Our Obsessions - Letter H

Quinn - Hearts and Rainbows

No explanation needed - the girl LOVES rainbows and hearts.  She has always loved them and is naturally drawn to them.  We have quite the collection of precious artwork from Quinn that includes either a rainbow or a collection of hearts!

Sullivan - Hot and Cold Things

Not sure why, but Sullivan is obsessed with hot and cold things.  She went through a phase not long ago where she refused to eat anything because she thought it would be too hot or too cold to eat.  The silly girl even refused ice cream for a while because she was scared of it being too cold.  Everything she encounters - especially but not limited to food - is followed with, "Cold?"  When you tell her that it is not cold, she immediately asks, "Hot?"  Funny girl!

Ryan - Handy work

My dear husband loves to do handy work.  There isn't a weekend that goes by that he isn't doing some type of project around the house.  I would have to admit that he is pretty good at what he does!  This past weekend Ryan tackled a project that was much needed and a long time coming!  He created a shelving unit in our coat closest for all the girls' shoes. The best projects he does are the ones that help organize all our junk. 

Audra - Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

I do like ham and cheese sandwiches - quite a bit!  I especially love them from Jimmy John's and Bagel Boy.  I am fairly certain that I could eat them for almost all of my meals.  If you are a fan of Jimmy John's subs, I urge you not to check out the nutrition information on their website - unless of course you skip the mayo!  I made that mistake once upon a time!

A New Skill Learned

Check out what Quinn learned how to do tonight.. 

Ryan and I had talked about teaching Quinn how to tie her shoes all summer long.  Like many people's summer, our summer cruised by and that was one thing on our to do list that never got accomplished. With the school year in full swing now, we finally thought it was time to tackle this job.

I never expected this task to take only a few minutes to master, but surprisingly Quinn caught on quickly.  Can she do it right the first time, every time?!?  No, but she perseveres until she gets it! She even thinks she is ultra cool because she learned how to do the double knot!

Tomorrow we will move on to practicing it while the shoe is on - that always seems 120 times harder!  We'll see how she does!

Here's a proud Quinn after she successfully tied the shoe!

An Unexpected Visitor

An unexpected visitor arrived at our house last night.... a visitor that none of us were too pleased to see!

Who or what was it, you ask?!

A BAT!!! 

Yep, we had a bat in our house last night when we arrived home from Ryan's folk's house!  When we got home, I took Quinn downstairs to tuck her into bed.  Before she got into bed I told her to try going to the bathroom.  She walked into her bathroom and instantly shouted to me that something was in her bathroom.  With Quinn as dramatic as she can be, I didn't think much of it.  I was certain it was a dead bug and that all was okay.  She was insistent that I look at it... NOW!  

When I walked into her bathroom, I noticed that the "dead bug" or so I thought, was actually a bat - a very alive and living bat crawling around in her shower.  

Needless to say, I slammed the door shut and yelled to Ryan, who was clearly going to take care of this mess!  Heaven knows it wasn't going to be me!  With a call to animal control, all was taken care of and we are officially bat free again.

The very nice officer informed us that the bat most likely got in through the outside vent and that no, they do not travel in packs.  It was most likely an isolated incident for us, although he was keeping plenty busy last night.  He had 4 bat calls in a matter of 10 minutes. Can't say I envy his job one bit!  

Letter G

Quinn - Gymnastics

Quinn has been in gymnastics for a little over a year.  I credit gymnastics for Quinn's improved coordination and balance.  After taking the summer off from gymnastics, Quinn can hardly wait to get back to her weekly lessons.  She has been practicing her skills around the house - so much so that Sullivan now thinks she needs to give these skills a whirl.  Quinn is our cartwheel queen!

Sullivan - Giggling

I would say that all children's laughter is infectious, however Sullivan's laughter has something about it that I just can't enough of! You will most often hear Sullivan's deep belly laugh when she is up to a little mischief! She loves to laugh and laughs often!  I say laugh on, little girl, laugh on!

Ryan - Ghostbusters (& other movies from the 80s)

We all remember these classic movies - Ghostbusters, Top Gun, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  These movies are over 20 years old, but are consistently run on TV.  I know this because every time they are on we have to watch them.  Ryan is hooked on these movies.  He grew up watching them and has all the lines memorized by heart.  The true dilemma comes into play when there are more than one movie from the 80s on and Ryan has to choose which one to watch.  9 times out of 10 Back to the Future wins!

