First Day of School

Abigail started first grade on August 23rd.  I had quite a bit of anxiety over her starting a new year. I just wanted her to have a great teacher who made Abigail excited to go to school everyday. I should have listened to God because she has loved every minute of school so far.  She told us that she wanted to go to school everyday; even on Saturday and Sunday.  She told me that her teacher makes everything fun and that first grade was harder than kindergarten but they were going to have so much fun.  Thank you God!  I know Abigail is going to learn so much and grow and mature so fast this year.

My little girl is growing up soooo fast.

Gramma was able to see her classroom.

 

Sarah started Pre-K last week.  She seemed to have no inhibitions and is excited to be in the oldest class at her school. Sarah usually would rather stay home than do anything but I haven't had to convince her to go to school at all.  She too has a smile on her face when I pick her up and is excited to tell me about her day.  I expect Sarah to learn and grow a lot too this year.  She seems so much younger than Abigail did when Abigail was in Pre-K, but I think that is because Abigail was my oldest.  I know Sarah is going to have a great year.

 

Anna has been enjoying her time alone.  She usually just bosses me around and keeps me on my toes.

 

She has Grandma all to herself and wrapped around her little finger.

 

Tea Time with Gramma

Gramma came to visit in August and we had so much fun with her.  She came while Josh was in China so it helped the time to go by faster.  The girls wanted to have a tea party with the tea set they painted for her for Mother's Day.  They couldn't wait for tea party food so we had pizza.  I recovered the chairs that day so the girls played with the left over fabric all afternoon and wanted us to wear the fabric on our heads as party hats.  We love spending time with Gramma.

 

 

Anna is 15 months

Anna is 15 months old an is growing in leaps and bounds.  She is a little busy body.  She doesn't really play with toys but instead walks around and looks for something to get into.  When we are home she likes to make sure I am always near her but she seems to be doing better when I leave her with a sitter. She has begun to chatter a lot in the last week.  It is pretty funny because she uses a lot of hand gestures and facial expressions when she tells you something.  She is pretty determined which can create some drama now, but I know that she will grow up beautifully with that character trait so I try to embrace and direct it.

 Anna loves Cooper or "oop-er" as she calls him.  She tries to make him eat his food and follow her lead.  She gets very excited when she sees him in the morning or when we get home.  They have mutual respect for each other.

 Anna is pretty sweet with other babies.  Anna is kissing her cousin Matthew here.  She kept petting him and making sure he had his passie.  She doesn't always like it when I give my attention to a baby though.

 Anna is pretty adventurous climbing up anything she can but she freaks out when she sees a fly.  We have been trying to calm her fear by getting her involved in the fly swatting.

Here is one of the many faces of Anna that makes me laugh.  She can give pretty mean looks and has started to fake cry and pout.  (She has had good role models for that.)

Anna refuses to let me help her eat...so we now need a bath after every meal.  Tonight she even threw a fit when I didn't let her eat ice cream by herself.  I love her independence but wish it was a little cleaner.

Dusting off the old blog

I use to keep up with this blog so well and sadly it has gone to the bottom of the to do list.  I am going to commit to do better.  We started the summer off busy.  We had swim lessons followed by vacation bible school.  The girls loved both of them but they were worn out every night. Abigail can now swim and Sarah has become a lot more comfortable in the pool.  They both learned new songs and had lots of fun during VBS.   This weekend we went to Witchita to visit Emily and Brett.  The girls thought that they lived too far away but they had a lot of fun visiting and wanted to stay forever.  Abigail thought it was funny to say she was going downstairs to the basement because she had never seen one before.  They have grown up so much and it was fun listening to them giggle together. 

Abigail, Paw Paw, and Anna building a zoo.

Sarah dancing to the Fresh Beat Band.

Aunt Emily, Uncle Brett, and the girls.

Now summer seems to be flying by.  We have been swimming, playing with friends, and having lots of fun dressing up.

