New Family Photo

It seems almost impossible to get a family picture these days. I think mostly because Luke is 2 1/2 and almost never sits still or looks at the camera. However, I have to admit that I'm usually the one with the camera and am rarely in pictures and I'm ok with that. Today, we went to Playhouse Disney LIVE! This was Luke first live show and he was very excited to see Mickey, The Einsteins, Darby and Pooh and of course Donald Duck. Thanks to our friend Mary at Municipal for taking this family photo and for our tickets!

Magical Thanksgiving

We took Anna to Disney World over Thanksgiving. That's right, just Anna. Luke was well taken care of by Sherry, Grandma and Granddad. They were all very excited about spending time with just Luke. The day before we came home he asked about us.... needless to say he had lots of fun and hardly realized we were gone.
We had a fantastic trip! We had great weather, rode lots of rides, met lots of characters, ate lots of great food, saw lots of great shows, saw a parade every day and fireworks every night. We were up early and out late. Anna did great. Here favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain (a roller coaster in Magic Kingdom). Her favorite character she met was Ariel. Her favorite meal was breakfast at Chef Mickey's (see pic).
This time, MGM Studios (soon to be known as Disney's Hollywood Studios) was my favorite. The day parade was great and I love the shows there. Also, the night time show, Fantasmic is the best show there. Here is a picture in front of the new Sorcer Hat at MGM.
We didn't spend much time at Epcot. There just isn't a whole lot for little kids there. We went over in the afternoon, rode the Nemo ride and a few others and stuck around for the Illuminations fireworks show. We didn't get to go inside Spaceship Earth (the thing that looks like a golf ball) because they are renovating it.
I do love Animal Kingdom. Anna enjoyed it too. We had a great safari ride and saw lots of animals. Also, the Lion King show was incredible! Here we are in front of The Tree of Life. We didn't go in because the 3-D shows kinda freaked Anna out. She saw one and that was enough for her.
This last picture is one of my favorites. I love the statue of Walt and Mickey and well the backdrop is beautiful. We actually had to wait in a small line to get her picture made here.

Well, I could go on and on. I'll just sum it up with one word... FABULOUS! I'm already planning our next trip with Luke! :)

Halloween- Part 2

Trick or Treat! After a long day on the field trip we headed out into the neighborhood for some goodies! Anna dressed up as a High School Musical Cheerleader and Luke was Pablo the Penguin from The Backyardigans. I was able to talk him into wearing the head piece for a few pictures but then he was done with it. The rest of the night he would waddle and say "I Pablo" but all with out the hat. Oh well, he was happy and so adorable saying "Twick Treat" at each door.

Luke with his head piece on and Anna looking big enough to actually be a cheerleader...
What team? WILDCATS!
Luke posing like his sister...
Family shot...(the head piece is no more)

Halloween- Part 1

Happy Halloween!!! This was a very big day for us this year. Anna had her first field trip to Honeysuckle Hill Farm. It was an absolute beautiful day and this place is great. There is lots to do and lots to learn on this farm. Anna's favorite was the Hillbilly pig races. That's right, actual pigs racing. Very entertaining. Anyway, here are few shots taken at the farm.....

Class picture in front of the corn maze...
Playing on the playground...
Checking out the petting farm...
Learning what it is like to milk a cow...

Fall Break- Day 3

The last day of our mini vacation, we visited The Creative Discovery Museum. This place was amazing and and had so many things for small children to do. The Dino exhibit was complete with dress up clothes, a sand pit where the kids could dig for bones and of course all kinds of educational activities about Dinosaurs. Luke's favorite spot was the water table (complete with waterproof smocks). This water table had small fountains and a rock waterfall. He was in heaven. They played for 2 hours and then we headed back to Nashville.

Fall Break- Day 2

I had to split the Fall break post into days because I've been short on time... so here is what we did on day 2:
First, we headed out to the Tennessee Valley Railroad and took a train ride. The kids were very excited to ride a real train. After a 15 minute ride, we stopped and watched as they put the engine on a turn table and then rode back to the station.





Next, we rode up to Lookout Mountain to Rock City. This place was a maze and we got all turned around. We went through a bunch of caves and tunnels which the kids didn't care for but the view off the mountain was beautiful. After we found our way out we headed back to the hotel to watch football and rest!

