School, School, and More School

This week Sophie Lou started preschool. The first day she was very unsure about the whole thing, but now she talks about it fondly and is sad when it isn't a preschool day. Lilly was so excited for her sister's first day and I am excited that Sophie has something that is her own and is making her own friends. Sophie has really missed her sister when she goes to kindergarten and is excited to be doing some school herself.

Sophie on her first day.

Ron has also started up school again. He is getting his MLS (Masters of Library Science) through the University of North Texas. UNT caters to states that do not have MLS programs by coming to do "web institutes" in the area. These web institutes are basically four days of lectures. So for Labor Day and the three days prior Ron was getting started with his program. Hopefully, this will be his third and final degree.

A special thanks to David and Alison's family who put us all up while Ron was getting started. Lilly and Sophie still think that we should live together on a full time basis. Thanks for the great accommodations, food, and company.

Little Lil is Going to Kinder

Lilly is officially a kindergartner! She was very excited to start school and so far is still excited to get up and catch the bus. The night before school started she came and found me and Ron at about 10:00 pm to tell us she was too excited to even sleep. We are still adjusting to an earlier schedule, but all in all things are going pretty well.

Lilly on her first day.

The kindergarten bus didn't start up until the second week of school. (We actually only went in twice the first week of school and we got to go with her. Once was a general back to school morning, and the next day I took her in for an individual evaluation.) We all walked Lilly the couple blocks to her bus stop. This was by far the hardest part for me, I admit I did cry as the bus started to pull away. It is a very weird feeling to watch that bus pull away with your child who has been with you for five years. However, we do have very nice neighbors who have been sitting with her and making sure she makes it to the kindergarten area in the morning. After the first day, knowing that she made it there and back all right, it is much easier to put her on the bus. In fact, riding the bus, is by far her favorite part of school. She is very proud of the fact that she is a bus student.

Lilly waiting at the bus stop for her first bus ride.

Ode To Lilly Mae on her 5th birthday

Lilly Mae is 5! I can't believe she has been with us five years and is ready to go to school! Lilly had her first friend party this year to celebrate the momentous occasion. Grandma and Grandpa Mecham were visiting during her birthday week and were also able to help celebrate the occasion. They took us all out on her birthday to the restaurant with the "water wall".

Grandma and Grandpa Mecham with the girls.

Grandma and Grandpa with the birthday girl.

Sophie modeling Lilly's monkey slippers.

Lilly modeling her kindergarten back pack.

Dad brought this balloon home for Lilly on her birthday, balloons are definitely a favorite.

Soph and Lil in front of the water wall at her birthday dinner.

Dad and his girls at the restaurant.Lilly getting ready to blow out the candles at her friend party.

Her birthday cake/cupcakes.

Lilly taking a swing at the ice cream cone pinata. For her, no party is complete without a pinata.


A few things about our Lilly Mae-

-She has become quite the party planner. For her birthday she was very concerned that both the girls and the boys invited would have fun. Her idea was that we should have a princess/cars theme so everybody would like it. We went more for a gender neutral party, but the favors she picked out were made into boys and girls bags. She was also quite a help in planning the family reunion. She would always show me things and say, "this would be fun for the kids at the reunion." She is the reason there was a pinata for the kids at our 4th of July party at Bear Lake.

-Sometimes she call Ron's car, the corolla, "the Minnesota". Not sure where she got that one from, but don't laugh too hard, she is quite sensitive about loud laughter that comes after things that she says.

-She is kind and very good at making friends. Whenever we go to a park or playground she is always on the lookout for new friends. She is quick to walk up to other kids and say, "Hi, I'm Lilly, what's your name?"

-She is an adventuresome eater. She is willing to try anything and likes calamari, mushrooms, fish, and many other things her mother won't even eat.

-She is a good big sister and always is playing pretend games with Sophie. These games often involve Sophie calling Lilly, "mother", which can sometimes get confusing.

-She can play puppies with her friends for hours on end.

-Her hair finally has a little length to it (refer to post in November for the infamous hair incident). I am pretty sure she will never pull that trick again.

-She loves babies. She is always telling parents their babies are cute and I think she is more than ready for another baby to come to our house.

Lilly Mae we love you and can't believe you are five years old! You are a great daughter, a great big sister, and we are so happy you are in our family.

Carnivals, Fares, and Rodeos

We didn't get too far from home for vacations this summer, but we did do a lot of fun things locally and closer to home. For the second year in a row we went up to Ron's parents house to check out the Preston Night Rodeo. The Rodeo received mixed reviews from the girls, their favorite part is always the carnival and going on the rides. We also went to the local County Fair which is always a hit because who doesn't love animals and pony rides?


Sophie riding the turtle.

Both girls driving the orange truck.

Lilly riding the caterpillar coaster. Lilly has always loved roller coasters.

Lil and Soph on the carousel. This one was a favorite, we had to ride it twice.

Lilly and Sophie after the pre-rodeo parade. Cute waving girls+parade=lots of candy.

Soph and her dad at the Preston night rodeo.

Lilly and her cousins Nikki and Mikey sitting in the stands at the rodeo.

Lilly petting a baby goat at the petting zoo.

Soph by the goats.

Soph, Lil, and a Watusi. Ron was mad I cut him out of this picture, he was touching the end of one of the horns. Largest horns I have ever seen.

At the County Fair there was an alligator show. It was mine and Ron's favorite part, but I think it did scare the girls a little. They really only liked it when they brought out the baby gator, but it was very entertaining, and educational. For example, did you know that alligators eyes can recede back into their heads for protection?

Lilly and dad petting some bunnies.

Cowgirl Lilly, pony rides are always a hit.

Cowgirl Sophie, on her very first pony ride.

Fuller Family Reunion-Bear Lake 2009

Over the fourth of July weekend we had the biannual Fuller Family Reunion at Bear Lake. It was three days packed full of lake fun, jet skis, food, sports, and general family fun. This year Ron and I along with Clark were the planning commitee. I definitely feel like planning this event is something I could put on my resume. It would say something like, "planned food, lodging, and activities for 50+ people over the course of three days." Organization is not one of my strong points, and I was worried about how things would turn out, but all in all things went really well and even I managed to destress and have a good time.

On the second day I got a minute alone with Sophie and she said to me, "I have 7 dads and 10 mommys." Ron and I were running around so much, it felt like we never saw our own kids. I was glad to hear that there were plenty of people looking out for her.

We had plenty of help and thank everyone for contributing to a great reunion. And thanks to Anne for sending out all her pictures (this slideshow is all from her camera).

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It's a Boy!

Well it seems as if the masses got it right again. The ultrasound confirmed the poll and we are indeed having a boy. We are excited and contemplating what this new addition means. On the surface it means that we will have to paint the bedroom (I don't think we should start him out in a pink room) and that we will need all new clothes, bedding, etc. I found it interesting that right before we found out what the baby was both girls declared it to be a boy.

Well it seems that there is more to be said and pictures to add, but I am falling asleep. I'll check back in over the next day or so and edit the entry. Good night.

We're going to have to rename the blog

Well I hope most of you know this by now, but child number three is on the way and will be here sometime in mid-October. The big ultrasound is next week on Thursday. I am copying this idea from a friend, but I liked the idea and they were right for her, so I wanted to check, what will baby number three be? Check back Thursday to see if you were right.


P.S. I have been a blogger slacker, but have added several new entries today. The first new one was Easter weekend, I figured out how to backdate the entries, but be sure to scroll down after voting.