First Bad Report

Wednesday Kate had a "first" that I did not expect to happen at the tender age of 2.  She has always had good reports since starting at Good Samaritan and over the past couple weeks her teachers have bragged on her about how sweet she is. I picked Kate up from school Wednesday because I was home sick that day (usually one of her grandparents picks her up for us).  I walked in the classroom and saw my little angel sitting quietly, coloring a picture.  Ms. Sam pulled me aside and said Kate had been very grumpy all day and kept telling her "no" so many times that she finally sent Kate to the office.  Oh my goodness.  I was embarrassed and shocked.  My sweet little girl was so defiant she had to be sent to the office? 

When we got in the car here was the conversation:

Me: "Kate, were you not nice to Ms. Sam today?"

Kate: (sigh) "Yes"

Me: "Did you have to go to the office"

Kate: (sigh) "Yes"

Me: "That makes mommy sad"

Kate: "Oh no, poor mommy, mommy sad"

As much as I wanted to take away a favorite toy or her TV privileges, I know she wouldn't be able to make the connection at this age as to why.  Thankfully we haven't gotten a similar report since then so I'm hoping  that was the first and last time that will happen!

A New Christmas Tradition

Last night we ventured out for a night on the town with my parents and Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie.  Justin went out of town to duck hunt so us girls didn't want to stay at home by ourselves.  We met the family at Sonny's for a quick dinner and then we headed to Dorothy B Oven park to see their Christmas light display and listen to the Christmas songs.  Although you can choose to stay in your car and drive through (a very short distance), we decided to walk so we could get the full experience.  Kate loved running all around the park and managed to stop for a couple minutes so I could get some pictures.

I hope this is something we do year after year because Kate LOVED it (along with the rest of us)! 

It's beginning to look at a lot like Christmas - sort of

I stayed home sick today with a bad head cold, Kate is watching Mickey Mouse (what else) and daddy is upstairs taking a nap so I thought I would take advantage of the time and finally post about our weekend. This year it seems like I have been moving in slow motion when it comes to Christmas. I have barely started shopping for gifts, but Justin has gotten the Christmas spirit started in the Evers' household. This past weekend, we bought a Christmas tree (it's sad but this is the first time we have put up a tree since we started dating 7 years ago) and bought some Christmas lights to decorate the house. Kate is in love with Christmas and her favorite things about Christmas are Santa Claus and Christmas lights. When we're driving at night, she points out the Christmas lights to kitty and holds kitty up so she can "see" them.

It's not a lot but it's a start - of course the lights would show up better if I had taken the picture at night.

A close up of the latest Aunt Katie creation - a stocking!  She saw the idea at Loli and the Bean and I honestly think Aunt Katie's is so much cuter!

Our first family Christmas tree (yes, it's naked).  One of these weekends we will buy some ornaments and put the lights on it.

On Saturday night we decided last minute to go downtown and meet up with Uncle Jordan, Gigi and Grandaddy to watch the Winter Festival parade from an apartment at the Tennyson (which meant a parking spot and no crowds to fight!).  Aunt Katie was in the parade walking with the Montford Middle School Cheerleaders and was the grand finale (for Kate) before we had to leave to go home.  I wasn't sure if Kate was going to be interested in the parade for long, but she was mesmerized for the entire time we stayed.  The guys had the football game on inside for a portion of the parade and Kate would run inside when an exciting float was coming and say "come on guys! come on!".

This was one of my favorite floats - a replica of the old and new capital buildings.  The picture doesn't do it justice - but we had a pretty good view don't you think?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kate and I had a great Thanksgiving, although we weren't able to celebrate it with daddy.  The stomach bug has been going around (Mimi and Gigi recently had it) and Justin caught it late Wednesday night.  I knew he felt bad when he passed on hunting Thursday morning and spent the rest of the day in bed.   Mimi and Papa brought him a plate later that afternoon while Kate and I spent the rest of the day at Gigi and Granddaddy's. 

I am so blessed that I am able to share the holidays with both families.  Nanny, Mimi and Papa, Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie all came over to my parent's house for Thanksgiving.  We shared some of our favorite Thanksgiving memories growing up and I hope our current tradition is one that continues. It was special hearing everyone's Thanksgiving memories including:

- Nanny's family ate chicken instead of turkey

- Papa's family camped and ate their Thanksgiving meal in the woods.

- Mimi's family usually had a friend or two join them for Thanksgiving

- Dad's family would come up to Tallahassee and celebrate Thanksgiving with my great-grandparents.

- Mom shared one of her favorite Thanksgiving's when I was little and both sets of grandparents and the preacher and his wife all celebrated Thanksgiving together.

- Aunt Katie remembers helping her grandmother stir the very important gravy while her dad commanded the kitchen since he's the Thanksgiving cook.

- Jordan's (worst?) Thanksgiving memory was the year he had his wisdom teeth removed six days earlier and was still not able to eat on Thanksgiving.

