Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, John and I took the girls to North Point Mall to ride the carousel. The girls had a great time, and they were even able to choose their favorite animals to ride on. Emma Rose claimed a white horse, and Anabelle picked the frog. We had Chick-fil-a and then headed over to the park. The girls loved being able to get outside, and the weather wasn't too cold for us unless we were in the shade!
We had dinner, watched a movie, and made cookies for Santa all before going to bed that night!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve Sleepover

They were such good girls and went to sleep right away! They knew Santa wouldn't come if they were awake. It helped that we took them to the park today to let them run around for a while!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Santa left a thank note!

Well, Santa loved the cookies and helped himself to some milk. He even had a but of our ice cream! Every the polite gentleman, he left a thank you note for the girls!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Another Sleepover in the Tent

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Picture Frame Craft

The girls have been crafting during the Christmas break. They are making craft stick picture frames here.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sleepover in Emma Rose's Room

Daddy set up a tent so that the girls could have a sleep over! Last night didn't go so well, but tonight was a success.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Anabelle made the Local Paper!!

Anabelle's Christmas program was last week, Wednesday the 15th. A reporter from the local paper, the Cherokee Tribue, was there taking pictures for the paper. Her got a shot of our little Anabelle pointing to me and John! She was in the Thursday paper (the 16th) on page A5. Because we had a huge ice storm on Wednesday night, the paper wasn't distributed! The school is trying to get some copies of the paper, but in the mean time, we can see it electronincally. This is the link to the paper: http://cherokeetribune.ga.newsmemory.com/. To see her picture, the date must be changed to Thursday, 12/16/2010 and the page is A5. Her classmate, Katlyn, made the front page, and the article is also there.

We so love Hickory Flat United Methodist Preschool! Here is the picture just in case you can't access the article:

Friday, December 17, 2010

Anabelle's Christmas Party at School

Anabelle had her Christmas party at school today. One activity was a Christmas book exchange. Each student brought in a book, and the idea was to have a musical chairs type event during which each child would pass their own book to the child next to him or her. At the end, they would each end with another child's book. Anabelle ended up getting a Pinkalicious and a Barbie book. She was very happy!

This is the link to the video of the Book Exchange: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGGk8VW5l98. Anabelle is on the right in the green shirt.

Also, look at the little boy who is in the grey sweater to the left of Anabelle. He would not pass his book or sit in the ring of the circle. He insisted on sitting inside the circle, and his dad had to "encourage" him to pass his book so that he could get a new one. He is such a cute little boy! His new book was the one we sent in: Let's Dance Little Pookie by Sandra Boyton. They hadn't read any of her books yet, so I was so happy to be able to introduce someone else to her fun stuff!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Thanksgiving Pictures

Thanksgiving was wonderful! This year, I am thankful for so much, and family is at the top of my list. Celebrating with extended family was the best! John's sister and her family, my brother, his wife, and my mom were here. I don't think I could have asked for more!

Kingston, Anabelle, Marlee, and Emma Rose enjoyed a PB&J for lunch. (The adults held out for the Thankgsgiving dinner!)

 Chris fried a turkey for us! It was delicious!

This is the table before we added the carved turkey. The pies are in the kitchen.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

New Playroom

We still have some more work to do down here, but Emma Rose and Anabelle love it in here. John is going to install a cable outlet so the girls can watch Disney and we need to get a few more of they toys in here. It will be really cool when they will play down here by themselves for just a little while! Then I'll miss them!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Thursday, November 11, 2010

The Dancing Carpenter Girls

This is a special video invitation (aka bribe) that John and I "enouraged" Emma Rose and Anabelle to do for Auntie Cathy and Uncle Eric. We're hoping they might come see us for the Thanksgiving holiday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjI7KfJo8nA

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Butterfly Craft

The girls and I have been doing a few crafts. We did this Butterfly Craft earlier this month, and they loved it! We used washable markers, round coffee filters, a spray bottle with water, and black pipe cleaners.




We colored the coffee filters with the markers and then sprayed them lightly with the water until the colors started to blend and run along the filter. The girls didn't really color in any sort of pattern, and I did a little bit of a pattern. It didn't matter how we did it.

Once the filters were dry, we wrapped the pipe cleaners around the filters so that we had butterfly wings and antennea! The girls liked seeing the colors run, and then they made their butterflies fly around the room.


Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend was very fun and very busy. I'm still not fully recovered. Emma Rose was a lady bug, and Anabelle was a good witch.

The festivities began for me early Thursday morning as I started to prepare for two class parties. I had to go shopping for all the baking and crafting we were planning! I love being able to be involved with the girls' classes, and this was so much fun! Anabelle's party started off with all the classes in her preschool giving a Halloween parade for the parents. They were all very cute. Aside from Anabelle the Good Witch, my favorite costume was Elvis. Back in the classroom, Anabelle's class had some yummy treats, crafts, and several games. They all had a great time!

I dashed off from Anabelle's school to start on Emma Rose's class "party" that was labeled Fall Centers so that we were sure to be educational. (Wink. Wink.) I didn't take my camera into the classroom, but we had great fun, too. The class made patterned skeletons, colored a spider (by letter), decorated cookies, and played Halloween bingo. They also had a special snack that looked more like a sugar buffet: cookie cake, marshmallow popsicles, some various other sweets, and pizza muffins. On the way home, Emma Rose said to me, "I ate way too much sugar." I totally agree!

We had an early bedtime that night, so we could start Saturday out well rested. Saturday started out with a quick trip to Target as Anabelle had ripped her black tights on Friday. Nicki, Laurin, and Patrick came over for early trick-or-treating. We went down to Hickory Flat UMC then came home for lunch and crafting. We made spiders and ghosts! The Griffiths headed home, and we met Chris, Beth, and Grayson for trick-or-treating at Publix. The girls got to decorate cookies and were given some great treats! Once we were home, we had dinner with the neighbors and trick-or-treated in our neighborhood. By that time, Anabelle was very tired! At one point, she sat down on the side walk and said, "I can't run that fast." The girls were in the bed by 8:30!

Sunday, we had church and nap. During the afternoon, we went for a hay ride and pot luck dinner at Buffington Baptist Church right down the street. I didn't remember my camera for that, but I don't think I could have held the camera to get any pictures. The girls were in the bed that night by 7:30!

Fun was had by all, and here are some of the pictures from the weekend! Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Lunch with Emma Rose

This is a picture from lunch on Monday.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

Monday, October 25, 2010

Cagle's Dairy Farm


Hidden about 10 minutes from us is Cagle's Dairy Farm. I'm not sure why John and I have never stumbled across this little adventure before last weekend! We had a great time with the girls, and we also ran into one of Emma Rose's classmates, Jack, and his family there. I took lots of pictures, and Jack's family helped out with taking some pictures of all of us! This is a link to all the pictures from that day: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QYs3Ldo5at9i.



Sunday, October 24, 2010

Emma Rose's First Field Trip

On October 15th, Emma Rose had her first field trip. All the kindergarten classes from Emma Rose's school went to Big Springs Farm's pumpkin patch. It was her first field trip and first ride on the big yellow school bus. It was also my first field trip! I was able to be one of the chaperons, and it was awesome! Big Springs did a great job of providing lots of activities for the kids and keeping them entertained. We had a chance to pet some animals, a hay ride, a story about Spooky the Square Pumpkin, a craft, a ride on inflatable ponies, and a bounce in an inflatable bounce house. The bounce house seemed to be the favorite for the children.

I took some pictures of the big event: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QYs3Ldo5at8m.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Awesome Blog Post from a Mommy

I so enjoyed this post! I hope I can remember to make sure that my Emma Rose and Anabelle know that 1. Nothing ruins a life forever, and 2. Make and keep friends who can help you when you feel like your life might be ruined forever.

It's also a reminder for me that I am so very lucky to have some wonderful friends who have helped me through the especially tough time our family has had during the past couple of months.

http://vicky-bell.blogspot.com/2010/10/letter-to-my-daughter-in-wake-of.html?spref=fb

Twinkle, Twinkle

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A Special Visit

Pops made a special visit today. He brought along quite a few little gifts to help Emma Rose's boo-boo feel better. Thank you, Sugar! She loved everything. You can see her opening all of it here. There are also a couple of really cute shots of Pops holding our little Princess Baby.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Emma Rose & the school nurse

Emma Rose started her first year at school on August 2nd. I knew she would like her teacher and the children in her class, but I never dreamed that she would become close, personal friends with the school nurse.

