Pictures from UT Gardens

A couple of weeks ago a friend of ours from church, Anthony Fuller took some pictures of the girls at UT Gardens.  He took over 150 pictures and these are a small sampling of my favorites.



Thanks Anthony for sharing your talent with us.  We love the pictures.  I'm just sad that Bill couldn't be there because of work.  That was the weekend he worked an insane number of hours in just two days.

Lauren's RSVP

Lauren got her first invitation to a birthday party from one of her kindergarten classmates.  She has a decision to make because she has been invited to another party the same day.  She really wants to go to both parties, so we haven't made the decision for sure about which party she will attend.  However, after telling her the party was the same day and time as the other party, she sat down at the kitchen table and wrote this note.  She did not ask for any assistance with spelling.  I think it is pretty remarkable for a little girl who is in KINDERGARTEN!!!



(Translated in case you can't read it.....Emily Lauren can not go cus she has to go to another birthday party.  Hugs and Kisses)

I am so proud of how well Lauren is doing in school. I was really concerned about her being so young when she started, but she absolutely loves school. Each night when I put her to bed I ask her tell me what her favorite thing that happened during the day was. Nine times out of ten her response is something about school. Tonight she told me she loved ALL her Encore classes, but Library was her favorite because she got to check out library books. Her school is on a 7 day rotation schedule for special area classes. She has Art 1 and Art 2 with different teachers, Music 1 and Music 2 with different teachers, PE (2 times in the rotation) and Library.

She is reading more and more books. One day while she was in the Bonus Room she was looking at some instructions to one of her games and circling sight words she could read!!

I am so proud of you Lauren!! I pray you will always love school!!!







Halloween Celebrations

We enjoyed a week of celebrating Halloween.  The first  pictures are from Allison's party in her 3 year old preschool class.  I did not even get any pictures for myself of Allison in this costume.  Thankfully, my friend Cindy took pictures.



Allison and her friend Evan at her class party



Lilly, Allison, Evelyn, Maddie & Joe

These next pictures are at our church Fall Festival and Trunk-or-Treating night.  The girls had a great time and got lots of candy that night. 



My little crayons Lauren and Allison

Lauren and Allison playing the doughnut game.  They had to eat the dangling doughnut without using their hands.



Lauren and Dorothy (aka Mackenzie)

Allison, Lauren and Mackenzie Trunk-or-Treating

Mackenzie, Lauren and Allison

Allison with her teacher Jim Pryor and Owen Keim

These next pictures are from Lauren's kindergarten party.  I was fortunate enough to get to go and help out again.  We played games, had a wonderful breakfast, and made several crafts that morning.

Lauren's kindergarten class

Connor and Lauren

Lauren and her friend Kerstin

Lauren and her best friend Lilly

And finally, Halloween arrived and we got to trick-or-treat in our new neighborhood.  What a perfectly wonderful time we had with the Watsons.  Last year we trick-or-treated with them in their neighborhood and this year they joined us.  It was a perfect evening to be outside.  The kids were out in droves and the parents seemed to enjoy being out as much as the kids.   

Mackenzie, Lauren, Allison (with her fish face) and Josiah

Mackenzie, Lauren, Josiah, and Allison

Allison, Mackenzie, Josiah and Lauren at their first house





Race For the Cure

Today we enjoyed our 2nd year participating in the Race for the Cure as a family.  It was pretty chilly, but we braved the cold and actually ended up walking the 5K race.  We planned to do the 1 mile walk again with the girls, but we got in with the crowd for the 5K and ended up completing the 3.1 miles with the crowd.  I was proud of the girls, even though Allison wanted to be carried a LOT and Lauren needed a little rest every once in a while.  We had a wonderful time together.

It is such a special event for us to participate in as a family.  It was 6 years ago this past August when Mom was diagnosed with Breast cancer.  Mom is cancer free and we have been blessed beyond measure in these past 6 years.  I love being a part of this race and seeing all the women who have survived breast cancer and all the other people who are honoring loved ones who have battled the disease those who lost the battle.  It is truly an emotional event. 

Mom, Bill and Allison at the beginning of the race

Me, Lauren, Allison and Bill

Bill, Lauren and Dad

Mom, Allison and Bill

Brother Bill, Mom, Allison, Bill, Dad and Lauren

Brother Bill, Allison, Bill, Me, and Lauren

Lauren, Me, Mom and Allison



Scary Dreams and Santa Dreams

Last night Lauren came into our room afraid from a scary dream.  She crawled in my bed for a few minutes before I took her back to her own bed.  After getting her settled in her own bed for the rest of the night, I stopped by Allison's room to check in on her.  I decided to take her to the bathroom (because she has wet the bed a couple of times in the past couple of weeks).  While she was sitting on the potty, she looked at me with sleepy eyes and said, "Is Santa coming tomorrow?"  I looked at her and said, "No."  I asked her if she was dreaming about Santa coming and she said yes.  After explaining to her that it was a while until Christmas, she looked at me and said, "I can't wait to put our stockings up."  We got new stockings this week and we are all so excited that we have a fireplace and a place to hang our stockings in our new house.

Pumpkin Patch

Words cannot even describe how wonderful this fall day was, so I won't  attempt to write much about it.  We took the girls to the Pumpkin Patch and enjoyed a picture perfect day with our friends, the Watsons.  Here are some (OK, a lot) of the pictures I took.

My girls in their pigtails getting ready to go to the Pumpkin Patch

Posing at the pumpkin patch

The Bouncing Pillow, the girls LOVED this!



Josiah, Allison and Mackenzie on the Bouncing Pillow

Allison bouncing

Allison and Josiah on the Tractor Tire Mountain

Josiah, Mackenzie, Lauren and Allison

Allison sliding

Mackenzie and Allison

Allison, Mackenzie and Lauren sliding

Allison coming out of the tunnel slide

Allison and Daddy on the pedal cars

Allison sitting on a pumpkin in the field

Allison found a pumpkin

Lauren found a pumpkin

Mackenzie and Lauren on the hayride

A family picture at the Pumpkin Patch

I absolutely love this time of year!!! 

Johnny Appleseed Day

Lauren's Kindergarten class celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day at her school on Friday.  It brought back memories  for me as a first grade teacher.  I would take my students to the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge to celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day.  While Lauren's class stayed at their school, they had a great time with their Apple Festival.  I got to help out with one of the stations.  I manned the Apple taste-testing station and graphed which apples the kids liked best.  I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with all of Lauren's classmates.  I loved volunteering in Lauren's classroom.  I wish I was able to do that more often. 

The kids were encouraged to dress up like Johnny Appleseed for that day.  My sweet friend Cindy loaned me a vest and plaid shirt for Lauren to wear.  I must say, that made the outfit just perfect.  Thanks Cindy!!
Here are a few pictures of "Lauren Appleseed".

I love how Lauren is looking up at my Dad in this picture 

                              Lauren and my Dad                                 

                  Classic Lauren pose with her head tilted                        

 Lauren in her classroom

                                                    

Lauren's class with Mr. and Mrs. Appleseed.  The man is the gym teacher who happens to be married to Lauren's K teacher

                                                                 Sweet smile my little Lauren

I'm thankful for my parents coming down to keep Allison so I could help out in Lauren's classroom.  I'm so thankful that Lauren absolutely LOVES school.  We are blessed with a wonderful teacher for her.  I am so amazed at everything she is learning.  I am so proud of my big girl.  I love you my sweet daughter.