Hiking and Camping

After a day of bowling, Chad took to the hills with his dad while Caleigh and I stayed home.  They went to the North Georgia mountains and hiked the Panther Creek Falls trail.  Here are a few pics from their trip.

Ready to hike

Heading in

So serene

Beautiful falls

Scaling the falls

Waterfall Fun



New friends



Purifying water




Campsite



Hiking out





Birthday Lunch after getting off the trail



Birthday Icecream



Ok Already!

We pass the bowling alley on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis.  For the last few weeks Caleigh has been begging us to take her there.  We have even resorted to telling her that it is not open so that we don't have to constantly tell her no that we are not stopping what we are doing in order to go bowling.  We promised her we would one day and that day came today!

She could not have been more excited!  We bowled two whole games!  Even the lightest six pound ball was still a bohemeth to her.  On some of her rolls, we had time to make it to the concession stand and come back before the ball reached the pins.  Ok, maybe it didn't take that long, but staring at the lane as the ball crawled down it seemed like forever at times. 

I was proud of her for the most part.  She never dropped the ball,  She never threw the ball in the wrong direction.  She did however manage to get a gutter ball even with the bumpers up (not sure how she managed this).  She did get upset whenever Chad or I knocked down more pins than she did.  She is not very good in the sportsmanship department when it comes to this sport.  Overall, we had a great time and Caleigh even thought the ugly shoes were pretty cool.

 Bowling was a success!

Yo Fresh Beats Go Gabba Gabba Party!

Caleigh has grown up on Nick Jr. television.  When she watches television, this is the channel she is allowed to watch.  It has no commercial programming and all educational based shows.  In the network time between shows, an animated moose and bird named Moose and Zee interact with viewers by playing games with them and teaching them things like numbers, shapes, letters, and colors. 

This year, Moose and Zee seemed to have disappeared but there are still no product advertisement between shows.  Many of the episodes on this channel have been repeated over and over since the late 90's and early 2000's.  Every now and then, a new series comes about and the episodes make their way into the rotation.

Currently, two of the channel's most popular shows are The Fresh Beat Band and Yo Gabba Gabba.  Well, I guess the execs at Nick decided it would be a good idea to have a "crossover" event of these two popular shows.  They promoted it for weeks and Caleigh got extremely excited.

She got so excited that I decided I would be excited with her.  I suggested we throw a "Yo Fresh Beats Go Gabba Gabba" party and invite her cousins over for a watching party!

Since both shows are VERY colorful, I had no problem coming up with some decorations from left over previous parties.  I pulled out a plastic yellow table cloth and multiple colors of party beads. I had leftover blue napkins from Caleigh's 4th birthday party and we just used disposable white plates for the food.  I hung giant sized silver stars and streamers that were all leftovers.  I went to the Nick Jr. website and printed coloring pages of all of the characters from each show.  I then let Caleigh color each of them however she wanted and hang them around the house wherever she wanted.  A quick trip to the dollar store and I came up with some party blowers and balloons of every color. 

Caleigh had a doctor's appointment that morning and afterward I ran to our nearest Little Ceasers and grabbed a couple of pizzas.  I knew that all of the kids would love some pizza for lunch!  When I got home, my sweet husband had already left for work but not before leaving us a surprise.  He had gone and purchased a cookie cake from the GACC just for our little "party". 

Before the episode aired, I decided to get everyone in the mood.  We own the music from the Fresh Beat Band's album and I cranked it up loud in the living room and tossed some balloons in the floor and watched the three little girls jump, run, dance, fall down, sing, and giggle! It was so very cute to watch and it was even more fun to jump in and participate.  Even Granny, their surprise guest, joined in their fun!
 
When it was time for the show, we all chowed down on some pizza and cookie cake as we watched. 

After it was over, I took the balloons and the music and headed into the garage where I inflated Caleigh's jumpy and tossed everyone in to play.  They played until they could play no more and were all ready for a nice long nap.

