Progress with our Nook...

I've been slowly working on sprucing up our little kitchen nook.  This little corner of our home is where we share our meals together as well as where Bella & I do "school".  So, we spend a lot of time in this little nook!  A while back, I shifted some furniture to create a learning center...but the bare walls need a facelift for sure!  So, after a Pinterest search I found a great idea for our big bare wall...a gallery wall!  It was super easy and budget friendly too!  I headed to Hobby Lobby to purchase these wooden plaques.  I painted them and sanded a few edges to give it that "unfinished" look.  Then, I used spray adhesive to attach the pics and modge podged on top to seal the pictures!  I am so pleased with how they turned out and I look forward to adding more to our wall every few months!

The nook...

Summer Soccer Nights...

Just enjoying these warm summer nights!  Beautiful sunsets, chasing the soccer ball as a family...brother on daddy's shoulders and Bella's curls bouncing...very blessed & very thankful for simple nights like tonight...

15 months :)

This handsome little man is already 15 months!!  His personality develops more and more with each passing day!  He is loving exploring the world now that he is becoming a confident walker!  We call him a little Frankenstein cause he walks stiff legged and stomps all around. :)

He continues to be such a joy to our family and he adds so much life to our family!

He continues to be such a good little sleeper...about 10.5 hours at night, an hour & a half in the morning and afternoon!  Thank goodness he hasn't tried climbing out of his crib but his bumpers sure have had lots of loving (he loves jumping on them).  He eats when he's hungry and stops when he's full...which is not how Bella was or is!  We have discovered that is a little more interested in meal time if he can sit in a big boy chair with us at the table :)

He loves playing with his big sister...he wants to do everything she does...which we are trying to steer him away from ballet although he does have some decent moves! :) He babbles and throws out words at us...when he's in the mood!  At this point his consistent words are: dadda, mamma, sissy, hi, bye...and he shakes his head no...waves...blows kisses, hugs, cuddles...and points at everything!!  He amazes us with what he 

understands!  He's a quiet little booger but very inquisitive and observant.  I found him the other day trying to put my running watch on his wrist! Ha!!  He points to his head and belly button and we're working on the other body parts. :)

He loves pretending to talk on the phone...amazing how quickly they pick up on that!  He likes to scribble with sidewalk chalk, dig in dirt, look for bugs, ride in his little flinstone car...which he skits on his own, swing at the park and SlLIDE down slides!  Ahhh!  It makes me so nervous...he just crawls up, turns around and goes down on his belly!  The big kid slides!!  He's mastered going up and down the stairs (on his belly).  He loves to scale the stove!!  So I have to lock the oven door!  He climbs anything and everything.....and I gotta always be watching cause he's a sneaky fella!!

He took his first steps around 13 months but didn't catch on to actually walking til closer to 14 months.

He still loves nursing...mostly just when he wakes and at night.  He's a little snuggler! :)

He loves all balls...and cars!  Here's him taking his first drive with Pappa checking out the deer!

Like I said, we gotta watch out because Bella loves having a dance partner!!  Haha!!  I doubt that will last too much longer when he has an opinion!

His Stats:

Head 55%

Height 65%

Weight 55%

Lake time!

We spent a few days at the lake with my family in Tennessee...yay for cousin time!

Just some daddy son time relaxing...

Sweet girls :)

Sugar for Houston!

Bath time...

Swimming with Pappa!

Chillaxin'

Jackson talking about life with Pappa and Mimi...

Some evening fishing...pretend fishing that is...

They sure love their Pappa!

I love my Sadie Bug...

Play time!

A little morning ring-around-the-rosie...

Searching for lizards...

Wrestling with Uncle John!

Funny girls...

They sure do love each other!!

We always have a blast together...now if we can just figure out how to spend days together without everyone spreading germies..."stomach bug #2 strikes again this year"...

Atlanta Reunion!!

Last weekend, I loaded up the kiddos and we headed to Atlanta for a reunion with three of the most precious families in the whole world!  Us moms have been friends for over 20 years!  We pick up right where we left off and love every moment of being together!  Sharing recipes, home decorating tips, parenting ideas, cooking thoughts, good reads and so much more are among our topics of discussions! 

We enjoyed a nice summer evening dinner together Thursday night...

Within minutes of arriving, Bella found herself a princess dress...surprise surprise!

Jackson did his best to keep up with the fun...

Fun swing! (Bella & Blythe)

When your the only boy of 4 girls at a sleep over this is what happens...

Then we met another good friend Jill at this cool place!  The kiddos loved it!

We spent Friday afternoon at Katie's house...and loved her playground!

These curly headed beauties always seem to gravitate towards one another :-)

One last evening swing before bedtime!

Nothing sweeter than an early morning ballet performance...

I don't think my girlfriends and I managed to snap a pic of us moms...between the 9 kiddos we were a wee bit busy!  Such a sweet time we had making lots of great memories!!

Organized and Ready!

I spent some time last night organizing our little Preschool Nook, Folders, Supplies, Cabinet and Craft Shelves. I believe we are all set to begin this fall!!  Like I mentioned in an earlier post, we spent some time really praying about what the Lord would have us to this fall.  We have an amazing preschool at our church so it really made for a challenging decision!  But, as we prayed...I just continued to have such a strong desire and peace of heart to keep Bella home and do preschool together!  I am so excited to continue to have the opportunity to work with her and explore all subject areas together!  We will be using the curriculum from www.abcjesuslovesme.com.  I love it!!  Bella is three and will turn four in April but based on the objectives, I chose the 4 year curriculum because I think it fits her knowledge level where she is now.  Then, we can use the 5 year curriculum the year before Kindergarten! It has just enough content but it isn't too structured for a preschooler!  My favorite part of this curriculum is the strong emphasis on the Bible and it is integrated throughout all the lessons!  We will have a Bible story and verse each week as well as a character trait.  We will also be working on memorizing the books of the Bible this year!  We plan on having "school" three mornings a week while Jackson naps...which will usually be 9-10:30.  Then, we will have plenty of time in our week for zoo visits, play dates, story time, park dates, Bible study and more!    

Here's the curriculum, handwriting notebook I put together and file folder...

The teacher in me loved this!  I organized all of our activity sheets for the year! (Assessments, Bible story activities, Letters of the Week, Numbers of the Week, Color Books and Review!). I took apart the activity ringed notebook and separated them in categories. 

Here are a few samples of the handwriting practice we will be doing.  Each letter and number has a chant...I just slipped them in plastic sleeves so we can use with dry-erase markers.

Since we will be doing our school time in the kitchen area, I had to be creative with storing supplies.  I used this cabinet to organize all the supplies we will use on a daily basis (crayons, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, paper, curriculum/activities, puzzles, phonemic awareness materials, tactile letters & numbers and so on).

Here's all our other supplies!

And our little desk all ready to go under a nice window :)

I look forward to what the Lord has in store for sweet Bella this fall!  I'm sure I will learn along with her :) I will do my best to keep updates as we go!!

My loves...

Just a few sweet pics of my precious little babes...

15 months and growing way too fast...love this little guy...

40 months...almost 3 1/2 years old!  Such a precious preschooler she is!

Lots of sweet sugar and cuddles to share...