march madness.

well, at least i didn't let a whole month (or 2) go by without a post!  

ballet - fancy nancy

march brings park days!!

hayes's preschool has spirit night at chickfila where a portion of the sales are given to her school.  the cow comes the morning of to promote.  hayes typically likes to talk about the cow but doesn't want to get too close, but on this day she was feeling brave and held her hoof!

h's first beach day of the year

there were hundreds of these guys up and down the beach hanging out in the surf.  i loved it!  hayes liked them, but she was more interested in trying to talk me in to letting her swim.  

captured the toe/wave meeting - first one of 2015…first of many.

a family that crunches together…...

a friday morning at the aquarium….hayes decided to pet this snake which is kinda cool and kinda creepy

a rainy saturday afternoon at the movies with my big girl!  cinderella was fantastic!  sk is so quirky….she wouldn't eat one single piece of popcorn until the movie started - like the actual movie not the previews.  and we got there 30 minutes early.  ha!  she also drank her water all in one sip (before the movie)….therefore we had a mid-movie potty break.  just a funny little kiddo.   

columbia, sc.  went to the zoo one sunday after church but it was too crowded to even pull into the parking area so we ate lunch and found an awesome ice cream shop downtown.  

mimi sends us the cutest little clothes=)  we love boden dresses!

cruisin' the hood

i don't know.

spring picture day 2015.  she said she smiled!  yay!  

update: she was honest!  she DID smile.  first time.  last spring she wouldn't get her picture made (but she did do a sibling pic with sk).  last christmas she looked like she hated everything in the world in her school pic.  this past christmas she was trying to smile through tears in her school pic.  so finally….hayesie overcame her picture day anxiety.  she told me on the way to school that she was going to smile for the picture and was not going to cry.  growing up!

her proof

alden & ames had dinner and played with the girls on st. patrick's day

they were all doing their "passé" ballet pose=)  guess which one wants to be an actress.

the littles

the bigs

could someone please get this girl something stuffed! =)  

community egg hunt with hayesie girl

on nice weather days we live outside.  this girl can jump for days!

our church always has a team who participates in Water Mission International's Walk for Water each march.  we are always glad when we are in town to participate in this walk!  these are some of the kids in tow.  now that our family sponsors a little girl from kenya, this walk means more to sk and she can understand how far our joshephine probably has to walk to get *dirty* water in her bucket.  and how important it is for us to help raise money to put systems in place in areas that need clean water.  it's amazing how many children die each year from diseases caused by consumption of unsafe water.

hayes and sydney strolled some but walked a good bit, too!  way to go crazy little 2 year olds=)

brunch downtown after church.  and then jeni's for ice-cream!!  trey and i give up refined sugar for lent so sundays are our days that we are allowed to have a sweet treat and jeni's is amazing!   

sk started a new musical theatre class a few weeks ago.  after only going to one lesson she still agreed to participate in a little beauty and the beast "be our guest" performance for the parents.  she did great and she loves it!  i need to do a video post with all my recent videos.

we started an egg dying tradition with the murrell's when sk and alden were 2 (pic on the left). now they're 5 (on the right).  and sk has on the same bunny shirt…ha!  we will retire that after this year.

random.  this has nothing to do with march.  but this is me.  hayes resembles my younger self some with the blonde hair.  as i got older i looked more like sk does.  

hayes had her school egg hunt and party at a little friend's house.  she had so much fun!  she loves her little school days so much=)

her favorite part - mimi was there!

sadie and hayes

ames and hayes

me and my funny girl!

this is sk and alden on the left at their 2 year preschool easter party.  and then their sisters ames & hayes at their 2 year preschool party on the right.  it's funny that both these parties, 3 years apart, were at the same house.  the little boy who lives here and who is in h's class has an older brother who was in sk's 2 year old class and their mom hosted both parties.  

and finally, palm sunday.  sk entered the church with her choir group waving a palm and then they sang  a song.  she did a great job and really enjoys participating in all the church activities/performances.  we are really proud of that big girl!  

