Lake Keowee

After my CPE class let out Wednesday afternoon, I headed to Mom's house where we packed up her stuff and then went to the school to get the girls. We stopped by Chick-fil-a on Woodruff Rd. to have dinner and to let the girls play before we headed on to the lake.



The next morning, we made our way over to the playground. As it turned out there was a baby swing that both Ansley and Bailey could fit in. They had a great time being in the swing together and did not mind being in there together at all. We played there a while and went out by the pool for a minute. However, ther

e girls were so mad about not being able to get in, we quickly headed back to the play ground. Afterwards we headed back, had lunch, and then naps.

Later that day we went to the pool. The girls loved it!! Ansley really enjoyed being in her float, Emily made her way around with her swimies, and Bailey tried her best to get out of her float and away from us so she could swim. Someone forgot to tell her she didn't know how =)

After the pool we went to the play ground for a little bit and then back to the house for baths. After the girls were bathed and in their jammies, we went out for a boat ride. The girls loved seeing the water at first, but hated the life jackets. Since it just didn't seem to be their cup of tea since they had to wear life jackets, only Emily and Mom went out int he boat the rest of the weekend.










Over the weekend, we made several trips to the play ground, walked around, and a couple of trips in to Senica. On Saturday, I took Ansley and Bailey in t

o Seneca where we picked up a plastic pool at Walmart. I wanted to do this so that during some of the times where the sun was too much, we could still play in the water in the shade of the bottom deck. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the pool.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed home.

1st Pool Trip of the Summer

On Saturday of the Labor Day weekend, we decided it was finally time for us to redo our floors downstairs. We all went to Lowes and Home Depot and picked out the Pergo flooring that we liked. Little did we know this would be a nightmare project!!! After a hard long weekend of flooring for John and me living like a vagabond with three children/working on the floors with John while they were asleep, we took Tuesday evening off from flooring.

The pool in our neighborhood opened over the weekend so we all went to check it out after John got off work. All the girls being the little water bugs that they are, they had a great time. Emily was off with her floaties and I had the little ones in their floats. Ansley loved floating the most, where Bailey just wanted to get out of the float and go for it. She just didn't understand she did not know how to swim =)

Wilbur comes for the weekend

After leaving school Friday afternoon we went to Gattitown. Daddy met us there. When we first went in we played a few games before eating our pizza. Wilbur sat at a chair while we all enjoyed our pizza. After we finished our pizza, we took Wilbur to the game room. First Wilbur played a little basketball, then he helped squirt the water, and then it was time to ride the ponies. He thought he would ride by himself first, but then he decided to ride with me =) After the ride, he walked around with my sister Ansley.












On Saturday, we all went to Home Depot. Wilbur decided it was time for us to get a new floor so he helped us pick a new one. The rest of the day, Daddy worked on the floor. Wilbur and I checked it out a little, but decided it was more fun to play outside.

On Sunday Wilbur, Ansley, Baily, Mommy, and I went to church with Wilbur. In the afternoon, we visited with Grandaddy and Grandmommy Sizemore. Sunday evening after my bath I decided Wilbur needed a bath also, so I helped but him in the special bag to keep him safe, then I put him in the washing machine, I helped put the soap and fabric softener in, and I turned on the washing machine. He really liked going round and round.

Monday Wilbur, Mommy, Ansley, Bailey, and I went to eat breakfast and then we went to the craft store. At the craft store Wilbur helped me to pick out some pink pretty ribbon and some buttons. After the craft store we went Grandmommy Dee's house. At Grandmommy's house we played with toys, crayons, and ate lunch. After leaving Grandmommy's house we went to the mall. At the mall, Wilbur really liked playing at the playground.

I really had a fun weekend with Wilbur!!!

1st trip to the dentist

On May 21st, I took Ansley and Bailey to their first dentist appointment. We arrived at Ashby Park Pediatric Dentist around 9:30. When we arrived, one of the hygienist took us back to the sink where she gave the girls their own toothbrushes and they brushed their teeth. They thought that was great!!! However after that it went downhill =)

Once they were done, we headed back out to the waiting room where I attempted to fill out all the paperwork while the girls wanted to walk around. I managed to keep them in the little play fort but they were very unhappy for some reason. Towards the end of our time in the waiting room, Bailey made friends with a little girl and they went up the stairs on the little fort.

When it was our turn, one of the hygienist carried Ansley and I carried Bailey. Another hygienist went over several items. Dr. Jen came over and I sat on the bench with Bailey and laid her back into Dr. Jen's lap. She then examined Bailey. Lets just say she thought it was awful =) She screamed the whole time!!! Dr. Jen said her three little teeth looked good. There was a tiny amount of plack on the bottom two in the front and Dr. Jen scraped it off very quickly and Bailey was done. Dr. Jen said things looked good and that she expected that we would see Bailey's molars to come in before the other teeth and would probably be in the next two months. She also said her pallet looked very good, despite her being a thumb sucker. It was Ansley's turn so I handed Bailey to the other hygienist. Bailey was still very mad!!!!

