First Day of Pre-K

Jackson's First Day of Pre-K at Bannockburn Christian Academy

 

4 Years Old

Favorite Foods: Chicken Nuggets, Eggs, Pancakes, Donuts

Favorite Toys: Lion, Trucks, Trains, Cars, Tools

Favorite Books: Berenstein Bears Series

Favorite Shows: Fireman Sam, Berenstein Bears, Mighty Machines

Favorite thing to wear: His footsie jammers, fireman tennis shoes, and jeans.

Still loves to wake Mama up during the night for snuggles.

Wakes up super early and doesn't think he needs a nap, ever!

Loves to swim, play baseball, play in the dirt, and drive his gator.

Does not like doing art projects, sitting still, taking naps, or eating veggies.

 

Choooo Choooo.... Look Who's Two?

My baby turned two on Saturday.  He'll always be my baby, even when he's 45! What a sweet boy he is.  We had a Thomas the train party since he loves his trains. He also loves Dinosaur Trains, so the train thing just seemed to work.
On Carter's actual birthday we took the kids to Southpark Meadows for some splash park/playground fun and ate lunch outside.  They had a great time and were tuckered out!  When everyone woke up it was off to Hey Cupcake for some birthday cupcakes - yum!
Everyone came over on Sunday for some real birthday party fun.  It's always nice to have the whole family together.  Just a pleasant reminder of how blessed we are to have family close by.
We had some pizza, Carter's favorite food, and then a yummy train cake made by the ever-so-talented Grandma Debbie!
Here's a little about Carter James at two years:
Weight: 32 lbs. 6 oz. (he is a Biehler folks)
Height: 35"
Favorite Foods: Pizza, Chicken Nuggets, Milk, Bananas, Yogurt
Favorite Toys: Trains, Cars, Balls, Crayons
Favorite Books: Good Night, Good Night Dinosaur; Good Night Butterflies; Good Night, Good Night Construction Site; Are you Ticklish?
Favorite Shows: Dinosaur Train, Thomas, Wonder Pets, Mighty Machines, Cars
Bedtime: 8 p.m.
Wakes Up: 7:15 a.m.
Nap time: Usually 1:30-3:30
Words: Too many to put down! He's a great talker!  Kind of like a parrot who mimics every word!
Shoe Size: 8
Carter is a total charmer!  People just fall in love with him.  He gives the best hugs and kisses, and even a fist pump now and then. He LOVES to swim and is really great at it. He can throw a ball really well and loves to jump on the trampoline.  He has a great sense of humor and loves to make people laugh.

 Hey Cupcake!

 Happy boy opening presents!

 It's Tiny from Dinosaur Train!

Thomas "2" Cake made by Grandma Debbie

Hello Mudder, Hello Fadder....

Kylie has now become the ultimate camper.  I think she's hooked.  She is now in he THIRD session of camp this summer!  First it was T Bar M in June, then Pine Cove in July, and now back to T Bar M.  I am really missing her this time. Kylie really has the ingredients for a perfect camper.  She's brave, fun, energetic, friendly, independent, and confident.  She makes friends so easily.  She's got a type of magnetism about her that other kids are drawn to.  I really think it's because she's friendly, but maybe even more so because she's confident.  Kids that tend to be a bit shy and unsure feel safe around her.  I love how many new kids she's getting to meet.  I can totally see her being a camp counselor some day!  I know these experiences are great building blocks for her future.  I am so proud of her!

 Safety First!

 Silly girls ready for camp!

 

I mustache you to check this out!

 She got blobbed!

Get Fired Up...Jackson Turns Four!!!

Anyone who has ever known Jackson for even a short time would know he LOVES anything that has to do with firefighters.  He got some fireman rain boots for Christmas and has worn them almost every, single day since (including both his school pictures).  Not only does he typically wear the boots, but he is likely adorned with the fireman hat as well!  I can't tell you how many giggles and smiles he's gotten over the past 6 months or so.  It is hilarious.  In honor of his current love for fireman, we had a full on firefighter party!  Man, I planned this thing for months it seemed trying to get all the right decorations, invitations, party favors.  I've never spent so long on a party before.  For some reason, it was really important to get it right for him.

 

We invited all his classmates from both schools and family to Loco-Motion (our local inflatable place) for some jumpy, fireman fun!  My sweet family helped me get everything set up since they only gave me about 15 minutes to do it (yikes).

 

The kids jumped for a little over an hour and then we ate some grub and had the amazing fire cupcakes Grandma Debbie made!



 

After the party, we packed up and headed straight to the fire station where a friend of Uncle Luke's is a fireman!  Whoooohoooo!  He made the visit so special for them.  Seriously, he was so patient with them and showed them so many things.  I'm talking firetruck rides, getting to put out a real fire with the hose going full blast, opening up a fire hydrant, and then to top it all off, he gives Jackson a real firefighter's helmet.  It was a man who is now serving in the military but used to work there.  How cool is that?  Lieutenant Mark Frost is Jackson's hero!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I hope he remembers this special day forever!