Easter is next!  we are going to spend easter with my family in georgia this year and everyone is looking forward to it.  mimi has been slowly heating her pool and with an above 80 degree day forecasted for friday, i believe the kids will get a fun swim day in!  spring break starts tomorrow and we are so excited to be on our OWN time for a week.  no schedules, no school, no planned activities, just enjoying our time together.  

catch up.

***i started this post in mid-feb**

yikes.  another month or 2 with no lucy family posts.  poor hayes-o craze-o.  i was looking at my blog archives from 2012 when sk was her age and i documented sk happenings so well.  

so basically….on december 29th hayes turned 2 and a half.  on january 6th sarah kate turned 5 and a half.  milestone-ish i guess.  

i took this pic in january so it's close enough to their half birthdays

another january pic of my 3 kiddos (dumbo counts)

after church one sunday

  

hayes' first time joining sis for lunch at her school!  

updated sister pics from late february:

a sunday after church and brunch 

a visit to trey's dad

the things sk loves at 5.5:

school, my little pony, pretending, arts & crafts, creating/designing costumes, logos (our wed night church program), friends, family, her teachers, books, magic treehouse books, unicorns and DUMBO (still her main squeeze).  some of her favorite home meals: taco soup, soft/hard taco night, shrimp linguini pasta, her dad's "kriner cow burgers" grilled on the big green egg (anything grilled on the BGE actually), bbq, balsamic chicken, pork chops, pork tenderloin, short ribs, chicken wings and any breakfast food.  she eats a pretty good variety of fruit.  her 3 main veggies are carrots (raw only), corn (on or off the cob) and peas.  beans & tomatoes & onions are consumed in the taco soup but not any other time.  we love to eat out as a family and we typically do that on sundays after church….her favorite spots: red drum, charleston's cafe, home team bbq, and five loaves.  moe's is still a favorite but we don't eat there much thanks to kindergarten.  we used to eat lunch there together on fridays as a treat to wrap up our week but now she eats lunch at school everyday.  she takes her lunch box monday through thursday and then on fridays she is tray lunch.  she started back swimming last week & is so excited to be back in the water.  she is taking a break from ballet.  she started the full logos program at our church this semester which is from 4:30 - 7 where she not only does choir which she had been doing, but she also does bible time, crafts, recreation and they have family style supper together.  she really loves it!  she's participating in a 6 week art class after school on mondays starting next week. so she is busy but still has plenty of time to freely play at home and make our playroom look like this…..

she is sweet, sensitive, smart, caring, emotional, extremely creative, a little messy, silly and is growing up so fast!

at moes one saturday - her choice of course

unicorn valentine's day box….so sarah kate!  a valentine post to come maybe (but probably not..ha!)

tinkerbelle.  when sk was 2 and 3 and most of 4…she dressed up daily.  like every single day.  now she does just on occasion.  it was part of her life for so long!  i always love to see her digging through her costume bin=)

my little pony socks, undies, pajamas and valentine's day cards!  the $100 (fake obviously) was part of their 100th day of school celebration.  sk took in 100 gems on the 100th day.

super sarah!

sk and dumbo (wearing a very fancy costume designed by sk..ha!)  he was in a fashion show that was put on by sk , hayes, ava and bryce on valentine's day. =)

sk's writing has come so far this year!  and yes, we need to practice writing numbers more…she turns them the wrong way a good bit.  but anyway, she went upstairs and came back down with this list about trey.  no help from anyone and was so proud.  1. my dad is a cll cat (cool) 2. my dad is a gud dad  3. my dad is the best dad  4. i love my dad  5. my dad loves me  6. my dad like to play wiv me.  (wiv!! haha….she obviously means with).   we're proud of all her hard work and for her kind heart.

look at that smile!!  sk loves art classes.

