Birthday Fun and the dentist

The past two weekends Emma Catherine has had a birthday party to go to. The first weekend was a gymnastics party and this past weekend it was a dinosaur party in the park. The girls had a great time at both parties.Bailey showed no fear at the party. She wanted to try everything. We looked over at one point and she was walking on the beam by herself.
Emma Catherine and the birthday girl, Allie.
Bailey and the birthday boy, Bryant
The giant slide at the pumpkin patch playground was a huge hit.
On a side note, Emma Catherine had her first dentist appointment today. I came prepared with my camera and I wasn't even allowed to go into the room where they clean her teeth. I have seen it once before and it is an awesome pediatric dentist's office. They have video games, movies, toys, books, etc. for the kids to play with while they wait their turn. The hygienist said she did great for the teeth cleaning part but she got scared with Dr. Gill, the dentist, came to look at her teeth. At the end though she got ice cream, a goody bag, and a new toothbrush, so overall it was a good experience.

It's Game Day!

Today the girls wore their cheerleading outfits all day. We got some strange looks at Target because everyone else was decked out in UT gear considering that the UT vs. UF game was today.

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Today the 3 year olds at Emma Catherine's preschool were supposed to dress up as "what they wanted to be when they grow up." When we first started talking to Emma Catherine about it, she didn't really have a concept of what that meant and she would just say, "I don't know." Ryan and I tried to explain it to her as best we could and went through different jobs that she might like. Finally, she said, "a doctor, so I can give shots" so we went with it. Bailey had just gone for her well baby check up so I think that is where the shot part came from. It just so happened that our neighbor let us borrow this doctor outfit.

Favorites

Lately the girls each have something new that they love to do. Can you guess?

Bailey loves to play peek-a-boo in my tupperware cabinet, which happens to be the only cabinet without a lock. It cracks me up because she'll do it over and over again. Now, she's gotten so good at it, she can completely close herself in there so we can't see her at all.Emma Catherine is into playing "teacher." She gets her chair and tells us to listen to her reading. As you can see, she even shows us the pictures. I remember my sister and I playing school for hours and hours so I'm sure this is only the beginning.

Display

Once Emma Catherine and I started making projects during her "school time" I realized that I was going to need something to display her work on. (The school time post somehow ended up under the war eagle post even though I posted the war eagle post first.) I wanted to be able to review her letters and also for her to be able to show off her work. After some internet searching Ryan and I went shopping for a bulletin board and fabric on Friday night. We found just what we wanted at Staples and Hobby Lobby. I was thrilled with how it turned out.The letters Emma Catherine has done so far. Not to be left out, we also posted some of Bailey's artwork from preschool on the board.

War Eagle!

We are so excited for the start of football season today. We are especially excited to see our Auburn Tigers play their first game in the Gene Chizik era. Last night Ryan and I watched Auburn Tigers...Everyday which is a new show on once a week on CSS. It is supposed to give us an insiders view into the program, and last night did not disappoint. I have been skeptical about Chizik and if he was the right hire for the team, but last night made me excited that he is our coach. The players have bought into his system and he is doing great things on The Plains. I'm not sure how good the team will be because they are so young, but either way I will support Chizik and the Auburn Tigers.

Bailey was ready in her cheerleading outfit today. We asked her, "where is Aubie?" and she pointed to her shirt...too cute.Here she is saying, "go go go," which is what she says when we ask what Aubie says. Where is Emma Catherine you may ask? My parents came through town on their way to see my sister in Nashville and they took her with them for the weekend. They will be back sometime tomorrow night.

School Time

I have been convicted lately about being intentional with the time that I have with the girls, especially since they are at preschool two days a week. Also, Emma Catherine will be starting kindergarten before I know it. At the end of the summer I started "school time" with Emma Catherine. We do it at 1:30 when I put Bailey down for her nap. We went through pages in some preschool workbooks, worked on cutting, and counting puzzles. So far Emma Catherine has been excited about school time, but I knew if I didn't add some more variety then it wouldn't be too long and she would be bored. About the time I was wondering what I would do, someone on a blog I stalk posted about this website, no time for flashcards . It is a great website, but what I like best are the letter activities. She shows letter activities for each letter and how to make them. I wrote down a list of craft supplies that I would need and I went around town on Tuesday while the girls were at preschool to gather the supplies. I had a few of the supplies in the basement with my old teaching stuff and most of the supplies I was able to get at the Dollar Tree. I also bought a box to keep everything in one place.
Emma Catherine was so excited about the new craft box that she wanted to make a letter that day. I have to admit I was excited too, so I decided to go ahead and make an alligator for the letter A with her.
Learning her letters has been slow-going for us up to this point. She hasn't been extremely interested in learning many besides E and C. I'm sure you can guess why. I honestly think she knows more letters than she wants to admit. She can be stubborn though and a lot of times, when I ask her to identify a letter, she'll just say, "I don't know." On Wednesday, we made the letter W. Who would be believe I had leftover watermelon seeds in my teacher stuff?
One thing I like about the letters is they are easy to make and she can do most of the work besides drawing and cutting out the letter. (Maybe as she gets better at cutting, she'll be able to do this but she's not there yet.) So far she has been so proud to tell Ryan the letter we made when he gets home from work. She has been able to remember the letters we made too.

You can use this link to find examples for each letter. http://notimeforflashcards.blogspot.com/2009/05/whole-alphabet.html

Some supplies I will be using:
-markers
-construction paper
-feathers
-paint
-googly eyes
-stamps
-foam sheets
-pom pom balls
-sequins
-glitter
-seeds
-scrapbook paper

Accountabiltiy

Today I was ecstatic (that's a Fancy Nancy word) when I got the mail because these 4 ready to smock dresses had arrived.
I had mailed them to smocking etc a few weeks or so ago and I have wanting to get started on them. I am posting on here before they are smocked for some accountability. The last dresses I smocked took me 8 months or so, I think, which is way too long. My hope is that since I've posted that I'm now working on them I will be quicker about finishing them. The flowered ones are for this fall, which is here, so I need to be fast. The purple micro-checked ones are their birthday dresses. I am so excited about the cupcakes that I want to smock them first but I know I can't. Hopefully it won't be long and I'll have a post with the finished fall dresses. I picked an easy plate so hopefully that will help.