summer's end

As the door is closing on summer, we were thankful for one last BBQ with family at my parent's church. The Holy Smoke bbq is becoming an annual event on our calendar. Miller heard about the car show and was chatting it up all weekend long. We could hardly pull him away from admiring all the makes & models. He knows most from memory. His miniature versions became life sized and it was a delight to see his whole face light up.

A vintage Ford Bronco captured his full attention. Poppy was able to show Miller a model of his first car an MG in person instead of just print. Car heaven was just where this boy landed walking into a classic car show like this one.

Jay Memory was in concert playing lots of familiar tunes. He's a one man band that we've enjoyed seeing play at local parks for years. Kid friendly, yet the adults were getting into it too. We grabbed a seat to soak it all in.

And, then it was dancing time..lots of jumping, shaking, twirling, and gettin' into the groove time. Knees bent and bottom out..I love Miller's five year old moves.

Both danced like no one was watching! They don't have any inhibitions or fears of what will people think yet. They're just free to dance...love it! It was one of those times that I just sit and drink it all in. Taking mental pictures in my mind & freeze frames of joyful moments is how I cope with time passing too quickly. They bless me so.

Princess Belle was in attendance handing out sparkly wands to all the little girls. "I saw Belle"  was the sentence of the day rolling off the lips of EK. She's in love with all things princess.

Miller's t-ball friend Hutton was at the festival. These two hopped from tent to tent & jumpy to jumpy with Hutton's preteen sister Lainey. She had the energy to keep track of these friends. When I finally reunited with the boys they were getting their faces painted.

Coming down from her Belle high, Eliza Kate wanted a red heart on her face. This was a face painted first for our girly. She's can sit still for longer periods compared to her brother at this age.

 A balloon twisted headdress was next on the agenda. Miller requested a crazy hat. That's just what he got! Here's to the close of summer! It was a wonderful one.

zoo trip

 
 Eliza Kate is becoming quite the animal lover at two years old. "With a moo moo here and a quack quack there", she's always spying furry friends or singing animal songs.  An inaugural trip to the Atlanta zoo was the ideal activity to hold her interest. And, since
"it's a zoo" around here if we don't keep these two occupied--a day trip was in order.   She's so much easier to take on outings like these as we're cruising towards the middle of her terrific twos. Miller sure didn't mind an excuse to get out.
 Eliza Kate spied the flamingos first. She adores anything PINK. If you ask her a question she doesn't know the answer to, she kindly responds, "pink". In no time, she was assuming flamingo like posture standing on one foot with her tongue out. The tongue wag was her own concentration creation.
{warning: picture heavy post--I couldn't leave out any details!!}

Her second favorite exhibit {based on ooh's & ahh's} were the elephants. We watched them at feeding time. EK was safely perched on grandmama's hip for her viewing pleasure.

I was obnoxiously making trumpeting elephant sounds with hand swinging hand motions so she'd make the connection. We were talking up elephant traits as soon as I dressed the little missy in her elephant themed dress.

I love it when zoos build in the unobstructed glass view for the shorter crowd. It's up close and personal with no ropes getting in the way of animal gazing. She had her hands and nose all over the glass:)

Our fierce  tame lion looks way too cute to be intimidating...and I'm not "lion"! He does try to rank himself as the king of our pride all too often.

My favorite exhibit included the giraffes & zebras & rhinos grouped together. It was an African Savannah of sorts.  Miller had flashback connections to our wild jeep ride in Animal Kingdom.

This camera ham was endlessly entertaining pulling out his show stopping poses in front of all the meerkats. We caught these animals just before naptime. Their bellies were full & their eyes were dosing into a deep sleep laying on their backs.

My crazy two closely resembled their famous meerkat brother, Timon ---from the Lion King. All of a sudden, Miller let out a meerkat growl assuming character.

 The gorilla habitat could have been left off our agenda according to Eliza Kate. She didn't even want to look in their direction. Out of sight, out of mind.  The if I don't see them, they can't see me mentality worked for her though. It made me content that the Atlanta zoo now has a happy home for the gorillas. Years ago, when we came with family, poor little Willie B was kept in a cage alone with a black and white TV to keep him company. It's so much more humane this way. Nothing like seeing the animals in setting that looks like home to them.

