Buttons!

Sarah buttoned her shirt all by herself today for the very 1st time!  We’re so proud of her!!

Girl Cheese Sandwiches

Sarah’s new favorite sandwiches are grilled cheese sandwiches.  Kenneth has been making them for lunch a lot, and one day at lunch Sarah asked him “Daddy, if girls eat girl cheese sandwiches does that mean boys eat boy cheese sandwiches?”  It’s funny how kids hear and interpret words sometimes!

Halloween 2009

Sarah wanted to be a mermaid this year for Halloween, so Mommy made it happen! Daddy and Sarah carved a kitty pumpkin ,and then we went trick-or-treating in a golf cart with some friends and had so much fun! The grownups even got some grown up treats (hot buttered rum!)

Sarah’s 1st Report Card

Sarah came home with her very first report card today (Pre-K 4 Progress Report officially):

“Sarah’s enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and interact with her peers is a joy to watch each day.  She is a blessing to her teachers and peers.”

Sarah loves her new school and has made a lot of new friends, so everything is going well!  Kenneth and I go to Parent-Teacher conference on Friday to find out more! =)

Look out for Halloween pictures on Saturday!  Sarah will be a mermaid this year!

Sarah’s New Teacher

We had “book day” today at Sarah’s new school.  We met her teacher who is great!  She really seems like she will be a good fit for Sarah.  She commented on how clearly Sarah enunciates and what a great vocabulary she has.  Sarah will go 3 days a week this year including eating lunch at school for the first time!  The first day of school is on Wednesday, so I’ll be posting pictures!

Sarah also had her first dance class today.  She is learning tap, ballet and a little gymnastics.  We looked at a lot of different schools and so far I’m pleased with our choice!

Birthday Prep

A funny thing happened today.  I am in the middle of preparations for Sarah’s birthday and her mermaid birthday party.  Her party is on a different day than her birthday so that means 2 cakes.  So I’m scrambling around trying to get the recipes for the cake and icing perfected (since the 1st cake is for Tuesday).  Meanwhile I’m trying to get her party invitations put together and printed.  I was so proud that I had come up with some cute text:

Sarah is turning three!  Come celebrate under the sea!

Cute right?  Anyone notice anything wrong with that wording?  Maybe that Sarah is turning FOUR!  Oops!  I guess my baby is just growing up too fast!  So needless to say I’ll be tweaking that wording!

The good news is that the cake and icing recipes have been taste tested and family approved so we’re all set there!

Lunch with Mary

Over lunch last week Jannette and I were talking about how much we missed visiting with Mary. So we decided to call and invite her to lunch with the girls before Jannette went home to South Carolina. We met at the Boardwalk for lunch and had a great time catching up and sharing fond memories. I hope we can continue to keep in touch and do lunch every once in a while!

John’s Change of Command

I’m proud to say that my brother is the new commanding officer of the VMFA-122 Werewolves! Kenneth, Sarah and I took a trip to Beaufort for the ceremony and celebration. We were originally supposed to fly but when our flight was delayed indefinitely because of a broken plane we decided to drive. Sarah is a real trooper on road trips – what did we ever do without a rear seat entertainment system?

We hit the ground running on Thursday as soon as we arrived. Jannette had goody bags with squadron t-shirts waiting for us and lots of fun family activities planned. Our first task was to pick Darlene up from the airport. She came all the way from Hawaii for the change of command weekend! Jannette, Kelli and I had appetizers while we waited for her flight. Back at home Jennifer arrived from Rhode Island and Leigh came in from North Carolina. We all sat on the back porch after dinner, enjoying the sunset and drinking good wine! We all really enjoyed getting to know Adrienne’s boyfriend Diego from Brazil too.

