Willa’s Preschool Program

If you’ve been within a hundred yards of Willa Kate over the last month, you’ve been invited to her preschool program. That girl has been recruiting hard for an audience, and now we can see why!  She even lobbied so well that I even let Harper skip school to support her sister.  That girl is gonna be a heck of a salesperson.  

This year finishes our sixth year at Cave Spring Baptist Preschool. Bless them. Six years of Fertittas. I congratulated them on a two year break before our little guy pops on to the preschool scene. 

This year has been my least involved, most forgetful year (when was I supposed to make Play Doh?  Can I make it in the hospital sink?), but we were met with nothing but grace. Mrs. Caldwell loved our Willa and our family so well. She hugged me tightly at the Christmas program, where I sat in tears after a scare that morning with Brother, sure we’d be losing him soon. In the same fellowship hall, we both hugged again remembering that day four months before, wishing I could go back and tell that devastated mama that she would be at the spring program, holding the hand of her oldest while smiling at her five-year-old and pushing around a stroller with everything but a crib for her precious, perfect boy. God is so good. 

I don’t have pretty pictures from the day.  I think some parents may have camped out the night before to save all the seats for their 47 extended family members coming so space was limited, and I wanted to hide Dex a bit to keep him out of the crowd. So my iPhone pics from 50 yards away may not be the best. Sorry, Wills. But, I promise, we are just as proud!  Kasey and Mimi rounded out the WKF Fan Club, and she was so glad to have them there.

 After the program, we didn’t do the picnic at the church pavilion afterward (5 person family + 3 hours sleep= 0 desire to pack a picnic lunch). Instead, we went over the Macados for a celebratory graduation lunch. While we were eating, I bragged to her about what Mrs. Caldwell share with me about her. She’s the class leader— the first to try something new, the first to follow directions. She’s obedient and is kind to her classmates. Even though I wondered where that girl goes at home 😆, I told her how proud I am of her working hard and being kind. Work hard and be nice to people. That about sums it up!

Cousins

Oh my goodness, I couldn't love these babies more if I tried.  NOT. HAPPENING. 

For Father's Day, Dad asked for a canvas of each grandchild to put in his office.  Leah and I talked about it to decide what size and whether to do portrait or landscape, and finally the OCD won out, and we decided to wait until she came up with the boys for Fourth of July to have a matching background.  In classic Leah-Ally fashion, we waited until right before they packed up to leave to snap some shots, but these little kiddos are picture pros, so five minutes later we had some belated Father's Day photos ready to go.  I love these sweet cousins.

 

 

 

 

Hanging with My Girls

We have had such a fun summer so far, and even though there are days where I desperately miss those 8:00 p.m. school year bedtimes, I've loved all these little every day adventures.  We've had lots of

SNUGGLES

CUPCAKES

 

SLEEPOVERS

PARK DATES

MOVIES

ELMWOOD PARK WATER SPOUTS (fully clothed, haha)

FUN FOOD

(Harper tries sushi for the first time)

 

SHOPPING

Daddy Daughter Royal Ball

Are you ready to see the sweetest thing you've ever seen?  (I wonder how many posts I've started that way.  But really.  This is the sweetest.)  Well, here you have it, my sweet little ladies loving all over their Dad.  We all love him big time. 

A few months ago, I saw Growing Up in the Valley advertising for a Daddy Daughter Royal Ball on the Friday before Father's Day.  These girls adore their dad (and as much as his friends tease him about needing a boy, Sam is a total girl dad), so I knew they would all enjoy a special evening out together.  When I told Harper and Willa Kate about the event, Harper went over the moon thinking she was going to get to "marry her Daddy."  Seriously.  I told you this was the sweetest post ever!

Well, you can't go to a "wedding" without a "wedding dress" so Harper had me on the lookout for a big, white wedding dress for her.  I ended up finding these sweet flower girl dresses from Burlington Coat Factory, and they were only $11 each!  They were on clearance, so they were each a little big, but I figured Harper would appreciate the extra length, since she's obsessed with ultra long maxi dresses.  I had one other dress for each girl (purple for Harper, yellow for Willa), but there was no selling them on anything but their "wedding dresses."

 

 

This week has been so, so crazy.  We didn't get back from Virginia Beach until Monday night, I worked Tuesday, and then early Wednesday morning, I left for Raleigh for work meetings that weren't set to finish up until 2:00 on Friday.  Well, my meetings ended up going over, and I literally pulled in the driveway as this beautiful trio was walking out to load up.  I would start tearing up on the ride home, thinking I was going to miss seeing them.  I am so, so grateful I made it, and super thankful for Kasey on days like today.  She watched the girls while Sam worked, and made it a fun day for them by giving them manicures and  pedicures and sweet little hairstyles. 

While Sam took the girls into the Royal Ball, I went across the street and enjoyed a quiet dinner in the Market by myself.   After such a full, nonstop week, it felt so good to just relax a bit.  The girls enjoyed their pictures and dancing with their dad, but after a few hours, they walked across the street to join me for some food. 

With all the fun we like to have and all the places we try to go, I often think these girls don't know how lucky they are.  But, really, the best gift I could ever give these children of mine was Sam as their dad.  Lucky him.  Lucky them.  Lucky us.