Life Lately.... and THE TOOTH!

WOW!! Life lately has just been a roller coaster! I thought that we (I) would definitely get bored staying home this summer, but boy was I wrong!! I can't even describe how busy we've been! Between the kids activities and camps (The Little Gym and ballet), I have pretty much felt like a taxi driver these days! Unfortunately... I DON'T GET PAID! ha! I've tried to snap a few photos along the way...

Brittany bought the kids this super fun coloring house for Christmas. We finally broke it out of the box and the kiddos went to town on it! They LOVED it! Luckily, I bought those splat mats a while back and they were perfect for the occasion! I was nervous that Ethan would decide to color on the carpet, so I quickly grabbed the mats from upstairs!

Speaking of activities.. LK spent a week at Vacation Bible School this year and LOVED it!! She went to 2nd Baptist where she used to go to MDO and Ethan still goes. (our church doesn't do VBS yet) So, she got to see alot of her old teachers and friends. AND - Ms. Haley's dad... which made her day! :) I just loved hearing all about what she learned everyday! Of course, since 2nd was doing VBS, that meant that Ethan was out of school for a week! We were SO ready to go back this past week! It gets rough on the kids when they get out of routine!

During the Wednesday evening services, the kids got to perform at little program for the parents. Not all of the kids came, but there were enough to make it fun! Goo Goo met us there and we had a good time watching the kids and visiting with everyone!

There was no VBS on Friday, so we woke up early and headed to the sprinkler park! Little did we know what was in store for us!!!

But first.. let me just tell you a little bit about what Ethan has been up too lately...

Now, he's ALWAYS been a handful. But it seems like he's really breaking out of shell recently!

First of all.. he is really sprouting in height! He definitely inherited the Smith height! (my brother, my dad and my grandfather are all over 6ft!) He is SOOO tall and SOOO skinny! BEANPOLE for sure! He eats like a horse and never gains weight! He has absolutely no waist! (makes me sick! ha!) So.. everything is too small in length and too big in the waist! Almost all of his jonjons are too short in the stride. Which definitely makes his recent "trend" a tad bit difficult...

Lately he has ONLY wanted to wear jeans and his "boat" shoes! I bought him a pair of Sperry's from Stride Rite at the beginning of summer and he's obsessed with them! He calls them his "boat" shoes and insists on wearing them with EVERYTHING! The jeans... I just dont get! He's so hot natured but will only wear jeans! And considering he growth spurt, all his winter jeans are a good 1 to 2 inches too short! I'm sure you can imagine how that looks! He does NOT care though! It's jeans and "boat" shoes.. everyday!

He has also started waking up VERY early and helping himself to whatever he can find in the kitchen! He meanders downstairs and just eats anything! He'll climb in the fridge.. in the pantry... whatever he sees! I told Chris that we were going to have to start putting the baby gate up again at the top of the stairs! ha!

He topped off all his antics last Friday at the sprinkler park though!

We were having a great time until several day care vans pulled up and let the kids go wild! It was quickly getting out of hand so I told my kids to play for a few more minutes while I packed up our stuff. While I was getting everything in the car, Ethan came running up complaining of his teeth. I initially shooed him away but when he kept on, I bent down to take a peek. And OH MY GOODNESS.. his tooth was chipped!!! I kept asking him what happened but he wouldn't tell me. So, I have no idea if he fell, was pushed or ran into something??! I quickly got him in the car and called the dentist. Dr. B wasn't working that day, but was in the office, so he told us to come in so he could look at it! (THANK YOU DR.B!!!)

Luckily, he did NOT knock it loose at all and did not expose any nerves, so he should be in the clear for any further complications! It is definitely chipped though! E was SO good and let Dr. B file down the rough edges. He told me that he could fill it in but that it probably wouldn't stay, so I think we might just let it be for now. They just dont do much since it's a baby tooth. SO... my child looks like a little hillbilly with a broken tooth!! AHH! I hate it, but it is kinda charming in a way! lol He is definitely proud of it and tells everyone he sees!

And wouldn't you know that Cassie was supposed to take our family photos the next day!!! We are going to reschedule. I may let Dr. B fill it in just for the photos! haha!

Hopefully, Ethan will give me a little break for a few weeks and calm down! Probably not.. but one can hope, right?! :)

Time for an Update!

Well, it's been a while since I've given a good old fashioned Stickles Family update! Honestly, not much has been going on! Dont get me wrong.. we're ridiculously busy all the time.. just with nothing big! Life has been moving along pretty smooth for us lately. October was a month of birthdays for us.. I turned 27 on the 20th and Chris turned 26 on Nov 1st. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about 27.. that just seems SO close to 30th.. probably b/c IT IS!

