Levi's 1st Christmas Program

Levi had his first Christmas program at the preschool last Thursday. This is the same exact Christmas program that Sienna did last year and the year before, when she was at the preschool. However, it certainly didn't feel like I was watching the same program. I was very concerned about starting Levi in preschool this year. He is a young 3 and still has behavior issues we're working on. However, his teachers tell me that he is their pleasant surprise this year. He hasn't given them any trouble so far. No fits of rage, no throwing, no hitting, no biting. He follows the routine and transitions well. Huh?! That is complete polar opposite of his behavior at home. I'm thankful that he is well behaved at school but he wish he would be that way at home too.


I think the teachers got a little taste of Levi's home behavior the day of the program. He was very excited at the begining. Somewhere toward the end of the first song, something went wrong. I think the jingle bells ringing was too loud for him. He covered his ears and that was the begining of the end. He stuck his tongue out at me, he yelled NO at his teacher, he sat down and refused to get back up, he yelled NO at his teacher again and turned his back on everyone. I kind of held my breath through most of the program afraid of what he might do next. Here's a few quick videos of Levi in action.

Sierra's 1st Band Concert

Sierra joined the band this year and is playing the flute. This is the first year that band has been offered to her and she was very excited to join. She is doing really well at playing the flute, too. They had their first concert last week. I was surprised that they would have one so soon. They've been practing since the 2nd month of school but only at their recess time and just the flutes - not the full band together. For one month the entire 5th grade band has been practicing together. That's not alot of practice time for a concert, in my opinion. But they all did really well. There is about 50 kids in the 5th grade band. I wish I had more pictures to post but it is sooo difficult to get a good photo in the gym with my camera. Something about the lighting. In the pictures I do have, you'll find Sierra in the front row second seat from the left. But I did get some video too so I end with the video. Enjoy!

Another Mini Cheer Clinic

Oh how I LOVE mini cheer clinic! It's the absolute best! The girls really enjoy it too. Maybe even almost as much as me! The mini cheerleaders stay after school with the 'big' (high school) cheerleaders and practice for a week and then they get to cheer and perform at one of the high school games. However, due to weather issues and scheduling conflicts, they did not get to cheer at one of the games this year. So they put on a show for all of the parents about 3 weeks after they originally practiced. They stayed after school for a refresher practice and then did the show.

Sierra had been out of school all that week due to H1N1 and this was her first day back (Friday). She did an awesome job and hit all of her moves but some of her zest wasn't there this time. She did a fantastically amazing job and then when you consider that she was still recovering from the flu, it's even more amazing. Sienna is so cute. She's at that age. And she's really good, especially considering she's only 5 years old.

The pictures didn't turn out so great. Something about the lighting in the gym forces you to use a night setting on your camera and then you have to be super still for the focus to turn out okay. So I'm just going to post a couple of videos. Sienna is in the front wearing pink shoes and Sierra is in the very back right in the middle, in front of a brown door. I'll leave you with a quick life lesson I have learned: the person recording video should probably not talk during filming. Enjoy!

Our Secret Language

Levi celebrated his 3rd birthday in August. It's hard to believe he's 3 already! I started him in preschool this year. It's a year earlier than I wanted to start him but his speech delay is so severe that everyone (therapists, case workers, etc) thought it would be a good idea. I was hesitant but went ahead and did it anyway. Surprisingly, he is doing really well at school. He transitions easily and has no behavior issues at school. His only issue now is his speech. He has come really far and is doing sooooo much better than 6 months ago. He does talk and attempt to express his thoughts with words. But at this point, it comes out like a secret language that only him and I speak. It's actually kind of cute (and a little frustrating for us both). He will get a word or two (3 on a really good day) and the rest is sounds (his attempt at words that won't form yet) and lots of hand motions and actions. It's actually pretty amazing, for a boy that can't speak well at all, he expresses himself very well. He's discovering new words everyday. He said brownie (his favorite food) the other day and I just about came undone. That's the first two syllable word (mama and dada don't count) he's said! He says his name now even though it sounds like Wewi. Sienna is YaYa and Sierra is DD. I think he calls Sierra DD because he is attempting to say Sissy and as for YaYa, I think that comes from the last sound in Sienna's name. He is talking but it is our secret language (which is better than none)!

