Audie-Beth is 18 Months Old!

CAN. NOT. BELIEVE. IT.

It has been over a year and a half since my sweet baby came into our lives!  I really can't believe it.
In some ways, it seems like she was just born, but then in other ways, I can't really remember what our family was like before she arrived.

Audrey Elizabeth, 18 months

At 18 months, Audrey is...

• 19 pounds, 5 oz
• 31.25 inches tall
• wearing size 12 months in clothes, size 3 in diapers
• RUNNING behind Ben and Abby to keep up with them
• calling every animal "Daisy"
• saying or repeating words like "belly", "nose", "Bubba", "apple","bubbles", "ball", etc.
• screaming out of no where (we suspect its just to experiment with her noises and their reactions)
• incredbily snuggly (which is new for me, but I LOVE it)
• generally, a very happy baby
• can get very irritable when she gets tired or hungry
• eating pretty much everything the rest of us are eating (except for juice)
• loves hot dogs, mac and cheese and pasta or noodles of any kind
• still in love with her Violet

All smiles at her well visit

She recently discovered that she really likes Chow Mein!
Silly girl!

Love this face.

So much personality!

This one makes me giggle everytime I look at it.  :-)

Here's to the best year and a half of my life!!

Abigail Maye...My Budding Artist

I just love my Abby-Girl.
She has started to really take to drawing and painting.  I find her sneaking away during the day so she can draw or paint something.
I am such a lucky Momma...I get beautiful, original pieces of art all the time from my favorite little artist.
Here are a few examples of her work:

 We also found a great place in Garland, called "Painting with a Twist".  Abby and I went there a few weeks ago and had a 'girls' day.  We had lunch, got pedicures and painted!  What a FANTASTIC DAY!!

We will DEFINITELY be returning to 'Painting with a Twist'. 
I love, love, love spending time with my sweet Abby.

Fulton Prom, 2012

Part of the reason I love being a part of The Fulton School is the fact that it such a small, intimate campus.  I love to be such an integral part of what happens at the school that both I work at as well as the school that my children attend.  This same aspect, however, can be VERY STRESSFUL!

In January of this year, I was told that NHS would be responsible for organizing the high school prom for Fulton...yup THAT prom...the one that would occur just 2 1/2 months later.  As ths NHS sponsor, I took on a majority of the responsibility.
If you haven't ever been given this responsibility, trust me, it's HARD WORK!!!

The Fulton School has never had a traditional prom.  Every decision we made would set the presedence for years to come.  This can be both a blessing and a curse.  We also had a teeny, tiny budget to work with, since we are such a teeny, tiny school.
I quickly recruited my good friend and art teacher, Mrs. North as well as the Assistant Head of School, Jan Brooks.  They were so wonderful to help me out!!  We also recruited from the students and, although every one of them had an opinion, only 2 of them offered to help on a regular basis.
(Thank you, Taylor and Shelby!!)
Our theme was "Sweet Escape" and we decided to decorate with candy...TONS of CANDY!!
Ben and Abby even helped with the decorations - and a little with the candy tasting.  :)

We were up until nearly 2:00am the night before making sure everything was set up.  It was exhausting, but incredibly fun at the same time.

The back of van the day before prom

Taylor and Shelby staying up late to separate thousands of candies by color.

Taylor Z., Mrs. Hale and Ben helping out the night before.

All of the work we put into it paid off.
I hate to brag, but the event was AMAZING!!! 

Our table centerpieces

Once the DJ arrived and set up, the room looked AWESOME!!
The kids showed up and really seemed to have a great time (whew!!)

Fulton, 2012 Prom Committee:
Me, Taylor H., Shelby and Mrs. North
"You're Welcome...."

The true test of our success came the following week at school.  I had SO MANY of my students tell me how much fun they had and how great everything was.  Those 'rebels' who chose not to come admitted later that they really wish they had.
 (BEST. FEELING. EVER.)

Believe it or not, I have already agreed to organize the prom again next year.  I figure, we did such a great job on it this year, we HAVE to continue the success!! 
Now that we've gone through it once, it should be SO MUCH easier next year!  :-)

Ben's First Communion

After two years of preparation, Ben was able to take his First Communion this year.
He has taken the classes very seriously, and it meant very much to him to take this step in our Church.
Before Mass, I took a few pictures outside the church.



Of course, Ben did a GREAT job.  I am just so proud of my boy!!

I'm a 'TSAHM'!!

(That's 'Temporary Stay at Home Mom' if you were wondering)  :)

As of last Tuesday, May 29 at approxiately noon, I am officially on SUMMER VACATION!
This means that I finally get to breathe a little!!
As much as I love my job (and I DO love my job), I really, really, REALLY love being home with my kids.

I have a moment here and there where I can get caught up with friends, I can enjoy some time with my kiddos, and I can catch up with our family blog!!

Now, I am aware that it has been nearly 6 months since my last post, so I will certainly be updating for a while...and I cannot guarantee that my posts will be in any particular order.  My goal is to be caught up to June by the end of June.  Seems logical, right?

I will begin at the end, so to speak...

Ben and Abby both 'graduated' to the 3rd and 2nd grades last week.  I could not be more proud of those kids.  They are really growing up! How did I let this happen?!?

We also had 13 seniors graduate this year from Fulton (a record!!).  There are a number of these kids that I am really going to miss!!

Abby was also recognized at the Sports Banquet this year for being a Fulton Jr. Cheerleader.

Field Day at Fulton is always on the last day of school for the kids.

Ben has also been playing baseball.  His team is the Saints, and he is on the same team as his best friend, Alex.
I don't want to brag or anything, but that boy is GOOD!!  I think he found his sport!

The Saints in a huddle with Coach Jeremy

 He plays first base and third base as well as outfield and even catcher.

More pics (and clearer pics) to come!

Its so nice to have the time to start getting caught up! 

~Happy Dance~