Ballet

On Tuesday Emma Catherine started ballet for the first time. She is taking from a group called Worship Through Dance. She was so excited when we bought her ballet outfit which included a white leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet shoes. When we were at the ballet store and she was trying on her ballet shoes, she stood in the mirror and said, "This is how a ballerina does it" as she stood on her toes. It was too cute.
Her first class went well, as far as I know. I was sad because there isn't a way for the parents to see inside the room. Her teacher said we could peak in to take pictures, which I did and she seemed to be doing well. She said she had a good time, and was all smiles all the way home.

First Day of School

On Tuesday Emma Catherine and Bailey had orientation for preschool. Emma Catherine is going to the same school she went last year and this year Bailey will join her. Here they are before orientation.Today was their first day of school, and their teachers said they had a great day. Except that Bailey tripped in her classroom and has a little fat lip.Emma Catherine's teacher is Mrs. Angela.
Bailey's teacher is Mrs. April.
We are looking forward to a great year at Silverdale!

My sister is a teacher!

I haven't shared too much on the blog about my family besides our immediate family of 4. I'm not really sure how they feel about being showcased for anyone to read, but I've been wanting to write this post for a little while now. I wanted everyone to know how proud I am of my sister, and I hope that she reads this and knows it too. We are 4 years apart in school which has kept us from sharing any schooling since elementary school. I always wished we could have shared at least 1 year together at Auburn, but it's just something that I've come to accept. I can now see the Lord's hand in it as well. You see, Lauren and I are somewhat different. We chose two different routes in high school and college, neither one wrong, just different. I chose the overly involved, sorority route and Lauren chose the athletic route. Our personalities are different as well. I am very type A and Lauren is a more go with the flow type person. She doesn't get easily rattled, like I do and she definitely can take a joke better than me. I know that God's provision of us being 4 years apart helped because she didn't have to live in my shadow while at school. I can be bossy and motherly toward her and I think the Lord knew that I might tell her what to do her entire freshman year at Auburn. The way it worked out, she got to make her own choices.

In high school she worked very hard in softball and she earned a scholarship to Auburn. I'm not sure how much you know about division I athletes, but they work their butts off. They wake up early to work out, practice after classes, and travel a ton, all the while having to keep up with school work. Lauren decided to major in education and did great at it. After graduating, she was offered a scholarship to get her master's in education and she did.

So this summer began the dreaded job search. What a hard time to be looking for a job. She decided she wanted to live in Nashville and applied to teach all over that area. She heard from a few schools and had some interviews and even though they all gave her great feedback, they all ended up hiring teachers with more experience. It was a frustrating summer with all the unknowns piling up around her. Finally, less than a week before school started for the kids she got a call from a school in Franklin. They wanted her to interview for a permanent sub position that would hopefully lead to a full time job at some point. She went to the interview and they hired her that day.

She called my mom and me and asked if we would come help her set up her classroom and we did. I was exciting to see her making decisions about the classroom and her students and also it was exciting because I knew she was going to be a great teacher. While we were there we met at least 3 teachers who had been hired after doing a permanent sub position, so I think she has a great chance of getting a job there in the fall. Things are going well with her new job, and I knew they would. Lauren, I am proud of you as a teacher and as a person, and I'm so glad you are my sister.

P.S. I couldn't forget this little side note. We were all elated when we found our her school's mascot is the tiger. In high school we were the Palmetto High Tigers and in college we were the Auburn Tigers....once a tiger always a tiger I guess.

Lake Winne

While my mom was in town we also made a first trip to Lake Winne. It is a local amusement park. Our sunday school class was having a get together there so we all went. Just like in Pigeon Forge, the girls loved the rides. Emma Catherine wanted to ride everything she could. We had such a good time that we even stayed until it closed at 10:00, which is unheard of for us because the girls have never stayed out anywhere that long.

Shark Night

While my mom was in town we went to Shark Night at the Aquarium. We have only recently joined the aquarium so this was our first members only night. One thing I liked about it was that it wasn't too crowded. They also had a craft, face painting, and a special shark show. We ended the night with ice cream at Ben and Jerry's.
One funny thing did happen after we left the aquarium. When my mom got in the front seat of my 4-runner there was a thick planner in the seat. My mom asked whose it was and wondered how Ryan could have filled a planner so quickly when his new planner had just come in the mail a few days earlier. Ryan told us that it wasn't his so we couldn't figure out what was going on. We checked around the car to see if anything was missing and we couldn't find anything gone. My mom started looking through the planner and realized how important this was to someone. It was filled with papers, appointments, phone numbers, etc. We couldn't find a name in the planner but my mom scanned the phone numbers section and found an entry for "my cell phone." Ryan tried the number and got a very nice lady on the phone, and it was her planner. How did the planner get in our car you might ask? Apparently Ryan didn't lock our car when we went into the aquarium. She came out to drop her planner off in her daughter's car which happened to be a silver 4-runner. She mistook my car for her daughter's car and then pressed the unlock button on her daughter's keys. She thought it unlocked the car, but really it was never locked. She asked us to take the planner to work downtown, which we did. She was so grateful that this week she sent us a $30.00 gift card to Walmart.

