Woo-Hoo!!

This is a face of a girl who:

A) Wore underwear to school for the first time yesterday and had ZERO accidents!!!!!

and 

B) Wouldn't stand still long enough for me to take of picture of her to remember this day!


We are hoping that this trend continues and that we remain accident free!  She is doing an amazing job!!  Way to go, Sullivan Grace!!!

Halloween Fun...

It goes without saying that we have the cutest zookeeper and monkey one could ever ask for....

Their costumes couldn't say more about their personalities.... Sullivan - a monkey.  Enough said.  She has a load of energy and is free spirited.  Quinn - a zookeeper.  One who looks after others, who takes charge when needed, and is super poised. 

We made our annual tradition of going to the Pooley's first where we were met with a great surprise!

Next, we stopped over to Mer and Matt's house.  We stocked up on a few great treats and then headed home.  

Once we got home we trick or treated to my aunts' and uncles' houses - an annual tradition.  With them both living so close to us, it makes a great trick or treat route!

We are thankful every year that my mom is willing to hand out candy at our house.  It allows both Ryan and I to enjoy this fun tradition with our girls.  It also gives the girls a chance to show off their costumes to Grandma Jane.  

Sullivan and Quinn got a lot of candy along the way... enough to last us through the year!  

I couldn't post a blog about Halloween without showing off the great pumpkins we carved (and when I say "we" I really mean Ryan).  HE did a great job!

Star of the Week

Our dear sweet Quinn was the Star of the Week this week at school.  That means that she got be the line leader, be Mrs. Mediger's helper, bring snacks for the entire class all week long, count all hot and cold lunches each day, and have her parents and sister come to visit on Friday morning.  She also got to enjoy a special lunch with her dad on Friday.  He picked her up from school and took her to the restaurant of her choice - Bagel Boy!  What a treat!

She had an absolute blast this week being the star student and Mrs. Mediger did an amazing job making her feel special.

She brought several pictures and special mementos and items for the Star Student bulletin board.

 (disregard the mouth full of Special Star Student treats in Quinn's mouth)

On Friday, Quinn invited her family to the classroom to visit.  Ryan, Sullivan and I got to meet all her friends and play a friendly game of, "Who knows Quinn best?!"  The teacher asked us (her family) to answer 9 different questions about Quinn's favorites.  If we guessed correctly, we got a point.  If we failed to guess after three attempts, the class earned a point.  The team with the most points would win.  I am happy to say that her family won - barely -but we won!  The score was 5 to 4!

Although Quinn's time as Star Student came to an end on Friday - she will never stop being our star student!!! We couldn't be more proud of her!

Teacher, teacher

I was busy working on the computer one night this week while the girls were playing.  When I looked up, this is what I saw:

Sullivan was reading to her imaginary crowd of children... just babbling what she thought the story was about, then licking her finger to help turn the page, and continuing on!  It was absolutely hilarious to see her do this!  All with the great pick shades on (upside down)!  Might we have another teacher in the house?!

This picture I couldn't resist posting - A true Sullivan shot! 

Our Obsessions - Letter O

Quinn - Old Navy

Quinn doesn't necessarily love Old Navy because of the clothes or for the shopping experience.  She has fallen in love with the bouncy ball machine that is inside the store.  Once upon a time she was allowed to get a ball.  Every time since she begs and pleads to get one - usually without success, but never the less that doesn't stop her!  She is a smart cookie though.  If the girls are allowed to get one, she always waits to see what color comes out first before she announces confidently, "This ball is mine!" or "This one is Sullivan's" - all dependent on whether or not she likes the color and/or design! Like I said, we certainly don't get a ball every time we are there, but we most definitely have a good bouncy ball collection!

Sullivan - Olives

Black or green - it doesn't matter.  Sullivan is an olive eating machine.  To be honest, she is just an eating machine.  Doesn't seem to matter what it is - she sees it, she eats it!  But she does love an olive or two or twenty!  If Sullivan sees the olive jar or can open up, you can bet she is there asking, "Pease, momma?!"  She might get her loves of olives from her mom, her cousins, her great uncles?!  I'd have to admit our family loves us some olives!

Ryan - Oreos (Fried)

If you have never had them, you are missing out!  This is a tried and true fair time classic for Ryan.  We discovered it when we lived in Nashville and we went to the fair there.  It was harder to find around here until a couple of years ago.  Ryan LOVES them - melted, gooey, rich Oreos inside deep fried batter - what's not to love?!

Audra - Organization 

Really who doesn't love to be organized?!  I'd have to admit it makes me feel REALLY good to be organized and to organize things.  So much so that I kind of like (love!) stores like the Container Store.  You know how you secretly dream of winning a shopping spree to a store - they give you 10 minutes to grab whatever you can?!?  I might just choose a Container Store or something of the liking!  If gives me a euphoric feeling to clean and organize - time is the crippling factor that makes it hard to get organized and stay that way!

Quinn's First

 Here is Quinn's very first school photo of her elementary career:

Copyright: Photography by Mark

I know it sounds so cliche to say, "Where did the time go?" when talking about your children growing up, but I totally understand why people say that now!  Quinn is SO grown up!  When did that happen?!

A Big Difference

I know that I've said in past posts that Quinn and Sullivan couldn't be any different.  This was evidenced the other night when eating dessert....

Sullivan could care less if she makes a mess or gets dirty.... in fact, she sort of has fun doing so!

Quinn, on the other hand, really doesn't like to make a mess.  

Now I know that there is a 3 year age difference between the two of them, but Quinn wouldn't have dreamed of making a mess at Sullivan's age.  It's just not in her. There is no right or wrong way to live life - just different!