- My Thanksgivings are still the same as I remember them.  Our family has grown and others are not with us anymore, but I remember having Thanksgiving at my parent's house with my grandparents and great-grandmother.  One recent Thanksgiving memory I have is Kate's first Thanksgiving when she was only two months old.  I had just sat down to eat and Kate woke up from her nap at the exact same time.  We passed her around the table and while Justin was holding her, she unexpectedly pushed back from him and he almost dropped her in the mashed potatoes on his plate.  This year, we planned it so Kate ate early (her Thanksgiving meal was a couple bites of turkey, cheese and grapes) and she went down for her nap while the rest of us ate.  Perfect timing.

Kate would announce who had the privilege of pulling her around the yard in the wagon.  Uncle Jordan was the fastest and Kate's first choice.  Then Mommy.

Wednesday night we had a special Thanksgiving devo instead of class and Tim started off with a question: "What would we have today, if we only had what we thanked God for yesterday?"  I have thought a lot about this question because honestly, some days I would have a lot, but most days I wouldn't have much.  God has blessed me with a wonderful husband, a beautiful little girl, a supportive family and incredible friends. My Thanksgiving resolution is to thank God every day for everything he has blessed me with.   

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving too!

First Day of Thanksgiving Vacation

My vacation has officially started! Usually I only ask for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, but I decided to ask off the entire week this year! Since my birthday is on Tuesday, I knew I didn't want to work that day if I didn't have to, and if I took off Wednesday too, what was the point of working Monday (Thursday and Friday are state holidays)?!  I am really looking forward to this upcoming week for many reasons, but the biggest one is being able to spend time with Kate - 9 days to be exact.

This morning we met Gigi and Grandaddy and went to Bradley's Country Days, which has been a tradition for the past several years.  We shopped (didn't buy anything except our 16 layer chocolate cake - yum!) and then let Kate ride the train ride, slide down the huge slide with mommy, and see the horses. 

Check out the slide in the background - Kate and I were fearless.

After Bradley's, we headed home and Kate took a nap before this handsome little man came over to play. 

Maddox also has an exciting week coming up because he's going to be a big brother!  We were excited to have Maddox come over and play because his parents deserved one last date night before baby M comes. 

These two were busy from the time Maddox arrived until he left - reading, cooking, coloring, play outside, doing puzzles, and blowing bubbles. 

Thanks for coming over Maddox - we had a great time! 

Thanksgiving at Good Samaritan Academy

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with Kate at her school this morning and had a good time, although Kate wasn’t in the best mood. Aunt Katie gave Kate an adorable turkey shirt last night, but this morning it was a little dramatic getting Kate to put it on. She kept fussing at me saying, “No turkey shirt; I don't want it” but I eventually won that battle. Good thing too because that shirt is too cute not to show it off!

We arrived at school about 10:30 to see the kids come out with their feathered headbands on (guess who wouldn’t wear theirs) and sing songs and tell the parents what they were thankful for. After the short program, Kate’s class enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast and showed off their Thanksgiving place mats. Each family brought a different item to contribute to the meal (ours was mac and cheese – mommy is thankful for Publix!). Again, it took some convincing to get Kate to cooperate and sit down and eat her lunch, which ended up being more of a nibble than a feast.

The interesting part of lunch was during my conversation with Ms. Sam (Kate’s teacher), I found out two secrets my little girl has been hiding from me:

1. She can count to 5 in SPANISH!

2. She has become the class kisser! Apparently she grabs her friend, pulls them in, and plants one right on the lips. I promise her daddy and I will start teaching her to kiss her friends on the cheek. 

Mommy and Daddy's little turkey.

Close up of the turkey shirt.

Another adorable shirt Mrs. Katie made for Kate that I had to share - I love it!  Kate has the perfect pair of jeggings to go with her shirt.

Thank you Aunt Katie and Mrs. Katie for the wonderful shirts.  One day Kate will appreciate how cute she looks in all her pictures! 

Katie's Baby Shower

Sunday afternoon I had the privilege to help host Katie Mundie's baby shower at Meredith Sullivan's house.  Katie is expecting a little girl (name to be announced) and we are so excited for them.  The Mundie's moved to Tallahassee a couple months ago and we have been so blessed to have them!  Their little boy, Maddox, is in Kate's bible class and he is quickly becoming Kate's favorite guy.  Sunday night when we were leaving church, she kept repeating "My Maddox, My Maddox" when we drove off.  Lucky for her we will see then soon!

Back to the shower - Meredith did a wonderful job, as always. She is so creative and the purple pumpkin theme was perfect for a November shower.

A couple weekends ago Meredith and I went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for the shower.  I saw the ribbon idea on etsy and we thought it would be cute to use at the shower.  I think the white pumpkin with the gold ribbon was my favorite.

The food choices included hot bacon and cheese dip, pumpkin bread, fruit, purple pumpkin cookies and turtle cookies.  Everything was wonderful - and the centerpiece was another creation of Meredith's.  She cut the top of a pumpkin, filled it with flowers, and wrote "Our little pumpkin is on her way". 

Katie and her mom

Katie and the hostesses

(myself, Laura, Meredith and Lindsey)

Two cute Christmas ornaments for baby M.

Just a sample of the gifts.  It's so much fun shopping for a girl!