Thanksgiving Fun

For the past several years, we have gone to my parent's house in South Carolina. This year was no different. The only problem was that I was sick and heath had to work early on Friday. So, Nana kicked it into high gear and kept the girls going. they did everything from bake cookies, to make pins/magnets/necklaces, to visit the wonderful Holly Wild animal park. The whole family went to visit Great Mommie on Thanksgiving to take Christmas photos.
Even though I was sick, it was still a good time. I found out that there are a lot of crazy people who feel the need to go to Toys-r-Us for all of their holiday toy needs hours before it opens. I learned that I will not be one of those crazy people. Although I love my girls, there is not a toy in this world that is worth a line wrapped around a parking lot! I went to Walmart instead - it was great!
Happy Holidays!

Allie's pilgrim presentation

This week in frist grade, Allie had to present either on Pilgrims or the Wampanog Indians. She chose to do her presentation on the Pilgrims. After deciding on her topic, she had to research Pilgrim jobs. She chose the job of making clothes. The pictures and video show her giving her presentation on Thursday. She wrote the entire paragraph herself. I only had to help her spell Pilgrims. Enjoy!

Reedy Creek Park

Heath and I very rarely have off on the same day. So when he told me that he had Veteran's Day off just like Allie and myself, I was shocked! After taking Brianna to school, we made our plans. We ended up taking Allie to Reedy Creek Park in the University area. We played 9 holes of Frisbee golf. This was challenging for several reasons: 1. We were all out of practice, 2. Allie's Frisbee never goes the direction she wants it to, and 3. Allie wanted to run the entire course! After our adventure in Frisbee golf, we headed over to the nature center. We had never been there, but we are definitely going back! Allie visited with snakes, frogs, and fish. She viewed the stuffed birds, and then headed out into the "camp". she had so much fun, she didn't want to stop for lunch. I can't wait to take both girls back this summer during our mommy field trips!

Halloween Fun!

The girls and I trick-or-treated in our usual fashion: Auntie M joined us for our yearly trek through the neighborhood as well as our next door neighbors Mrs. Margot and Shelby. The girls switched their costume choice the last minute. Instead of being a jaguar and a bunny, they were both witches. It was hard to turn them down when the costumes were only $2.50 each!
We made it through the entire neighborhood and were back at home by 7:45 pm. This was good considering we all had school the next day!
This Halloween was great, but we missed Heath because he had to work. At least the girls got to carve the pumpkins with Heath! That was a lot of fun!

5 Little Pumpkins

Last night, the girls and I went to Gaffney and met Mom and Mary Beth for dinner. Mom gave us all jack-o-lantern t-shirts, so we looked like 5 little pumpkins. I don't know if it was the excitement of seeing our family, the t-shirts, or the syrup on the pancakes, but my girls were crazy! While finishing up our shopping at the outlets, Brianna asked if I was going to buy her anything else. When I told her no, she asked if I was going to buy my boyfirend anything. I laughed, and asked her who my boyfirend was. She day that Heath was my boyfriend. I told her that he was my husband, and she replied with "well then who is your boyfirend?"! Needless to say, we laughed a lot!
It got even funnier when we ewnt into another store and the girls each picked a manequin and called it her "mom". They carried on coversations for at least 5 minutes with their new moms.
All in all, shopping was great! Dinner with family was great! And the evening entertainment was 5 star!!

Bri's homework

This year, Brianna is in Ms. Rusti and Ms. Melissa's class. Since she is in the big girl class, she has homework. This week's homework was to create a family tree and work on the letter A. We were so lucky that Nana was visiting, because she is great with homework! Brianna just loves working on homework!

Yiasou Festival

Today we went to the Yiasou Festival. For those of you that don't speak Greek, yiasou means "hello." Each year, our school takes our first field trip to the Yiasou Festival. This year, we went back on Saturday with Nana and Auntie M. We got to see many of our friends dancing in the festival. Even the girls got in the spirit! Nana bought them their own Greek skirts. They have been shaking their hips ever since they got the skirts!
What a great day: Greek food, family, and a train ride!

Anniversary Fun

Today, Heath and I are celebrating our 11 year anniversary. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Our girls are simply amazing! Our first grader, is reading everything and becoming so independent! Our three year old is an amazing entertainer; her song of choice is "Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood.
I did a very "mom" thing to do today; I cut their hair. I did better on Brianna than Allie's hair, but they are equally happy. As long as they like the cuts, it is all good!
We have finished our evening by going out to one of our favorite places, Hops. We are at home and ready for a great movie to end this day.
Tomorrow, we get to celebrate more because our dear friends are getting married. The girls are spending the night with my sister. Everyone is a winner tomorrow!

Back to School

Well, it is that time again. Tomorrow the girls and I officially go back to school. It is a bit crazy because Brianna still attends Matthews Country Day, while Allie and I attend Socrates Academy.
I was talking to Brianna tonight about going back to school and I was naming off several of her friend's names. She told me that one particular friend always has a mad face. She continued by saying that he never had a happy, smiling face. It is amazing what three year olds notice!
I then moved onto Allie. While I was talking to her, I asked if she was ready for her first day of school. She promptly told me no. She continued by explaining that she already had her first day of school last year. This year, she was going to first grade! All I could do was nod and smile.
Both of my girls are completely right.
So, we are off to another first day of school tomorrow. I will take pictures and post them soon. Don't be alarmed when it looks like Brianna is wearing a Socrates Academy uniform; she is. It is what she picked out to wear. She is just too ready for kindergarten, and she is only three!

