First Day of PreK!!

Can you believe my son is old enough for school?? (I really need to quit saying that...)

Jack went for his first day on Friday. He was very nervous all the way there. I made the mistake of explaining teacher's discipline procedures to him the night before, so all the way to school he was very worried about getting on "yellow." He trotted right up to his teacher, took her hand, and walked into school like a big boy!!

During the day, Sydney absolutely loved having me all to herself. We went to Target to shop for some embroidery orders, and she just smiled at me and looked at clothes. She was so sweet. She was very excited to pick Jack up from school. When she saw him, she squealed and laughed.

When Jack got in the car, he told us about his friends (he couldn't remember any names), how they did exercises (P.E.), and his favorite part of the day was playing with the pretend kitchen. He said he cooked pizza and washed the dishes.

We are excited about the opportunity for building relationships with families in the public school system. On the way to school, I prayed with Jack about his first year of school, that he would be an ambassador for Christ in his classroom. I also prayed that Clint and I would be intentional about making friends with other parents.

"Go ye therefore...." into the public school system.

Here we go!

18 Months!

Sweet Sydney,

You are 18 months old! I am constantly reminded that you are not a baby anymore.

At 18 months, you are:

• learning words! Since you got tubes in, you can hear (that always seems to help the speech department- ha!) Right now you can say mommy, dada, jack, flapper, baby, milk, uh-oh, yes, no, nose
• Learning body parts....we are still working on facial features, but you're getting the hang of it!
• Forming opinions. You tell me "no no" on a normal basis. And sometimes you get in trouble for it :)
• Starting to run! That just seems like so much trouble, though, doesn't it?
  
• Taking care of baby dolls
• Still loving your sleep. You tell me "night night" and point to your crib whenever you are tired. Complete opposite of your brother :)
• Eating almost anything I put in front of you.
• Admiring your brother.
  

Chocolate makes us happy. This was on a particularly stressful day. My vehicle should really have a more structured environment.



Who wouldn't think this kid is awesome? I'm soaking it up, because one day she'll think he's disgusting (and he probably will be). Jack loves watching gymnastics on the TV, and now he loves to flip around the house. This particular incident happened when we were reviewing sight words (on the fridge). Again, I should probably be more structured. Good thing he has an awesome PreK teacher! HA!

The Last Two Weeks

Oh, goodness! I can't believe I haven't updated in two weeks, but then again, it's been a crazy two weeks!!

1. Pineywoods 2011: Wonderful weekend of catching up with family. Clint's family all meets up at a camp in Texas for the first weekend in August. It's a celebration of Clint's parents' marriage and all that has come of it! (Bro. Curt always says that when he married DeDe, he never imagined all the people that would join his family....from three sons, to daughters-in-law, and now grandchildren!)
We had a great two days spending time with our extended family, but also as our family unit of four. This was a great get-away after K-Dog was placed back home, and we soaked up some together time!

2. Laura's wedding: Also a great weekend with family! Laura and Bob have now moved to Denver to start their lives together, so last weekend was a sweet time with my mom and sisters before we all move on with our families, babies (Jenn), and moving across the country (Laura).
My grandparents were in from Arkansas, and we were able to meet Laura's new family, the Bass family!

3. While we were in Baton Rouge for Laura's wedding, we got the news that Clay's family was moving to Alexandria! He got a teaching position at ASH, and it was a whirlwind of decisions for their family! Clay, Robin, and Luke stayed with us for a few days while they found a place to live and scoped out schools for Noah. We were happy to spend time with them and are so excited that they will be living close!

4. School: Jack went for testing (I have no idea how he did, I had to stay out in the hall) and brought his school supplies to his classroom. His teacher is wonderful, and his classroom is amazing! In just two weeks he'll be at school full-time. Crazy!

5. New office: Clint's company moved to a new office in town. It is SO much bigger than where he was...he has his own room now! His boss really did an excellent job in fixing the place up, and I'm glad he is a few minutes closer to home.

Okay, next time will be more pictures, but I mainly wanted to remind myself of all that has gone on the last two weeks!

Campbell's Soup, Anyone?

I brought the kids to the library today (free way to beat the heat!!) and Jack played games on the computer while Sydney bee-bopped around the children's section. She pulled books off shelves, tried to run away from me, laughed hysterically when I tried to catch her, and basically made a scene (but a cute one) in the otherwise quiet library. There is a glass-enclosed office that overlooks the children's section with several stern librarians to ensure the quiet nature of the library. I made Jack pick four books - he pulled the first four he could get off the shelf to appease me - then we headed for checkout. As we were leaving, one of the ladies in the "stern, quiet office" stopped me and said, "Excuse me, but has anyone ever told you that your daughter looks like the Campbell's Soup baby?" She handed me a picture that she and the other ladies had just printed out.

I'll give you a second to process this....

Isn't that hysterical???




And here's my little soup girl...

Nicknames

I have always called my kids random nicknames. Not really in public, but around the house they earn all sorts of names. Jack was "Cricket" for the first few months of his life, Sydney is "Boopsie." If you have to ask why, you've never met her.

Other names we throw around:

Summer lovin' (either kid)
Waverunner (Jack's personal fav)
Squishy (Sydney, of course)
Boppy
Loopy



Clint and I don't have nicknames for each other. For some reason, that's weird to me. But calling my daughter "Squishy" doesn't seem strange at all....

Anyway, Jack has caught onto me calling them off-the-wall names here and there and has started calling me funny names.

For example, the other day I was in the kitchen and I called his name, and he said, "What do you need, Spooky?" I should have corrected him, but I was stifling laughter, so I let it go. I probably should have held it together and told him that he should just call me "Mommy," because now I may be referred to as any number of names, such as...

Smuffy
Snookie
Spunky

Well, it went on for a couple of days, until at the supper table, Jack referred to me as "Swoopy" and Clint didn't find it quite as endearing as I did. He's the stronger disciplinarian. Oops.

Aren't you glad for that little peak into our home? We're normal, I promise :)