She Did It!

Hayley Anne Steele is officially a Kindergarten Graduate! 

So proud of my sweet girl and all she has accomplished this year.  We have had a wonderful time celebrating all her success. 

We had some amazing cupcakes!

Mimi came in town for all the festivities and we loved every minute of having her here with us.

Getting ready to go to the program

Hayley's class performed the play "Chicken Little" before graduation.  She was Goosey Loose and did an amazing job!  What a little star.

Hooray!  We did it!!!!!!!

Luke gave her these roses and it made her night!

One of the best teachers in the world!!!!

We love you Hayley! 



18 Months (and 10 days)

It has happened.  We have crossed the threshold from babyhood to toddler hood in a blink.  Hannah Beth turned 18 months going on 3 years a little over a week ago and she is every bit of a toddler.  BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!  Busy running, busy playing, busy dumping toys out, busy climbing stairs, busy exploring, busy getting into cabinets, busy reading, busy getting into brother and sisters things, busy coloring, busy throwing fits, busy chasing JJ our neighbor's cat, busy hugging, busy giving kisses, busy talking....just plain BUSY!

So what are you up to with all this busyness going on....  You're teething BIG time.  You have 8 teeth and are working on 6 more, all at the same time!  So you are crabby and who could blame you really.  Your gums look like they have mountains growing on them.  You constantly have a rash around your mouth from all the drool.  You are still sleeping pretty well through all of it, but there are times that I have to go in and give you some Motrin at night to help.  I pray they all pop through real soon.  PLEASE! 

You are still eating very well.  You are completely on table food and starting to try and eat with a spoon.  You love Mexican (you are so my child).  The spicier, the better.  I love this picture of your bananas.  You love to separate your foods and as you place them in the cup holder you say, "There you go." over and over.  I think it is your new way of telling me you are done eating.  You are saying so many things.  "There you go" is a favorite.  You are constantly bringing me toys or books and handing them to me saying "there you go".  You love to place chase and will come up to anyone willing to play and say "I gon get you" meaning you want them to chase you!  Cute!! 

You are 33 1/2 inches long, weigh 26.6 pounds, and wearing a size 2T.  You love animals and know many of your animal sounds.  You can tell us what the cow, cat, dog, pig, sheep and horse say.  You love naming all the parts of your face.  I love that you are talking so much.  You do get frustrated and throw a fit if something gets taken from you.  One of your favorite things to do is shred tissue and paper.  Not my favorite thing, but hey, it helps build those fine motor skills (Ha!)

Most of my pictures of you are you in a highchair or running from me.  Pretty much the only way I can capture you these days.  I love that you will be playing contently and then get up to come find me.  You will call "Mama" and then come and give me a hug and want me to pick you up to get a kiss.  I could play that game all day, every day!

Love you my 1 and a half baby girl! 

Baby Girl

18 months old and not such a baby anymore. 

I've got to do an 18 month post to capture all she is up to these days.

But for today, a picture of her first "whale spout". 

Ahhh.  Love.

Summer Reading Lists

One of my favorite things to do with my children is read.  We read ALOT.  Maybe it's the teacher in me.  I love a good book.  I wish I could say that I have more time to read my selections, but the majority of my time is spent reading to the kids or listening to them read to me (absolute favorite thing!).

So I have a feeling my reading list will look something like this:

The boy LOVES him some Magic Tree House.  The combination of action, fiction and non-fiction elements is perfect for a little man his age.  He devours these books.  When he gets a new one or checks one out from the library, he will be holed up in a quiet spot and read the entire thing.  And then read it again. And again. I love that he is such a book worm.

Hayley is into the early readers.  She is so excited that the words on the page are coming to life for her now.  She is gaining more and more confidence in her ability and it is a joy to watch.  She also loves for me to read chapter books to her at night.  Favorites right now:  The American Girl Series Books.  We have read all of the Felicity books, so we must move on to Kitt Kitridge, her new favorite.

Hannah is in love with:

and

and

Now, if I can find some quiet time to read when I am not falling asleep after reading the first paragraph, here is what my list looks like:

I pulled out Toddlerwise so I could reacquaint myself with toddler tantrums and how to handle them (hypothetically, HA!).  I'm ashamed to say that I have been reading the Help since last August.  I am 3/4 finished and can't wait to see how it all ends.  I must finish before the movie comes out.

Two others I would like to read this summer are:

and

I have both of these books down loaded to my iPad, and hope to enjoy them some time soon. 

Chris's book list might include this:

(I want to read this one too)

and some type of military history.

So here's to the summer; and lots and lots of good reading!

Just Keep Swimming!

The kiddos had their first dip in the pool for the season.  No, not the big backyard pool, but our new baby pool.  I asked Chris if he could pick up a little $10 baby pool for HB to play in when she doesn't want to swim in the big pool.  He has the "go big or go home" kind of personality so he came home with the $30 version that has a slide.  Sweet.  We (and when I say, we I mean Chris) will attemp to open the other pool next weekend.  Can't wait to enjoy it!  I see many pool parties in our future.

8 More Weeks...

... and our time here in Chesapeake will be over.  Every move (this is #6)  is difficult and exciting, but I have to say I think this is going to be the most difficult move yet.  Our 3 years here have been a little surreal.  Chris has been in a non-deploying job.  Luke and Hayley have gone from preschooler and toddler to school aged kids.  We welcomed our sweet Hannah Beth here.  But the kicker is the friends that have been made. 

In all our other duty stations, most of our friends have been military.  Actually all of our friends have been military.  So when we would pack up and move, our friends would be moving as well or they would have moved shortly before us.  That is not the case here.  Our friends call this area home.  VA is where they plan to stay and we will be leaving.  My heart breaks a little as I think about it. 

