Mind Your Manners, Felicity

We joined a little American Girl Doll Book Club thing that a lady in our homeschool group started. Today was 'Felicity' themed and my little sister had a Felicity dress (Tay can't fit in it anymore-duh!) I had to do a little bit of alteration but the dress turned out darling. The girls has a 'introduction' time where they introduced themselves just like Miss Mannerly would've had Felicity do, had a little 'tea' and refreshements, made tussie-mussies and paper fans and enjoyed each other's company. The lady (and daughter) who hosted had the PERFECT house for an American Girl Party. It's an old farmhouse with stained glass, stenciling and even a parlor!

Here is Morgan eating an almond tart:

Here is a shot of part of the group- That darling little blonde sitting next to Morgan is from a sweet family that a friend of ours introduced us to (thanks Alexis!) She is just precious and Morgan and her have the same interests.
All the girls were so well behaved- such little ladies! They ranged in age from 5-12. Morgan borrowed my sister Megan's doll Samantha. She's totally jonesing for a doll of her own. (Shhhhh..don't tell but she's getting one for her birthday or Christmas!)
And a partial shot of the girls at the 'tea'.

The Wheels on the Bus.........

...go round and round. (but really doesn't take my kids anywhere because we homeschool)

Our first official 'back-to-school' day was this past Tuesday, the 2nd. Morgan would be in first grade if we sent her to public schools and Raelyn would be in preschool. I have a little preschool curriculum I've made up for my youngers this year.
We started off the school year right by getting a Blessing from Dad (Morgan, Raelyn and mommy!!!) the night before, getting a yummy breakfast casserole in the morning, Morgan got a new shirt (check it out in the pictures!) and for dessert we had a yummy watermelon sherbert 'cake'.

Zoo

We were totally spontaneous today and decided this morning (about a half hour before leaving) that we would go to the zoo. The weather was great (it's been rainy for DAYS here) and since most of the public schools have been in session for a week we didn't think it would be too crowded. Plus, we start school on Tuesday and I wanted to do something fun before we started!

Morgan with a chimp.

And to prove we really went to the zoo. These guys were squaring off to fight.
The girls before we went into the park

Jack and Morgan checking out some animals:
My kids found this 'photo op' they had set up extremely facinating

Raelyn riding on a chimp sculpture

Pushups, Eating and Singing in the Rain

Jack loves the 'Perfect Pushups'- hey, at least someone is getting some use out of them.

This is what the girls were doing this evening- singing in the rain. You can see Raelyn's little 'diva walk' in the first picture. (Also- take note of the leotard she is still wearing from dance class today!)

Gracen was entertained by the girls. (and by eating the little play-doh toy man)

Our Little Diva

Raelyn is our little diva. She loves ANYTHING girly and has a mild obsession (er, love) with shoes, clothes and dressing up. Today Raelyn started her little dance class with our beloved 'Miss Matalie' (Miss Natalie). Morgan took with Natalie and well and she is excellent with the little ones.

Here's Rae showing her excitement before we left for class

And here is the little dance bag I made for her to carry her shoes in (you can't see the ballerina silouhettes on the fabric)
Here is Raelyn and Natalie

Jack is 2!

On Saturday, August 23rd Jack-man turned two.

We went to dinner with my family on Friday night at Monte De Rey (mexican) and then back to their house for cake. Saturday morning Jack got to open his present from us. He got a Thomas the Tank Engine train set. Josh took him to the motorcycle dealership as a fun little father-son outing before his family birthday party at 2pm.

A random few

Gracen in the utility sink in the laundry room taking a bath!!! The kiddos at Bounce-U today. I would've had more pictures if I hadn't been sitting on the bounce equipment- all the rest are SUPER blurry.