Flower girl, Hunter Hayes, and a Tractor!

Emma was honored to be a flower girl in our dear friends Tara and Rich's wedding this past weekend.  She looked like a little angel and she had a blast with the other flower girl Addison, and Tara's son Carson.  As a parent, its amazing seeing your child in a wedding.  I think we both fast-forwarded 20+ years to the day when we will see her walk down the isle on her big day! Oh my!

 

Talk about a lucky 4 year old! Aunt Rebecca took Kate to Cleveland for the Hunter Hayes concert.  They had dinner, enjoyed the show and "stayed up really really late."  Bec said that Kate was the youngest one there and she was a crowd favorite with her cute cowboy boots and hat.  Hunter played her favorite songs "Wanted" and "Crazy."

Sage spent Saturday with (Great) Aunt Anna and Uncle Keith.  Uncle Keith has a truck and a tractor so they became instant friends!  Sage told me they went and "dump leaves down there."  The boys also enjoyed watching videos of trucks, boats and excavators on the iPad.  Anna was in heaven as she rocked and sang Sage to sleep Saturday night.  

A special thank you to Rebecca, Anna and Keith for their help with Kate and Sage last weekend during our wedding festivities!  Also, thank you to Grandma's Zinser and Weatherwax for helping watch the kids while Mrs. Dominique was in Hawaii.

Needless to say, this past month has been a whirlwind of fun.  Sometimes overwhelming at times trying to meet everyone's needs and my own to my crazy expectations.  This blog is therapeutic for me because as I post these pictures and reflect on the month's great memories, it makes the late nights and stressful moments all worth it...just to see my three kiddos having a blast and enjoying life.  

Emma's GOLDEN 6th Birthday!

 Emma's birthday week was a big one! She turned 6 on the 6th, thus making this her golden birthday.  She was also selected as the first Very Important Person in her class and she had daily activities at school that were all about her. The week concluded with Emma being a flower girl in Tara and Rich's wedding (pics to follow). 

We had a fun birthday evening with the family.  She received a lot of special gifts - including a gold "E" necklace for her "Golden Birthday" from Grandpa Weatherwax.  A few minutes later she laughed and said to Kate, "You'll be 25 before you have your Golden Birthday."

Happy Birthday to our sweet Emma.  She's my helper, my listener, my nurturer, my sensitive one and forever our little girl. 

Emma's 6 year stats:  57 pounds and 48 inches both in the 90th percentile.
As of her 6th birthday, Emma has lost 7 teeth!

Emma's 6th Birthday Party - a Spa-Tacular event!

 For Emma's birthday party she wanted to be pampered.  With the help of our neighbor Rachel (far Left) and her friends, we transformed our home into Weatherwax Day Spa. 

 Step one - lets eat some pizza!

There were 10 girls to get beautified.  James, Sage and Carson took pictures and provided entertainment!

 Our living room was the Make-up Room.  The girls picked out eye shadow, blush and lip gloss.  They also filled out a paper that I later used to introduce them on how they met Emma and why Emma is a good friend. 

 Our den was the Nail Salon.  The girls soaked their fingertips and picked out polish (most had multiple colors) and also put on glitter and other nail jewels!  A thank you to my coworker Jeanette who's gift to Emma was a lot of fun nail/spa stuff!

 Finally, our sun room was the Hair Station.  The girls had twists, braids, and curls put in to complete their look.  A couple spritzes of smelly stuff and they were all set!

 Say Cheese!

I had to include this darling picture.  In Emma's Kindergarten class there are 5 girls and 13 boys.  In our parent teacher conference, Mrs. Nicastro said what a special bond these 5 already have and how they do everything together at school.  So meet, Tessa, Camille, Sophie, (Emma) and Aami. 

 

The party continues this week for Emma's official birthday!

Halloween

The kids wanted a scary face pumpkin, so here's my best shot at it!  I love how carving a pumpkin starts out as a fun FAMILY activity, but 5 minutes into it, the kids are off playing with their toys.  Kate's "Harvest Party" (formerly known as Halloween Party) was on Wednesday and Emma's was on Thursday. 

Here is my colorful bunch!

With a dreaded 80% chance of rain and 30+mph winds, it was a yucky night for Trick or Treat.  We headed out for an hour.  Since there were not a lot of kids out, our neighbors were very generous and after a few houses their buckets were filled!  Emma's favorite candy is York Peppermint patty,  Kate's is Reese's Cup and Sage's is smarties. 

 

Sage loved walking in the puddles!  He is all boy!

