October 2015 - Part 2 {Video}

In the middle of the month, the kids and I (Jason had to work, unfortunately..) took a road trip to Fort Benning to watch my brother, Brendan, become an American Soldier!! It was such a wonderful trip and amazing ceremony. Hearing the graduates recite the Soldier's Creed was the best part...such strength and courage. I am proud to be an Army Sister!! Hooah!!

October 2015 - Part 1 {Video}

Here is a look back at what we did in October! Well, just a part of it. There was a very special event that happened in the middle of the month that I will share next post

Highlights:

• Alex knows almost all the sight words and is starting to spell, too!
• Austin's favorite phrases are "fire truck" and "help you" - He LOVES those fire trucks (which you will see very soon how much!) and he loves to help mommy and daddy do things. So cute!
• Aria can FINALLY wear a lot of her outfits now!! It is SO MUCH FUN to dress her up!! Love it!!
• Andrew read to ME for the first time!! He read ALL of Go Dog Go to me. It was the most wonderful thing to hear him read with big smiles!
• We started walking around our area. Alex is riding Andrew's bike while he is at school (shh! he has one coming for him very soon!) and loves to see how far we can go. Austin and Aria are really enjoying the double jogger, too.
• Austin and I found a pink fire truck one day and just had to stop. We also asked the firemen for a little favor... You'll see what in the next 2 posts maybe!!
• The boys went on a candy hunt at the baseball field!! So cool!!
• Halloween Morning, Andrew and Alex ran in the Maple Leaf Fun Run! AND, signed up for the next race!
• Halloween night was yucky and rainy... So Bass Pro Shop came to the rescue with our annual Charlie Brown photo, parade, and trick or treating indoors. 

 Again, this is only Part 1... Up next, our visit to Fort Benning!!

September 2015 {Music Video}

Just wanted to share all the things we did in September with some music! The boys love this song from the movie "Cars" which they just call Lightning McQueen movie. Cute! Enjoy!

Highlights:

• Austin was admitted to the hospital for 1 night... Thanks stridor... UGH! 
• Lots of playground days thanks to beautiful weather
• Andrew turned 6 years old...what?!
• Aria was Baptized - thanks Father Wilfred!
• Alex got to work his own magic in the kitchen
• Andrew earned the "Smarties:award for knowing all his sight words

It was a great month (minus the hospital stay...)!!

Rewind: Lego Americana {August 2015}

A few days before Aria was scheduled to arrive, I heard word from a friend about something crazy awesome that was in town for the next few weekends. The boys were SO excited when we pulled into the mall to show them this:

Yes!! Lego creations of pieces of American history!! Not only was this super cool for them to see, but it was pretty fun to share with them the places that Jason or I have actually seen when we were about their ages. Seeing these gorgeous landmarks scaled down to Lego size was pretty cool. Check it out!

Pretty cool, don't you think? We love Lego!

Time Flies When You Have No Real Internet

What Month Is This??  Holy moly, people. We have Internet. FINALLY. So without further ado let us...

source

Somehow I have a 10 week old (as of tomorrow anyway). I know, right? Say whaaaaa??? Let's back it up a tad, shall we?

We welcome Aria Elizabeth into the world on August 26th!! And, you will never believe it...but she was our smallest baby! Our petite little princess only weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces. She is just beautiful and we are super in love with our little doll baby!

 

And, being that she is child number 4...time is FLYING by!!

Aria is ALL smiles for pretty much most of the time. She is AMAZING sleeper and loves to eat. Also, she (and mama) are VERY excited that she can wear all of her pretty things now that she can fit into stuff now. Seriously, for the four weeks her life her wardobe was only what you see in those first four photos right here. No joke. The Petite Princess had that curse of womanhood -- a closet full of nothing to wear -- at such a young age. Haha! She is quite happy now! You can totally see that from here (almost) 10 week old photo - the start of giggles!!

