Fall Semester 2017

I love the preschool that our kids go to for many, many reasons, and one of those reasons is Mr. Scott.  Mr. Scott is married to Mrs. Evelyn, the school secretary, and he is a photographer.  I do not know what his "real" job is during the week, but in his free time, he comes to the school and takes pictures of the students and posts them to Facebook for the parents to see.  Not only are his pictures good, but it's such a good way to get a peek at what our kids are doing during the day - who they're sitting with at lunch, what they're doing on the playgrounds, etc.  He takes the majority of his pictures in the cafeteria, on the playground, or at pickup and drop off - he doesn't go into the classrooms and interrupt class.  

Anyway, this post is all [most] of the pictures Mr. Scott took of our kids during the fall semester this year.  I wanted to post them here so I would be able to have them somewhere other than just on his Facebook page.  

Katie Wynn

This picture below has been one of my favorites - I just love those big grins on the girls' faces! 

This is Katie Wynn's class, taught by Mrs. Kim, on Halloween.  For my memory's sake, the students are (left to right) Alex, Pacey, Gabe, Genesis, Katie Wynn, Addi Clare, Benton, Anna Sofia, Juan, Mason, Levi, and Lexi Claire.  

Thomas

And here is Thomas's class, taught by Mrs. Gladys, on Halloween.  The students are Matiana, Reed, Eli, Urban, Ava, Rileigh, Gates, Liam, Macie, and Thomas.  

Together

The last week of school before the holiday break, Santa came to visit.  They let each class come and take pictures with him and then they call all siblings to come and have their picture made together.  Thomas did great with his class!  

And this was the best picture of Katie Wynn with her class.  There are actual several where her teacher is trying to push her towards Santa because she wouldn't walk up on her own. 

I just happened to be at the school dropping something off when they were doing the sibling pictures, so I got to see them take theirs.  She only did this well because I was standing behind the camera man telling her to be a big girl!

That's all the pictures from the first semester of school.  I'll keep collecting them to do another post at the end of the school year!

Family Pictures

You know Christmas season is approaching when we have a family group text going of when we can try to schedule pictures.  And the older the kids get, the harder and harder it gets.  This year I think we squeezed them in right in between two people flying in from out of town and two others leaving for a basketball game.  Whatever it takes to get Mom's Christmas card picture, though.  Right?

Here is a family picture we took 6 years ago.  Ramer was the baby of the family and our two small kids weren't even on the scene yet!

Now that our family is finished growing in numbers (knock on wood), we met back at this same old house to recreate the photo.  Except, when we arrived, we realized someone had started sprucing up the house and cutting down the trees and it just didn't look as...interesting...anymore.  Whomp, whomp.  Still fun for a comparison, but this new picture won't be replacing the old one as one of my favorite family pictures.  

Mom did get another winner for her card, though, with this picture of her and Dad with all the grandkids.  

I was pretty pleased with the ones we got of our family.  I love this one and if I hadn't already ordered my Christmas cards, I would've used this one for our card!

All of these pictures were taken by Meghan Fowler Photography.  She got some good ones of everyone in the family!

I have been wanting a photo of me and Mom together to use for Mint Tulip and I love this one she took of us. 

As busy as everyone is getting, we should probably go ahead and start trying to pick a date for next year's family pictures now...

November Phone Pics

November started off right where we left off from Halloween - with one more day of costumes.  Since the kids attend a Catholic preschool, they don't have a Halloween party.  Instead, they have one on All Saints Day, which is November 1st.  Instead of traditional Halloween costumes, they're supposed to dress up as a Saint.  Lucky for us, lots of Saints were physicians so their doctor costumes still worked.  Thomas's class party was in the morning and I was happy to get to go and have breakfast with him.

And apparently I'm a sucker because he totally convinced me to bring him home with me after the party, so I had a little helper at the Mint Tulip headquarters all day.

I didn't get a picture with Katie Wynn at her party that afternoon.  Since Matt and I were their "patients" for Halloween, I had ordered an ace bandage.  Suddenly, we had lots of "injuries" at our house that required a bandage.  Exhibit A:

Matt's parents' kept the kids one night while we went out and gave them fun new pjs.  Katie Wynn received some fairy pjs complete with a flower head band and tutu skirt while Thomas's green ones came with dragon wings and ears. 

When you have new wings, you gotta do some flying.

Last year for Christmas, I received a gift card to Von Jet Silhouettes and I finally got around to spending it this fall.  In November, I finally received my silhouettes and I LOVE them!  Here are the pictures that I submitted:

And here are the wooden sihouettes I received! 

I carried them all around the house for about a week before settling on the entry hall.  I love that I can see them through the dining room when I'm in the kitchen.  Can't believe I took so long to get them ordered!

