Visit with Santa

This year's visit to Santa went much better than last as you can see from the picture above! We love this Santa and I could not believe how much the kids had grown up looking at the comparison from 2011 to 2012.
Kate was still nervous, but Wright's excitement was contagious. They both enjoyed telling Santa what they wanted this year. They both want a trampoline, Wright wants a fishing rod and Kate asked for another baby. We will see if they have been good enough all year!

A Baby Brother!

We are so excited that we will be having another baby boy this spring!

Kate and Wright are so excited and will be such a great big brother and sister!

We were able to find out as a family thanks to our good friend, "Aunt Claire" decorating our box and filling it with balloons. It was so much fun to find out this way!!

Thanksgiving in the Mountains

We had a great time with family in the mountains this Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for this year.  The cousins played so well together! We had a fun hayride, roasted marshmallows, played fun games and laughed a lot!

Kate with new baby cousin, Leila

 All the Dinkins Grands

Grannie with Camden and Kate at the waterfall

Wright loved sitting on Grandaddy's tractor with him

Camden and Wright 

Happy 3rd Birthday Kate & Wright

Kate and Wright had a great 3rd birthday!  We did a paper chain countdown to the big day and they loved taking off the days until their special day.

 We took treats to the kids school and celebrated with their friends! 

We had a small party at the house with cupcakes before going to see Disney on Ice! Aunt Joanne and cousins along with Wewe and Papa came to visit and we had a fun filled birthday weekend!

Happy Birthday!!

 All the kids excited to go to Disney on Ice

 Wright loves playing with his recycling truck and his big tractor!

 Kate loves her new baby dolls and her play makeup!

We also started a new tradition of asking the kids questions about what they like. We will ask them each year and see how the answers change! I am putting in a scrapbook album with a picture each year. 

Love ideas from Pinterest!!

Also, just as Wright said he started using the potty on his 3rd birthday. He kept telling us that when he was three he would be big enough and he would go. He has done great! It is so nice to have them both potty trained!

Halloween

 Annie and Leo had so much fun trick or treating! They didn't want to stop, we went to so many houses!

After Wright received candy he would loudly say, "Happy Halloween, Let's go to the next house!"

 This is one of their favorite shows. Annie and Leo are brother and sister on the show.

Fun friends in the neighborhood all dressed up!

We went around with our friends Grace and Lily

Wright and Kate's ghost handprints

Fall Fun

 Kate loves dressing up like her favorite princesses

 Fun jumping at the pumpkin patch!

 Kate and Wright were enjoying trying to feed the goats; they just liked the pulley

 Kate wasn't feeling well and Wright was giving her a sweet hug saying, "I love you so much!"

Such a tender heart!

 Wright loves tractors!! His favorite part of the pumpkin patch is the hayride because the tractor is pulling us. He gets so excited!

 Kate, Mommy and new baby! We are so excited that our family is growing! 

New baby due April 6, 2013~

Dazzling Dolphin

Kate and Wright are doing great at their new school! I was so worried about them going 4 days/week for longer days, but they have adjusted so well. They adore their teachers and talk about their friends all the time. It is so sweet to see how all the kids greet each other in the mornings!

In class they are very aware of each other, but are starting to branch out more. Kate is always more concerned about Wright following directions according to the teachers. If they are all cleaning up they said that she would stop cleaning up to go and make sure Wright was...that has gotten better. They like to nap beside each other of course, but don't necessarily do their crafts beside each other.

They both enjoy circle time and Kate likes to answer all the questions.  Wright seems to enjoy his time in the middle of the circle doing his dance! I love the school and their teachers. I can tell that they genuinely care for Kate and Wright which makes me so at ease.

We of course are having our share of adjustments...Kate does not like to use the bathroom at school and holds it until early afternoon so we are working on that. She does great at home and isn't having accidents, but is not quite as comfortable. This week she asked her teacher if Wright could go in and sit by her. They said he pulled up a chair and they carried on a conversation until she went. I love how close they are and that they have each other!!

So, the Dazzling Dolphin is recognition in their class for going above and beyond and Kate received it today! While on the playground one of their friends was sad because they didn't have a ball to play with. Kate stopped what she was doing and went to find a ball and took it to her sad friend.  We are so proud of her!

Kate's first ballet class

Kate had her first day of ballet today and LOVED it! She was really excited to put on her ballet clothes and walked right into the class.  It is a 3 and 4 year old class so she is starting a few weeks early, but the class is very small and she fit right in.
It is an hour long class the first 30 minutes are ballet and the last 30 are tap. She told me that she liked wearing her tap shoes because, "they made a fun sound!"
She has been asking to go to dance for a couple of weeks now and I am so glad she is finally able to!

After class we went to pick up Wright and she ran to him and gave him a huge hug.  He started yelling to his teacher, "Kate is back, Mrs. Dodds, she is back!"  He was so sweet and asked her about ballet. Love that they missed each other even for that hour.

She also didn't want to take off her ballet clothes until her daddy could see look like a "dance princess"

Kate & Wright...growing up

I wanted to jot down a few of the funny things they are saying and doing these days....

When Wright likes something he now says, "This is delicious"

After dinner Kate and Wright were playing in their kitchen and bringing Will and I our dinner.
Tonight we are served soup...
Mommy: Yummy, Wright. What is in this soup?
Wright: It has rice, cookies, strawberries, broccoli and rice. It is very hot! Eat one more bite, please

Also today we were going upstairs and Kate says, "Mommy, Wright is a boy and so is Daddy. Boys talk so loud!"

 Kids doing their favorite puzzles

Wright catches his first fish! 

Playing in their new classroom

  This was open house and their first time at the new school and playground

They are having such a great time with their friends at school. They love their teachers and look forward to going each day! 

First Day of new school year

Today was Kate and Wright's first day for the 2012-2013 school year at O'Quinn! The new school is awesome and they love their teachers, room and playground!

I love that they were excited to go this morning!