Showtime!

It was the end of the school year for Hayes and Libby.

Performance time for all!

Songs and dances are always amazing!

Love our preschool.

Love our friends.

Finally, summer!

Strategically placed baby bell blocks the nekkid baby bottom.

Oh, this one.

I love her so.

And him.

When did he get so grown up?

I miss chubby hands.

Ice cream in the yard daily.

Or driveway.

And the Queen was pushing the Princess around the yard for good measure.

I love sweet summertime.

Cliff Diving

Since THIS is what she looks like about 98% of the time....

This is what happens to her face after she stops... suddenly....

on the floor.

Forehead, meet corner.

Corner, meet forehead.

Playful Pups

One day this child of mine will figure out how to actually smile like a normal person.

He is such a caring little guy.

His honesty and genuine vocabulary baffle me daily.

This was the day of his Mother's Day Tea.  I forgot that he should have dressed up and we all know his Daddy isn't going to make him dress nicely.  Nor does this child want to dress up nicely, ever.  Worked out well though.  I forgot that maybe I should have dressed up too.  Instead I wore his favorite color and my boy was happy with that part of it.  

I'm still working on that pirate face.  Seriously.

Last day of school with our FAVORITE Puppy teachers!  These ladies are awesome and love my kid while teaching him really important stuff.  

Fab Frogs

This sweet girl sure gives me a run for my money.  This is her delightful Mother's Day Tea at ELC.  The kids make the food and lots of sweet things for us as well.  It is really an awesome deal.  We love going and I really enjoy seeing how proud she is.  Her attitude at school is spectactular.  I did tell her teachers that she should not be in charge of any surprises, ever.  She told me every single detail about the food and the arts & crafts the day before the 'tea' happened.  

Here is a picture of us last year at her tea.  She was a ladybug last year and is a frog this year.  Mind you, the pictures are always her idea, but I'm grateful she likes me well enough to take pictures.

This is her BFF Delilah.  She loves this girl with some serious intensity.  I am grateful that they were able to spend time loving each other this year.  Delilah's Aunt Steph is reading to them.  She was so patient with them and so kind.  

And these ladies are her rockstar teachers.

They help with boo-boos.

They assist with potty training and accidents.

They provide guidance, for her in the classroom, and me outside the classroom.

They love her.

They were so kind and told me that the 4s teachers would likely fight over who gets to teach my 'delightful child'.....

All I could do was LAUGH like a crazy lady because my delightful child is so hard to deal with most days.  She is sunshine and rainbows when she chooses to be.  She is challenging and stubborn when she is not sunshine and rainbows.  She loves SO hard and she is so kind....

I am forever grateful to these lovely ladies.

Fab Frog

I love watching her write.  I still have to help her spell her name.  Note to everyone else, long names are a challenge for 3 year olds.  I know she won't be 3 forever, so I'll take this writing with PRIDE!  I love that she has improved so much this school year.  She has worked really hard to perfect her letters and she's made major strides in her name.  We still have work to do with some of the letter specifics and details, but we are making huge improvements.  

2 months later....

The best aunt who lives in Georgia turned 30 in February.  We happened to be on a break from school on her actual birthday, so I began plotting a long time before that week to arrange a date with her for lunch on her bday!  I had to do some intense internet stalking to FIND the office where she worked in Atlanta.  I knew there was a website, but there are SO MANY offices that share the same name in the Atlanta area, it was a bit of a challenge.  I didn't want to ASK her for help because I wanted to be able to surprise her!  After about 3 hours of calling and internet research I finally found the office.  I emailed her boss and proposed my plan, she agreed and I began or orchestrate the master plan!  The day of the event we went to Sams and bought cookies to share.  We stopped by Chick fil A and got lunch.  After that we drove to her office.  

Let me please explain that taking 3 kids out in public where multiple events and stops are on the agenda is a bit challenging.  Like, insanely difficult.  I only started to sweat about 1/2 way through the bathroom stop at her office.  The office building has fountains and ducks, well.... geese, as Hayes would say.  They have a revolving door and well, its an office.  You're supposed to use an office voice.  3 year olds don't have an office voice or office behavior.  We survived the bathroom, the revolving door, the fountains (thank you God, because it was REALLY cold), and lastly, the elevator to the floor where she works.  