Happy Birthday Abigail

Abigail turned 6 over the weekend.  I can't believe how old she is.  Abigail is such a bright young girl.  She is  reading so well and is learning very fast.  She lights up the room when she flashes her brilliant smile.  Abigail is a people person she loves to socialize and be on the go.  She has become a big help around the house entertaining her sisters, taking care of Cooper, cleaning her room to list a few.  Abigail loves being outside, her favorite outdoor activity is finding ladybugs.  She usually finds at least two.  She received a ladybug playground for her birthday and the other day she had eight playing on the playground.  Abigail also enjoys writing on her marker board, she leaves us sweet notes throughout the day.  When Josh or I leave her a note she will grade it and tell us how well we did.  She likes to eat healthy and will ask me "What is the healthier choice."  She does not drink carbonated drinks because they are unhealthy and spicy.  I am so proud of Abigail and I am excited to see who she will become in the next year.

We had her party at an art studio and Abigail was so excited about it.  It was the first time we went somewhere for her birthday and she was counting down the days.  Abigail loves to paint and work on projects so this was right up her alley.  I think the party was a success because Abigail told me her party was too short and next year we need to make it longer.

Happy 6th Birthday Sweet Girl.  Abigail said I do not want any more of this cake because it is too sweet.

Anna trying to determine what color would be the best to throw around.

Abigail excited to get started.

Sarah and Ashlynn hard at work.

Katie and Mark working on a monkey.

Jacob and Eli working on monsters.

Madison working on a star.

Did Lucas have something to paint?

Lucas had fun entertaining everyone.

A little girl talk

Matthew tired from all the partying.

Anna's First Birthday

 Anna as a newborn.

Anna at 6 months.

 Anna at a year. 

Anna turned 1 on the 22nd. My how the time has flown by.  Anna is a sweet and happy baby.  I know this sounds contradictary but she can also be mean and she knows what she wants.  When Anna has thought of something naughty to get into I see a spark in her eyes and a smile starts to form. She then looks at me and shakes her head "no" before she decides to do the naughty thing.  She knows what she wants and is pretty good at communicating her wants.  I think this will make me want to scream at times but I think it will be a good quality as an adult.  Anna is now choosing to walk more than crawl. She has had the ability to walk for a while now but on her birthday decided she would walk more consistently.  She loves to get people's attention.  She will wave or yell at them until she gets a reaction from them.  Anna is usually a momma's girl, and will not go to the nursery at church.  Anna can say mamma, dada, uh-oh, ow, Anna, and hi. Sometimes I hear baba, Abigail, Sarah, and she will point her finger and yell something that sounds like no.  She is pretty picky about her food but usually loves whatever is on my plate (even if it is the same thing as hers.)  Anna loves her sisters and always wants to play with them. She thinks she is big stuff.  She has also been my cuddliest  baby and I love that.  She has a little blankie that she will snuggle up with when you give it to her.  She has added so much joy to our family and we all love her so much.

I thought it would be fun to compare the girls at one year.

Abigail



Anna



Sarah



Sarah is 4

Sarah is 4 years old today.  I know it is cliche but life goes by so fast.  Sarah is such a sweet girl.  She loves to play by herself with little tiny toys.  She usually chooses a small object for the day and plays with it all day.  Especially when Abigail is in school Sarah will go in her room and play for a long time by herself.  When I have gone in to play with her I am usually kicked out of the room.  Right now her favorite toys are squinkies.  They are so small and I never in a hundred years would have thought kids like to play with toys like that. I guess that is why I am not a millionaire.  Sarah is very creative. She does not think linearly like Josh and I.  Sarah is a home body and will almost always rather stay home than go anywhere.  Instead of going to dinner tonight she told me "I want peanut butter and jelly tonight, on my next birthday I can go to McDonalds." For her birthday she wanted everything. When I explained to her that everything wouldn't fit in our house she quickly responded "that's okay we can sleep at our neighbor Ashlynn's house."  I am a little afraid that she might be featured on the show Hoarders one day.  This made buying for her easy though because she was so grateful and excited about everything she received. She keeps telling me her birthday was so fun and that she loves all her presents.  She has matured so much this year and the drama has lightened up.  She refuses to wear jeans and loves to wear shoes.  Her favorite food is peanut butter and jelly.  She has gone from a big 8lb 10 oz baby to being a petite little girl... from crying all the time to giving more hugs and smiles.  She could not wait to get a booster seat for the car and feels so big that she gets one now.  I can not wait to see how she will grow next year although this year could go a little slower. I am not ready for her to leave preschool.