Summer, birthdays, and more

The summer is flying by and I realized I have not posted in a month and we have had so much going on. We have celebrated my Mom's 60th birthday with a party at my house. It was so much fun. Happy Birthday "Peppy". We celebrated my niece's birthday the next day. Happy 4th birthday Ella and now we are getting ready to celebrate Ward's birthday. Happy 35th Ward!!! July is a busy month. We went to the beach for July 4th and had a good time watching the fireworks and the flyover which was so neat. A c-17 flew across the SC coast low on the beach and we held American flags on the beach to see it pass by. I hope that this becomes a tradition because it was so neat. We have been to the pool a lot and the fort jackson water park. Anna now loves the water and is a little fish. She loves to go under water and try to swim. She has no fear. Sallie is a little more reserved about the water but warms up quick and likes to try to swim under water like a fish too. We did bible school at our church and started manners camp on Monday. I hope that Sallie gets a lot out of this. She always needs to be reminded and this will be a fun reminder of manners. I am sure that I am leaving a lot out. We are excited about starting our new classes at school in August. Anna will be in the 2's and Sallie in the 4's. Crazy!!!! Anna is talking up a storm and loves her babies now. She loves Dora and Swiper the fox. She learned to sing Happy Birthday and can sing Jesus loves me really well. She can almost do the whole song in sign language too. She loves her Peppy and always wants to go to Peppy's house. Sallie has taught her how to say "Mine" and I want that "first". The things that the second child learn so fast are so funny :) Sallie has really been working on perfecting writing her name and has gotten really good at it. I can read it now which is great. I am sure that I am leaving so much out but for now that is all I can think of.... More to come at the girls birthday time.

Cupcakes

I had to write this post so that I would not forget this sweet side of Sallietoward Anna in the midst of all the arguing that goes on between Sallie and Anna on a daily basis. Sallie is the sweetest big sister ever but she and Anna also have their daily battles over everything in the house that they believe belongs to them. I hear "mine" so many times in a day that it is crazy and many nights Anna has woken up screaming mine really loud in the middle of the night. This is either a nightmare or she really feels like someone is taking something from her. Poor thing gets everything taken from her all the time so she has nightmares about it. Anyway, back to the sweet big sister thing. Sallie truly does have good intentions and loves her sister.....I told Sallie that she and I were going to have a play date this afternoon and that were were going to have dinner together at a restaurant and leave Anna with Daddy and then I was going to take her to the cupcake store and she could pick out any cupcake that she wanted. She made sure that I was being serious and then made sure that we had someone to keep Anna and that Daddy was going to be home. I told her yes that Anna was not going to go this time and that it was just going to be just the two of us. After many more questions about the day, she asked me if we could make a cupcake at home before we left for Anna to have so that Anna would get a cupcake just like hers. Wow, I had not even thought about that. Now there may have been a ulterior motive however I like to believe that Sallie has a heart of gold and loves her little sister :)

Beach Week 2010

We got home yesterday from our annual beach week for Memorial Day. We had a great time as usual and the kids had a blast. I was ready to get back to my bed and house but we really had a great time. It was relaxing in the sense that I was not working at all and Ward put his work to rest but it was a lot of work heading in and out to the beach, lathering up with sunscreen, and just being a little off schedule. Not complaining at all though....It was much needed family time!!Sallie did all that she was wanted to do and more and was totally spoiled the entire week. We are paying for that now but we will get back in the swing of things Monday. We went to play putt putt, went out to the beach, went on boat rides, and did lots of eating out at restaurants. Anna was not so sure of the water until the last day when she warmed up a little. She is still not the biggest fan. Sallie has always been a fish so it is a little weird that Anna is so timid of the water. We loved taking golf cart rides and did some bike riding as well. When I said that we did it all, we did..even some outlet shopping. We are already looking forward to our July 4th week. Sallie was so comfortable in the water that she literally was swimming with the jellyfish. There were so many of them this year and we could see them all around us. We would see them and I would run out of the water and she would try and go find them. I tried to make her a little scared of them since they do sting and it does really hurt. Anna was scared of the shells that touched her feet !! Black and white, they are they are! Ward caught a huge fish the last day that we were there and the girls thought that was wonderful until they saw all the blood that came with cleaning it. We have enjoyed eating it. It made for some good dinner last night and tommrow night. We even got some cute beach pics after some bribery...Will attach.

