December ’13….

Rea’s Art from TC-

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Our elves have made it a tradition of showing up on Emmy’s Birthday, Dec. 1st!

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She did her own make up for church.

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Here are the kids writing their letters to Santa.  Reagan only asked for live animals.

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Emmy putting lipstick on Max-

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Her art class won an ice cream party at TC-

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The girls and I went to see The Nutcracker ballet.

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Reagan did a project on Polar Bears for her Critters class.  We worked really hard on it!

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Making gak!

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We made polar bear cupcakes for her class!

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The kids were so glad to see Aunt Kay back in TN!  She always gets a special sort of welcome from them!

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The kids were fixing my hair and making me into a princess.

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First Meal Prep Experience-

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Mary and an angel is the Christmas Play at Long Hollow-

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Our 3rd annual Christmas Craft night with Lauren-

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Max helping wrap presents-

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November ’13

Reagan’s art from TC-

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Max wrote “mom” for the first time.

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Home school in the kitchen floor? why not??

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I put each letter on a fish and would have Emmy catch them with a fishing rod (using magnet and paper clip).  Rea did the same game with sight words.

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Eating clean-

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The girls tried to convince me to let them bring home this kitten.

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The Knoxville K-9 Unit visited Rea’s TC Critters class!  There was a bit of excitement because the officer first showed up without the dog and apologized that his dog was called in at the last minute to apprehend a criminal!  The officer came in and talked to the class and after about 15 minutes the dog and another officer showed up to do demonstrations.  They had not caught the criminal, but the officer was covered in mud from a chase on foot in a swamp with the dog!

The officer in the padded suit trains all of the police dogs in Knoxville.  We were very privileged to get to hear him speak because he is so knowledgeable.  Notice the dog in mid air!  We also got to see the officer hide drugs and watch the dog locate them.  We were allowed to look inside the police K-9 vehicle to see where the dog is kept. It was nice!  The K-9 cars are equipped with special sensors that monitor internal temperature so that if it gets too hot the sirens will sound and fans will automatically turn on inside to keep the dog from over heating.

Police dogs in Knoxville are trained to detect 12 different illegal drugs.  They also can detect bombs, missing persons, and criminals on the run.  K-9 officers that apprehend drug dealers are allowed by law to keep any money in the drug dealers car as well as the car itself! These dogs are amazingly great at their jobs and love to work!  They are purchased in Europe for $6,500 untrained.  The pressure per square inch from these dogs’ bites is 150 lbs. and can break bones.  Many of them live with the officer they work with.  The “pay” these dogs receive after doing their jobs is to play with the officer. They live for this!  Students were allowed to try on the bite suit.  It was so heavy, many could not lift it!

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The November Birthday girls (Dixie 2 yrs, Reagan 7 yrs)

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The kids took notice of a beautiful sunset.

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Reagan did a research project on Betsy Ross for her TC Early Modern World History Class.  We were able to make a model flag with the help of Papaw & Gran.

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And November brings the beginning of Christmas decorating….. yay!

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1st snow of the season!

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Thanksgiving at Uncle Rick’s House-

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Max seeing the Spiderman inflatable at Gran’s house for the first time.

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Fantasy of Trees (a yearly tradition)!

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Reagan’s 7th and Emmy’s 5th Birthday Vacation & Celebrations, 2013

Instead of spending a lot of money on the girls’ birthday party and gifts, we decided to take a short trip to Pigeon Forge.  The kids loved staying at the Wilderness Resort.  We also visited the Dixie Stampede, The Comedy Barn, Shadrack’s Christmas Lightshow, and the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.

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We stopped for some yummy cupcake’s at GiGi’s Cupcakes on our way out of town.  Happy Birthday girlies!

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Gran had birthday cake for them both at two different Sunday dinners.  Here they are helping make Reagan’s cake.  This is the recipe that my Mamaw Peggy used to make for everyone’s birthday- we call it the Mamaw Cake.IMG_6291 IMG_6292 IMG_6331 IMG_63386B7A6010 6B7A6009 6B7A6007 6B7A6008 6B7A6006 6B7A6005 6B7A6004 6B7A6002 6B7A6001 6B7A6000 6B7A59996B7A0596 6B7A0595 6B7A0594 6B7A0593 6B7A0592 6B7A0591 6B7A0590 6B7A0589 6B7A0588 6B7A0587 6B7A0586IMG_6527 IMG_6528

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Just June, summertime!

After zoo camp, we pretty much had a low key summer.  We did the summer library programs and a few trips to the zoo, splash park, and park.  We spent a lot of time together at home.  It was nice to just be able to rest and not be “on the go” so much.  The kids enjoyed lots of evenings playing outside at Gran and Papaw’s house and garden and swimming in their little pool.

Emmy has proclaimed she wants to be fashion designer when she grows up!  You better believe she’s got some skills!

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Checking out our rain gauge to see how much rain we got.

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Doggy smiles-

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Word for word from her mouth with tears in her eyes…. “Mom, I did my best….”

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They always think wearing Gran’s reading glasses calls for a picture.

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Catching lightening bugs-

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Making my favorite cookies with Gran- “Snappy Turtle Cookies”

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Nathan & Addy’s Birthday party-

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Colton & Collins’ birthday party-

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Eye Dr. Appointment (all 3 checked out good)

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Dental Appointments (did not go as well as vision check ups!)

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Father’s Day lunch at Shanghai Marina-

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Papaw’s Birthday-

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Bean time!

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Spiderman going to church!

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He finally went #2 in the potty and got a “Buzz Toy”!  NO MORE DIAPERS FOR US!

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Pancake breakfast before Sunday School-

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