My cute little First Graders!

Sophie and Ella are officially First Graders. 

oh my. 

where has the time gone?

I swear just yesterday they were my sweet little 2-year olds?

 and now they are my sweet and sassy First Graders. 

say it ain't so

Abbie always has to crash her sissies pictures.  but i don't mind because she is just so cute.

and of course in true whitacre fashion we had to pretty the girlies up on "first day of school eve".

and of course miss abbie had to partake in the pampering.



Here they are in their classroom.  I don't think there will be many more years in which they (they being Sophie and Ella as well as the school) will allow me to photograph the girls every move on their first day of school...is mommy a little over the top, perhaps.





Of course the first day of school took a strange turn when all the schools in the area dismissed early because of terrible flooding that was happening in our area as a result of a hurricane.  We ended up having the rest of the week off due to the devasting floods. 

We tried to make the most of the rain by playing in our flooded yard while daddy kept pumping 4 feet of water out of our basement.







and the next day we played some more.





We were definitely spared from the devestation that others in our community had to face. The worst part is these poor people had to deal with this 5 years ago when the first "100 year flood" hit our village.  We never dreamed it would happen again several years later.














It was awesome to see our community come together and help all those families in need...we are so blessed to live in a village made up of so many loving and selfless people.  We are blessed.

Sophie hearts horses.

Sophie looooves horses.  I am pretty sure that she developed this love while spending time with her babysitters daughter, Sarah, who loves horses so much I remember she would be galloping around on her knees every afternoon when I would pick Sophie up after work. 

Her first toy horse was purchased while we were in Hilton Head when Sophie was 2.  I remember it so vividly.  I told her she could go pick out a toy if she could put her face under water.  I remember going to target and Sophie picked out a Schleich horse which she named Kalum (pronounced Kaylum).   No idea where that name came from.  I wish I could find a picture of Sophie with Kalum but unfortuntatly my memory stick broke with all of those pictures on it (sniff, sniff).  However, I did find this picture from that same vacation and low and behold look what is in her hand...a stuffed horse (apparently we bought her 2 horses on that vacation, ohhh the days of only having one child).

Her love of horses continued to grow...
 she would be soo happy when she had a chance to ride on a horse!

Here she is at 3 years old.

And here at her 4 year old pony party!

4 years old at the Apple Fest

So you can just imagine her excitement when Mommy and Daddy told her we enrolled her in horseback riding lessons. 

She was so ready.

And handled her horse with such ease.

and confidence.

She paid full attention to the teacher

and loved

Every second of it.

The rest of the clan came along to cheer Sophie on.

I have to say.

we have found Sophie's thing!! 

And we couldn't be happier.

Playdate with the little ones

While Sophie and Ella were having a special day with their Yammy and Papa, my sister and I decided to bring the little ones to the lake one last time before it closed for the season.  They all had a fun time as did mommy and keekee.

Levi taking a stroll

State Fair 2011

Once again we made the trip to the Great New York State Fair.  It is so wild to think that I have gone every year for the past 25 or so years!  The NYS fair time is always bittersweet though...although it is lots of fun it is also a reminder that another summer is coming to an end...which also means back to work for momma. Boo.

3 years out of these $10 etsy cow dresses! Go Momma!

Watching a momma pig feed her piglets.

I really think this pig was annoyed that I was taking her picture.  Maybe she hadn't lost all of her baby weight yet and wasn't up to having her picture taken...I can relate momma pig. sorry.

Levi loved the goats.

Thanks to Uncle Scott and Aunt Emily the girls got to go on some rides.  Momma is usually to cheap, I mean frugel to let the girls go on rides but their Uncle gave them ride coupons! Yay for cool Aunts and Uncles!

Relaxing in the horse tent.

And Sophie's favorite part of the fair...holding baby chicks. She was in love with this little guy.

But she was able to move on once we told her she could go pet a horse in the horse barn.

The Whitacres Heart the NYS Fair.