DON'T FALL ASLEEP!

At least not at our house, because you just never know what might happen ...  you just might wake up looking like this:

I guess Hailey decided Dad needed a make-over while he was sleeping - doesn't he look beautiful?  I don't think there was room for even one more bow on his head by the time she was done!

She had so much fun doing his hair and although he'll probably kill me for posting this, I thought it was darling that he let her do it.  He knows how happy it makes her and he'll do just about anything for his little princess!

I think he looks AWESOME!!!

Cartoon Buddies

Now that school has started and Zach is gone in the mornings, Hailey and Tate have become cartoon buddies.  Their favorite thing to do is spread out the blankets and play on them while watching cartoons - Tate's favorite is Mouse and Duck (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and Hailey will choose to watch that just for him.

They love to sit there and watch the cartoons together.  I love when they lay by each other on the floor - it's so darling!  I caught this picture of them both smiling and happy, I just love it when they play together!

What cuties!  It's fun that they have some time together just the two of them!

Silly little monkeys!



Hailey's First Day of Kindergarten!

Well, it happened. My baby girl grew up and a couple of days ago she started Kindergarten!  Why is it this day is so hard for a mother? 

I knew she would do fine and I knew she would love it, but I still had a hard time realizing she was off and into school.

We signed her up for afternoon kindergarten because we thought it would be nice to have her go to school while Tate was napping in the afternoon.  When Tuesday rolled around, she was so excited, she could hardly stand it!  Her brother started 3rd grade a full week earlier and she has been dying for her turn to start!

This is the outfit she chose to wear - her cousin Libby has this same top and she wanted to save it to wear on her special day.  Isn't she darling?

She made sure I got a picture of her new shoes too!  She just loves the purple on them and they just happened to match the shirt she chose to wear.

This is her brand new backpack - she wanted to still use her red ladybug one from last year, but it was starting to rip and we weren't sure how long it would last, so we got her this new one.  Pink with princesses - what else?!?

She got a little bit nervouse right before we left the house, but she loosened up once we got to the school.  She ran right up and found the door with Mrs. Mikulecky's name on it.

Once she put her backpack on the ground next to the door, she even stopped for a quick picture by the door.

And then she was off to play on the toys.

She had a blast climbing up ...

... and sliding down.

She even came back once to twice to talk to Tate.  He loved watching and all of the rest of the kids playing - it was quite the entertainment!

Before we knew it, the bell rang and everyone ran back to their spots and got their backpacks on.

Isn't she the cutest?

Next thing we knew, Mrs. Mikulecky opened the door and welcomed them all to their first day of Kindergarten.

They all waved to the grown-ups and then off they went inside for a super fun first day!



I hate to admit it, but I cried a bit on the way home.  Just like the week before with her brother, my mind kept flashing back to this.

Seems like just yesterday...

And now she's a big girl and in kindergarten.  Time flies by so fast. 

We picked her up a few hours later and she was all smiles and so excited to tell us all about the fun and exciting things she did at school.  In fact, she had such a great time, she couldn't wait to go the next day.  I knew she would love it and I'm really proud of her!



Pack Meeting - Zach's First Scout Award!

After being in Scouts for almost 6 months, Zach finally got his first major award at Pack Meeting last week.  He has actually had quite a few things passed off for quite some time, but we've missed a few pack meetings with sports and such and then they took a month off in the summer.  So after much patience, Zach finally made it to one where he was presented with his Bobcat Award.  Unfortunately, Tate was having a hard day and wasn't feeling well, so he, Hailey, and I had to stay home.  But his Dad was there to help present him with his award. 

He was so proud and excited!

We sure are proud of him!  He is just loving scouts and we are having fun watching him work on his requirements and get them passed off.  He had really been working hard and should have his wolf all done here in the next month or so. 

We are so proud of you Zach - keep up the good work!