Sallie's 1st Ballet Recital

Sallie had her first ballet recital today and it was so cute. She did a great job in her first big performance on stage. There were about 10-12 little three to five year olds that were chimney sweeps and danced to chim chimney. She loved her costume and especially loved getting to wear lipstick and eye shadow. Peppy and Pops came to see her perform and she spotted us in the crowd and gave us a big wave. We got a precious video of her dancing and waving and some good pictures too.

Sallie and Anna had their last day of preschool Friday before the summer program starts. It was kind of sad. They have both had great teachers this year and we are sad to see the school year end but looking forward to a wonderful summer with some fun activities. I can not believe that Sallie will be in the 4's next year and Anna in the 2's class at school. Wow, how my little girls are getting bigger :(

Mother's Day 2010

What a wonderful Mother's Day that I had this year. It started off on Friday with a Mother's Day tea that Sallie's class hosted for the Mothers. We got invitations for it and arrived at 9:00 am Friday morning. Sallie was waiting for me at the door with a corsage and escorted me to my seat. She then sang two songs and the class did a dance for us. We had tea and muffins with them at their table which was really fun. It was a great morning. Sallie said that I was 60 years old and my job was to do work at Fort Jackson. She said that she loves to snuggle with me. She made me a really pretty card that had her hand prints on it. Anna made me a bookmark for my bible that I love and still have the same one that Sallie made me when she was Anna's age. Ward spoiled me on Sunday and let me "take the day off". I got to spend Fri night with my Mom, sister, and Grandmother in Greenville for a night away which was so much fun. It has been a great weekend and a wonderful Mother's Day. I could not ask for anymore and am so blessed beyond words. My girls make me so proud and I am lucky to be their Mama. My Mom is awesome and I could not be any luckier. I love raising my girls and sharing it all with her. Thanks Mama for all that you do and all that you have done for me. I love you!!!

We went Strawberry picking last week and it was fun. It was so hot. I think that I did most of the picking but Sallie got a couple and Anna got one or two. Anna was not really into it. I had never been before so it was fun to me and I will go back.

I can not believe that we are already into the month of May. Time is really flying by. Before I know it I will be planning Sallie's 4th birthday and Anna's 2nd. This really makes me sad. I feel like Anna really is a little girl now and there is no baby left. She is communicating so well now and will repeat anything. I do not think that there is any trouble for her in the communication area. She will let you know that she does not want to do something by saying "no way". I wonder where she picked that up from? When I go to brush her hair after bath, I just pull the brush out of the drawer and she starts screaming "ouch". She copies everything that Sallie does and says . It is too funny... We are getting ready for our beach trip for Memorial day for the whole week. I am really excited and looking forward to a week off. I am hoping that the summer does not fly by before I know it and that we can relax some and enjoy it to the fullest. I am starting a new work schedule of only 20 hours a week hopefully in the next week or two so that should help some. I really want this to help me balance my time better.