Audra - Games

I love, love, love to play games.  There aren't many games that I won't play and enjoy.  I think that is because we were a game family.  I have many fond memories of us playing board games and card games together.  Unfortunately Ryan really doesn't enjoy playing games and on the rare event that I can talk him into playing one, he will only play Yahtzee! with me.  You can only play Yahtzee! 1,876 times before you get bored of it!  I am hoping that one or both of my girls gets the game bug in them and will play games with me as they get older.

If I had to pick, right now my favorite card game is Phase 10 and my favorite board game is Blockus.

Our Big Kindergartner

We officially entered a new chapter in our life yesterday - we entered the school years!  Quinn popped out of bed yesterday morning and was excited to go to school.

Before heading to school, Quinn asked for "special letter pancakes" for breakfast.  She wanted JHE pancakes - which stands for John Harris Elementary.

We couldn't leave Sullivan out.  She requested Mickey Mouse pancakes - not my finest set of Mickey Mouse pancakes ever made, but that's okay.  They still tasted great!

At our house, very special breakfasts are celebrated with a picnic.  The girls spread out their blankets on our bedroom floor and eat their pancakes while watching cartoons (a rarity at our house).  The girls at their picnic breakfast - in Quinn's honor.

The big kindergartner before school in her new outfit.   

Quinn wanted to get a picture with her sister before school.

Showing off the new backpack... Hello Kitty!

Quinn with her proud mama.

In front of her new school.  Quinn is now officially a John Harris Hurricane!

On the playground with her dad before school starts.

Standing in line waiting for the bell to ring. A proud member of Room K02.

In Quinn's classroom, just minutes before we left her to begin her day.  

Quinn came home overjoyed and excited yesterday and again today.  She says that she really likes her teacher, Mrs. Mediger.  When asked what her favorite part of the day was yesterday, she said it was when Mrs. Mediger said they had no homework - that and the video they got to watch during quiet time.  :)

Her excitement and her enthusiasm for school makes me overjoyed.  It makes sending her to school much easier and really makes me question what I was so worried about it the first place!  We are all looking forward to a really great year!

Our Obsessions - Letter F

Quinn - Friends

Quinn has some of the best friends a five year old can ask for. She loves playing dress up, riding bikes, swinging on the swing set, playing dolls or Barbies, or just being a kid with her dear friends.  Some of her closest friends have gone to preschool/daycare with Quinn since she was a baby.  They have grown up together and have spent an enormous amount of time each day together.  Many of those kids are going to Kindergarten at different elementary schools this year so the days of them hanging out together are limited.  That makes us a little sad to say good bye to her friends like Reagan, but we will have to make a conscious effort to plan play dates together!

Quinn does have a great friend, Gabby, next door though and the two of them are inseparable.  It makes me happy to see how comfortable they are together and that one is an extension of the other.  They are truly two peas in a pod!  Quinn loves playing with the Gabby and her sister so much that she often pays close attention to the happenings outside and if she spots the neighbor girls outside it doesn't take long for her to let us know! 

Sullivan - Fruit

Fresh, Canned, Fruit snacks... it truly doesn't matter!  Sullivan will eat her weight in fruit if you let her!  She has always loved fruit - ever since she was a baby, but truly has an obsession with it now.  It is the first word she says in the morning - meaning I want fruit snacks now!  There isn't really a fruit, besides melons, that she doesn't like.  Her newest obsession though are pomegranates.  As I am at the sink picking out the seeds, Sullivan is begging to eat them!  I can't pick them fast enough for her to eat them!  How can you say no to a healthy snack?

Ryan - Fidgeting

Ryan is a fidgeter... always has been and probably always will be. Despite my great attempts to change this about him, Ryan (as he says) "can't help it."  I try to be sympathetic to his need to tap, bang, snap, flick, poke, stomp, chew ice, and hum but it DRIVES ME CRAZY!  I will say that when I first met him, he used to chew aluminum pop tabs - YIKES! Talk about sending me through the roof!  But he has since stopped that fidgeting - does that mean there is hope to eliminate any other of his habits?! Unlikely, but hopeful!

Audra - Fried Pickles

There is NO place in the world that makes fried pickles like Sportsman's Grille in Nashville.  To be honest, when they were first introduced to me by my friend Abatha I thought, "How disgusting!" They really didn't sound very good, but boy was I wrong!