One weekday, we had a really BIG agenda - doctor and dentist appointments for both kids!  For most parents, this probably isn't a big deal.  And the doctor part wasn't really for us either.  But the dentist.  OH, the dentist.  This was Thomas's first time to go so I didn't know how he would do, but his sister?  She is absolutely TERRIFIED of the dentist.  I have taken her 4-5 times already and every time ends in tears.  For both of us.  And her teeth have never actually been cleaned.  So this time, I had a plan.  Mimi was coming with us and we had promised them they would get to go to Build-A-Bear if they had their teeth cleaned.  

I just can't really put into words how the visit went.  Thomas let the dentist look in his mouth but that's it.  Katie Wynn melted down again before even making it to the chair.  We have tried EVERYTHING.  After lots of coaxing and begging and tear-wiping, I finally was able to make her open her mouth enough for the dentist to barely peek inside.  No cleaning or polishing or flossing.

And again, I'm a sucker because I still let them go to Build-A-Bear.  Truthfully, Mom and I were kinda excited to go to Build-A-Bear ourselves!  I had only been once years and years ago and she had never been.  And I didn't realize until that day that the kids had never been to a mall before.  "You mean there's a whole bunch of stores we can go to without getting back in the car?"  Yup.  

After such a hard morning (these trips to the dentist really are so exhausting and gut-wrenching and frustrating and wear us all out) that it was nice to have an afternoon of just saying YES.  We said yes to unnecessary Build-A-Bear accessories...

We said yes to the little mall ride...

And we said yes to the big carousel.  

Do you know what a scary morning followed by a super fun afternoon does to two kids?  This:

It was a quiet car ride home, to say the least.  

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we took our annual long weekend trip down to the beach with my parents.  The kids are getting to be champs at the long car ride.  

I didn't take many pictures - these are from an afternoon we spent in Seaside after painting pottery.  

Here are some from one evening at the Hub.

Since this is Matt's parents' first year to live here, we had our first (hopefully annual) Thanksgiving brunch at their house.  It was delicious!

I bought the game Guess Who for the little kids.  Matt and Wyatt couldn't put it down one night, even after the little kids went to bed...

Here are more random pictures from throughout the month.

When she dresses herself...

He asked me to take this picture of him.  :)

Playing at a really awesome playground!  

Modeling for Mint Tulip.

How I found him asleep in his bed!

Trip to the doctor. :(

Playing in the bath.

Wouldn't nap in his bed...fell asleep on the floor in our room instead.

Red Ringpop Renegades! 

Since November was kinda early in the month this year, our first Christmas event fell in November.  This was our first year to actually get to attend Christmas on the Square and we loved it!  The kids both loved getting to ride the train, and Thomas talked to Santa!

Check back soon; I can't wait to tell you about our trip to Branson where we got to ride on the Polar Express!  

Fall Family Pictures

We have a friend photographer that occasionally does mini photoshoots on a weekend, and I am always quick to sign up for a ten-minute slot!  This particular shoot was on Sunday right after church so I didn't even have to wrangle my kids into nice clothes, we were already dressed and ready to go!

All picture credits in this post go to Kristen Catt Photography.

This one is my favorite except for Thomas hiding in Matt's legs.  I like that it's different from our usual go-to pose of me and Matt holding the kids.

Katie Wynn did great taking pictures by herself!

Thomas, on the other hand, needed a little support from his Daddy.

I love these of the two of them together. 

I don't hate these either.

Kristen is always so good at getting smiles from everyone!

The older we get, the more I love this guy of mine.  So glad to get to do life with him.

October Phone Pics

We welcomed October in with a front porch full of pumpkins!  

One day I picked my favorite girl up early from school so that we could get a treat and a hair cut.  I wonder how I got so lucky to be her mama!  We had fun walking the downtown streets together and you know I was thrilled when she asked me to take her picture.  :)

Is there anything better than a nice Saturday morning with breakfast on the back patio?

The first weekend of the month, I jetted out of town for a girls' weekend.  I had the best time with some of my favorite girlfriends in Little Rock.  Allison graciously hosted us at her parents' place, and it did not disappoint!

We ended our weekend with brunch and mimosas and it was so good! I had cinnamon toast crunch encrusted french toast.  Yes.  It was delicious!

Thomas got a boo-boo on his middle finger and he really liked showing it to me. 

Red-ribbon week at school meant the kids had to wear crazy socks.  Katie Wynn and Addi Clare shared the same socks they wore last year! 

Take a look at these muscles!  No wonder no one ever messes with us when we're out and about.

My little loves did some modeling for me.  I think they're getting better and better at it!

Guest models, Mimi and Bren!

Now, on to November!