Apple Picking

At the end of September we made our annual trip up to Ellijay for apple picking at BJ Reece.  It was a beautiful day and as always we had a great time.  It's been fun to watch Julia each year apple picking since now she's very good at finding the good apples and really enjoys it and gets excited.

Daddy cut up a few apples for us to enjoy in the orchards and of course Andrew loved it since he LOVES fruit.

Julia and Andrew so excited about the apples they picked.

Julia was using her muscles to pick up the bag that was a bit more than half full.

Andrew was being a silly guy and sitting on the footrest of the stroller since our apples took up the seat.

Family photo with the beautiful mountains behind us.

Daddy and Andrew having fun!

Heaps and heaps of apples! Ready to make applesauce and apple pie.

Ballet/Tap Parent Observation

It was parent observation week at ballet/tap combo class and we were all excited to go in the room to watch and listen to what Julia is learning this year.  My cute little girl waiting for class to begin.

Stretching

Walking on tip toes with arms out holding the ribbons, such great form.

Time for tap.

Tap is new for us this year so she definitely kept her eyes on Miss Lauren as she's trying to figure it all out.

Definitely lots of fun when you add the sticks.

Lots of concentration.

Marching in tap shoes and making lots of noise.  Hopefully Julia continues to take dance for a while...I think it's such a great activity for her.  Definitely looking forward to the tap performance at the end of the year.

Thursday Morning Meltdown

Andrew still looks as cute as ever even during a late morning meltdown because he didn't want his diaper changed.  Love this guy to pieces!  

Playtime

I love the times when Julia and Andrew are playing together.  It's definitely happening more often now that Andrew is older and it's always so much fun to watch and listen to their conversations.  

Camp-out

Last year Julia and Daddy camped out in our family room but this year they camped out in the backyard in a real tent rather than just a beach tent.  This photo just makes me laugh with how Julia has her hands and she's telling Daddy the only thing we have left to do is decide who will sleep where.  She was quite excited about their special outing.

Running around the tent once it was all set up.

Relaxing on top of her new sleeping bag which is of course pink.

Part of camping out means making smores so we did just that.  Thomas found us some perfect sticks in the woods to use to roast our marshmallows.

Yummy!

Love these two kids!

But super messy!

Absolutely love that smile and laugh.

Daddy and Julia sitting in the tent before I go in for the night.

Sweet Julia saying goodnight to me through the window.  Can't imagine a sweeter little girl!  Thomas said Julia slept pretty good unfortunately the same was not true for him.

First Ballet/Tap Class

Julia continues to take ballet from Cumming Dance Academy and goes on Fridays from 10:30-11:15 and in addition to ballet this year she can take tap too.  They spend the first part of the class doing ballet and then change into their tap shoes for the second part of the class.  So excited for her to do tap since I loved it as a kid.

Outside Cumming Dance Academy and ready to start the 2013-2014 dance season.

Now she brings her bag into class so they can change their shoes half way through class, such a big girl.

Enjoying our daily life together.  So thankful to be a stay at home mom so I get to do all these things with my kids.

Getting ready for ballet.  I think there are 13 or 14 girls in the class with two teachers.  A handful of the girls were in her class last year so that's always fun when you already know a few people.

All the girls starting to get their tap shoes on while waiting for the teachers to come and help them tie their shoes.  Looks like we need to start working on learning to tie shoes as that would be a huge help to the teachers.

Miss Lauren is Julia's ballet/tap teacher this year and she also happened to be a Miss Georgia finalist.

Ballet/tap class is an hour and 15 minutes which is a bit long when you're trying to simultaneously entertain a 2 year old.  Now that Andrew is getting older he is more interested in the IPAD so he actually used that for most of the time so it looks like I'll be bringing it to class each week.

Time for tap.  Love the sound of tap shoes...it's so cute!

It was very cute to watch tap since it was their first tap class.  Looking forward to when they have parent observation in a few weeks so we can go in the studio.  It's sure to be another great year at Cumming Dance Academy.

Home Depot Workshop

Julia has done a bunch of the Home Depot Kid Workshops but this was the first one Andrew has done.  Now he's actually old enough to help make the project.  Today he had fun hammering.

Julia was busy sanding away.

More hammering for our little guy.

Julia did awesome at hammering the nails in the wood.

Finished project complete!

Tap Shoes

We picked up Julia's tap shoes and she's SO excited to start tap class this year.  It may be a toss up as to who is more excited about tap...Mommy or Julia.  I always loved taking tap class as a kid so I'm thrilled that she's excited!

First Day of School

Wednesday, September 4 was Julia's first day of 4 year old preschool at Cumming First Baptist Church.  She was very excited to start school again and even more excited that her best friend Grace is going to be in her class again this year.  At first she was a bit reluctant about having new teachers but ecstatic about having Grace in her class.  The night before school the teachers asked the kids to sprinkle 'Ready Confetti' under their pillow for a great night sleep and they would do the same.  Cute idea and Julia enjoyed that!

Ready for bed.

Checking to be sure the confetti was still there.

All ready for school!

Her backpack still looks huge on her...maybe next year it won't look so big.

Julia and her teachers Mrs. Wyatt and Mrs. Schreiber on her first day of school.

When she came into class there was pink Play-doh for her to play with...does it get any better than that?

Well maybe since she sits right across from Grace.

Julia and Grace both wearing their favorite colors.  We are so thrilled they're in the same class again since next year they won't because we're zoned for different elementary schools based on where we live.

Julia's cubby where she hangs her backpack and lunch.

Julia and Grace leaving school together.

So happy Julia found a sweet girl to be her best friend...love these two girls!

A special treat for the first day of school and Julia decided to have her very own milkshake. Great choice indeed!