Hunt Family Connection

We love preschool!

I think I love it as much as Graham does :)

The first scholastic book order forms came home and I was so excited. I used to love getting them as a child and I think I might love it even more now as a parent! The kids LOVE books (especially Eleanor right now) so it seems like a great way to add to the library and change up the bedtime stories.

I was also pretty excited about being able to help the teacher....

There was a basket with a bunch of these packets in when I went to get G the other day, so I picked one up to work on (and returned it long before the Oct. 7th deadline!)

And last Friday was a very special day for Graham at preschool...it was his turn to bring something for show-and-tell AND he got to be the "special helper".

I'm told the special helper gets to do something with the apple sticks?! and I think they get to ring the big recess bell too. Graham often asks on the way in to school if he'll get to be the special helper that day...it's a big deal :)

And for show-and-tell, Graham wanted to take his camera. I hear it went well, and he even came home with a few pictures! I figured it'd be safe to post one 'cause it's a bit blurry and you can't really identify his classmates anyhow....

Graham is soaking it all up and is so excited to be learning how to read! They work on a new letter of the alphabet each week and he comes home with an alphabet book and a word wheel that focus on that letter. He's been quizzing me too and is quite impressed that I can get the words without the picture cues!

I think Graham is settling in nicely and enjoying his school. September was all about learning the school routines and getting to know his teachers and new friends. They covered the letters A, B, and C, circles, and the color of the month was purple. Good times...thumbs up!

Fun new kitchen stuff!

I've been wanting to lighten up things in my kitchen for awhile - not the room itself, 'cause the natural light in there is really awesome thanks to tons of windows...but I really wanted to change up the dishes.

I found myself completely drawn to the colors in this kitchen that I found while browsing pinterest...

My kitchen walls are a little bit darker than this and maybe have a touch more green in them...but they are definitely similar....

I got some plastic dishes for the kids at Target awhile back that were aqua, greenish-blue, greenish-yellow, and yellow, and I loved the way they all went together and looked in the kitchen.

For my birthday, my mom offered to help pay for new dishes. After shopping around I found what I wanted at Cost Plus World Market. I waited for the dinnerware to go on sale and got this for my kitchen:

I loved the square plates, but the square bowls were a little small, so I went with a round one. I got half blue and half green glasses to mix it up a little, and the yellow placemats were on super clearance, so I had to get those too :)

The napkins weren't on sale, but I fell in love with them - they have a lot of the colors that I want to put together in the kitchen....the green, the light blue, the yellow, and the touch of red..love 'em!

I like the idea of going with the white dishes and then using color in the accessories - much easier to change out with changes of mood and seasons :)

Huge thanks to mom and dad for the birthday present - the new goodies are making me very happy!

 

Family Photos - Finally!

So when we were vacationing on the coast with my family, I mentioned that we had pictures taken on the beach. I had seen previews, but finally got the CD of images in the mail yesterday :)

I love the glow from the sun in this one....and I just plain love the picture of me and my babies at the beach!

I'm also happy with the way our whole family photo turned out...

I'm not sure how they will be displayed yet, but both pictures will have special places in my home :) What great reminders of our time together at the beach this summer!

(Pictures were taken by Cohen and Park Portrait Studio)

Good Finds!

Last weekend was one of my favorite consignment sales - I managed to get there on the first day that it opened to the public and found some winter goodies for the kids.

Here are the things I picked out for Graham....

The shoes are almost like new, there were a bunch of great deals on pants (he's quickly grown out of most of his 3T sized pants!) He loves vests, so I found a nice looking one for under $5, and my favorites were these great plaid shirts that he can wear to school :)

I found some fun things for Ellie too, though all she really wants are the shoes I got for Graham - she wears them around the house all the time and insists that they are hers. But really, this is what I got her...

Some nice warm tops, including a princess sweatshirt with frilly edges, a pair of shoes that look wide enough for her chubby feet, and a really fun bright pink raincoat.

We should be set for awhile - it's time I go through both of their closets again and get rid of everything that's too small to make room for the new things....a never-ending chore!

Through Graham's Eyes....