On August 26th, Emma Rose and I met Nurse Connie. It turns out that bathroom breaks for the kindergarten class is a mini, unsupervised play time. Despite strict instructions from their teacher, the children like to go potty, wash hands, and use the restroom as a playground. Emma Rose and her friend from preschool, Grace, were doing just that when Grace picked up Emma Rose and they both fell on the hard, tile floor. Grace was uninjured, but Emma Rose split her chin open. Nurse Connie called me and in her sweet, reassuring southern accent asked me to come up to the school. She suspected (correctly) that Emma Rose was going to need a couple of stitches. John was working from home that week, so I called him and all four of us went to visit the pediatrician and then made a trek to Scottish Rite. They used dermabond to close the wound. That sounds pretty simple, but Emma Rose was totally hysterical and John and the (larger than John) nurse had to hold her down while the doctor fixed her up.

Emma Rose's second trip to visit Nurse Connie was minor. The dermabond was coming off, and her teacher sent her down just to make sure everything was ok. Emma Rose was only sent home with one of the ever-more-familiar yellow sheets that said she visited Nurse Connie. Her chin has healed nicely, and her bathroom incident served as a reminder for her classmates that they should not play in the restroom. It was a short-lived lesson, so I hear.

Trip number three to Nurse Connie was on Friday, September 10th. While on the playground, Emma Rose was doing a "trick" on the swing. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it did not end well. She fell on her arm at about 1:30 and went to see Nurse Connie. As usual, I picked her up that afternoon, and she came to the car holding her left arm against her stomach and clutching a yellow Nurse Connie paper. I asked her what was wrong and told her she would feel better soon. She didn't use her little arm all weekend and continued to hold it against her stomach. By Saturday (after telling her that it couldn't be that bad), I knew we had to take her to the pediatrician Monday.

Monday afternoon, the pediatrician sent us to the radiologist. She has a buckle fracture. The technician said it was minor, but it would most likely require a cast. Tuesday morning, I talked to the pediatrician, and we were sent to get a cast. There was more hysteria, but she ended up with a bright pink cast. The cast should only be on for about 3 weeks, and Emma Rose hates it. She has told me daily that she is ready for it to come off.

I am so grateful for good health insurance and for Nurse Connie. She is a sweet southern lady who seems to really loves children. Nonetheless, I hope I don't have to hear from her again this year!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Cricket at lunch with Emma Rose

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.5.2

Helping in Emma Rose's Class

I volunteered to help in Emma Rose's classroom this morning. It was a lot of fun to be in there with her and to meet some of the classmates she tells me about. It was also wonderful to see how great her teacher is. Emma Rose seemed to enjoy having me there, too. After the fun activity, I was able to stay and have lunch with her, too. As an added bonus, Cricket joined us! That was a huge thrill for Emma Rose. It's nice to know we are in such a good school district and even more so to know that Mrs. Turner loves what she does! It's awesome that I can be involved.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.5.2

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Lunch with my Big Girl

I had lunch at the elementary school with Emma Rose today. I'm not sure if she was more excited about sitting on the stage or having me come to see her! She spent a lot of lunch waving at her friends! She did give me several hugs and told her friends that I am her Mom. (Score!) Emma Rose also asked me three times if I would come back to eat lunch with her tomorrow, too! What fun!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.5.2

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Afternoon at Wills Park

We had a great afternoon at the park in Alpharetta with the girls!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.5.2

Monday, August 30, 2010

Anabelle is 3!


My little baby girl turned 3 yesterday. We had a very simple birthday for her mostly because August was such a busy month for us. With two little ones starting school and a mommy getting used to a new schedule, nothing ran smoothly . . . to say the least. I also just cannot believe that my baby is not a baby anymore.