Hello Again

Hello! Is anyone there? It's been such a long time since I've blogged. But I'm back online now and so thankful to be. So there's lots of catching up to do but I don't have time right now for a long post. So I'll just give you a couple quick updates on what's been going on with my family. This is a picture of the girls walking home today from their new bus stop. We bought a house! We just moved last Saturday so we're still getting settled in but we absolutely love it. It's not far from where we were before so the kids didn't have to change schools, thankfully.

The girls did a mini cheer clinic recently so I'll have some pictures and videos of that to post soon. Levi is doing fabulous at preschool, surprisingly so. His speech is still slow but it is finally starting to come. Sienna is loving kindergarten, naturally. And Sierra is having a good start to the fifth grade. She joined the band this year and is playing the flute.

I'll leave you with a quick video of Sienna and Levi doing an impromptu performance for me. I'll post more soon!

Our First Trip to the Race Way

Having a son is so TOTALLY different from daughters. Levi absolutely loves cars, tractors, wagons, monster trucks~ pretty much anything with wheels. Well, we live about 5 minutes from a race park (is it still race track?). During the summer weekends you can hear the race cars at our house. They were giving away free tickets for the season opener last Saturday so we decided to take the kids. We had never been before so I had no idea what to expect. I was really concerned about what Levi would be like to handle. But he had a blast! We all did. We bought the kids earplugs and I later went back and bought a pair for myself too. They had jet engine cars there. I'm sure most of you know what they are. For those girly girls out there, like myself, who have no idea~ they are cars that have been adapted to be powered by an actual jet engine. (Yeah, just like it sounds. I still really didn't get it til I saw it.) They are incredibly loud! They make your ears vibrate on the inside. After the first two went by I immediately looked at Levi thinking he was going to be scared - he stood up clapping and yelled "Go Vroom Vroom Go Vroom Vroom!" He absolutely loved every bit of it. Sienna however wasn't feeling the loudness of the situation and asked if we go elsewhere. So Sienna walked around alot but she had a really good time too. Sierra had a really good time too. But she did have an older cousin (Dave's niece) there so that added to her good time. Don't you remember being a 'tween' and getting a chance to hang with your 'cool teen' cousin? Nothing better than that! We all had a really nice time (and it was FREE)!

Summer Preview

A couple of weeks ago we took the kids to Kalahari for an over night visit. We had so much fun! Levi is a riot~ it took him a minute to absorb everything but once he did, he was off and running, literally. He was into everything. But he would not come down the slide. Sienna is just at that great age. Not to scared to do any of the age appropriate things but just scared enough to stay close by. The kid area was actually big enough that grown ups could climb on everything and go down the slides too. That was nice because Sierra could play with the little ones too. But she's big enough to go on all of the big slides and rides. so that's where she tried to spend most of her time. So after we had dinner and played for way too long in the arcade, Dave & Sierra went back to the waterpark to ride the big stuff while I attempted bed time for Levi (Sienna was my helper). So while Sienna & I were waiting for Daddy & Sierra's return we were watching the waterpark channel on tv. It's supposed to be a live feed and we were hoping to see Daddy & Sierra. Imagine my surprise when I saw myself with a small version of my girls!! The live feed wasn't running and instead they were playing their commercial advertisement videos. Years ago when the resort first opened and Sienna was just a baby, the girls and I went for an overnight visit with a friend and her nieces. We were told that day that they were filming for their advertisements so expect to see the cameras and crews. Apparently they got some footage of me and the girls riding a huge family raft. Sienna was sooo tiny she had to wear a life jacket. And Sierra still had long hair, looking quit a bit like Sienna does now. It was a neat surprise to see younger versions of ourselves on their video. We must have watched that video 50 times, just to see 5 seconds of ourselves!!




I absolutely love this picture! Levi is in there too~ I swear!! He's just so short all we can see is the very tip top of his head.










Believe it or not, this in the little kid section. I had already told everyone that we had to get pictures right away so I could put the camera and play too. Sierra started scanning for good places to take the photos. I thought she picked a nice spot.






I think Sienna could possibly be the most photogenic creature on the planet!!







Levi had so much fun. I was really proud of his bravery. Last summer at the rec pool, he wouldn't even get his face wet at all. At Kalahari, he was running through spraying water and dunking himself constantly. I couldn't believe it. But don't take your eyes off him long enough to blink cause he'll be gone! I was a nervous wreck the whole time.

