Gracyn's 6th Birthday

Gracyn celebrated her birthday this year, with a party at the movie theater to see Cinderella. She had all her sweet friends join us and they were adorable all in a row watching the movie.

Gracyn's most special gift this year were these BFF lockets from Camden and Tessa. They sent them in the mail to her and they have their pictures in them. They wrote her sweet notes. It made her day to open them.

Arriving at the movies with all the girls.

6 seems so big when it is your "baby". I'm not sure how we got here so fast, but we sure love her at this age. 

Snow Days

So, we made it all winter without any snow days, until the last 2 days. Then, we had SIX. Six snow days with my girls plus an active 3 year old boy. Tommy was out of town for 2 of them. We missed several really fun things that were scheduled. But, I survived and I lived to tell about it. Several dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies and the spring cupcakes that Addison made helped me make it through.

Whiskers enjoying the sled that was left behind when the kids got too cold.

Snowman building contest with neighborhood friends. They used supplies left behind in the builders trash piles. The builders drink alot of Gatorade.

This was the winning snowman.

I was sure this little adventure wouldn't end well, but it turned out okay! Now, I have packed all the snowsuits away and put them in the attic. Just praying they stay there!!! I hear frogs outside, the pets are shedding like crazy and their are sprigs of green starting to appear. Spring is coming!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

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Most of our Valentine's celebration this year were on Friday the 13th. The Little Guy and I joined the girls for their classroom parties. Tommy popped in for a bit during his lunch break and helped divide and conquer with multiple parties at the same time. It was a gorgeous day outside, so afters school, we played outside with lots of neighbors until Tommy got off and then he took us to Chuy's.

Saturday was spent playing at home, running errands and doing some things around the house. Tommy gave me beautiful purple roses. He brought them home on the Thursday before Valentines, after I had a particularly long, hard day foster-parenting. He is a smart man! I took two of my girls with me for a nice, quiet pedicure on Saturday morning and then that night, our friend Anna came over, while her parents went out. I made Tommy his favorite dinner and we had a loud, happy, crazy dinner with the two of us and 5 children. 

Head of the Herd

This Friday it was Gracyn's turn!!! She was so proud of herself and delighted to be up on stage receiving the Head of the Herd award for her class. She has worked so hard and really blossomed in kindergarten over the last few months. There were big changes for her coming here and going from just a few short afternoons of preschool to full day kindergarten. She has done so well. She is learning to read, becoming a math whiz and as always, is our little artist.

Gracyn and Miss Salling

She was so proud and excited!

When she came home, she had a new Beanie Boo and a cookie cake to enjoy. So proud of her!

Head of the Herd

We have loved the girls school in Arkansas. One of the great things they do is a monthly "Elephant Extravaganza". The school mascots, Eddy and Ella the Elephants come, the specials teachers give out class awards, the principal usually speaks and different classrooms do some performances. Parents are always invited and I love going to watch. My favorite part is when all the kids sing the school song. It's like a little pep rally for elementary kids.

A big honor that they award each month at the Elephant Extravaganza is the "Head of the Herd" award. It is an award for excellence, leadership in the classroom and citizenship. Each teacher chooses one monthly winner.

Both Addison and Reagan won "Head of the Herd" the at the first Elephant Extravaganza. They were super excited and we were bursting with pride for them.

I love that they can come into a brand new school and make such a great impression so quickly. These girls adapt easily....thank goodness.

Reagan's teacher sent me an email 2 days before, to let me know she had selected Reagan and to make sure I could be at the awards assembly. Being the new mom, I had no idea it was supposed to be a secret. So, when she got off the bus that day I had a little celebration for her. She saw the card, flowers and cookie and instantly said, "Mom!!!! Your not supposed to tell me!". I told her to look surprised at the awards.

That's Ellie the Elephant.

Addison's teacher sent me an email the next day, after Reagan filled me in on the surprise thing. So, she had her celebration after school on Friday. She was surprised.

These girls are hard workers. The are smart and make great grades, but even more importantly, their character shines everyday!

First Day of School

Back in August, I sent my babies off to their first day of 4th grade, 2nd grade and Full Day Kindergarten. The full day kindie schedule was my biggest concern in moving to Bentonville. The other girls attended a 1/2 day kindergarten and that is how this mama prefers it! Despite my concerns, Gracyn was ready to go.

I am so proud of my children's resiliency. It can't be easy to move every few years and go off to a big new school without all your old friends. We had especially close friends in Ohio that have been in class with the girls for 3 straight years. They don't even remember school without them. So, I was extra proud when they jumped in, all smiles and no fear.

We wanted to keep their routine straight, so they decided to ride the bus from the very first day. The compromise was that I put them on the bus and took off walking to school to meet them there. I arrived a few minutes behind the bus and walked the halls for 10 minutes with no luck finding any of my children! The only thing keeping me from complete panic was the fact that I couldn't find ANY of them. I knew wherever they were, they must be together. Just as I was beginning to get really worried, I found them running down the hall. First day problems.....they got off the bus and entered the 5th and 6th grade building that is next to our school. I think Addison was first off the bus and asked someone where to go. I think they saw her height, assumed she was older and sent her the wrong way. Thankfully they all stuck together and eventually made it into the right building. I took a few pictures, got them settled into their classrooms and headed home to the longest, quietest day I have had in years!

Gulf Shores, Alabama

I give up on fully catching this blog up, but I did want to record a few highlights since it is our family memory album. Recording summer memories and looking at all these beach pictures in January is not doing anything to lift my winter spirits! Is it too early to start the countdown to spring?

This year, we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on a family vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama. My beloved Hilton Head is too far to drive from Arkansas. I was so sad to give up that tradition, but excited to explore something new. The water is gorgeous in Alabama. It is crystal blue water and white sand. However, there is definitely a "Red-Neck Riviera" thing going on there. It made for some interesting people watching. And, we have never seen so many smokers in one place. I think we learned if we go back to shop for a condo on the Orange Beach side of things. It bumps up to Gulf Shores, but seems to have a very different feel. We spent all our days swimming in the ocean and playing in the pool. I loved my daily workout in the exercise room overlooking the ocean, then running the 18 flights of stairs back to our room. There was a daily dog show at a restaurant that was a big hit with our girls. We got hair braids and caricatures. Tommy and Addison tried parasailing for the first time. The Gulf Shores zoo was a family favorite. And, we ate at Lulu's cafe several times and loved it.

I don't know exactly what our schedule is going to hold this year, but the beach is definitely my happy place, so I am hoping we can squeeze it in sometime this summer!