Anabelle had a grand time playing her buddies, Grayson and Anna, and her big sister, Emma Rose. She may have enjoyed the guests more than anything else. I enjoyed watching them and eating cake! The cake, which was very cool, was a Tinkerbell cake from Publix. YUM! (We're still nibbling on it even today. It was huge.) During the festivities, I managed to take a few pictures! Enjoy!!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I'm going shopping with Gracie

Anabelle loves to try on my shoes. Today, she changed into this (too little) dress and put on my black sandals. Then, she told me she was going shopping with Gracie. In the video, she says she is going shopping at Publix and Gracie is going shopping at Walmart. At the end when I ask her to say goodbye, she pretends to fall on the ground! I think she was acting out her sadness at the prospect of saying good bye to her friend.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

A story worth recording

Mostly, I'm blogging this story so that I can remember it. Emma Rose is starting kindergarten in less than two weeks, and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I think about what I might not remember from the first five years and how much I might forget of the next many, many years. I love looking at the posts I've written because I have forgotten. When I read what I've written, it brings those memories back.

Emma Rose goes to Waumba Land most every Sunday morning. It's the Sunday school program at our church for children from 6 weeks through 4 years old. She only has a few more Sundays before she graduates to UpStreet, the cool program for kindergarten through 5th grade. She's so growing up! When I picked her up this past Sunday, I talked with her teacher about who she plays with regularly and who she might want to have in her small group with her at UpStreet. The guess I made earlier in the week was correct: two little boys. Caleb is the son of one of the awesome employees at the church, Bryan. Bryan knew Emma Rose from Caleb before John and I even met Bryan. Apparently, Emma Rose is Caleb's special friend on Sunday mornings. He is a sweet little guy! The other child is the son of a man I went to church with as a youth, Andy. Drew is a fun, active little boy, and I remember his father as a sweet, kind man. I hardly know him now, but I do know those character traits are still in him. I felt proud that I was right about her buddies.

Her teacher also shared with me that Emma Rose had been kind to another child that morning. The class was playing a bean bag toss game, and a little boy was "fussy" because it wasn't his turn. Emma Rose gave him her bean bags and gave up her turn. No one, not even the fussy boy, asked her to do it nor would they have. She just decided to be kind. When her teacher told me this (and even now), huge alligator tears started to stream down my cheeks. It makes me so happy to know that she is kind-hearted and thinks of others. She's generous and thoughtful. She empathized with another person enough to want to help him stop hurting. Maybe you think I'm reading a lot into this one small interaction, but I can see these traits in her everyday. She is such a sweet little girl, and I am so proud of her!

July 4th Weekend

Nicki invited us down to south Georgia for her dad's annual Independence Day celebration. We had a great time! There was a red-neck water slide (large plastic tarp + sprinkler/water hose + baby shampoo), yummy food, and fire works. There was also a gaggle of children, so Emma Rose and Anabelle had a great time playing. John actually took some pictures of me, too!





Sunday, July 18, 2010

Volcano in the Driveway

The girls spotted a volcano in the basement and insisted that Daddy hook it up to the water hose. They had a great time running though the water! Emma Rose also stuck her face right on top of the volcano when it erupted. She got a nose full of water. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that. They both also practiced their fighting stances, too. Very cute! Pie almost had a little bath, but Anabelle quickly gave her to me for safe keeping.







Visit to Mamaw's House

At the end of June, the girls and I went to visit my maternal grandmother, Mamaw. She lives in Murphy, North Carolina. It was a beautiful summer day, and the girls were able to enjoy some time playing in the branch (the little creek in Mamaw's front yard). They even saw a salamander! Mostly, they threw rocks and sticks from the footlog (the little bridge over the branch) and walked across a piece of wood balanced between two rocks. The weather was hot, the water was cold, and the girls were very, very happy!

Mamaw will be 95 at the end of August, and she was glad to see us. We had a huge lunch, and I was able to visit with Mamaw, three of my uncles, and one aunt. And, Cricket was there, too! We don't get up there nearly enough!












A Few Pictures from the Beach

Last month, we were fortunate enough to be able to go to the beach for a few days! My mom went with us and had some much needed time to relax after her surgery. We drove by our old house, went to our favorite restaurant, saw a few friends, and, best of all, visited with Cathy (John's youngest sister), Eric (her husband), and their children: Marlee and Kingston. It was Anabelle's first time at the beach!

The girls had great fun at the beach and the hotel pool. They built a sandcastle, got to sit in a giant hole (compliments of Daddy), search for shells, and play in the waves. Emma Rose also swam accross the pool for the first time ever! Anabelle tried to do the same, but she was not successful, and Mommy almost had a heart attack. Both Emma Rose and Anabelle have been asking if we can go back! I'm totally ready.












Blog Archive