Discovery Place

In my efforts to keep the kids entertained while keeping the summer spending under control, we splurged yesterday! We decided to ride the lightrail train uptown. We met my sister for lunch. That was a treat because we never get to see Auntie M during the work week! Next we set off for Discovery Place. I still don't know who had more fun, Heath or the kids?! It was full of hands-on activities for the kids. The first thing they did was create a pair of shoes for the shoe display. Well, they didn't want to leave them at discovery place, so the shoes came home with us. Next we were off to discover all things science! The pictures show just how much fun everyone was having.
Check out the link to see the video that Allie created at Discovery Place:
http://thinkitup.discoveryplace.org/creation/6399
Now, we are off to the next adventure . . .

Stuart, FL

Upon leaving Ocala, we drove to Stuart, FL. We went to visit Heath's aunt, uncle, and grandmother. It turned out that his grandmother got sick and ended up in the hospital. We were still glad to go and visit. It was the first time that Brianna had met Tootie. It was also the first time that either girl had been on a boat ride. We had several more adventures including Brianna falling into the water because she was startled by the ocean, Heath going fishing with Uncle Jim, a girls strip to the beach, and visiting with Ms. Tootie. We are so glad that it worked out for us to go and visit our family!

The Villages - Ocala, FL

Recently we visited my parents in Ocala, FL. The girls had a blast! Allie learned to do canonballs in the pool. Brianna learned that she did not need to have a death grip on me while in the pool. We went to the town square and listened to the music while Brianna danced up a storm. Heath spent his time on one of the 27 golf courses. I just relaxed by the pool. And yes, I got tan (for me)! We also fed the turtles and had a mini spa day. All in all, we had a great time and we can't wait to go back next year! Our pictures will show you about our adventures. Enjoy!

Ashville

Our first famiy vacation this summer was to Ashville, NC. A few years ago, I had received a rather large gift card to the Grove Park Inn in Ashville. Well, we finally decided to use it. We took the girls up and we went to the Nature Center. This was great! It was like a mini zoo, and it was all shaded! The best part was when Brianna asked if she could touch the snake. Heath and I said that was fine, but we both backed up as far as we could; neither of us wanted to be near the snake.
It always surprises me when Brianna shows "no fear" with some aspects of life, but then she is scared to death of the clouds moving in the sky! I know that these things just need to be better explained to her, but sometimes, she is just amazing.

The mind of a child

Yesterday we were getting ready for our family vacation. As part of the preparations, we needed to pick up dog food for Baxter. It is always an adventure when you take two children to PetsMart! After wandering around and looking at all of the animals, Allie looked up at me and asked if she could have a fish when she turned 16. I immediately said yes! She then tried to change her pet choice, but I assured her that she could have a fish when she turned 16. I am not sure what made her choose "16", but the fish was a great choice. I am just not too sure how happy she will be on her 16th birthday when she gets a brand new goldfish!
I just love how her little mind works!

The Weather at the Library

During the summer, I try to fill our days with fun and free outings around town. This morning I found out that one of our local meteorologists was going to be at our library. Knowing that Allie loves science, I thought that this was the perfect outing. We got in, got our front and center seats, and we waited. Finally, the meteorologist arrived and began her discussion. Brianna was looking at her and then turns to me and says, "Mom, I just love her Fancy Nancy shoes!" I told her that she could share that opinion after the presentation. So, after the presentation, Brianna went up to Katie Virtue (from channel 9) and told her how wonderful her shoes were! My little fashionista just cracks me up!

Camp Walters

We are so blessed to have both sets of grandparents within a 3 hour driving radius of our house. The girls have just returned from "Camp Walters" which is a fun-filled week with Heath's parents. Judging from the pictures, we have two princess in our little family. You can always tell how much fun a child has had by their energy level upon returning home. Both kids slept until after 8 am this morning! You know they had a blast!

Fun in Greenville

It is always a treat to go and visit family. Allie and Brianna call my parents "Nana" and "Papa." This was easy for them since these were some of the first sounds that they made as babies. When visiting Nana and Papa, you never know what you are in for! What you do know is that it will be an adventure! This past time, we did everything from visiting Great Mommie to find the mice on Main Street. The girls simply enjoy being with their family. If you tell them it is an adventure, they are ready. My favorite adventure in Greenville was taking the girls on the trolley ride. (This is a free service offered on the weekends, so go and check it out!) Midway through the ride, Brianna looks up at me and asked if we could live there tomorrow. I think that was her way of telling me she was having a great time and wanted to come back.

We should all just slow down and enjoy the ride that the day brings us. Take each moment for what it is worth. Wave to the little girls who are waving to you from the trolley; you have just made their day and they probably made you smile in return!