Mouse and Duck

Just recently we have noticed that Tate has been occasionally glancing at the TV while playing.  Mostly he just glances at it, then goes back to what he's playing with.  But when a certain show comes on, he gets all excited and will watch it for minutes at a time (I know that doesn't sound like much, but for a 15 month old, that's quite a while).  This one favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and whenever it comes on, he is so cute to watch.  He'll start saying "Ma Mas" meaning Mickey Mouse and even "Da Duk" meaning Donald Duck.  So we've starting calling it Mouse and Duck and when you ask him if he wants to watch it, he knows exactly what you mean - he'll get all excited and run over to the TV, just waiting for you to turn it on.

My TV's are just plastered with little baby fingerprints because all he does is point, pat, and try to touch Mickey Mouse, but it doesn't bother me at all - those little fingerprints are all worth the excitement and joy you see on his face when he gets to see them.

He loves Donald Duck too!

Such a cutie, it's fun to see his little personality coming out!  We can't wait to see what will make us smile next!

Zach's First Day of School - Third Grade!

Today was a bittersweet day - it was Zach's first day of school in 3rd grade.  He is really getting so big and I can hardly believe he's already in 3rd grade!  Last night was back to school night and we went over and met his teacher Miss Berry.  She seems really nice and I just know he's going to have a great year.

This morning he was all smiles and so excited to go!

This is the outfit he chose to wear, doesn't he look handsome?!?

He's been most excited to wear his brand new shoes, he wanted me to get a picture of them to put on the blog so everyone could see how cool they were!

Here he is with his backpack all ready to head out the door.

Before I knew it, it was time for him to go - he turned around for one more picture and then  ...

... off he went with the neighbor kids for his first day of school.

I didn't think I would, but I teared up just a bit.  It has been kind of a crazy summer and he's been more bored than anything else.  We've both been looking forward to school and having him something more structured to do and learn.  But, I have to admit, my mind flashed back to this:

How on earth did my little baby get so big so fast?

Seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and now he's a big 3rd grader.  Time goes by so fast and sometimes it feels like you blink and they grow up on you.  *Sigh*  Such is life I suppose.  So, now we are waiting for his return in the next little bit and to hear all about his fabulous first day of school.  I just know it will have been so much fun!

(Another first day of school post will be coming next week when kingergarten starts - but I'm trying not to think about that right now!)

School Haircuts!

With school just right around the corner, we decided it was time for some haircuts. So Saturday afternoon, we pulled everything out and proceeded to cut some hair!

Zach was up first. I've been cutting his hair for some time now and although he complained the whole time (which is normal), we got it done fairly quickly and it turned out great.

Love that smile!



I love the back, especially when the bottom is so short! I also love his major cowlick - it's so prominent and fun to deal with when trying to comb the hair down!


Next up was Hailey. I usually have a friend down the street cut her hair, but I had tried to trim it myself last time (with somewhat successful results) and because we waited so long to get it cut this time around, I decided to try it again - after all, how hard would it be to just cut it short and straight?

Well, as I learned nearly 30 minutes later - QUITE DIFFICULT and that I can really make it look HORRIBLE in just a short amount of time! So after feeling frustrated, having her wash it, letting it dry, and all the while praying that it would look better any minute, I realized I had really made a mess of it. So I desperately dialed my friend down the street, tried not to cry as I admitted what I had done, and begged some time from her to fix it. Graciously, she told me to bring her right down. My wonderful friend put aside everything she was doing on her Saturday night to fix my mistake and after another 30 minutes, she had worked a miracle! She made it look wonderful and we finally felt like we had a haircut that we could be proud of! Here it is (I didn't even take pictures of my attempt because that is NOT something I'm proud of and want to remember!):


She wanted it really short, so by the time Tiffani fixed my mess, it was really short - but she loves it!


We decided to try a headband for church yesterday - it looked cute, but we found out that it's hard for a little girl to keep it in place and looking good, so we probably won't be using that again! But she did look cute.


This isn't the best picture of the back, she had slept on it weird overnight, but it does show how short it ended up.


Whew - what a day! One thing I learned - there are just some things that I can't do - one of those is cutting my daughter's hair! I don't think I'll be attempting that again any time soon!

So, with much drama and many thanks to a wonderful friend, we finally ended up with hair ready for school!