Handwriting - Photo Challange

Here is a picture of two very distinct and forever memorable handwriting examples. The top one is my Pops (my mother's father) who always gave us coins, specifically silver dollar coins, on our birthdays. The bottom one is my Mimi (my mother's mother) who still writes me letters with newspaper clippings folded in the envelope.

Something I hate to do - Photo Challenge

Leave this place...

Drink - Photo Challenge

Kids in bed... Ahhh

Phone - photo challenge

Meme & Papa had called as we were reading books last night while I was putting Reese down. So the phone conversation was from her bed. She reminded me of a teenager sitting in bed just chatting away.

Heart - Photo Challenge

Not much of a challenge taking their photos, they see my phone or camera and give me a smile... My heart is full this Valentine's Day with these two.

Inside my closet - photo challenge

I'm really embarrassed by this next post. Don't know how Hubby shares this room with me. Here's a part of my area.... Ughhhh!! And then his area... Ughhhhh, it's so neat! Look, and no clothes on the floor.

What makes me happy... photo challenge

Crafting with Reese makes me happy....

 Melted crayons in our mold last weekend, but we put all the treat bags together for her Valentine's party this week. I printed the "Have a colorful Valentine's Day!" from The Long Thread. So cute, right?! Reese helped me drop all the goodies in the bags today... lollipops, heart necklaces, bubbles, heart "fruit" treats, and stickers.

 Two other things that make me happy... when Tillman and Reese play together... don't worry, this only lasted 30 seconds. But it was a joyous 30 seconds! And kid art makes me happy, especially when it's my kids!

Self Portrait - photo challenge

The way I have been looking lately the only self portrait I could stand taking is a photo of my left finger nail and even that is cracked and has been ignored for years. So when I saw this thismorning I cracked up. I looked in the mirror and looked exactly like this:

Front door - photo challenge

I almost forgot that I took this a while ago today and I'm super exhausted
to write anything about it. So here it is, our front door.

Sun - photo challenge

And the SUN goes down on the coconut tree...

I thought I was going to miss another day of this photo challenge, but while reading to Reese tonight, I saw the sun!! Chica Chica Boom Boom! That was our third book after the two Belinda the Ballerina books. Good night...

Dinner

Photo Challenge day 6 - Dinnertime is somewhat chaotic. I don't mean it to be, it just is. We just mention the word dinner and Tillman climbs up on his high chair and cries until he has a plateful of food in front of him. Reese takes her time getting to the table asking me why (for the 1000th time) she has to wash her hands. I spend time blowing off food because it's too hot, cutting up pieces because I think Tillman will choke, replenishing plates because thankfully we have good eaters while making sure Tillman uses his spoon properly, reminding Reese of her manners, cleaning up the floor, and trying to have a meaningful conversation with the kids too. Whew, it's always a sigh of relief when it's over. So here is the picture of dinner when it's over... They had chicken nuggets, baked beans and corn. I offered Tillman peaches, but no go. The corn was not much of a hit tonight either.

10:00 am and a stranger...

I managed to get today and yesterday's photo challenge in one picture. This morning after church, we went to our regular breakfast deli. Blueberry pancakes were enjoyed by the kids... The stranger in teh background apparently didn't get his blueberry pancakes yet.

Photo Challenge - Day 3 on Day 4

Hands
Tillman loves this book and he is showing me his favorite page...trucks & tractors!!

February Photo Challenge

Ok, I'm up for the challenge this month. I love taking pictures, so why not. Here's the first day pic.

YOUR VIEW TODAY

I get to play with iPads all day at school, so this is my view on most days lately. What a job!!

Hair

It's been fun so far being able to play with Reese's hair each morning. She definitely has a preference of what "hair do" she wants for that day. She is absolutely thrilled that I can actually braid it now! And she is still at the stage where she likes Mommy's recommendation as well. It's been fun for both of us. She loves making her hair BIG too. She just laughs and laughs posing in front of the mirror. We have yet to cut her hair, and I have no idea what that would be like or when!!??

