ABC...easy as 1, 2 3

For the month of August (when we had NOTHING to do), we did a lot of puzzles and began practicing letters. Since Bennett was entered 3K, and I knew there would be an emphasis on learning her letters and numbers, I wanted to make sure she was prepared. Thanks to some handy flashcards and a video that a friend lent us (The Letter Factory), she is getting them down. The added bonus is that Preston has learned them alongside of her! Here is a short video highlighting his knowledge.

Deep and Wide

Yesterday our church kicked off their Wednesday night suppers again which will run through May. In addition to grabbing an inexpensive dinner with your friends, you can participate in one of the many activities that our church provides. This year Bennett is old enough to participate in the children's choir, and she had her first meeting last night. I plan to participate in a group called "Praying Moms," but it doesn't start until next week. Unfortunately, Preston is too young for anything, so he'll hang out in the nursery for 45 minutes after dinner with his other buddies. Since Steve is traveling so much, he elected to not join a formal study, but he may have a prayer group of his own with a few of the other dads waiting on their kids in choir.

When we got home from our first night back, I was playing with the kids. Bennett was doing a puzzle, and then she started singing some song I hadn't heard before. I asked her where she learned it, and she said at church. After sending an email to her new choir teacher, I learned that it's a short song called "Deep and Wide." It only has a few lines, but evidently it is quite catchy for the little ones because they have motions that go along with it too. Though our little girl doesn't have the best voice (bless her little heart), she loves to sing, and I think she will really enjoy children's choir.

The teachers don't allow you to watch them practice, but they put on two "shows" a year, so I will just have to wait until one of those! Don't worry....I will get it all on video and upload here for you all to see.

The Last Hoorah of the Summer

This weekend we headed back to my parent's Georgia lake house for our last hoorah of the summer. We asked some friends to join us and all 10 of us squeezed into their home. The weather couldn't have been nicer...with NO humidity, beautiful sunny skies and cool evenings. It was so nice, that we didn't even use the air conditioning that much (which is a rarity for this time of the year). The kids spent a lot of time outside, coloring on the sidewalks with chalk,painting pictures, riding the waverunner, watching golfers and boating a little. The men actually played golf twice during the afternoons while our little ones napped. And I had time for some much needed relaxation.

The evenings were spent cooking dinner, playing poker and telling stories. We had a great time, and enjoyed another weekend away from Birmingham with great friends! Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us hang in your place.

Back to School - YEAH!

Today the children finally went back to school! Yeah, our routines begin again!! I would have had a party by myself if I wouldn't have had so much to do today.

It was a big day for Bennett as she officially entered 3K (pre-kindergarten). I attended her orientation last night, and I must say that this really is school! I wasn't quite sure what to expect, I mean she is only 3 years old. However, they have a curriculum, and it is Christian based, which makes me so happy. In addition, they do two assessments of her abilities, one in October and the other in April. I am excited to see where she ends up because as most parents feel about their children...I think she is is smart and doing really well for her age. I think the biggest things that she'll get out of this school year will be better dexterity with her coloring and writing, as well as her ability to apply simple stories from the Bible to everyday life. Thankfully, she is learning Bible stories in Sunday school and we recently purchased a book that is for young children, so the combination of all three should help.

My little man is still on the nursery side, but he loves it! He is putting together more and more

sentences, and can recognize about half the alphabet already! He also knows several colors and can count to 10! Bennett was given a movie from a friend called "The Letter Factory," but Preston has adopted it as his new favorite movie, watching it a couple times a day. Between that, and the letter flashcards that Bennett and I have been using with him the past month, he is doing wonderfully! I am convinced he'll know the entire alphabet, his numbers and all of the primary colors before the end of the year.

When I see the way our kids absorb things, it really makes me want to teach them everything I possibly can. They are little sponges and learn so much everyday at these young ages. I know that we as parents are responsible for teaching our children, but I feel blessed to trust the teachers of my kids and know that they are in good hands at a loving, Christian environment.

Happy 4th Birthday Christian!

Yesterday morning we attended Christian's 4th birthday party! It was a spiderman theme, and they rented a huge waterslide for the kids. Shannon made this cake herself (pretty impressive, huh?). It took Christian a few tried to blow out his candles, but he did it, and then we all got to enjoy a big piece with some ice cream.

The waterslide was a big hit for the day! All of the kids went up and down that thing a hundred times, even Preston got a piece of the action.

I think what the kids enjoyed the most though was going down in large groups with one of the adults. Brian was the life of the party with all of the kids jumping on his back and riding him down the slide! I think at one point he had about 6 kids on top of him. Then they would all splash into the small pool at the bottom.

Happy Birthday Christian! I wish you another wonderful year (and all of the presents that you desire). We love you!

Poopy Talk

While we were in Avalon, Bennett started using words in a way that we didn't approve. She was calling people "poopy heads" or some other form in a derogatory manner. I was so annoyed and talked to my cousin Debbie about it. She mentioned that her three boys went through the same phase, so she told them they could use that language in the bathroom only.

I thought it was a great idea, so we implemented that when we got home. Since then Bennett has done better, and really has had much better control over the "bad words." However, whenever she is in the bathroom going poopy, she takes FULL advantage of the rules and uses the words any way that she can. Tonight before bed, she had to use the restroom, and since she likes complete privacy, the door was closed. She began singing the "poopy song" so I went to get the recorder. I hope you can hear her...