Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Our Fall in pictures

Yes, its mid-January and I am posting about our family adventures from 
 last fall. Ya'll life is crazy, as I seem to say in every post. But, today we got a snow day and tomorrow we get another which means, I have free time that I don't normally get. Time where I don't have to worry about packing lunches, laying out school clothes and looking through homework folders.
                     So, I might be late in posting, but this blog has always been a scrapbook of sorts for my kids and I want to keep it updated for them. SO, here goes...I last left off with our Gatlinburg trip from Fall Break. We had so much fun! But we came home to get ready for more fun!

First up...our annual Fessler Family pumpkin/apple trip to the North Georgia Mountains.

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Mimi and Poppy with all the grand-kids

Our attempt at a family pic
5 of the grand-kids, this was too cute to not a picture!
Wynn and Bella(one of her favorite cousins!)
Then came Halloween 2015! Olivia, Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper were so excited to go trick-or-treating with friends in Marmie and Poppy's neighborhood.



We trick-or-treated with the Parsons. We met them through baseball, and know we do small group with them too. We love them!

Not long after that we headed out to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum to ride the train with our cousins Caleb and Dylan. We always have fun on the train and this time we rode on the back platform. It was so peaceful and we all found that it might be our new favorite spot when riding a train.

 And then all of a sudden it was Thanksgiving. Luke's class had a feast complete with pilgrims and Indians. I am so thankful to be a mommy at the same school that I work in. I was able to just walk right down to his class and be a part of the feast with him.



The boys helping me to make the topping for the sweet potato casserole and apple pie. I love cooking with them!
Marmie, Wynn and Anna(one of her favorite cousins!) on Thanksgiving night.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we took the kids to Ruby Falls. The boys and I drive past the Falls every single day on our way to school. The boys have asked often to go and finally we had the time to take them. Its fun sometimes to be a tourist in your own town!
The 5 mile hike underground was well worth it to see the Falls!
The kids had a blast going through the caves to see the Falls. Afterwards we headed down the mountain to have dinner at Mojo Burrito.














Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Fall Break fun in the Smoky Mountains

Our school system takes a week Fall Break every October. After starting a full time job at a new school and the boys adjusting to a new school and new schedule, we were all ready for a break. Mike I had been talking about taking the kids away for a trip, and as we talked we realized that this would be our first trip as a family of five by ourselves. We usually either stay with family or go with family when we go out of town, so this was a big deal for us.
Ready to head out for our first day in Pigeon Forge!
He looks so much older than 7 here. This kiddo had so much fun and conquered some fears by going down some pretty big water slides!
This girl loved the water park!
Loving the water park at the hotel. He loved the wave pool!

We decided to take a short trip up to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN. The kids had never been and we needed somewhere that was close and had lots of fun stuff to do. So, after booking a room at the Wilderness Lodge we set off for a few days of fun.


Will in ready position to head down the slide!
And, we did have fun. We had a blast actually and are already to go back. Will ran a fever the first night we were there and struggled with a sinus infection the entire time and Luke and Wynn were fussy here and there due to staying up late, swimming a lot and no naps, but we were together and in the end it was good.
Will and I on the ski lift up to the apline slide.

Luke and Daddy going down the slide.

Proof that these two do love each other!
My favorite memory was heading up to Ober Gatlinburg and racing down the alpine slide with Will and Luke. Even Wynn went down the slide. We rode the chairlift, completed a maze together and watched the ice skaters skate around the ice skating rink as we sampled fudge. We got back to the hotel in time to swim for a couple of hours before ordering a pizza in the room while watching Disney Channel Halloween shows.
Wynn's turn down the slide.



Our last day we went to Dollywood and met up with my sister, parents and nephew Tate. It was our first time there and we LOVED it. It was every bit as nice as Disney and the food was much better!
Yep, that's my kind of fun. My kids had smiles on their faces and Mike and I enjoy just soaked up watching them enjoy themselves. I know I won't forget this trip for quite awhile.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Back to School!

School is back in session. As much fun as the summer was, I actually enjoy getting back into a routine. We (Will, Luke and I) started a new school. I took a full-time library position at Lookout Mountain Elementary School. It is wonderful, absolutely wonderful! The worst part, the 35 minute drive to work/home up or down the mountain. The best parts, bringing my boys to school with me. I get to walk them to class everyday, see them in the hallways, cafeteria and even the library when they come in for classes. It is a mamma's dream!


This year, we had another one to start kindergarten. I will say, I was emotional last year as we dropped off Will. This year dropping off Luke was different. I was not leaving him. I was simply walking down the hall and my momma emotions could handle that a whole lot better. Luke is doing great and loving kindergarten! He is excited to go to school each morning, which makes life a lot easier. His teacher's name is Mrs. McKenna. Luke loves her so much!






Will is in first grade this year and is already doing very well! His teacher's name is Miss Yarnell and he really likes her. Will, our social butterfly, has already made several friends and is in the process of working out the details on a few afterschool playdates. Will, too, loves going to school every morning.







Wynn is back at her old school East Ridge Elementary where she and I were last year. She was happy to get back to her teacher Ms. Brittney and all of her friends. She seems to be doing well and constantly talks about school. This year she rides with Mike. The boys and I leave around 7:00 am every morning, so I don't see Wynn until about 3;30 every afternoon. That makes things a little hard, but its what we have to do right now, and she is happy with her friends. I know because she is always playing away when I go to pick her up and all the kids say "Bye Wynn" when we leave. She must be popular!:)

We are so glad for the great start of our school year! Here's hoping for a great rest of our year!