New Orleans

Emma had a 3 day weekend so it was a perfect weekend to escape to New Orleans to visit Aunt Trudy, Uncle Jim, Cousins Jenny, Julie and Ryan - plus their darling girls Caroline and Reese.  The kids loved playing together - performing puppet shows, skits, dancing to music and running around.

On Saturday, with matching shirts from Grandma and Grandpa Weatherwax we headed downtown to the Aquarium.

 What's a trip to New Orleans without beignets from Café Du Monde.  My biggest donut lover is Emma.  When we sat down, Emma didn't want to eat a beignet - we were all confused.  Later she confessed to Aunt Rebecca that she didn't want the powdered sugar to get all over her shirt :)

On Saturday night, we had a delicious dinner at Mr. John's Steakhouse and then we hit Bourbon Street.  Being the weekend before Halloween, we saw some interesting people to say the least.  The children hung out at home with a couple of Julie's teacher colleagues.  

Our last stop was to Mardi Gras World which is a warehouse where all of the floats are created and stored for the annual Mardi Gras parade.  Thank you to the McWhirt and Kenter families for hosting us for such a fun weekend getaway!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sage!

Wow, my "baby" is 2 years old.  Time has flown by.  In the past year, Sage has grown up so much.  He loves to talk, even more than his sisters I believe.  He is all boy and loves puddles, construction equipment (especially cranes) and cars/trucks.  He likes to wear "buckeye" shirts.  He runs, hops, jumps, skips and can even somersault.  Sage eats pretty much everything, but he loves mac n' cheese, chip dip, snacks of all sorts and cookies.  He has a sweet, laid back disposition just like his Daddy!

Sage's birthday weekend was a low key one.  Friday night we headed to Cincinnati for James' 8th birthday party.  Following the party, we celebrated with the Zinser family.  On Saturday, we had lunch at Rusty Bucket and watched the OSU game as a family.  The party continued on Sunday with the Weatherwax family and our "grand-neighbors" Jim and Mickie.  

Sage and his birthday gift, his own golf cart!  

Mmmmm.  Love the icing!

Just as long as I have the steering wheel turned for him and he keeps 2 hands on the wheel, Sage does a great job with driving. 

Sage's 2 year stats:  32.2 lbs (90th percentile) 34 1/4 inches (40th percentile).

He sleeps around 11 hours/night and takes a 2-2.5 hour nap a day. 

 

The two year milestone is a bittersweet one.  Sage has become more independent, and we have been accustomed to a child dependent on us since 2007. We've always had 1% milk and breast milk or whole milk, now we can all drink from the same gallon!  Maybe 1 more year of diapers?  He has his own opinion about what he wants and what he needs.  He is attached to his blue striped "bain-kie" and loves to rub the tag on his lips and nose.  Even as our third child, each phase is so exciting and we are savoring these special moments with him.  It feels like it was only yesterday when we brought Sage home from the hospital.  He has blessed our lives in so many ways. 

School updates - Fall

Kate loves preschool.  She is gaining confidence each day.  I love watching her walk into school and her backpack is bigger than she is, it's adorable.  She loves to say the Pledge of Allegiance and often starts saying it at the site of a flag.  "Indivisible" is a hard word for a 4 year-old, so Kate just bypasses it...Only Kate.  They also sing an adorable song at the start of the day which I wanted to record for you: "Good morning God.  This is your day.  I am your child. Show me your way."  Every Friday, she brings home about 20+ pieces of art! :)

The girls at the Fall Festival at Kate's school.  Kate is quite obsessed with Hello Kitty and couldn't resist herself.  Emma opted for the flamingo art!

When I first heard that Kindergarten was only 3 hours, I was wondering how they would cram everything into that short period of time, when some children go all day.  I have been blown away by Emma's progress.  She is so excited about school, the bus, reading and her friends.  Above is a picture of Emma's "bobble head" that we saw at her curriculum night back in September.  We've started homework and a reading log.  We had our first parent teacher conference last week.  Mrs. Nicastro said that Emma is a "friend to everyone" and "she is a huge sponge when it comes to learning." They are "graded" on letter recognition, letter sounds, site word recognition, counting, and number recognition.   In the past month, she has made great strides and she is "on track" for the lovely 3rd grade guarantee that has now been put into action.

 And then there is our sweet boy Sage. Last week was Fire Prevention Week, and the fireman and "chire chuuckk" showed up at library time.  He knows that the firetruck "helps" those that are in "trouble."  Boy was he excited!  He was mesmerized, so this was the best picture I could get!   He has a big birthday weekend coming up!