Long gone is summer....

Hello Fall....

and pretty soon winter!

2nd week of summer!

The second week of the summer has been a blast. I kept my nieces for the week and we packed a ton of fun into that week.

We painted sea shells for our shell garden. Did mermaid body painting. Visited the movies for $10- that was for 5 people with 5 drinks and 5 popcorns. Deal of the summer. Came to gymnastics. Shopped at Lowes for fathers day gifts. Swam. Had a poolside campout complete with smores and firefly catching. Night swimming. Library day. Girls lunch date. I enjoyed having my nieces for the week and I am sure the had a blast too!

Little gymnast!

With dance ending in May I was looking for a group activity that Chloe would enjoy that would also teach we balance, coordination, and be fun at the same time. I ended up enrolling her in a 7 week program gymnastic program that she loves. I am very pleased with the organization and teaching methods of the facility. Since I am out for the summer we enjoy our morning class and a chance to meet new friends.

Kick Off!

The summer has officially started.  I closed down my classroom last Thursday and wont return till school starts!  Since this is my first summer not working summer school I am enjoying every moment with Chloe.

 This week we started our summer schedule.  We visited the Library Summer Program called Pre-School Pals.  Chloe and her cousins, Kaylee and Emmy both went with us.  The little ones loved learning about owls this week and we are working on our summer reading goal.  Gymnastics is still a huge hit and for $12 for an hour long class Mommy is happy too!  Cousin Kaylee is coming with us this week and hoping she enjoys it as much as Chloe. Chloe did a summer painting project....a birdhouse, which she loved doing!  We even have managed to see a couple of birds enjoying it too!  Ricky took Chloe fishing for the first time last Saturday.  I however missed it for graduation, but he took some great pictures and a video  She caught 8 trout and is still talking about her fishy!

So far we have had fun doing the following-
1.Blue Plum Festival*
2. Jumping at Wallabies*
3. Birdhouse project (under $20)
4. Library Pals*

5.Fishing Day with Daddy*

* Free Events

 Bird House Project

 Headed to the Blue Plum Festival

 Face painting at BPF

 Touching her first fish!

 Fishing Day with Daddy

 Fun!

Library Day with the Girls!

First Summer Ice Cream Day!

Take that Dolly!

What happens on a rainy day you might ask?  Well at the Conner house we play celebrity dress up!  Actually Chloe was bored I was bored and it was yucky outside, so we decided to do hair and make-up!  Future Dolly or Trailer Park Barbie?  You decide!
PS She will kill me when she is older for posting this!

Go Daddy Go!

Ricky finally got a new car!  We have been together 10 years and in that time he has had a Jeep which he put 100,000 miles on and a VW Jetta which he put 110,000 on.  Me on the other hand, I have had 10 cars one basically for each year we have been together.  Yes, I love cars!  Since the Jetta was requiring more and more repairs I decided to trade it in.  He was very excited when I surprised him with a new 2012 Toyota Camry!  Love his heart he has washed it 5 time already and it is only 3 weeks old!  PS Chloe loves her new ride too!

Dancing Diva

Chloe participated in her very first dance recital on May 19th.  It was the cutest most precious thing I have seen.  She was such a ham and was so excited to finally be on the "big stage!" .  Her group was called the Gummy Bears and they dance to a very cute techno song also titled "Gummy Bear".  

 

Summer To-Do List 2012

This year I have decided to make a summer to-do list for fun and cheap things for Chloe and me to try out.  We have a swimming pool at our house so swimming is always fun and free.

Summer 2012 List

1. $3 Movie Date

2. Bowling$1 kids day

3.  Preschool Pals summer reading program at the Library- Free

4. Bays Mountain Planetarium- Free (birthday party) and we can stay all day after the party

5. Picnic at the River-Free

6. Movie night and camp out at our pool house-Free

7. Gymnastics 6-1 hour classes for $75 ( a bargain compared to monthly dance tuition)

8. Pottery Painting ($$ I think this will be the most expensive event, but we get a piece of art work to take)

9. Zoo (free since Ricky and I are teachers )

10. Visit to the Fish Hatchery
11. Music on the Square-Free
12. Hands on Museum

Basically 2 fun events each week till school starts back, plus a lot of swimming and just hanging out at home.  I am excited b/c this will be the first summer in many years that I haven't had to work summer school.  

I got a brand new do!

Chloe has the slowest growing hair ever!  From the moment I knew I was having a girl I hoped for long flowing locks...I figured since Ricky has black hair and dark eyes and I am almost albino with blond hair blue eyes that genetics would throw us a blue eyed dark hair baby girl (most dark hair babies have lots more hair than fair skinned, etc)  Boy was a shocked, once she popped out she barley had hair, and what hair she had was a red tint...Fast forward to 3 years later.  She now has enough hair to braid, pull back and put in pony tails, however it is very very fine and thin.  I have trimmed it a little at home before, but that wasn't even noticeable so after much debate I finally took her to the salon.  Chloe loved it!  She loved being pampered, sitting in the chair and being all dramatic and girly....She ended up just getting and inch trimmed, but it look so much better and not so ragged.  I can tell she is going to be very expensive in the beauty department.  A couple of days after her visit to the salon we were watching TV and a shampoo commercial came on...Chloe says "Hey, I've been there, it's fun!"  Love her heart!

