Jesus Loves...

Layla Lisa?  Bailey Long?

At least that what Sullivan thinks!  

Listen....

"Jesus loves me.  This I know. 

For the Bible tells me so.  

Little ones to Bailey Long.  

Layla Lisa, he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.  

The Bible tells me so."

----------------------------------------

Sullivan provides the laughter, Quinn provides the charismatic charm.  

This version of the song will melt your heart!  

Quinn has such a sweet and pure voice.  

While Jesus may love Bailey Long and Layla Lisa, he shares my unconditional, eternal love for my darling angels as well!

Our "Crew" with Crew...

With Mer and Matt a little under the weather this weekend, we were fortunate enough to have Crew spend the night with us on Saturday! While we called it a blessing to have him over to our house, I don't know if Crew was using the same term or not.  He seemed to enjoy himself, but who knows what thoughts were going on in that little head!

If I could crawl into Crew's head, his thoughts may or may not have went a little something like this.... 

"Can't you just leave me alone.  I am busy playing here and you are interrupting me with this story."  

or

"Put me down! I was content enough on the ground, but you had to pick me up, didn't you?! "

or 

"Silly girl!  You get in my face and I'll get even by pulling your hair!"  

or

"Get movin' lady!  No time for pictures.  Someone has some riding to do!"

Despite what was going on in Crew's mind, we had a fantabulous time with him at our house!  It was entertaining to see Quinn and Sullivan dote on him and try to console him with every whine.  They truly love their not-so-baby cousin!  

------------------------------------------

While our time with Crew was great, we were also really missing Mr. Judson quite a bit.  Sullivan was pretty certain that Crew was missing his brother too.  So to make him feel better, she drew him a picture. 

Here is her portrait of Crew and Judson together!  Totally recognizable, right?!  

I am certain that this picture made Crew remember his brother and made him feel so much better!  We can't wait to have Judson Henry at our house soon to get spoiled and loved on like Crew!

Sisters...

"There is no better friend than a sister. And there is no better sister than you."  

~ Author Unknown

Not to Be Forgotten....

Quinn is not the only one around here with big school changes.  Sullivan Grace is starting preschool.  Yippeee!!!! Same building and same friends, but different classroom, different teacher, and a more structured routine.

We attended an open house for her last week - where she was most ecstatic to see her new classroom and meet her teacher, Miss Kirby.

Isn't she a hoot?!

Because of scheduling needs, Sullivan started in her new classroom on Monday - the same first day of school as Quinn.  However, the "technical" start date of preschool for her is mid-September.  A three year old doesn't understand scheduling needs and start dates.  A three year old understands that a new classroom equals a new backpack.  So because she started in her new room, she had to bring her backpack to school on Monday (just like sissy).  Hence these great pictures....

We are as equally proud of Sullivan Grace as we are of Quinn.  This year marks the official start of Sullivan's educational adventure.  We are anxious to see what great things she learns this year and how much she grows!

Hunting Around....

To cap off an already great weekend, Auntie Mer and Uncle Matt had the girls over for a scavenger hunt.  Mer knows how much the girls love to hunt for things, so she was sweet enough to organize a Back-to-School scavenger hunt.  Needless to say, the girls were beyond thrilled.

Each girl was given a set of pictures with a number on the back.  They had to find their school supplies in the order listed on the picture. Once they received their envelopes, they were on their way!

As you can see from the pictures, Ryan took part in helping the girls.  And I have to say, I am not certain who enjoyed the hunt more.  Ryan or the girls?!  Really, no joke.

While the girls were busy searching, the boys were busy watching.

(Judson on the left, Crew on the right)

They enjoyed the beautiful weather and were such a joy to spend time with on Sunday.  It's hard to believe that they are already nearly 7 months old.  Plug your ears because here comes the cliched phrase..."Where did the time go?!"

We had a blast hanging out with the whole clan and the girls most certainly LOVED the scavenger hunt! We couldn't think of a better way to end an already great weekend - the perfect kick-off to the school year!  Thanks, Auntie!

