Oops!

A friend said I hadn't updated the blog...but I remembered writing some posts. Well, I had created the posts in Google Chrome and couldn't edit/move around my pictures. So I saved them as a draft to finish them in Firefox. Oops. They've been sitting there for a week now! Sorry! So, the three previous posts are the most recent. The baseball game--which was the Friday before I started back to school, the ice cream shop, and then the table and chairs...fun times!

So, enjoy! More updates to come...after Chick-fil-A family night! :o)

School, Miss Pattie's, and Ballerinas

That's what's been going on here lately! I didn't think it had been THAT long since my last post...until I glanced at the date of my own blog today. Hallie would be so disappointed to know that I wasn't updating all of her important happenings! HA! I started back to school last week with one work day and lots of meetings. Sigh. We did have one keynote speaker that was phenomenol. Erik Wahl. The rest of the week was a boring blur--except for the time spent working magic on my classroom to get it ready. This past Thursday was Meet the Teacher night, so I got to meet some of my kids--so far I think they're all fabulous! I'll let you know if I stand by that belief after the first week. :o) I'm certain I will!

Mommy going back to school means that Hallie went back to "school", to Miss Pattie's. The first day, Jonathan and I took her together. She was a litle upset, but Miss Pattie quickly turned her attention to the little kitchen table and new play dishes for the kitchen. There is also a new little girl named Abby who Hallie has really enjoyed playing with, so having a new friend to play with has really made this transition of starting back to school go more smoothly than we thought it would. We prayed for a smooth transition, and we were greatly blessed with one! Praise God!

Ballerinas. Over the summer, I began teaching Hallie some of the basics of ballet. I took ballet for 18 years and taught 3 year olds while in college, so putting Hallie in ballet class has always been one of my hopes. Hallie took to the basics quickly and easily...the stinker has rhythm and really loves to dance. After researching ballet schools, I found two that accepted two year olds. One of them stuck out in my mind...after reading the school philosophy, I knew it's where we should take Hallie. They're commited to teaching excellence for God's glory. They teach tap and jazz tastefully, not suggestively. (So important!) And their performances remain all ballet. While I would love to see my little stinker doing a shuffle ball change across the stage (that's tap for all you non-dancers), I find ballet absolutely beautiful.

So...this morning we registered Hallie for pre-ballet with Deborah Korpi's School of Classical Ballet. Mrs. Korpi is super sweet and thought Hallie was the cutest thing. She couldn't believe that Hallie knew first position (ballet)...Hallie shyly showed Mrs. Korpi her ballet skills...while hiding--Mrs. Korpi didn't get a great view of her first position. The wonderful part of this morning was the advanced ballet class that was in session...and there were cupcakes (Hallie was sold on the idea of taking ballet! HA! She's probably going to think there will be cupcakes every time!). Hallie was completely in awe of watching the ballerinas. While getting ready this morning, I told Hallie she would get to watch some big girls do ballet at registration, so the rest of the morning she kept saying "I get to see big girls ballet!" She was so excited! Hallie loved watching the girls dance, and did her own version of waht they were doing. It was extremely cute! When it was time to leave, Hallie did not want to go. She kept saying "I'm ready to do ballet!" I told her that she would get to start very soon (her first class is September 15). Then out of nowhere she said, "I need to get ballet shoes." Well...yes she does. But we didn't get them today b/c I knew she would want to wear them every day!

I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited about Hallie taking ballet. I think she is going to love it. And I'm going to love watching her! :o) It's going to be a great discipline for her, too. Now...what's next? Piano lessons? :o)

A Treat for Our Sweet

After supper with the family (August 18), we were heading home to put together Hallie's new table and chairs. We asked her if she'd like some ice cream...as soon as she saw Baskin Robbins, she started chanting "Ice cream, ice cream!" As soon as we got out of the car, she ran over and picked out her table...then we went in and let her try out a few different kinds of ice cream. After tasting strawberry, she promptly spit it out. Then she moved on to the sherbert--because it was pink. She liked that, but Daddy had already decided on vanilla for her. Ands he was happy with his choice. We sat outside...thankfully there was a nice breeze. But that didn't keep our ice cream from quickly melting! Hallie entertained us for a while and then we headed home to put together Hallie's table!

