Happy 3rd Birthday Brendan!!

This weekend we headed to Alabama to celebrate our nephew's 3rd birthday! Happy Birthday Brendan!!

opening presentsAlly & Julie singing along with Sharpay
Caroline & Ally

Eli & Ally

Ally Wannabe

Claire so badly wants to be just like her big sister, Ally. It is just the cutest thing!! Just recently she has been insisting on brushing her own teeth and standing on Ally's stool while she brushes. Isn't she just precious?! She takes this very seriously!!

Disney Dinner Reservations--Booked!!

It is 90 days before our trip to Disney World which means today is the day we book our dining reservations for our character meals! And since we have such a fabulous travel agent, I didn't have to do a thing!! She was up bright and early this morning booking our reservations for us!! Here is what we have!! I'm getting sooooo excited about our trip!!!

5/17: Hollywood Studios
Play N' Dine at Hollywood & Vine
Playhouse Disney Character lunch
12:00pm


5/18: Magic Kingdom
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
Castle Location
Crown Package
8:00am
*Since this is before the park opens, you will need your confirmation number for addmittance to the park. It's a great photo op, Main St. and the castle with nobody else in your photos!

Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table
10:05am


5/19: Animal Kingdom
Dinner at 'Ohana
Polynesian Resort
5:05pm


5/20: Epcot
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Norway Pavilion in The World Showcase
8:00am
*Since this is before park opening, you will need your confirmation number to enter the park. There is a ticket turnstile marked "Princess Breakfast" off to the left of the entrance :)

5/21: Magic Kingdom
Breakfast at Chef Mickey's
Contemporary Resort
7:45am
*You can take the monorail over, then the Contemporary is a short walk from the Magic Kingdom. I didn't want you guys to miss the really neat Opening Ceremony at 9am :)

5/22: Magic Kingdom
Dinner with Pooh and Friends
Crystal Palace
6:30pm

And if you didn't get my travel agent's information from my previous Disney post, here it is! I HIGHLY recommend her to anyone who is going to Disney!

Angela Kroon

Affiliated with Magical Travel

akroon.magicaltravel@gmail.com

1-866-644-2825

1-912-659-7203 cell

http://www.magicaltravel.com/

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!! We are spending the weekend with my parents in Jackson, TN. Here are some pictures of our Valentine's goodies!!

Ally & her Fancy Nancy book

Ally & her Chrissa movieAlly giving Brent his Darth Vader mug

(she picked it especially for him)
The Superman movies & gift certificates

Ally & me

Dad & Mrs. Martin Luther bobblehead

Claire & her crawling Little Mommy doll

She LOVES her!!

Brent & me before our date!! Mom & Dad offered to watch the girls while we went to dinner (which is a treat for us because we never get to go out by ourselves). We went to the Flat Iron Grill. We had to wait almost 2 hours before we were seated but we didn't care since we didn't have the girls. And the food was INCREDIBLE!! We really enjoyed our night out. Thank you Mom & Dad!!

Valentine's Pictures

Today the girls had their Valentine's Day parties at school so I thought I would get a few pictures of them in their matching outfits. Well, they didn't really turn out the way I had expected. Claire was just not in the picture taking mood. Here's what I got:

Happy 1st Birthday Hannah!

Today we celebrated Hannah's 1st birthday!Claire playing on the zebraBrent & me Andy, Hannah, Beth, & Isabella "Happy Birthday to Hannah!" Andy helping Hannah with her first bite of cake

She likes it!

YUM!!

sharing with granddaddy

She liked the icing the best!

Ally & Isabella

opening presents--a Bitty Baby!!

Learning Purse

Activity Walker

Claire excited about her goody bag!!

Hannah & Claire checking out the presents

Anna Grace, Ally, & Isabella

Hannah wanting to open her new tea set

Braxton

Happy 1st Birthday Hannah!! We love you!!

Kindergartener For A Day!

Today was an exciting day for Ally! (more on that in a minute) First, Ally wanted to share the award she received yesterday in preschool for knowing her telephone number and address.

her award necklace (as she calls it)
Ok--onto today! My friend Ashley (who goes to church with us and is in my Sunday School Class) invited Ally to visit her classroom at Arlington Elementary. Ashley is a Kindergarten teacher at AES and thought it would be fun for Ally to see what being a kindergartener is like (since she'll be starting K in August). Ally was so excited!

Ally drew a picture for Ashley of our church

We arrived at AES at 11:00 a.m. and signed in at the office. We sat down on the benches outside of the cafeteria to wait for Ashley and her class. As we were waiting our friend Brandy Robertson came out of the office to speak to us (she is the Special Ed Secretary). Then Ashley came around the corner with her class. We walked with them into the cafeteria, dropped her class off at lunch, and then headed back to Ashley's classroom.On the way back to her classroom we met several of the other Kindergarten teachers: Mrs. Hollingsworth, Mrs. Grimes, Mrs. Wiseman, and Mrs. Orman. They were so welcoming and kind and invited us into their classrooms to look around. Many of the kids wondered if Ally was a new student! Once we got back to Ashley's classroom she gave Ally a quick tour of her room.
Claire made herself right at home at a table with a book
Ally & Ashley (Mrs. Addison)

Then Ashley took us to look at the gym and the library. Ashley's mom, Mrs. Cathy, is the library assistant. She was so happy to see us! She introduced us to the librarian, Mrs. Inman. Mrs. Inman stopped her class to welcome Ally--she was so nice!! Then it was time to pick up Ashley's class from lunch. When we got to the classroom, it was time for math! They were learning about the number 13 today and putting the numbers in sequence. Ashley held up the number 13 and asked Ally if she knew what it was--Ally identified it immediately! Then she had Ally and several other students hold up numbers. She mixed them up and had the class put the numbers in the correct order.

Then she sent the kids to their tables to do a sheet tracing and writing the number 13.

Ally working hard

On the back of the sheet the kids were to cut halves of a heart, count the dots, and glue them next to the correct number. Ally had no trouble completing the assignment and got all of the answers right!!
I took a close-up of Ally's name so I could remember what it looked like at this writing stage.
As the kids were working, Claire was getting into Ashley's collection of giraffes (her classroom is a safari theme).
Ashley & Claire

Claire insisted on sitting on the giraffe's back

I was able to check out the reading curriculum while the kids worked. When I taught Kindergarten (almost 5 years ago) we had the Letterbook curriculum. This new program is much improved especially with the addition of a Guided Reading Program with leveled books. I was excited to see it (my thesis for my Masters Program was all about integrating Guided Reading into the classroom).

The kids took a bathroom break and Ally was able to see how the kids were expected to behave in the hallway. Ashley has wonderful classroom management so Ally was able to see some good examples of how kindergartners are to behave. Then we said our goodbyes around 12:30 p.m. and took some pictures outside of the school. Look at how the sun is hitting Ally in this picture. It looks like there is a spotlight shining down on her!

Ashley gave us a list of the Kindergarten skills for each 9 weeks which we hung on our refrigerator

Thank you Ashley for allowing us to visit! Ally had the BEST time! If she could start Kindergarten tomorrow she would! :)