It's Jaden's turn...

Today, I wanted to share a picture that Jaden drew at school. Actually, it's a part of a little book they made in class to help learn how to spell/write color words. For the color green, he chose to draw a picture of his favorite (& only) pet, Socks the turtle! His interpretation is dead on!



I guess now, I've got to find a masterpiece of Gabrielle's to blog about tomorrow.

Smarty pants Corinn!

my 3 year old can write her name!!!
she learned how to write C - o - r in the old daycare, but has now figured out the rest at Miss Stephanie's daycare!

this is a self portrait that she drew for me and an example of her gorgeous handwriting! i can't help it....i bore geniuses!!!

Remembering September 11th, 2001

We lived in Maryland at the time....actually on Pennsylvania Ave., just outside of DC. I worked in Northern Virginia and Jaden's sitter was just a few miles from the Pentagon.

I had already dropped Jaden off, and was at work when the first plane hit.  I heard about it over the radio.  We were all of course stunned and glued to our radios.  There were a few co-workers who were concerned about loved ones close to the crash sites.  Curtis was working on an electrical job inside DC, and once we learned of the Pentagon being hit as well, I freaked out!!!

I couldn't get through to Curtis' cell immediately because all the circuits were jammed (everyone calling loved ones as I'm sure you can imagine).  I called the sitter and she hadn't even heard about what was going on yet.  She wondered why traffic was piling up outside, even though the morning traffic should have been gone by then.  Of course they were fine, but I was still terrified...at this point, no one had any idea if there were more planes coming and if so, where they were headed.

Finally, I got through to Curtis - they were already on their way out of DC.  Word had spread fast and everyone was heading out.  Thankfully, he had started leaving so soon...they ended up shutting down DC and lots couldn't leave.  I wanted him to go get Jaden, and for us to just go home...but I couldn't leave my job, and there was no way that Curtis could get over to the sitter's.

I didn't get much work done that day (I don't think many people did).  I stayed stuck to my radio, constantly praying that this madness would end.  I would check out everything online and call Curtis like every hour.  Later, I was glad that we didn't have a TV in our office...I don't think I could have handled seeing some of the things that were broadcast live that day.

I think about how this horrible tragedy affected me...I can't even imagine what the families who had loved ones inside of those buildings and planes were/are going through!  My thoughts and prayers are still with them.

I will NEVER FORGET!

Ballet begins...

It's ballet season!
Last night was the first class of the season and Corinn's first class ever!!! She has been counting down for months, and has been telling everyone "I'm going to start dance class!". She did great and was super excited about finally getting her own professional ballet slippers!

Gabrielle started her 2nd year and now she's in the pre-ballet II class (Corinn is in pre-ballet I). She was excited about the fact that they get to start doing bar work in pre-ballet II.

The only issue we had last night was when the pre-tap class lined up to go upstairs for class. I simply can't afford to have the girls take more than one class, so Gabby had to choose between ballet & tap. Well, when she saw some of her friends taking both classes and all of them lined up in their pretty little tap shoes, getting to go upstairs for class (ballet classes are downstairs).....Gabrielle all of a sudden changed her mind! We talked through it, but she was still a little upset the rest of the night.

Now I have this hard mommy decision to make....stick to my guns and make Gabby stick to her decision? Consider letting her switch (even though the dance studio really wants the girls to take ballet in addition to any other classes they'd like - the director would let her switch if we decided to)? Hit Nana & Grandpa up for some tap class sponsoring? Hmmmm....decisions, decisions!

Here's the girls on our way to class...


And here's Corinn with her new ballet slippers on...

Labor Day Weekend Camping...

We made our usual Labor Day Weekend camping trip again this year and of course, it was a blast! The best part was that Curtis didn't work and got to spend the whole weekend with us!!!
This time, we opted to not get a cabin (since all we ever do is sleep in it and spend our days at my parent's site) and instead, the kids slept in my parent's RV with them and Curtis and I went home to our own bed/shower and returned the next morning.
The weather was amazing! And the kids had a great time biking, swimming, fishing and running Grandpa ragged.
Here's some pics of our fun...

