Preschool in September - Busy Days

Charlotte's teachers are just amazing.  They not only teach, comfort, entertain, and corral sixteen two-year olds but they also take pictures throughout the week to send the parents!   

Charlotte feels like a big girl with her Dora lunch box and Hello Kitty thermos eating with her classmates!  :-)

Charlotte and Mary Wynne grouping teddy bears by color...

Manipulating tongs to pick up pom-poms which strengthens fine motor skills...

Playing a matching game...

Observing the big and little caterpillars...

Peeling stickers which again works on their fine motor skills...

Playing another game that helps teach them patience and taking turns...

Working those fine motor skills again by threading keys onto rings...

Whew! I am tired just looking through the pictures of all of their activities! :-) We are forever grateful for all that the teachers do before, during, and after school to help guide and teach our children!

Preschool in September - Music Class

Every Wednesday Charlotte's class goes to music with Ms. Whitley! The kids ADORE Ms. Whitley! Henry still talks about her and gets a little sad when he hears Charlotte got to see her.

Don't you just love how my daughter is front and center for the sing-along?! She is definitely not our child! ;-)

The shape of September was a circle so the theme was even reinforced in music.  Those teachers are smart people!  ;-)

Charlotte loves everything about music but she especially loves the stamp that Ms. Whitley gives out at the end! It is definitely the little things! :-)

Preschool in September - Playground Time

I get bits and pieces here and there from Charlotte on her school day but every day I can always count on her being excited to tell me she went to the "park" (i.e. the school playground)!

Charlotte and Mary Wynne teaming up to build a "sand volcano"...

"Enough playtime Mary Wynne!  Time to deliver the mail!" ;-)

Preschool in September - Tiny Chapel

Once a month Charlotte's class goes to tiny chapel.  Each child is asked to bring in a small donation for a specific charity and then before they go into chapel they put it in a collection box.  This is just to reinforce to the children the importance of doing something for others since most two-year olds (mine included) think the world still revolves around them!  ;-)  

Ms. Hilliard taught the children that God made everything!

Preschool in September - Teddy Bear Parade

At the end of September the two and three-year old classes had a teddy bear parade for the four-year old and TK preschool classes.

The color of the month was red so Charlotte wore her red for the parade and we dressed up her teddy bear with a red bow!

Charlotte's class decorating their boxes for their teddy bears with stamps and stickers...

Their teddy bears were even lucky enough to join circle time! ;-)

Charlotte and her classmates put their teddy bears in their decorated boxes which had a yarn handle attached. The kids were able to pull their teddy bears down the hallway for the older kids!

"Enough pictures and chit chat!  When does this show get on the road?!" :-) 

This parade doesn't have beads or doubloons but it does have oodles of cute kids!  ;-)

Carolina Panthers Obstacle Course

One of our favorite parks collaborated with the Carolina Panthers and built a Panthers obstacle course!  Charlotte and I tried it out one afternoon a couple of weeks ago and then Trey and I took the kids last weekend.  I think it will definitely be something we use a lot! 

Our little bruiser practicing her tackling...

Carolina Panther Henry rocking his way through the obstacle course...

You are a superstar, my girl!  

Park and Dinner Date

Last Tuesday the kids and I met some friends at a park for playtime and then Moe's for "kids eat free" night!  :-)

Mary Wynne and Charlotte spent the majority of the time at the park in the swings.  They love swinging!  

Charlotte got off of one swing just to get on another with Roethlisberger, i.e. Mills (haha!)...

The boys' favorite thing to do is to jump off of the "car" and try to grab hold of the leaves on the tree.  Look at Charlie and Henry primed and ready!  ;-)

"Kids eat free" night would not be complete without balloon figures!  Here is Henry B. as an Indian, Henry Y. with his sword, and Harrison with a rabbit....

(Love these boys!)

We have only known these families for a year but it feels like we had them as friends for forever. To say we are lucky would be a complete understatement. We love, love, love our friends!

Birthday Celebrations :-)

Charlotte's been in school a month and has already been to two birthday parties! And Charlotte LOVES a good party! ;-)

Her best friend, Mary Wynne turned three and had a really fun Hello Kitty celebration at a park!  "Happy Birthday Mary Wynne!"

