It's Football Time in Tennessee!

Yesterday was a Lazy Sunday! It was yucky outside and the wind was crazy! Summer bought Brynn this dress when she was born and we decided to see if it fits yet. Mind you, it's a 12 Month!! Then an impromotu photo session broke out and we made Logan put on his jersey.

This pic is absolutely hilarious and can be used for black mail some day! The girl loves to spit.

I just thought Logan's feet looked soooo big next to hers!

So the Titans ended up winning and all is right in the world. This will have to be a game day tradition now because they are obviously lucky outfits!

Labor Day Decker Style...

We love to grill out but haven't much this summer what with the new baybay and all. We finally got the chance to over the holiday weekend and man was it refreshing! It's always nice to hang out with friends and their kiddos.

Amanda, Michelle, Ann, Teesh, Carrie and baby McKane

Josh and Blake

Heather, Teesh, Carol and Jenn

The Kids minus Adam...Logan is soooo thrilled!ha

Out for the entire gathering!

Shell, Tiner, Me Auto and Jenn

Me and my Hubby. The Deckers

We have an AMAZING group of friends. I seriously don't know what I'd do without them. It was so nice to catch up with everybody and yes, Brynn slept through the whole thing. Her room is right by our kitchen where most of us congregated. We have some not so quiet friends who would say, in their not so quiet voice, "I can't believe she is sleeping through all this!" Me neither!


Instructionsfor a Decker Grill Out:

20 of your closest friends
6 kids
2 babies
2 preggos
BBQ chicken
oddly shaped mac-n-cheese (thanks teesh)
all the other fixins' you could imagine
and ofcourse beverages of your choice
Mix together and serve with a dash of lime
Enjoy!

I just realized that we seriously need to get a guys group picture.

SCATTERED!!

I feel like I'm all over the place right now. I've got soooo many projects I want to accomplish and so little time in the day. I'm attempting to knit. My first project is a cute hat for Brynn so I can get some pics made of her in it. I'm teaching myself Photoshop. Which, by the way, is no easy task! I've got a basic knowledge but no where near where I wanna be! I would love to make scrapbooks for the kids but just thinking about starting that makes my skin crawl. It seems so overwhelming to me right now. One day I tell ya. I am now, apparently, a Sparks Leader at Awana. I said I 'd be willing to help out because I know Logan loves it when I help in his class. However, I didn't think I was going to be a Leader!! I'm sure it'll be fun, I just have no clue what I'm doing. I think it's really important to show interest in your kids activities and be involved with them. It makes them feel good about themselves and will hopefully keep them on the straight and narrow later down the road *fingers crossed*. I'm sure there's other stuff I am leaving out but I'm so scattered right now I can't even think straight. Oh and I wanna customize my blog layout. Any ideas how to go about this?
Anywho, had to get that out. Have a Great Day!

A Morning Stroll and a 6 Month Birthday...

So Brynn has made it to the half way mark. I can't believe in another short 6 months she'll be celebrating her first birthday! Yes, I've already started planning it. Even her attire for that day. As I mentioned earlier we had her check up Friday. Shots included.
Stats:
Height: 27 in. (90th percintile)
Weight: 17 lbs. 14 oz. (75th percintile)

We've got ourselves a big healthy baby! She did fabulous at her appointment and had no reactions to the shots except for being a little fussy the past 2 days. She loves going for walks in her stroller, wearing her adorable shades and is on her way to being a sitter! She's got 2 fave songs, "Baby's Hammer" by The Features and "All I Want Is You" from the Juno soundtrack. If she gets fussy in the car I can turn them on and she immediately calms down.
And that's your daily dose of Brynn updates.

Runnin' on Fumes

I stretched myself way to thin this weekend and am thrilled I actually made it through it. I've had big plans for a yard sale for a while now and realized if we didn't have it this weekend we wouldn't be able to for another 3 weeks at least. The pile of junk sitting atop my steps was just making me angry. Not only did I want to have a yard sale but I also wanted to Clean Sweep my garage while in the process.

