Adventure's With Dottie

I think the reason Lydia was MOST excited about the Star Student was she got to bring Dottie home for a whole week! As most everyone knows, Lydia is obsessed with stuffed animals or as she calls them "friends". She has enough to fill a room up! And we've thrown some away, bagged some up and even carried some to Mimi's!

Here are some pictures from her week taking care of Dottie ...

She got Dottie on Friday and we headed to Searcy for the weekend.

 She wanted to "walk" Duke outside ... and as you can see, Dottie came along too!

 Chilling on the couch watching Tad after school on Monday. She was one tired little girl.

 Headed to school with Dottie!

 Jack Henry and Dottie hung out in the car. They both did great running errands. ;)

 Dottie even made a trip to Target!

 All ready for bed and listening to bed time stories.

 Sleepy heads before school!

 Special treat time!

 We decided after all the playing Dottie did over the past week, we should give her a bath. =)

Headed to school today. She was pretty sad about having to give Dottie to the next Star Student. Hopefully they have as much fun with her as she did!

Until next time ... 

Star Student Fun

Being star student comes with a little responsibility! =) Lydia had a poster to color and fill out and she also had to come up with 5 things that fit in a brown paper bag to take and share with the class. That might have been the hardest part. ;)

Here is Lydia's poster. =) Very colorful!

Loved hearing her answers to the questions on the poster.

Here are the 5 things she chose to take with her to share with the class:

 Her Bible

Why: "Because I LOVE Jesus! And I love Bible stories."

 Picture from swimming lessons w/her friend Annabel

Why: "I love swimming and playing with friends"

 "If You Give A Moose A Muffin"

Why: "I love reading!"

 Stuffed puppy, Sadie

Why: "I love all of my 'friends' and like puppies."

Soccer Medal

Why: "I love playing soccer!"

So proud of her for being the Star Student of the Week! 

Fun Weekend In Searcy

We had such a good time in Searcy over the weekend. Craig and Tiffany were able to come up for the weekend and we were so excited to spend some time with them! We had not seen them in 8 months!! WAY too long! So excited they are a lot closer now, so we hopefully see them more often.

As you can see from the pictures, there is never a dull moment when we are all together! 

Missed having Matt, Beth and the kiddos here!

This girl loves her Uncle Craig!

Eden posing in Uncle Matt's old jester hat! She's such a doll!

These girls are puzzle pros! They put this new puzzle together in NO time! Thought it might occupy them for a little while, but I was wrong!

Jack Henry could not get enough of Michael & Leanne's new puppy, Duke. He was cracking us up getting right down there in his face and talking to him. Thankfully Duke was very patient with him!

Ran to Harps with this little guy, and the lady in the produce section gave him a little mini banana. He was SO happy!

Can't believe how big she is getting! She's starting to look WAY too old.

Love how this picture turned out! Everyone looking and almost everyone smiling! That NEVER happens!!

Hanging out with Uncle Craig.

Love!

Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Craig with 4 out of their 6 nieces and nephews!

Can not wait until we can all get together again!!

One Week Down ...

Woohoo! We survived the first week of kindergarten! Lydia woke up every morning ready to go. She loves learning and loves being at school. Hopefully those feelings never change! Here are a few pictures from our week. =) 

Tuesday:

Sweet girl posing before we walked in to school

 All of the kids meet in the gym for Rise and Shine each morning. I think Lydia became totally overwhelmed by all the kids in there and she did not want me to leave. I was not prepared for her to be like that. She grabbed my leg and kept saying over and over "Mommy, don't leave." It broke my heart! Thankfully she didn't cry and I didn't either until I got out of the gym. I had to work that day, and I held it together for the most part, until I parked my car ... then I lost it! I was so worried about her and hated not knowing if she was okay. =(

 My sweet friend, Aimee, was going to eat lunch with her little girl so she sent me this picture. I loved seeing that sweet smile. Her teacher also sent me a message and said she was doing great. My day started going much better after this!

 Oh, the carpool line!! It stinks because I have to wake him up from his nap to go sit in line for 30+ minutes before school is even let out. Thankfully he keeps busy with my Kindle and the DVD player!

Wednesday:

 She wanted another picture .... So of course I took one! ;)

Drop off went MUCH better this day!

 This little guy woke up at 5 a.m. and was worn out at lunch. Not long after this he was begging (actually throwing a little fit) to go to bed. He was out in less than 10 minutes!

Thursday:

Walking to school with Jack Henry and Daddy ... 

 Ready for some learning and PE!

 Jack Henry wanted in the picture today. =) How could I resist?!? 

Check out that mischievous little face!! ;)

 Juice Cup - Check

Snack Cup x2 - Check

Cars2 on the DVD Player - Check

One happy little guy!

Check her out!!

 So proud of her! A student is picked each week that stands out in academics and the behavior, and Lydia was picked this week. She was SO excited! She also got to be line leader on this day which made her even more happy!

Friday - 

 It was Red & White Day in her class, so we busted out our ASU stuff! Shirt, hair bow and bracelet!

 She wanted me to take a picture of her bracelet. ;)

 Another day ... another car pool line =)

So thankful he stays happy the whole time! Not sure how long it will last though!

She had such a great 1st week! She came home with a =) in her folder every day and talking about her new friends and what she did that day. We miss her like crazy during the day. It's not the same at home without her, but the fact that she is having so much fun at school makes it more bearable. So proud of her and praying for many more great weeks to come.

First Day of Kindergarten - Part 2

After dropping our girls off for their 1st day of kindergarten, us mommies got together for some Starbucks and encouragement! I met Brooke at church and Aimee and Nicole through Lydia's preschool class last year. All 4 girls were in the same preschool class and I love that we've stayed connected! It was good to have something to do other than going home and thinking how quiet the house was without Lydia there! As you can see, Jack Henry was a little ladies man. ;) Think he kind of liked it! Hah!

 He was so excited about his Starbucks treat ... a yummy cake pop!

After Starbucks, we met Jeff and went to a Red Wolf lunch. Something else to keep my mind off Lydia being in school! =)

We are ready for some Red Wolf football at our house!!

 This little guy is a little obsessed with Howl! He loved seeing him on all the TV screens around the room. Jeff enjoyed being able to hear Coach Harsin and several others speak and talk about the upcoming season.

 After a quick nap, it was time for us to go and pick up Lydia! Jack Henry and I were both super excited!! We stayed so busy, that the day flew by! 

 She was all smiles when she got in the car after school! HUGE answered prayer!

 She was so excited about her cake!! Too bad she grabbed it right when she walked in the door and smudged all the icing! ;)

 She was so proud of her certificate and the fact that she made it through the day and kept her happy face. =)

 Ready to dig into some cake before bed!

 I saw this on instagram and had to "steal" it ... This is my prayer for Lydia this year (and through life). I know having godly friends and people around you makes a huge difference and I just pray that God will put people in her path that will help build her up.