Allison's Turn

Today was Allison's first day of her 4 year old Pre-K class.  She woke up bright and early at 6:00 (after a late night to bed after church last night).  She was pretty excited and unusually chippery for the morning.  She's more like her mommy...in that it takes her a while to wake up and get going in the mornings.  Even though she usually wakes up earlier than Lauren, she moves slower and it takes her a while to perk up.  She will normally come in my room and snuggle in the bed with me until Lauren gets up.  But not this morning.  She was ready for school.
She loved her new class.  Next week her class will have 25 students in it.  20 of those children go every day...an additional 5 come on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a different 5 go on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  I don't know how Ms. Cheryl does it.  Guess that's why she only weighs about 90 pounds!  Perhaps I should try that!  Not!!!!

Here are few pictures of our morning.  I can't believe this will be the last year I'll have my baby home for part of the week.  I'm not looking forward to next year!

My big 4 year old girl...can't believe she's this big

Allison's 1st day picture with her sister

Allison by her cubby

Allison walked right in and started working

Allison with her lead teacher Mrs. Cheryl

First Day of First Grade

My sweet Lauren continues to amaze and inspire me.  She loves school so much!!  She did not jump out of bed this morning when I went in to wake her up like she did last year for her first day of Kindergarten.  But once she did get up, she was the same enthusiastic little girl eager to go for her first day of first grade.  Last night as I was putting her to bed, I asked her if there was anything that she was nervous or concerned about for school.  She does not have one single person from her class last year in her room.  She kind of looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her if she was concerned or worried.  She just said she could not wait for school.  We got her in bed early and even spent some extra time right before bed reading and settling down.  But she still had trouble going to sleep because she was so excited about school.
When I picked her up at 11:15 she was beaming and eager to tell us all that she did on her first day. She's ready to go back tomorrow for her first full day. I just hope Mommy is ready for her to be gone that long. I don't think her little sister will really like her long hours at school!!

My big girl ready for first grade

Our 2nd annual outside picture before school

                                     

Lauren sitting at her first grade desk.  She looks so big to me.

Lauren busy at work on her first day.

End of Summer Mini-vacation

We spent a couple of days over at Sunrise Ridge the first week of August as an end of summer mini-vacation. We enjoyed swimming, hiking and pancakes!!! It doesn't get any better than that. The weather was hot and sunny so we spent lots of time in the pool.  On our last day, we went up to the Pancake Pantry and had a delicious breakfast before heading up to hike on the Laurel Falls trail.  This was the girls first time to actually walk the whole trail....2.5 miles round trip!  They were real troupers!!

We all got our toes painted before the trip...Allison, Mommy, Lauren

Sweet picture of Lauren swimming...love that smile

Lauren's pancakes....Bears in the snow..

Allison's Bears in the snow

Silly Sisters at the fountain

Sweet sisters at the fountain

Daddy and his favorite little girls

Granny and Pawpaw and their girls

And we're off and hiking...Lauren, Allison and Mommy

Can you see the snake?

Lauren taking a rest

We made it to the falls....the girls are getting their shoes off to get in the water

Aaahhh...the water felt great!

Lauren and Allison at Laurel Falls

Lauren and Allison climbing on the rocks

More rock climbing



Sweet little Allison



Rainy, Summer Days

The weather forecast for today was supposed to be the hottest day of the week, with the temperature topping out at 97 degrees with only a 30% chance of showers.  I had planned to take the girls swimming after working out at the gym.  After a really gray morning waiting around for the clouds to lift, I decided to go on to the gym and not plan to swim.  I told the girls we could go to the Y if it cleared up in the afternoon.

It did not clear up, instead rained quite steadily for a large part of the day.  The girls enjoyed putting their raincoats on and splashing in the rain for a while.

Lauren and Allison playing in the rain












 After lunch, realizing the weather was not going to improve for swimming, the girls played together so sweetly.  They built a camping site with blankets, pillows, and their stuffed animals upstairs by the banister.  They enjoyed "camping" for quite a while. 

