Gavin's Fall Poem

Today Frank and I went to Gavin's school for the first parent/teacher conference of the year. It went great. We love his teacher! She is so amazing and when I see the things she does I feel really sorry for the kids I used to teach. She is so much fun and is all over positive reinforcement which is right up Gavin's ally. He is earning all kinds of rewards and just LOVING school. And he is doing really well academically as well. His biggest hiccup is handwriting but it has improved leaps and bounds from last year.

Today as we were waiting outside his classroom for her we were looking at the kids Fall poems on the wall. Each kid did their own with their own words inserted after hello and goodbye. Frank and I almost died when we read his.

Here it is:

We were pretty sure we could read one of the lines, but were hoping it wasn't true...but yes...we read it right.

Here is Gavin's Fall poem:

It's Fall.

Hello Football.

Goodbye Swimming.

Hello Water.

Goodbye Penoclode.

Hello scholl.

Goodbye fun.

It's Fall oh boy.

It's Fall!

Gavin 9-21-10

So, he sounded it all out phonetically and it took us a minute but we soon realized that Penoclode, was indeed Pina Colada.

Really Gavin?? Really?? We maybe made them 3 times this summer as a fun treat by the pool, alcohol free. But I am sure the teachers aren't thinking that.

Oh Gavin Morgan...you are your father's son!

Finally...FALL

Finally, we have some Fall like weather. Well, by Houston standards anyway. It was a cool 60's this morning and 75 out right now. SO NICE. And I was just a little excited to dress the girls (G left early this morning before the girls were dressed) in some of their Fall clothes that I bought a month or so back. Hope the weather stays....

She Wants to Be JUST Like Her Big Sister

Pardon the lack of clothes, this just happened to be after dinner. And well, the kids usually eat in their undies around here or else our clothes get stained because they tend to be quite messy.

Guess Hadley was tired of watching her sister perform for us daily and nightly. Okay, ALL. THE. TIME.

So tonight after Ellie showed us her back bend.

We hear, "Look at me!"
Guess who just randomly tried it on her own with no help and then was screaming for us to see her??? I was shocked. Guess we have another future gymnast in the family.

No help. No encouraging. She just thought to try it all on her own. And did pretty well I might add for a first attempt.

I just thought it was so cute. She really does want to be just like her big sister and do all the things Ellie can do!

Hadley's First Haircut

Hadley hates being home without her siblings so we are always thinking of things to do to keep us (her) busy when they are at school and she is not. Today we decided it was time for her first haircut and she was VERY excited. We first went to get Daddy at his office...

And I love it when we go there. His office is covered in letters and pictures from the kids:

Then it was off to a quick lunch and then Sweet and Sassy for Big girls first haircut...

The Before....

During...

And After....

She did great. She did everything the lady asked her to do. And at one point we thought she might fall asleep she was loving the hair brushing so much. They glittered her all up head to toe and she was so excited to go pick up her big sister and show her how beautiful she looked.

She is looking so grown up in these pictures!! Definitely outgrowing being a baby......

Ellie's School Banner

Our homework for the first week of school was for Ellie to make a banner of things about her. So last weekend she helped me pick all the pictures she wanted, and paper and we got to work. She selected all the pictures. But mommy did most of it as she sat by me while we decide where to glue it all down at. Believe it or not she picked out more pictures...but there just simply was NOT enough room. She was so proud to bring it to school today and it is now hanging above her in her classroom.

Just So I Can Remember

Went to the doctor for Ellie's 5 year old well check and Hads came too.

Ellie at 5 years old:

33 pounds - 7%

39.25 inches tall- 3%

The nurse passed up the height chart on the wall and when I asked if she was going to measure her height she said, "How old is she?? I was going to do it on the table paper in the exam room." Once she realized she was 5 she was embarrassed and let her do the height by standing against the wall like all the other big kids do. Seriously now, she doesn't look that small....

Hadley at 2.5 years old is:

25 pounds - 8%

33.5 inches tall- 8%

Three Little Monkeys Sleeping in the Bed

Thankfully I went upstairs to take a picture so no one fell out and bonked their head.

