Meet the Teacher

Nathan is starting Pre-K 5 at St. Andrew and Charlotte will be in the 2 year old class. This is Charlotte's first real school experience! Nathan will go 5 days a week with Monday and Friday being half days and Charlotte will go 2 days, Monday and Wednesday, with Monday being a half day. We went yesterday to meet their teachers and see their rooms. Charlotte is usually really shy, but we've talked so much about her starting school that she was actually happy about going! She was quiet when we met Mrs. Shelley but not "scared." She loved that Mrs. Shelley had lots of babies in her room :) Nathan has two teachers in his room this year, Mrs. Landry and Mrs. Reasoner. They were so sweet to Nathan! His class this year will be more like kindergarten with centers and even homework!

Random IPhone Pictures

Now that I have an IPhone,  find that I take lots of pictures on it, so I thought I'd do a post just from my phone. 

This is the awful haircut we got from JC Penney's! They were offering free haircuts for the month of August  so I thought we'd take advantage of it...I'll never go back! We had to go the next day to a different place to get it fixed!

Haircut fixed

Rock climbing at a new play area we found

Charlotte swiped a pacifier from Auntie Carrie's bag when she came to visit. She kept it hidden with all of her baby stuff and found it when we went to the store! I sank to a new low by letting her suck on it while we shopped. 

Dressed up to go to Mama's house

We hardly ever go to Chuck E Cheese, but I surprised them one weekend and took them! They had so much fun!

Nathan ended up hitting the jackpot on one of the games and got over a hundred tickets! He was so excited!

Nathan and Jake. Jake lives right behind our house so the boys play together all the time. On this day, they were swimming and then it started to rain. It wasn't thundering or lightning so they thought it was so much fun to swim and play in the rain!

This is Skylar, Jake's little sister. Their parents went to a parent orientation at Jake's school so they came over to play. Skylar and Charlotte played babies while the boys ran around like crazy kids!

Trevor came over to play one day, and all three of them laid in my bed watching a cartoon. 

Daddy and his babies

Swimming play date with Laurel, Willow, and Jack

Nathan and Charlotte snuggling :)

I noticed that these rubber stoppers that go in their sippy cups were missing. It turns out that Charlotte was un-doing all of the lids, taking them out, hiding them, and pretending they were pacifiers!

Swimming play date with Jake

Nathan and Charlotte played dress-up...Nathan was Bumblebee the Transformer and Charlotte was Nathan! They were playing outside when they caught a lizard, which is what is in the plastic container. 

The day before Nathan's 5th birthday party, Charlotte got really sick. Turns out it was just a bad cold, but she was so unhappy that I decided to take her to the doctor. She looked so cute sitting here waiting on the doctor that I had to take her picture. 

Playing at the park

After swimming treat 

Nathan and Charlotte playing babies. Sometimes Nathan just wants Charlotte to play with him, and he knows that if he suggests they play babies, she will do it every time!

Charlotte, my picky eater, loves edamame! She and Nathan ate a whole bowl full of it!

Playing dress up...Nathan is Santa and Charlotte is a ballerina. 

Sharkey

Our pet fish, Sharkey, passed away a few days ago. We've had Sharkey close to three years so Wayne and I were so worried that Nathan would be really upset. As we gently broke the news to him, I was preparing myself for lots of tears, questions about death and Heaven, and possibly a mini funeral. After Wayne finished telling Nathan, he looked at us and said "Mommy and Daddy, can we PLEASE get a turtle now?"

"Ummmm, well....." Wayne and I were not prepared for that reaction! And before we could answer him, he's running off to tell Charlotte the news.

"Charlotte! We're getting a turtle!" and then they both start jumping for joy yelling "Yay! We get a turtle!"

Rest in peace Sharkey, I promise they did love you while you were here.

Nathan's 5th Birthday Party

Nathan is 5 years old!!! He is always excited about his birthday, but this is the one he has REALLY been looking forward to. In his mind, turning 5, means he is a "big" boy now :) Whenever I have talked to him about not whining and crying about things, he always says, "Mommy, I'll stop that when I'm five. I'm only four and three quarters, so it's OK to still whine." He is so funny! So for Nathan's fifth birthday party, he wanted a super hero party. Not just Spider-Man, Superman, or Batman...he wanted ALL of the superheroes! So we had party supplies, balloons, cupcakes and goody bags that represented every super hero we could find: Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Green Lantern, Black Widow...is that it???

We had Nathan's party at a spray park near our house which was great because Nathan invited so many friends! They got to run around and get wet, play on the playground, and basically be as wild as they wanted since it was outside! Most parks let you reserve the pavilion. This one though did not accept reservations. First come, first serve. So, we put sign on the tables the night before and then I got there a little before 9:00 am (party was at 10) to make sure we had the tables. I was so thankful I did that because two other people people were having parties there too! We shared the pavilion with one of the people, but the third person had to settle for the grass!

One of the games we played was a water balloon game. You put a water balloon into this plastic ball and then pass it around while the timer is ticking. Whoever is holding it when the timer goes off, gets wet! The kids kind of liked the game, but really they just wanted to play with the extra water balloons. 

Charlotte was not feeling well that morning. She was actually feeling pretty bad the day before, and I ended up taking her to the after hours clinic to make sure she was OK. She had a bad cold and cough, and I was worried she could possibly have strep since it was going around. I paid $50 and waited an hour for the doctor to tell me it was just a cold. No fever and no strep. So, at the party, she was very clingy. She finally fell asleep and slept through the WHOLE party, along with Pearce!

Time for pizza and cupcakes! The cupcakes were fun because they had super hero rings in them so the kids got to pick which super hero they wanted. They were also iced in bright colors which made me even more thankful we were having his party outside at a spray park! 

Charlotte is still sleeping...

After the party, Nathan helped me hand out goody bags, super hero masks, and was so sweet to all of his friends. I think he pretty much hugged them all!

When we got home, he couldn't wait to open his presents! Nathan's friends were so sweet, and he absolutely loved every single present! What was funny was that he had already told me that he wanted to change his train table into a Lego table, and he ended up getting several Lego sets! He also got lots of super hero gifts which really made him happy! I felt like this was the first year that he was able to really appreciate his presents. Thank you to everyone for making him feel special!

Baby Pearce was also a big hit at Nathan's party. Nathan and Charlotte can't get enough of him! They loved playing with him, taking care of him, and kissing him non-stop! We all know how much Charlotte loves babies. Well, having a real one is even better! I can't tell you how many times Charlotte got into Auntie Carrie's diaper bag to swipe a paci. She wants to be a baby herself! Even Nathan noticed. He asked me why he is getting older but Charlotte wants to be younger, so funny. 

Happy Birthday Nathan! You are such a good boy, and you have made all of us so happy! Even though you are a big boy now, you will always be our first baby. Daddy and I always joke with you that when you grow up, you're going to go to college and leave us and then we'll be sad. But remember your promise...you keep telling us that Mommy and Daddy and even Charlotte can go with you! We love you more than you could ever imagine. We might let you go to college by yourself...maybe...don't hold us to it.