"First Day of School!" "First Day of School!"

It is that time again. Back to school we all go. We were all dreading it but secretly excited about it as well. I love spending time at home with the girls but I'm a working person, and I love being a teacher so the teaching bug was hitting me again. Something different happened around our house in order to prepare for the first week back. Caroline stayed with my parents in DeQueen. Last year she was a little too young to stay but this year it was perfect. It enabled us to really get into the groove and figure all of our schedules out for the week. Never mind the fact that I was BEYOND EXHAUSTED! I had a little extra time to get my energy back before my smallest angel returned. Parker also really enjoyed just hanging out with mom and dad and being taken to school 1st. Who knew the order that you were dropped off was that important? I sure didn't.

Sunday after we dropped off Caroline with my parents, we came back through Hot Springs and decided to kind of "hang out" for a few hours. We drove down town, looked around, went up the look out tower (not sure what to call it), checked out some of the hot springs, which Parker had never seen or touched, and talked about coming back to spend the night at The Arlington. We grabbed a bite to eat and then headed back home to get prepared for our first day of school. We picked out outfits, painted nails, showered, and just relaxed a bit. Now to try and get some sleep before our big day!

Parker was pretty eager to get up and get dressed, eat breakfast,and all the morning rigamoroll (yes, it is a word). I was so optimistic that this would be our attitude in the mornings. (Proved wrong on morning 2.) Everyone was ready to go on time and Parker was so excited that daddy was taking her to school the first day so that mommy could get to school a little earlier and get some last minute preparations taken care of! Now to some first day shots!

Daddy wasn't sure why he had to take a picture since it wasn't his first day. 

These Kids

I sure love these two silly girls. Parker is in DeQueen visiting with my parents, so its been A LOT of quality time with little C. Walking has been a struggle with her but as of a week or so ago she has been beginning to take some steps and getting so excited when she does. We also act like it is the best thing to happen since sliced bread when she does take steps! All about encouragement here. She is saying so many words (even though they all sound the same) this mamma can figure it out, sometimes. She is saying "na na" (banana), "ni ni" (night night), "no no" ,"HI" ,"bye-bye", "ma ma", "da da", "tis ter" (sister), and I'm sure there are some others. She also has a few signs down which help quite a bit. She can sign "all done", "more", and "milk". We are still working on others. She is just a little sponge right now trying to learn all that she can.

Oh, Summer Time.

Being a teacher has its perks. One of those perks being that I can stay home for almost 3 months in the summer with my kids everyday. Just let that sentence sink in. WITH MY KIDS EVERYDAY! I love my children dearly and I am BEYOND thankful that I can stay with them, but they can drive you nuts! Parker needs to be entertained at all times and sometimes I just don't have the energy to do that. Caroline is into everything or she wants to be in my face at all times. I love it yet know this couldn't happen all year, so I am very thankful for those months out of the year that I am working. Unfortunately summer is coming to a close and I can go back to work and begin complaining about "how I wish it were summer again". The vicious cycle just never ends. Now to sit and enjoy some peace and quiet with my cup of coffee while the little one naps and the big one is spending time with her mimi and papaw.

FAIL!

I realized that I never finished posting about my trip to NYC in NOVEMBER! Surely I have an excuse for not finishing, but I know I don't. So be prepared for a long blog. It was still the best trip I have ever taken hands down. I hope I can take more trips and cross of more things on my "bucket list".  My second day started out with us easing to the Museum of Natural History, which was pretty cool. I tried my best to plan my days by general areas and thankfully my friend, Allison, had been to NYC several times, so she was really able to help me plan it out. Central Park was very close to the museum so that is where we headed next. To say it is big is an understatement. It was beautiful and full of all kinds of people doing all kinds of things. There was a pretty big snow right before so there was snow on the ground and people ice skating in different areas of the park. Strawberry Fields was very close as well and I was amazed at the amount of people who were visiting, lying things down, and taking pictures. Still get chills. I can't even explain the  whole New York experience. When you get there you feel like you are in a different world, which I guess you are. There was still SO much to see and so much more to walk. We made our way back to The Financial District to see Wall Street, The Merrill Lynch Bull, the new World Trade Center, and the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately Hurricane Sandy hit in NYC the week before our trip so it was closed. That was the biggest bummer to me since that was the ONE thing I really wanted to see while we were there. The rest of day 2 was spent soaking everything in, going into Tiffany's, Macy's (which is huge!), and FAO Schwartz, which was beyond awesome. I can't leave out some of the awesome food that was consumed while there. Hot dog from my first ever hot dog cart, BLT from Carnegie Deli, a slice of cheesecake from Juniors, and some very yummy Greek food.