 

Grandparent's Day 2013

I have fallen behind on my posts and so hopefully I'll get caught up pretty soon!  Between the mounds of laundry piling up, work, meals, groceries and everything in between, it's hard to find the time to do just about anything extra!

Grandparent's Day at Regents is a really big deal.  It's so important to honor our legacies and Regents makes it a special day just for them, which I think is awesome.

Grandma Mary, Grandma Debbie and Big Pa came to share the special day with Kylie! 

The 2nd grade studies Texas History all throughout the year, so they did the cutest performance about the ABC's of Texas history.  Kylie had about three speaking parts and she was amazing!  She has so much performance ability and it seems to come naturally to her.  There might be some drama and musical theater in her future maybe?

She enjoyed sharing her classroom and art projects to them.  We did our family project on the sweet Mourning Dove who had her babies in our playscape.  We took pictures from the time she laid her eggs to the time they took off on their own.  They were so sweet:)

How cute are they?

 

After Grandparent's Day we took Kylie for a special lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  That girl loves her some crab - she did not get this from me (yuck).  I'm the one who orders chicken at a seafood restaurant.

 

It was a great day to honor the people we so dearly love.  We are incredibly blessed beyond measure to have them so close to home.  It has made a HUGE impact on my children and I will forever be grateful!

Sweet Mrs. Crowell and Kylie

Lucky Girl!





Summer already?

So, it hasn't quite hit me yet that school is almost out... As the kids are super giddy about summer, this mama is typically the opposite! Summer schedules are one word - crazy!  Each week is a different schedule and with three kids, sometimes going three different place, it is mayhem I tell you! I do love the things that come with summer like pool-time and going to the beach though:)  In fact, we leave for our first beach trip of the summer tomorrow afternoon.  Yippeeee!

The kids have had a great school year...
Carter started school the youngest of all three at only 12 months.  He's done so well, up until this last month when he decided to become the class bully.  Unfortunately, he's decided that pushing is now how he's going to get his way, so he's been spending some quality time in time-out.  I'm really, really hoping this is a quick phase that will soon pass as he learns to say more words.  I think he has a sweet heart, he has just realized he can push the kids around to get what he wants.  Ugh.  It doesn't help that he gets it at home from his big brother, but we're working on it.

Jackson has made lots of new friends this year!  His school friends seem to really like him and are always happy to see him.  His teachers love how articulate he is and how he really joins in on discussions and answers questions (in lieu of the glossy-eyed stare they usually get).  He is what I would call "the enforcer" and really wants to make sure everyone is following the rules.  If they aren't, he's sure to call them out on it.  As he gets older, I'm not so sure the kids are going to dig that very much, so hopefully he realizes he needs to take it down a notch!  He's worn his fireman hat and boots almost every day to school which the teachers think is hilarious.  Today, he went dressed in the entire outfit.  This started right after Christmas and is still going on!  He even wore his fireman boots in his school pictures, which I thought was very appropriate considering.  He still doesn't seem to participate in the arts and crafts portions of school with much enthusiasm.  He just doesn't dig it.  He'd rather be playing with toys or running around. Sitting down to color a picture is just not his thing.  Sometimes I have to laugh at his art papers that come home.  I can tell he spent about two seconds to get it done so he could move on. He doesn't really like to be messy, so that might be part of the reason as well.  He play in the dirt pit for hours, but heaven-forbid he get a little paint on his hands!

Kylie has exceeded our expectations yet again this year.  Her last report card was almost perfect.  I am so proud of her.  She had almost entirely E's all the way across the board in academics and behavior/participation.  Her teacher told me she has never had a student like Kylie who is so incredibly gifted academically, spiritually, and socially.  It made my heart swell about ten times its size.  God has blessed Kylie with so many gifts.  I just can't wait to watch her continue to grow in all these three areas of her life.  God has big things in store for my little girl, I just know it!  Despite the time she had off for surgery and the difficulties she faced in her recovery, she didn't miss a beat.  She was just as positive as she always is and her grades continued to be top-notch.  Now, it sounds like I'm bragging, but I honestly don't take credit for it at all.  It's all her and God.  She does her thing, and I'm there for love and support:)

We're off to Port Aransas this weekend to kick off the summer.  I'm excited to spend some quality time with my littles at the beach, enjoying God's creation! I love watching them play in the sand and the ocean and explore the beach!  I love days with no specific agenda, just being together and having fun.  As we say goodbye to the school-year, I am so grateful for the teachers who spent so many hours investing in my children this year.  They loved them, disciplined them, played with them, and most importantly prayed with them.  These ladies have made an investment in these children and I am forever thankful to all of them. 

Sweet Brothers

Here comes Peter Cottontail... Happy Easter!



 Easter Egg Hunt (the first of many!)

Here baby brother! 

I'll just kick them instead:)

Lu and Jackson before another egg hunt!

 I called this one Smiley Kylie:)

 Kisses for bunny

Sweet Easter Chapel