As soon as the flash went off with the first picture, her head went back on the bed and she readjusted:

I just thought I was laughing at Ellie. Then when I got downstairs to download the pictures and zoomed in, I noticed Gavin snuggling Hadley's leg and then I was laughing hysterically.

That just made me laugh.

Ever since I re-did Gavin's room a few weeks ago, (I will post pictures soon) Ellie has been wanting to sleep in there every chance she gets. She has asked me more than once if they can share a room, but Gavin says that is "not a good idea." But every once in a while, and only on the weekends, she will sleep in his room with him. Usually one of them takes the top bunk, and the other the bottom. Well, Hadley wanted in on the fun. And G and E both wanted to snuggle her so they decided to all sleep on the bottom. Actually, they wanted to sleep in Hadleys twin bed at first and did actually try. But within ten minutes Gavin came out and told us they moved to his bed. I am still shocked they made it the entire night without waking up. I love when the get along. Love watching them all grow up together. And most of all love each other. Despite the fighting, and bickering, and competitiveness from time to time, they definitely love each other. I am so thankful for these three little monkeys!!

The Girlies First Day Back..

The girls finally went back to school. Ellie was SOOO excited. Hadley was excited to get dressed into her first day of school clothes...but that was about as excited as she got. I had made their lunches and as I was getting ready Ellie yelled to me, "Mommy...Hadley is eating her lunch." Sure enough I found her on the floor with her lunch box open trying to dig into some goldfish.

So then it was time to take a few pictures. It was too humid outside and I didn't have time to let my lens defog so I took a few snaps inside before we left. Ellie was posing and excited. The old Hadley came back and she put her hands in front of her eyes like this and told me "NO.":

But when times call for desperate measures I bribe her with candy. So as soon as I said, "If I give you candy can I take your picture??" Her hands came down, and she ran to where Ellie was for a few pictures.

Here are my girlies before heading off to their first day of 2 year old preschool and 1st year of Kindergarten:

And then she was done and ready for her candy:

Teacher gifts where all ready:

And we were out there door on our way to school...

But as soon as I got everyone buckled and all the gear in the car, Hadley had to go potty. REally?? We were leaving JUST on time to NOT be late. But what do you do when your trying to potty train. I had to bring her back in. We ended up getting to school late. Ellie gets tardy's this year and we were definitely tardy today...thankfully they didn't count tardies on the first day.

Ellie ran right in, told me not to worry about her and not to cry, and said she wouldn't cry either. Love her. She gave me a kiss and a hug, went inside and gave her teachers their gift and then ran back out to give me and Hadley one more big kiss and hug. I love that girl. She took a picture with a little girl who was in her class a few years ago before I left.

Hopefully they will become good friends this year. This year could be a big adjustment without her girlfriends that she's had in her class for the last three years.

Then it was off to Hadleys class. My first mistake was letting her walk in with her BB Blanket and paci. Those are not allowed except for at nap time so she was not a happy camper when I told her we needed to put them in her backpack. Music class had begun and her sweet teachers were trying hard to nurture her and make her feel better. But she was wailing some big crocodile tears. Hopefully they didn't last long after I left.

School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days...

Yep it's official...we are all back in school.

****UPDATE, when Ellie got picked up from school her Daddy asked how it went and she said, "I can't possibly tell you how much fun I've had!" She cracks me up!!

Water Slides, Mean Life Guard, and a Talk with Daddy

Today at the Oasis, before it started raining....Ellie went to get on the water slide. She's been riding the slide for the last two years with no problem. Heck, Hadley has even gone down these slides. Well today the lifeguard wouldn't let her go down. She waited in the long line, got to the top and the lifeguard said "NO." So she started to cry hysterically. She came down and told me and I picked her up and marched her right back to have a talk with the guy. Surely there was a misunderstanding? Sure enough he said "Sorry, she's not tall enough." Sadly this is a common theme for her lately...."She's not tall enough." We joined a new gym that has water slides and she can't ride those either...but the other five year olds can.

But back to the story....

