Amara's First Day of Preschool

Mara started preschool today at the highschool as part of their child development class. The preschool is called Little Sages and it's ONE HOUR a day Mon-Thursday. It was just a perfect way to transition her into school life. Alaric wanted to participate too so we let him but today was definately about Amara and making it special for her. She was so excited and had ants in her pants! Look at this sweet girl growing up!

A few dance moves before getting in the car!

Go SAGES!!!

Off they go through the hallways of the highschool...mixed in amounst the hs students

And in Fulton Family Tradition, we headed straight to DQ after school for icecream. Amara loved every moment!

Our big girl is all grown up!!!! Love you , Mara!

A Nice Little Sunday

These sweet little kids performed in the Children's Choir today! Barbara, Jonathan, Alaric, and Luna! Alaric has really loved being in the choir this year at church with friends his age and friends much bigger!

I'll post video soon after we get it up on Youtube because pictures don't do it justice. Alaric mouthed the words for the first part and didn't sing outloud and then all of a sudden, he found his voice and he was SO LOUD! It was so funny and sweet!

After church, we hosted a potluck in the fellowship hall for all the nursery and preschool families. We had lots of friends there and we feel so blessed to have such an active group in our church who we can relate to.

The weather was so nice,we pushed the kids through naps and got outside to play! It was time to get the garden ready!

The kids CHEERED each other as they took a break from picking up millions of sticks!

We tilled up our garden. We are expanding it by 3X this year! All of us, especially Brian are very excited about it

Alaric worked so hard by raking the ground

At 5PM, our neighborhood happy hour and potluck dinner began and it was a blast to again be outside with our friends...can't wait for it to be a nightly event!

A Vist to Coal City...Uncle George's 93rd Birthday!

We went to Coal City today to spend some time with Brian's Grandma and also to celebrate Uncle George's 93rd birthday. Great gram loves have her grandkids around

Alaric showed Gram every picture from his birthday party

We laughed lots

And celebrated 93 amazing years for Uncle George

We ate icecream cake

No one said you had to eat it with a spoon

The kids worked hard on cards for Uncle George

And we all played cards togehter

We took the kids across the street to the elementary school to play. Daddy and Mara loved swinging together

How can you resist the way a daughter looks at her daddy!

Relay races

And shoulder rides since the kids were tired!

it was a wonderful day!

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Check out this cool slide at the playground!

Cubs Season Opener and Minute To Win It Family Night!

Today was the Cub's Season Opener and while they didn't win- we all wore our Cubs gear and got ready for another season. Tonight we also played Minute To Win It for our Family Night- WE LOVE THIS SHOW AND PLAYING THESE GAMES! Especially since you can use just about anything in your house!

You've got a minute to win it, GOOD LUCK!!!

Playtime...and other Happy Times!

During Spring Break, my brother and his two kids came out to play one day. Luckily, we had the opportunity to go to the local playground. It's so wonderful to be outside again and to see the kids exploring the equiptment after months of being cooped up inside. Jack and I enjoyed the swings together

Oh, and that little booger LOVES to eat!

Alaric has been working on riding his new bike. It's big and he's slow and he gets scared easily. One evening after Brian got home from work, Alaric decided to practice. There was lots of whining and fussing but by the end, he was moving slowly down the street with his own cheering squad including neighbors getting out on their bikes too, friends running beside him cheering, and even neighbors yelling from their porch he was doing a great job! It was fun to see him smile, knowing that no matter what- he was supported! Mara got out on her new bike too!

We are still potty training with some successful days and some unsuccessful days. After a potty accident outside, she just wanted to be stripped down and so....my naked child in the carport!

As a way to try to put some emphasis on making memories instead of just buying stuff for birthday gifts, Grammy and Papa gave Alaric a morning out together....a date. Alaric was so excited to have them both to himself for the whole morning. Everyone had a blast! They went to Toys R Us, where Alaric got to pick a toy and they looked at EVERYTHING and then headed to McDonalds for a Happy Meal and to play on the playland stuff. All three had a blast and Alaric was talking about the date for days!

We headed to Decatur to the children's museum where Amara multi-tasked and ironed and swept at the same time ( I wish I could do that)

The kids, especially Alaric, suprised me when they asked to climb in the 2 story art sculpture thing. They both climbed all the way to the top!

Amara started an art class! Every Wedensday for 4:45 minutes, Amara and I go to Monticello Christian Academy where the art teacher there ( and friend of mine) is having an Art Smart class for two and three year olds and thier child care providers. This week was our first session and Amara loved it! She got to paint on bubble wrap and then do prints! I'm so excited to do something creative with just her while Bubba is at school!

The kids begged to help me clean the bathrooms. And while it is more work to have them help, they were so eager and I loved having them help! Each had their own spray bottle ( of water) and they got started on the mirrors while I did the rest. I think they could have lasted 45 minutes cleaning the same spot on the mirrors if I let them!

I found them taking a break, with Mara in the sink! SO cute!

We are just as busy as ever but having some fun moments along the way!