Way Back When-esday

My sweet baby boy
August 2007

Max 4 months old

Tales of a THREE year old

I cannot believe my baby boy is THREE YEARS OLD!! He loved his Buzz Lightyear birthday and keeps asking if we can do it again! We had a fun celebration with family and friends on Saturday. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day. Unfortunately my camera is not taking that great of pics-I'm saving for a new one--
He is also doing really well with potty training-still some trouble with #2 but it's getting better! This week he has done so well when I drop him off at school-no crying for mommy and he heads straight for the puzzles. He's been bringing home some cute crafts that he's painted too. The first thing he says is "Mommy, I made this for you. Are you going to hang it up?" Too cute-and of course it goes up right away! I know that he will change so much throughout this year-I want to savor every minute!

I'm back...

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past couple of weeks with my sweet kiddos.
We took this one before we headed to the Magic Kingdom to celebrate my birthday. Me and my silly girl-usually it's her and daddy with the silly faces but I thought I would join in!

My sweet kindergartener on the first day of school--only a few tears were shed-by me of course!

I'm baaack...

We have been so busy settling into our new routine. The school year is off to a great start! Emma is officially a kindergartener--oh my goodness--am I that old? and Max is in the 3 & 4 year old(he turned 3 on Saturday!) class at Little Friends School House. Emma also started gymnastics and ballet this week and we had Max's birthday party on Saturday-whew!!

I am not loving waking up at 5 am again(or my hour drive to/from work) but I do love having a routine. I also forgot how exhausting the beginning of the year teaching first grade can be...teaching the rules and routines is wearing this girl out...but I know it gets easier once the kids know what is expected and thank goodness I have A LOT of patience!! I am hopeful for a terrific year with this class. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that my class size stays at 16!

I really cannot believe September is upon us...Damian always says that once his birthday is here-September 14-Christmas is around the corner--he's so right too! I don't like to rush things especially if it means my kids are getting older & growing up but I cannot wait until this fall!! Even though Florida doesn't officially have a fall season--it's always warm and the leaves don't change colors-I will be happy when it's not 100 degrees and we can do fun things like go to the pumpkin patch and football season-GO GATORS! which means get togethers with friends on the weekends! Bring on the fun!!

I mentioned before that we celebrated Max's 3rd Birthday on Saturday..where have 3 years gone?!? I honestly cannot believe he is 3 ...it was a great celebrationwith family and friends--he has been talking about his party nonstop today...I'm planning on sharing those pics later on this week. I'm hoping my mom and sis took some good pics because my camera is on its last leg.

Here's hoping everyone has a terrific week! I just remembered that next weekend is a 3 day weekend! Whoo-hoo! How exciting!!

back to life... and Tales of a Two Year Old

back to reality...

School has started for me again and boy am I feeling it! When the alarm went off at 5 am I could barely open my eyes...then I remembered all that I had to do before I could get out of the house. As much as I love routine...it's going to be tough to get back in the swing of things. The kids have been sleeping in until 7:30-8 am all summer...and staying up a little later. I'm sure they will adapt quickly though.
I am excited to start a new school year. I am thrilled(yet a little emotional) about Emma starting kindergarten. I am also looking forward to a great school year for Max in Ms. Linda's 3 & 4 year old class. Besides getting my classroom ready... I am also trying to plan Max's 3rd birthday party in two weeks. Yikes...he's almost 3!! Luckily, I've been picking up a few things throughout the summer but I still have so much to do. I have the cutest pictures that I wanted to post but they are still on my camera and I'm too exhausted to wait on them to download.

This would normally be my Tales of a Two Year day so I'm going to add that here. I have some big news....Max is potty trained!! He is doing an amazing job and I am so proud of my big boy! He has been doing really well throughout the summer using the potty at home...not so much when we would go out though. But all that changed this weekend. We ventured to Target, Sam's, and a few other errands on Sat. and he did so well. On Sunday we went to church, out to lunch at Chili's and he did an awesome job again!! He started school yesterday and I know it will stay consistent.(he loves the little potty at school) I have also been putting him in underwear at bedtime since June and he hasn't had any accidents during the night. There has been such a difference potty training Max than Emma. She was sooo easy. Just decided she didn't want to wear diapers anymore at 2 1/2 and that was that. Max on the other hand has been a little more difficult. But I am so excited to not have to buy diapers/pull-ups anymore!

I have some great pictures from my mom's graduation and our birthday celebration at Disney that I'll try to post later this week when I don't have to pry my eyelids open!!

True Blue

Okay...so I wrote this post last week and never had the chance to post it...I was too busy working in my classroom. But I wanted to post this now...What's funny is at church on Sunday, several older women came up to both Emma and Max to tell them they had beautiful blue eyes. I couldn't agree more!

I love reading the different prompts for Mama Kat's each week and since I'm new to blogging decided to join in for this one:


The most unbelievable blue eyes you've ever seen.



I have blue eyes and so does my sweet hubby. In fact, they are almost the same shade. It was inevitable that our children would one day have blue eyes too. If I would have answered this question over six years ago there is no doubt I would have written about my husband. While I still think his eyes are amazing and I am more in love with him now than all those years ago...there are two pairs that are even more unbelievable to me. In my children's blue eyes...I see so much. I see the past, present, and future.

When Emma was a baby we often heard--"Look at those BIG blue eyes!" or "Her eyes are so beautiful!" This has pretty much been heard whenever and wherever we go out(even now)...out to eat, to the grocery store, to church, you get the idea. The same goes for Max. I love looking in their big blue eyes and knowing that they are mine!

I wish I had some better pics to share but here are a couple I found...