I laid Ansley back in Dr. Jen's lap. She was also very unimpressed by Dr. Jen wanting to examine her teeth. Dr. Jen said that Ansley's two teeth on bottom and four on top were wider than Bailey's and that she also had very little space in between her teeth. Also, it was time to start thinking about taking her passie and that we she see more teeth in her soon.

After the exams, the little ones and I headed home for lunch.

Atlanta Braves vs. Oakland A's Game in Atlanta 5-17-08

After we went back to the hotel and got ready, we all loaded up into the various vehicles and drove to the ball park. When we arrived, Daddy came around to the will call window with Emily and I while the other went on in and found their seats. Since it was only at the last minute that I saw Emily and I would be able to go, we had to pick our tickets up the night of the game.



Once we got thought the long line to get our tickets we all headed in to the game. We had great seats down on the lower deck. When we made it to our seats, we joined the group.

While we were at the park, we enjoyed a variety of tasty treats, chatted, watched the game, went to get Emily a pink ball and bat, and even enjoyed a good dance =)

Trip to Atlanta for the Atlanta Braves Game 5-17-08

Emily and I met up with Nis, Christian, Daddy, and Katrina at the gas station on Mauldin Rd around 10:30 on Saturday May 17th in order to head to Atlanta for the Braves game. Everyone was excited. We had a good trip down. We stopped in Commerce at Chick-fil-a to let the kids eat and play a little and then made our way to Atlanta. Once we were in Atlanta, we hit a lot of traffic on the way to the hotel. Once we finally arrived, we happened to see that they were doing maintenance on the hotel pool and we would not be able to use it. We were a little disappointed since we promised the kids we would go to the pool when we arrived. However, it turned out to be for the best since we were allowed to go to a sister hotel that happened to have a very nice indoor pool. Marna and Jim, met us over at the pool with Mason, Sydney, and Mason's friend Maxie. While Marna and Jim went to the store, the kids, Daddy, and I played at the pool. It was a lot of fun. Since the life ring was out in the pool, Emily used it as a floatie to venture around the pool. We all enjoyed going back and forth between the hot tub and the pool. Emily's favorite things to do were twirling in the life rung, jumping off the side to me, and playing with the kids. Around 5:30, we made our way back to our hotel to get ready for the game.




I hope you all enjoy this video of the pool =)

Parent Teacher/Conference for Ansley 5-16-08

On Friday, John and I went to Palmetto Prep and met with Ansley's teacher, Jessica LaBombard for a parent-teacher conference to discuss Ansley's progress. Mrs. Jessica said that Ansley is doing great. Ansley is playing well with others and has developed several interests. Her favorite thing to do is listen to music. Jessica said that Ansley will sit and listen to music for up to 45 minutes. Next to music is art and crafts. She is really good at stringing beads to make necklaces and gluing. Not only is she good at arts and crafts, she really seems to enjoy it and has developed really good dexterity for her age. She also has a "better than average" vocabulary by being able to speak more than 10 words. She can say "Hi, Uh-oh, Sit, Bailey, ball, good girl, thank you, mine, more..."

Jessica also commented on how Ansley is a light sleeper and just walking by her cot can wake her up. Ansley is usually the last one in her class to go to sleep and the first to wake up. Ansley is also pretty independent. She will play with Bailey and her other classmates, but she is fine to play by herself. The last thing that we discussed was removing Ansley's pacifier. We think that we may try weaning her from it in about a month.

John's 34th Birthday

John turned the big 34 today =) Oh how the years fly by.

At lunch I met John up at Liquid Systems. For his birthday I had tried to get him a membership to the Greenville Gun Club, but it turned out I had to write a letter and get him on the waiting list. So as a consolation prize, I brought John a play gun that shot balls and a big cookie cake. He immediately got the gun out and started shooting every one at LSI. For lunch, he picked Flat Rock and we enjoyed a nice lunch.


That afternoon, the girls and I headed to the Jefferson's. We picked up pizzas and brought them with us for dinner. We all enjoyed dinner and then sang Happy Birthday to John and had cookie cake.

Emily's Parent Teacher Confrence with Ms. Doyle

On May the 12th, I attended the parent/teacher conference for Emily. When I arrived at 2:00 I met Ms. Doyle in the computer room where the kids were having their computer lesson. Emily was very excited to see me. Ms. Doyle then took them to music class and we headed to her room for the conference. Overall she said Emily is doing great!! She gave me a list of all the items she has been able to observe Emily doing and has evaluated her on. She said she is a leader in math (go figure =) ). She has also made great strides in her maturity and social interactions since being at Palmetto Prep.

Mother's Day Celebration for the Sizemore Side 5-10-08

This afternoon we went to Marna's hose for a Mother's Day get together.

Since the pool was ready and the girls were anxious to get in, we suited them up after dinner and let them play for just a little bit. It was cold, so it was a short swim. After the swim and the girls were changed, we visited a little and the kids gave Mother's Day gifts/cards. Emily gave me a very cute black and white spotted purse and a card that was too cute =) It talked about sometimes being a drama queen. She is defiantly my little drama queen.

