new rainboots...

i took eliana to try on rainboots to buy her for Christmas......but once we put them on at the store she REFUSED to take them off. I'm sure this is the first in a long line of must-have-boots for this baby girl.......OH and the must-have headband from the dollar bin at Target. But it's the first thing she's ever kept in her hair so I was happy to oblige!!

Love her!!!

pumpkins and fall

My favorite crepe myrtle.........love the leaves in the fall!!!

My girls! We love heading to the pumpkin patch to get the fall started! This was about the only picture I could get with Miss Eliana in it. Since she started walking I can't get her to stand still long enough to say "cheese"!! We came home and Aubrey and Jon did the pumpkin carving and got us well under way to welcome fall......one of my favorite times of year!

Twist......

Me, Hillary and Leslie - opening night!

Aijia and I .......my Twist BFF and partner in crime
Aubrey, Alaman (Twist) and I........
Tena Clark, Debbie Allen, me and Gary Prim......writers and director.....

So at the end of July I began rehearsing for a new musical to be performed here at The Alliance Theatre...... "Twist-An American Musical"......directed by Ms. Debbie Allen.

What an amazing opportunity it was. The rehearsal process was crazy and busy and absolutely wonderful. I loved every minute of it. (except tearing my hamstring! boooo..... ) but it was well worth it. We rehearsed from July-26th - August 31st and opened for previews on Sept.1st. The cast was phenomenal, including about 15 kids from Atlanta and LA who were so unbelievably talented. The producers, writers, musicians, director, choreographers........everyone involved in this show was so talented and so passionate. It was truly a blessing to be a part of it.

I was in the ensemble, dancing and singing my butt off and also understudied the role of Angela (which I went on for one night the last week of our run). The music is so beautiful, inspiring and fun.

We closed the show on Oct.3rd and said our goodbyes. I have truly missed my cast and crew and everyone involved. It was an experience I will never forget!!!

I also have to thank my precious family for their support during this show......Jon going above and beyond to take care of our girlies.....Aubrey coming to see the show 4 times!! and Eliana for sharing her mommy.......

Thank you "Twist" for an amazing run......

First Day of Preschool

Eliana Grace........

Our little "ella bella".

Started her first day of preschool on August 31st. She was excited and walked right in! No tears and no worries. She smiled and waved and clapped and cheered. Our sweet, happy, beautiful baby girl began her little preschool journey! I was so happy for her to be there and to have fun adn to make some new little friends of her own! She had a great day and as soon as the door opened for us to pick her up she was there smiling and looking up at her daddy............then immediately burst into tears. She realized then and there we had left her and she wasn't sure about all that! She was all hugs and kisses for daddy and then fell asleep fast and hard in the car on the way home.

She looooves preschool. She has had so much fun and comes home talking about her little friends......."i see maddie! i see aisy! i see finn!" "i color!"

We are so proud of our sweet little baby girl. She has been so brave and is coming into her own! She is such a joy to be with every single day. She truly reminds us everyday to smile! And be happy. Still the happiest baby on the block.........

We love you Eliana!

Kindergarten- second day

so the big second day of kindergarten came and we were there 20 MINUTES EARLY. Never to be late again. :)

And I finally got to take my prized "first day of kindergarten pictures". Technically 2nd day but nonetheless............they are priceless to me.

Aubrey is thriving in kindergarten. Learning so much, making new friends, and loving every minute of it. She can't wait to go to school every day!

Aubrey............we are soooo proud of you! You continue to amaze us with your fierce little self. You are going to accomplish wonderful things in your school years and we are so proud to be able to guide you and love you and watch it all happen.

We love you!!

Kindergarten-first day

If it is even possible............I now have a daughter in Kindergarten. Unbelievable to her dad and I. Even as grown up and mature and smart and amazing as she is, we still think of her as our first little spirited, strong, beautiful, independent and sweet little girl.
Aubrey started school at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy on August 11th.
It was quite the first day of school. We left super early so we could take lots of pictures and just savor the moment and enjoy. I decided to take the back roads just to be safe in case the highway was jammed.
Baaaad choice.
We hit every red light, every school bus, every bit of traffic, every everything that ended up making us 2o MINUTES LATE for the first day of school. Aubrey wasn't upset but of course I was beside myself. In tears, freaking out, feeling like a bad mom, no time for pictures, etc. etc. We got to her classroom and her teacher consoled me. I sucked it up for Aubrey's sake and hugged and kissed her and wished her the most wonderful day ever. She was so excited and so brave. I was so proud. And so mad! Couldn't believe I was so late. I am never late.
So I went to my car and cried my eyes out. Partly for being late and missing those first day pictures, and mostly because my precious baby girl was on her own and making her way in the big world of elementary school. Too much for this mom to take on all in one morning!

Summer ended............

with a trip to Nana and Papa's new house in Brunswick, GA!
Finally we have them so much closer to us. The girls and I took a trip to visit their new house and had a blast. No pics though......... :(
We got home just in time to say goodbye to the summer and hello to Kindergarten for Aubrey, Preschool for Eliana, rehearsals for a musical at the Alliance theatre for me and Jon flying the friendly skies and making it all happen at work..............
Goodbye summer!
It was so much fun. Here's hoping next summer I can stay on top of my blogs and be more detailed!!! Guess we were just too busy having too much fun...........

Summer continues..... Summer Visits.......popsicles......

Lots of visitors!

Grandpa came to visit..........

Aunt Jinnifer came to visit (and Jon took a smashing headshot of her!!)

Aubrey got used to her daily popsicle and Eliana finally got to try her first one! Needless to say it was a hit......

summer continues.....

with a fun visit from my friend Kristin and her kiddos, Elizabeth and Jackson.

They came and spent the night with the girls and I and we shopped and swam, chatted and made cupcakes for Elizabeth's 12th birthday! (elizabeth was my flower girl in my wedding oh so many years ago!!!)

It was a wonderful visit and we had so much fun!

aubrey's dance recital.....

Tap dancing it was for Aubrey and Ellery at their dance recital this year!

They did a smashing rendition of "You can't stop the beat" from the Broadway Musical "Hairspray". It was too much fun. And Eliana was clapping and cheering "yay" the entire time. She's quite the fan of music and of her big sister.........

The rest of the summer......part one...

Sooooooooooooooooooooo much catching up to do!! Kind of ridiculous actually but what can I say?? It was a wonderful, crazy, busy, amazing summer.
Just gonna get the highlights and some favorite pics and then try to keep up with the current state of affairs going on around here!!! Will try my best.
:)
We had another trip to Destin in June with Jon's company and our dear friends The Federico's.

Their daughter Juliana is sooo precious and she and Aubrey and Eliana had such a fun time playing at the big pool and pal-ing around. They were sweet girls and we had such a great time!!