Ballet Recital

Elly Rose takes ballet with a couple little friends - every Thursday afternoon.  Her class participated in the Holiday Hoopla Recital this past weekend.  Bennett quickly picked out his favorite "team" - it was a group of girls (maybe 7 years old) wearing red and black.  He kept asking for them to come back out on stage, and last night he asked me if I took any video footage of the "red girls?"...hmm. 

 

This just makes us laugh...

 

 Rosie is in the middle.  Be still my heart...

Christmas Magic

The spirit of the season with 3 and 5-year-old babes is in full swing!  They are having so much fun talking about their elf, santa and his reindeer and singing songs in the car.  Bennett requested an increase in  home decor (claimed we didn't decorate much for halloween) and we obliged.  

 

We found a warm evening to head downtown and mail their letters to Santa.  We enjoyed how lively monument circle was on this evening.  I think Bennett asked us twelve hundred questions about the Sailors and Soldier Monument...whew.

 



 

Next up...a trip to Brown County for the annual Christmas Party and santa sighting with the Yeo, VanTassel clan. 

Elly Rose and Viv cheesing for the camera... 



 

While the girls and mamas stayed indoors by the fire, the big boys and dads went on a snowy hike through the woods and over a creek (crawling on a log!) in 8+ inches of snow...what fun!

 



 

Warming up by the fire and enjoying lunch before Santa's arrival!  Bennett's pants needed a trip through the dryer...he proudly sported his superman undies for a better part of the party.

 



 

This santa is one special guy - he has held our babies nearly every year - reading to them and carefully listening to their wish lists.  Click here to see past years...love this little tradition.

 



 

'Twas the Night Before Christmas he reads with such magic.  He knows the name of each little boy and girl - making them feel so special!

 



 

Bennett practiced very carefully the three things he is asking Santa to bring him on Christmas:  fast shoes that tie, ninja turtle legos and raphael's turtle gear.

 



 

Elly Rose didn't shy away from telling santa her wish list either:  butterfly wings and lady bugs.

 



 

We continue to drink up their goodness and little personalities.  Next up is the Nutcracker, MHCC Xmas party and a little ballet recital for Elly Rose (we were told by her teacher that in her last class she pretended to be a tiger...on all fours...for the entire class - doing her batma kicks and posses while remiaining in tiger position - we are hopeful she stands up for her recital.)

5 years ago!

Oh this sweet boy has melted our hearts since the moment we first laid eyes on him. I can barely remember life before him, and yet can not believe he is already one whole hand in years. I remember being 5 and feeling so big. In some ways it is scary to me now that he has reached an age where he will recall his own memories and experiences one day.

This is photo number 44.  It struck me as funny seeing this.  5 years later we easily have a few thousand... 

 

 

 I could easily flip through web albums of our littles and their experiences all day long...

 

 

This was his second time meeting great papa...right at 6 months old!

 



 

 Today, Bennett went to visit Dr. Cumming for his 5 year old check-up.  He did a fantastic job of withstanding 3 shots in preparation for kindergarten next year.  And for the record...he is now over 40 inches tall and weighs 37 pounds.

 

 

First birthday fun with balloons!  I remember taking him out for pizza on his first birthday - it fell on a Friday - I think it was much more of a celebration for mom and dad...thinking back to this day one year ago! 

 

And some of my favorite memories...

 

 Handsome boy!

 

 

Funny boy at the apple orchard...

Didn't want to wait too long to get him a seat at Nick's!

 



 

ZooBoo with his cousins!  The timing was perfect for a day out with family while mom and dad stayed home with his brand new baby sister.

 



 

...melts my heart - our babies!

 

 

...arriving to Disney in his Woody jammies!

 

 

...exploring the beaches of southern Georgia!

 

...taking care of his "baby!"

 

...lots of learnning and growing in JK!

 



 

...bringing Teddy along everyday as a little security in his new, big world!

 

 

...always wanting to have fun and conspire with his cousins! 

 

...more beach fun in sunny Florida!

 



 

...exploring museums! 

 

 

..."Super Bennett" pose?

 

...our handsome boy at five!

 

 

...muscle pose with his birthday party friends!

 

...blowing out that candle.  For us, that expression says it all!

 

We love you to the moon and back sweet boy!!

Elly Rose turns 3!