We made our way into the front conference room and set up lunch.  All of the sweet ladies Kathryn worked with came in to greet us and wait for her, so we could surprise her!  Kitty rounded the corner and began to get teary (never happens) so I knew she was surprised and I was FLOORED!  Y'all know that anytime you get to actually surprise someone, you get pumped, right!?  

We don't get to see her nearly as often as we like to, so this was a super special treat for us this day!  Hopefully we will get to see her again some this summer and we can have outside lunch dates by the geese and the fountains!  

Love you Kitty!

Happy we can celebrate 30 years of YOU!

Scruffy

This year before school started Hayes wanted to be in the crazy crab class.  He had no desire to be anything but a crazy crab.  No puppies, no turtles, just crabs.  

Fast forward to the first weekend we took home Scruffy and I knew why he was in that class.  He has fabulous teachers who are energetic and who help to deal with his energy.  He has a class with a great balance of girls and boys and he loves his peers.  He spends a lot of time talking about the classmates he has and a lot of time loving on them as well.  He's a story telling kinda kid and I'm pretty sure he gets that from his genetic makeup on both sides.  I'm confident that he's a Percy in training.  He's a talker, that's for sure, but only after you get him rolling.  

He was beyond thrilled to bring this puppy home.  He literally talked about him for weeks before it was his turn.  We have been lucky enough to have TWO turns this year with Scruffy the puppy.  He's the class pet in the Puppy Class, and he's Hayes favorite pet ever.  He's the only pet that we are going to have or entertain for at least 6 more years.  Y'all think I'm playing, but I'm not.  Nothing else that's alive unless I get to carry it in my uterus.  And no, I'm not pregnant... but I do not want an animal or anything else I have to potty train or feed or clean up after or wash up.  Until all my people can wash themselves, wipe their own butt, load their dishes and fix their own breakfast... we will get no animals.  None.

So, we will take time with this fluffy stuffed puppy when he comes along.  

Five. A whole hand.

I can remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.  Which I find really odd, because I can barely remember yesterday, at all.  I have such a terrible memory, but I guess God gives us the power to remember days that change our lives.  January 3, 2010 was a game changer for me.  I'm not sure I was ready to be a momma, but I was sure ready not to be pregnant anymore.  I got a cuddly little guy with a big heart.  He was stubborn and did things in his own time.  His early arrival should have been an indication to me about his zeal for all things.  Literally, all the things.  He is most excited about, well... everything.  He doesn't have a bad attitude about much of anything.  He wakes up and frequently bounces off that bottom bunk bed.  He sprints to the toilet and back to his room to grab his handful of toys.  He approaches all things with a big grin and a happy face.  He loves his sisters and doesn't seem to mind that they annoy him or take his things.  He is love.

He gave me a real smile.

And when I showed up for his special day at school he gave me about 900 hugs and told me all about his classroom.  I was thrilled to go visit him in his puppy classroom, even if I did get in trouble for it.  This kid was worth it.  

His puppy friends were so excited to share their stories with me!  I loved watching him blow out his candle!  He was excited about that too, and he blew wax all over his table!

Borrowed?

We may or may not have watched one of those links on YouTube where they have movies that haven't quite made it to a video source just yet.  One Friday night long ago in a land far away we watched Frozen.  The next morning the same link didn't work.  They cried.  I cried.  We all shed a tear for the movie that wasn't....

So I promptly called my BFF (who shall remain anonymous--for her own protection of course) and asked for a copy of the movie she technically didn't already have either.  Mind you, both of us have already pre-ordered it from Amazon and expect it to arrive on the correct ship date in March, but there was NO way my children were going to understand that we had to WAIT 6 more weeks.  Wasn't going to happen.

Bless my anonymous BFF and her husband for sending a copy right along our way!  We secured it JUST before the nasty ice storm (round 2) in Georgia and watched it at least 8 times in 3 days.  The entire family has roamed around singing every song at the top of our lungs for the last 2 weeks.  You don't know the words?  YouTube it.  Learn them.  You'll thank me later.