Unfotunately, LK has come down with the flu! Thankfully her H1N1 test was negative! She has been coughing and running a fever for about a week now. Poor thing! Luckily, no one else in the house has caught it. (thank you Lord!) It has been quite tricky dropping Ethan off at school and not LK. He gets so upset that "Sister" gets to stay home and he doesn't. :(

Chris is almost finished with his first semester back in school! WAHOOO!! I am so proud of him. He's done so well. He actally has a test tonight.. so, Good Luck!! We love you! :)

Other than juggling sick babies, I have had my hands full with my Room Mom job! It never ends! This week we've been ordering t-shirts and getting ready for Thanksgiving. (hopefully LK will be back in school by then!) Tuesday night was Open House, so I had to go solo and go peek at all of LK's cute schoolwork. I am absolutely in love with her school. We made the best decision in the world by sending her there. And we are truly blessed to have Mrs. Jeffrey as her teacher.

We are finally getting ready for the holidays around the house! Next week we are anticipating lots of yummy food for Thanksgiving! (and lots of shopping if Mommy has her way!) :) I've started receiving early "Black Friday" Ads, so I've already started planning my Friday morning! I know some of you won't believe it, but I have not started on my Christmas shopping!!! AHHH! Usually by Thanksgiving, I have half of the list already purchased. Not this year though! I just haven't had the time! This weekend I plan to sit down online and order everything that needs to be ordered, that way all I have left to do is go to the stores. I am SO behind and it's really starting to stress me out! ha!

This weekend Chris and I are heading down to Oxford, MS for the OleMiss/LSU game!! HOTTY TODDY!!! We are so excited to see friends and family. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to post on Monday (and hopefully we'll have a WIN!)

Here's a few random pictures to share....

Ethan being kissed to death by Maisie (Aunt BB's new puppy). Ethan was finally still and on her level, so she just couldn't resist! :)

LK playing "hide n seek" at Noni & Papa's

Is my child NOT a camera ham?! And look at those faces.. hilarious! Never a dull moment in this house! :)

Lately, we've been running around so much that we get alot of this....

Oh, aren't they so sweet when they're sleeping?! :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Can you believe it?! ....

YES! The soccer season is DONE.FINISHED.LAST GAME PLAYED.COMPLETE!

I honestly was beginning to think we would never be able to finish it. The rain just never wanted to stop! But, we held out and this past Saturday was our last game of the season!! And, of course, we ended it with a WIN! I think that made our record almost perfect.. only 2 loses, I believe! :) I am SO proud of my sweet LK. It was evident from the beginning that soccer just wasn't her "thing". But, she held out for the entire season and was such a little trouper! I doubt we will EVER see her on any type of field again, unless it's in a cheerleading uniform.. ha! I have to admit though, towards the end she really started to show a little fierceness out on the field and seemed to finally know what it was that she was supposed to do! She had such a blast playing and we had even more fun watching her! It was rough though.. being at the soccer field one night during the week and every Saturday morning. I have no idea what I will do when Ethan is into sports, b/c I'm sure it will be multiple sports all at once! AH! Luckily, I still have another year before he's old enough.

After the game, we all headed to a nearby park for the end of the year party! Her coach was so sweet and got pizzas and treat bags for all the kiddos. And, of course, their trophys! :) It ended up being absolutely gorgeous all weekend, so the kids had such a fun time running around at the park!

After we left the park, it was definitely nap time!! Later that night, Chris and I went and ate dinner sans kids (thank you, Noni and Papa!) and then enjoyed a little shopping at Saddle Creek! All my faves were having sales.. Banana, J.Crew and I even got a pair of super cute khakis at Gap! It was so relaxing to spend some time with my hubby. I even got a little something special for Baby Emerson, who will be here soon.. gotta love Janie and Jack! (Haley, I know it's a "necessity" shower but I just couldn't resist.. ha!) We hardly ever get the chance to just sit and chat without kids screaming in our ears. ha!

Sunday morning was another great church service at Living Hope! We are definitely enjoying every Sunday we spend there!! And isn't it a small world that one of Chris' cousins will be preaching there over Thanksgiving. We are so looking forward to that! As we were walking out of church, the kid's were of course saying that they were hungry. So, LK got to pick and wouldn't you know she picked Corky's! I tell you.. that girl is a true Memphian. She loves good BBQ and good Elvis tunes! And she ate every bit of that BBQ sandwich too! (although, i really think she likes to go b/c there are Elvis pictures everywhere!) Lunch was yummy!

Well, that's about all we did this weekend. I am super thrilled about this coming up weekend. My friend, Jennifer, is coming to see me and bringing her fiance along too! Chris has never been to Memphis, so it looks like more BBQ and more Elvis is in our future! Can't wait to see you My Jen B! :)

Hope everyone has a great week!

a week of pure exhaustion!

