Katie's 1st Day of 2nd Grade

Katie started 2nd grade last Wednesday. She has Mrs. Gault and really likes her. She has lots of kids in her class that she knows already and was so excited to start school on her first day. She is still really liking it although she isn't already up and dressed first thing in the morning anymore. She is doing really great at being more independent at her homework (math and spelling). She's a fabulous reader and so is also great at spelling. We're still working on getting math on a more memorized level but she's doing really well.
In other news, Sophie is so busy! Sorry for the blurry pic, but I thought it showed her "baby legs" (the little leg warmer things that you can get for crawling babies to protect their little knees) best. I wouldn't be surprised if she followed in her daddy's footsteps (literally) and started walking at 9 months. She's cruising around on everything. Sadly she keeps falling and bonking her head. I'm sure it helps add to the pain of the teeth she is working on.

I had the time of my life!!!

We just got back from one of the best trips we've ever taken! We went down to Hilton Head Island for the weekend. It's only 4hrs from our house. So fun. We left Friday around 3pm (Craig got off of a full of work at 1pm.He had had to go in at 3am, yuck!), and got down there around 7. We checked into the hotel and headed to the beach. It was dark when we got there but so beautiful. Somebody was shooting off fireworks and it was so dark and peaceful. The kids jumped in the waves for a while and I was instantly so glad we planned the trip and went through the stress of making it down. Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and got to the beach by 9am. Lo tide was at 9:45am. It was overcast and perfect, just like Isle of Palms last August. We hung out at the beach until almost 2 and then when back to the hotel for a nap, just in time for a thunderstorm too. After cleaning up we went to Sea Pines and ate at the Salty Dog Cafe. The food was relatively mediocre in relation to the price, but it was fun to look over the harbor while we ate and we were there early so there weren't any crowds. After dinner we even got ice cream. Yum! Then we drove around a bit. There are some REALLY nice mansions over there. I got a real estate mag later that listed some at 2million! There is a LOT of money out there! Then we drove to Harbor town. The kids played at this cool little playground and we saw some dolphins from the pier and some bands were playing. Such a nice night. This morning we got up and rented some bikes and rode along the beach almost to the tip of the Island (in the Sea pines direction) then we turned around and headed back to Coligny Beach to swim. I was sweating probably from every pore but it was so cool to be riding on the beach! I just kept thinking "it's so cool that we're doing this!". The ride back was into the wind and that was a chore, but the wind felt good! After returning the bikes we grabbed our beach towels and swam on the beach until 2pm when it was time to pack up and head home. Such a fabulous weekend! Probably the best beach I've ever visited. It puts those West Coast beaches to shame!

It's the end of the world as I know it.

Sophie learned to crawl a week ago last Sunday. This is just the beginning of the end for me, but she is so cute!

What we're up to now.

Sorry I haven't been blogging as much recently. Here's some new pix of the kiddos. They talked me into helping them make crowns last week. I'm just not really into crafts that much. I usually have to construct it all and then clean it all up and then it's left on the floor and you see why I'm not such a fan? Anyhow, these turned out cute. They decorated them themselves and I just cut up one of my rubberband headband things to use for the band and stapled it on the back. Katie is obsessed with "grasshopper pets" right now and spends most of her time in the backyard looking for grasshoppers. Taylor mostly jumps around and yells "blah blah" and tries to make Sophie makes "surprised eyes". Sophie learned to crawl on Sunday morning (uh-oh). She doesn't have any teeth yet, but is doing a great job at eating baby food. She still wakes up at 4am, but she's so sweet we decided to keep her anyway. Craig and I are good. We've been shopping for new cars (trying to stay ahead of any major repairs) and that is depressing because we have champagne taste on a shoe string budget, but it's fun to dream!

please don't report us!

This was too funny for words so I just took a video. Katie has had her front teeth loose for a long time now and is convinced that Craig could pull them out with the pliers. They aren't out yet.