Graham's been asking for a "real" camera, so I decided to let him have this digital camera hand-me-down from Grandma Chery. HE LOVES IT!!

And I have to say that I love it too...I love to take pictures and of course hope that Graham will have the same appreciation and love of pictures and stories :)

He took bunches and bunches of pictures last night, including this self-portrait (and about 10 more pictures of himself!)....

This picture of his sister playing....

And this picture right before bedtime (the end of Diego!)

Pictures you will not see on the blog include: pictures G takes of my backside, pictures of me washing Ellie's hair in the tub, pictures of Ellie's dolls' backsides, or random pictures of walls and lights....you're welcome :)

Ellie's Big Girl Bed

Not to be outdone by her brother and all of his school news, Ellie has reached a milestone of her own. As I mentioned in a previous post, my little monkey Ellie let herself out of her crib - eeek! Over the weekend she did it again and when I heard her hit the ground, I knew it was time to make some changes with the crib so she wouldn't hurt herself.

So I'm pretty proud of myself....first of all for finding the parts and directions for the crib conversion, and then for actually using the parts and directions to make the crib into a little daybed! Of course the kids were very anxious to "help" and had a hand in this too :)

To celebrate, and in an attempt to make her new bed more exciting (so that she'll want to stay there all on her own!) we went to the Home Goods store to get a couple things.

One SUPER fluffy blanket and pretty pillowcase later, this is what Ellie looks like in her bed. She gets a little upset when I leave her in there and sometimes cries and tells me she wants to go with me, but usually she calms down after 5-10 minutes. Luckily she still doesn't know how to open doors so I can keep her contained in the room if I need to grab a shower in the morning or to get her to sleep at night. I dread the day when she figures out the door handle thing.

My kids are getting big....I've been reminded of it a lot lately!

Graham's 1st Day of School

This morning Graham was really excited to go to his first day of preschool. He asked me more than once if he was going to get to stay the whole time (instead of just visiting like we did on Tuesday)

We took some extra time getting ready and having breakfast together - Graham decided he was going to comb his own hair while I was blow drying mine :)

As an interesting side note this morning, Miss Eleanor came running into Graham's room while I was in there packing their suitcase....this doesn't sound like a big deal, but thing is...I didn't let Ellie out of her crib! This means she escaped.....by herself. Yikes.

Before breakfast Ellie decided to read some books with her tea :)

After breakfast we packed up G's backpack and took a few pictures outside the front door...

....then we were off to school!

Wil met us at the school and we all went in together - Graham walked right into the classroom, hung up his backpack, saw play doh at his desk, and never looked back.

I let him know I was leaving (he didn't seem to mind or care all that much) and I walked out the door....a tiny bit sad that he's growing up so fast, but mostly just proud and excited for what's coming next for him. He's going to LOVE this!

I picked G up when school was done, and since he was going to be staying with Wil tonight, I thought I'd take him out to lunch so I could hear about his day. He wanted to go to Red Robin, so we did! We were led to our booth and I asked him what side he was going to sit on...he asked what side I was going to be sitting on 'cause he wanted to sit next to me :) That was quite possibly my favorite part of today. We had a nice lunch and I got to hear a few details about his day. He told me he loved every bit of preschool and he's excited to go back - yay!

This is the first piece of art that came home from preschool - it was in his folder when I picked him up. He pointed out that he had used a lot of colors :)

Graham

So Tuesday evening (the day of our morning preschool visit) I was fixing dinner and looked over to see this....

He did that all by himself!! The "M" was a little off, so I showed him how to make one, he practiced by writing over mine, and then he erased it all and wrote this.....

I know that I did not teach him this. I have shown him how to make a "G", but I have a feeling that he's been working on this at daycare and maybe some with Pa-Paw too?

I'm super proud and excited for him - he's writing his name all the time now :)

 

Preschool Visit

Graham is SUPER excited to be starting preschool this year - in fact he's been asking me if it's fall yet since last spring! Well it's finally fall, and we went to visit his preschool on Tuesday. He was so excited when we pulled into the parking lot - he was clapping his hands and saying "yaaaay!" You can see he's still clapping his hands as we approach the building :)

He showed all kinds of excitement and enthusiasm right up to the door of the classroom....where he completely froze and refused to go any further. I asked why he didn't want to go in and he said there were a lot of people in there. It took some time, some talking, and Pa-Paw walking into the room without him to finally get him through the door. He found his cubby and his desk....