Emma Alyse and Maxwell James

Spring 2008

Spring 2010

Way Back When-esday

This week I have s-l-o-w-l-y been trying to get back in school mode. I went to my classroom on Monday and went to an all day workshop yesterday. Just leaving the kids for a short amount of time has left me missing them so much. But also getting excited about a new school year! I love getting everything ready and going back to school. I have always loved getting new school clothes and supplies. Of course, the kids are adjusting well because Monday Emma said "Mom, can't we stay and play for a few more hours?!"...and yesterday was the same--they love spending time with their cousins!! I plan on doing a little back to school shopping today and Emma is soo excited about picking out her new backpack and lunchbox for kindergarten. I went online and let her choose a few different ones on Children's Place.com. I love what I saw--just hope they have them in the store. I am not a fan of backpacks with characters on them. I'm also not a huge fan of clothing with characters on them. Don't get me wrong--we have a princess and cars backpack in this house and clothing with Mickey and Toy Story characters but they are not my favorites. I'm not sure why--I know it's a little strange--oh well! All of this preparation for kindergarten has me missing my little baby and remembering when she was still so little. In my eyes she is still this small little girl with her cute little voice and sweet smile. And then I look at her and she is soo tall and still has that sweet voice and big smile. I told her teacher yesterday that she should have a box of tissues ready for me when I drop her off on the first day of school...at least I will be able to look out my classroom door and see her classroom down the hallway.

Emma: April 2006-18 months old
so playful

singing the itsy bitsy spider

My sweet girl

Have a great week!

Play along with Cheryl at Twinfatuation...it's so much fun to reminisce!

Five Year Old Friday

Emma practicing her back bend--silly girl!
Emma loves the mirrors on her closet door. She is always practicing her dance moves and dressing up in front of them.

Emma amazes me every day. Sometimes I forgot that she is only 5 years old. She is so smart, compassionate, and funny. She still loves to play with her baby dolls and dress-up. Which I'm thankful for...I don't want my little girl to grow up so fast. She also loves to do crafts, draw & color pictures, and help bake anything sweet. She is like a little fish when she swims. I actually think she is a better swimmer than I am..ha ha! She has learned to read this summer and is soo proud of herself. Her favorite daily read is Go, Go, Go. I can't even imagine how much more she'll learn in kindergarten. She is going to amaze us even more. She is a great big sister to Max--not perfect because no one is perfect--she loves him with all of her heart though. When she looks up at me with her BIG blue eyes and says "Mommy, I love you so much"...I melt! I am so blessed to be her mommy.

Way Back When-esday

Today my twin brother Michael and I are 33! Here is a picture going way back to 1981...


Play along with Cheryl at Twinfatuation...it's so much fun to reminisce!

Tales of a Two Year Old

Max had an all boys day yesterday...well except for Mommy...his cousins Nathan and Joshua came over for a sleepover while big sis Emma went to their house. We took the boys to a local driving range and had Cici's pizza for dinner. It doesn't get much better than that when you are a little boy! Max had a blast and hasn't played that hard in a very long time. These boys have been nonstop. I know I will sleep very well tonight. They had so much fun and we can't wait to do it again soon.

Max, Joshua, & Nathan watching tv on the pull-out sofa bed at the end of the day.
Joshua and Max working on their putting skills

Look at that swing

Ready to hit some balls

The boys

walking out to the range

My little golfer

Weekend Recap

I'm skipping Mommy and Me Monday to write about our weekend and share some fun pics of last week. Plus I didn't take many pictures over the weekend. We were too busy having fun(and I forgot my camera on Sat.--boo)! We spent Saturday morning relaxing at home with the kiddos and cleaning--my favorite thing to do. Then we went to our friend's lakehouse and relaxed some more sans kids. They spent the afternoon and overnight being spoiled rotten by their Baba and Grandpop. This was the first time we've left them overnight in months...so there were a few tears shed at our departure. It turned out to be a beautiful, yet hot day out by the water. The best part of the day was when one of our friend's girlfriend... who is in her early 20's--very early 20's-- told my friend Erin and I that she hopes she is cool like us when she's old. Seriously...we're old. I guess 35 and almost 33 are old when you are SO young...but geez now I feel ancient. To prove that we aren't too over the hill...we went to watch the J.T. Curtis Band play at a local bar that our friend's own. We partied it up like rockstars and didn't leave until the bar closed...after 2:30am...unfortunately my age was showing on Sunday morning and I could barely get out of bed...ha ha! We had already made plans for the day with our dear friends The Rayborn's... so we couldn't stay in bed all day. We headed over to their place and went to lunch at a Japanese steakhouse in Mount Dora--yummo, got to see their amazing pictures from recent travels to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, and celebrated my upcoming birthday along with Mr. Rayborn/Poppy's birthday. It was a terrific weekend!!
Now I'm wondering why I scheduled a dr. appt at 9am today. This was the first time all summer I've set my alarm clock...I guess I need to get ready to have a routine again.
I also spent the day at my sister in-laws house and brought back my nephews Nathan and Joshua for a sleepover...while Emma stays at their house. I love these boys...we took them to hit golf balls at the driving range and had some pizza--now they are playing hockey in the playroom...should be a fun night!
Here are some pictures from last week. I finally took the kids to Zephyr Park. They loved the playground and water/splash park...especially in our 95 degree heat. I also got some pics of them making ice cream creations with playdough...one of their summertime favorites!
Playing together...
Whew-it's hot out here!

I love this one of Max climbing on the jungle gym

Max LOVED the water gun...

How sweet...Emma said "Come on Max-I'll help you".

Max's favorite thing at the park-this kid could swing ALL day.

Emma building with some blocks I found at a thrift store for $1--love those deals

check out that concentration

serious playdough skills

Looking forward to one of the few weeks I have left before school starts...I keep asking myself how is it August already?!?