Phoenix

Playing at the Children's Library!

Sleeping in his "bed" (his nest beside our bed) with his Baby.

Playing Upwards Soccer

While his sisters are at school, Phoenix and I keep a pretty busy schedule! He has Speech Therapy in West Little Rock on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, he goes to Speech and Occupational Therapy. We try to go to the Library once every other week, and we also go eat lunch with Daddy once a week. I have really enjoyed getting to have Phoenix by himself since school started! He talks to me NON STOP!!! I guess he figures he has to get it all in while his sisters aren't there! When we get some time at home, he loves to do school work or work on crafts!

Grandparent's Day

For Grandparent's Day, Dodi met all the "bigger" Grandkids at Subway and had breakfast with them. Afterwards, she took Tucker, Violet and Evie to school and dropped them off at their classrooms.

That afternoon, she picked Veronika up from school and they had a Grandparent's Snack! I am so thankful that my children have such wonderful Grandparents! We love you Poppa and Dodi and Grandpa and Grandma!

Pinkalicious

*Violet was off to the side, she had fallen and hurt her knee and didn't want her picture taken! The Chidlren's Theater in Downtown Little Rock performed the Musical "Pinkalicious" It was so cute and the music was very catchy! Dodi started taking Veronika to these performances back when she was the only Grandchild old enough to enjoy them...now all but the youngest 2 go! "Pinkalicious" was the first show for this season.

"Pinkalicious" turns pink after eating TOO many Pink Cupcakes! These sweet Cupcakes were available after the show for pictures and autographs! There were also lots of Pink Refreshments!

Book Character Parade and Shoe Tying Ceremony

Mrs. Hill's Class 2013

 Violet decided to be "Pinkalicious" for the Book Character Parade this year! It was a fairly easy choice, since we already have so much pink! And her pink wig from the Circus this Summer came in quite handy!
Kindergarten also had a "Shoe Tying Ceremony" this is a sneaky way of the Kindergarten teachers motivating all the kids to learn to tie their shoes, so that they don't have to spend their day doing it for them! We tried a few different techniques before Violet "got it" with the "Bunny Ears" technique! I am so thankful I am able to go Celebrate all these special events with my little girl!

Veronika Takes on 6th Grade!

Veronika started 6th Grade at Bryant Middle School this year! This is a big change from Elementary School, she has different teachers for each subject, gets a locker, and starts extra-curricular classes like Choir! She loves it so far! She's really blossoming with the added responsibility and doing great academically (as always!)

She also got to start Pointe in Ballet Class a few weeks ago! She was SO excited! I was a little overwhelmed by it all, we had to schedule a 1-hour appointment for the fitting and then I had to sew in the ribbons and elastics! She's doing great, she mentioned this week that her ankles weren't as sore, which means her muscles are getting stronger! Between Pointe and her Running Club at School, she's gonna have  STRONG legs!

The Kissing Hand

Violet (and I) were nervous about Kindergarten this year, and several times leading up to the BIG DAY we read "The Kissing Hand." This is the story of Chester the Raccoon, he is starting Kindergarten and is very nervous to leave his Momma. To reassure him, Momma Raccoon kisses his hand so he can can feel the warmth of his love travel straight to his heart. Anytime he misses his Momma, Chester is supposed to hold his hand to his cheek and repeat, "Momma loves me, Momma loves me." Feeling reassured, Chester heads off to school, but not before he gives his Momma a Kissing Hand too, telling her to repeat, "Chester loves me, Chester loves me." We drew hearts on our hands for the first day of school, and I don't know about Violet, but I looked at mine several times during the day and thought, "Just a few more hours and I will come get you."
Violet has had a GREAT school year so far! She LOVES her teacher (and so do we), she has made several new friends and also gets to play with her friends she has had for years. She loves the routine and all of her "fun" classes like Art, Music, Computer, Library and P.E.! I can't believe how much she has grown and matured in just 8 weeks! I think her biggest adjustment (and ours too) is the school schedule! She is naturally NOT a morning person and really struggles with getting up by 7:15 or so! We are really enjoying our weekends, we really make a point to at least have a night during the weekend where we can just snuggle on the couch and enjoy being together!