Ice Cream Social

Kate's school had an ice cream social tonight and we went.  It was adorable!  There was a DJ, make your own sundaes, face painting, and coloring.  Kate had so much fun with her little friends. 

She had her face painted and then Bridget, one of her favorites, said she would paint her face too.  So, here is Bridget painting Kate's face. How cute are they?

Kate's little group of friends were dancing with the DJ.  I so wanted to get out there and dance to the songs- it was really fun.

One last shot of them dancing together- it was so adorable

Boots!

Both Kate & Brynn are really into putting my shoes on and wearing them around the house. Kate did this a while ago and stopped and is back on it.  Last night, after bath, she was in our closet, or her "School" as she likes to call it and told us not to come in. She came out and down the hall wearing my high boots.  She is hysterical!

Little Sisters Rock!

I think Kate would totally agree with the saying on Brynn's shirt :)

15 Months old!

Brynn turned 15 months old yesterday.  She is a ball of energy and we love every second.  Her newest thing is saying "uh oh" and she says it in the correct context. If something falls, she says, "uh oh".  She loves loves loves her big sister- probably the most of anyone. And, she's a mommy's girl.  I LOVE it.  If I'm in the room, she wants to be with me and I enjoy every second of it. I know that soon enough, she'll switch over just like her sister and always want Daddy, which is okay too.  Brynn waves at everyone and is so friendly and just non stop moving. She screams when it's time to get in her car seat, and stands up in it, looks at me and then sits down. She is so funny about that.  One day this week, we couldn't find her in the house, here she was in the playroom. She walked down the 3 steps alone and was playing there. She loves to be without her shoes on- once we put them on, they come off- socks too. She's definitely a summer girl.  Her hair is growing in and is still curly and she is just a doll baby.  We love every second with her!

Homework!

Kate got her first homework assignment tonight.  It was to write the letter L 10 times in her book.  While she can do it, they help her to make it perfect.  So, we got home from school and while dinner cooked, we did homework!

So excited to do homework!

Kate's notebook. Does anyone else remember having one like this?

Kate writing her "L"s.  She did a great job and counted them all out. That picture there is her picture she made at extended care. She made one for her and one for Brynn and wrote both of their names on it.

Homemade Playdoh

I love Kate's teacher for many reasons, but one of them is her germaphobia.  I have no idea if that's spelled right or not.  But, you get the idea.  Anyway, she asked parents to sign up to make playdoh each week so that she can throw it out at the end of the week because of all the germs.  I signed up and was asked to make red playdoh.  I was wondering how this would turn out, but it turned out great! It was a lot of fun and I'll definitely do it with Kate next time!  I love that I can help out with her class, even though I'm not there.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Happy 38 years!!  We hope that you have many, many more!
Love you!

Catching up

I just realized it has been 2 weeks since my last post.  ooops. We have been busy!

Here's what we've been up to:

Here are Kate and Brynn dressed up for school one day. Kate now loves to wear dresses to school and wear her hair down. She tells us that when she wears it down, the girls in her class tell her they love it down.

 Daddy and Brynn. I absolutely LOVE this dress that Brynn has on- Kate wore it when she was a baby as well.

Here are our fashion plates in another cute outfit for school.  Namma bought Brynn's outfit in Florida, and we got some many complements on it. how cute is that?  And, check out Kate's adorable pose!

On September 17, I needed a little something to make me happy.  So, Kate, Brynn and I decorated the house for fall. Kate was so into it. She showed everyone where every decoration was placed.

Matching outfits again!  Even if they don't go to the same school,, I will still match them while I can.

Ray Bucknell!  Our littlest Bison!

Brynn came down with Croup on September 20.  It was the first time we had that in our house- what a scary sound.  We took Brynn right to the Dr. and of course they were amazing and gave her steroids.  She slept through the night and was fine.  I kept her home the next day because she was still not feeling well. I left the room for a minute and came in and this is how I found Brynn.  She loves to climb!

Check out these outfits!!  If you look closely, you can see that Brynn is wearing my shoes. The girls love to put on my shoes and walk around the house.  

Showing each other some love. These girls absolutely LOVE one another.  They play together so nicely, kiss each other all the time, and snuggle whenever they can. I don't know how we got so lucky. But, it absolutely melts my heart when they snuggle and show each other how much they love each other and it happens all the time.  How lucky are we?

Here are the big girls sitting and watching TV.

