Meadow is 3!

She is no longer scared of the "bee"





















She loves animals, dinosaurs and treats








(and princesses)





















She is as independent as can be






















She is a dancing machine






















She usually has at least 2 bandaids on her body














She is so beautiful to see






















We are as proud as chimpanzees






















To have her in our family!





















We also love our Parker and are so thankful for him. Here are a couple of classic Parker pics.



Parker with his best pal cousin Laney.

Meadow's first day of Preschool

Meadow started a two day, 1/2 day preschool today. She loved it!




















Ok, you have to click on the picture below to get the full effect of this face! This is what she did when I said "Smile!" lol. I think her smile was getting tired.

Um...this is Kindergarten right?

We are loving Kindergarten. Parker's teacher is terrific. She is kind and inspiring and expects a lot from the children but makes it fun. I do think she is a little excessive with the homework however. This is coming from me who currently thinks it is pretty fun and novel to do homework with Parker even when he is very tired and I can hardly make him hold the pencil let alone try to sound out and write a sentence about a unicorn.

This is our homework packet from last week (remember there was no school Monday because of Labor Day):

Tuesday:

Practice writing the letter Uu.

Challenge: Write a sentence for each of the following Uu words: umbrella, uncle, unicorn, United States.



I loved the sentence Parker wanted to write for United States: "President Monson lives in the United States." You can see where he got tired of holding the pencil because the handwriting improves a bit where we are writing together.

Complete math pages 3,4,5 and 6 (these were fast though - like a circle the object that is different kind of thing)


Wednesday:

Create an AB pattern using objects in your house, (spoon, napkin, spook, napkin...) Draw a picture of your pattern and describe it with words or sentences.



Practice writing the letter Vv

Draw a picture of 3 different signs that we see in the community. An example would be a stop sign, a railroad crossing sign, a speed limit sign. Be creative and go on a walk with a grown-up and find some signs around your neighborhood.

Challenge: Brainstorm words that rhyme with bug. Try and write a silly rhyming poem about the bug.


Thursday:

Sort shoes at your house. Your categories could be sneakers, sandals, dress shoes. Write down how many of each type of shoe you sorted.

Challenge: Make a horizontal bar graph displaying your shoe information.

Here is Meadow doing her "homework" while we are sorting shoes.




We also have a book list every month and if the kids read 20 books with a parent, they get a prize. That part is not difficult.

Parents of Kindergarten kiddos past and present, do you find this excessive or comparable in your experience?

Parker scored his first goal in a soccer game last Saturday. Here he is celebrating! This is also how we feel when we finish homework. I must say that his writing has improved a lot in a short time though.

Meadow and the pumpkin patch, new music, more

In the dollar section of Target they had a pumpkin growing kit so we are giving it a whirl. We started the seeds indoors last week and Meadow and I moved them to the garden today. I have no idea if we are too late to get any actual pumpkins by Halloween. We shall see. If so, we'll have some lovely Thanksgiving center pieces :)







































































Ok, I love this band. Greg and I both do. They are from NC and have such a great sound and are great song writers as well. Check it out if you don't already know about The Avett Brothers.





Trip to Umstead with Aunt Natalie over Labor Day weekend. :)

Some recent funnies

I was with the kids in the grocery store and Parker kept walking RIGHT in front of the cart despite my asking him several times to please not walk in front of the cart.

Finally, I said: Parker, If you do that one more time, I don't know if we are going to be able to have movie night tonight because you aren't listening very well.

Parker: "Ohhh, Mom, I was just pretending that I was Superman and that I had to stop the train."




Meadow and I were walking around a lake near our house and we saw a lady that was walking a Dalmation.

Meadow: "Look Mom, It's a cow dog!!"

If you are a fan of cream cheese and sugar...

then I have a recipe for you!

Compliments of Jill Smith from the Apex Ward. Delicious.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans of crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Press 1 can of crescent rolls into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Mix the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla until creamy. Spread over the rolls in the pan. Cover with the other can of rolls. Melt butter and stir in the rest of the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the top. Bake for 30 minutes. Can be served warm or at room temperature (refrigerated leftovers were good too!)

Enjoy!

Famous on Etsy

Not really, i don't know who this person is but LOOK at the beautiful, amazing handbags and clutches that Heather Crenshaw Mckeon makes!! I love them all. You must check them all out here.

Also when Heather and I were beehives in the Cary 1st ward, we used to pretend that we were siamese twins attached by the purse straps and we would walk down the halls that way. hahaha!

Coincidence Heather? I don't think so...fate...fate. ;)



This bag is perrrrfect for carrying your scriptures!! They fit perfectly with a little extra room for a small notebook or lesson book, a pack of gum...you know. I think these would make excellent gifts and Heather, seriously, did not tell me to say any of this.

Welcome little precious one!

My sister Karissa had a sweet, handsome baby boy today! Baby Dylan weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and looked and smelled like a sweet little angel. I hated to give him back, he was so fun to snuggle and love and made the cutest noises. :) Baby and mom are doing good.