Parent Observation Day

Today was parent observation day in the girls' dance classes.  They were happy I was going to be able to come in and watch them, but when they found out Robby was going to be there, too, they were thrilled.

It was interesting to see the difference between the two classes in terms of the different ages/levels and also the difference in both girls in terms of their personalities.

Handley's class was first.  She was so serious during class and at times seems to be in La-La Land.  That didn't surprise me though...she is a daydreamer and I am used to having to bring her back to reality.  Her mind is just constantly going and pondering and thinking.  If she missed a beat or two, she quickly would jump back into what she was supposed to be doing and did it beautifully.  She always tries to make things she does perfect, and it was apparent in her dancing tonight.  She really did try her best and listened closely to the critiques from her teacher.  Unlike Harper, she is not taking the class with a friend so I think that may have a little something to do with her personality during the class.  She has met a few of the girls though and seems very friendly with them.  Also, because the girls in Handley's class are older 5-6 year olds, they are focusing more on technique and while their class is fun, it is more structured.

Harper's class was completely different.  The mood is much lighter and the atmosphere is FUN!  Her class is 3-4 year olds so the teacher knows just how to keep them entertained and focused while they are learning.  Harper's best friend, Reece, is in the class with her as well as a few other girls she knows.  They do a lot of singing while dancing and as they are learning basic steps, they are playing games.  Harper always has an excitement for life and seeing her dance around tonight was no exception.  She does what she is supposed to, but does it without thinking and just lets herself go.  It's so cute to watch!

I can't get my videos to work right now, so hoping I can get them on tomorrow.

Lost pictures

I am so excited right now! I was just playing around with my updated photo program and realized that when my computer was fixed last week my lost Thanksgiving pictures are now found!

Here are a few of my favorites from that day.

Memaw would be proud

Every time we go to our favorite bakery, my kids eat enough free samples of the cheese straws that it could have just been their meal.  They love them and I grew up eating them around Christmas time because my grandmother always made them.  It was a tradition for her and my grandfather to get together with some of their friends and make tons and tons of batches.  I am not a baker, but I love traditions so I got a wild hair idea to get my grandmother's recipe from my mom and give it a try.  I borrowed a cookie press from my amazing baker friend, Christy, and gave it a whirl today.  They were really quite easy to make and a fun activity for the girls to help me with.  They are not as good as McEntyre's, but still pretty tasty and I think my Memaw would be proud.

The earlier part of our day consisted of Hudson and I running around to finish up last minute Christmas errands and then after we picked up Harper from school we ran to the post office before getting Handley. I knew it would be busy and I knew there would be a long line, but since I didn't get there on Friday, I had to get some stuff sent out today.  Well after standing in line for close to 45 minutes and trying to keep a wiggly and tired toddler from having a complete meltdown, I can say with certainty I will not be visiting the post office again until after Christmas.  Harper was an angel and tried her best to help me entertain Hudson, but he wanted nothing to do with any of us.  Thankfully it was a rainy day and he had fun playing with Harper's umbrella for the majority of the time.  By the time we finally got to the front of the line, we were helped by a friendly guy who looked just like Santa, so that made it all worth it.  We were a few minutes late to pick up Handley (a first for me), but there was no way I was going to leave that line after standing in it for so long and I knew her teachers would understand.

Tonight after dinner I had the girls write their notes to Santa since we are going to be visiting him later this week.  They took this task very seriously and rushed through dinner so they could start on their letters.

Handley wrote the first part of her note by herself using inventive spelling while I was helping Harper.  

Back in business

My computer is fixed and is like new so I am back in business!  So happy to finally have access to my pictures and to be able to blog again. :-)  

We spent the weekend at the lake and got some stuff done around there.  Then this afternoon when we were back home we took a family walk to our favorite spot on the Silver Comet Trail.  There is a long winding path that leads to a creek and the kids love going there to toss rocks in the water.

This was the first time that we've been that Hudson has been old enough to take part in the fun and he LOVED it.  He is all boy and it's so fun to watch him have fun digging in the dirt.  By the time the rocks we had collected were gone he didn't care.  He had moved on to tossing leaves in, too!  

Clean, house showing, kids mess it up, repeat

My computer still isn't fixed so it is a multi-step, very long process for me to get any pictures from my camera and onto the blog.  Needless to say, that is the reason for my lack of blogging this past week.  However, there certainly hasn't been any lack of excitement around here.

The girls have been excited about wearing their Christmas attire and have fun each day picking out some of their sweet seasonal outfits.  They have also been really into all things Christmas this year, which just makes this time of year even more magical.  Their Great-Grandma sends the kids chocolate advent calendars each year and when they arrived last week they couldn't wait for the first day of December to arrive.

Hudson got one, too, but I couldn't get him to pose for the picture this morning.  Instead he was pounding on the pantry door yelling, "NACK!" (snack), despite the fact that he had just finished breakfast 5 minutes before.  He is, by far, the pickiest any of my kids have been at this toddler stage, but give him a snack and he is happy as can be.

Last Thursday evening I got a call that someone wanted to see the house on Friday afternoon so I spent all Friday morning cleaning and picking up before they came.  By Friday evening, it looked like a tornado had ripped through the house.  Friday night I got another call that someone else wanted to see it on Saturday afternoon (during naptime, none the less).  SO, I spent all Saturday morning cleaning and picking up.  See the pattern here?  It's been exhausting to keep up with the house, but I'm counting it as my workout.  When Robby suggested we eat lunch at home before heading out during the showing on Saturday I immediately nixed that idea.  The kitchen was clean and it was going to stay that way.  Instead we enjoyed a family lunch at Chick-fil-a and then did some running around before returning home to greet our friends, and fellow UGA fans to watch the SEC game.  Handley had been so excited about a Georgia Bulldog party and despite the disappointing end to the game, we did have a good time.

