The Taylor Family: June 2009

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Father’s Day 2009

I hope Grumps and Paw Paw had a great Father's Day!! Lance's Father's Day was a very full day. I don't think Lance would have picked to drive 6 hours from Galveston back home, but he did with no complaints. I offered to drive, but for him I think that would have been way worse than driving {ha}. About 30 minutes after we made it home we were on the road again but this time it was just to attend a Roughriders Baseball game with our church family. It was HOT but we had a great time. I don't have any pictures of the game...I was burned out from the 500+ I took at the beach {which I am hoping to blog soon...not all 500 btw}.

This year I wanted Lance to know how much he means to us. I couldn't really think of anything from a store that would help us show him so the girls got Lance the tickets to the game {Lance LOVES baseball} and I helped them put together a photobook for him. It was really fun to do. I asked the girls two questions: Why do you love Daddy AND How do you know Daddy loves you. Lance really liked the book and got a kick out of some of their answers. You can see the book below.

I hope you had a great Father's Day, Daddy! Your girls love you more than you'll ever know.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Friday, June 12, 2009

Brylie’s Summer Visit

This was our second year in a row to have Brylie spend a week with us. It was so much fun last year that we just had to do it again. Here is a quick overview of the great time we all had!

Ice Cream Social: We all went to an ice cream social/play date with friends from church…yum!

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Swimming: The week was full of fun in the pool. Gwynie hadn’t taken swim lessons yet and wasn’t too excited about swimming…the older girls swam every time they got the chance and had a blast!

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Playing Dress-up: The girls would come downstairs {several times a day} each dressed up in a different costume and with a story to match.

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Picnic: During the middle of the week we decided to have a picnic. We loaded up our lunch boxes and headed to the girls tree house {it’s more like a fort…but we call it a tree house}. It was such a blast to talk, sing and tell stories together!

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The Storm: One night a really strong storm blew through. We spent a few minutes huddled in the closet because the tornado sirens were going off. Everything ended up okay…here are some pictures of how we passed the time.

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Projects: We did some fun arts & craft projects. Here are a few pictures of Gracie & Brylie painting their pictures.

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Six Flags: One of our last days during Brylie’s visit was spent at Six Flags Over Texas. The girls had never been and had SOOOO much fun. We stayed in the younger part of the park so all 3 girls could ride the rides. It worked out perfect!

Church: We were blessed to have Brylie join us at church just before she headed back home.

We loved having you so much Brylie and we can’t wait until next year!!!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Mommy…take a picture of me!

Anyone who has been with me when I have tried to get a posed picture of Gwyneth knows that it is no easy feat. {Candid photos are my friend} She is her own gal and is not a big fan of being “told” what to do…just a wee bit stubborn. ;) This is new to me because Gracie has always LOVED to have her picture taken!

Much to my surprise the other day {the day after her 3rd birthday, you’ll see why this is important at the end of the post} Gwynie came downstairs from playing dress—up and said, “Mommy, take my picture”. Of course I jumped up, grabbed the camera and was happy to do so.

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She back went upstairs to play and came down again asking for me to take her picture…

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Knowing that the impromptu photo session was HER idea I thought I would try later in the day to snap a picture and see what happened. Smile for the camera, Gwynie…

YEAH!!!

It’s just one photo, but it is a milestone for me.

As I have mentioned is previous blogs, Gwyneth {as precious as she is}, has definitely let us know why they call it the “terrible two’s”. The funny thing is it was like a switch was flipped as soon as she turned 3. Literally on her birthday I noticed a big change. She has just, well…chilled out. Her meltdowns {although still there} are MUCH fewer and farther between. She is becoming a better listener and most importantly {to me}, cares how her actions affect the people around her. With Gracie we had the opposite experience. We sailed through the 2’s with no problem, but hit the 3’s like a brick wall. I remember thinking, what happened to my sweet little girl. FYI - We got her back around age 4 {ha}.

So we have made it past the terrible 2’s {with God’s help}! I know that 3 won’t always be a walk in the park, but I am really excited to continue to watch Gwynie grow and mature. She is doing so many “Big Girls” things now…it’s going to be a fun year!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

I Can’t Believe Its Over!

I just got back from Gracie’s last day of school party. It was really fun and both of the girls had a blast! I thought it was just going to be a stay-inside-the-classroom sort of thing so I purposely didn’t bring my camera. BIG MISTAKE…it turned out to be a super fun 2nd field day of sorts. Oh well…it’s nice to not have to watch every event through a camera lens.

I still can’t believe that Gracie is no longer a Kindergartener. When we drove away from the school today she said, “that’s it…next time we come here I’ll be a first grader”. I mean was she trying to make me break down crying right there in the car? I am way more emotional about the last day of Kindergarten that I was about the first day. I think on the first day I was just so excited for her. She had been looking forward to “real” school since FOREVER. A lot of her classmates moms were feeling the same way today. You get five years to work up to the 1st day of Kindergarten and then only 180 days to enjoy it. Then before you know it…the school year is over and you’ve got yourself a First Grader. {Flash forward 12 years and I bet I’ll be posting something similar about Gracie graduating from High School}.

Her teacher Ms. Korenek put together a great slide show of their year and was sweet enough to make a copy for each of her kiddos. Ms. Korenek will be teaching at a different school next year. One that’s quite a bit closer to her house. I just told Gracie about it on the way home. She was okay with it, except that she won’t get to visit her when school starts back up in the fall. I told her that she just needs to remember that God blessed her by giving her Ms. Korenek as her teacher and now He is going to bless a brand new set of kids in a new school. {That put a big smile on her face}.

Gracie on the 1st & last{ish} day of Kindergarten

Gracie & Ms. Korenek at Meet the Teacher & at the end of year awards

The one thing Gracie was most excited about learning in Kindergarten was learning to read. She did it and is a great reader. At the Celebration of Learning {End of Year Awards Ceremony} she heard one of the Kindergarten teachers mention how important it is to read over the summer. She has really taken this to heart! She had decided to set a goal of reading 100 books before school starts in August!! Go Gracie Go!!!

I had one constant prayer for Gracie’s school year and that was that she have a great year to start her school career off on a positive note and He answered that prayer in more ways than I could have even imagined. Thanks be to God!

Well, that’s it…Gracie’s much anticipated year of Kindergarten is over. She had a great teacher, was a good student and made tons of friends. She even managed to have perfect attendance for the whole year!! What more could a parent ask for? Great job Gracelyn…you have made Mommy & Daddy so proud!!! We can’t wait to see what 1st Grade had in store for you!!!