Back 2 School

Yesterday we went and met Noah's new preschool teacher. Her name is Miss Stacey and she is very nice. She spent a few years teaching elementary school before she had her own children and now that they are starting school she is teaching at our preschool. Noah got along well with her and I really liked how the room was set up for the kids. After working in childcare for so long I appreciate when I see a well set up class room and I am excited for Noah to spend time there playing and learning with his friends. There are three kids in his class that he attended with last year, so he will have some friends already when he starts this year. We think that will make it an easier transition. There are 6 boys and 5 girls in his class this year (Yay! Last year there were only 2 boys in a class of 10) so we are excited about that too.
Rachel has a new love - Elmo. She still calls him La-La most of the time, but she can say Melmo if prompted and we have been trying to teach her that that is his name. I think it's kind of cute though that she calls him La-La. I think this came about from hearing "Elmo's Song" in the car. Like Noah did when he was her age, she loves to hear the 1st Birthday cd while in the car.

Love Sandwiches

Love sandwiches. Many days when Doug comes home from work we'll gather in our room and play on our bed with the kids - usually wrestling, tickling, having fun. We make love sandwiches (pile ons). Noah likes to say that he and daddy are the bread, I'm the love and Rachel is the pickle. It's cute. It's funny. I love it.
Yesterday was a fun day. We had a busy day filled with lots of playing. We got Noah signed up for Fall Soccer and had to go buy a soccer ball and shin guards. After dinner we went for our walk and it was so darn hot that when we got home we all piled into our little pool! The kids had a ball with Mommy and Daddy in the pool with them. It was fun and with just a little daylight left we headed out to Coldstone for some icecream.
Rachel also went potty on her little potty chair for the first time yesterday. She's been telling me when she goes occasionally and wants to be changed right away, so I took her in the bathroom and she was so excited that she did it - standing up and clapping after she had gone. I'm in no big rush to start the whole potty training process (ugh), but atleast I know she's got the idea! Exciting stuff. :)

Happy Birthday Chloe & David!

Popsicles!

What makes over 100 degree weather a little less brutal? Popsicles, ofcourse! ;) Noah and Rachel can't get enough popsicles right now... can you blame them? It's freakin' hot! Love these popsicle faces. =)

He knows he's cool... ;)

I've been wearing the kids out in the evenings going for our walk. Lucky Rachel gets to ride in the stroller, but Noah has to ride his bike to keep up with me. Poor kid- He's getting really, really good at riding that bike. ;) Right now the hard part is that it is so darn hot. We do over a mile and it's at a fast pace. The kids love it though. Plus it wears them out and they're more than ready for a bath when we get home.

Who knew?

...brushing your teeth could be so entertaining?

This was just one of those times when I was watching the kids and couldn't help but just smile and be so very happy that these two little rug-rats are ours. We had the normal Monday night at our house. The *Shhhhhh, Daddy's sleeping because he has to work* kind of night, and sometimes it's a lot to ask of these two little monkeys... We did our evening walk and came home for a bath, books and teethbrushing... then a little bit of playing before bed. I love watching them. Especially when they are together and happy. Makes me happy. =)

What girl doesn't love a bubble bath?

We met up with Ramona and Braxton yesterday for a day of hard playing and the kids had fun in the tub last night getting clean. It isn't very often they get a bubble bath (in fact, this might be one of Rachel's first ones...) and they loved it! Rachel smiled the entire time she was in the tub.

Flying with Papa

We just got back last night from another quick trip to Tennessee where we got to spend more time with our family. Noah got to go flying with his Papa in his airplane while we were there. He hasn't stopped talking about it since we got home. Don, Doug and Noah flew over to the Gatlinburg Airport while we girls, (Darla, Rachel & I) drove over to meet up for lunch and some shopping at the outlet malls. Noah got to sit in the pilot's seat for a bit before they took off and 'fly' the plane. He thinks his Papa is one cool dude. =)

Just a bucket of water...

It's so funny (and cute) how much kids love water. I've been trying to be careful with Rachel's skin lately as her eczema has gotten pretty uncomfortable and so I had set out a few buckets of water for the kids to play with instead of setting up the pool. Ofcourse, they figure out they are both still small enough to sit in the bucket... What fun is summer and hot weather without getting wet and having fun?

Back Yard Fun

Eat More Chicken

Our Chick-fil-a opened here in Bryant today. We have been counting down the days since they broke ground on the place... sad huh? ;) However, it is one of our favorite fast food places, and they have a playland (score one for the kiddos!) so it's a pretty cool addition to our little town. The kids each got a cow bean bag toy and a balloon tonight at dinner for their grand opening - so they were pretty excited. =)