Saturday, July 17, 2010

Noelle's 3rd Birthday Party (A Bit Late!)


Due to our move and my new summer job, we are just now getting to having Noelle's party for her birthday that was last month.  We had a wonderful day in our new backyard.  The weather cooperated and it was gorgeous and not too hot.  A gigantic bounce castle sat in back of our fence and I put out picnic blankets, chairs and tables.  The big draw was the "make-your-own-ice cream sundae bar."  We had all the toppings including Reese's Pieces, Nerds, marshmallows, Captain Crunch, crushed cookies, cherries, and blueberries.  The party favor was a bowl and spoon for each child to have their ice cream in.  We also had bubbles, swinging on the rope swings, and the wonderful chatting of good friends.  What a memorable day.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Catching Up

Wow, somehow several months have slipped by and I have written nothing about what we have been doing lately.  Since I last wrote, our family has moved to a new house in Williamson County, TN and I have a new job at a wonderful preschool working as lead teacher this summer.  The girls are now attending school (or camp) full time while I teach and it has been wonderful for all of us.  I am so happy to be back in the classroom planning lessons and engaging the youngsters and at the same time, love knowing about the  experiences that the girls are getting in their own classrooms.  Noelle is in with the three year olds since she had her third birthday last month.  Her verbal ability seems to be bounding forward this summer.  Natalie is in the "big kid" class with several much older children.  This is great for her because her room offers her intellectual challenges.  The school has themed weeks in the summertime and we have already enjoyed learning about camping out, Dr. Seuss, fairy tales, and construction.  This week is all about water. While the girls are tired at the end of the day, they love their new school and I have really noticed how much older they seem just in a short period of time.  It is wonderful to have them in a classroom setting since they both seem to embrace classroom learning.  In the fall, I plan to be an assistant teacher in the same classroom  where I can sharpen my skills by watching a truly experienced preschool teacher.  I will also be teaching a couple of enrichment classes which I am very excited about.
    Our new house has been a lot of work but a lot of fun.  It has a gorgeous backyard that faces a wooded area where we can watch birds, deer, rabbits, squirrels, and cats since one neighbor has five of them!  We are currently getting a fence built by our other neighbor.  We have been blessed with good neighbors!  The upstairs of our house is basically the kid's wing with a playroom plus the girls' rooms and their bathroom.  Our master is on the first floor along with a living room, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and glassed in porch where we eat our breakfast while watching the animals in the backyard.   We now have three rope swings in the backyard which will be behind our fence.  The girls really love the swings, to the point where I question whether or not to get them a regular swing set.  This summer, the girls have spent the evenings swinging on their rope swings and catching fire flies in our backyard.  One of our neighbors has a little girl and it is great when she comes over and plays.  We love our new house!
    Other highlights of the summer have been visits from Mimi and Poppa as well as most of the Weis clan.  Also, we took the girls on our first overnight camping trip which was a success complete with a campfire and smores.  The girls also were in the parent child dedication at church which was very special and memorable.
    This last weekend we took a day trip to Chattanooga which we had never taken the girls to before.  We visited the Chattanooga Aquarium and had a blast petting the sting rays and chasing the butterflies.  We ended up getting the year pass so hopefully we will be back soon!  Fourth of July was also a great time.  We went to our town's festival and even ran into our cool church pastor.  We feel so blessed by everything right now!  Here are a few photos from the last few months.  I promise to try to write again soon.  It has been an amazing summer.
Our New Backyard
Visit from Mimi and Poppa

Natalie got hold of the magic markers..


My new sassy three year old


Chihuly Exhibit at Cheekwood
First Day of Camp


First Camping Trip at Henry Horton Campground



Natalie and Noelle Parent Child Dedication at Church
A Tennis Lesson by Brothers
Noelle's Birthday Dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory where she loves the "Mac-n-teez"
Photos from Independence Day 
Our Trip to the Chattanooga Aquarium