Music to a mama's ears...

I emailed Gabby's pre-K teacher yesterday just to check in. Of course, she's been coming home with smiley's on her daily report....but I just wanted to make sure the teacher didn't have any questions/concerns for me. Here's the response I got...

"Hi! Gabrielle is an absolute delight to have in class. She is eager to start each day. She is kind and caring to others in our class and looks out for them. I know that she is going to have a great year. She is always smiling. :) Hope you have a great day!"

Ah, music to a mama's ears!


This was this morning before school (for Jaden & Gabrielle) & daycare (for Corinn). I wanted to show off Gabby's dress - just the green portion was a Walmart special that she LOVES! But as she got taller (all 3 are shooting up like weeds lately!), the dress got shorter and daddy made it very clear that she could no longer wear her favorite dress outside of the house.

Well, mama & Gabby came up with a plan....let's sweetly ask Nana (my mother) to help make it longer! Mama can sew a little, but has neither the time nor the patience for such a project. Give me a fallen off button - that I can take care of! So Nana added a little ruffle skirt to the bottom and made a matching belt to replace the worn green one that came with the dress. Gabby was THRILLED! And so was daddy!


And of course I can't leave out Mr. Cool!

Flat tires - Grrrrrr!

Right after getting Gabby off the bus on her first day of school, Curtis realized I had a tire that was low.....we went to the closest Exxon and by the time I made it there, it had gone completely flat! Unfortunately, it couldn't be patched and I needed a new tire.....luckily, the service station had a used one that was in good condition that they gave me for $25.

Then today on my way to work, I get a call from Curtis.....guess what, he's got a flat tire too! Two in one week? Again, it can't be patched......luckily, he made it almost there and a co-worker came and took him the rest of the way to work.....but we both had to take a 2+ hour lunch break so that I could go get him and his tire, go get a new one mounted and balanced and then take him back to his car......no used tire this time, had to pay for a new one!
Now i'm worried because things come in 3's......I'm crossing my fingers that the 3rd one is just a patch! oh, and my mom is making a trip to her sister's tonight.....I'm praying it's not her that's the third!

I HATE flat tires!!!

Gabrielle's 1st day of school!

Gabrielle's first day of pre-k was today! My little girl is all grown up!

She did wonderfully! And actually, I did too.....I cried for Jaden's first day of kindergarten and thought I'd cry today, but I guess it gets easier.

All 5 of us had breakfast at the school today and then we walked Gabby to her class. She was a little shy at first and I got nervous cause there were 3 other kids in her class crying, but she did fine. Mrs. Hinkle showed her where to put her folder and hang up her backpack. Then she got to pick a table/activity until class started. She gave us hugs goodbye and that was it! She didn't give it another thought!

I also took a late lunch to go and catch a pic of her getting off the bus at the daycare. She is the only one getting off at her stop so I was nervous about that as well. Turns out she woulda been just fine without me there too! But at least I got the pic and got to hear all about her day! She was excited because she saw several friends at school that went to her old daycare. She told me about getting to play on the playground (which we've done hundreds of times, but I guess it's different when you go to school there) and what they had for lunch. What a big girl!!!

My first blog!

Thanks to my friend Autumn and all the wonderful bloggers that she has linked on her page, I've decided to join the club! :0)

I've been blogging on my myspace page for a while now, but I thought this might be a better way for me to share my blogs with family/friends that don't belong to myspace as well as keep everything together and documented. Nothing really to report for now - just trying to get the feel for this and see how everything works.

Things are busy as usual in our home - school starting, extra curricular activities coming up in the next week or 2, labor day weekend camping, of course work and CAKES! The cake gig is booming and September is one of my biggest months this year (3 weddings this month and tons of other requests)! Hope this finds you all well - have a spectacular weekend! :0)

I'll leave you with a pic of Jaden's first day of school this year (yesterday). He started 1st grade & Gabrielle will begin pre-k on Monday. You know there will be more pictures for that one!!! And I know there will also be some tears shed - mine, not her's! :0(