Fall Break-Day 1

Last week we took a mini vacation to Chattanooga, TN. We've lived here almost 10 years and we have never visited the attractions there. Anna's birthday was the same weekend so we decided to celebrate by taking her to see some of the sites. Ron's mom and dad met up with us there for the long weekend.
Here's what we did the first day:
We started out spending the day at the Aquarium. Actually, this is all we did. That place is big (I know it doesn't touch the one in Atlanta, but we were traveling with 2 small children) and the kids loved it and wanted to spend time staring at everything.




The kids even enjoyed the opportunities to touch and feel the lizards, fish and sting rays. (I just stood back- way back and took pics). The family favorite was the penguins. Those little guys were not only cute but also very entertaining. It was almost as if they were putting on a show for us -diving in and jumping out over and over again. They even would swim up to the glass and just look at us. Way cool!
To top off the day, we hit Ben and Jerry's for ice cream. After that it was back to the hotel suite so everyone including the adults could crash!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Well, I'm about a week behind in posting. My biggest excuse is that I'm just plain tired and have been crashing after the kids are in bed. But in my defense we did venture out of town last weekend and I've been busy with my "room mom" duties as well. Anyway, my baby girl turned 6 last weekend! WOW... time flies. She is as big as she looks and acts well.. like a big girl. The other day she didn't find it necessary to hold her daddy's hand while crossing the street..ouch did that hurt! She is doing great at school and the best part is she loves to go and loves to learn. When she's not at school, we are either at swim lessons or soccer practice or she's at home pretending she's at school. This year for her birthday we met her Grandparents in Chattanooga for a long weekend (I'll post more on that later) and when we returned our best friends next door had a party planned for her. This weekend more family is coming to see her and she's excited about seeing her cousins. Not a bad way to celebrate 6 great years!

Happy and Handsome

This month Luke is 2 1/2 years old. He is always on the go. Recently we started classes at My Gym and he loves it. He is so happy there. This has been a great way for him to get rid of his energy but also he is learning balance, coordination and surprisingly how to listen and follow the teachers instructions. Last week we took a trip to a Madison Creek Farm. They had pumpkins and a small hay maze for the little ones. Mostly he played with a toy tool bench... I guess we know what to get him for Christmas.

Let's talk football!

Did anyone happen to catch the Georgia vs. Alabama game Saturday? We did! As a matter of fact we had great seats just behind Georgia's Redcoat Marching Band. That's right ... roadtrip! We left Saturday around 12:00 (thanks Karen and Bobby for watching the kiddos). We made it in time to take in some tailgating and to meet up with my former youth minister. We decided to squeeze in behind the band with other Georgia fans (our actual seats were in the end zone with the Alabama fans). This took us right back to our college days of cheering along with the band, standing sideways the entire game and putting up with a few drunk fans. I just have to say... What a game!!! The Dawgs played well and while I thought for a minute they had blown it they came through with a touchdown in overtime! HOW 'BOUT THEM DAWGS?!!!!!

High School Musical on Ice

The HSM on ice tour was in town this weekend. We made it a girls night out. Karen and her little one and me and Anna had dinner at Blackstone and then headed on over to the Sommet Center for a 2 hour show. The first act was HSM and the second act was HSM 2. Since Karen and I have seen both these movies a hundred times and listened to both soundtracks a million times, we were jammin' with the girls. It was fun and as always Disney knows how to entertain!

First Soccer Game

Take a look at Anna in action. She was all smiles! This is her first year and we were unsure of how she would do but she loves it. I actually thought she was going to score while I was filming this.

1st day at Kindergarten

Anna had her first day of school yesterday. I was a bit worried that she would get upset when I started to leave her but she did great! She walked into the room and started pointing out books that she liked and she found her cubby right away. I did okay and didn't cry... until I got into the car. Of course I took some pictures...


When I picked her up she was all smiles. She had a really good day. What was her favorite part? Eating in the cafeteria. She liked making the food choices and she said the food was "Yummy!".

Zumba!