Friday morning was the change of command ceremony. The ceremony was outside in the 102 degree heat but it turned out really well. We really enjoyed catching up with out of town family and friends. Uncle Bill and Aunt Jackie came in from Georgia; Aunt Amy and Uncle Steve and David drove from Florida; Dave and Gay (John and Jannette’s neighbors from Jacksonville) drove up too; Jannette’s mom and dad came across from Mississippi; and Cindy, Tony and Madeleine (Jannette’s sister and family) flew in from San Diego. We all missed having Papa Pete with us but knew he was there in spirit – we know that he was so proud of John. We got to take some family pictures in front of John’s jet, and the little ones got to climb up and see a jet up close.

Then we went to a lovely reception at the officer’s club. Jannette had planned a great kid’s table with all kinds of neat toys and crafts so the adults could relax and enjoy some brunch. When the reception was nearing its end, we noticed Sarah running off across the room and then reappearing a minute later. We wondered what she was up to, so Kenneth followed her. He watched while Sarah grabbed a muffin, ate the top off and put the rest back on the tray. She then reached for a bagel, took a bite, and put it back. Kenneth couldn’t be mad at her for long since she really didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to be doing that!

That night the whole family came over for low country boil (shrimp, corn and potatoes) for dinner. We convinced David to stay and go out on the town with us. There are only a couple of bars in downtown Beaufort, so we couldn’t get into too much trouble! I don’t think I have ever seen so many pictures of John smiling – he genuinely enjoyed himself that night!

The next morning we had breakfast at Blackstone’s. Madeleine and Lolo taught Sarah how to play her new leapster game while we waited for our food.

That evening all of the officers from John’s squadron and their wives came over to celebrate. We had bar-b-que to eat and lots of cool drinks. The sunset was gorgeous, and John built a fire in the firepit down by the water. We sat around the fire talking until we finally got to bed at 3! John and Jannette are so lucky to have so many wonderful friends that we have had the pleasure of getting to know as well!

Sunday Kenneth took Sarah and Kaitlyn to the movies while Jannette and I drove Adrienne’s boyfriend, Diego, back to Charleston. We made sure to stop at our favorite sushi restaurant for lunch and ate way too much! The weekend went by way too fast – we really missed seeing Jim and Rie, Michael, and Amy. We’re trying to plan a little reunion for the cousins when Jim and Rie come to the States to visit??

*Click on the slideshow to see the picture gallery*

Sea World

Sarah has been begging to go to Sea World so we decided to take a spontaneous trip. We left in the morning and after a stop at Bucee’s arrived in San Antonio! We headed to see the Shamu show right when we got there and on the way stopped to watch the water-skiers and a water roller coaster. All the little kids stood right where the water splashed, and the look on Sarah’s face when she got splashed was priceless. It was hot enough that she was dry in no time. Sarah loved the show but didn’t like when Shamu splashed everyone (we were sitting on the last row of the splash zone and still got wet!).

Before we left for the hotel we looked around for a little while at the gift shop – we promised Sarah a Shamu stuffed animal and of course she walked out with the biggest stuffed animal there was!

The next day was even hotter so we stopped at Academy for some cooler clothing. Sarah got to feed the dolphins and then got her face painted with a dolphin. We saw the sea lion show which was really cute and the dolphin show too.

We stopped for a Shamu ice cream bar on our way to the Lost Lagoon waterpark. Sarah had a blast in the wave pool with Daddy! After a nice afternoon in the water it was time to head home. Our passes are good for the rest of this year, so I’m sure we’ll be back soon! Click on the slideshow and see the rest of the pictures!

Sarah’s version of grace

Gotta love how children interpret words! 

“God is great, God is good, make his lettuce for our food.  By his hand we are fed, thank you God for dilly bread.  Amen.”

Annabel!

We spent our day in the pool on Mother’s Day with some friends who have a little boy about Sarah’s age and a little girl who is 6.  The kids loved jumping into the pool and yelling “Cannonball!”  This was the first time Sarah had heard this and interpreted it as “Annabel!”  So now every time Sarah jumps off the side of the pool she yells “Annabel!”

New Buddies

New Kitty!