Kate is loving school.  When we ask her, her favorite part is extended care.  She thinks it's so great because she gets recess and gets to hang with her friend Bridget.  Last week they did the letter L.  I'm not sure what the letter is this week.  They practice writing their "Ls" and she knows that Lady bug starts with L.  Kate also had her first computer class at SMM and I was lucky enough to be off that day and volunteer.  It was awesome. Kate was so excited to have me in the class, but I don't think as excited as I was. I so wish I could do it every week.  Kate came home and said I was now a "computer teacher". ha!

Brynn is doing so great also.  She has a little cold now, but that's to be expected with the start of a new year.  She can climb up AND down the steps now.  She says "pee pee", "Mommy", "Daddy", "K Kate", "Mol" in addition to all of her other words she knows.  She is all over the place now and loves to take off her shoe and socks.  So much so that her teacher actually duct taped them today so she wouldn't do it. hahaha.

Life is awesome right now.  I'll try to keep up better with the blog.

8 Years!

Rich and I are celebrating 8 years of marriage today!  We are so lucky to have found each other and to have been best friends and to be able to have the beautiful wedding we had, thanks mom and dad, the beautiful home we have, the beautiful girls we have and all of the memories we have made over the past 8 years!  Has it been perfect? no. But, we learn from each other and help each other and are each other's biggest fans.  Not many people are able to find love and keep it, but we did!  Love you him!!

PS- thanks to Jane and all of our friends for all of the cards, text messages, etc. and thanks to my mom and dad for sending us an email from the middle of the Atlantic!!!

Never Forget- 10 years

i can't believe it's been 10 years since that horrendous day. I can remember exactly where I was, what I was doing and the emotions that ran through me.  My parents were leaving for China that day. I was in bed, sick as could be with a horrible sinus infection.  I had my TV on in my room and was watching the news, but since I was so sick, I was not understanding. I thought it was flashbacks to what happened before.  Boy, was I wrong.  My phone rang and it was my friend Kristin, asking where my parents were.  They were not leaving until that evening, so they were still home.  Thankfully, all of my family was safe.

Thanks to all those that serve and have served our country!

Happy Grandparents Day!

Happy Grandparents day to Namma & Pop Pop and Grammie! Kate & Brynn are so very lucky to have you in their lives! And, to Pop Pop in Heaven.. even though you aren't here with us, Happy Grandparents day to you!  We know that you are smiling down and loving our girls too!

Kate's 1st Soccer Game!

We decided last minute to sign Kate up for soccer. We had been back and forth about it and finally we asked her and she said yes.  So, we got her all signed up- barely!  Her first game was this morning at 8:30. After school yesterday, we went and got her shin guards, cleats and a ball.

We got to the fields and bought a shirt and her coach was yelling, "TEAM A OVER HERE!"  So, over we went and they had 30 minutes of practice and 30 minutes of a scrimmage.  We knew lots of people there so that was fun! One of the little boys on her team is the son of 2 people that I went to grade school with. Anyway, Kate was more of a cheerleader this time- it was her first game.  But, she did run with the kids.
Here are some pictures we got:

Kate's biggest cheerleader was there too- she even ran onto the field a few times to see her big sis!

Next big game is next weekend. Already looking forward to it!

Brynn's 1st day of Fall Onesie Room- September 8

Brynn had her 1st official day of school in the onesie room on September 8. She got right back in the swing of things and did so great!  She had a boo boo report when I picked her up- she fell from a toy she was standing on and had a little bruise on her cheek. No worries for her- it didn't stop her from getting up on another toy!

Ice Cream Cones!

My friend Bri introduced the miniature ice cream cones to us over Memorial Day. I finally found them and they are a hit at our house.  Kate has one and shares with Brynn, but last night, Brynn had her own.  When did she get so big?!?!  And, why is she now calling me "Mommy" and not "mama" anymore? My baby is growing up!!

Kate's 1st Day of Pre K at SMM

Kate started Pre K at SMM today. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Jackowsky and the aide is Mrs. C.  Kate woke up bright and early and was so excited to start her day.  I ran to Dunkin Donuts earlier to get her a donut and she ate that on our special occassion plate:

I took lots of pictures, of course, before we left.  Each child in her class got a plain tote bag to decorate.  We asked Aunt Crystal for help and she put Kate's name on one side, Kate and I decorated the other.

Aunt Crystal's side- seriously, how awesome is this??  Thank you Aunt Crystal!!  we LOVE it!!