Abatha, Scott, Ryan and I would often meet at Sportsman's near Vanderbilt for happy hour after a long day of work.  The boys shared hot wings (which they have said are the best of the best) and the ladies shared fried pickles.  I couldn't even begin to count how many orders of those things we have devoured!

I have found a few restaurants in Sioux Falls that make fried pickles - but I have yet to find one that I would order again.  They are nothing like Sportsman's.  And so my journey continues to find some fried pickles that can hold a candle to Sportsman's.

Am I Ready?

Quinn begins Kindergarten on Monday.... a completely bitter sweet moment in my life! On one hand, she is extremely ready for something new in her life and for some type of challenge.  I have no doubt that she will do well in school and that she will enjoy it beyond belief.  She is excited about school and for that I am ready for Quinn to go to school.

On the other hand, I would love to freeze time and keep my kids little forever.  If I could, I would create this dome like shelter around them that never allows them to get hurt, to feel pain or to make mistakes.  Now I know that this isn't realistic and that all children must fail at some point to learn, grow and succeed.  But wouldn't it be nice if it was possible?!

Honestly it was just yesterday that Quinn looked like this...

And now she looks like this...

That five years flew by... and I can only guess that the next five years will fly by just as fast.  At that point, we will be close to starting middle school and entering the tween years with Quinn and Sullivan will be almost 8 years old.  Oh boy! For now we will sit back and enjoy these moments in our lives!

The Things We Love - Letter E

Quinn - Easter Egg Hunting

One would think that this would be an obsession around Easter time - maybe evening trickling into the weeks after Easter.  Quinn's obsession with hiding and finding Easter eggs continues to date.  She loves to take the plastic eggs that the Easter Bunny left and "hide" them around the house.  Then Sullivan takes her basket and tries to find them.  They will also try to sweet talk Ryan and I into hiding the eggs for them from time to time.  The two girls could spend countless hours playing hide and go seek!

Sullivan - Exersaucer

Yes I know and I agree...Sullivan IS too big for an Exersaucer.  I had the opportunity to babysit a dear friend's baby this past weekend.  I pulled out the Exersaucer for baby Sutton to play in and boy, oh boy, Sullivan was less than impressed.  She wasn't so sure that anyone else should be using her toy.  After Sutton left, Sullivan was insistent that she give it a whirl.  I'm fairly sure that she would play in it often if we let her... she LOVED it and continually asks to play with it!

Ryan - Exercising

Exercising is a love of Ryan's.  He is regimented in his exercising schedule - Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.  He goes to the Wellness Center on those days and then runs outside on a few of the off days.  It is like medicine for him - he feels good about himself when he is exercising!  I credit his obsession for exercising to my exercising too.  Without his drive, I know I wouldn't be exercising near as often as I do!  

Audra - Education

Education and teaching is not just my occupation - it is my passion.  I have been teaching for the past 10 years and have been blessed beyond belief at how much I have learned from the students who enter my classroom each day.  With Quinn starting school this year, her education has also become my obsession.  My hope for her is that she will be as successful as possible and that she will thrive in school.  I am more than certain that she will!

Fair Time

Fair time around our house equals a feeding frenzy.  Really the only reason Ryan and I attended the fair before we had children was to eat!  It is too embarrassing to list all the food we eat, but let's just say no one leaves feeling hungry!

The four of us attended the fair this weekend.  The girls got to see and pet some animals, go on a few rides, get a balloon animal from Santa (Yep...Santa was at the fair!) and play one carnival game each.  Quinn liked the rides, but Sullivan could not get enough of them and wanted to go on many rides that were way too big for her.  To be honest, the only ride she was technically tall enough to ride was the carousel (only if accompanied by an adult) but we sneaked her on a couple and she loved it!

For as much as Sullivan loves "neigh neighs" she really wanted nothing to do with this horse.

Quinn was a good sport and posed for a picture with the horse and even the pigs!

The first ride - the Choo Choo Train!

As you can see, before the ride even ended Sullivan was asking for "one moe" trip on the train!

Ryan on the Carousel with the girls.

Ryan and Quinn went on the giant slide - Sullivan fussed the whole time about not being able to go! Check out that face and grip on Quinn coming down the slide!

The train was such a BIG hit with both of the girls that they had to have "one moe" ride!

Thanks to a sweet carnival worker, each of the girls "won" a large stuffed animal at the Ducky booth.  They couldn't have been happier!  Quinn chose the purple dolphin and Sullivan chose the penguin.

This picture sums up how much the girls enjoyed their time at the fair this year-

love it!!!  A good time had by all!