Thursday I start to not feel so hot. Sore throat, allergy feeling. Not Good! Friday was Brynn's 6 month appt. (I will post about her later). So I get up, drive Logan to school and get back home in time for Brynn's nap and the Clean Sweep began. Our garage was Horrendous to say the least!! Josh and I got about 1/3 done before we had to go for her Dr. appt. at 10:45. A few shots and some crying later and we're headed back to finish. Garage gets done then comes all the yard sale organizing.

I had planned on having our old neighbor come for a sleep over and only planned on having 1 kid but his 4 yr. old brother really wanted to come too so how could I say no. I also had to get their things for the Lemonade Stand ready. Then my cousin calls and says she is coming to town and wants to meet for dinner around 8. I have to go because I hardly ever see her.

I am SO worn down by this point and I still have to get up at 5:30 AM for the sale.

I get some coffee down my throat Sat. morning and feeling like I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off (I rarely drink coffee). Kids are selling Lemonade, we're trying to sell our junk and I'm trying to keep Brynn happy...mind you she's just had shots. Plus my throat is still sore. I HAVE to lay down or I will not make the wedding we have to go to that night. So Brynn and I take a nap and Josh keeps the boys til their parents get them at 2. Then we're up and getting ready for the wedding which I have to miss my nephews 2nd birthday for. The in laws are keeping the kids thank goodness!

The wedding was probably the best one I've been too. She's in a sorority and him a fraternity. So basically a big frat party. After their vows the bridal party (13 bridesmaids and 13 groomsmen) seriously walked back down the aisle to "Walk It Out" and danced the whole way!!! Why was I not in this wedding!?

Finally we get home around 10. I was supposed to drive to Smithville today for my little cousins skating party but I could not bring myself to do it. I took a nice long afternoon nap and feel refreshed. Finally! Here's a few Yard Sale shots...

$$ from the Lemonade Stand

Mikey, Helen Grace, Logan and Aden...the Cul-De-Sac Clan

Thank Goodness for re-enforcements!

She was over it and so was I

Sneak Peek of Our Junk

The End

Brynn's New Tricks

Brynn is almost 6 months now! I can't believe we're half way to her 1st birthday! Time really does fly. We go Friday for her 6 month check up. Here is a pic of her feeding herself for the first time. She will shove anything that comes into contact with her hands into her mouth.

Mmmmm this is delish!

She's really into her toes right now and tries to suck them. Too cute. She's slowly but surely getting the hang of sitting too.

So far, we have ourselves a healthy, happy baby! We're so blessed. She's also FINALLY started sleeping through the night!! From about 7/7:30 til about 5 or 6. She'll then eat and go right back to sleep for about another hour. She takes 3 good naps a day. Two naps around 2 hours long and then a short 1 hour nap in the late afternoon. She's definitely getting her beauty rest. I'm just glad we're finally on a schedule. I looooove schedules! They make my life so much easier. Thought her facial expression in the pic below was hilarious and had to share.

Discovery School Update...

Logan has been in his new school for about a month now and he's finally getting used to the new friends and structure of his day. The first few weeks were pretty tough for him. If anyone asked him if he liked his new school his response was, "I hate it!" I was just praying it was a phase. Last week I found out there was a little girl that transferred from Siegel and was having a really hard time too. Crying every time she went to the bathroom. Logan said she was school sick, missed her friends and has since gone back to Siegel. I think the little girl was making Logan miss his school too. Since she's been gone he's got a completely different outlook about school. He's making lots of new friends, completing his work on time and likes his teacher.

A lot of people have asked what the difference in this school is compared to others. They follow the same curriculum as city schools but have a different way of teaching. It's not so by the book. Very out of the box. Lots more thought are put into lesson plans and a big thing this year is learning Time Management...which we all need to know. If work is not completed during the allotted time they must finish it during recess and can then play. Morning work is not just busy work. They have a Math Journal and a Writing Journal. There are problems on the board that they have to work out in their journal and then write how they got the answer. Not put, "I just knew." They also read out loud from a novel and if they get stuck on a word they take turns looking in a dictionary to find the definition. They record the word and definition on their ABC list and can go back and look at it for reference if they get stuck again.

I personally love the level of parent involvement. I really missed that when we started Kindergarten at CLA because there was sooo much of it at St. Marks Preschool. So that's it in a nutshell. I could go on and on but this post is long enough.
TTFN!