Thursday, September 18, 2008

The Golden Rule and Manners

The girls have been talking about the golden rule in preschool this week. This morning I awoke to hearing them arguing on the monitor, so I turned it off, rolled over and prayed they'd go back to sleep. They did not go back to sleep and it turns out that Sadie pulled Molly's hair, so Molly pulled hers back. When Molly was asked why she did that, she very seriously said "The golden rule says to do unto others what they have done to you." Oh, my. . .I think we need to talk about the golden rule. . .

Manners are a big thing at our house. I insist and remind the girls of their manners constantly and feel like it's always falling on deaf ears. But an incident at my Mom's today proved that they are listening. The girls had taken out alot of toys at my Mom's and they were scattered about under my Mom's feet while she was trying to cook. Sadie came in and my Mom said, "Sadie, would you like to pick up these toys for Granna so I don't fall over them?" Sadie looked at my Mom and politely replied "No, thank you Granna" and went about her business. I guess we need to work on listening and not manners.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Disney Trip and Molly's 5th Birthday

Wow! What a week we had at Disney! Thanks to our "Fairy Trip Mother" who helped me organize every detail, we were able to experience ALOT in the time we were there. We left on Tuesday night after an intense day of getting ready (thanks to Granna I didn't lose my mind) and drove 3 hours to break up the trip. Kelly was on call for 4 days for Labor Day weekend so he was exhausted (slept 2 hours the night before) so he and the girls slept while I drove. We got a hotel room in south Georgia and woke up bright and early to finish our journey. We arrived at Disney early afternoon on Wednesday so we were able squeeze in some extra time! We stayed at the cabins at Fort Wilderness and I would highly recommend them. It was a wonderful alternative to a hotel room (or two, which the price was astronomical on!). We were able to put the girls to bed and then retreat to the living room and relax for a while.

We had dinner with Pooh and his friends, the princesses (twice), Mickey and his friends and got all dolled up at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We spent time at all the parks, but Magic Kingdom's Fantasy Land was by far the girl's favorite spot. Molly's favorite ride was Goofy's Barnstormer and Splash Mountain and Sadie's was Dumbo.

Molly turned 5 on September 7th, so we celebrated her big day while we were there. I am still struggling with her being 5, I'm not ready for her to grow up. I know she's still a little girl, but it makes me sad anyway. I want to hold onto her sweetness forever.

I took over 200 pictures during our vacation, so I'll just show you the highlights. . .

On the way to Magic Kingdom on our first day:



We met up with our friends to celebrate Molly's birthday, the kids LOVE each other and have a blast together (and so do the parents!)



On our way to meet the princesses:


Mickey's not so scary Halloween party had free face painting (Sadie was dressed as tinkerbell but chose to have her face painted like goofy--typical!)



In "Mexico" at Epcot (Daddy was getting he and Mommy a much needed margarita):



Molly and her birthday cupcake at Chef Mickey's:


Molly took this picture of Kelly, I think it's pretty good!


Sadie grabbing Donald Duck's tail. . . (I'm telling you, she's trouble!)


The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique had three choices for princess hair: Fairytale (up in a bun with a crown--what I would have preferred), Disney Diva (long curly extensions), or Pop Princess. I unfortunately did not know there were photos of the choices in the brochure they handed the girls when they checked us in and here's what they chose. . . .it's really lovely, huh?





We all had a blast but are glad to be home and rested. You should definitely schedule a "vacation" after your Disney "vacation"!!!

Monday, August 18, 2008

First Day of School 2008

Today was a great first day of preschool for Molly and Sadie. They woke up very excited and our morning went great, thanks to jmom's morning routine chart. I'm sure everyone that knows us is not going to believe this, but we were one of the first to arrive at school this morning! Certainly not the norm for the Mayfields (or Latefields, as my Mom likes to call us). There were a few brief tears from Molly and Sadie as we left, but the sweet preschool director called mid-morning to tell me they were doing great.


Having breakfast



Ready to go in!



Sadie showing off her cubby-




Molly outside her classroom-




When I picked them up they ran into my arms and told me all about their day. Molly brought a picture home (that she doesn't look too excited in):

She told me all about making gingerbread men with peanut butter and sugar. They left the gingerbread men on plates in the room while they went to the playground. When they returned, the gingerbread men and the plates were gone (following the story they read). Sadie's reaction was "Molly, now how did the plates leave? They can't run away!" She didn't question that the peanut butter and sugar "men" ran away, but was puzzled by the plate. . .