How about an Austin update?? Austin is going to be 2 on Friday, people!! WHAT?! Mr. Austin is the little mischief maker these days. He loves the words "mine" and "no" and "firetruck" - oh, dear. Speaking of fire trucks, he loves them so much that we are getting him a real firetruck for his birthday! No way. Yes way. We are going to have some firefighters and their massive firetruck come hang out with us and party. Oh, yeah. SO excited! Pictures will be posted this weekend! 

Austin and I stopped by to see Linda the Pink Fire Truck for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

How is our Alex doing? He is fantastic!! He is starting to read! He is my big helper while Andrew is at school. He is pretty awesome most days. You know how it is... 4.5 years old is hard. But, if I get him in the kitchen helping me cook up something yummy, then he'll be alright. He is my chef in training and he is rocking it. 

Alex making peanut butter cookies

Speaking of Andrew...he can read! WHAT?! Oh, yes. He is reading books to me while I'm cleaning up the kitchen and/or getting dinner started. It is pretty amazing. He is turning into suck a big kid... He was actually sitting at the kitchen counter and telling me all kinds of things. It was awesome and weird all at once...he wasn't little all of a sudden...  

Birthday boy - 6 years old!!

Well, there you have it. A quick recap of what's been happening around the new house, new school, and new normal we are trying to figure out as each day comes and goes. 

As for the amount of blog posts that I want to share from September and October will be inserted here and there. New posts will appear quicker, though. Thank goodness for the Internet finally being installed. That wait was just ridiculous. 

Welcome back to the House of Woyaks!! 

 

While Andrew is at school...

I had just under two weeks between Andrew's first day of school and Aria's arrival. We definitely made sure to make the most of it! Library cards, playground fun, baking, and naptime games were all checked off the list. Check it out!

Rewind: First Day of Kindergarten

Another major life change to check off: The first day of kindergarten for my first...gasp!

Really, Andrew has been ready for this day since finding out the date that school was scheduled to start. Once the week of the big event came, we watched about 30 YouTube videos of kindergarten kids riding the school bus - wait what?! Yep, my baby is riding the big yellow school bus. Ahhh!! He loves it though!! He was definitely nervous to get on once it showed up at our driveway, but by the end of the day he was so happy he did it!

Quote of the day: I, of course, asked Andrew how his first day was and wanted to know everything... He tells me all about his new friends and his teacher, all the things they did, and how cool the gym and lunchroom were. Then he says, "I do have one bad thing to tell you, Mama." (Enter me thinking, what kid do I have to punch?! Or, what did YOU do?! Just kidding!) "Mama, that bus does NOT have air conditioning!!" LOL I love him!!

Home Sweet Home

Well, that was a much longer break than expected. I must let you in on a secret, though... First, I apologize if this post looks funky or anything. Second, I'm using the Blogger app...on my phone. Ugh. We have no internet yet. That's the secret. Yep, some internet providers are being rather difficult.

Anyway, we shall try out this Blogger app and see where it takes us!

We moved into our gorgeous new home on July 24th and have LOVED being here!! It is such an amazing home. We are just so, so happy here!!

We have had many visitors in the past weeks since moving in and it's been wonderful. Just having space for people to actually feel more welcome is nice! We even had out first game night with my brothers, including Brendan!!!

Side note: Brendan left for Basic Training at the beginning of August. My mom has been writing to him every day since getting his address. She has even received a few phone calls! I started writing to him once I got back from the hospital. Any family friends out there interested in sending one awesome brother of mine mail, let me know! He loves getting mail!!

As I have said, I'm using this Blogger app...and am going to attempt to share some photos. I hope this works! Stay tuned for more posts as I learn to navigate this thing!

{Almost} End of July Photo Dump

Did I mention....4 days until we close and move!!!! WOOT!!!!

Ok, then. On to the photos!!

Another great day for the McWane Center!

Stealing the last handful of boxes to color on, play in, or watch movies. Love it!

One CRAZY storm. I mean it. I heard that a LOT of trees went down near this house and the new one. WOW!