Berry Picking Time!

During Spring Break we visited my Best Friend Leslie and her wonderful family.  Since her family grows strawberries we were able to venture out to the fields behind her home and let Chloe and Harper play and pick some.  These are some of my most favorite photos! 

What a lovely person!

Chloe's first stick person!

Fun at Granny and Papa's House

Chloe having fun on Granny's patio!  I am blessed that my wonderful parents watch Chloe each and every day while Ricky and I work!  I have never once worried for her safety, happiness and most of all if she is loved!

Who Sucks?!

Chloe found one of her old pacis the other day and just had to see if she could still suck on it!

Who's the Baby!?

Spring has sprung, or has it!?

East Tennessee had the mildest winter ever I do believe and the warmest March recorded.  Needless to say I am not complaining. Our heat bill was under $600 for the months of Jan. Feb. and March which is a blessing, and I didn't have to bundle up all winter.  However, with that said Spring came early.  With average temperatures ranging from 65-80 for several weeks in a row everything is either blooming or about to bloom.  In fact we opened our pool on March 26th (of course we wont swim in it until June it is still nice to view).

The dogwood trees, tulips, forsythia, and cherry trees were amazing...and so were Chloe's and Ricky's allergies.  Chloe's issues will require another post, but trust me the pollen count has been deadly here.  We have loaded up of Zyrtec, Allegra, and other concoctions in hopes for relief.  Needless to say nothing has worked really good.

Tonight, however our lovely flip flop wearing weather has faded.  Tonight I spend an hour covering all of my non-blooming plants hydrangea, lilacs, roses, and azalea in hopes the blooms don't freeze and die.  You see if the blooms freeze then these plants will not bloom the rest of the spring/summer season and being a plant lover I would be devastated.  I know it's not the end of the world but to a gardener a spring freeze is about as scary as a non swimmer in a boat.  You can try to prevent damage but in the end mother nature will decided.  This is our "Dogwood Winter" which will be followed by blackberry winter in the summer. Of course the weather for Sunday is 80 again and looks great all week!  Geesh sweaters of capris---who knows!

Easter

Happy Easter to everyone in blogger land!   Easter was great this year.  Ricky and I both had Good Friday off and the Monday after Easter.  The weather was perfect, the food was yummy, and the Chloe had fun!  We colored eggs, did Easter baskets filled with treats, and several egg hunts.  Luckily the weather was perfect and no body was sick :)! 

I have tons of great photos to share, but they take so long to upload it will have to wait!

Disney Dash

Since I now work in the same school system as Ricky, that means we now have the exact same schedule.  Wahoooo we get Fall and Spring break off together!  How perfect!  This year we headed to Florida to visit with some dear friends and their daughter, and to Disney. 

I was hoping Disney wouldn't be crowded but I was wrong.  It was very crowded with tons of spring breakers!  Apparently half the US has the same week off as Johnson City!  Oh well!  We arrived at Disney at 845am, plotted out our course of attack.  You would think that Disney should be relaxed and a smooth flowing affair, where one can just wonder for hours along the well landscaped paved trails while listening to the happiest music ever.  Uh NO sweetie pies....there is no wondering, instead plotting our course of attack and where to locate ALL the princesses.  We only had a mere15 hours to get it all in and we did pretty good.  Chloe wasn't her usual chipper self.  I guess the mixture of traveling, allergies, and over excitement over took her body, but she faired well and managed to meet most of the princesses.  We didn't wait in a 2 hour line to see Rapunzel, I managed to persuade her with candy to skip that one, we missed Jasmine but I told her the flying carpet ride was better and she went along with it.  We rode all the rides she wanted and even got to meet Snow White, Prince Erik, the Fairy Godmother, and Terrance along with Tink.  It was fun, but I have swore off Disney this summer.  We have planned to go back in October for a week during fall break and stay on site...that way we can rest and visit for more than one day!

I am not a Disney hater either!  I love Disney, but it is challenging with a toddler/preschooler so props to all the parents that take an infant or multiple little ones to Disney!  You guys are my heroes!

Princess Party

Chloe's party theme this year was Disney Princess'.  I started planning back in November and trust me I should have started back in the summer!  The party was a huge success, but boy was it a lot of work.  I planned everything with the help of Chloe's Granny, my mother and without her I couldn't have done it.  Along with the help of my wonderful husband, the muscle of the operation, and my Dad, brother, sister in law, and mother in law who stayed and helped clean up afterwards. I also had to of the most wonderful girls come dressed as Cinderella and Aurora!  Chloe was in shock that her two favorite princesses attended her party!  Thank you to all who came out and celebrated with us! 

I have a few photos to share and will post more once I receive them from the photographers.