Party Table

Hallie finally has her table and chairs (August 17)! She is SO excited. She got a set for her birthday, but the wood was split. After a return, the same thing happened. So hopefully the third time is the charm for us! Hallie stayed up (way past her bedtime) to "help" Daddy finish putting her table together. And then they had tea. :o) They wrote for a little while...and then she was ready for bed. She has already had breakfast at her table, watched cartoons at her table, colored and drawn at her table...and she has even tried to write on her table. Little stinker. The table has definitely been a hit! :o) Thanks again to Nonna, Pop, Rah-Rah, and Gramps for Hallie's table.

Oh...Hallie also calls her table her "party table". As in, "Hey, Mommy, wanna come sit at my party table?" or "Baseball Monkey, see my party table?" :o)

Drawing sunshines!

Hallie and Daddy at the "party table"

Hallie wrote her name--letter by letter, copying Mommy!
It's "H, a, l, l, i, e" then two more "ls" :o)

Texas Rangers

We took Hallie to her first baseball game (August 15), thanks to Jonathan's Uncle Donnie. He and his wife, Irene, were visiting to California and wanted to take the family to a game. Hallie was very excited about going to a baseball game. She almost didn't take a nap because she was so excited! The baseball game did not disappoint Hallie. She loved everything about the game, but her two favorite things were the contant music and the "Dot Race". And there were actual dots racing on the field! HA! When they finished their race, they went into the dugout...Hallie continued to call "Dots, oh Dots!?!" long after they disappeared. She hoped to see them, again, but they didn't make an encore appearance.

The game didn't start until 7:05...very close to Hallie's bedtime. So we left during the 7th inning stretch. I love my Mom, and one thing she taught me was to always, always be prepared. So prepared I was. I packed a little baggie with a disposable washcloth, toothbrush/toothpaste, a little towel, pajamas, and Hallie's night time medicine that she's taking for some congestion. So we were set for Hallie to drift off into dreamland on our drive home and were hoping for an easy transition from the car to bed. We were successful! Yay!

Every day since the game, Hallie has asked to go to another baseball game. I guess we need to make use of having a college team in town and go to more of Baylor's baseball games next season.

On our way to our seats--Hallie was SO excited!

Hallie's favorite part--the Dot Race

Hmm...this is how most of our pictures look. We
weren't supposed to take it until in b/n innings.
Jeremy took it really quickly and said "I got it."
What he failed to mention was that it was horrible.

Daddy got Hallie a special souvenir--a baseball monkey.

So sweet!

Baseball monkey was "walking" (so said Hallie).

Hallie wanted to take a picture with the camera...
this is her first attempt at taking a picture. She wanted
to take a picture of Baseball Monkey--she did a pretty
good job! :o)

We washed Hallie up with a disposable washcloth and
put her pajamas on her. She was ready for the
drive home and then bed!

Did my ears hear correctly?

Tonight we asked Hallie if she wanted a bath or a shower...since ditching the bathtub insert (just makes the tub smaller) for the real deal, she has been loving bathtime even more than before. She's such a big girl. Anyway, tonight Hallie's response was somewhat bittersweet. Her answer was a sweet "showuh". Jonathan and I both froze, looked at each other, and then asked one more time for clarification. Her answer remained the same "showuh". Now, if you're a true Hallie fan, which I know all five of you are (wink), then you will understand why her answer was bittersweet. Before tonight, her answer--without a doubt--would have been "showie"...she couldn't say the -er ending. And it was one of our FAVORITE words of hers. I think that might be a word Jonathan and I continue to use like we use our niece, Abby's "non't know" for don't know. :o) It will forever be in our memories of Hallie. So...while we are thrilled that her vocabulary and speech is moving in the right direction, we're sad that a little bit of her baby-talk is maturing daily. ::sniff sniff::

One other thing...last night Hallie tee-teed in her potty before getting in the bath. She has been totally against using her potty ALL summer! I haven't pushed b/c I know the harder I push, the harder she'll resist. We were so proud of her and she was surely proud of herself. Now, it happened last night b/c she almost tee-teed in the floor, I said "STOP! Let's get your potty!" and I probably startled her into submission. Nonetheless, she stopped and then resumed on her potty. Precious girl. Tonight she would have NOTHING to do with the potty. Nothing. It's going to be her terms...little stinker. :o)

Boz the Bear

Hallie spent our first week back in Texas hanging out with Rah-Rah, having tons of fun! I spent our first week back working in my classroom. It is slowly coming together. I have just one short week before I have to go back to school and I hope to fill it with fun for Hallie and me! Our first adventure in fun came last Thursday night. Rah-Rah saw that one of the local churches was having an event for preschoolers, so we decided to take Hallie. They hosted Boz the Bear. He is a cute, green bear filled with Christian values (sort of like Barney, but not as annoying!). Hallie really enjoyed the little videos that were shown before Boz came out, and when Boz made his grand entrance...she absolutely adored him!

