Back to (Pre) School

School began at the end of August and the kids were oh-so-ready. 

I on the other hand, was digging my heels into the last weeks of summer like Fred Flintstone trying to stop the Flintstone-mobile. 

Jay started 4K- 5 days a week and couldn't be happier.

He's going to have a great year and do amazing things.

Lizzy joins him on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

She loves everything about preschool.

I miss them like crazy. I'm sure I always will. 

They hopped out of the car together for the first time, held hands and walked in together for this year's adventures. I love these two so much and I am so thankful for their brave, adventurous souls. 

Summer Fun-part 2

It's been so fun spending the summer with Jay and Lizzy and watching them learn and grow.

All I can think to say about it is that it's been perfect. 

Fun, busy, nonstop, silly, sunny, sandy-perfect.

A quick snapshot of some of the memories I'll keep from this perfect summer--

Jay and I took a special trip to surprise him with a bike during his birthday week.

Lizzy and I discovered sponge rollers, aka "curlies".

We saw Planes 2 during Jay's birthday week.

Made a trip to Barnes and Noble during birthday week.

Spent lots of time digging in the dirt this summer.

We met Elsa.

Made blueberry vinegarette with some of the blueberries we picked from our house

"Helped" with lots of jobs including new sod for the front yard and the construction of our first garden. 

Jay took communion for the first time July 27. 

Perfected our beach-going. 

Visited Lambert's for the first time. 

Took a long pit stop at the Peach Park for the first time. I can remember doing that a lot as a child!

Started learning Cracker Barrel checkers-after raiding the country store. 

Went to the RODEO!

....where Jay rode a horse for the first time.

Visited "The Little Zoo That Could" in Gulf Shores for the first time. It was rainy and awesome. It's so small but they have so many animals and you are close to them all. 6 adult tigers and 2 baby cubs and so much more. 

 Note the size of this rabbit. 17 pounds. 

 And how about Chuckie the Alligator?

Enjoyed the Gulf Coast Farmers and Fisherman's Market.

We ended the summer with two kids who were so much bigger and more grown up that we started with. They've really become friends and stick together like glue. I don't think we could have packed in any more fun or made these months any more special if we'd tried. 

 Summer 2014- That's a wrap. 

The End. 

Springtime fun--catching up!

Life is busy, fun and full these days.

Jay is 3-and-a-half and Lizzy's 2--life is nonstop.

Spring has sprung all around us and while I hardly have time to complete a thought, let alone a blog post, I'm making myself sit down to make note of how much we've been doing lately and what we're up to.

SO here we go--spring so far....

I finally decided to use my sewing machine for the first time! Eight years after getting it for Christmas, I made two pillows!

We celebrated at Davis' Super Hero themed birthday.

I completed my second sewing project-capes for Jay and Lizzy.

Lizzy ran around saying "Super-Lizzy!!!" and "ZZZZOOOOMM!" and Jay actually wore his which was a pleasant surprise!

We celebrated Lizzy's 2nd birthday then kept Kelsey with us for the week. Jay had preschool, so we did a few girl things like picked out new nail polishes and gave ourselves late-night manis and pedis...and enjoyed a day at the zoo and played in the mud while Jay wasn't at school.

Lizzy and Jay both loved having Kelsey here.

Then we took off to Nashville to return our house guest and stayed the weekend with Mimi.

We checked out the Nashville Zoo this time with Mimi, CJ and KarKar in addition to Kelsey and the West kiddies.

 GOATS!

Yes, that goat brush did eventually wind up in Lizzy's hair, despite every attempt to avoid the inevitable, it was in fact, inevitable. Yuck.

 A visit to church and Nanny and Cece's rounded out our weekend.

Then it was back home. Silly kids. Happy to be out of the car!

We had Davis over for his first sleepover at our house. It was fun for everyone and a tad surprising that it went so smoothly.

I really think that Jay and Davis played so much all day long that they were totally worn out by bedtime and had no choice other than go down for the count.

(Did I mention that Joseph was out of town for this part??)

We've spent lots of time outside and enjoying the adventures of our yard, the creek and the treehouse.

We've also worked in the kitchen a lot. Since Jay gave up his nap at the beginning of February he and I are working together to explore every inch of our property and he's learning to help me cook dinner and bake. He's really learned lots over the past several weeks.

Just this week we made some simple sugar cookies, but I noticed that he can mix and add ingredients without making a total mess of things, which is real progress from where we started.

Lizzy is still such a joy. She is quite independent these days and wants to do everything Jay does. She is really a bit of a daredevil and you have to keep a keen eye and ear out at all times as she explores her boundaries. Its not uncommon to find her making a break for the treehouse the first chance she gets or to look up and find she's more than halfway up the ladder unassisted. It scares the stuffing out of me, but I am glad to see that she is able to hold her own.

Sweet Lizzy talks and sings all the time. She knows every word to every scene of Frozen and has started to play pretend. You'll find her taking care of babies and saying "I Miss Phiw-wips" (Jay's teacher) when she's in the playroom while Jay is at school.

And tonight we celebrated Weston's birthday by all going out to dinner at a local pizza place.

The kids had fun and may or may not have spent a zillion quarters in the game room!

Happy Spring from the West girls!