Conferences

I had both Maggie and Tuttle's conferences today. I started with Maggie's conference first thing this morning at 9:15. Hers was more informal, but I was still able to get an insight into Maggie's attitude and interaction with her peers at school.

Apparently Maggie has a split personalilty: Home Maggie and School Maggie. She always follows directions, sits quietly and listens during Circle Time, and stays happy throughout the day at preschool. At home her threenager attitude comes out! :)

The teachers told me Maggie's favorite thing to do is find the letter of the week that is hidden around the room. Paper cutouts are placed in random spots, and the kids are instructed to hunt for them. Maggie usually finds all the letters immediately upon entering the room, and the teachers have to rehide them, so other students have a chance to join in the fun!

We need to work on Maggie holding a pencil correctly. I held my pencil with my entire fist in Kindergarten, so I guess this struggle is hereditary!

After spending the morning at an indoor playground warehouse, Maggie and I went to Tuttle's conference at his school while he was attending his first Run Club meeting.

I was eager to hear about his progress since we do not get very many school details out of Tuttle each day. I was very impressed with the evaluation that the teachers prepared. He can successfully recognize all the upper case letters and most of the lower case letters (with the exception of mixing up p/q and b/d on occassion.) He is very strong at identifying the beginning sound of a word, but we need to focus on following through with the end sound. I have noticed this in our practice at home, so I was not surprised. 

I like how Ms. Fleming instructs the students to write in their journals. It showed his progress even over the last six weeks. He initially would only write the first letter of each word to convey his thoughts: T C W T T S (The cat went to the store.), but now I could see that he is starting to sound out more letters within a word. I think this exercise really promotes learning to read, and I am excited to see what he can come up with as the year continues.

Tuttle's math skills were fabulous. He is already mastering skills that needed to be completed by the end of the year (count to 100 by 1's, count to 100 by 10's.) He recognized almost all of his shapes with the exception of a cube and a hexagon. He labeled it as an octagon. Who really needs a hexagon anyway? :)

I am relieved that math comes so naturally to him because he is learning it all in German this round. He can really focus on the German vocabulary instead of also learning a math skill for the first time.

We are very proud of Tuttle's behavior (no crayons so far!) and his participation in class. I knew Tuttle would love school, and his conference just confirmed what we already knew.

Holland's First Georgia Game

We were so happy to have Daddy home after traveling for work all week to San Diego. His new job requires a good amount of traveling, so we are soaking up our weekends as a family. 

Gram and Grumps took Tuttle and Maggie to the fair Friday evening. Luckily the rain held off long enough to enjoy rides, the petting zoo, some fair games, and corndogs with cotton candy for dessert. Jay and I had BIG plans for dinner out for my birthday, but a four hour nap for both of us turned into ordering sushi to go. We are officially old. :)

Since Tuttle's soccer game was cancelled due to the wet fields, we headed to Athens earlier than planned. It was a big football day for our family because Holland was going to cheer on the Dawgs for the first time! We snapped a few pictures in Granny's backyard before heading to Sanford Stadium.

Grandmommy and Daddy hung out at the house while Peach, Drew, and I took the kids to the game. We arrived at the perfect time to see the halftime show. Tuttle and Maggie loved the band and the dancers.

We stopped by our seats before grabbing some lunch at the concession stands. We ran into Jancy and Katie as well at the Verner Family. Maggie had to get a picture with Dorothy and Jojo. She has not stopped talking about these sweet girls since our beach trip in July.

Tuttle was proud to take a quick picture by Grandaddy's brick inside the stadium.

We left right before the end of the game. It was a quick gameday for us, but the kids all did so well, especially Holland. We are very proud of our Dawgs! We still have an undefeated record this season.

It was the perfect birthday weekend. I just love my little family!

Go Dawgs!

The whole family cheered on the Georgia Bulldawgs at the Poole Family's house last night. We are already enjoying such a fun and successful season! Our team earned another win against South Carolina which brings our record to 3-0! Go Dawgs!

We cannot wait to see the game at Sanford Stadium next Saturday along with Aunt Peach, Uncle Drew, and Holland!

Photos

Since Tuttle is in school, Maggie and I spend a lot of time together. I am always so happy that she does not mind me snapping A TON of photos of her! :)

Luckily I was able to get a few special minutes with Tuttle at his school during lunch. He eats so early that I could go alone while Maggie was in school. I loved getting a few extra snuggles and meeting some of his sweet friends.

Bring on the weekend!

Gram Retires/ Two Goals and a Stripe

We have been counting down for MONTHS to Gram's retirement. The day finally arrived on August 28, and Maggie and I were honored to attend a surprise retirement party for her last week. A good friend and lawyer Gram had worked with for years, Bill Casey, put together such a special night for her. Former colleagues, family, and close friends were all there to celebrate Gram's new role in life: a retiree! :)

My mom had mentioned many of the people I met at the party in our conversations throughout the years, and it was so nice to finally put a face to a name. 

I wish I had taken more pictures, but the lighting was not in my favor, and Maggie and I were so busy chatting and eating! :)

I kept telling everyone at the party that Gram thinks she was busy at work. She was so mistaken. Now I have her at my disposal with THREE babies!