Rain, Rain Go Away

The kids really wanted to play outside today, even if it meant sweeping away the puddles themselves! There was a time between storms that Hubby took Reese out to the swingset and Tillman could get out and explore. I've actually liked the rain... It meant guilt-free naptime for Mommy!

New place for dinner...

So excited that a new commercial/residential development opened up walking distance from our house with many eating establishments! Our favorite so far is the pizza joint. Great pizza, great service and it's a place you can bring the kids or bring the girls for drinks or the guys can watch the game. This can easily become our go-to place every week. And the best part.... It's an easy walk! Whoo hooo!

possible careers

What do YOU want to be when you grow up? Tillman wants to be a race car driver. Here he is switching gears and looking in the rear view mirror probably saying something like, "How did ya like that, suckers!?" Who needs hands on the wheel, when you've just passed all the cars at The Daytona 500? And Reese wants to be a Barista! She can really whip up a good cup of brew. She tells me that my coffee can change colors as I drink. Booya, Starbucks!

Literally Eating Dirt... he's gotta learn sometime

Today at storytime, Reese and Tillman were the only kids on stage. They even did the hokey pokey up there on their own. I'm pretty proud of them, it was a full house at B&N today. Tillman apparently thinks the crowd is more fascinating than the book. Probably so.

Hi! My name is Tillman....

Hi there! My name is Tillman and I'm 16 months old. I am getting into a lot more these days as I'm getting older and boy, am I lovin' it! I am really into trucks and cars now. I can recognize trucks in books, I drive them all over the house complete with sound effects, I see them on the road while my Mommy drives me around and I even have them on my pajamas!

I have moved up a level at school and feel like the big kid on campus. I can walk myself into school, go to my classroom, say hi to my teachers and friends and it's adios to Mommy & Daddy! I don't even cry! I love visiting my sister who is right down the hall. I get to walk down there by myself (I think my teacher watches me), say hello and she walks me back to my room. I love to play outside, if I could, I would be outside all day. But my blankey calls and I'm out for a good two hour nap each day.

I love to watch football with my Daddy and I can even say the word! I love to play with my soccer ball, wiffle ball, plush ball and just about any ball. I can throw and catch pretty well, and my Mommy gets pretty excited when I kick and run with the ball. I also love to dance!

I adore my sister and basically try to do everything she does. If she is walking backwards, I walk backwards. If she is brushing her teeth, I brush my teeth. If she is screaming at the top of her lungs, guess what I do? She is the best. Sometimes she yells at me, but I don't care, I still love her.

I'm growing up so fast, at least that's what everyone tells me... followed by a big ol' kiss. I kinda like that though, I give a big ol' kiss back!

if anyone has any pointers...

....on how to get small children to look at one camera and SMILE, please send them my way!!! We had no luck... my mom actually came around and took a picture of all the parents making fools of ourselves trying to entertain the kids to make them smile. No luck, believe me, this is the best one I have. I took about 80! Hilarious!

Stella (thank you.. the only one looking at my camera) Tillman, Caden, Reese and Lily

Christmas in Review

Love this... photo credit - HUBBY!!!

Decorating the tree

Making sure Santa's reindeer get some food too

"I Love my cars!" Tillman really enjoys his new cars & trucks, he has even mastered a little truck sound when he plays.

A Cardboard Box House! Yep, it was a hit! Reese and Tillman LOVE it!

We had many beautiful days on the lake in Georgia.

Reese laughing with Meme

We hit several parks... always make time to dance!

We took a day trip to Athens... We stopped by a zoo and saw a bear!

The bears were pretty cute at this zoo!

More walks with Tillman... I wonder what he is talking about?

Happy with his new fire truck.

Merry Christmas

Northern Travels

We traveled (by car!) to just outside DC to visit my family for Christmas. It was wonderful! Cousins got to see each other. I saw my cousins, aunts, uncles, mom, dad, my Mimi... it was wonderful!

My mom brought back Snoopy Sno-cone Machine... I think my sister and I got that for Christmas at their age.

Tillman & Stella

Lily & Reese love to dress up.

These are just a few pics of the cousins. I have too many to go through, that's a good thing!