And this past weekend Brady, a school friend of Charlotte's had his birthday party at My Gym!  "Happy Birthday Brady!" (These two girls are inseparable!) 

Boys' Day Saturday

This past Saturday Trey and Henry were able to spend a day together just the boys.  :-)

First stop....football practice.  Henry scored the first touchdown of the day and Trey couldn't have been more proud!  Henry (in the middle wearing the #39 jersey) waiting for the football to be snapped....

Second stop....Hooters for wings.  I hear their wings are fantastic.  ;-)

Third stop...car show.  This kid of ours is ALL boy and loves cool, fast cars!  

Fourth stop...Chick-Fil-A drive-thru for an Oreo milkshake (a Trey and Henry tradition) and then home to see their girls! :-)  

Cheap Manual Labor ;-)

Before you ask to hire out this labor, they only finished about one-fourth of the car, got bored, and then moved onto another activity! Good thing they were cheap! ;-)

Ninja Henry

Lately Henry loves ninjas and imitating ninja moves. He especially loves for me to take pictures of him doing ninja moves in the air.  ;-) 

"Hi-ya!"

Charlotte showing me her ninja moves (haha!)...

Where does he come up with this stuff?! :-)

Charlotte and Mommy Time

Charlotte loves to play! She is very easy to play with because she will play anything you suggest. The only thing she requires is a playmate.  She is definitely not a "play by herself" kind of a girl!  :-)  I love having Mondays and Fridays with her but unless she can help, not much gets done around the house! So what do we do on our days off together? 

She loves stickers, any kind.  She thinks it is hilarious to put them on anything but paper...our couches, the kitchen table, her car seat, my legs....

This girl loves dance parties!  She loves to turn up Henry's Kidz Bop CD's, play her guitar, and dance, dance, dance!   

Charlotte loves, loves, loves the park! She squeals whenever we pull into the parking lot! :-) Her absolute favorite thing to do is swing. She would let you push her in the swing for hours. "High to sky!", she says.  ;-) 

She loves to include her stuffed animals and lovey in on our activities.  She sets up slumber parties with all of her animals "tucked" in.  :-)  

She loves to color, play with Play-Doh, use glue, scissors, and stamps, but she especially loves to paint!

Charlotte has never been one that will sit to watch television any longer than twenty or so minutes.  Lately she loves Paw Patrol and Peter Rabbit on Nick Jr.  I try to use TV time when I desperately need to get something done.  :-) 

She loves, loves, loves puzzles!  You might think that playing with puzzles is something she could do on her own but she really loves when you sit next to her and she pretends to put the wrong piece in and you laugh and tell her she is silly.  It never gets old to her!  ;-)

(Look at that girl striking a pose!)

No matter how much fun stuff we do throughout the day, her most favorite part is always waiting for Henry to get off of the bus in the afternoon.  That girl LOVES her brother!  :-)

Super Star Henry

I was so excited to receive this email on Thursday from Henry's teacher...

"I have nominated Henry for the October Character Education Trait of Responsibility. Congratulations, Henry, you deserve it! I can count on Henry to make responsible choices every day!"

We let our Super Star choose a place to celebrate and he chose...

...Chuck 'E Cheese! ;-)

Every Super Star deserves their very own monster truck!  ;-)

Charlotte was excited to celebrate with Henry...

...and Clifford! ;-)

Henry and I share a great love of Skee-Ball but already he is much better than me!  :-)

The hooligans taking a trip through outer space...

Henry, your daddy and I could not be more proud of the big kid you have become! School can be tough but you are thriving! We could have never dreamed of a son as wonderful as you! We love you a googolplex! ;-)  

On a side note, Henry's red face is Fifth disease. He woke up with a red, splotchy face and neck on Thursday. When I told him he was going to have to miss school, he cried. :-( He kept saying he didn't want to get behind. We saw the doctor and he told Henry that he could go back immediately. Once the rash appears, he is no longer contagious. So we stopped and had Chick-Fil-A and then I dropped him back at school!  ;-) Henry was not sick at all the few days before the rash...no fever or upset stomach.  Since Thursday the rash has spread all over his body so I am glad that he has the weekend to hopefully clear it up.