The weekend and more

Sallie sang in church this morning at Eastminster Presbyterian Church where she attends the day school. The three and four year olds from the day school attended the early service and sang 4 songs in their worship service. It was so cute and Sallie did great. She sang loud and did all her hand motions. I was so proud of her. The sermon was focused on the children in the church and making sure that parents are fully equipped with what they need to teach the children. It was very good. The preacher told stories of the children in chapel on Wednesdays and what the kids from the day school do while they are there. He talked about how each class gets up and says their bible verses that they are working on for the month. They then close the service with a song. He said that on his first time doing chapel with the kids, he expected total chaos but it was so orderly. He went to say the Lords Prayer and heard little 3 and 4 year old voices reciting it with him. It was so cute and made me so proud of where Sallie and Anna attend school. We are truly so lucky to have such a wonderful school for them to go to. We planted a garden this weekend in the back yard and will hopefully have some yummy home grown veggies to eat around mid summer. Sallie has asked me on many occasions already where the vegetables are. She does not understand why they have not already grown. Anna slept until 10 am Saturday morning and I wanted to record this somewhere because this is truly a record. I really was worried and must have gone in her room 3 or 4 times. I had to wake her up at 10 am. She would have slept even longer. She went to bed a little later Fri night but not that late. It was probably 8:30. She is going to be my sleeper for sure. It was a rocky start with her sleeping but now she goes to bed at 7 and wakes at 8 or 8;30 am. I could not ask for more! Sallie on the other hand goes to bed finally at like 9 and wakes up at like 6:30 or 7. She does still take that nap though that I do love. When we tucked Anna into bed last night she goes straight for the corner of her crib and gets up on her knees with her knees tucked under her and her bottom in the air. She looks up as you leave the room and says "night night, lobe you". It is so sweet!! That is her new cute little saying. She is absolutely precious right now and I really could eat her up. She is talking up a storm and has gotten really good at talking on the phone. She makes me really question what I say on the phone now because she is like a parrot and will get on a pretend phone and say "yea, yea". I must say "yea" alot. She is also always talking to Peppy. Peppy must talk on the phone a lot too. Sallie always says "all right" and Anna now says "okay". These must be two words that are used a lot in our house. Anyway, between Anna and Sallie, they are keeping us on our toes and full of laughter.

Way over due

I know that a post is way over due so I am not sure where to start: The weather has started to get warmer and we are looking so forward to the summer. Sallie keeps saying that she loves the Fall but I am not sure she really means that. If so, I am not sure who she gets that from. Anna is a true little girl now. There is no trying to believe that she is still a baby. She is talking a lot saying Mama, Daddy, Sallie, Jack, milk, juice, all her friends names in her class, Peppy, Pops, Gracie, and the list goes on and on. She goes to bed at night like a dream now which is great and she sleeps until 8 or 8:30 in the morning. She is a great sleeper. Sallie on the other hand stays awake playing in her bed until like 9 pm and then is in our bed at like 5 am. She will go back to sleep until 7 but only in our bed. I know that this is a problem but not something that I am stressing about now. I do kind of enjoy snuggling in the am with her. She is a good snuggler. I do not let her in our bed anytime before 5. We had our first Easter egg hunt of the year yesterday at church. It was a lot of fun and Anna even really got into it. They found lots of eggs. Anna got a award from school last week for following directions all day. She got a coupon for a free ice cream cone at chick fil A so I was so excited. I wish she would do this at home :) Sallie and Anna have been playing together a lot lately and really having fun. Trust me, they still fight like sisters but have gotten much better with playing together and sharing. Sallie has her moments with Anna but overall is truly a sweet big sister and loves Anna. They love to play babies and push their strollers around the house. Anna does whatever Sallie says. The first thing that Anna says when i get her out of bed in the am is Sallie? She loves her big sister. I told Anna that it was lunch time yesterday and to go sit down. I did not think anything about this as I was just used to telling Sallie that. Anna is still in a high chair and can not get in her seat by herself. I walked into the kitchen and she had climbed up into her high chair all by herself. She looked really proud. It was really funny!!! We went to our first Carolina Baseball game last weekend. It was fun and the kids really enjoyed it. We parked at the Collesium and took the shuttle over to the stadium. this was Sallie's favorite part of the game. She told me later that night that she had a good time but next time she wanted to go to the Satchel Ford game which is the elemetary school up the street from us. I thought that was funny since that is on such a different level and it is free. This is about all for now.