Nate's First Communion

Nate had his First Communion on Saturday night, and was lucky to have so many extended family members come in for the big occasion.

He had individual pictures at the church around 3 pm, and then we all gathered for appetizers and gifts at the house.

He looks like a mini-professor!



Nanny's 2 favorite big kids



A rare moment - I'm in a dress!

 We headed to the church early to take a few group pictures. Luckily the rain held off and it wasn't 90 degrees. What a good looking group!



Mum Mum & Granddaddy



Aunt Molly & Shan



Nanny & Poppy



Cheerleader arms (!) with my bestie, Katie, and her son Chandler



Nate was so lucky to have BOTH sets of grandparents in attendance!



#studs



Granddaddy with his favorite granddaughter :)



The whole gang!



It's almost showtime :)

 I caught this moment right before Nate went up to take communion. I love how serious he looks!

 Taking the host from Father Deasy....

 ...and the wine from his teacher, Mrs. Wagner. He said it "tasted like fire!"

Proud sister!

Just a few of Nate's buds sharing this big day with him - Anthony, Chan, and Mason

 I was so proud of all of the kids taking First Communion.....everyone was well-behaved and no one spit out the wine (like in practice)! After mass ended, all 10 of us headed to Cypress Inn for a nice dinner on the river. Well, apparently, the rest of Tuscaloosa had the same idea so it was a looooooong dinner. (And yes, I had a reservation!) The service was awful, but fortunately, the food was delicious (once it finally arrived).

He got a new pen from the church and was just a *wee* bit proud of it!

 Since our food was taking so long, I took the kids outside to stretch their legs (and grab some sunset pictures).

Someone requested a picture specifically by herself!!! #diva

America's Next Top Model



What a day! :)

I'm so thankful to Mum Mum, Granddaddy, Nanny, Poppy, Aunt Molly & Shan for traveling near and far to support Nate on his big day. It meant a lot to him, and to Greg and I as well.

 

See you in two more years, when it's Abby's turn!

Junie B. Jones!!

Abby's class took a field trip on Wednesday, and it was a day she had been awaiting a long time!!

I loaded up Lucy, Abby, and Mia and we headed to the park for a picnic lunch!

After lunch, the ice cream truck stopped by!!

*Don't mind if I do*

 After lunch, ice cream, and some playtime at the park, we headed downtown to the Bama Theater. We got lucky and got 3rd row seats! The girls weren't excited at all :)

 Our next door neighbor, Jack, had one of the main parts! He played Herb, Junie B. Jones' new friend. He was excellent!! I knew he had a lot of lines, but I had no idea he'd have solos and duets with Junie! I was so impressed. He caught my eye at one point during the play and smiled extra big :)

 Jack's sister, Kate, was in the play as well. She was in the ensemble and a few other scenes as an "extra." It took all of Abby's self-control not to wave like a wild woman each time Kate came on stage :) During this scene - Kate is the small one up top wearing all pink - she did a tiny little wave at us and Abby was so thrilled!

 Right after the play was over, Abby's teacher wanted a class picture outside the theater. And it just so happened that Junie B. Jones was walking outside at that exact moment! She agreed to take a picture with us and the kids were so star-struck by her!

Can you tell it was sunny!?

Jack came out the side door for a meet & greet :) So proud of my talented neighbor!

As Abby told me on the way home, it was the "best day of school ever." I agree....there is nothing better than being a kindergartener!!

Field Trip to American Village

Both 2nd grade classes took a field trip to the American Village in Montevallo, AL last Friday. I was unable to go :( but luckily a few of my friends were chaperones and sent me pictures/videos.

 

It was about an hour drive to get there, and Nate got paired with his buddy Andrew for the ride. He said they watched part of a movie and talked about Minecraft :)

 

 

Sweet boys



Learning all about the Revolutionary War

 Click here to watch a short clip of Nate & some classmates re-enacting part of the Boston Tea Party.

 

When I asked Nate how the field trip went, he said it was "fun & scary." Apparently, some of the re-enactments were a little too real for him, mostly the Red Coats & their loud guns :)

 

But he loved playing a few "old-fashioned" games out on the lawn. Here was one:

 What a great group of kids (& teachers)!

 The field trip wouldn't be complete without the token "make a silly face" picture:

So sad I missed this field trip with Nate, but glad he had a great time & learned a lot. He came home with lots of new facts (some that I didn't even know)! I look forward to going on this field trip with Abby in two years....

Kindergarten Mass

Every April, the kindergarten classes lead mass. I think this is strategically placed towards the end of the school year, so they have adequate time to learn to read :) Abby's class led mass on Thursday (and the other kindergarten class is leading it next Thursday).

 

Since Abby has done a reading before, she was not really nervous, but said a lot of her classmates were. And she "helped them be un-nervous!" Ha!

 

 Abby was in charge of the first reading, and she did a great job! Click here to watch a short clip. We were really proud of her.

Waiting for Braylyn to finish the second reading.

 After mass, both kindergarten classes sang a song. SO CUTE! :) Greg had to leave mass early because he had a class to teach, and I had to bow out early as well to get to a client's house on time. Luckily, I have awesome mom friends that took a few pictures for me.



Of course Miss Thang is right smack dab in the middle :) #diva

Abby's teacher wrote her a note on Friday and it was super sweet! It said that she was extra proud of her for being a leader in class and helping all the others with their parts.....that she is an amazing role model and great reader....and has a smile that lights up the room.

 

I agree!! :)

Easter 2016

**Please excuse the belated post!**

 

Easter Sunday, the kids woke up eager to search for their Easter baskets. The poor Easter Bunny is running out of spots to hide them!! Abby found hers pretty easily, and was pretty pleased with herself :)

 

 Nate always requests that the Easter Bunny hides his basket "extra hard," so he did. And it took him FOREVER to find it. Abby spotted it about a minute before he did - in the playroom - and had a hard time keeping it a secret :)

 Big fans of the Easter Bunny!!

 Greg cooked us a delicious breakfast of eggs, grits, bacon, and fruit. We took our time & had a lazy morning, before heading to mass at 11 am. However, the rain spoiled our plans to take pictures outside by our beautiful azaleas!!

 It slowed down to a drizzle, so we got a quick picture of the kiddos.

 Our neighborhood egg hunt was supposed to be at 3 pm but, you guessed it, that got rained out too. So, we stayed inside most of the afternoon, and had a yummy ham for dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The neighborhood rescheduled the egg hunt for this Sunday (today) at 3 pm, and we had gorgeous weather!!! The kids found a lot of eggs, and everyone loved seeing the Easter Bunny. (It was one of the girls that lives a few houses away, a 5th grader named Harper whom Abby adores!)

She whispered in the Easter Bunny's ear: "I know who you are!" :)