Nell/Tanner Birthday : Chloe Quietbook : Career Day

This little girl turned 5! She decided she wanted Chilis for dinner and dressed oh-so-fancy for it (blue, velvet high heels and all)!! 

Forts are a kid's best friend! Lydia wasn't too sure of it.. she thought it sure looked fun but was scared to go inside.

Lydia's BFF turns 1, one month after Lydia.. we made Chloe her very own quiet book (both of her parents are teachers :) !

This girl is SO fun. She's got quite the personality!

Our Tan Man turned 11! Eeeeeeeeleeeven! :(

Career Day at the kids' school meant they had to do some hard thinking to figure out what they want to be when they're grown. Penelope bounced back and forth between a nurse, then a doctor, but ultimately decided on a "cupcake baker"... thankfully, we already had the apron from Troy's chef get-up from last year's career day, so it was easy to add a cupcake. We had the apron and chef hat set out last night, but of course, this morning the hat was missing... we looked and looked until it was absolutely time to get out the door. It was ok though, because with her apron and a little flour on the cheeks from all her hard work baking, she was without a doubt, a cupcake baker!

Troy upped his game from last year's chef attire to a pilot this go-round! His badges took Mom an embarrassingly long amount of time, so we're really pushing for Tanner to want to be a pilot for his career day tomorrow ;)

Halloween's right around the corner and we're super anxious to show off our costumes!

First Day of School : South Carolina

I thought I was very much ready for school start up, until it did. 

We woke nice and early. Dressed, fixed our hair, made lunches, took pictures... and then it was time for our first day.

We took Tanner to his class first (down the red hall ;). I could tell he was very nervous and hesitant, and those darn 5th graders just seem so big! :) but he was very brave.

Troy was next to go to his classroom (down the green hall). Our poor little guy is just like his Mom! Scared to death of school and super emotional!

Nellie was last (down the yellow hall) and was too nervous to walk through the kids to hang her backpack under her cubby, but was fine to sit in her desk, kiss mom goodbye and start coloring!

Mom was doing great, mostly because I was so focused on how much I was sweating while carrying Lydia... but then a teacher said to me, "Hang in there Mama, it's ok!" And the waterworks hit me... hard. ;) I can't wait to hear how their first day went.

And because I like to torture myself, I had to pull up past year's school pictures...

2012    :    2013    :    2014    :    2016

This is Tanner's last year of Elementary School! He's growing up to be such a wonderful person. And so dang handsome!

The kiddos on their first day of school!

Lydia and Troy look exactly alike in this picture!!

Playing in the Rain : Lydia's 1st Haircut : RAWR Quietbook

Every time it rains here in SC, this is how it is. Every. Time. It's awesome!

This is the view from our porch. Troy waited all day, in his swimming trunks, for it to rain. When it finally did, the kids were out playing in it!

This little girl's hair has been driving me crazy!! It's always in her eyes and I was finally able to talk Dad into trimming it. SO. MUCH. BETTER! However, she was VERY angry that Dad held her down so I could cut it. They're slightly crooked ;) since I was having to go so fast!

p.s. Thank you Grandpa Dan and Grandma Judy for her cute dress! She's worn it the past two Sundays to church!

And of course, I love me a good comparison picture between Nellie and Lydie!

Penelope was 2 years at her first bang cut, Lydia 13.5 months.

My latest quietbook creation for Lydia's friend Michael. He's two weeks younger than Lydia and so this was his birthday present :)

Pictures with Mom : Lydia's 10mo Pic : Chef Troy

I needed a picture of me with the kids the other day and as I was looking, I realized I didn't have a recent one.. I actually didn't have any recent pictures of anyone.. I'm going to work on that. I used to be so good at taking pictures of all of us.. maybe *too* good ;) I'm going to try and use the camera more often because nothing makes me sadder than when I realize I went months without capturing any of our happy moments, happy faces.

Lydia is already less than a week away from being 11 months, but I wanted to get her 10 month picture on here. She's grown so much and just started crawling! I absolutely love the crawling stage we're in.. yes, now nothing is off limits, but that's what is so exciting! She's exploring the whole house and is so content because now she can get things herself!

Today is career day at school for Troy's 1st Grade Class. He went back and forth between what he would like to be when he grows up (he's still got time, right?!), but ultimately decided on being a chef! He really wanted me to stitch "Chef Troy" on his apron, but since I was only able to whip this up last night, we just didn't have time! He looked SO cute! I was so excited he was so proud of his outfit! I am starting to think Troy might really be a chef one day, since this is his SECOND time in a chef costume! ;) Everything is packed right now, but I will one day find his first chef picture and compare it with this one!

Lydia is 9 months!

All She Wants For Easter...

I'm still trying to get a picture of it!

Easter 2016

I don't take as many pictures as I used to, but I still really like to get everyone all dolled up for a photoshoot! Oh boy is it tough getting four faces happy and looking at the camera all at once. 

Of course the one picture I took of Tanner (I thought was good one) turned out blurry..

Our little bunny was NOT a happy one.

After pictures we needed to run off some energy at the park!

Happy Easter!!

The best we could get!

3.22.16 - 3.26.16

We had Papa, Nana, Grandpa Dan and Grandma Judy come visit us! 

We had been counting down the days until we got to see them again. 

It had been the first time that Grandpa and Grandma had met Lydia.

@ Lake Murray Dam

Troy turns 7!

Dear Troy,

I can hardly believe that it's been seven years since you joined our family! You are such a blessing and make our life so fun and energetic! At church and at school you're such a shy little guy, but once you're comfortable with your surroundings, you're far from it! You love to hear the story of your birth. How scary it was for all of us and how you had to wear oxygen. You love to hear what a strong, brave baby you were and I love that. Even though you're the little brother to Tanner, you protect him and look out for him daily. When you and Penelope aren't fighting to the death, you two are the best of friends. I'm so thankful Tanner, Penelope and Lydia have you to look up to. Speaking of Lydia, you can't get enough of that little girl! You ask ALL the time to hold her and squeeze her. You're usually giving her too much love to the point where you get into trouble, but we really do love how much you love her! Daddy and I always laugh how you're our little "light switch". The moment you wake in the morning, you're bouncing off the walls and ready to start your day. You play ALL day outside with friends (playing star wars and nerf wars) until Mom calls you in for lunch and then finally dinner. You're the first one asleep each night and the first to rise! You love to tell me of all the crazy dreams you had each night and are our BEST eater. We're pretty sure you're going through a growth spurt with how much you eat. You're still waiting to lose a tooth and you go through a pair of shoes about every 2 months. We are FOREVER buying you new shoes. Happy 7th Birthday our Troy Boy. May this year be extra special, just like you!

Love,

Mom

BIRTHDAY QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Where is your favorite place to eat out? Chick-fil-a, because they have a slide!

2. What is your favorite dessert? Ice cream sundaes, they have strawberries and chocolate!

3. What is your favorite color? Blue

4. What would be a perfect day for you? Going swimming! I would like to swim for the whole entire day!

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

6. What hobby or sport do you enjoy most? Basketball. (And then went onto show me his basketball skills)

7. What is your favorite thing to learn about at school? Math. I love math!

8. What do you want to be when you grow up? I have like 50 billion of them! I want to be a cop!

2016 Pinewood Derby

This month was the Pinewood Derby! Tanner and Dad created a pretty awesome car! Tan's car placed 9th overall, but also took away the Most Unique award!!

I helped with the decorations and making the trophies. So. Much. Fun!