's exhausting.

So, the blog has taken a hit. I think it will continue to take a hit for the next 6 months, but I'm going to try my best to make time for it. (oh, my cooking has taken a hit, too...poor Lee is having to pick up the slack around here)

Other than the house, life has been going on as usual.

Colby is obsessed with taking pictures. He got a camera for his birthday, but he prefers to use mine. He's not too bad...


And no one is safe around here.


I gotta say though, he is creative. The other day he was so excited to show me what he had taken pictures of. "Mom! Come look at these pictures!" Imagine my surprise when I saw 26 artistic shots of his you know what. Which reminds me...I better erase those before someone accidently uploads them to a picture website and I get arrested.

Lee took the kids to the creek and they caught a fish. And brought him home. Colby named him Motorboat. They tried to feed him bread. I'm guessing Lee put leaves in there to make him feel at home. It didn't work and he died the next day. Don't try to make a pet out of a fish from a creek.


Miller and Colby fight half the time and get along the other half. You just never know what kind of hour it's going to be. (and the fighting is always brought on by Colby's teasing...which brings him so much joy) The good moments almost make up for the bad.


Miller has decided she must always wear a hair accessory. She prefers hair bows, but they don't stay in very long. But she loves them.


Whew, a little weight off of my shoulders. For now. We head to SC to visit Nana and Granddaddy a week from today. It should be a nice break for all of us. I'll post an update when we return!