A Fall afternoon and preschool

It's been almost 2 months since Oliver and Madelyn went back to Timberlane preschool. I hear Oliver is a good big brother and loves to help Maddie on the swings during their outdoor play time. I'm happy to be back at home spending my afternoons with them. I'm appreciating these precious moments even more now.

I love it when Oli laughs like this and I love Maddie in pig tails.

Friday is their school spirit day and they wear their preschool t-shirts. Today was a beautiful Fall day with the leaves starting to change colors. It was a perfect opportunity to take photos while the kids were having fun in the front yard.  I couldn't help myself so I took a ton of photos.

  

Mexico Beach, FL

This past weekend we went to Mexico Beach, FL for the first time. It was about 2 1/2 hours from Tallahassee. Since we don't live really close to the water, it's nice to look forward to mini getaways and explore different beaches along the gulf coast. 

It was a beautiful day despite a few rain drops.

Longboat Key, FL

Brian's firm held a retreat at Longboat Key, Florida.  We had a lot of fun getting to know attorneys and their spouses from the firm's other branches (Orlando, Miami, Tampa, and Birmingham).  The room was awesome (and free), the beach was beautiful, the food and drinks were tasty and plentiful, and everyone was really nice. It was our first time leaving the kids overnight.  They had a lot of fun at abuelo and abuela's house!  And we had lots of fun!

This is the view from our room.

Our room.

  

Brian playing in a best-ball golf tournament.

Fun in the pool with some of the folks from Tallahassee.

While Brian played golf, I relaxed on the beach.  I read the bible, prayed, looked at the water, marveled at the birds, and then topped off the morning with an 80 minute massage.  I like these retreats!  I can get used to this!

The view from my chair on the beach.

   

I collected seashells for Oli and Maddie :)

The Pledge of Allegiance

I think parents are often impressed by all the little things their children do. A few days ago Maddie impressed us by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. It's something her class did everyday and apparently she has a great memory :) (She is 2 Years and 2  months old.)

The other side of the fence

As a stay-at-home-mommy, on those days when the kids drove me crazy, I would sometimes wonder what it would be like to drop them off at preschool and go to work all day. Well one day out of the blue one of my friends who works at a preschool called me and asked if I would be interested in working with her and another one of our friends. At first I thought, "definitely not, I'm not ready to go back to work." Then the more I thought about it and talked about it with Brian, we thought maybe this could be a good chance to work, have the same schedule as the kids, be a few doors down from them, be able to see them when I want to and work with two friends. So I decided to try it out. The first three months were tough because the days were long and I was very emotional about separating from the kids (and so were they).  In addition to that, Brian and I took on some responsibilities at church. Oh, and one more thing, I was taking online classes at night in order to be qualified to work as a teacher at the preschool. So, after five months of doing it I asked if I could work part time but they did not offer that. After much thought and prayer, we decided for me to go back to being at home.  I learned that there are difficult moments whether you're working or whether you're at home. I prefer being at home.  I'm grateful I had the chance to try it out and I'll never regret doing it. I also feel blessed that I have the option to not work and that I have the best husband in the world.

We decided to send both kids to Oliver's old preschool which is a 9am-12pm schedule and I'll spend the afternoons with them. This is what works best for our family and I think it's different for every family. I really missed having more quality time with the kids and I think I can now appreciate this side of the fence even more :) 

The 3 Amigas

Madelyn's favorite day of the week was Splash Day. 

Cupcake party for Oliver's 4th Birthday

  

Circle Time 

Oliver's favorite thing to do on the playground was ride the tricycles.  

Believe it or not, I pushed a 6 passenger buggy.

Blueberry picking at Myrtle Creek Farm

A few Saturdays ago we went blueberry picking early in the morning. It was super hot but it was lots of fun picking a gallon of blueberries! Our friends own the farm and said we could eat as many blueberries as we wanted so of course we did :)