The Fanning Four

Well, just two weeks after Caleb's half birthday and now we have Bethany's. She is 5 and a 1/2! Here's what life is like for our sweet pea: 1. She is 43 inches tall and weighs 41 pounds. 2. She is in kindergarten. 3. She is in Gym Bugs in gymnastics and currently has 7 stars- she needs 18 to move to the next level. (Now, Feb 21, she has 12!) 4. She LOVES art! She collects "treasures" from the playground and uses them in art projects. 5. She also enjoys legos and will spend at least an hour working on a project. 6. She likes pink, purple, hello kitty, and baby dolls. 7. Her fav food is blueberries. 8. She loves to listen to her Daddy read and they like to push bedtime back a little in order to read together. 9.Speaking of reading, she is doing a great job learning to read! 10. She enjoys going to Awana and Treasure Kids (children's Church) and loves God and knows He loves her. 11. She has a very sweet disposition and is the typical rule-following,...

Little man is 4 and a half today!!! I like to celebrate the half birthday with half a cupcake for the kids. Life is worth celebrating and when you're an itty bitty, the half is important too! So here's what it's like to be Caleb as a 4 and a 1/2 year old: 1. He's about 40.5 inches tall 2. He weighs about 38  pounds. 3. He is in preK and goes 5 days a week. 4. He likes Curious George and anything having to do with the Cars movie. 5. He continues to love Ipad and computer. 6. He can read all of Bethany's kindergarten sight words plus some and he's becoming a great speller also. 7. He's a pretty good eater but still prefers carbs (cereal and crackers especially) or anything else. And the boy LOVES to eat! 8. He is in Tiny Tots in gymnastics and has really gained a lot of strength and balance. At home, he likes to pretend he is the gymnastics teacher. 9. His vocabulary grows almost every day and his words are becoming clearer also. 10. We think he ...

I was looking for something on this blog the other day and loved reading through what our kids were like at different times. So, I decided maybe I should blog a little more again. We'll see how that goes... Halloween 2013 Bethany did not waiver at all in her desire to be Minnie Mouse. We ordered her costume from the Disney Store and it was adorable and held up through a day at school for "Favorite TV character day", 2 dress up days at gymnastics, and trick or treating.  At gymnastics, when my friend told her that she was such a cute Minnie Mouse she responded, "I know, people have been telling me that all day." :) Our small group and my in laws came over for a party and trick or treating. It was fun to see the kids holding hands, going from house to house. Bethy finally got the hang of saying Trick or Treat and remembering to say thank you so she started saying "I said BOTH!" as she would walk back to us. She must have asked me 10 times to ...

Happy 5th Birthday Bethany! 4 was an absolute delightful year with you. You thrived in pre-k and bring so much sweetness and love to our household. You keep us on our toes and constantly remind us how your intelligence can be used for good and to get what you want, haha! Soft-spoken and shy in public, and loud and outspoken at home- you are the spunk in our family! You weigh 38 pounds and are about 42 inches tall. Your favorite foods are pizza, chick-fil-a, spaghetti, shrimp, quesadillas,fruit, smoothies, salad, and of course, candy. You wake up between 6-7am and only take naps occasionally but you are very good at taking a rest time. You are in bed by 7:30 unless you take a nap. Every night you like for us to stay in your room for 5 minutes, plus 1. The last thing I hear from you most nights is, "Please scratch my back and sing me church songs." You finished pre-k this year and will be starting kindergarten in just a few weeks. You love school, made some great...

Happy 4th Birthday Caleb!!!! This picture sums up your personality! You love to make us laugh! Funny faces, dances, jokes, laughing all the time, you are our joy! Over the last year, your personality has blossomed and your comfort as a part of our family has settled as you have come to trust that you are a part of a family forever. Today we celebrate you, our little buddy!!!! You weigh  34.6 lbs. and are 40.5 inches tall which means you are only 1.5 inches shorter than your older sister!!! Your favorite foods are cereal, crackers/chips, bananas, applesauce, lasagna, PB,J and overall you're a good eater. You wake up about 5:00am and play on the Ipad and eat cereal until we wake up. You take an afternoon nap for about an hour and are usually in bed by 7:30pm. You completed a year of pre-K this year and are ready for another in the fall! You LOVE school!! Your best friend is Sophia. You just started gymnastics and are in the tiny tots group. You love the movie Car...

"If you were a boat, my darling A boat, my darling I'd be the wind at your back If you were afraid, my darling Afraid, my darling I'd be the courage you lack If you were a bird, then I'd be a tree And you would come home, my darling, to me If you were asleep, then I'd be a dream Wherever you are, that's where my heart will be Oh, do you know we belong together? Oh, do you know my heart is yours? If you were the ocean, I'd be the sand If you were a song, I'd be the band If you were the stars, then I'd be the moon A light in the dark, my darling, for you" Boat Song- JJ Heller Two years ago he placed his little red hand print on the official document and became a Fanning forever. My heart is his... After all the paper work was done, in a very emotional exchange, Caleb was placed into Tom's arms and quickly fell asleep. When he woke up hours later, the fun began as we worked hard to earn his trust and show ...

Happy Father's Day! To my Dad who is kind and wise and would drive 8 hours round trip just to fix my car. He worked hard to provide for our family and I love him very much! To my Father In Law, John who is always willing to lend a hand, who is so loving to us and his grand-kids, and who reminds me where my husband got his sense of "humor". And to my husband, Tom. It is so fun watching him as a father. My kids are so blessed to have such a fun, loving, kind, and Godly daddy. Finally, I am thankful for all my grandfathers.I never knew my biological grandfathers but I hear stories of how wonderful they were. Through the years, I've had other grandfathers, Jack, Jim, and John. They have all been so lovely and wonderful and accepted us as their own grandkids. Happy Father's Day to all of you. Thinking also of those who want to be fathers, those who have lost children, those who do not have good relationships with their fathers, and those wh...