Wonderful Sabbath Weekend!

We had a wonderful Church weekend! On Friday night, we attended Pastor Kulakov's seminar, "Time for a New Beginning" and listened to Sonny sing two beautiful songs. The message was very uplifting and we really enjoyed hearing Sonny sing. On Sabbath morning, the girls presented their 13th Sabbath presentations. Allie recited her memory verse and sang a song with her class. Emma was a flower and did the motions to "The Trees are Gently Swaying". They were both very cute. That evening, we came back to the church for the last seminar and Sonny even blessed us with another wonderful song!

Sitting Pretty

My goodness, I believe Emma is ready to start potty training! She has been showing a lot of interest in it and has been actually telling me (sometimes) when she needs to go. So, I went out today and bought this cute little musical potty for her. She is so proud! In fact, she has already "used" it twice!

Second Graders at Sapporo

Second grade has been so much fun! Allie's class is currently studying the Japanese culture. Tonight, her teacher planned a class dinner at Sapporo, an authentic Japanese restaurant across from the Avenue at West Cobb. What fun! We had our own room reserved with four cooking stations! It was delicious!! The kids were able to put their chopsticking skills to good use while trying to pick up their chicken, rice, and vegetables! They loved it and the food was very yummy!!!

Checking Email

Whenever Emma gets a chance, she loves to "play" on the computer! While clicking the mouse the other day, she told me that she was "checking email"! I was so amazed that she said that! I asked her again what she was doing and she told me the same thing! How cute! It's so funny to hear what they pick up!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend!

On Sabbath, Sonny and Katie came to church...Sonny sang a beautiful song that we really enjoyed. The Easter sermon was very uplifting and the girls had fun listening to the children's story as well. Emma really enjoys standing on the stage and Allie loves making her pay attention. It's really funny to watch!Afterwards, they joined us along with Mom and Dad for an Easter lunch at our house. It was delicious and we enjoyed spending time with each other. Katie and Sonny's dog, Bailey, was even able to come out and visit with us later on. The girls loved seeing him catch a tennis ball in mid air!

On Easter Sunday, the girls got up early and opened their Easter baskets filled with goodies and then dyed eggs. In the afternoon, we went to Kathy and Stacy's house for a get-together as well. We enjoyed another scrumptious meal and had fun visiting with family and friends. The girls had so much fun during the egg hunt. Allie was quick and collected 25 eggs! She ran around and was relentless in her search! Emma knew just what to do! She collected 13 eggs and was very proud of herself!
She loved dropping them into her basket. There were 118 eggs hidden and the kids managed to find each and every one of them.

It was such a fun and busy weekend...we are stuffed!

Allie, the Star Student!!

Allie got off the bus today sporting the BIGGEST smile!! She proudly announced that she was next week's Star Student!!!!! She has been patiently waiting ALL year for this! This means she has to take the class mascot, George (the monkey) around with her all weekend and document their adventures together...how fun! On Sunday night, she has to write about all the fun they've had in a special journal for everyone to read. She even has to fill out an "About Me" poster to share with the class. This must be one of the biggest highlights of the year for her because she is so excited! Today, George has already been to the Avenue, Harry's, McEntyre's Bakery, the backyard, and Publix...and it's only Friday! Because it's Easter weekend, he's really going to be busy!

First Win of the Season

My ALTA team played the first match of the season on Sunday! The weather was absolutely beautiful and we picked up our first win!! We won 6-2, 6-3! It felt really good to get off to such a wonderful start!! We have such a strong team...I know we're going to make it to the playoffs! We even finished playing at 4 o'clock...so, Mark and I were able to go out!

Date Night at the Vinings Inn

Sunday night, after my long tennis match, we were able to get my parents to watch the girls while we went out for the evening!!! We went to the Vinings Inn to see our friend, Brad (on the right) play the guitar and sing in the attic bar. We had a light dinner and enjoyed catching up with some old friends. Both guys were very entertaining and fun to listen to.