I missed them, but I did enjoy my quiet morning catching up on some errands and working out!! Now to tackle the rest of my list. . .

Friday, August 15, 2008

Summer Recap

Well, summer is coming to an end and preschool starts on Monday. I haven't posted much this summer, but it's not because we haven't done anything! I keep telling everyone that I am worn out from being the "preschool camp director", because we have surely stayed busy. Here are some photos to show what we've been up to the last couple of months. . .

The Beach



Dance Camp



Visits from (and to) the Stephens




Playdates with neighbors



Styling Kasey's hair



Playdates with our buddies P, K and R




Lots of time with baby Reagan!!!





A 4th of July visit from Granddaddy and Mama Lynn and our first fireworks!



A "real" tea party





Trip to Chattanooga Children's Museum with P, K and R





Making a birthday cake and celebrating Big D's 58th birthday!





A visit from our sweet cousins, Macey and Jodi




Loving on Daddy. . .



Reading with Granna. . .



A trip to Alabama to see Nana and celebrate her 75th Birthday!!!





A visit from our precious friends, Shan and Delilah. . .




Right now, the girls are at Libby and Andrew's visiting for a couple of days. I'm supposed to be getting ready for preschool (i.e., grocery shopping for lunch stuff, school supplies, etc.) but you see what I'm doing. Kelly and I are going out tonight to celebrate a great summer and the start of a new school year--and I'm looking forward to it!!!

Sadie

All about Sadie. . . .



I will start this post by telling you that my Mom says Sadie is EXACTLY like I was as a child. She is strong willed, spunky and outgoing. She demands alot of my attention and can be very emotional and dramatic. She is also very sweet and loving and will crawl up in my lap and tell me how much she loves me. That being said, she is also the clown of the family and provides us with constant entertainment.

Sadie is a very quick learner and is more "fact" oriented than Molly. She loves to do puzzles, play board games and read books (particularly those "look and find" books). She will bring me a pile of books that she almost can't carry in her little arms and wants to sit and read all of them. I hope that she will love to read like I do. She and Molly both like to play outside, but while Molly will ride her bike, Sadie prefers to play soccer or tee-ball.



Sadie also loves to sing and dance. Her favorite songs right now are "Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin (also a favorite of mine) and "Huff, the Magic Dragon" (as she calls it, I can't convince her that it's "Puff"). She will sing her little heart out in my backseat and it just melts me.


Sadie, I hope your passionate little spirit continues and that you will use it to glorify God. You are a sweet gift from above and we love you more than you'll ever know!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Molly

This post is dedicated to Molly and who she is.




I would define Molly as my sweet, sensitive, creative perfectionist. She is truly a unique mix of Kelly and I's personalities. She loves to draw, paint, color--anything "arty" (as she calls it). She amazes me with the things she can draw just off the top of her head. I have some creative abilities, but I think she has me beat by a long shot! Recently, she won 1st place in the coloring contest at our local library.

This is her picture with her blue ribbon--it's displayed in the library! She's very proud. I thought Sadie would mind that she didn't win, but she said that her hand got tired while she was coloring her picture so she just "scribble-scrabbled"!



The bear on the right she colored and then drew, colored and cut out a copy of it-I was quite impressed.




Molly is sweet natured and is always concerned about other people. She is definitely a worrier and is shy around people she doesn't know. Apparently she gets this from her Daddy. He remembers being this way as a child and is now more social, but I would still describe him as somewhat quiet. At Christmas this past year, we did shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse. While we were shopping for the boxes I was explaining how some kids don't have money for gifts and don't know about Jesus and we were going to help them. She looked at me and said "Mommy, I think I have enough money in my piggybank to pay for this". I had tears in my eyes in the middle of Wal-Mart. So, we took all her money to the bank and she paid for her shoebox that we sent. She's just sweet!


She is generous with her hugs and kisses and loves to have her back tickled. I think she would lie still all day if she could find someone to tickle her. She and Sadie are both Daddy's girls, but Mommy will do in a pinch! She likes to make people happy and is always trying to please.

Molly, you are truly a joy and we love you to the moon and back!