Here is what Kate & I did on the other side. She picked out what she wanted and where and I glued it:

Here are our first day of school pics in front of our house:

We took Kate to school- she rode with Rich, of course.  We totally messed up the drop off line. Oh well. We know for next time, right?  But, we got this great shot:

We took Kate into her classroom and her teacher was there to greet each of them. I seriously LOVE the teacher and aide. They are just so sweet and warm.  She showed Kate her routine and then each child sat in the circle.

It was time for us to say goodbye. UGH.  I was a worried mess. Rich was calm and cool, as usual. My stomach was in knots, but I knew she'd be great! I think I counted every second until it was pick up time.  I was so anxious to hear how it all went!  I got to the pick up line, which was crazy!!, in the pouring rain. The children all came out and here is a picture I took of Kate:

She had a blast!! In her little tote bag was a folder with papers for us and a project she did. There was a sweet little poem on the back, which of course, made me cry:

I asked Kate who she played with and she told me Sophia and C.C. I know both of their moms so that was fun for me to hear.  She loved her lunch, the cookies that we took in for her entire class (20 of them total), and she told us they sat in circle and learned some prayers. I asked her what was the first prayer she learned and she said the one in front of the flag (The Pledge of Allegiance). I was cracking up. She said the part she loved the most out of her day was playing. The part she didn't like was nap time.

So, all in all a great first day! So proud of you, Kate!!!  We Love you and couldn't be happier for you!!

Arden Fair

We took the girls to the Arden Fair yesterday.  It was nice.  It is a small little fair with local, handmade vendors. And the rides are almost like handmade too. LOL.  Jeremy and Luke came with us. Here are some pictures of the kids having fun!

Kate got her arm painted with a rainbow.

Kate,Brynn and Luke on the rides. Brynn was not a big fan.

Kate & Luke on the train

Kate & Rich went down the slide

Brynn LOVING the shaved ice

Hurricane Irene Ends

We survived with minimal damage (a few tree limbs down) and power!  The wind started picking up more from when I posted last.  Our sump pump broke so Rich was downstairs in the basement installing a sink pump to help fix it, and we had no water!  While he was doing that, I was doing last minute laundry because we weren't sure if we would lose electricity or power.  The lights started flickering around 10 so as soon as the wash was done, I hung the clothes. Rich took Molly out and at this point, we had tornado warnings, with reports that tornadoes touched down near our neighborhoods.  The tornado warnings freaked me out, so we agreed we would all sleep downstairs. There is a huge tree in our front yard that got me worried.  We brought the girls downstairs and we all slept down there.  I was up pretty much all night. Molly and I shared the loveseat. That was comfortable. I was worrying about everything.

I heard the girls at 7:30. Looked outside and didn't see any damage, the pool didn't overflow... all was good. I looked across the street and saw that a tree was down in our neighbor's car.  Rich went over and helped with it- no damage!  We ate breakfast, watched a movie while it was pouring and still windy.  Around 11, we were going stir crazy so we drove around to survey the damage.  There were a lot of trees down.  Tomorrow is the 1st day of school for most kids- it was cancelled. My work is even 2 hours late!  I couldn't believe it.

Some people are saying this storm was nothing, but honestly, we were just lucky.  Thankfully, we are all safe and so are our family and friends.

14 Months Old

Brynn is 14 months old on August 28.  She is saying all kinds of words... no, thank you, mouse, dog, books, Kate, Daddy, mama, ruff ruff, meow, cat...  She eats her dinners with a fork, is walking all over the place.  She has 1 molar and is possibly getting another.  She loves to make a duck face, and gives you actually kisses on the lips.  Her favorite books are "Tails, I love you goodnight, Barnyard Dance and Good morning, Good Night".  And, in her short 14 months has seen a tornado, earthquake, and a hurricane!  Took me 35 years to do all of that.

I tried to get a picture with her and the bear, but she hates the bear.  She kept telling me no.  So, Kate popped in to get her comfortable, but that still didn't work.

Last Day at CPS

 Kate's last day at CPS was August 25.  Sort of bittersweet because we are so excited for her to start her new school, but sad that she is leaving this one.  She has made some great friends and had even better teachers.  We took chocolate chip cookies in for her class to share and celebrate her last day. 

Here is Kate at the beginning of the week:

Last day!

Kate & Ms. Elizabeth (her summer camp teacher)