Family Game Night

We are starting a new Saturday night tradition in our house...Family Game Night! Tonight, we played UNO. This is one of Allie's favorite games! If it was up to her, she would play this game for hours on end!!! She decided it would be cute to wear a cowboy hat while she played...hoping it would bring her good luck. She enjoyed having us "draw four" and "skip a turn"...especially Dad! It was fun! We ended up playing several rounds because she doesn't like to lose. We each one at least one game...hooray! But, I won the grand championship! Ha! We are already looking forward to next week's game night! What should we play?

Pansy Pose

Emma decided that she wanted to pose for a picture! She loves being outdoors! One of her favorite things to do is pick our purple pansy blooms and carry them around with her. She's really quick and sometimes gets the really big blooms instead of the ones that need picking...oh well. This provides plenty of entertainment while waiting for Allie's school bus to arrive.

"Strawberry Hill"

The girls always amaze me! Emma just discovered Allie's old blocks! They provided hours of entertainment for both girls. I was so impressed with Emma's tower. She promptly named it "strawberry hill" after a Dora episode...it's really blueberry hill on the show...but that's what she calls it. It was fun to watch her build things. I keep finding blocks all over the house and stepping on them, too!

Barbie Jeep Fun

Today, Allie decided it was time to drag out the old Barbie Jeep from her preschool years. At the age of 7, she has finally figured out how to drive it really well!!! After Emma watched her make a few laps around the backyard, she decided she needed to get in on the action, too!!They both had so much fun! Allie was so excited that Emma was old enough to ride with her! She sat perfectly next to Allie and danced when the "CD's" were put in. Emma did not want to get out...all she talked about all day was that Jeep! In fact, we had to take another ride in it after dinner! What fun!!!

Mommy's Shoes

My little Emma loves to walk around in my shoes...all of them! One of her favorite activities is to go inside my closet and try on my high heels! She is so funny!!!! We get the biggest kick out of watching her walk around in them! She never misses and opportunity to show off!

Disney Dining and Character Meals

After all of my Disney dining research, I finally made reservations at the restaurants that I thought my family would enjoy the most! Turns out, this was the absolute best way to meet the Disney characters! Some even came to our table several times! We had the camera and autograph book ready to capture each one! Here's a short summary of our dining experiences...

On our first night, we ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe inside the Wilderness Lodge. It was very good and the kids enjoyed the parade around the restaurant! Allie was afraid to ask for ketchup, though! If you ask, the server makes a big scene and brings about 20 bottles to your table!The next day, we ate at Sci-Fi at Disney Studios! This place looked just like a drive-in theater at night...with old movie clips playing on a BIG screen! We actually ate in a 50's model car! The milkshakes were delicious!!At Ohana's character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, we felt like we were on an island in Hawaii! The food was phenomenal...especially the eggs!!!!! The girls enjoyed parading around the restaurant with the characters here, too! We will definitely be back!1900 Park Fare was our first character dinner of the trip! Cinderella, the Prince and her stepmother and stepsisters entertained us for the evening! They were very much "in character"! The buffet had a very large selection.Liberty Tree Tavern was our next destination...we were seated after a short wait. We saw Chip and Dale, Goofy, Minnie and Pluto! The cobbler was yummy!Our last and FAVORITE character meal of the trip was at Chef Mickey's!! This place was so much fun! The music and characters were wonderful and the food was delicious! The next time we visit, we will definitely eat there again!

Fun in Disney World

Let me start by saying that I have been planning this Disney trip for over a year...researching, talking to friends, reading books, reading message boards, etc.

FINALLY, we were ready to go! The last week in January, we loaded up the kids and got on an airplane...first time for them. We were ORLANDO bound! Let's just say that Dramamine is my best friend. Mark and the girls did fine!

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and had the best experience there! The room was so nice and very spacious. The kids loved walking around the grounds and main lobby. We went to all of the parks except for the Animal Kingdom...catch that next time. This was absolutely the best time of year to go! We hardly had to wait for any rides. The weather was beautiful! I can't imagine going any other time!!!!!!

We had so much fun and got to ride everything we wanted to!