Pre-School Up date!!!

Preschool is going great for both Molly and Taylor. Their teacher and the director have told us how sweet and smart they think Molly and Taylor are...I'm sure they tell this to all the parents, but it makes me feel good. The director told me the other day that she just loves to listen to them talk to one another, that they sound like little adults carrying on a conversation.

Their teacher (Miss Molly) says that they get along great with each other, and with the other kids in the class. The only problem that they do have with them is that they think that they are more grown up than the other kids, and refer to some of them as, “babies.” Molly and Taylor think that if a child does not talk a lot that they are a baby. One of my nephews is just 6 months younger than them, and he does not say much. They get pretty excited when he does talk to them, and will come to tell me that he is not a baby anymore.

The positive feedback that I get from their school, and the fact that the girls are always happy when I drop them off and pick them up is so comforting to me. This is the third place that we have sent them and they seem happier here than any other place that we have sent them.

They are just in their third week and we are already so impressed with what the girls are learning. Here are a few things that they have been working on at school…

1. Name recognition – Their teacher has a string hanging up in their classroom with clothespins clipped onto it. Each clothespin has one of the kid’s names on it. Every morning they have to find the clothespin with their name and move it to a different string. Molly and Taylor have now mastered this task and even know what letter their name starts with. They are also working on recognizing other letters in the alphabet and knowing what sounds they make.
   
2. Counting backwards – Molly and Taylor are always asking me to count with them. They will say, “Mommy, count with me…1, 2, 3.” Well, the other day Taylor was counting her M&M’s and she started with three and counted backwards…I was so impressed.
   
3. Hello – Miss Molly (the girl’s teacher) was telling Stuart that they have been working on saying hello in different languages. Miss Molly said that the girls quickly picked up on this. She overheard them actually quizzing each other while standing in line for the bathroom…
   Taylor : “Molly, how do you say hello in Chinese?”
   Molly : “Ni Hao”

Stuart explained to their teacher that they have picked up a little bit of Chinese and Spanish from watching, “Ni Hao Kai Lan,” and “Dora the Explorer.” He then looked at Molly and said, “Molly, what does Ni Hao Kai Lan call her papa?” Molly turns to Stuart and says, “Ye ye,” and then turns around to continue playing.

I have included some pictures that my mom just sent to me. These are from a visit to my parent’s from sometime this summer.

Cooling of over the Air Conditioner vent...

Short Weekend Trip!!!

Last weekend Stuart and I took the girls to Big Cedar lodge to meet up with my parents for an impromptu mini vacation. We left after work on Friday, and were able to spend all day Saturday playing and then headed home on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.

Taylor, Mimi, and Molly...

Taylor, Papa, and Molly...

Molly (begging me to take her picture)...

After breakfast we headed down to the docks to take the girls out on a canoe. This was their first time in a canoe for them, and they loved it. We may have to plan a little canoe trip with them soon!

After our little float around the docks, we headed back up to the condo. We changed into our swimsuits, made some margaritas and headed down to the pool. We had a fun afternoon of swimming, and then had dinner at on of the resorts restaurants.

Stuart and the girls playing around in the kiddy pool...

Me and my dad (I think he may be trying to steal my margarita)...

My mom and dad...

Our attempt at getting a family picture

(I'm trying to sweet talk Molly into getting in the pool)...

Papa taught Molly how to use binoculars...

Molly scoping out the people below us…

Ramdom picture of Taylor all ready for bed...

Thank you mom and dad for letting us come crash your weekend!

We had a great time!!!

First day of Pre-School!

Today was Molly and Taylor’s first day of pre-school. We went to open house on Monday to meet their teacher. Her name is Miss Molly. They seemed really excited about going to “big school.” I was unsure how they would do when actually dropping them off, but they did great! I actually had to tell them to come give me a kiss and hug good bye, because they were off ready to play when we arrived. I hope their enthusiasm continues! I have a feeling that that it may be tougher for them in a few days when they realize that they are there all day, and not just a few hours.

These are the best pics I could get...I guess they were not in the posing kind of mood!

So Silly...even at 6:45 a.m.

Summer Vacation

Stuart and I took a week of “vacation” last week. We didn’t go on a fancy trip or anything, just took the week off.

We went to visit my parent’s and my Brother and Sister-in-Law and their boys for a couple of days.

We did yard work, did some paint touch ups on the stairs, and put together shelves for the playroom.

We had Stuart’s sister’s kids one day. Their little boy Reggie is five, and let me tell you…when he gets together with Molly and Taylor there is no controlling the sound level with these three. They get along so well, but they are so LOUD with the screaming and laughing and running and playing.

Tatoom, Reggie, Molly and Taylor Painting...

and then to the park...

We had great weather on Friday, so we headed to the Gentry Zoo! We have been to the Zoo once a year, since the girls were babies. This was the first year that they really got excited about it…

Hanging out with the little goats...

Molly telling the goat to go get her sister...

The goat looking for Taylor...

These birds used to freak out Taylor and Molly.

They thought they were pretty funny this year.

We got to pet this baby lion...

This monkey sat on our car when we were going through the drive through safari...The girls thought he was pretty cute until we told them that we were going to take him home with us.

These little monkeys were trying to pick the beads of Molly and Taylor's shoes...they were just too cute!!!

So as you can see from this next picture that was taken on our very first first visit to the zoo……….

A three year old will have a little more fun at the zoo

than a one year old....

Who knew???

Update on my niece Olivia...she has been in the NICU at the Children’s Hospital since Wednesday and from what I hear is doing really well. Thank you for the prayers for this family, please keep them coming!!!

Olivia Jolie

Please pray for my new niece Olivia. Olivia is Stuart's sister’s third child. She was born last Tuesday and weighed in at 9lbs 13oz. She has lots of black hair and is just a cutie.

Unfortunately Olivia is still at the hospital. She has been having episodes where her oxygen levels decrease and her heart rate drops. They have had her back and forth from the nursery to the NICU for the past week. They have run several tests and as of right now still do not know what is causing these episodes. They have decided to transfer her to the Children’s Hospital in Little Rock this afternoon. Please pray that the doctors are able to find out what is going on with Olivia, and are able to easily fix it. Also, please keep her mom, dad, big sister and big brother in your prayers. They have been doing a great job with staying positive with the situation, but I know that it is so hard on all of them.