Who needs sleep?

It is ten o'clock and Brooklynn is doing this . . .

And this is what she has been doing for the past 2 hours! Who needs sleep anyway?

Bad Blogger

Yes, I have been a bad blogger. I have no excuses, just that to say the beginning of this school year has been stressful and busy, busy, busy!

Brooklynn has been doing great and enjoying dance and school. Today she painted a picture and we talked about the letter S. We read a book about S, thought of words that start with S, and found things that started with S in her room! If Mommy can find the time, we are going to do more S activities this week!

River

Brooklynn has made it almost one week with no paci! We are very proud of her, although it is taking her much longer (hours longer) to go to sleep each night.

Tonight we decided to walk down by the river to try and get out a little of her energy.

She walked all the way down to the river.

Walked up all these stairs.

Then pulled the wagon back to the house.

Hopefully tonight she will go right to sleep after all the work!

No More Pacifiers!

Today Brooklynn decided to throw all her pacifiers away. She bagged them all up and threw them in the trash in exchange for something from Toys R Us. After a having a hard time deciding she went with her very own vacuum. She spent much of the day cleaning the house and even vacuumed the porch and yard around her playset.

Pops came over for dinner and Brooklynn and I made brownies for dessert.

Mixing the brownies

The finished product

Yummy!

We shall see how she does tonight with no paci!

Mom's travel update: We haven't heard from Mom in almost a week. The phone they purchased to call us with isn't working. Somehow they managed to send and email to tell us that much, but we haven't heard from them since. Today they headed to Athens and tomorrow they load the cruise ship. I must say that I am ready for her to get back! I have Open House tomorrow so Dad is going to pick B up and keep her until Nick gets off work.

Friday Travels

For those of you following my mom and aunt's travels, here is their Friday agenda: First, they will begin the day with a tour of Thessaloniki and then head to Veria and visit the ancient site of Berea. This was Paul's last stop in Macedonia before continuing on to Athens. They will also get to stop at the tomb of King Philippos, the father of Alexander the Great. Then it is off to Kalambaka and a new hotel.

Brooklynn did great today at dance. Pops said that there were three girls there. One wouldn't cooperate and left early. B and the other girl had a blast together though!

Wednesday Dinner with Pops

Tonight Brooklynn and I went out to dinner with Pops. Brooklynn loved Golden Corral. What is it with kids and that place?! Students at every school I've taught at talk about how it is their favorite place to eat. Anyway, I took B to the dessert bar and she immediately wanted a brownie. I don't think she has ever had one before and oh how she LOVED the brownie. I promised her we would make brownies this weekend!

Tomorrow Brooklynn has dance class and Pops will be filling in for Mimi. Maybe he will learn a few moves in the Mommy and Me class!

Travel Update: Mom called Dad this afternoon and she and Shay arrived safely to Greece. Dad said she was really tired bc she hasn't slept for two days. Meredith talked to Shay who said Mom was "ill as a hornet!" Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix!

Here are their plans for Thursday:

In the morning they will drive east to Phillipi, where Paul first preached the Gospel to Europe. They will also visit the Roman crypt where Paul was imprisoned. Next they will head to the nearby village of Lydia where Paul baptized Lydia, the first baptism to take place in Europe. Next they will visit Kavalavis, for a lunch stop. The port of Kavala is thought to also be the ancient port of Neapolis where Paul landed after he sailed from Torad to Macedonia. On their way back to the hotel they will visit the Church of St. Demetrios with its wonderful mosaics and frescoes.

Church of St. Demetrios

Watch Out, Greece!

No pictures tonight, too much work to do! I just wanted to give a quick update on Mom and Aunt Shay's travels.

They departed Atlanta tonight and will arrive in Thessaloniki tomorrow sometime after stops in Paris and Athens. They will be following the travels of Paul, so I will update the blog nightly with info on what they are doing the next day! I wish I were there!

Thessaloniki is a city renowned for its well-preserved monuments of Byzantine and Ottoman architecture. Named after the sister of Alexander the Great, this industrious port city was founded in 315 B.C. and today serves as Greece's second major economic and cultural center.

Apple Pickin'

Brooklynn had such an exciting weekend! Saturday Nick and I went to the Clemson game, so B got to spend the day with Gram and Poopa. She was exhausted Saturday night when she got home. Sunday morning she rolled out of bed shouting that she wanted to, "pick apples out of the tree!"

We met up with Gram, Poopa, and Aunt Laura and headed to Hendersonville. Afterwards, we headed downtown to the Apple Festival.

Here is a picture of our little apple picker last September. She is a growing girl!

Little Dancer

Here are some pictures of B all ready for dance last Thursday. She was still talking about wanting to go back to class last night as we tucked her in bed.

My Little Butterfly

Today was Brooklynn's first dance class. It was supposed to be several weeks ago, but they didn't have enough girls. Today it was just B and one other friend. Mimi took her and said she did a great job even though it took her a few minutes to warm up. She learned to crab walk, dance like a butterfly, and she practiced rolling across the floor. It was all she could talk about this afternoon. Mimi took some pictures of B in her leotard. I'll post those as soon as I get them!

Mom is going to Greece with Aunt Shay next week, so Pops is on dance duty for the next two weeks! That should be entertaining. I'm sure the dance teachers aren't used to grandpas sitting in with all the moms! But, it shouldn't be awkward for Dad because there is only one other child in the class.

Pics coming soon!