So we go back and tell Daddy that he really won't let her ride. She sits on his lap and hugs him and weeps BIG, BIG tears.

Then this conversation took place.

Daddy: "Do you want me to go tell him that he is being rude and ugly and go kick him in the private?"

Ellie: Immediately stopping her tears and all serious she looks at Frank, "Daddy, that's not nice, God wouldn't want you to talk to someone like that."

Daddy: "You are right Ellie, instead of being mean to him I need to pray for him."

Ellie: "That's right Dad, that is what God wants you to do. You need to pray for him."

Daddy: To which Frank laughs and chuckles and says, "You are right Ellie, I am so glad you can teach me things."

Ellie has such a sweet heart and my husband well...... he thinks he is quite the crack up.

My Purse Camera and Labor Day Weekend

Frank and the kids got me a little camera for Mother's Day that I always have with me in my purse. It's great for those moments you didn't know you'd need or want a camera, and it's nice to not lug around my big camera all the time. Well, since I hardly use it...because I tend to lug the big camera around if I know I am taking pictures...I haven't downloaded much until today.

So today on this rainy Labor Day afternoon, I downloaded picture from my little Nikon from the last few weeks and I thought I'd post a few of the pictures...

With the weather getting a little cooler we've been outside quite a bit. Hadley loves herself some swinging. And not just any swinging....she likes to go high and screams, "No Mommy Higher!" every time.

A few weeks ago my niece came to hang with us for the day. We took a bike ride to a neighboring park and the kids all played around for awhile:

And we made cookies, went swimming, and took lots of pictures:

These next pictures I could have taken every day for 5 days straight and they would have all looked the same. I KID YOU NOT. This girl loves this dress up outfit. She wants it on at ALL TIMES. For a week straight it was all she wore, and well...I didn't feel like fighting her on it. She even wanted to wear it to bed. And depending on if Mommy or Daddy put her to bed...sometimes she went to bed with it on. After five days of going to the grocery store, park, bed, Gavin's school, and pretty much everywhere... I decided to hide it while she was in the bath. It is still hiding as I am afraid with school starting for her this week...she'll want it back on if she sees it.

With Ellie starting gymnastics and cheer, she loves getting on her Daddy's shoulders. Sitting or standing. On this particular day in the pool Gavin got on Daddy's shoulders and then Ellie on Gavin's. Maybe we could be a family that would fit in a circus....hmmm...you think?

This Labor Day weekend after doing some retail therapy shopping with my neighbor at the mall, she and her husband invited us to go eat Dim Sum. Frank loves Dim Sum, but I had never eaten it. Being that I am not big on grease unless it's on a pizza, I wasn't a huge fan. I felt bad as they were really hoping I'd like it, but I ended up politely spitting a few bites into my napkin. And don't get me started on the tapioca tea that Traci let me try. And Traci, no matter how many times you tell me that those were tapioca balls I sipped up through the straw...they were SOOO MOLASSES balls. Blahhh.... Needless to say, I don't think I'll be hurrying back to Chinatown anytime soon. But Frank and the kids would probably go again and join them. The company was great but food....NOT SO MUCH! Traci and I did snap a picture in front of the pretty flowers blooming.

And I just loved this little guy...he made me happy:

Sunday after Church we drove up to the lake and ate at Five Guys. Maybe I do like something else greasy because I love that place. Thankfully it is a little drive from our house. :) Afterwards, we went and fed the catfish and carp in the lake our leftover french fries. The kids loved it, especially Hadley:

Today we went to the Oasis for a little last minute Labor Day fun, and I should have pictures from that, but we quickly had to leave as the rain blew in. I will admit I was a little excited as I have been dying to make soup and when it is hot and sunny outside...soup just doesn't feel right. So this afternoon as I downloaded pictures I made a big ol' pot of The Pioneer Womans White Chicken Chile and we are about to eat it and watch Marmaduke. I told the kids next time it rains we'd get that movie....so tonight is the night. Oh and did I mention we've been in our pajamas since 1pm. It's been a great day.

So...not so bad for a little purse camera huh???

Hope you all had a great, long Labor Day weekend!!