Parent-Teacher Conference

Chris and I went to Luke's parent-teacher conference this morning and were thrilled with the progress he is making this year in school. He is growing and thriving and doing so well adjusting to his new home, new school, new friends, and new teachers. I wanted to share the cute interview that his teacher did with him for the conference. I love this boy to pieces!!!!!

Tell Me Please:

1. What is your name? Luke Thomas Steele

2. How old are you? five

3. What do you like to eat? bagels, strawberries, I like to drink milk.

4. What is your favorite color? Green and blue

5. What are you going to be when you grow up? um....an adult

6. Is it more fun to play with girls or boys or both? both

7. What kind of work do Mothers do? they cook, they clean, they play with us

8. What kind of work do Daddies do? They work, they build stuff

9. What are you afraid of? I'm afraid of a monster

10. What kind of animal would you like to be? a horse Why? cause um I want to be at a farm

11. Why do people go to school? cause on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays we go to school

12. What do you like best at school? I like that book that we read yesterday (Mrs. McNosh hangs up her Wash)

13. What do you like least at school? I do not like doing boring work

14. What would you buy your Mother for a present? a pony

15. What would you buy your Daddy for a present? a Star Wars Cape.

16. If you had $100 what would you buy with it? Star Wars people

17. What do you wish for the most? I wish for my daddy to be here.

18. Do you like winter or summer better? summer Why? cause I like playing at the pool

19. What makes a girl pretty? a princess dress

20. What game do boys like best of all? Hullabaloo-I have that from Aunt Holly

21. What is big? a giant

22. What is tiny? a mouse

23. What is the prettiest thing in the world? a tiny tree

24. What makes you smile? When mommy smiles at me

25. What makes you sad? When mommy tells me what to do and I just stare at the window.

26. What do you do when you are a grown up? work

27. Tell me something you did today? We went to computer

Did I say how much I love this boy!?!?

A No TV Day

Chris and I have been battling these two about routine in the morning. The past few weeks one or the other has decided that 5:30 am is a great time to rise and SHINE!!!!!!! The one who is up first (they take turns) then needs company so he/she goes in to the other's bedroom, wakes them up and begins to play, waking everyone up! Not making for happy mornings or happy afternoons! We have been trying to explain that they may not go into each others rooms to wake brother or sister up. They need to stay in their beds until the sun begins to come up (about 6:45) and then they may play quietly in their own rooms until myself or Chris comes in around 7:00 am.
I'm afraid this is a losing battle. They just LOVE each other so darn much that even after many rounds of punishment for disobeying they continue to go into each other's rooms.

Today when our attempt at a quiet morning failed, I took away all TV privileges. Not that they watch a lot of television, but it's a part of their routine which they both enjoy. They watch about 30 minutes in the morning before we leave for school and then 30 minutes to an hour in the afternoon after Hayley wakes up from nap. Well......they were bummed about the decision of no tv this morning, but I'm afraid the consequence has back fired! They have had the greatest time today playing together! Right now they are playing zoo and capturing animals that escape from their cages. They have colored, danced, played with playdoo, played restaurant, made a train village, etc. I must say this has been pure bliss. My heart fills with joy to listen to them play and really love on each other. At one point today, Luke announced that he was going to get Hayley a tissue and wipe her nose for her. Ok, a little gross but so sweet.
Maybe we will have more of these no TV days. The imagination just seems to run wild!

Cold Winter Days

Hulabaloo!

Brrrr! Cold weather usually means bundling up and heading outside to play in our coats and hats. Lately, it has been so cold that outside play has been limited to non-exsistant. So we pull out all of our board games and new Christmas toys to play and have a good time while staying warm and toasty inside. We play Batman, Littlest PetShop, and Super Hero. We read books, put together puzzles, play Go Fish and Penginloo. Hullabaloo is an all time favorite with all the jumping, dance, spinning, and laughing that is involved.

We celebrated Chris's birthday this past Friday. The kids really had a good time helping me prepare for the party. They both insisted that I make Chris a Star Wars cake which was a big hit with everyone! We gave him a new flying WWII game for the Wii, but his favorite gift has been the remote control helicopters that his parents gave him. He has gotten very good at flying and controling them. They are pretty cool, except when he does a fly by my head when I am cooking or as he calls it "buzzing the tower"! The kids love to chase them and then Chris will chase the kids with the helicopters. Burns a lot of energy and makes for a lot of laughs.