We have a new kitten in the Horne household!  Sarah and Daddy went to the League City Animal Shelter to find a kitty for Sarah but didn’t find one they really wanted.  So I went to petfinder.com (great website if you are in the market for adopting a new animal!) and found an orange tabby kitten in Pasadena.  So Sarah and I drove out to the Pasadena Animal Shelter and looked at several of their kitties.  Sarah really wanted the kitten that looked like a baby “TimTim” – what she used to call our greatly missed Simba.  So into the kennel the new kitten (~ 3 months old) goes – off on an adventure to be with the Hornes.  Baby TimTim got a checkup at our vet before we let him meet the other animals and got the thumbs up.  So Sarah and I spend much of the afternoon playing with the new kitten (who is currently snoozing on the stairs – lots of excitement for one day!).

Sarah’s 1st Trip to the Dentist!

Sarah had her very 1st trip to the dentist today!!  Everything went very well.  The hygienist was very sweet and told her everything that was going on.  She let  her give Mr. Thirsty (the suction) a kiss every time she needed to suction water out.  Sarah was not a fan of the toothpaste so the hygienist just used the electric toothbrush that tickled Sarah’s teeth.  No fluoride yet since Sarah is still learning about spitting toothpaste out.  But she got a new toothbrush and a bracelet after she was done.  I think it is so important for young children to have a good experience with the dentist, so I am really glad that everything went so well!

We are off to Beaufort tomorrow with bright shiny teeth!

Sarah’s 1st Trip to Moody Gardens

We decided to take Sarah to Galveston this morning for a spur of the moment trip to Moody Gardens.  We were planning on going to the butterfly exhibit, but it is not open for another 2 weeks.  So we did the aquarium instead.  Sarah loved it – of course she loves anything with animals.  We sat and watched the penguins being fed for quite a while before moving on to the shark tank.  Sarah was a little scared of the big shark that swam right up to the window – but later in the obligatory trip to the gift shop picked out a shark stuffed animal (because the baby shark was not scary).  She is sleeping with the shark tonight in fact.  There was also a “petting” tank where Sarah got to touch a starfish, sea urchin, and lobster.  She was wearing a jacket and without even thinking dunked her whole arm down into the water which was pretty amusing.  She then insisted on touching every starfish in the tank.  We had a great time though and look forward to seeing the butterflies next time.  I think we’ll check out Schlitterbahn sometime this summer too.

So there!

We had just gotten back from our NASCAR weekend and picked Sarah up from Memaw and Paw’s, so I knew Sarah was tired.  When Sarah gets really tired she uses every excuse she can think of to get out of bed.  Such was the case on Monday night when she tried convincing me she needed to go downstairs for something or other.  When I didn’t let her she stormed off to her room.  The funny part happened later when I went to check on her.  She was fast asleep tucked tightly in her covers – sans pajamas.  After she went back to her room she had taken off her pajamas and stuffed them back in the pajama drawer attempting to demonstrate her control over the situation!  Too funny!

Swim Lessons

Sarah has been doing great with her swimming lessons. We started back at Swim Jim with Miss Leslie three weeks ago. Sarah and I did Mommy and Me swim class there when she was a baby. After a successful summer last year, we didn’t want Sarah to get rusty on her skills. So we signed her up for lessons again (indoor, heated pool). Sarah loves her teacher and has jumped right in (literally!) Her newest accomplishment is floating on her back. She wants to go swimming every day – she has even put on her bathing suit and jumped right into our 70 degree pool several times. Every day she wants to know if it is summer yet!

Rodeo

We took Sarah to the rodeo last week.  Of course we knew she would love it because she loves animals so much.  She saw a picture in the newspaper of the new baby pigs that were born and was very excited to be able to see those.  She got a pink cowgirl hat and a pink lasso.  She also got to go for a pony ride!

Disney

Taking Sarah to Disney World for her first time was truly magical. We left right after school on a Thursday and drove to Beaufort, SC. Friday we had lunch at our favorite sushi place that we drive halfway across the country for! Then we spent the day Saturday in Charleston and got to see Adrienne (who is at College of Charleston) while we were there. Sunday we left for Disney. The girls started looking for Mickey Mouse signs, and as we got closer they were not disappointed! We had a late dinner at Shades of Green – just in time to watch the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, our table was just about the only table in the restaurant that did not have a view of the huge screen tv.