I decided to go ahead and start my house cleaning that I usually do on the weekend since our swimming plans changed.  The girls played so well together and cleaned up all their messes,  I decided to reward them with a night of camping (I called it a slumber party) in the Bonus Room tonight.  They were super excited to get to sleep together.  

Lauren declared she was going to put Allison to bed by reading her bedtime story and Bible story to her.  Here she is reading Sleeping Beauty to Allison.

Lauren reading to Allison before the slumber party

Lauren posing while reading

Allison peeking at the camera

We gave the girls until 9:00 to talk and giggle before they had to go to sleep.  At
9:00 I went in to settle them down.  Lying between them on the floor I was able to get them to go on to sleep in just a few minutes.  Hopefully they'll sleep through the night and not wake each other up too early in the morning.



I took this picture of them after they went to sleep.

                            

Home Again

My little girls enjoyed their first weekend alone with their Granny and Pawpaw, and now they are back home sleeping in their beds!!  Bill and I enjoyed our time together being carefree for a few days, but we are so glad to have our babies back at home. 
I love going in to give them one last kiss before I go to bed.  Good night sweet girls.  I love having you home!! 

A Very Quiet House

Well, my girls have finally reached the age where they wanted to go to stay with their Granny and Pawpaw by themselves.  My parents have been waiting for this day for a while, but whenever I would ask the girls if they wanted to go stay with my parents, they were not ready to go unless Bill and I went.  But this spring they both decided  they wanted to go stay with Granny and Pawpaw by themselves this summer.  Lauren, the little planner, worked out a schedule on her own.  She decided they would go on a Thursday and spend Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and then come back home on Monday.  Well her schedule was changed slightly because of a doctor's appointment for Pawpaw.  When I told Lauren they would have to go up on Friday instead of Thursday, she said without missing a beat, "Well, we're staying until Tuesday!"  That sweet girl, when she gets something in her head, it's very difficult to change her mind.

This is the first time both of our girls have been away from us!  Lauren stayed with my Mom while Bill had back surgery and was in the hospital for 5 nights.  Then she stayed with Mom again when I had Allison.  But Allison has never been away from us.  I had never spent the night away from her until the Laurel Ladies retreat this past March.  Bill was home with the girls then, so they haven't been without one of us.

They were very excited, but Allison was a little quiet as she was about to leave with Granny and Pawpaw.  When I talked to the girls just a few minutes ago, they both sounded great!  I know they are going to have a great time.  I will, too!  It's just a big milestone and I can't help but be a little sad with the quietness of the house tonight!

Bill and I enjoyed an afternoon out running around. We ordered pizza for dinner and ate it in the living room while watching a movie!!!  We haven't done that in years.  I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep myself occupied.  I just have to remember to slow down and realize I don't have to rush here or there to get back to the girls!  I do miss them though.

Picking Blueberries

 The girls and I went to the Fruit and Berry Farm in Halls today to pick fresh blueberries. It was a fun experience. I was afraid the girls would pick any berry they saw, but I was pleasantly surprised to see they were very selective in which berries they actually picked. Lauren had eaten some really good blueberries and my parent's house this past weekend, so she was eager to pick her own. She also realized from eating them this past weekend, that the fatter the berry was, the sweeter it was. So she really searched for the biggest, fattest berries she could find.




Lauren picking blueberries

                              

Allison picking blueberries

Lauren and Allison picking blueberries

Sweet sisters

Fortunately we did not see any snakes out in the berry patch.  The lady at the store told us to go inside the middle of the bushes to find the best berries.  We encountered lots of June bugs and several bees, but no snakes.

This wonderful farm is only about 3 miles from our house and I'm so excited to find such a neat place.  I can foresee many trips there for some delicious fresh fruit.

Here is the fruit of our labor today.  I'm off to make some homemade blueberry muffins!