How many of you have heard of this workout craze? About 3 weeks ago our family joined the YMCA (again). I started out just using the treadmills and bikes thinking that there was no way I would be able to keep up in an aerobics class. But then....I discovered ZUMBA! This is the most fun I have ever had working out. It is low impact aerobics with a latin twist. The music is upbeat and motivational and you just find yourself shakin' your groove and having a blast! You can read more about it at www.zumba.com. and if you want to go to the Hendersonville Y with me and try it out just let me know!

Kindergarten here I come!

Today we visited Anna's new school for orientation. She got to meet her new teacher and even got to meet some other little girls that will be in class with her. Her kindergarten class room was amazing with lots of bright colors and letters, numbers, and words everywhere. She had fun exploring in the class and we also found the cafeteria, library, and the gym. For the next 2 weeks she will go only on Tuesdays for half a day (this is part of our county's phase in program) and then after that she will go everyday. She's all signed up and ready to go!

Another trip to Georgia

A few weeks ago, Ron had a business trip so I loaded up the kids and off to Georgia we went. My sis (Anita) and I got to spend time doing "girl stuff". We started it off with a manicure and pedicure together -no kids allowed. The next day we spent the day doing our 2 favorite things... yard sale shopping and scrap booking. After that, we loaded the kids up for a day and the lake but it rained us out so we just skipped that. But, the next day was beautiful so off we went Pool's Mill Park. There is an old covered bridge with small waterfalls. The kids really liked it but Anita and I were nervous someone was going to slip and get hurt. Anyway, we did enjoy a picnic together. That night we went to Stone Mountain Park to check out the spectacular Laser and Fireworks show. It did not disappoint. Lots of fun for everyone!

Georgia Trip

We visited family in Georgia over the 4th of July holiday. We had a week packed full of stuff to do. We started with a lazy day at the lake on the 4th and then went swimming at a friends and of course watched some fire works that night. We went to Lake Lanier Islands water park. Anna had a blast riding almost all the water slides and Luke loved the giant kiddie area they had there. We also took a canoe trip down the Chattahoochee. Luke stayed at the house with Mima while me, Ron, Anna, my dad and my sister and all of her family went to "shoot the hooch". At first Anna was frightened by all the talk of possibly turning over but calmed down and had fun. Here are some pictures of us at the lake...
My sister and her 3 kids...
Anna jumping off the side of the boat...
My mom and dad...

Anna stopped just long enough for my mom to shoot this photo of us...
Luke chillin' at the pool...

Summertime!

Fundom Kids


Swimming with Ms. Sherry

Summer is here and we are on the go. So far, we have been to the library story time, free movies at Opry Mills, swimming with Ms. Sherry, sleepovers with our neighborhood friend and of course at Karens too. Today we went to Fundom Kids for the first time. It is in Joelton, TN which is only about 15-20 minutes away. It is a renovated skating rink with lots and I do mean lots of fun stuff for the kids to do. There are jumpys, tricycles and cars, dressup areas, and centers to play in such as a kitchen, a classroom a firestation and.. there is a cool castle that the kids can climb in and slide down. Anyway, lots of fun for only $6 and a McDonald's across the street for lunch afterwards.
Here are some of our summer photos so far!

Locks of Love

Anna has been wanting to cut her hair for a few months now. I told her after her ballet recital we would cut it and donate it to Locks of Love. (This gave me and Ron both time to adjust to the idea, the ability to put it up in a cute bun and the time needed to grow it long enough to donate the minimum 10 inches). As we got closer to the "cut" date she had mixed emotions. A few times she seemed to be hesitant and said she wanted to wait. But, I was able to convince her that it would indeed grow back if she decided to let it grow long again and I told her how happy someone would be to get her natural highlighted hair!

Tiny Dancer

We had an exciting day on Saturday. Anna had her 1st dance recital. I wasn't sure how she was going to take it (getting up on stage in front of all those people) but she loved it. She had a great time getting dressed up and getting to wear makeup. She performed a tap, ballet and tumbling routine. After the show, we surprised her with flowers and her trophy. We went home and celebrated with a cookout. Karen and her kiddos came over (thanks to her for keeping Luke during the recital) and Ms. Sherry and Mr. Jerry joined us too. The kids had a blast cooling off on the slip and slide!