I spent a lot of the day on Sunday away from the house.  I had a baby shower to attend that afternoon and then went straight to a girls night out (movie and dinner) with friends.  It was just what I needed...getting a little break away had me missing my kids and ready for the crazy week ahead.  I was excited when I got home and the girls were still up so I could give them a hug a chat for a few before they went to bed.  It's fun to get out, but it sure feels good to come home.

One other quick thing I have to share is that this weekend Robby worked with Handley to practice riding her bike without training wheels and she is doing so well!  Click the link below to see a quick video of her getting the hang of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw6Dufn8zME&feature=plcp

Thanksgiving Weekend and 1st Report Card!!!

**I am behind on blogging because I'm having major computer issues. I am in the process of getting it fixed, but in the mean time I was able to figure out a way to finally get some pictures on here!**

We really enjoyed the rest of our Thanksgiving weekend.  I was able to get our house decorated for Christmas, which we just all love.  We got our tree on Friday and so far, we've only had one ornament mishap.  For the most part, Hudson has been leaving it alone though.  The kids all had fun decorating it and checking out all of their hand-made ornaments.  Elfie, our elf, has been doing some pretty funny things, too.

I have a big basket that I put all of the Christmas books in for the kids to read and that basket has kept them entertained for way longer than I would have expected.  All three of them spent most mornings snuggled on the couch together "reading" the books.  Even Hudson loves books and would happily sit with the girls and flip the pages.

We had planned to take the girls to the UGA/GT game on Saturday, but our plans fell through.  I was a little disappointed and Robby knew that so he found a way to cheer us all up.  He drove up after work on Friday with some big reindeer in the back of his truck!  They sell them at a local gift shop we pass everyday on the way to and from school.  I've been wanting these for years and the girls always notice them, too.  Robby had said he could make them himself, but just never got around to it.  They are the perfect addition to our outdoor decorations and made us all smile.  We even had some fun taking picture with them over the weekend. :-)

You can tell Hudson wasn't a thrilled with this idea as we were! Ha!

Lastly, one big milestone for our family was Handley getting her very first REPORT CARD yesterday.  When the teacher passed them out after school I was so excited and couldn't believe she was big/old enough to be getting a report card.  She had a glowing report and the sweetest note from her teacher inside.  We are so proud of her and plan to do a fun treat this weekend to celebrate her hard work!

Thanksgiving 2012

***I just tried to download the cute pictures from my camera that I took of the kids today in their turkey attire and as I deleted them off my camera the photo program on my computer froze and I lost all of them. I'm so disappointed right now because they were all so cute and we had a rare opportunity to have some family shots, too. :-(  Thank goodness for my camera phone so I at least have a few to share from today, even if the quality isn't good.***

I have loved having the kids home from school this week. Yesterday we went to the zoo and the kids had so much fun running around with their maps and pointing us in the right direction.  Hudson seemed in awe of all of the animals. He loves animals and loves reading about them everyday in his books.  I could see him making the connection between the pictures in his books and the real live animals.  The petting zoo was by far his favorite part of the day.  He LOVED getting to get up close and personal.  He would run from one group of animals to the next, point at them, look at me and smile before heading to the next group.

Roaring like the lions. 

After the zoo I took the girls up to Gigi and Papa's house for a sleep over.  They got to go to the mall yesterday afternoon and somehow talked Gigi into letting them create a teddy bear at Build-a-Bear and they also rode the train, the carousel and made notes in the American Girl store for things they would like to add to their Christmas list.

We spent most of our Thanksgiving day at Gigi and Papa's house and enjoyed a delicious meal.  Handley had been referring to our Thanksgiving meal as a feast all week so she was excited when it was finally time for us to feast.  It wouldn't be a holiday without some sort of excitement.  Hudson was sure to provide that to us when he pushed the baby gate loose that was at the top of the steps on the deck.  We were all out there while the kids played and next thing I knew he was falling down the steps.  I don't think I've ever moved so fast as I ran to get to him.  Thank goodness it's only about 5-6 steps from the top to the bottom or it could have been a lot worse.  He had a huge goose egg on his forehead, but as the day went on, it went down and he seemed to be feeling fine.

Tonight we made our way to Macy's at Lenox for the lighting of the Christmas tree. I love traditions and this is such a fun one we do.  They have performers, singers, they light the giant tree and end it with a big firework show.  We met Jen/Justen/Parker and Trey/Stefanie there, too.  The "Macy's cheerleaders" opened the show and the girls were loving seeing all of the flips, twists, and stunts.  Next, were a few singers, including the country star, Trace Atkins, and Santa himself even made an appearance.  Harper had been asking me if Santa would be there and I told her no.  Well, seeing him took her off guard because as Handley was screaming, "THERE IS SANTA!!!!" Harper was bursting into tears.  I'm really hoping that when we go see him in a few weeks she will warm up to the idea of sitting on his lap.  Hudson was in awe of the fireworks (his first time seeing them) and kept saying, "more, more" as soon as they were over.

As if all of that excitement wasn't enough, when we got home we discovered that Elfie, our Elf on the Shelf, was back.  :-)  Let the Christmas season begin!