Nashville

Do you ever look back at pictures and just laugh? As I was looking back over pictures from our day trip to Nashville, I couldn't help but laugh, mostly at the pictures from our dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with a big group of friends from Nashville. My parents, the girls, and I went to Franklin and Nashville to do some shopping at the children's stores around the area. We did the same thing last year and found some great deals on spring and summer clothes.

My mom and I love smocked and boutique type clothes but one problem is that they are always so pricey. One way to save money is to make them/smock them yourself, which we do sometimes. Another way we save money is by buying clothes at end of the season sales. There are so many children's stores in the Franklin/Nashville area that it made it worth our while to spend a day shopping there. We found some great deals and some really neat stores. We also got some ideas for clothes that we can make. Well, should I say, that my mom can make. I unfortunately do not know how to sew. We also wanted to visit a few smocking stores since there isn't one in Chattanooga. We were so disappointed that the one at the Factory in Franklin had closed. Last year we bought fabric, some smocking plates, and a pattern or two, and we had hoped to do the same this year. We did visit the Children's Corner, which is a smocking shop in the Nashville area. I am so excited about the cupcake plate I bought. I've already sent fabric to smocking etc to have the dresses constructed so I can start working on dresses for the girls' birthdays. We talked my mom into buying a Cinderella plate. I looked difficult to me but I'm sure my mom can do it. (hint, hint mom)We ended the night at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner with lots of friends and lots of laughs. Did I mention that Emma Catherine and Bailey were fabulous the whole day? They shopped like pros and at dinner Bailey was great even though she had only about a 20 minute nap. (This is a child who usually averages a 3 1/2 to 4 hour nap everyday)

**As I just looked back over the pictures one more time to decide which ones to post, I realized that they don't translate into how funny the dinner was. First off we met Carly's boyfriend for the first time, and they got to sit close to my dad, who then retold stories (he loves stories) of Carly in high school. Unfortunately I didn't really get any pictures of the new beau.Then my dad made his way to the other end to talk to Ricky Brady (you know, from American Idol) and to try to get him to come sing at a fundraiser in Florida, but then my dad found out Ricky was already coming. Also, I almost forgot, Ricky used to work at the Cheesecake factory so he was singing the menu to us.
We couldn't believe how grown up Kaylee was when she showed up to dinner in make-up and also reapplied during dinner. Emma Catherine wasn't in the picture taking mood.
Bailey thought the room was a little too bright.

Maggie Valley

My sister and her close friends go to Maggie Valley every year for vacation and this year since my parents were in town, we decided to crash their trip for a night. We had a blast!

We first ate at a Maggie Valley staple.
Carly and Emma Catherine gave each other princess gifts...they're kindred spirits.
Then we had old time photos taken for sister's weekend 09
Then we put Bailey girl down for her nap and we relaxed outside in the great weather. Emma Catherine and Lauren had a little spill in the creek.
Emma Catherine wasn't thrilled about her dirty dress but she got over it with Lauren took her on the rope swing.
Then Mary Emma and Mr. Louis came down with fish food to feed the fish in the pond, and we also caught some huge tadpoles.Carly did a little tie dying.
Kaylee did story time.
And then we went to dinner.
The next morning we decided to take the scenic route home and we went through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Emma Catherine spotted a small children's amusement park so after lunch we decided to let her and Bailey ride a few rides since they had been the car all morning. Emma Catherine has never been very brave so I wasn't sure how she would do, but she loved all the rides and so did Bailey.

My parents

After Ryan and I got back from the cruise, my mom traveled back up to Chattanooga with us, and my dad met us there a few days later. My dad stayed with us for a little over a week and my mom stayed with us about 2 1/2 weeks. We loved having them with us and we did a lot of fun things, and we were definitely busy. We were all so sad when they had to leave. It was also so nice to have help for so long. My mom helped with laundry, cooking, and watching the girls so I could go to the doctor. It really makes me wish they lived closer. There are a lot of pictures and some events deserve their own post, which I will do. Some highlights for their visit were:
lots of shopping
sewing on my mom's embroidery machine
maggie valley
shark night at the aquarium
going to Franklin to help my sister set up her classroom
going to Franklin to shop for children's clothes
Lake Winne (an amusement park in Chattanooga)
did I say, shopping?

While we were gone...

***I haven't given up on my blog but I am so far behind. I want to record everything b/c this is a scrapbook for our family that I want to make into a book. Hopefully I'll catch up soon**

While we were gone on our cruise, the girls stayed with my parents for the week. They kept them busy and did lots of fun things. My mom said Emma Catherine didn't really even ask about where we were until mid week, and then all she said was, "I wonder when my mommy and daddy are going to come back." My mom said that she waited to see if she would ask any more questions and she didn't, so she left it at that.

Here are some things they did during the week:

They went to play with the puppies at the Southeastern Guide dog Association
They went swimming
They went to a hands on science museum for kids
They ate popsicles
They went to lunch with Papa and Noni