I do love the cold winter months, but I think I am almost ready for Spring.

5/5 Tag

Found this cute tag on a friend's blog over at Four Silly Sisters. Go to your photos and find the fifth folder and the fifth photo in the folder. Post the picture and tell about it. Here we go.

Sweet baby Hayley! She is 6 and a half months in this picture. How I loved (and still love) dressing her up! She is my girly girl. Loves every thing pink and purple, frilly and lacy, high heals, jewels, dresses and lip gloss.

I took this picture in the sun room of our house in Fredericksburg, VA. 6 weeks later we had moved to GA for 6 weeks while our house in Jacksonville, NC was finished being built. And now, here we are in Chesapeake, VA ( 3 homes in her three years of life). Wow!

If you read this post, tag! It's your turn now.

Christmas 2008

Planet Heros

New clothes for Bitty Twins, Sam and Sarah

So excited to get Sleeping Beauty

Loves the doll house

Loves the Batcave!

Cool teepee

Aunt Ansley and the "Snuggie"

A girl can never have too much lipgloss, right Aunt Holly?

Boxing with Aunt Ansley

Crazy girl sitting with Papa

Mimi and Silly!

Playing Rockband!

Cousins!

Luke's plane stuck in a tree!

The face of someone who got their son's plane stuck in a tree! (he he)
Kathryn, Anna, and Hayley playing Littlest Pet Shop

The Steele family had an unbelievable Christmas this year. The BEST Christmas present was that Chris was home, safe and sound, for the first time in TWO years. What a blessing for us to be together and celebrate the joy that is Jesus Christ.

Christmas eve we made cookies for Santa and went to the Christmas Eve service at church. After a night of traditional carols and the Christmas story, home we went to a spaghetti dinner and a couple of presents to open. Chris and I had such fun recalling the traditions set in our families growing up and then passing them on to our own children. The kids opened new Christmas pjs and one toy each. Hayley opened new clothes for her Bitty Twins, Sam and Sarah! She was thrilled. Luke opened a Planet Hero (I believe it was Mars, but he got so many for Christmas I forget which on he opened that night). After a reading of the night before Christmas and Luke 2 from the Bible, off to bed they went.
Christmas morning we were up around 6:30am, but we held everyone off until 8:00am! The pictures speak for themselves. Everyone was thrilled with what Santa brought.

We headed to Atlanta the day after Christmas to celebrate with my family and Chris's family. The Thomas fam had rented a beautiful cabin in the North GA mountains and spent 4 days together at Big Canoe! Chris and I were able to drive up to NGC (North GA College) and drive around the town and campus. We went to lunch at the restaurant where we went to on our first official date. The name of the place has changed but the food was great! We had such a wonderful time in the mountains. Just relaxing and spending time together was such fun! We played Catchphrase, Rockband on the xbox, WiiFit, and many other wii games. Luke even beat Aunt Ansley at boxing! One thing we learned about Hayley is to always travel with a bag of some kind while driving on the winding roads in the mountains. She got pretty car sick which just added a little more "fun" to the adventure! Thank goodness Mimi and Papa were with us and pulled over to help us with the mess. You live and learn, right?!

On Tuesday we headed to Fayetteville to see the Steele side of the family. All the cousins, aunts, and uncles were at Grammy and Big Daddy's for dinner the night we got there. Chris started feeling under the weather the first night there and New Years Eve he could not even talk because of a sore throat. We rang in the New Year at the ER discovering that Chris had strep throat. Good grief. Chris opted for the shot of antibiotics and was feeling much better the next day. Everyone came over on New Years Day too to watch the UGA game (GO DAWGS!!) and celebrate the New Year. The weather was beautiful so the kids played outside all day!

We were all sad to have to leave yesterday. We drove all 11 and a half hours and pulled in the drive way at 10:21pm. I am still working on unloading and finding a home for everything. Hope that you all have a blessed and joy-filled New Year!