These 2 gals have been such wonderful friends to me. They are my neighbors and some of the greatest ladies I know. God has blessed me in each place we have moved with friends that I know will be life long. I cannot even begin to explain how much I will miss Renee and Sue.

Sue and I have done life together for the past 3 years. Her oldest and Luke are the best of friends. Her two little ones and Hayley don't know what to do without each other. I love Sue so much. I will miss our afternoons on the street, cups of coffee together, and her bubbly personality each day.

I have only known Renee for almost a year but I feel like it has been more like 10. She is amazingly creative and loves her family so very much. She is a fellow military wife and understands the moving and craziness of this life. I will miss her incredible ideas and motivation to get up and do, her sweet boys, and our "deep" thoughts conversations.

I live in denial daily that this move is happening. Yes, it is exciting to be moving, to think of a new home and friends that God is preparing for us. I just pray that our path will cross again with these friends. And I will cherish the past 3 years in my heart forever.

YeeHaw!

 Hayley's end of the year celebration was out at Triple R ranch.  Such a fun day spending time with friends she has known now for the better part of 3 years.  She was in heaven when she got to ride a horse.  This girl absolutely loves animals. 
It's hard to believe she will be 6 in a few short weeks.  She has grown leaps and bounds this year and I am so proud of all she has accomplished.  She has one of the kindest, most generous hearts and such a joy for life and all the people around her.  Her smile and happiness are infectious.  She inspires me to be a better Mommy everyday.  I love this girl so very much.

Beck, Hayley girl, and Benjamin

Jenna and Hayley

Mrs. Wallen!  She is such an awesome teacher and we love her so much. 

Here's my little bald headed baby 5 years ago.  I love you Hayley bug.  My prayer for you is that your life continue to shine your love for Jesus.  I know he has huge plans for that big personality of yours.

They Call Me Mama

One small word can melt my heart. Mama.  I dreamt of becoming a mommy like most little girls do.  I would play house and take care of my 3 to 6 babies, and believe it or not they were all quite well behaved (hehe).  I had a wonderful role model in my Mom, and wanted to be a Mom just like her one day. 

I know that many women have a "journey" on their way to motherhood and that many women are still praying and hoping for they day that they will become a mom.  My heart goes out to these women.  I pray for them often knowing first hand how difficult the wait can be.

My journey has had many ups and downs.  I still remember that first Mother's Day that my heart hurt so badly because I was so unsure about God's plans for Chris and I to have a child.  It seemed as if His plans might be a no for us, but He answered our prayers with a huge YES and I couldn't feel more blessed. 

I have had a fun week being Mama to these three.  I went to my first Mother's Day Tea at Luke's school.  They sang to us and each child read a little poem that they had written about his or her mother.

So sweet.  Love when I get to have one on one time with each kiddo.

Hayley made me a special card and planted some flowers for me. So, I have to include a funny little tid bit about her this week.  She was playing school while I was cleaning up in the kitchen.  It was story time for the class and here is what I overheard, " OK, class.  Today we are going to be talking about Mother's Day.  The title of our story is "Mothers Are the Smartest Girls in the World".  It is a fairytale."

Hahahah!

Priceless.

Today was such a fun day.  Celebrating with my wonderful hubby and 3 little blessings.  Breakfast together, church, and out to lunch.  Showered with little gifts (a necklace from Chris, a fun bag from the girls, and an electric toothbrush from Luke).  So thankful that I get to call them mine.

And that they call me Mama.

Hodge Podge

A little of this and a little of that here at the Steele house this week.  I will also include for your entertainment the random things going on in my head.  You may have tuned out by now... I don't blame you, but I want to include these things for the book!

1.  Luke had a major triumph this past week.  He made the perfect 6.  It was during homework time and he nearly hit the ceiling when he announced the perfection on his paper.  He made me take a picture because you never know when the perfect 6 might happen again.

It really is quite nice.  Looks like I might have typed the perfectly pinned 6 on his paper for him.  But I did not.  I love that the little things still make my big guy so excited.

 2.  I have come to realize that Hannah Beth likes to walk around holding onto two items.  I guess it helps her balance.  She will walk laps around the downstairs while holding two things.  One for each hand.  It's cute and a little maddening.  I tend to find two things lying on the floor together all over the house.  She will dump her two things whenever she spies two NEW and BETTER things to carry with her.  I spend a good portion of the day picking up said things.  I did catch her giving her kitty a kiss while working on her laps one morning.

Two things:

Kitty and Big Bird

So sweet!

And I have a little love affair with her red patten sandals I found on clearance at Stride Rite.  There is nothing cuter than little feet tucked into a pair of sandals. I'm just sayin.

3.  And now we have come to the random thoughts portion of this post.  It's May.  I love May.  Mother's Day, fun end of the school year activities, my birthday, Memorial Day weekend ushering in the summer.  What's not to love?  Our May calendar looks like this:

And it is only the 4th.  May the 4th be with you!  (I couldn't resist).  I don't mind the business.  It's just life for us these days.  I look forward to June's calendar though when things are a little less hectic and a little more laid back.  But then there is the one HUGE thing scheduled in July.  The move.  I don't even like to talk about it, but I must.  My mind is already planning and thinking about the next place, home, church, dance center, soccer team, yada yada yada. The list in my head goes on and on.  I have to say that I have a complete peace about the whole thing.  God has completely blessed us every place we have been.  I know He will take care of us again and is preparing a place for us. 

I am praying He will let us in on the address of the new place soon.