Artists in the making

Anyone who knows Sienna knows she loves arts and crafts.  She can spend hours at her desk coloring, cutting and drawing.  This month one of her pieces of school artwork was selected among 12 from her school (2 per grade) to be shown at the Williamson County School's Art Show.  It was held at Nashville's Frist Art Museum.  She definitely gets her artistic talents from her Dad.  Although I'm pretty good at stick figures! 

Here is a link to her artwork.
And here she is at the Art Show.

Funny how a simple drawing can sure make a momma proud.

A few other recent crafts:
A doll, bed, and quilt for Ashley's birthday:

Paper earrings for us all:

Colby is not far behind.  He will also sit forever and draw cars, butterflies, boats, and curious looking people.  And lately he's been using reams of tape for anything and everything.  Gotta love his "smile" in the picture above.

Highlights from February

Valentines Day.  Although Bryan and I did enjoy a date over the Valentines weekend, Sienna probably got the biggest kick out of the holiday.  She made Valentines galore and planned a Valentine party for us at home, after having so much fun at her school party.  She had everyone dress in red or pink, we all had paper hearts added to our clothes, and everyone exchanged Valentines.

Injury.  Colby tried to do a running jump onto his chair and missed.... hitting the table with his lip.  It wasn't pretty, but it's healing nicely.

 

Snow days.  There have been several this season.  We spent one of them at the bowling alley.

 

Dancing.  Bryan went with Sienna to a Daddy-Daughter Dance at her school.  Sienna was so excited and was looking forward to it all week.  And Bryan was a good sport. 

 

 

A birthday.  Ashley turned 2!  We had a couple families over to help celebrate and eat cake and ice cream.

Cabin fever.  We headed out to Percy Warner Park for a little hike.  It was still kind of chilly but everyone was happy just to be outside.

 

Meet Little Bob

One of the greatest things about winter in Tennessee, is that when it snows, even a little, it's a BIG DEAL.  School gets canceled and everyone heads out to play.  We had our biggest "snowstorm" in seven years this weekend.  School was canceled Friday, Monday, and Tuesday, and we'll see about tomorrow.  There are very few snowplows in the city, and since the weather right now is a pattern of warming, melting, then freezing, it's too slick for the buses at 6 in the morning.  Church was even canceled on Sunday!  At first the snow was too icy for packing.  And by the next morning there was a thick layer of ice on top, such that Ashley could walk on top without breaking through.  Colby would break through about every other step, totally throwing off his balance.  Here's a glimpse of how we spent the weekend:

Meet "Little Bob" and his creators:

An evening "sled ride" around the yard.  Mush, Bryan, mush!

Sledding with other neighbors down a subdivision street the next morning:

Some people wish it would snow more often around here.  Not me!  Then it wouldn't be so exciting and fun!

Drumroll, please....

Our oldest child has lost her first tooth.  A momentous occasion indeed.  Sienna first noticed her loose tooth on New Years Eve.  Today, three weeks later, it was barely hanging on when I sent her to school.  When she got home I exclaimed that her tooth was gone!  She immediately started crying, because she didn't know when it happened or where her tooth went.  There wasn't even any blood.  Who knows, she may have swallowed it.

Farewell, adorable baby tooth smile.

Hello, adorable gap tooth smile.

Happy New Year

We had a wonderful holiday season.  Here are a few picture highlights:

Sitting on Santa's lap at our local library

or "near" Santa's lap

Watching Sienna's ballet/tap class on parent observation day

Taking cute pictures of the kids

Going to to the zoo on a warm December day

Enjoying the company of the Butlers

and these Shepherds

over Christmas break.  We had fun going to the zoo, to storytime at the library and the park, shopping for Christmas presents for cousins at the dollar store, making graham cracker houses, driving around looking at lights, caroling, mountain biking (for some), opening presents, singing around the Christmas tree, going to the Adventure Science Center, the Frist Art museum, and the Opryland Hotel, playing lots of games, and putting together a 1500 piece puzzle.  It was great just being together with family.

For all the locals...

This is an advertising post for any locals reading this blog.  Bryan and I are singing in a fabulous production of Handel's Messiah on Dec 13 at 7 pm.  There are several professional soloists and musicians involved.  It's wonderful to listen to and be a part of.  And we want you to come!  (But come early if you want a decent seat.)  For more details, see this Flier .

Picture highlights from November

For Sienna...
A class field trip to Gentry Farms (with Grandma as chaperone - a real treat!)

and the Kindergarten fall show (the close-up pictures didn't turn out)


For Colby...
He's potty-trained! Well, except at night. If anyone has any splendid ideas for that, please share. Sienna did it on her own right away. We don't have any great pictures of Colby, but here he is with the others using our closet as a gymnasium.



For Ashley...
She's binky-free! Even at night - hooray! She also likes to undress herself, as well as try to dress herself with whatever clothes she might find around (like Sienna's underwear).




For all of us...
We had a pleasant Thanksgiving, enjoying a huge feast at the home of our friends, the Wallworks.

And since it hasn't been blogged about yet, and in case you didn't know, baby #4 is on it's way. Due mid May.

For more pics from November...

Nov