Our Gamecock Family: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Memorial Day!

This is how we spent our day......

and it was GREAT!!!

Here is a picture of Rafe catching one of the MANY fish he caught with Pop and Daddy on Sunday. Stella Ross, Gram and I made a brief appearance at the pond (to bring the picnic!) and then it was back home for us before Stella Ross jumped in!! Rafe was so excited he said, "Just call me fisherboy!"

Saturday, May 28, 2011

17 Months

I cannot believe in one short month my BABY girl will be 1 1/2 years old!! Miss Stella Ross is one sweet, funny little girl. She is developing quite a personality and following in her big brother's footsteps with the attitude of "I want it NOW!" Her are some fun things about SR right now:

she is sadly moving out of the Elmo phase and moving into Barney and the Wiggles. Stella Ross loves anything that has music and wants to dance all the time
favorite songs are: Old McDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle and the Noble Duke of York
she is still such a big eater. I haven't really found anything she won't eat. (meat is her least favorite, though) The hardest part at meal time is getting it on her plate fast enough. She will SCREAM until she has enough food to curve her appetite. Then she will slow down and actually enjoy what she is eating. She looks like a child that hasn't eaten in days. SR is getting really good at using the fork and spoon and wants to do it once she is getting full!
has a crib full of "loveys"- 10 pacifiers, puppy, Minnie Mouse, baby doll, kitty. She loves her bed and will try to climb into it and point to her books. She loves to sit in her bed and read!!!
Stella Ross LOVES the water. Of course this scares me tremendously and I am so thankful we have some distance from our house to the pool. One of her favorite things to do is play with her water table.
SR can destroy a play room/house in under a minute. She seems to go from room to room loving every second of pulling things out of cabinets and drawers. Her favorite places of destruction are pots/pans, place mats, my body splash, Rafe's pencil box and silly bandz.
She loves to dress up. She has a jewelry drawer in my bathroom and has a ball putting it on. My favorite costume is the big garnet wig with a tu tu and painted toenails. SO fun!
still takes two naps a day and prefers the morning nap to the afternoon nap. We are going to start making the transition to one nap because I know Rafe has BIG plans for the summer!!
SR gave up rocking a long time ago, but has recently started climbing into her rocking chair before bedtime and wanting me to "cuddle" with her while she drinks her milk. I LOVE this time of day. It seems the only time she will let me snuggle with her
loves her dog and still spoils him rotten every day by feeding him piece by piece of food with her hands

SO much progress!

I cannot begin to tell you just how much Rafe has learned this year in kindergarten, but his writing is what amazes me the most. Rafe went from writing letters for his story to writing multiple paragraphs. I don't know how Ms. Biblelnieks does it but I am SO impressed. I have always known how much Rafe loves to tell a story, but to be able to express it on paper is another thing. Needless to say we will be keeping a journal each day during the summer to reinforce his excellent writing. Thank you, again, Ms. Bibelnieks for a fantastic start to Rafe's education.

This was the first week of school: "I like to play with my cat."

I have to admit it is quite humorous to see

how Rafe spells certain words. Good job, Rafe!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

My Little Secret!

My brother doesn't need to know what I do

while he is at school!!!

Kindergarten Field Day!

I had the pleasure of joining Rafe's class for field day. This was always one of my favorite things we did in elementary school. By the looks on these kids faces I think it will be there's, too. What an absolute blast everyone had!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Go Rafe!!

We celebrated Rafe today and his accomplishments in Kindergarten. What a wonderful year he has had! He received an award for reading the second highest number of books in his class, an award for being an earnest learner, and a medal for being a math superstar. I was one proud mama!! I am so sad to see this year come to an end. Rafe's teachers have been an answer to many prayers and we could not have asked for a better beginning to his education. Good job, Rafe! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!!

Fun at the Lake!

We went with Cory's family to Lake Lure last Saturday and enjoyed an awesome day at the lake. Rafe and Stella Ross had a blast playing with their cousins in the freezing water, playing corn hole, playing in the sand and knocking TONS of candy and prizes out of the pinata! We always have such a good time and can hardly wait until we go back next year.