The Ant and the Elephant

Last Friday Sienna's preschool class had a field trip to see the musical adaptation of The Ant and the Elephant. They even got to ride the school bus. To say that Sienna was excited would be a major understatement. She talked about it all week long and had her outfit picked out days in advance. She would ONLY wear the dress that she wore for her birthday party. I had no problem with this. However, she also came downstairs wearing one of her many many princess crowns. And about 5 bracelets on each arm. I tried to talk her out of the princess crown. But she really wanted to wear it. So as I listened to her explain all of the reasons why she NEEDED to wear it, I realized just how big of a deal this musical production put on by community college kids meant to her. This would be like if I ever was able to go to the opera. A night like that complete with a fancy dress and a limo ride would make me feel like a princess. And that would probably be the one and only time that I could wear my princess crown. I finally gave in and let her wear it.

I had so much fun watching Sienna watch the musical. From the time we walked in and she saw the stage and the seating. Her eyes were huge just absorbing everything she saw. And she stayed that way right up until we left. Watching her face and her eyes as the characters moved and sang~ it was as though she was absorbing everything. It was a beautiful thing to see. It was one of the moments that you don't ever want to forget exactly how it felt. We had a really nice time. I only wish that I would have worn my princess crown too.

The Many Faces of Me

I have a terrible habit of making the weirdest faces in pictures. They're actually pretty funny. But I'm wondering ~ Am I really this animated, constantly making all kinds of goofy faces or is my sister sabotaging me with her camera?

The Princess Party

Sienna turned 5 last Tuesday and we had her party yesterday (Saturday). We invited all the little girls from her preschool class. Out of 9 invitations, 7 little girls came. They had so much fun. We all did. I was actually quite nervous. The entire party had to be planned, right down to the smallest detail. Even though I had been planning this party for about 2 months, I was still worried that I was majorly overlooking something. I had Shell and Maddie come down to give me a hand with things. And I sent Dave & Levi off to the vets to get the puppies their shots.

The party lasted from noon to 3:00. Shell had me a little concerned that it was going to be a bit too long for the girls. However, it was not. I think 3 hours was just about perfect. We played games, did a craft, ate, and they ran all over the house blowing party horns as loud as they could. Sienna was in her 7th heaven having so many friends over. She is always asking to have sleep overs but that's not very successful at this age. Sienna was an excellent hostess. I was afraid that she would pick one girl and want to play with just her. But she didn't. She played with all the girls equally. She gave each girl a hug as they left and told them thank you for coming to her party and for her gifts. Then her & Sierra continued to play 'party' for the rest of the night. They even included Levi. It was a really fun day for Sienna. And I think the party went really well. All of the girls really seemed to enjoy themselves. Here's some more pictures of the party in action!

This is the frog that I made for the 'Kiss the Prince' game. (Pin the Tail on the Donkey with a Princess twist). I'm not very crafty. I would like to be naturally crafty & creative but the truth is I struggle to make a decent stick figure! So this was quite the accomplishment for me. I don't know what I would do without the internet! This frog is still hanging on my wall and the kids are still playing Kiss the Frog.



Here's a couple of shots of the all the girls sitting together. It was actually kind of hard to get pics of all the girls together unless they were sitting down eating!








This is the girls playing Freeze Dance.












As the girls came in Sienna would take them over to the table to pick out their Princess Crown. Instead of party hats each girl got their own princess crown and earrings to wear. FYI: the earrings break very easily.

Happy Birthday Sienna Pearl!!

I cannot even believe that my baby girl is 5 years old already! Where does all the time go? I know that we say it all the time, but really, why does it all go by so fast? And why doesn't it feel fast in the moment? It's just another reminder to me to love the people in my life with all that I am.

Sienna had a wonderful day. And I did too just being able to share her day with her. I woke her up this morning by singing happy birthday to her which she absolutely loved. Then she wanted a cupcake with a candle in it for breakfast. How do you say no to a cupcake on her birthday? She was very excited to get to school and see all of her friends. She just knew they were all eager to tell her Happy Birthday, I guess. To pretty much everything I would say she would respond with, "Cause I the birthday girl." Walking into school I told to her hold my hand because I didn't want her to fall on the ice. She said, "Cause I the birthday girl." Her class made her a birthday card and sang happy birthday to her. Then she got to pass out her birthday treat as her friends were dismissed. We made cupcakes and chocolate covered pretzel rods for her pass out treat. She was so grown up saying thank you and your welcome to each friend.