We packed in a lot this weekend and enjoyed every second. We started with Tuttle and Coach Daddy's first soccer game on Saturday morning. The weather was absolutely perfect. We were ready for a hint of fall in the air. Jay organized the team so impressively, especially since practice had been cancelled this past week for rain. The icing on the top was that Tuttle scored TWO GOALS! He was very proud of himself, and so were we! He hustled the entire time and cheered for his friends when he was on break. I know it is going to be a FANTASTIC season for Team Columbia!

We rushed home, so Daddy would have time to cut the yard before heading to Tuttle's karate class. We typically do not attend class on Saturdays, but Jay wanted to witness Tuttle earning his second stripe on his belt. He gets a new stripe for every ten classes he attends. After three stripes, he is eligible to test for the next belt level. I love that the studio offers a reward system because Tuttle thrives on achieving specific goals.

I had planned on attending church today, but the busy week caught up to me, so we all slept in a little bit. As soon as we realized how crisp and cool the air was outside, we changed into comfy clothes and went on a long family walk/bike ride for the kids. We walked by the elementary school and then headed to Ashford Park for Tuttle and Maggie to burn a little energy. It was a wonderful morning with our little family.

After lunch the kids and I showered and left for a puppet show at the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts. Both Tuttle and Maggie are very interested in puppets, so I knew they would be thrilled to see another puppet show. Earlier this year both saw The Wizard of Oz show. 

Tuttle and Maggie made shadow puppets before the show, and then they had a BLAST during the performance of Aesop's Fables. I barely watched the puppets because I was so busy watching the smiles and soaking up the laughter coming from the two seats next to me. :) We will definitely be back for the next show with Daddy: Peter Pan.

We packed in a bunch of activities, and we loved all the memory making. Two goals and a stripe add up to a PERFECT weekend with our family.

Maggie Starts Preschool!

Maggie was eager to start preschool since her brother had been in school for almost a month, and her day finally arrived! She was not nervous to enter her Kangaroo Class and get started exploring all the new toys right away. I think it helped that she knew most of her classmates from her previous year at OPP and one of her teachers so well. Ms. Chris was Tuttle's assistant teacher while he was in the Treefrog Class, and she is also one of my good friends.

When I picked her up, she was all smiles! I heard about her music class, reading Pete the Cat, playing on the "big girl" playground, popping bubbles, and drawing a picture of me. She is ready to go back on Friday. I know this will be a GREAT year for Maggie.

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was the start of the 2015 football season, so Jay and Tuttle met Grandaddy in Athens to cheer on the Dawgs at Granny's house. Since it is Labor Day weekend, they decided to stay until Monday. We miss them, but I know they are having a blast relaxing, watching football, and grilling out.

Maggie and I have stayed busy at home. After manicures and pedicures Saturday morning, we went to the Horton Family's house to watch the Dawgs win their first game. We stayed about three hours and then ran by Costco and the grocery store to pick up some supplies to help host a baby shower today.

I was thrilled to help host one of my best friend's baby shower this morning. Zanna is due with a baby boy a month before our sweet Jacob is due, and I cannot wait for her to join the mommy club! Zanna and I lived in the side by side apartments in college where we shared a balcony. She is the last of the girls to have a baby, and she fits right into the first born trend that started in 2009. Between the seven girls from the apartment, there are ten babies, and NINE of them are boys! Maggie is the ONLY girl in the mix. Zanna and I were both 100% sure we were having girls this time, but we were both very wrong! :)

Two of the other girls from our college apartment were there, too. It was so great to catch up with them. Rachel is getting married in December, and I could not be happier for her!

I hosted the shower with Zanna's mom and aunt, as well as her cousin's girlfriend. I do not think I have ever met a more excited grandmother-to-be than Zanna's mom, Kay. Baby Alexander will definitely be spoiled rotten by this crew!

Maggie was so good the entire morning at the shower. She used her manners and did not take away from the guest of honor. I love bringing my little girl to such special events now that she is old enough to enjoy it!

It was the perfect morning to celebrate Zanna and Baby Alexander. I cannot wait to meet him in just four short months!

Coach Daddy

Tuttle's sixth season of soccer started yesterday, and we are thrilled to introduce the new coach: Coach Daddy! Jay agreed to take on this fun role (or as his email to parents explained, he is the "rookie father volun-told by his wife" to coach). Tuttle was very proud to tell his teammates that his Daddy was in charge. :)

Jay did such a fantastic job keeping the boys active and engaged. He had planned a warm-up and a variety of drills. The kids were definitely worn out and VERY sweaty by the end of practice!

Maggie was itching to be running around with the team. She kept insisting that she could do what they were doing. Unfortunately she had to be happy with playing on the sidelines. She got her workout, though. She is currently still asleep in bed at 8am after sleeping through breakfast and carpool for Tuttle!

I am so happy that Jay and Tuttle will have this fun activity to do together this fall. Physical fitness is so important to our family, especially Daddy, so it's a perfect way to spend our Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Go, Team Columbia!