....and then there was no getting him out again! He met his teachers, Mrs. Robert and Mrs. Wiles, and did all kinds of looking and playing in the room. I picked up some parent paperwork and got info about snacks and stuff...then he finally made his way out to the playground.

He stayed to play while Pa-Paw watched and I went back to work.

His first full day (9:00 - 11:30) is on Thursday so I hope he's feeling comfortable enough to go right on in and be ok with us leaving. I know he's going to love school - he's such a curious little guy and is just a sponge right now :)

Birthday Week/Weekend

I had a WONDERFUL birthday week - filled with all kinds of fun with my friends and family. Some of the highlights of the week were going out for some of the best pasta ever with my friend Melissa on Wednesday, yummy Sweet Life cupcake from Melissa for dessert at the back-to-school event, Big Brother and DQ with Leila, dinner and movie (The Help) with Matt, and a tasty care package from my mom. I also treated myself to a birthday gift - a new camera!! It's a bit fancier than the one that I had, but I figured I use it enough to make it worth it....can you really put a price on memories?! :)

My birthday was on Friday, and it started with Graham wandering into my room rubbing his eyes and saying happy birthday - so sweet! He jumped into bed with me and then sang happy birthday...

It was a pretty great way to start the day/weekend. Friday was a furlough day at work, so we were able to be lazy and stay in bed for a bit.

We got Ellie up and had a nice breakfast together and then the kids got baths. I also got their stuff packed up because they spent the weekend with Wil visiting Mum-Mum and Pop-Pop at the coast.

Wil came over and we went shopping for a backpack for Graham (he's starting preschool this week!) and then grabbed some lunch at Arby's to take back to the house and eat....

Once I got them off and on their way, I made my way to Footloose where I met Kara for a 30-minute foot massage. I had scheduled the appointment the day before, and right after I made the call I opened up a birthday card from Jim and Chery that had a gift certificate for Footloose inside!! Perfect timing - thanks guys!! Kara brought gifts (I've been enjoying the homemade cookies and can't wait to use that awesome pink-polka-dot bag - thanks Kara!) and we had a wonderfully relaxing time sititng and chatting. After that I extended my pampering time a bit and got a pedicure before heading home to get ready for dinner out with Kenny.

Kenny took me to Mazzi's for dinner (which has quickly become a favorite!) and we had brownies (which he had made!!) and ice cream at home for dessert. On Saturday we headed up to Portland, stopping at the Woodburn outlet mall on the way. The shopping stop may have been a poor choice as it was pretty crowded and crazy, but we made it out in one piece.

After finding and settling into the hotel, we went to Tamra's new apartment and met up with her and her friend Travis. Tamra's place is so nice....open, bright, and pretty quiet! We hung out a little there and then headed out for dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish, where Tamra got this beautiful and tasty drink...

We had a YUMMY dinner - my steak was melting in my mouth and they had this fried potato thing on my plate that made a couple others at the table a little jealous :) Great food and fun conversation!

After dinner we walked to a place called Embers Avenue, where they have a bar/dance club in back, and a bar where they have drag shows up front. We decided to check out the drag show - FUN! I had never been to anything like it before, but we had a great time :) Tamra and Travis even got to get up and participate a bit - go Tamra, go Tamra!!

We met up again the following morning to have breakfast together at Mother's - I had been once before with Kara and still remembered how yummy the cinnamon roll was!! It was very popular though so we waited outside for about an hour before being seated.

Definitely worth the wait though - we shared a cinnamon roll and it was just as good as I remembered!

After breakfast and before heading home, we went to IKEA - it was Kenny's first time! It wasn't as crowded as I thought it might be and we had fun walking through it all. He got some goodies for his daughter's bedroom, and I got a rug for G's room and vehicles to go with it. I also got a new comforter for my bed :)

The kids came home on Monday morning and we all spent the day together hanging around the house and grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. A nice relaxing end to a long holiday weekend!