WHAT A WEEK!!!

Goodness, I just don't know where this week has gone! Yet again, we have had SO much going on! Every afternoon this week I have been up at LK's school decorating the outside of her classroom for a school-wide event. The event is called "Immersion".. basically the Principal picks a topic/subject and the entire school is literally IMERSED in it! Like every single hallway COVERED in paper and decorations! This year they are doing "The Magic School Bus", so every hallway gets a different area assigned to them. The Kindergarten hallway is doing "Discovering Plants". From there, each teacher does a different area of plants. Some are doing seeds, some are doing fruits, one is doing water plants.... and so on. Well, our class is doing Pollination. So... I've been decorating dor Pollination! Sounds fun, huh?! haha! Being a Room Mom is HARD work!!! I think my fingers are permanently hot glue gun burned! ;)

In addition to decorating for Immersion this week, I've also been organizing the annual Kindergarten Farm Breakfast! Each year, during the week that the children learn about farm animals and what they make/produce, we get to host a Farm Breakfast for them! They learn about all the animals and then get to eat what the animals produce. (ie - pig, bacon & sausage; chickens, eggs; cows, milk; etc) So, this morning I was up at 5:30 AM to cook 4 dozen scrambled eggs!!! OH.MY.GOODNESS... I AM EXHAUSTED! LK and I were at the school at SEVEN AM to help Mrs. Jeffrey set everything up! Luckily, we have WONDERFUL parents in our class and all of the other food and utensils were donated! THANK YOU!! :) And let's not forget that Mrs. Jeffrey had ALL of the decorations! (and they were the absolute cutest!) It was such a fun time and the kids definitely enjoyed themselves!

And, on top of it all, this week... my sweet E has not been feeling well! He has the gross green runny nose that's going around this time of year. So, that meant NO Mother's Day Out!!! I am about to lose my mind.. yes, it's official! I am SO ready for him to get better so that he can go back!! You never realize how much you rely on MDO for your own sanity until you dont have it anymore! OH, you precious, sweet, wonderful MDO teachers.. how I LOVE you!! :)

LK and her sweet friend, Bailey

she got up on stage and was singing "Old McDonald"

LK and Mrs. Jeffrey!

Aunt Debbie stopped in to see her sweet girl! :)

LK's class enjoying breakfast!

Are they not just adorable!! :) Here's a few pictures of the hallway that I've been working on! The bottom flower petals come out from the wall (with the help of metal coat hangers) and the bees are hanging from the ceiling! They're made out of pipe cleaners so they're 3-D!

The parts of the flower are going to be laminated and put on magnets, so the kids can actually "build" the flower and then label the parts! I'll get a picture of that part as soon as it's ready to go! :)

Here's a little video I shot this morning, while the all the Kidnergarteners were signing "Old McDonald".. it was just SO sweet!

Fight Like A Girl!

Early Saturday morning we loaded the kids in the car and headed to the Race for the Cure! Unfortunately, my MIL was unable to race with us b/c she was suffering from a terrible migrane! :( But we still met up with Aunt Brittany and all her adorable friends! We look forward to the race every year. This December will be the 2 yr anniversary of my MIL being in remission!

Chris & his sister, Brittany

My sister, Lynsey, and her friend, Laura, came to race with us!

LK just HAD to get her picture taken! ha!

This year was SO much fun! We definitely missed our Noni, but she was definitely with us spirit! After the race, we went to Chris' parents house for Aunt Brittany's birthday brunch! What a party!!! :)

Also, Sunday was my incredible husband's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!! We love you!

Halloween Weekend!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!!! We had the best fun-filled weekend you can imagine! We woke up Saturday morning and did the Race for the Cure (pics in next post) and then went to celebrate my sister-in-laws birthday! Yes, her birthday is on Halloween... how fun?!!! That evening we invited both sides of our family over to our house for a Stickles Family Fun Fest! (ha.. yes, I feel a little dorky for calling it that.. ha!) Everyone came dressed up and ready to trick-or-treat! We cooked hamburgers and hot dogs and had WAY too many yummy snacks! This year, our little fam was the Toy Story gang and our costumes turned out SOOO CUTE! The best part was that I handmade mine and Chris' for only TEN dollars!! You can't beat that! We had such a great time and we are so thankful for such a fun and loving family to spend our time with!

ethan with papa's hat!

Bob the Builder & Wendy

Cousin Lacie as a fairy! (she even matched her cast!)

Ann (my MIL) and Terri (my mom)

a kitty cat and a biker (memaw & big daddy)

Goo-Goo as a witch and her Bo Peep

me and my sweet hubby as Jesse and Woody

our little Toy Story family!

one exciting day = one overtired baby!