weekends lately

We've had some good old fashioned family time this fall on our September weekends. Ahh--the weekends. Although. a mom's job never rests on the weekend...I savor the fact that there are no packed lunches to assemble, folders  to initial, or waking before daybreak.
Omi and Papa drove down on their way down to Destin. We soaked up a great day of attention from Omi while Papa & daddy enjoyed a tailgating Braves game with several other father & son duos.  One of these days, the little boys will be included in this yearly event. Here we are after church on Sunday. It just so happened that the kiddos matched their grandparents, so we had to capture the cuteness of our chocolate brown themed photo.

Rewind to the night before our house guests and we were loving the bonfire on our street. Who doesn't love a good fire on a chilly, Friday night? Add in S'mores and Pope high school band music into the mix and we called it a party.  The kiddos were riding bikes much too late on the eve before a soccer game:) We definitely pay for these late Friday nights on our street.

Sometimes, we even end up with a little after party in the basement. This photo was too crazy not to post. Loving our weekends lately--

cooking playdates & lego boys

Our friend "E" greeted us for a playdate at the front door carrying a surprise bag full of all the ingredients to make cookies. Between playing dress up and pretend singing like "pop stars"--these two assumed  the role of Suzie Housemaker baking up a storm on a Friday afternoon. Whenever E walks down to our house, we play switch-a-roo and the first grade brothers hang out at her house down the street. It works out best to have a "his" and "hers" house.

They munched on apples slices while they mixed up the dough.  Rolling the dough into balls on the cookie sheet was a hit! Baking is fun when you have a friend to share the work.
 

They were even cuter to observe from behind. I love the laughter and sweet noises of little girls in the house. Of course, there's always the brief "she's not sharing" drama to always work out. But, it's wonderful to have opportunities to practice friendship skills during playdates.

"C", another neighborhood friend is a dress up playdate diva girl too. It's nice to have a few little girls to socialize with on the block. I must confess that we're still building our collection of girl's toys. We try to stay away from overindulging our kids with toys. But, now I can see that EK deserves a little spoiling coming up:)

Miller's been hosting a few boys over too. We've settled into our fall routine that only leaves Thursdays and Fridays for after school playdates. It's so convenient to have a first grade boy next door to hop on over without a whole lot of coordinating. I love organic friendships on the street where playdates just fall into place. Miller is still obsessed with imaginary play involving legos. The boys constructed their own spaceship battle ships and went to town with a whole space village.

G is also a neighborhood pal that digs lego construction. These two play Lego Skylander men and usually carry out their whole imaginary skit outside after their lego themed construction. Sticky popsicle drips are not allowed in my house:) I'm loving having a fence in the new house to contain the mud stained male gender. Now that the weather is cooling off, I can open the deck door and keep a close watch on the boys while I'm working in the kitchen. Our backyard is now a busy place these days now that the GA weather is gorgeous.

techie picnic

What a good looking group of all 22 techies. We couldn't be more thrilled with Miller's teacher this year. An answer to our prayers, that smiley Mrs. K is... We feel like Miller hit the jackpot in the teacher department. Not only is she exceptional instructionally, she's happy and loves the children with her actions. She is the model first grade teacher keeping things fun and at their level realizing that they are six years old.

 My favorite incentive that she has going on this month is a lunch date with the teacher. Each table grouping that wins a weekly tally competition of hardest & quietest workers gets to each lunch with Mrs. K in the room on Fridays. She sets out a white table cloth and chats with her quiet friends.  Then a special short movie plays while they finish up. Miller's table earned this privilege twice & he came home especially excited about earning a date with his first grade teacher. Looking ahead--it's bring your favorite stuffed buddy to school day once the class earns enough compliments. I can't even handle the adorable--ness of calling it a "stuffed buddy". Miller is counting down the days to introduce Sharky to his class.

  The room moms got together and planned a techie class picnic at the school in late September. It's always helpful to meet the families of your classmates, so we planned a little get together after school to meet & greet. The kids enjoyed playing on their school playground over dinner.

Miller requested a special snack to share, so I made peanut free Scarecrow crunch treats. Who knew that peanut free candy corn was hard to find?

The weather was gorgeous & it was great finally putting a face with a  name.

Our neighbor friend "L" and Miller had fun sliding all kinds of crazy ways-- their style was probably not school "playground rules" approved. But, it was after hours:) Oh the wild and sometimes daring ways of boys.

 

 

I absolutely loved meeting all the first grade techie friends and parents. Now, I feel like I can greet everyone by their names when I volunteer in Miller's room. The weather cooperated and even the little siblings had a blast. Thankful for a successful kick off on Miller's first grade journey.

 

Pirate Donuts & first crushes

These scallywag friends dressed up in their pirate best for free Krispie Kreme donuts. We love this most generous Pirate Day that KK hosts every year. If you talk the pirate language, you get one free donut. And, if you go the extra mile and dress up in your finest pirate attire, you are entitled to a pirate dozen for each costume. Since, we traveled to the new KK in Roswell during a peak after school hour, we decided to not wait around for six dozen to bump their way off of the assembly line. Our little mateys didn't need all of that sugar before dinner anyway:) We managed a donut for each little pirate and their sugary smiles were satisfied.

a patch for each eye...shiver me timbers!

Owen and Eliza Kate have been fast friends since they were toddlers. EK's whole face lights up when she sees her friend Owen. They really are just darling together especially in their matching bandanas--oh my!

Their little date continued at our Sunday School tailgating picnic. Andrea snapped a few pictures of their cuteness while playing. We brought scooters, ride ons & tricycles for the kids to enjoy over dinner. EK hitched a ride on the back of her trike. Owen made a great driver!

Holding hands down the slide--I can't even handle it! It looks like Eliza Kate ran her way through the park misters several times. She came home drenched and sandy. One thing is for sure, she can keep up with the boys.

So blessed by sweet friendships at such a young age.  It brings me such joy to watch them play!