June the kitten 5-9-08

After Emily and I said goodbye to her class, we drove across town to the Humane Society. When we arrived, we walked into the cat room for a few minutes and then headed down to the room where the kittens and other cats were. Emily really enjoyed seeing all the animals, including the few puppies that were in there. She tried out a variety of cats and kittens, but there just didn't seem to be one that was just right. After a while, I took Emily back up to the front of the building to look around some, and told her that if she did not find the right one, it was ok that we could find another one.

When we were up there I though I would ask and found the "Cat Lady" who was very knowledgeable of all the cats. I told her we had three little girls and wanted to see what she recommended. She said normally she tries to encourage people to adopt the cats since they are hardest to find homes for, but a kitten would probably be best to that it could grow up with kids. There happen to be one that was 6 months old that she highly recommended. Since she was not a little kitten she happen to be up int he cat room and we had not seen her. When Sally (The Cat Lady) got her out of the cage, she came right to Emily. Someone had brought her in since they did not have time to keep her. She was get sweet and seemed great around Emily. She was already fixed and had been declawed. She was the one.

Sally posed with Emily for a picture and then we headed to the front. Emily and I had to run out to the car to get the carrier and then we filled out all the paper work. Sally asked if we wanted to get a microchip for her in case she were ever to get lost and we said yes. Sally took the kitten back to put in the microchip and then brought her back up for us to finish the paper work. She had previously been called Crystal and Emily said that was ok. On the way to the shelter, Emily mentioned wanting to call her June and once we left she said she was going to call her June.

We drove back across town to pick up Ansley and Bailey. Lets just say June really wanted to get out of the bag. Emily helped her poke her head out and June seemed to really like that. She got out a few times onto Emily's lap, but we put her back int he carrier to be safe. We arrived back a school and picked up Ansley and Bailey. On our way home, Bailey was dieing to pet June.

We arrived home and let June roam around. She seemed to be a great fit. Ansley and Bailey were ready to eat and once I got them settled eating I bathed June. She seemed fine, but I thought it would be best to start with a bath. She was not impressed =)

After her bath, I moved on to the little ones and then they had a great time petting her. John arrived home around 6:30 from his trip and also proceeded to play with the kitten.

Palmetto Prep's Pre-K Trip to the Zoo 5-9-08

After I had breakfast with Ansley and Bailey for Mother's day, I had about an hour so I ran to Petsmart to pick up some supplies for the kitten Emily and I were going to pick out after the Zoo. Then I made my way back to Palmetto Prep. When I came in the class, Ms. Hiers was with the kids working on some Spanish. I sat in the circle with the kids along with a couple other parents that were there for the trip. Before we left, the teachers gave out clipboards with the scavenger hunt information and our buddies. Emily and I were buddied up with a girl named Jameson from one of the other classes. Around 10, we headed out to the buses to load up. Ms. Doyle's class loaded onto one bus. Emily and I sat in the back row.





We then drove tot he Greenville Zoo. When we arrived it was a beautiful day. We lined up by the buses and then paired up with buddies. I had not met Jameson before so Ms. Doyle brought her to us. Then we all headed to the entrance of the Zoo.

After we went into the Zoo, we first went to the elephants. The girls enjoyed them for a few minutes before we were off to other sights. We made our way up past the monkeys and in the reptile house. This was a big hit!!! While inside, one of the iguanas kept coming up to the glass to see the girls. They were very excited to see this. After that we stopped by the concession stand for drinks before making our way to the various birds, monkeys, and leopards. We had almost made it to the top of the Zoo where the giraffes were when it was potty time. Unfortunately the potty is almost back at the bottom so we rushed down to make it.

After that we walked around some and happen to meet up with Ms. Doyle and a few of the others. We walked with them to the flamingos, alligators, and then on to the farm animals. I knew based on previous experiences that the goats would not eat the food you can buy (since they get it all the time), so I brought some goldfish for the kids to feed them. Once we were done with the farm animals, we all made our way to the exit where the group was meeting. Since we still had 20 minutes, I promised the girls that if we walked quickly we could go back tot he giraffes since we missed them. It was a long walk back to the top, but worth it since the girls really enjoyed them. While we were there, a nice parent took a picture for Emily and I. After the girls enjoyed them for a few minutes, we made our way back to the group. Once all the groups had arrived, we went out to the playground where the kids had a great time running around while a few of the teachers set up lunch. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch and then took a group photo of the kids. Our lovely trip was coming to a close as we loaded back on the bus and made our way back to Palmetto Prep. When we arrived at the school, Emily and I picked up her stuff and headed to the Humane Society.

Mother's Day Breakfast in Ansley and Bailey's Class at Palmetto Prep 5-9-08

This morning, Friday May 9th, I attended the Mother's Day Breakfast at Palmetto Prep for Ansley and Bailey's class. It was a lot of fun. First came the food =) The girls really enjoyed their breakfast and then I stayed a little bit to play and read them a book.