Our "party" was a huge success and Caleigh is still telling people about it today!

Third Time Flower Girl

Caleigh was ESSTATIC to be a flower girl in my husband's cousin's wedding this May.  The wedding was held on Caleigh's last day of school this year so we had a very busy day! 

This was actually Caleigh's third time as a flower girl.  She was a flower girl in her aunt Meggie and

aunt Mish's wedding before this time. 

She has since become obsessed with weddings.  She marries Barbie and Ken at least a dozen times a day now.  And, she has asked to watch Chad and I's wedding video numerous times.  It is horrible quality really, but she absolutely loves to watch her mom and dad get married and she squeals with delight every time she sees us kiss.  It is very cute.  

I have been in the previous two weddings with her.

 But, this time, she was all on her own and did GREAT!

 

I don't think she would hesitate to do it all over again if asked.  Maybe I should hire her out as a wedding flowergirl.  I mean I think she makes a pretty darn cute one.  But I guess I am partial.  She is mine. : )

We Made It!

Well, we made it through Caleigh's first full year of pre-school.  She finished her 3K year with a bang!  I have been so pleased with this school that I have already enrolled her for full time attendance next year in their 4K program. 

I can remember the intense anxiety I had at the beginning of the school year about sending her there on a daily basis.  I see now that is was all needless worry.  Caleigh not only enjoyed but also excelled everyday.  She has learned so many social, academic, and spritual skills. 

Her very sweet and patient teachers have instilled upon her a great love of learning and for this I will forever be thankful.  They have spent a whole school year of making learning fun and Caleigh relished in every minute of it.

  She was very sad to hear that summer was coming.  I am very sure that this sort of reaction to the ending of a school year will not last as she progresses through school, but it was still very sweet to see how much she was going to miss her friends and teachers.

 

The 3K classes put on an end of the year program called "In God We Trust".  Each class wore t-shirts and hats representing a branch of military service.  Caleigh's class wore Air Force shirts and hats. 

They marched in to the Disney characters rendition of Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder.  Once on stage they sang You're A Grand Ole Flag, said the pledges to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible, and then sang The National Anthem, The Lord's Army, Joshua Fought The Battle of Jericho, (see other post here ) and finally What A Mighty God We Serve.  Once again, it was more like shouting than singing but it was oh so very cute! 

Then, each child's name was called and they were presented with a certificate of completion for the year.  Caleigh could not have been more proud of herself.  She had to stand and wait for her name to be called for a very long time and she took that time as an opportunity to cough, jump, pick her nose over and over again, rub her face, and do whatever else she could think of!  It was acutally kind of funny to watch but I am sure that video will provide great blackmail later on in her future.  Yes, I am that kind of mom!
At the conclusion of the program was a slideshow of the entire school year.  It was absolutely wonderful to watch.  I don't think many parents (or grandparents) had dry eyes at certain times.
She had lots of people come and watch her.  She was so thrilled for them all to be there!  She loves to perform for an audience.  We were all very proud (except during the nose picking time)!  LOL!

Her Aunt Mish came and brought flowers from her and Caleigh's uncle who had to work and could not be there.  Caleigh LOVED getting her very own flowers!  And by some miracle, I even managed to keep them alive for a whole week for her to enjoy! 

Her cousin Shelby came but didn't make it all the way through the slide show.  The sweet music helped her fall asleep.

 Her aunt Meggie was very proud of her!  (As her Aunt AND as a Kindergarden teacher)

 Her Granny and Granddaddy came armed with a stuffed panda that she has named "Pandy" and has slept with every night since she got him.

 Her Nonnie was thrilled to be there for her.  (And of course her eyes were dry the whole time!  NOT!)

 

Of all those proud people, Chad and I were at the very top!  Our hearts were overjoyed to see how much our little girl has blossomed and learned over this past year.  We have had the great pleasure of being there for her during this wonderful time each and every day!  Our level of pride was indescribable!

"I DID IT!"