Welcome Home Tia!

Hi everyone!

3 Years! Did I blink? It feels like I only just blinked. Can someone tell me how to slow it all down???

Sweet T and Hunter have had a great year. Hunter is in 8^th grade now, his second year at Coral Spring Christian. He wrapped up 7^th grade with pretty good grades, but crushed it this first quarter of 8^th. Straight A’s. Made Headmasters List and the Middle School Basketball team. (As I type, we are at Douglas Gym getting a shooting lesson from Marilyn. Thanks Coach!) He’s really turning out to be a terrific young man. Always things to work on, but he’s at the age where he’s starting to see and understands life a bit more clearly. He’s also continues to be a terrific big brother. You can see that Tian loves him very much.

Tian is 4 ½ now and loves her new VPK class. We use to draw pictures every morning. She wouldn’t let me leave until I drew the request of the day. VPK starts. New class, new teachers and new routine… No need for daddy’s morning pictures. Sad day. “Bye Daddy”, a hug and she’s off…

Her personality has exploded. She is affectionate, caring and kind. Very sweet to her friends and loves giving hugs. She’s a HUGGER! From everything we were told and read, I honestly did expect to see this huge amount affection from her. I’m absolutely tickled about it.

The “lefty” in her is also coming out. She loves music, dancing and sings constantly. Fun to hear her sing my favorite Zac Brown Songs and a mix of top 40 stuff. She takes Ballet at school and as mentioned before, T loves drawing pictures and coloring. Flowers and hearts are the subject of choice these days.

In March, Tian enjoyed her first cruise. She loved the kiddie pool and the kid’s camp. Hunter and Max enjoyed the teen nightlife and being on their own. The parent’s got to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

In April we celebrated Sweet T's 4^th Birthday at Twister’s. I think all of her class attended. We had an Elsa theme and they loved the 2 hours of free play.

Tian also learned to swim this summer! No More Floaties!

This summer included a trip to Orlando with the Clarks. 4 parks in 4 days! It was Tian’s first time at Magic Kingdom and I thought her head was going to explode. I think she enjoyed the Princess Lunch the most.

And for Halloween, Tian was a beautiful Ice Princess. This girl loves everything about getting dressed up. (And I think Kerry equally enjoys dressing her up.) The big costume, make-up, accessories and shoes! Hunter and Kerry took her around the neighborhood while I fed the Trick or Treaters!

You're all caught up. It's been an amazing year for all of us.

As always, thanks for letting me share. Best to you all!

~ DP

"Be Good Humans" - Amy Altmann

Diva.

I understand these shoes go with anything.

Mani - Pedi's with Mom and Dad.

Greetings everyone. Sorry it's been such a long time between posts. The Phillips Family has been really busy and I admit, I've been a little lazy. So, this post might be a bit choppy and long. I'm 10 months behind, so I apologize in advance. Now, let's get you caught up...

Based on our last visit to Grandma's, it appears she has grown about 6 inches in the last year and a half. I know this because when we first visited Grandma, she could walk under the dinner table without ducking. That's no longer the case. So I guessing 35" and about 27 lbs. She's talking up a storm. Just as good as her classmates. She loves to sing and color. That's got to be the "left-handedness" in her. Loves all types of food, especially peanut butter. And she's now discovered chocolate milk. She's doing great. Happy, healthy kid. Testing her boundaries and such. Some moments of tears and mini tantrums, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Let me rewind a bit to November 2013 since it's been so long. After Gotcha Day (the last post), we celebrated Thanksgiving with my Mom & Dad, Tracy, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Barbara. Nice having so many people in our home. Tian ate everything we put in front of her. No surprise. If you saw what she consumes, you'd think she was training for Sumo. The Preschool had a parade for all the parents and her class dressed up as Indians. Fun afternoon. You can tell she really enjoys her teachers and classmates, but not being dressed up as a squaw. She was ok later.

Christmas was great of course. We celebrated at my parents on Christmas Eve, then celebrated again Christmas morning at home. Hunter became one of Santa's helpers this year. Sad, but fun at the same time. Tian really got into the game this year. Finally understood that there is some really good stuff inside those wrapped boxes.

In the end of January we celebrated Chinese New Year by hanging decorations, a few good luck posters and made Pork dumplings from scratch. We bought some frozen dumplings as back up, but I'm happy to say ours were so good that the store bought stayed in the freezer!

A couple days later we celebrated Hunter's 12th Birthday. (We obviously like celebrating.) 12 years old. Geez. Teen is just 300 plus days away. We hit Skyline Chili for lunch and had the Grandparents over for cake later that evening.

In early March, Kerry and Hunter participated in the Great Amazing Race in WPB. Tian and I cheered them on, and took some pictures, and played on the swings, and painted each others faces. Fun afternoon. Out of 80 plus teams, Team Phillips finished 8th overall and first in there age group! Good Job Hunt & K!

Then a trip to Sea World. We thought Disney might be a bit much for Sweet T, so we opted for the animals. And with the rollercoasters, it was great for the 3 boys. She loved everything she saw, got her face painted and really enjoyed the Elmo Show. Kerry and Hunter really bonded on this trip. Closer than ever those two! You can really see the love.

Tian turned 3 years old on April 21st. Brooke and Bella came over to play. Time flies, but you all know that. So proud of her. She surprises me everyday.

We spend 4th of July in Philly and made a trip to the Keys. Hunter and Tian love seeing their cousins. They very well might have the coolest cousins on earth. The 4th really felt like it should. Kids running around outside, hop scotch, beer and burgers! Loved it! The Keys of course... Are the Keys.

Selfies before dinner at Louie's Backyard.

As you can see, Hunter and Tian are doing wonderfully. School is in full swing. Hunter is a 7th grader in a new school and seems to like it except for the uniforms. Tian is a Buzzing Bee now and especially loves Ballet Day. I'll wind down with some random pics from this year.

Sweet T is showing an interest in golf. HOORAY!!! Only problem is she's a lefty! Hunter's junior set just won't work. She's smart enough to now to hit the ball with the face. Can't wait to see her with a club that fits her.

Oh. and she loves Fairies and dressing up. EVERYDAY!

Her fear of jumping into the pool has long passed...

A little golf with the boy! We won a Jr / Adult event last month with a 31. Hunter made three 20ft putts. There's still hope that he'll come around...

This is Tian's first fishing experience out back. She was so happy when she reeled in her first fish! Then it jerked on the line before I could get a smiling photo of her with "the catch". Might be awhile before she wants to go again...