Day 3 was an adventure and one I had REALLY been looking forward to. My trip to CHINA TOWN! I had really been penny pinching throughout the trip, so there would be plenty of cash to spend in China Town. I had a few things I knew I wanted to buy so we were on a mission. We walked around a bit just kind of taking it all in and being approached every fifth step by someone trying to sell us something. Before we bought anything, we decided to have lunch in China Town, which was super delicious. Wasn't too crazy about the hot tea to drink and nothing else but hey experiences, right? So after lunch it was time to get serious with shopping since we had been very timid earlier. I jumped right in and start haggling for some goods. One seller was so frazzled by the number of ladies in her "shop" she refused to help anyone. Kept telling us "I have nothing" "You go away". I guess she was scared of the cops. The process of trying to buy was probably my favorite thing. They start out with some ridiculous price, you counter with something much lower, they tell you "no", you walk away, and then you hear "okay, okay". Success! So I came out with a Coach purse and wallet, two pair of Ray Bans, and a Tiffany Co. bracelet. Pretty sure I spent around a $100 maybe a a little more. The experience was priceless! That night was spent going back to Times Square and wandering around and just really enjoying the city. I. CAN'T. WAIT. TO. GO. BACK. Next trip on my wish list is D.C.

Wild Animals and Not My Kids!

Every Wednesday for the rest of the summer the zoo is only $5 and who doesn't want cheap stuff? This cheap thrifty lady loves to save a few bucks. So, last Wednesday I loaded the girls up to go to the zoo and the 77 degree temperature didn't hurt either. We have noticed that Caroline really loves animals and we love seeing her reaction to animals. I mean I took her to the pet store and she went nuts. Her favorite animal seemed to be the monkeys so we started there. Due to the weather being so awesome, all of the animals were out and were really active. One monkey even hurled a rock at a few people. Both girls love seeing the animals and I know we will be taking many more trips to the zoo.

Oh, Hello there, blog....

While reading and catching up on a good friend's blog, I decided maybe I should update my blog. I used to be decent at keeping it updated, but then kid number 2 came along and it has been quite a challenge. Maybe while I'm home for the summer I can blog a bit. SO many things have been going on with our lives that I have ZERO clue where to even begin. Parker finished Kindergarten with a breeze and is so ready to start 1st grade. She absolutely loved her teacher, Mrs. Garcia, and the fact that she can ride the little bus to my school everyday, which is also very awesome. She had high marks in every area and seemed to be right on track or even a little ahead in all areas. She LOVES reading and LOVES to write. She is constantly writing some type of story about things going on. Love that little nugget.

Here she is on the last day of school, which was actually spent at my school since all of my students were gone. She had a blast just running a muck at the "big kid school". 

Another big thing happening with Parker is that she is losing her teeth! She has been dying to lose her teeth all year long and right before school was out, she lost her first tooth. She mentioned that it was kind of loose and I thought she was over-exaggerating but once I pulled on it, it was crazy loose. That night she let Jeff tug a little bit and pull it out, which I was super shocked at. I of course teared up seeing my baby girl losing her teeth. Lame, I know.  Maybe a week or so later she pulled the other bottom tooth out and she was just as pumped!(Side note: for some reason she feels the need to make the scariest faces while showing off her missing teeth. Kids)

This time last year I was getting used to having two kids and caring for a very teeny little baby girl. She is now 13 months and ALL OVER THE PLACE. She still isn't walking but like everything else with her, it is going to happen on her own time. She is in no rush to get anything done. I find myself comparing Caroline and Parker, which I shouldn't but you can't help it, right? Parker did things really quick and Caroline is just along for the ride. She is SUCH a joy. I can't even express. She is always in such a great mood, is very loving and is an EXCELLENT sleeper and eater. She can never get enough of either and who doesn't love that? My two girls are as opposite as you can get but are truly a blessing. 

As for myself, I'm enjoying summer break with the girls and trying to keep them busy while keeping my insanity. Since February I have really been running, which I am so happy I decided to do. Two friends from work and myself started the couch to 5K program as our New Year's Resolution in January and really stuck to it. We all did our first 5K in February. I did the Little Rock Marathon 5K and surprised myself on how well I did in the 30 degree weather, which I miss right now. I continued running and have since done seven 5k's. I recently ran the Brickfest 5K in Malvenr which I got a sweet brick for. Not cool? Well, I think it is. I really challenged myself in April by running the 10K at Toad Suck with Jeff, who is like an awesome runner if you can believe that. Got 3rd in his age division at Brickfest. Its nice to have something to do together and accomplish some goals along the way. Next goal for me this fall will be the half marathon. Just have to find some runner partners. Running alone can sure get boring. Any takers???