Hello First Day of School--K4 and 2nd grade

Yeah for the first day of school!!

She was very excited to start 2nd grade.

Our handsome preschooler ready for the first day!

Acting silly before going into school

Best friends, Sammie and Lauren

Off to class!

"Cheesing" it big time!

His eyes tell it all.  He was busy taking everything in and trying to find the train table!

Easter

Well before we it ends up being the middle of Summer, here's a few pics from of us from Easter.  We had a great day celebrating Christ's resurrection.  "He is risen, He is risen indeed"!  Hallelujah!!

Stylin' with his new hat!

They were looking for eggs!

Can't believe they're so big now!

Sweet girl!!

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Hello everyone! I know it's been a crazy long time since I last blogged. So long that when I signed in to post, I didn't even recognize the website!! Oops! So here's a post about our trip to the Chattanooga Choo Choo back in March. Luke is CRAZY, CRAZY in love with trains. So much that when his teacher at school read a book about trains, he proceeded to tell her more info than was in the book like how the trains are coupled, which car is which and so much more. He is fascinated with trains! So on our trip we stayed on a train car at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. He was in "hog heaven" as the expression goes! Lauren had fun too even though she was actually sick part of the trip. Sweet girl, she was a trooper though. If she looks a little less than thrilled in the pics then you know why. We also went to the aquarium and Creative Discovery Museum. Those two places were Lauren's favorite. It was a fun trip that Luke most certainly wants to go on again and again!

Star Wars Fun

Happy 4th Birthday Luke

Today is Luke's fourth birthday! Wow! How time has flown by for this little guy who isn't so little anymore. We have partied for this birthday just about all month long!! I always feel bad that his birthday is right at Christmas and we try to make a BIG deal throughout the month. So we have celebrated at his school, with my family in the mountains, at his birthday party and with a few friends on his birthday today. Hopefully, that's enough celebrating!! LOL Here's a few pics from the different celebrations! We love you so very much Luke! Our family wouldn't be the same without you little man. Happy 4th birthday Lukie and we pray for many more to celebrate with you!

Our Thankful Tree

Well before December gets here in just 1 short day, here's a look at our thankful tree from this year. The kids really enjoyed working on the tree this year. Lauren really "got it" and Luke managed to "get it" on a few days. We took the 26 days before Thanksgiving and used each letter of the alphabet to think of something we were each thankful for which is a little different than what we did last year. It really got us to thinking hard on some days like "q, x, v, and z" and other days were much easier and had several words listed. Each family member had their own colored leaf for the tree. Lauren=purple, Luke=orange, Robert=green and mine=yellow. Some of my favorite ones from the kids are the following:

Lauren: underware (her exact spelling), Oreos, fiend Sammie (her friend Sammie), crayons, cherries, taybul (table!)

Luke: most were about trains, socks, ketchup, Lauren, looney tunes, cabooses, nuggets

Lauren had fun trying to spell all her words as you can tell. :) She also made the sign for our tree. So here they are by our thankful tree that has now become a Thanksgiving tradition for our family. Seeing all the leaves reminds me/us that we have so very much to be thankful for. I pray that you all had a great Thanksgiving and that you have a wonderful Christmas season.

Pumpkin Patch and Beach Visit

Lauren's class went on a field trip to a nearby pumpkin patch the other week and had a great time. The original trip got rained out back in September and was rescheduled in October. Lauren's favorite thing about the field trip....the seesaw!?

Then earlier in the month, Luke and myself along with Robert's Aunt Ruth and cousin Julia went to visit his sister Mary at college in Florida. While we were there, we ate at Lambert's "home of the thrown roll". They literally throw fresh hot rolls at you while you eat. Luke LOVED it! He caught about 3 rolls and dropped a few! Of course we had to sit at the train table. The food was great and the atmosphere was interesting. Kind of like a redneck Cracker Barrel! If you're ever near a Lambert's you should definitely try it out. We also introduced Waffle House to Luke and he had his first waffle from there as well as his own hat.So here's a few pics from our beach trip and pumpkin patch visit.