Julia's Fall Festival

Julia is really enjoying going to preschool. We had parent teacher conference a few weeks ago and her teacher said that Julia is a little angel at school. She listens well and learns everything that is being taught. She loves learning.

October 31 was the day of Julia's school Fall Festival. Fall Festival is a day that all the kids dress up in costumes, and show off for their parents. They have a little parade and then sing several songs. I dressed Julia up like a little princess(she wanted to be Princess Daria from the Pink Kingdom). I fixed her hair up in a sock bun and let her have a tiara and a wand.

I dropped her off at school, then waited for Rick to get there. We stood outside for a while just waiting for the kids to come out. They marched past us twice(the sidewalk goes in a square). Then we all went up to watch them sing. They did a great job. We could hear little Julia's voice above most of the kids. At least she's not afraid to sing out. We were so proud of her. Here are a couple pictures of my little princess.
































Now, we're all caught up to the present. Finally!

Christopher's Birthday

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Our family has been through one illness after another. I've been told that it's normal when your child starts preschool.

Christopher had his second birthday on October 20th. We did a Curious George party. He enjoyed all the attention and all the toys.






























Chris played with his cake topper. It's safely put away now.















He was very excited to get another "digger truck".

We also got a play tent for Christopher. He shared that with Julia, of course. They had so much fun with that tent. I hated to put it away. I'm sure it will come out again during these long months of fall and winter.

More Birthdays

I had my 30th birthday on October 11th. Rick took me out for dinner the night before. We went to Outback. I got to try Crab legs. Mmmmm! Were they ever good! We walked around in the Mall for a little bit after eating.

Rick gave me my big birthday gift, while we were waiting for our table at Outback. It was in a gift box. I opened it and it was a gift certificate to a day spa. I got up early just to spend about 4 hours at Salon Vivace. I got a facial, a full body massage, a manicure, a pedicure and a hair-washing and drying. It was very relaxing.

When I got home, I ate lunch and went to the Mall to spend my gift card. I got a cardigan at Christopher & Banks.

When I got home, we had a birthday party(mostly for the kids sake)with cake(Rick insisted on 30 candles)and presents. I got a fuzzy throw and a memory foam pillow. Nice for those long winter naps. Anyway, I had a great birthday.

I can't find where Rick put the pictures right now. I will post some soon. I know you'd like to see that cake with 30 candles on it.

Birthday Pictures

Here is my birthday girl!















Here is her cake.















The kids enjoying their treats.

Birthday Party!

On September 20th, we had a birthday party for Julia. She turned 4 on the 22nd. We thought a Saturday party would be best because of Rick's busy schedule. I even tried to invite our neighbors over for it. I ended up having to cancel having them over. All of us came down with some kind of bug. I took party favors and treats over to their house and told them I had to cancel.

We still had our little family party. My sister-in-law Jessica decorated, while I sat out in the garage wrapping gifts. Julia wanted a Dora party this year. I didn't know how popular that stuff is. It was hard to find a cake topper. I finally bought a little jar of play dough that had a Dora stamper on the top. It was just perfect.

The party was a success. Julia loved all of her gifts. She loves cake and ice cream. Chris was so funny! He didn't know what to think of the icing on his cake. Rick tried to feed some to him and he just held it on his tongue and started to cry. He got some on his fingers and couldn't stand it.

For some reason, blogger won't allow me to upload pictures today. I'll have to try again tomorrow.

My Little Preschooler

Julia was supposed to start preschool on Monday, September 8. She came down with a fever, and had to stay home on her first day. She was so disappointed. Anyway, her first day was Wednesday. She's so excited about making new friends and learning new things.

I had parent helper day on Julia's first day. So we were both learning our way around at the same time. First, I helped get the kids out of the cars when they got to school. Then, I sat at the end of the hall at the helper table and cut stuff out of construction paper, labeled library books and just waited for a teacher to call me to help out in their class. I only had to help once. Mrs. Cole needed me to help her kids(one of which is Julia)wash red ink off of their hands. That wasn't too hard. I also had to go to the lunch room and unlock the cabinet for the teachers and then clean up after the kids were done eating. At the end of the day, I helped the kids get back into their parents' cars. I really enjoyed my day.

After everything was done for the day, I remembered that I hadn't taken a picture of Julia with her teacher. I got my camera and asked Mrs. Cole if she would mind having her picture taken with Julia. Mrs. Cole picked out a monkey from the class collection and I took their picture. I guess I did forget to mention that Mrs. Cole's class is the "monkey" class. Everything is decorated with monkeys! Julia fits in perfectly.

Anyway, our busy life has begun. Julia goes to Chestnut Memorial Preschool three days a week. She's in the afternoon program, so she's only gone for a couple hours. I always feel a little mournful when my kids reach another mile stone. Not because I don't want them to grow up, but because I know life will never be the same again. They grow up so fast!














Julia with Mrs. Cole.

Fun With Friends

Tuesday, Rick got all the title work for the van. We went over to the Boardman's house to pick it up. We are now officially a two-car family. It still feels a little strange, but I'm sure I'll get used to it fast.

Lisa and I arranged a meeting over at the Virginia Living Museum with our kids. We took the kids to see the crabs and the fish. We walked over to the education center to see some animals(a hissing cockroach, a millipede, a black rat snake, a turtle and an alligator). Then we went to see the dinosaur exhibit. That was the biggest reason why we went there this week. It was the last week for the dinosaur exhibit. Christopher loved the dino robot. The roar was his favorite. Julia's favorite thing was the box of bones. There were bones buried under "dirt" and you used a brush to clean off the bones. It was really neat.

We went out on the animal walk next. We saw wolves, coyotes, a bobcat, deer, turkeys, eagles, a fox, a skunk and all kinds of birds. There may have been more animals, but I can't remember them all. We had a really great time. Thanks for suggesting that trip to me Lisa.

Well, I need to stop for this time. I have to finish packing for our trip to West Virginia. It's going to be a fast trip. It's always crazy, but totally worth it. Hopefully, we will get to see everyone while we are there.