We could have waited in a LONG line to have Hallie's
picture taken with Boz...but we chose not to. :o)
Hallie had her Yo-Gos, so she didn't mind.

Sweet Moments with Mawmaw

My dad took off a couple of days to hang out with Hallie and me. So one day we headed over to my grandmother's house so Hallie could spend some time with her. I really enjoyed watching Mawmaw with Hallie and vice versa. Mawmaw showed Hallie her flowers before a little rain shower started. There were some sweet memories made that day that I will always treasure!

Playing in the toy box!

Right before Hallie slammed the door. I'm surprised
she didn't ring the doorbell, too. These are two things
we would've gotten spankings for when we were little.
My, my how Mawmaw has turned into a softie! :o)

Mawmaw telling Hallie about the flowers

Love!

The bee killing portion of our visit...the bees
never saw her coming!

Keeping a tally of all the bees she has killed

It was very close to 480 by the time we left...she
had been killing bees for 2-3 weeks at this point.

Fun at Nonna and Pop's

Our extra week was spent shopping, relaxing, and visiting...oh, and of course eating. :o) I think I got my fair share of Zaxby's while I was in Alabama! Yummy! The first day or two, the weather was beautiful, and Hallie and I enjoyed the pool (although my parents' pool has always been frigid). The rest of the week was cloudy and rainy. We were forced to relax--which was exactly what we needed! I got to visit with my friend-since-kindergarten, Kyetra; and I finally got to meet her sweet little Taft! We also visited with our long-time friends, Mandi and Stacey and two of Mandi's three sweet kids. Hallie also got to spend some sweet time with her great-grandmother. I'll post that in its own blog. As I said in another post, even in having extra time, it's just never enough. We can't wait to get back to Alabama!

Hallie could have stayed here the whole week!

Pure joy!

Jump! Jump!

Sweet friends
Kendra, Stacey, and Mandi

Hallie pushing around Cailin in the doll stroller

Long-time friends
Kyetra and Kendra

Sending Daddy back to TX

While we enjoyed a beach vacation as a family, sadly we had to send Jonathan back to Texas at the end of the week. He had to get back to work. But he gave Hallie and me up for a week to spend a little more time visiting with Nonna and Pop (thanks, J!). We hated to see him go, knowing that he wished he could stay another week with us. However, we were very thankful to be able to spend a little more time with my parents--it's just never enough time, no matter how long we get to stay!

Waiting for Daddy's plane to take off

There it goes!

Strike a Pose

What?! Oh my word. We were getting ready to go eat supper for Pop's birthday and Nonna told Hallie to "strike a pose" to show Pop her outfit. Nonna absentmindedly put her hands on her hips to Hallie...and Miss Priss copied her. We thought it was so funny that she continued her pose long enough for me to grab the camera and let her ham it up! She is SUCH a mess!

Crabbing

Our last night in Gulf Shores was spent crabbing...I really wish we had have done this earlier and then again every night! We went after we got back from supper at Sea-n-Suds, and everyone was very tired. But this is something I really wanted Hallie to do, and I'm so glad we did! Hallie had so much fun. She was really excited about heading to the beach to look for crabs...that is until she realized what we were looking for were little and moving. Then it was straight into either Momma's arms or Daddy's arms--whomever would hold her at the time! She was very adament about catching them though, once we spotted them with an emphatic "Get it, Daddy! Get it!" :o)

Hallie had the perfect outfit for going crabbing...
her shirt says "Crabby" and has a little crab on it!

Jonathan was very unsure about finding crabs because there
were so many people on the beach. I had to remind him that
this wasn't a Texas beach! Then we saw bunches of little
crabs scurrying to and fro...and then I spotted a HUGE one!
We caught it, but ended up giving it to some kids who had a pail
as we had forgotten one. We had so much fun!