Back to School!

Todd and I have been back in school now for a few weeks and we are trying to get back into the swing of things. We are both dealing with large class sizes and other effects of the budget crunch. Todd's team of 7th graders has 100+ students and my group of 1st graders is at 24, the legal cap for 1st grade in North Carolina. It has been a hectic opening of school, but we are surviving! The hardest part is not being able to spend as much time with Abby and Tyler as we would like.
Our Abby is growing up so much! We have been practicing on her big girl bike, and she is finally getting the hang of pedaling. Now we just have to work on the steering part! She really seems to enjoy it and she's really cute with her little Ariel helmet. We are having a new challenge with her...sibling rivalry. Now that Tyler is mobile, he is finding her toys. We are trying to teach her constructive ways to deal with this rather than the typical 2 year old responses of snatching and pushing him away. We're working on it! We have also noticed that the more tired Abby gets...the more clumsy she gets! Just the other week she got a black eye from running into a table on my mom's deck. Thank goodness that has faded! She also made her singing debut at church on Sunday singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She was able to sing a few lines before she realized she had an audience and got embarrassed!
Tyler is doing a lot of developing lately and will turn nine months on Thursday. He is becoming such a big boy, although he's starting to thin out some. I can't believe that in a few months we will have another toddler on our hands! He's been scooting on his belly across the floor for a while now, but just Sunday he starting crawling on all fours. He's pulling up on furniture and finding all sort of cool things he shouldn't have! My baby is now waving bye-bye and saying "da-da" when he does it. I really think he means bye bye! He also loves peek a boo and pat a cake!
The pictures on this post are from a variety of things. There are some of Abby playing on the McDonald's playground on the way to Sanford on Labor Day weekend. There are also a couple of Tyler taking in the mariachi band at a new Mexican restaurant in town. He was mesmerized! And of course, I put in a few of Abby riding her bike.
On a more serious note, I need all of you to add a little girl named Rachel Smith to your prayer list. She is the great-granddaughter of Abby and Tyler's babysitter. She is 4 years old and has been fighting a disease called Blackfan Diamond Anemia all of her life. She's had a bone marrow transplant to counteract this disease, but is now having complications and may not make it. Pray for a miracle, and also keep her parents in your prayers too. They really need strength during this difficult time. Here is a link to her website through the Children's Organ Transplant Association.

Rachel's COTA Site

Where did summer go? **UPDATED**

**POST UPDATED WITH PICTURES**

Well, it's that time of year again! Unfortunately our summer is fading quickly away and Todd and I will be back at school once more. Todd went back on Friday to a day-long meeting (yuck). I go back on Monday for two days of training and then I start workdays on Wednesday. The kids come back for both of us on Tuesday, August 25. It seems like we are just now getting into our easy summer routine and it's already time to go back!
We've been keeping busy as usual over the last couple of weeks. Tyler has had several big firsts. He pulled up for the first time on Wednesday night. It's all over now...he'll officially be into everything! He also had his first trip to the beach. He loved the waves! Despite being as careful as possible, I think he ate a few handfuls of sand as well. Since he's still exploring the world by putting everything in his mouth I think that's par for the course! I'll post pictures as soon as I get them onto my computer.
Abby has officially completed her first swimming lessons. She was not promoted to the next level, but I expected that. She still is awful young...she was actually supposed to be 3 to take the class. She did great her first two days of class, and the last two days of class, but really acted like she was scared all the days in between. Anytime it was her turn to swim with the teacher she would get out of the pool and run to me crying. And I would go to her and put her the pool. The funny thing is, once she was actually in the water with her teacher, she did everything she was supposed to do just fine! She also refused to jump off the side of the pool everyday, but the last two days she would as long as I was right there with her. All in all, I say we made progress. I think I'll wait until the spring to repeat the class, but I'm glad she had the exposure.
By the way, I'm glad you found us at our new home @blogspot. Mark this new site in your favorites so you can visit and check up on us all the time!