{Merry Christmas}

{Happy 8th Birthday William}

Halloween is always extra special in our house because of our Halloween birthday boy. I can't believe you are now an 8 year old. We couldn't be more happier with how wonderful you are growing. Smart, kind, fun and full of love.

Started off the morning before Halloween with a book character parade at school. Students were to pick a book character who demonstrate good behavior. The whole family read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this summer. Without a doubt, William picked Willy Wonka for his character. Thank goodness for a very petite GG. We found the perfect Purple velvet coat.

This is Samantha's first book character parade and she choose Paddington Bear. The friendliest bear from deepest darkest Peru.

The one thing that the birthday boy asked for his birthday is a sleepover party with his best buddies at school. 7 boys total was a challenge...but we have the best set of fun and well behaved boys.

A lil Halloween photo booth fun!

Football and trampoline.

Pizza and Ice Cream cake for some hungry kids.

Fun and celebration continued with a backyard movie and popcorn bar.

Exhausted kids and Dad in their sleeping bags at the basement. Samantha and Mom enjoyed the comfy king bed upstairs.

But not too exhausted to wake up bright and early to donuts and happy birthday cheers from friends and family.

Happy birthday William!!! We love you!

{First Day of School: 2015}

What a big day for our house! The youngest is finally at big kid school. I didn't realize how much more emotional could this be...I guess that's what happen when you send the baby of the family to Kindergarten.
I was so happy how excited Samantha was. Not a bit nervous and was just eager that this big day has arrived. So much talk leading up to this and she was as ready as can be.

And William, wow such a big kid at 2nd grade. Very noticeable how much he has matured and was just really calm about first day. He was so excited that Samantha is finally at the same school as he is.

Glimpse of their first day at school.
Walking to school with their backpacks on.

Samantha's fun kindergarten classroom

William with his second grade homeroom teacher.

Successful first day of school for both. Samantha even came home with this gift from her sweet teachers. Schultute, a German tradition for first day of school. A big cardboard cone, prettily decorated and filled with toys, chocolate, candies, school supplies, and various other goodies. It is given to children to make this anxiously awaited first day of school a little bit sweeter. ‪

{Summer Beach Trip 2015}

Culler Carillon Beach Vacation from Donna Culler on Vimeo.

{Scenes From An Awesome Birthday Weekend}

My favorite white chocolate moose cake for the night before, yummy muffins from Sugar Shak, received the Athleta Sports bra on my wish list and lots of hugs and snuggles from these two.

Then a grown up treat for Mommy and Daddy to make for a birthday to remember --- a staycation at the Intercontinental Hotel with our favorite couple. Love having a joint birthday celebration with my dearest friend Ra. Lots of pool time (kid free, yeah), a dinner at the hottest sushi place in town, Umi. Capped off with a late night fun at the Bourbon and Ham Bar. What a fun fun night!

{4th of July 2015}

Another lovely time with the family celebrating 4th of July. Every year, I fall in love with our porch banners. It's just perfection. The whole house is decked out in red, white and blue for this special holiday.

Samantha's pre school parade is a great kick off to our holiday. The kids are so adorable with their decorated bikes. Fun fun times! Sad that this will be her last year at her pre-school.

The morning of the 4th, we got up bright and early for a very rainy Peachtree Road Race. All 3 of us finished the 10K in under 60 mins. Wahoo!

We finished off the day with some more family time with a country boil at home and then enjoyed the local fireworks show.

{William's First Cast}

I got a call from camp that William slipped and landed odd on a bouncy during carnival day. Spoke to the counselor and she notified me that he's been complaining of pain in his right arm. She told me that he fell 15 mins ago. I was finishing up a meeting at work and asked her to monitor and keep an eye on him and I can pick him up in a couple of hours if need be. I called at lunch at they told me that although he seems to still be hurt, he wasn't complaining about it and was "ok" and even turned down their offer for an ice pack.

I picked William up after work and noticed that he couldn't straighten his arm. At dinner, he also used his left hand to eat instead of the right. Wow, something is really bothering him! Mother of the year award here, for deferring pick up! I contemplated on rushing him to ER, but a circle of expert Mom friends suggested that it's really best to just go straight to an orthopedic doctor, if he's not experiencing fever or complaining of discomfort. The following day, I called the orthepedic office and grabbed the earliest appointment. The X-ray deemed that he had a hairline fracture on his elbow and will need to be on cast for 3 weeks. We were in and out of the office in an hour! Impressive and what an awesome $ system. LOL.

William was asked to picked a color for his cast. Was not surprise when he went with orange. Auburn fan thru and thru. The doctor also informed us that he needs to be off any strenuous activities. Bummer because William was looking forward to his soccer camp (we had to cancel). Also, what a torture not be able to enjoy swimming on this hot summer day. But, very typical of William, my lil boy always sees the bright side and can be as happy as can be. He was sort of excited for the cast because he can have friends sign it :)

{Stone Mountain Family Hike}

It was such a beautiful cool summer morning and we didn't had anything lined up. Instead of being lazy, we decided that today would be a perfect day for the family to hike Stone Mountain. The walk up trail to Stone Mountain is a 1 mile fun trail. and the top is 1,686 feet above sea level. It's been known to be a challenging trail but we know that William and Samantha can totally do this and we will just take our time.

Here we are ready to go!

Hopping from one rock to another made for a fun adventure for the kids.

Don't be fooled by this tiny legs. Her determination is big and she was ready to conquer this hike.

This resting spot was the perfect place to just soak everything in and enjoy the view.

Almost there.

We made it. The skies were clear and we were able to enjoy amazing views of downtown Atlanta, the North Georgia mountains and the surrounding area.

An awesome first Stone Mountain hike for us. We decided to get the parking pass that day and will be going back again!

{First and Last Day of School 2015}

Samantha PRE-K

• Learned to spell BAT, CAT, HAT
• Learned more prayers
• Has really blossomed this year! Her confidence and outgoing personality came out
• Played soccer
• Loves to read books and always ask to bring one to class
• Is ready for KINDERGARTEN!!!

WILLIAM - 1st GRADE

• Improving Mastery in German. Able to write and speak sentences in German
• Mastered subtraction and addition, beginning knowledge of multiplication
• Won 1st place on sack race during field day
• Read numerous chapter books.
• Straight A student and Gifted kid
• Run Club member and played soccer

{Samantha's Pre-K Graduation}

Oh what a special day it was for our lil girl. She's been looking forward to this day and her class has been practicing hard. They did great and it was such an enjoyable performance!

We are so proud of you Samantha! What a fun Pre-k year it has been for you.

{Honor's Day 1st Grade}

So proud of William and all his achievements this year. Not only did he excel academically, but he also exhibited the best manner and behavior this school year. He's been really amazing! :)

{Mother's Day 2015}

What a lovely, lovely Mother's Day it was. I truly enjoyed the effort of my family.
Enjoying our backyard post church. Mother's day was the perfect to opportunity to rock our matching Mother and Daughter Lilly for Target.

The kids and Ed get to work and started crankin' up my special brunch.
William decided to make our favorite croissants.

Samantha was in charge of the fruit salad.

Ed was in charge of the bacon and eggs on the Big Green Egg.

While this momma just sat down and enjoy her mimosa.

Perfect Mother's day spent snuggling with my favorite people. We even got to take an afternoon nap and a family stroll at the park.

This guy...I love him dearly. Spoils me rotten. Never fails to remind me what an awesome Mom I am. My biggest motivator and encouragement. Such a great Husband and Dad. Teaching our kids everyday to treat their Momma right. Oh and he potted several flowers for our patio as part of my Mother's day request.