Halloween

This post is long overdue. We took photo's Halloween night, but some of them came out really dark so we did a re shoot causing a delay in this post.
Halloween here in Holly Springs was cold and rainy. The kids are used to being dragged out in crazy weather to walk the dogs, so why was this any different. Plus, who doesn't want to go trick or treating!?!?!? We bundled up and off we went. Zack walked Niko & Blitz, I pushed the stroller.

Dylan did an amazing job as a pirate. He said 'trick or treat' at every house, used his manners, and even said 'AARRRR a pirate' when people asked him what he was. He wanted to keep going after we were all ready to go home. That boy loves candy! Emersyn was a trooper. She was snug as a bug...HA!...in her ladybug costume. She was just along for the ride. Half way through she fell asleep!

We left the house before we ever got any trick or treaters so we had LOTS of left overs. Those went to work with Zack! The pictures below are out of order, but you'll get the idea. Despite the nasty rain, we had a blast and got lots of yummy treats.

What a sweet little pirate!

Eating candy after we got back. Yup, we sugared him up before bed!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Abbington Ave

Earlier in the week my sister sent me a picture of our first childhood home. I lived on Abbington for the first 5 years of my life. We moved when my brother was born.

After we moved, my parents always took us past this house on the way to our grandparents house. I have very few memories from living on Abbington , but as adults we all find ourselves driving past the house now & then. I personally haven't seen it in a long time so I'm glad I was sent the picture.
It's funny, I think I have more memories of us driving past the house than actually living in it.

After this move, I've moved 4 additional times. It's cool to look back on the places I've lived.

30 Days of Thankfulness

I've seen other friends post about the things they are thankful for and it got me thinking. I'm thankful for many things in life, but to stop each day and actually think about it means something different. Life in our house is very structured during the week. Time passes by so quickly that it will be good for me to stop, breathe, and take a moment to realize what I'm thankful for each day.

So today is Nov. 5th, which means I'll go back a few days to catch up.

My 30 Days of Thankfulness....

Nov. 1- Zack was supposed to leave for a business trip but it got cancelled.
I'm hate when he travels normally and this would have been my first time alone with 2 kids & 2 dogs. I was a little nervous. So I'm thankful the trip got cancelled! I'm not cut out to be a temporary single Mom. I depend on Zack for many things, which takes me into Tuesday.....

Nov 2.- I am thankful for my patient,loving, understanding husband.
Zack means the world to me and my life is better because of him. We've been on an incredible journey over the last 8 years and I can't wait to spend the next 80 (or more!) with him.

Nov. 3- Every day I am thankful for my children. They are beautiful miracles of life! Today Emersyn is 3 months post-op. I can't believe she had skull surgery 3 months ago. She is my little hero! She's doing great and I'm thankful for that. VERY thankful!

Nov 4.- I'm thankful I have a job. I just finished my 4th week working at the daycare. This has been a very hard transition for me. I miss being a stay at home Mom more than anything. BUT we have medical bills to pay and working is the reality right now. I am thankful to have a job while many people continue to be unemployed.

Nov. 5- Family time at home is my favorite. This morning we all sat in our PJ's laughing, snuggling, and playing together. I appreciate these times more now because I'm working and the opportunities are less. I love being with my family!!! I am thankful for these awesome moments!

Naked Babies

Nothing sweeter than my two babies laughing together!


Click on photo to see full view.

Tap & Tumble

Tap & Tumble Inc. is a company that comes to the daycare once a week and provides a tap program and a tumble program. The program develops motor skills, coordination and imagination as the instructors teach the basic skills of front rolls, straddle rolls, and cartwheels. The children will gain balance, flexibility, strength and socialization through participating in our tumbling class. We signed Dylan up for Tumble, which reminds me of a gymnastics program. They use balance beams, trampolines, mats and more. Our goal is to help him strengthen his gross motor skills.

Dylan loves Thursdays because he knows that's the day he goes to Tumble with Ms. Sharon. Today I joined the class for a few minutes so I could capture Dylan in action. I didn't stay long because I didn't want to distract the class. When I walked in, Dylan was sitting so nicely on the floor waiting his turn. He smiled when he saw me. I LOVE watching him interact with his friends and teachers at school. I only took a few pictures so that I could post about this. We've been working with him at home on some skills they learned in class. He loves to show us what he has learned, so practicing the skills he struggles with is easy. He loves to go, which is the perfect way to strengthen his skill set.

The pictures I took happen to be during trampoline time. The kids had to jump on the sticker. Ms. Sharon holds their hands at first with hopes that in time they can do it independently. After they are finished they have to jump off onto a certain color circle. It was cute to watch Dylan follow directions, interact with the teacher, and most of all...that smile of pure enjoyment. As I've said a million times, that little man melts my heart!

Dylan loves school. He loves his friends and teachers, he loves learning Spanish, going to gym class, and now Tap & Tumble. He's a little sponge. It's been an amazing journey to watch him grow and develop over the past 2 1/2.

Mommy & Me

Spanish

The daycare that Dylan attends offers Spanish. It's not something that is required, it is simply a bonus feature for the facility. I personally think it's wonderful. I took so many years of French and can't remember much of anything. So every day for 20 minutes a teacher comes into the room and teaches basic Spanish. Dylan has learned colors, shapes, greetings like 'hello & goodbye', and many songs. The concepts he is learning are sticking because I hear him at home, and today his teacher mentioned how well he is doing. At this point, Dylan knows far more Spanish than I do! He is loving it and can't wait to tell me all about it when he comes home. It's so cute to see. The Spanish teacher told me that Dylan is her AG student (academically gifted), which I think is hysterical. Dylan loves to learn, so this is just another example of him being a little learning sponge.

Dora and Diego books have a new meaning to him now. He understands some of the Spanish words in the books and loves to repeat after me. We are glad he is being exposed to another language as it will only benefit him later in life.

I have also enrolled him in a program called Tap & Tumble. Every Thursday an outside company comes to the daycare. Tap is mostly for girls, and Tumble is for everyone and is like a gymnastics program. Dylan is slightly gross motor delayed so we thought this program would help. I'll save this information for a later post.

Hasta manana!!!!