Monday was our first big day at Disney. The girls got decked out in their princess attire, and we were on our way to breakfast with the princesses in the Norway part of Epcot. Even though it started raining on us while we waited outside for our table, the breakfast was a huge hit. Right when we walked in the door the girls got to take a picture with Belle. Then we sat down at our table and ordered drinks. The poor Norwegian waitress looked baffled when we ordered mimosas. Oh well! Breakfast was surprisingly good – eggs, bacon, hash brown casserole, and lots of fruit and pastries. While we were eating the princesses came around to take pictures and sign autographs. We saw Sleeping Beauty (Sarah’s favorite), Snow White, Mulan, and Jasmine. After breakfast we strolled around Epcot for a few hours, sampling some global beverages along the way. When it started raining pretty hard Kenneth and I decided to take Sarah back to the hotel. She was exhausted and fell asleep on the bus and slept for a good couple of hours.

Tuesday was probably the biggest day for Sarah – Magic Kingdom. Our first stop was to get Sarah a new princess outfit – she picked Belle. We also got her some Minnie ears with her name embroidered on it. We wandered around the park stopping to ride Dumbo (Sarah’s favorite ride) and the Magic Carpet ride. Kenneth and I took Kaitlyn and Lauren on Splash Mountain then Jannette and I took them on Thunder Mountain. Lauren rode Pirates of the Caribbean several times. Then Kenneth and I took Sarah and Kaitlyn over to meet Minnie and Mickey. We walked through Mickey and Minnie’s houses, which was pretty cute. Sarah was in awe over meeting Minnie, and we got a really cute photo of them hugging. After meeting Minnie we went to watch the show at Cinderella’s castle, which was actually pretty cute – about how dreams come true.

Wednesday was really really cold, so what did we decide to do? We went to Animal Kingdom – just about the coldest of all the parks! We went to the petting zoo and on a safari – which Sarah loved! We went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch but Sarah did not like the “thunderstorms” that popped up every few minutes. Kenneth and I rode Expedition Everest which was really fun! Kaitlyn decided she wanted to ride it so Uncle Ken took her next. Then I decided Jannette needed to ride so we rode after Kenneth and Kaitlyn. We got two great photos out of those rides! Jannette, Kenneth, and I got to go to Downtown Disney for a grownup dinner at an Italian restaurant.

Thursday Jannette and I took Sarah and Lauren to Magic Kingdom again while Kenneth and Kaitlyn went to Hollywood Studios. Lauren got to participate in Captain Jack’s pirate show which was pretty funny. After Kenneth and Kaitlyn joined us at Magic Kingdom we had a funnel cake snack and then watched a parade with all the princesses and Disney characters. Sarah watched from Daddy’s shoulders and loved it! We went to Ohana for the dinner show. The girls got to do some hula dancing and coconut races while we grownups got to relax! The food was really great and we had a great time. We got a peek at the fireworks show while riding the monorail back to the hotel.

Friday morning we arrived at the monorail station but the lines were so long that we decided we were Disneyed out. So we drove around a little while and had lunch at Olive Garden then spent the afternoon hanging out at the hotel.

Saturday we drove back to Beaufort and stayed for the weekend. John got the jumpy jump out for the girls and we all enjoyed a beautiful sunset. We drove home Monday and Sarah was back at school on Tuesday! It was an amazing experience and Sarah can’t wait to go back!!

Sarah the hairdresser

Last night I brought home a pair of scissors (Sarah likes to call them safety scissors from watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) for Sarah to practice with, since her class is learning how to cut in preschool. She had the scissors for all of 2 minutes when I turned my head for a second. Of course what do you think she did? She chopped off a 3-inch long chunk of hair from the back of her head. Luckily she has so much hair that it is not noticeable and she has a haircut scheduled for Wednesday anyways. But there was a lot of hair on the floor! The things kids do...