First Day of School

This morning we started our new routine and it went beautifully! I'd be kidding myself if I thought it would be this perfect everyday, but it was a great way to start.

I got up at 5:30 to start getting myself ready. I woke the kids up at 6:00 and started turning on lights and talking to them while I continued getting ready and they slowly started moving around. Izabel is pretty grumpy in the mornings so I was really worried about getting her going, but I just kept getting ready and kept talking to them. Before I knew it they were both standing in my room talking to me and I was thrilled. We went through the potty, clothes, teeth and shoes routine. We even made all three beds and made sure everything was cleaned up! Our goal is to come home to a clean house everyday so this is pretty important.

New book bags with matching lunch boxes :)

As we headed down the hall to the living room Daddy walked in. He ran home from work for a few minutes so he could see the kids off to school. He even had Starbucks in hand to help me start off a great first day :) I love him!!

This is our third year at Greenbrier Manor School and we couldn't be happier

 Breakfast and lunch was packed the night before so I put the last few things in the boxes, emptied the dish washer and out we went right on schedule. There was no traffic on the way to school so we actually got there early and had to sit in the car for a few minutes. The kids didn't mind since they were listening to Disney songs on Pandora...they love this station! Once we went in I helped them put their stuff away and set up their breakfast and headed out the door for work. Hugs and kisses (and a few waves from the car) were all we had....no tears! 

Eating breakfast at school with their new water bottles

All of us had a lovely day and dinner was already prepared so we rode bikes and went for a walk. Here's hoping we can keep up this routine for more than just the first week! Any suggestions for making that happen???

Hope you all enjoyed the first day of school!!!

Labor Day Weekend

We are here with mixed emotions about the last day of summer. The kids are super excited about the new school year, while I am sad that summer is over. Our new year is going to be a big change for all four of us. The kids are both going to school everyday until 3pm. This means lunch and naps will happen at school and Daddy gets to pick them up. I will have classes on Monday evenings and Noah has class on Tuesdays for a few more weeks and then moves to Thursdays for his last quarter of his degree. Izabel will have gymnastics one night a week, probably on Tuesday or Wednesday. My goal is to be as organized as possible. This means meal planning and cleaning on the weekends and packing backpacks and lunch boxes every night before bed. 

We wanted to enjoy the weekend as much as possible while still getting everything ready. We started with a Kecoughtan football game. Izabel loves cheerleaders and some of my students spent some extra time talking to her and making her feel special. Tanner loved them too :)

Friday I went to work for a little while and then came home to take Izabel for her back to school hair cut. I've been growing her bangs out for a long time and decided to cut her hair so it was all the same length. Everyone was sad I was cutting it off but I think it is super cute and much more manageable! 

Saturday we ran errands which included lots of breakfast and lunch items and new shoes for the kiddos. I still need to do some clothes and shoe shopping for myself, but I can do it a little at a time. Then we headed to the season opener for ODU football! We love going to the tailgate and then the game and always have a great time. ODU won 57-23 so it was a great start to the season!

Sunday we did major cleaning around the house and lots of laundry. I'm excited that the house will stay cleaner through the week since no one will be here during the day so I wanted to start off as clean as possible. The kids watched some movies and had snuggle time.

Noah was working the American Music Festival at the beach and got me Passport Pins to go to the Train concert. I met up with some friends and had a GREAT time even though we got rained on and pushed around by the other concert goers :) We were able to get pretty close without having VIP passes and found some awesome people to spend the evening with.

Today we are hanging out with Aunt Amy and Rowan. My plan is for a manicure and pedicure later and then we will start packing our stuff and getting ready for the big day tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with pictures and a post about the first day! Enjoy the last day of summer :)

Summer is almost over :(

While I am thrilled to have come to the end of a very stressful summer semester, I am sad to realize that I only have one full week left of summer vacation :( 

A new favorite movie is "The Mousesavers" also known as "The Rescuers Down Under"

My silly boy loves hats!

I spent most of the summer at ODU taking three courses. Being a full-time on-campus student is required for two semester of my Ph.D. program. Since most people in the program are working adults or distance students, they do a summer residency program to help us meet this requirement. Three courses was challenging on it's own, but the three that I took were very difficult. I had to write a whole curriculum for a course, write a research article (30+ pages with about 100 references) and make a presentation, and I had to write chapter 1 of my dissertation. Needless to say...I was very stressed!

Crazy girl loves her accessories

To be honest, this whole program stresses me out. I have anxiety over the fact that I still have four chapters to write, I have to ask people to serve on my committee, I have to get permission to do the research and actually do it and then analyze it. I wonder all the time why I am putting myself through this. On top of that, I was just accepted to the Ed.S. program at ODU which I will complete along with my Ph.D. This will give me a license in administration just in case I decide to stick with K-12 instead of moving up to college level teaching. It's all planned out for me to graduate in December of 2014 and having a plan helps with the anxiety, but it is still stressful. I just keep telling myself that it'll be worth it in the end when I have reached my academic goals for myself, set a good example about education for my children, and am able to provide a better life for all four of us!