The First of First (Grade)

Today marks another celebratory milestone in Quinn's educational adventure.  

Quinn started first grade today!  Whooo hooo!  

Quinn has been missing school since the first day of summer, so to say that she was excited for school, would be an understatement.  Don't get me wrong, she loved everything about summer as well.  But school is definitely her thing.

Before school we captured the obligatory 'first photos'.  We would be remissed if we didn't capture these great moments in our lives!

Once we got to school, Quinn was excited to see her friends and find her teacher.  We were able to walk her into her classroom and get her settled in before leaving her on her own.  Doesn't this picture of her just scream enthusiasm and excitement for the new year?!

While the first day of school last year was full of tears and apprehension (just from me!), this year I left Quinn at school with excitement and pride.  While Quinn is growing up way too fast, I am proud of who she is becoming and what is in store for her!  Here's to another great year!

Making the Most...

Given that school starts on Monday for our girls, we made the most of this weekend and tried to jam as much fun in as possible.  

We spent Saturday evening with our neighbors, taking in the movie The Lorax in the backyard.  But before the movie could start, being that it needed to be dark out, the girls took to playing (as usual) outside.  While Gabby and Quinn were off playing, the youngins' decided to show their artistic skills through sidewalk chalk.  

Sullivan drew a castle, while Livy drew an apple and orange juice.  Can't you tell?!

The aftermath of the chalk sure left it's mark on Sullivan.  While I got a good chuckle out of her, Sullivan was quite certain she was full of "bwoozes".

The older girls thought that Sullivan and Livy were having too much fun, so they too took their hand at sidewalk chalk.  Their creations tended to be a little more recognizable!

When the fun from the chalk wore off, Livy and Sullivan found themselves some more fun.  As you can see, they found every toy from our garage, plus every toy from our neighborhood and loaded it in the wagon!  

They also enjoyed bike rides, and scooter rides, and wagon rides, and jump ropes.  They found hoola hoops, and jeep rides, and balls of all kinds. 

BUT.... When the adults said it was time for the movie and the sleeping bags came out, all thoughts of those fun things were old news.  How quickly something so fun becomes so boring....!

Now Showing.... The Lorax!

The girls had a blast eating popcorn and watching a great movie.  But more than anything they enjoyed this fun event in the company of their very best friends!  While that night seems enough to constitute a great weekend, it wasn't quite over for us!  Stay tuned...!

Good Reading...

Our children love to read.  Not just love, but LOVE to read. So much so that they like to sleep with books in their bed.  Each night Sullivan chooses one or two books to take to bed.  She has her stand by favorites she likes, but deviates from those from time to time.

Kissing Sullivan good night last week, I noticed that she had a different book than she had started with that night.  At some point before she fell asleep, she had crawled out of bed and picked out a new book.  The book she chose?  Her BIBLE.  She had fallen asleep that night clutching her bible in her hand.

How sweet is that?!

All Things Are Legal...

On the last day of summer (for me), all things were legal...like eating ice cream at 10:00 in the morning!

Nothing screams summer more than ice cream.  And if that means we have to enjoy it for breakfast one day a year, than so be it! Ice cream for breakfast never killed anyone, right?!  

Play Date

Quinn was able to have one of her dear friends from preschool over recently for a play date.  Reagan and Quinn went to preschool together, but now go to different elementary schools.  That means Quinn doesn't get to see Reagan nearly as much as she would like to see her, but we continue to try to have play dates as often as we can.

I had forgotten until this past gathering how much work play dates are!  I had anticipated them hanging out and getting lost in play and wanting to be by themselves.  That couldn't have been further from the truth, but I was happy to oblige in their requests.  

During this play date, the girls experienced it all.  

They did spin art.

Had a water balloon fight.

Played school with all Quinn's animals

Played doctor with their babies

Watched cartoons

Played Twister

...and made headbands.

All in a matter of less than three hours!  They were busy (and I was busy) for the entire time!  As usual they had a blast together and both were disappointed when the play date came to an end. I am ecstatic that despite time and space, Quinn has maintained a great friendship with Reagan.