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Summer of Baseball

Every summer I think to myself, "I'm going to do ______ with the kids". Fill in the blank with picnics, reading books outside on a blanket, making tye-dye tshirts to just having fun. This summer we did none of those things. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Why you ask? Because we played all-star baseball.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE watching my boys play ball, but this year it consumed our lives. Everyday I was washing uniforms and loading everyone up to go back to the ballfield. We got home late most nights, ate cereal or pizza for dinner and got in bed only to get up and do it all over the next day. So, no fun creative stuff happened this summer. Just the pool, playing the wii, baseball, neighbor friends playing in the garage, more wii, more baseball and more pool. I joked with friends that we were so busy that I merely kept three kids alive this summer, but in all honesty I had one happy little boy. I guess that made this summer a success after all.

Happy birthday Wynn!


 Wynn is two! Not sure how that happened, but it snuck up on us for sure. So, to celebrate our little princess we decided to have our good friend Elsa to come see Wynn. (A good friend in our small group just happens to have long blonde hair that goes into an Elsa braid perfectly. I gave her an Elsa dress and ta-da!! Elsa to go!)

Anyways, Wynn loves all things princess, but especially Frozen or AnnaElsa as she calls them. She has several little friends and even her cousin Bella come to celebrate. The boys played superheroes and all things boyish upstairs in the playroom until we called them down for snacks.

The day of Wynn's party was also Mimi's birthday so we celebrated her too complete with a cake and singing. I think it was a special day for Wynn and in the end that's all that matters!





Monday, June 15, 2015

Ear infections, answered prayers and kindergarten


This guy is a trooper. He had surgery 2 weeks ago to have tubes placed in his ears and to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. It's something that we knew was probably going to need to happen early on, but it wasn't until he started school and his pre-k teacher noticed his poor hearing that we realized we had to do something. Also, Luke is the only one of our kids who has had chronic ear infections and he snored and breathed the loudest while sleeping.  So, we knew this surgery was coming.  I had prayed for Luke to get better without the surgery. I didn't want him to go through it.



But, he had to have it. The doctor saw him barely 5 minutes when he looked in his throat and said "Geez! His adenoids are HUGE!!" He then said they need to come out. After looking at his ears and seeing how much fluid was on them he said he had to have tubes. A quick 5 minute diagnosis. We tried Flonase for a month, sometimes that can decrease an adenoid, but it didn't work. I prayed and prayed. He would have to be put to sleep and I was scared. But, he had the surgery and he came through like a champ. Sure he had some rough days. He cried and moaned at night, and not much would help him except his strong medicine which he hated because it tasted bad.


But, now he is good and he feels good and hears much better and as he says, "I'm ready for kindergarten mommy!" And this is a big deal, because we were going to hold him back in pre-k one more year, but we got a surprise with me getting a full-time library job next year at a school without a pre-k. And Luke and Will want to go with me to school, so Luke is going to kindergarten. He is so excited!!



So my sweet boy, who won't be 5 until the end of July; my sweet boy, who is my baby boy, and seems so much younger than he is and even looks younger, to me at least, than he is...he is starting kindergarten. My sensitive boy who is also rough and tough will start big boy school. My precious boy who loves to take care of his sister, who doesn't know all of his letter sounds yet, but can hit a baseball and throw farther than several 6 year olds I know...yeah, he is starting school.



It's hard for me to believe I guess because this was not my plan. Like I said he was going to do another year of pre-k. He and Will were going back to Westview with Marmie. Wynn and I were going back to East Ridge. I never factored in the fact the God had another plan for our family. One that is, of course, better than what I could have imagined. My exact prayer for quite awhile had been for me to get to be at a school with all of my kids. In fact, I had prayed to be at Westview when their librarian retires. That was my plan. But, God knew what he was doing. He always does. Sometimes it just takes us a little while to fully understand the path he takes us through to get us where we need to be. Funny how chronic ear infections when your baby boy is small can be the start of an answered prayer down the road.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Little Miss Wynn


Miss Wynn...she is a little ball of energy. She is all smiles and is so much fun! And somehow, she is already 22 months old!!! I just can't believe it, but its true. So, here a few things I would like to remember about her at this age:
  • This girl loves shoes and clothes and her beloved hairbow!! She is rarely without one, which I am glad for, because I think she is adorable with one in. This girl likes to be cute and is not crazy about getting dirty, but that also doesn't stop her from making a mess or messing up her clothes!
  • She loves to eat!!! Gummis, macaroni and cheese (she calls it roni), chicken, rice...she LOVES rice, chips and sour cream and bars (granola bars) are just a few of her favorites, but not all. Seriously...this girl can eat!
  • She calls her cup juicy and her diapers Elmo. She wears a pampers baby dry size 4. She has always worn Luvs, but about a month ago, we had to use a pampers and now she is hooked. 
  • She loves her stroller that she got for Christmas and her babydoll. She has several stuffed animals and dolls and they all get to ride in her stroller.
  • She loves Frozen or AnnaElsa as she calls it and Cinderella or Rella. Her favorite show is Paw Patrol and Bubble Guppies, but she likes to watch Tom and Jerry with her brothers too.
  • She loves a bath and now she thinks showers are pretty cool too!
  • She copies her brothers and everyone else and is picking up quite a lot of things. Some being good. She knows most of her colors and shapes and if you say 1, 2 she will say 3 and sometimes 4. 
  • She loves to read.Oh, my gosh, she is her mother's daughter! There are times where she will disappear for a few moments. And always, when I go find her, she is reading.
  • She loves to laugh and to have fun with her brothers and often gets in on the games they are playing. They are usually super sweet and include her which makes my heart happy.
  • And finally...she just starting sleeping in a big girl bed!!! Enough said!:)

Playing at Legoland in Atlanta

At Superfly. This girl loved the trampolines! 
Mommy and Wynnie!
Loving her new bed!