Finished packing up the rest of the kitchen leaving a few essentials for the final day.

Watching Toy Story together <3

Oh! And I have a movie to share, too!! Alex was reading the Micky Mouse Clubhouse Look and Find book to Austin. It was just too cute to not share!

 Have a great weekend!!

 

Getting Ready for Kindergarten {A Special Day...or 2...Out}

Current Countdown: 24 Days Until Kindergarten!!!!


OH. MY. GOSH.

Y'all. Kindergarten? I know... We all knew this day was coming. Only, in normal circumstances, you are only counting down to that day a not a handful of other life changes all in one season. Oh, dear.

Anyway, as a way of getting this Kindergarten show on the road, Jason and I each took a Saturday and had ourselves an "Andrew and Me Day" - YAY!!

Basically, we told Andrew, "This Saturday is with just Mommy. Next Saturday is with just Daddy." Then he asks what the Saturday after that was and that made this all even more exciting to him. That 3rd Saturday will be in our new house!!

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Anyway, in true Mama-Style, here is a recap of last Saturday's "Andrew Extravaganza!"

#1: Breakfast at Cracker Barrel!

#2: Hanging out with "Iron Man" aka The Vulcan!

I will say, at first I didn't know we were going to go up. I am NOT a fan of the grated walkway area at the top. I mean, if y'all want to see where you will meet death, then look over the rail... I do NOT need to see it right under my feet! Ahhh!

As we were walking inside to see the museum, which I have never been in before, Andrew bonked his head on one of the rails... Poor guy. Well, the museum guy, felt bad for him and gave us free admission into the museum and the Vulcan. I asked Andrew if he wanted to go up (secretly hoping he would say a big no thanks), and after about 5 minutes of thinking he decided to do it. (Super.) He LOVED going up the glass elevator and he thought it was so cool to see the while city from way up high. I had to put my brave face on and agree with all of it, snap a photo, and prayed we would get back down the same way we got up there. I know... I know... I am so lame. But we did it and it really was a lot of fun!

Mama's attempt and having Andrew "hold" the Vulcan LOL

#3: We cooled off in the car on the way to grab a tank of gas and figure out what to do for lunch. After a lot of debating and deciding, Andrew chose Chili's. 

#4: What better way to end the fun than wandering the aisles of Target with a super fun drink!! And, no! This wasn't my idea. Andrew totally asked about kids drinks at "Target Coffee" aka Starbucks. 

How exciting!! Starbucks is featuring the mini-sized frappes right now. They are like half the size of a tall, I think. Perfect for little hands. Andrew chose Birthday Cake complete with sprinkles. He said he knows it's not his birthday yet, but this day was like a party! Love this kid!

It was a fantastic day!!

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Now, of course, in true Daddy-Style... there are no pictures of "Andrew Day" with Jason. But, I heard all of the stories. Andrew, in fact is telling me about it while I type it out for you!

#1: They stopped by the new house to check out the backsplash and see a few things before starting out their super day!

#2: Lunch at Firehouse Subs - Andrew's favorite place to go with Jason. He said he got a ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich with the blue spicy triangle chips (Cool Ranch Doritos) and Hi-C. Yum!

#3: They made a cool stop at Ruffner Mountain and went on a really cool nature hike! They hiked about 2 miles or so. Andrew said they found some secret trails, clues, and a tree that got struck by lightning!

The Lightning Tree - an ELECTRICAL engineers favorite! ;)

#4: Last stop! Coldstone Creamery for a yummy treat! Andrew got the Blue Cotton Candy Ice Cream with sprinkles in a tiny waffle cone (I think he means the sugar cone). Jason got the Vanilla Bean mixed with graham cracker crust in a big waffle cone. 

Another day of fun in the books!!

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Next up - some play dates with friends to take a break from all the packing. And, maybe...just maybe...a sneak peek at the new house!!! Maybe!

4 DAYS UNTIL WE CLOSE!!!!