Later we did a little shopping and took her to McDonald's for lunch & play. Every person we saw she told them that it was her birthday and that she was 5 years old today. She was just so pleased with herself all day. After Sierra got home from school Sienna was finally able to open her presents. Sierra & Levi gave Sienna a new pack of diapers for her baby (Baby Alive~ it actually pees). And Daddy & Mommy gave Sienna the Princess Talking Kitchen. She asked for this for Christmas but didn't get it. I didn't want to get for her birthday either because she already has a really nice kitchen in her bedroom. However, she was very adamant that this was what she wanted. The video below shows her opening the kitchen and how excited she was.

We ended the wonderful day with a very small celebration with Grami, Mamaw, Aunt Shell & the kids. Sienna is having her birthday party this Saturday. She has invited all the girls from her preschool class. There's only 8 girls so even if they all come it shouldn't be too bad. Sienna is EXTREMELY excited for the party (and so am I). As Sienna was giving a treat to one of her friends this afternoon she said to her, "And thank you for talking to me about my party and kissing the frog." And they both giggled. Is that not so grown up of her? I almost cried, but I didn't. (Hey, there was alot of people at the preschool). And as for kissing the frog~ We're going to play Kiss the Frog Prince at her party. Think Pin the Tail on the Donkey but with a princess twist. She can't stop talking about that game.

She had a great day. I am so blessed and fortunate to have such wonderful and amazing kids. They make me every good thing that I am. Even when they're driving me crazy and I'm ready to jump out the window, it's because of them that I don't. Those smiles. Those giggles. It makes everything in life so worth it. So, to my amazing 5 yr. old Love Nugget I say~ I love you and I am soooo proud of you everyday. Happy Birthday Baby!! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Mommy's Day Out

Wow!! Is it cold enough for ya?! Did you get enough snow?! What is going on here? I can't take much more of this. Seriously. This is not working for me. The kids got a couple of snow days a couple of weeks ago. We found ourselves on a 5 day stretch of no school. I did not leave the house from Tuesday morning (Sienna's last day of school) until the following Monday when I took Mom to the eye doctor. Isn't that terrible? It's just too cold for me. This is the first day that I've had internet for about 3 or 4 days.

Back to my topic, I drove Mom to the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago because she was getting her eyes dilated. So I left the kids home with Dave. After Mom's appointment we stopped at the Olive Garden and had some lunch. It was a nice afternoon. Except for Mom's eye looking like it was going to jump out and attack me from across the table. By the time I got home the kids were acting like I had been gone for a week. Everyone was alive and safe, including Dave. It was a good day. After the kids had gone to bed I sat down and looked through my camera, for no real reason. It was a nice surprise to see that the kids had been using the camera while I was gone. They often do this and sometimes that get some really good ones (and alot of not so great ones). This particular day it was full of lots of good pictures for me. The girls had spent the day with the puppies, doing lots of things that Mommy won't let them do.

Notice how these poor puppies have their back legs through the seat belts. I asked the girls about this to which Sierra replied, "Sienna told me to." Sienna didn't hesitate with her response of, "So they could be safe." As I continued to look through the pictures I asked Sienna if all the puppies had their own car. She said, "Two of them had to share."

4 Weeks Already!

Can you believe the pups are 4 weeks old already? They are soooo cute. They are extremely mobile now. They run all over the floor and are very playful. I'm actually very surprised at how very playful they are already, not only with each other but also with us. Two of them were all over Sienna this afternoon. Biting at her pants and her hair. I started giving them solid food yesterday. It was gruel (ground up dog food & water) but they loved it. And Lola loved the fact that she got to skip a feeding finally. Sienna & I lost one of the pups for about 20 minutes yesterday. He had climbed out of the box and then went in between the couch and the wall but couldn't figure out how to get back out, so he just went to sleep. Here's some cute pictures of the kids and our rapidly growing puppies.





This is Sierra supervising the exploration of the doll house.












And here is Levi shooting the puppies.















And this is just Sienna loving loving the puppies.

















Breakfast Time!