The baby gorillas were swinging in the hassock. This scene entertained our prissy missy. She's really into baby animals. And, when we mentioned the gorilla's fuzzy bottom..she laughed hysterically. Miller too.

Daddy's girl! Landon can't get enough of her.

Meandering through the rainforest was another highlight. The line is blurred between real & fake at these venues. We honestly had to analyze the bamboo to figure out if they were real or not. The verdict { not real}.

My two little monkeys were swinging their way through the jungle.

Eliza Kate was our little navigator. She is in an imitation phase of life. She kept saying with a point of a finger, "How about this one?" , "this way" & "c'mon guys". She's a little mommy alright trying to navigate our crew.  

They coordinated efforts and figured out a route to get to all the last exhibits. The pandas were calling our names.

We witnessed the most adorable of scenes. The baby panda was chillin' in a tree eating a bamboo shoot.

I was really proud of Eliza Kate at the petting zoo. She finally mustered up the confidence to pet the goats with the brush. She's timid around larger animals up close.

She stroked a few brushes before deciding that she was scared afterall. Clinging to Landon's legs & crying is how she ended her petting session. Daddy with all his mercy & compassion towards his darling girly scooped her up into safety. She has his heart strings.

Miller previewed the train & decided that this was a must do. He heard it rolling down the tracks and got excited. I love how the lady conductor had her hand up waving elbow elbow, wrist wrist like a beauty queen. She pulled Miller into a trance:)

Nothing like wrapping up a zoo visit with a relaxing ride through the tunnels with the breeze in our hair. At 2 years old, Miller cried his way through the tunnels. EK was brave and drank it all in.  Thankful for this time together & looking forward to Poppy joining us next time!

first day of 2's

I caught a glimpse of our 2 year old this morning and connected it to the commercial where the dad is saying goodbye to his young daughter and all of a sudden she morphs into a teenager leaving for college. Time is precious, but fleeting in this way. Maybe my maddening sentiment is fresh in that we're still riding the wave of milestone goodbyes this fall...

Eliza Kate half way obliged to a quick picture before loading up this morning. She was armed with lovey her BFF nestled securely under her arm. It's a security crutch of sorts.

But, this is how she really felt deep down about preschool. EK kept repeating with a shake, shake of her head "No school". A stark personality contrast from big brother, Eliza Kate is apprehensive & slow to warm up about new environments. I wrestled with preparing her for the time away from me OR just dropping her off with no announcement of things to come. She's just two.
Her beloved pink lovey had to stay home for the morning & a borrowed teddy bear stepped in its place to escort our lil lady to class for a special teddy bear tea party.
 

Our girl has lots of changes in her little world right now with a transitional home {although I swear she doesn't notice }, a new promotional 2 yr. old room at church on Sunday mornings, and starting Puggles on Wednesday nights. Change is good though in their little world from time to time. I know it helped Miller build his confidence to step into unfamiliar environments without a special friend.
We packed up her special All About Me homework peeking out of her bag. I think it's probably comforting to see familiar faces during the day posted in the room.

We hunted for Nemo on the way into the building. And, she cried when I dropped her off. I didn't let it ruin my morning. She always adjusts. No first day photos with her teachers...she was a sobbing mess. I made a quick exit. Once she builds up her trust, hopefully I'll get a smiling memory to keep.

I blinked and it was time for pick up. That's how preschool mornings are. I will say that for the first time in my mommying career, I am solo at home and it's glorious. I've never had a season like this and I must admit that I feel a twinge of guilt. All my chores get done in a flash and totally independently without urgent toddler needs to meet. I stroll the grocery aisles and take time to read the labels just because I can. I'm soaking it in for now as I'll be teaching this winter.

Our school girl proudly showed off her teddy bear first day artwork. Ms. K commented that she was thrilled that EK already knew her shapes & colors. Our happy girl shouted "mommy"! when I popped in her doorway. She always says to me," Look mommy, I made it"..when we locate her work. She has an interest in arts in crafts...wa hoo!