We are amidst birthday season (with halloween smushed in the middle) at our house.  The anticipation of candles, cupcakes, parties, surprises, a new number to proudly share when that frequent question, "how old are you?" comes up in conversation...all very exciting and much anticipated by our littles.  Although, Bennett struggles to fully understand why Elly Rose celebrates her birthday before him...

This is on the morning of Elly Rose's 3rd birthday...it fell over fall break for Bennett and I, so we enjoyed a low key day of celebrating - complete with her pick of cider slushies from the lilly orchard...yum!  Bennett picked out this yo gabba t-shirt for Elly Rose for her birthday and she begs to wear it every day!
 

 

We convinced her into an outfit change for her lil party.  My mom made this sweet frock for her and Elly Rose was quite excited when she saw it.  This year, she helped to pick out the fabric, so upon seeing it transformed into an outfit, she was quite pleased.

 



 

And...another outfit change for the day - wearing a newly opened princess dress-up frock and necklace to go with her "kitty cat" cake...we are dabbling in all kinds of animated creations these days.

 



 

We wanted to include a few of her little friends in a birthday celebration this year.  After a little brainstorming, we decided to try Build A Bear.  It was so much fun to have a handful of little ladies select, fluff, clean and dress little bears...we loved it!  Wonderful hands on activity and a little dessert to follow.

 



 

Rosie decided very quickly that she wanted her bear to wear "colts cheer-weader."  Didn't even have an interest in looking at the VAST (I had no idea of the options) selection of clothing choices for a selected animal. 

 



 

Project complete!  Happy 3rd Birthday to our little spitfire of a girl!

Q Family Vacay

At the end of July, my sister (and crew), my parents and our family headed down to florida for a little family vacation.  Mom, Dad and Rose traveled by plane; meanwhile, Zach and I snagged Cooper to be a riding mate for Bennett and off we went!  After a quick stop in Nashville for a little country music and dinner, we continued to northern Alabama where we met my sister's clan for an overnight stay before finishing our journey the following morning.

 



 

Once everyone arrived and had a chance to get settled in, it was all smiles!  We were so excited to think this is our routine for the next 6 days...beach, pool, beach, pool, great food and drinks, beach and pool!

 

 

 

Dinner for 11...no problem!

 



 

We started each day at the beach - all the littles loved the sand, ocean waves, crab hunting and relaxing!

 



 

Hard work toting these big buckets (Amy was prepared with 10+ buckets) of water!

 



 

Beach babe!

 



 

Batman checking out the waves (which were a little bigger than we would have liked on a handful of days).

 



 

Master sand castle builder.

 



 

Snack time!  It was the perfect place to relax with memaw.

 



 

How low can you go?  Amy spearheaded a giant hole dig.  Did she reach China?

 



 

The subsequent mound of sand from the giant dig was perfect for climbing and jumping!

 



Dinner outdoors before we moved 11 people, plus food indoors away from a quick-moving storm. 

 



 

Pretty sunset following the storm.

 



 

Elly Rose and Camden were buddies.  It was heart-warming to see them spend time together.  ER adores Camden.  He taught her how to do a canon ball, among other things!

 



 

Baseball with our crab-catching nets?  Sure thing.  Papaw could pitch to his boys all day long.

 



 

Amy may not have made it to China, but that didn't stop Bennett from giving it a go...

 



 

All family photo ops were hijacked by these two acting as unwilling particpants.  Love them still!

 



 

Troublesome Twosome!

 



 

"No, Elly Rose...you are not allowed to go on dates until you are 27."

 

What else could they possibly be talking about?

 



 

Cooperative boys catching crabs (many, many crabs) and posing for a family photo!

 

 

Ruffle butt love.

 



 

The waves are gone...this crew is in a shallow sand bar about 40 yards from the beach...my littles thought this was very cool.

 



 

Behold...a mote.  This was not as easy as we thought.  Bennett's boat (from our last beach trip) continued to make its way everywhere with him and we still have it! 

 



 

She loved playing in the ocean on calmer days!

 

Cheers to time with family and breaks in the routine.  Well worth the work of organizing, packing and traveling.  We simply feel fortunate to spend extended time together.  AND, while we were vacationing at the florida beach, my little brother and Madi were vacationing at the beaches of Mexico...they came home ENGAGED!