Hayes Date

The ELC always does Father's Night for the kids at school.  They aren't in school for Father's Day, so dads get a special night once a year. Luckily, our times didn't overlap and Daddy was able to enjoy time with both babies!  I got time with my big baby boy while his sister was on a date with her Daddy at school.  We went to Yogli Mogli (which is ice cream mountain if you ask Hayes) and he ate sprinkles.  I'm pretty sure he had 2 actual bites of yogurt and the rest was sprinkles.  He also talked with the girl who worked there about her big belly like mommy's.  I hope she was really pregnant...

It isn't a good night our unless you get some selfies.  We took a few, just in case.  

I don't even know how he makes this pirate face all the time, but he does.  It is now his signature face.  I give up trying to fix it or deal with it.  I just have to laugh.  

Holidays in full swing

December makes me thankful for my returning students....

The ones who are more like family and friends than the norm.

They show up when you need help and entertain the preschool crew after hours.

See above photo.

Jordan is our favorite person, ever.

We call her the other sister often.

I am beyond thankful for her help and the love she shows my babies.

Plus, she taught them to make these awesome faces.

How can I NOT love that?

The Other Kid

The other kid came home to see us a few weeks ago.

I'm sure she came to see other people too, but I don't really care about them.

I was so glad to see her!

We hadn't seen Jordan since she left for school in August and we were SO used to seeing her daily that it was REALLY hard for me to adjust to life without her.

The kids were thrilled to see her and so was I!

She spent some time playing games and taking pictures with Libby on her phone.

Both Hayes and Libby drew her pictures for her to put on her dorm room walls.

I think Hayes was really proud that she wanted to use his pictures!

Friends, this was the night that I realized that Hayes has learned how to write his name at school.

We talk about school, but his answer is typically something about seeing his friends.

He doesn't really give me details about anything else in his day.

Except maybe when he brings snack and it is trail mix.

He likes that a lot.

He loves school.

He loves his friends as well.

He speaks highly of his teachers.

When I questioned my special source about his teachers, her response was...

'They are the best.  You don't get any better than those ladies.'

I was so excited to think that my boy would be well cared for!

I was so emotional upon realizing that my 3 year old can write his name...

forward and backward, mind you.

He says all the letters in his full name and he's learning all of ours too.

He has grown up so much in the last 2 months that he's been in school.

I'm no longer worried that he won't be ready for PreK next year.

I know that he will be ready.

And I cried when I saw him do this.

Chubby fingers and crayons writing a name is something more precious than I ever imagined.

Nekkkid...

Me:  Hayes, you need to get dressed.

Hayes:  I don't want toooooooooooo.

Me:  Hayes, please pick up your clothes and put them on your body.

Hayes:  I can't dooooooooo it Mommy.

Me:  Why are you sitting on the sofa naked?

Hayes:  My clothes are just too hard today.  

1st Day 2013

Lively Ladybugs 2013

Elizabeth James Cochran

She's such a precious girl!

Her smile and sweet spirit is so contagious!

Also, she's a professional flirt.

She's giving Papa the flirty eyes and trying to be so sneaky...

Fabulous Frogs 2013

Thomas Hayes Cochran

He was too cool to pose for photos.

Or even look at the camera phone.

Or cooperate at all.

So we got this...

No photos Mom.

I'm busy, notice the blur of the toys in the photos...

School is such a blessing for us.

We are able to send our littles to the ELC at FBC Douglasville.

I love the ladies there who take care of us and THEM!

The life lessons they learn from their teachers and their peers are amazing.

I am also very excited that they learn about how God impacts their lives daily.

They learn so much about what God made and how He made the world!

I am just thankful for the people who help us get the babies to school

and those who help care for them while we teach.

Fabulous Frogs

Hayes is going on his 3rd year at the ELC.

This year we are in the Fabulous Frogs class!

We are so thrilled and cannot wait to see how he learns this year.

I've heard that these teachers are THE BEST!

I'm already impressed with how they teach the kids to be accountable

and how the encourage independence!

I am SO thankful that because we strive for that at our house!

Daddy took Hayes to school to meet his teachers and see his classroom.

Sadly, I had to teach!

Very excited about blocks and the new centers to play in!

And this is his FAVORITE avenue, trains, trucks, planes, and such...