We ran into our friends Miss Whitney & Hadley with big brother Brooks in tow after school . We couldn't resist the coordinating outfits. Hadley gave us the cutest little walk to capture the moment. And, EK was thrilled to chase her around.  Their age gap is narrowing now that Eliza Kate is getting older.

Sweet girls! Here's to firsts.

And, finally a parting family blessing that has been passed down from Grandma Eliza Aldridge to my mom and now I'm reciting it in prayer to the kiddos before they leave for school mornings. I love this legacy and hope to keep passing it down throughout our family.

“‘“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

– Numbers 6:24-26

 

 

 

Meet the Teachers {preschool edition}

We're all geared up for the little missy to start school this fall. I hemmed and hawd {southernism} over shipping my 2.4 year old off to school. Afterall, I didn't start Miller until 3 years old. It's so easy to dwell on keeping everything equal and the same for both kids. I'm learning though that each child is different, your family needs change with each one & birth order has a lot to do with choices too. Can you tell that is was a big dilemma? She is my baby you know.
And, I'm a self proclaimed over analyzer    s.l.o.w decision maker which is probably why we are still house hunting:)

 By the time we moved, settled in, and the sunset of summer was upon us...I knew I had to face the music and go ahead and take the preschool plunge. At least selecting the preschool was the easiest part of our decision. Since I'll be accepting a supply teaching position in January for an expectant teaching friend, I went ahead and signed Eliza Kate up for the Tues, Weds., Thurs. class. With the Tues./Thurs. class full , a twinge of mommy guilt swept over me to do the 3 day class. I know I'll be happy about it when I'm a full time teacher for 8 weeks this winter. She's had a nice, long unstructured toddler run at home. We sure will soak up our Mondays and Fridays together doing mommy & me outings this year.

We met her sweet teachers this week. Grandmama actually had the inside tour of her teacher's before we did as she's up working at her church weekly. I love walking into a room knowing that the teacher has prepared it with my child in mind. As you've read, spotting a hand written name with one of my children's names on it around the room gets me every time. We strolled in with 10 minutes to close for meet & greet. I'm doing a bible study at the church on Tues. mornings. So, by the time I picked up EK from childcare, we were rushing to get face time. Not to mention making a stop by the cafe to purchase fruit snacks. She was awfully hungry playing all morning long.

Eliza Kate took a tour of her room while I was trying my best to juggle paperwork...all kinds of forms and sign ups. I'm excited about the opportunity to be a mystery reader in her class.
 I didn't want to push a teacher picture just yet as I could tell she was timid wondering if I was going to leave her again. I'm still learning aspects of her little personality.

But, she did break out a diva-ish pose outside the classroom when I asked her to smile. Oh my! An over the shoulder glance at two? You've got to be kidding me. My only guess on this one is that big brother posed like this to show off his book bag?

 I  can't handle the mega size of her school bag.  She's learning how to maneuver it on her shoulder. One things for sure, I'm making a lot of packed lunches this year.
Big milestones this fall for both kids. It's a new season of growing up...for momma too:)

promotions {phone upload style}

Let's face it...some memories just have to be captured with the convenient, blurry camera phone. It sure does make me thankful for a fast shutter 90% of the time. But, whipping out the phone is so handy when you have a million things going on. Juggling paperwork, bags, chasing kids is just too much drama for the big camera.

 Lots of promotions this month for Miller man. He's now on the elementary side at church...a new building with the big kids. I love that he's standing by the sunflower that says "GROW". Miller's growing alright...like a weed. He walks just a wee bit taller going to his classroom now.

We sent him off to meet his new teachers in his K class. Because he's such a big kid, he only attends class for one hour now. We pick him up to attend service with us. He's fascinated with the size of the sanctuary. The music, the message...everything is new.

He showed self control a 1/2 hour or so his first go around. Our active wiggly worm has a tendency to bounce up and down with energy if forced to sit for long periods of time. I need to add to my bag of tricks to keep him occupied. There are pros and cons to this situation{smile}.

Sparks promotion on Wednesday nights is another big deal. We love this program as it gives him sound biblical instruction. He's proud to sport his new red vest and Sparks bag. As you can see, he's big time this year.