a few favorite pics...

a few party decorations...

8 is GREAT!

My firstborn is 8 years old today. Good grief! When did this happen? She has turned into this spunky, sassy girl! I adore her. :) Happy Birthday, Maddy! You are my sunshine.

2 weeks...

Only 2 weeks left until Maddy's Halloween birthday party. I have the party itinerary planned, guests have been invited, & we have Elly's Halloween costume. We are still working on Maddy's... We are starting to buy things for the party... I laid it all out today & realized I still have a bit more left to buy. This weekend I am making a pumpkin-shaped cake & icing it to see if I really can do it. Kevin & the Wade girls are excited to be my taste testers. ;) It was a cold morning and the girls were begging for hot chocolate so I made my favorite breakfast...hot chocolate with toast! My grandma Jean used to make this for me when I was a little girl. It is one of my favorite comfort foods. :) They both loved it! :) Kevin is at the Auburn/Arkansas college football game today so we decided to listen to the spooky CD we bought for the party. The girls were so cute dancing... and trying to be scary! :)

things that keep me up at night...

On Sunday nights, I lay in bed & my mind just races with all the things I need to accomplish that week. This past Sunday night I realized that I have a LOT of big things to do in the next 6 weeks! I woke up on Monday morning & quickly wrote them onto sticky notes (so I wouldn't forget them!) I even forgot to put on a note these things... *Finish Beth Moore Bible Study homework. *Read Chapter 6 in Crazy Love by Francis Chan. *Get caught up in my online book club. These are the things that overwhelm me. I put them up where I will see them everyday and this weekend...we are staying home all weekend so I can take some of these sticky notes OFF. I will let you know how that goes! :) Wish me luck! Ha! (I'm gonna need it!)

birthday dinner

We took this little sugar baby out to celebrate her 4th birthday.

She chose "Red Robin." :)

We played Tic Tac Toe while we munched on our "appetizer" fries.

Maddy loved her cheese pizza...

Elly had mac & cheese with cantaloupe and a vanilla milkshake!

She was so happy when they sang to her! Look at that yummy sundae they brought her! :) She was most excited for that cherry on the top!

It didn't stand a chance! Ha! She kept telling us she wanted a princess doll for her birthday. We took her to the Disney store & let her pick out what she wanted because we had no idea what she was talking about. We had a fun time! :)

from the mouth of maddy...

"Mommy, can I get a new butt? Mine has a crack in it!" ;)

1st day.

Maddy had her 1st day of 2nd grade on 9.1. She saw this little outfit at SuperTarget & HAD to have it for the 1st day. She was very proud of herself. :) Unfortunately, she woke up with a fever the next day... So, she had her 2nd day this past Monday. :) She is enjoying being a 2nd year. 2nd years are responsible for giving tours when our Director shows prospective families around our campus. She has been taking this responsibility very seriously. :) *I haven't blogged much in August or September because I finally took over my classroom on 8.1 and have just been swamped. I hope things calm down but, being a montessori teacher means there is always something to replace in my classroom (I'm spending a fortune buying little glass snack cups for my class! Thank goodness for a monthly classroom budget!), fix in my classroom, or new staff to keep tabs on. :/

pony party

Elly was super excited to have her 4th birthday celebration at the academy where she takes gymnastics class. She invited most of the girls in her class & we invited 2 of Maddy's friends. It was the best $ spent on a party yet. :)

The first 1/2 hour was spent doing an obstacle course...

Then, the girls got instructions on using the parachute.

Lots of fun!

Hiding underneath! After that it was free play! The high & low bars, jumping into the foam pit, the trampoline, the bouncy house, rings, etc... Maddy did this trick every single time she got on the high bar. She is very strong!

Elly is very brave!

Elly wanted a Little Pony party...

Her cake turned out so cute!

Daddy helped her get a good angle!

Yes, Maddy. You only get 1 piece of cake. ;)

Elly got this really fun game, Zingo. She loves it.

The staff member helping put on the party used to go to RMS and Ms. Ann was her teacher, too.

She was so helpful & kind. She loved it that all of these little girls were students of Ms. Ann's. It is such a small world.

It was a great afternoon! As soon as we got home, the girls started pulling out the gifts. :)