They are so much alike

This last week was the first week I was truly off. I did go into work Monday to get some things done that I had put off all summer, but I have been trying to soak up the last bit of this "vacation" and enjoy time with the kids. We have been swimming and playing and reading and watching movies. I have gotten into a good routine at home and it has been nice. The kids are taking swim lessons and they are doing so great. Izabel can swim all the way across the pool without her vest now and Tanner is pretty close. 

Chilling by the pool

Thursday we went to Ocean Breeze Water Park when Noah got off work. We went there a lot the past two summers. The kids used to be afraid to get water in their faces or go down the slides by themselves, but this time was a whole different story. They couldn't get enough and they had so much fun! I've been really making an effort to be outside and be more active so yesterday we spent a lot of time riding bikes. It was quite the workout for a while because I had to actually move the pedals for Tanner, but he finally caught on and we had a great time. We'll continue to enjoy the beach and hopefully make a couple more trips to Busch Gardens before school officially starts! Feel free to come visit or plan a play date with us :) We miss all of our friends!!!

We finally got it down

Cooling off after a long ride

Long Time

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since Tanner's birthday. That was in April! Life has been crazy busy as usual. The end of the school year is always hectic. We went to Salt Lake City, Utah for National DECA competition and entered testing season in the schools. Summer has been fantastic with beach and pool days. I have really enjoyed being home with the kids and I think they have enjoyed it too. 

Summer Fun

4th of July

For my Ph.D. I have to complete a residency requirement so I have to take three courses and be on campus everyday for an institute for the first two summers. This summer I was required to complete the first chapter of my dissertation. I have certainly learned a lot and I am making significant progress in this program, but it has been very overwhelming. 

 Because of the institute I was not able to go to Vermont with Noah and the kids this summer. They had a fantastic time and I learned that I do not like living alone!

Vermont 2012

Tanner is Three!!!

I can't believe my little man is three years old. He is truly such a blessing and I love having him in my life. Not a day goes by that he doesn't make me smile and laugh and just when I think I can't love him anymore than I do, I find that I love him even more. He has finally started talking and tells us new words by the dozens. He is so funny to listen to and his comments are always entertaining. The other day I opened my jewelry box and he said "wow, that's nice!" He is so sweet and still likes to cuddle, which I love! He loves going to school, but he is pretty shy. I think that now he will open up more since he can communicate better. He still loves trains probably more than anything else. He likes fruit the most but also has a new love for jellybeans and pretty much any candy we will let him try. I think he might have tap dancing in his future. After I let the water out of the bathtub he holds on the rail and moves his feet like he is dancing. It's so funny. He is also doing fantastic with potty training and we have him in undies full time now other than at night.

 3 year stats - 39 lbs (95th percentile) and 38 1/4 inches (70th percentile)! Strong healthy boy showing great progress in all areas, just needs to stay on the inhaler to control the asthma.

Some of Tanner's Favorite Things:

     Color: Orange

     Toy: Trains

     Tv Show: Dora the Explorer

     Movie: Shark Tale

     Fruit: Apple

     Food: Fruit

     Animal: Monkey

     Drink: Water

I can't believe how big they both are. Today Izabel is 4 1/2 and she is looking more and more like a girl instead of a baby. She seems so grown up sometimes that I have to remind myself she is only 4 when she acts up. She is in her second reader at school and her second phonics book. She has also started a math book. She is learning at such a rapid pace we can't keep up. She loves to color and read and watch Princess movies! I can't wait to take her to meet all of her favorite princesses next year :)

Happy Birthday and Half Birthday to my two little loves!

Happy Birthday Tanner and Happy Easter Everyone!

This year Tanner's birthday fell on Easter so we had an Easter themed birthday party with our family and a few close friends. We started the day with brunch and everyone brought a yummy dish to share. 

Then all the kids went outside for an egg hunt and they found tons of eggs. The Easter bunny must have went a little overboard! The kids jumped in the bounce house for a while and we got Tanner's birthday presents ready. He got a bike from us and all the grandparents and aunts and uncles went in on a train table. When he walked in the house the first thing he saw was the train table and he loved it. He didn't want to have anything to do with the other presents, he just wanted to play with his trains!

After he played for a while we got cupcakes out and sang happy birthday. He hid behind my leg. He hates when we all sing to him. The kids spend the rest of the afternoon playing outside while the grown-ups talked and played with the babies. We finished the night off with a quiet family dinner and then snuggled up to watch a movie. It was a lovely day and thank you to everyone who spent it with us! We feel very blessed and thankful!!!

Easter Pictures