one of my favorite writing pieces to date.  she gets a writing prompt every morning when she arrives at school.  on this particular morning the question was "do you like to take a shower or bath?"  sk hates showers!  when we went to the polar express we stayed in a hotel  that only had a shower and you would have thought we were really torturing our children based on all the screams!  so i was not surprised that she wrote: "i like to take a bath because showers are so scary." haha!  honesty.  and her inventive spelling is pretty gud.  i cud read her wrds.  (wink).

just today (3/7/15) she asked me to stand still while she drew my portrait.  so she drew on her easel paper and then cut it out.  later she brought this to me.  so sweet!  she taped it to my bedroom wall (we have lots of art taped to our walls curtesy of sk).  sk is constantly creating and pretending!

the things hayes loves at 2.5:

her whole family, school, her teachers (especially mrs. mary her lead teacher), talking, singing, playing, being silly, talking, animals, beanie boos (a lot…and between santa & her extended family members…she may have them all), playing outside, doing whatever sissy is doing, books, music, frozen, and talking.  ha.  she says the funniest things imaginable on a daily basis!  some of her favorite foods: shrimp, grapes, pancakes, pasta, pork tenderloin, cheese, yogurt, bananas, apples, pretzels, and scrambled eggs.  her veggies are the same as sk's…raw carrots, corn and peas.  one day they'll like all the variety that trey and i do!  i just know it!  but not today.

smiling big in hopes of getting a sucker=)

hayes and i still do mommy/me ballet on monday mornings…she loves it!

ready for summer!  mimi/papa are taking our whole family on a disney cruise this summer and hayes' 3rd bday happens to fall during the trip…she is pumped!!

hayes does not nap anymore but she has been known to catch some zzz in the car.  when this happens i always go for a little drive to the beach.  living 5 minutes from the beach really has no downsides in my opinion.  

she loves to paint!!!  all the time.  she says things like, "oh this one is beautiful!" and "look at this masterpiece!"  very humble little hayes we have.

she loves the park!!!  because really….what kid doesn't.  this weather we've been having has not been kind to our normal park schedule!!

she loved her valentine's day party at school!

she loves bath time!

the more bags the better.  just like her sis was.  and it's so they can carry ALL their "stuff."  that's what hayes says a lot…"oh no i have too much stuff, mama can you help me carry some-ting." 

the face i see at lunch everyday.  love my lunch buddy.  and she loves her drinks!  she has a water cup, smoothie cup and milk cup everyday. 

trey went in to kiss her goodnite one night and found her asleep sitting up.  we just thought it was funny=)

sweet girl before school on a spring-ish day!

hayes is a happy kid!  she is funny, bossy, curious, very smart, friendly (most of the time), loud and active.  her teacher says hayes is like an assistant teacher.  apparently she walks around and looks at her friend's work (art & what not) and says, "good job!" and so forth.  her teacher constantly tells me that hayes is the best helper especially during clean up.  she is really an extremely sweet girl but that's not the drive….she cleans up better than anyone because she wants to be the best, the fastest, the first, etc.  totally different personality than her big sis!  sk is very patient with her usually!  hayes demands more attention than her sis.  hayes also is more competitive so i can use this to my advantage…..i can praise the heck out of sk when she's doing something right and hayes all of a sudden will straighten up and do exactly what her sis is doing…"look, i'm a sweet girl too mama!  look at me!"  and if it is ever sk getting in trouble then hayes is very quick to say, "but i'm being a sweet girl."  ha!  she is a mess.

daddy/daughter dance in feb. -
trey took sk to our church's daddy daughter dance for the 3rd time and he took hayes for the first time.  i volunteered at the dance so i was excited to get an inside look at that thing….hilarious.  both of our girls had a BALL!

dancing with their friend, laney

sally and sk are in the same kindergarten class

caroline and sk went to pre-k together and are now at different schools but our families do a lot together

with caroline, alden and ames.  

caroline, alden and sk were in 3k and 4k together.  sk and alden were also in 2k and the 12-18mo class together so this is the first year in 5 years that they are not only not in class together but they are at different schools.  they still get together to play and they go to church together and are in choir together.

that's a wrap for now!