Random Observation by Gabriel

"Mommy, there is iPhone, iPad .... this 'i' company sure is doing well [for itself]." Why yes, this is Apple and they are a billion dollar company.

School is back in session for 2012-13

Gabriel's class doubles in size this year with the addition of his sister beginning pre-school! She loves to get her books out and sit at the table with him while he's doing his work and says "Mommy, I do my work, too." She colors and cuts and is learning to write her letters and numbers.

We're excited for Third Grade with Gabriel this year. We're going to dig in deeper with History (Ancient Civilizations), setting a foundation with Grammar learning prepositions, verbs, irregular verbs, etc. It's going to be a good year!

Gabriel turns 8!

Time is flying by so fast! My son is turning into a young man. He turns 8 today. We had a pool party with his friends and had a great time. He just loves his friends...and life!

I'm the big 4-ohhhhhh

Was so happy to share this big mile-marker with close friends doing something we've never done before - ziplining!  My two high school best friends, Kelly and Tricia flew in especially for the occasion and got to meet my friends Erin, Tagie and Janine. We stayed at Lake Lanier Island Resort for two nights and had a blast!

Giselle flaps her wings

Often Giselle will flap her arms when she skips and runs. It wasn't for a few months that she told us she is a bird. So at least now we know why. It's really cute and sometimes she'll refer to her arms as her wings.

Missing My Aunt Linda

My Aunt Linda passed away a few months ago, but she will never be far from our hearts.

Gabriel and Giselle at 7 and 3

I went to take Giselle to get her photo taken at the exact same age that I did Gabriel's at a professional session with Picture People in Perimeter Mall. I went ahead and got one of the both of them. My two loves....

Fun in the sun

 Gabriel has almost learned how to swim - he can doggy paddle across the pool more easily in the deep end than the shallow end - go figure.

Gabriel's 2nd year is done!

Second grade for Gabriel was a stepping stone into reading chapter books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid was his favorite), doing 2 and 3-digit multiplication and division and delving into deeper history and science lessons like Roman and Egyptian Empires. Here he is with most of his school workbooks that he knocked out this year. He still likes doing Khan Academy online.

Gabriel's Swing

We always joke about Gabriel one day buying us a summer home when he wins his first big pro golf tournament. One day Jimmy was saying his game is going downhill because he never gets to practice and play anymore due to spending his time helping Gabriel with his game. Gabriel retorted, "Daddy, do you want to be good or do you want a summer home?" Of course, Jim said, "both!"

We're looking forward to him playing in some tournaments for the first time come this summer. Our goal is for him to make new friendships with similar interest and continued motivation to play this incredible game. Here he is playing at Heritage for the first time. He hit some incredible shots - and some not so great ones too.

New job - new hair

After six wonderful years at a small marketing agency with 12 people or less, I've moved into a typical large European owned digital marketing agency with over 2,000 around the world. It's been a huge adjustment and one I'm still navigating - but I'm learning a lot in the meantime. I figured I've been growing my hair out for a while now - and now that I've gotten a new job - it's time for a new haircut. It was an easy decision to donate it to Locks of Love. Here is what that process looked like:

 We wanted Gabriel to stay cool during the summer months so time to cut off his locks too. Giselle said "Ok, my turn" when he was done so I allowed the stylist to trim her hair for her first haircut.

19 Years!

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life - Jimmy - it's been an interesting and wonderful 19 years. I love you!!

Zellie Bellie turns Three!

We are so blessed and excited to have this beautiful little girl of ours - Giselle Helena Pett - turn three years old! She seems to be excited about the idea too and keeps holding up three fingers saying she's three. We got to celebrate it with family and friends in Tampa and then again with friends for a painting party.

Shawna Blow your Horn

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Half-way mark

We're half-way through our home school year and while we didn't accomplish any of the three lofty goals I set out for us, I'm quite pleased at where we are and what we're learning. I guess having goals like learning how to type, how to write in cursive and learning a foreign language are nice to have ... and perhaps will come in time. Until then, I'm happy that Gabriel is devouring books with any spare moment he has, has grasped multiplication, division and fractions quite nicely, and that he loves learning science. He's been telling me all about matter (solid, gas or liquid) and telling all about viscosity, evaporation and condensation.

Giselle has learned her numbers, letters, shapes and colors and is wanting to learn how to write letters. She enjoys sorting, building, painting, playing Uno and pretend play. Here are a couple of pics of them in action:

Closing of 2011

So far turning seven has been an exciting age with something interesting lurking around every corner; from teeth falling out of his head, learning how to ride his bike and reading 220 page books in four hours for the first time to spontaneously making breakfast for everyone. Gabriel has found the ever so popular "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books so funny that he breezes through them and can't wait for the next one. He's learning to be a considerate and thoughtful young man and continues to make us laugh and think. He asked me if the star on top of the Christmas tree was representative of the star that followed Jesus when he was born? I hesitantly said, "sure, why, yes." Honestly I had never really thought about it, but it made sense. Then he said, "Yep, I know my ornamathology." He also seems to be outgrowing his eczema and sensory issues with seeing his first movie in a theater in years. And he had his first sleep over at a friends house – not surprisingly said he didn't sleep a wink. He's always wanting to do something fun and says constantly, "So, what'cha wanna do now?" I believe he thinks I am his endless entertainment for monopoly, bowling or mini-golf partner.

Giselle is about potty trained with scaling the toilet on her own. Adios Pampers! She's been happier lately and finally understanding the meaning of the word "no". Don't get me wrong, she still has her mob boss two-year old mentality but I can see light at the end of the "twos" tunnel as we enter the "threes" – and it looks beautiful. She does have her sweet moments. One day when I was sick, she said "Mommy, you tired?" and put a blanket over me. And she sweetly follows her big brother around like a baby duckling. It's so adorable.

The ending of 2011 hasn't been without it's interesting twists and turns too. We are trying to think fiscally creative and have made the decision to refinance our home. Then we learned Jim's dad, Ed Pett, passed away on December 7th. He was exactly two months away of making it to 94 years. Followed by all of us enduring a horrific stomach flu the week after. We felt better in time to enjoy Christmas with exception of Shawna. The kids and I enjoyed our traditional making cookies and drinking hot chocolate on Christmas Eve and then making Christmas pancakes after opening presents Christmas morn. Giselle got a kitchen set and made me pretend hot chocolate for hours on end and Gabriel played with his new Hot Wheels tracks all day. He actually cried when he opened his last gift, Mario Kart cartridge for his Nintendo DS. We had a secret santa drop off some gifts for the kids which was incredibly sweet. It ended up being a relaxing fun day. The last day of the year, New Years Eve, was incredibly fun too as we spent it with friends at their home playing Guesstures and drinking margaritas. We're ready for whatever exciting new adventures 2012 will bring.