September and October 2014

It's hard to believe that we are into November already and the holidays are right around the corner! We've had a wonderful fall! We kept busy! Mike and I enjoyed a weekend away in Las Vegas with Kathryn and Mark! We of course have enjoyed watching college football each Saturday as well! The girls are enjoying gymnastics and have almost mastered their back walkovers (They are so proud)! Molly LOVES school and I enjoyed volunteering for her Halloween party! We've enjoyed a LOT of company this fall too! We've taken many trips to the pumpkin patch, had a visit with the Dinosaurs downtown, hiked Stone Mountain, and enjoyed Bingo Night at the girls' school! The big girls have also started Daisies and Brownies and are enjoying those Girl Scout meetings!

Halloween was a fun celebration as always! We had a creepy witch, an adorable Dalmatian, and of course we had to have an ELSA!!!! Sullivan was the girls' sidekick and dressed as a RUFFeree!  Gram and Papa even got in on the fun as Minions this year! So now we are gearing up for cooler weather and the holidays!

We hope you all are doing well - love to everyone - and our door is always open for a visit!

Happy November!

Love,
Mike, Amy, and the girls

July and August 2014

The end of the summer was extra busy here for our family! In July, Mike ran the Peachtree Roadrace 10K - with his best time yet on the 4th of July! We are SO proud of him! The girls attended cheer camp which they loved during July! We also went on a family road trip to Columbus, Ohio to meet our newest nephew/cousin Lucas Joe! We fell in love! From Columbus, we ventured to Indiana and took the girls to Butler which was a blast for all 5 of us! We loved spending time with our Indy friends too! We then celebrated Emma's 8th birthday with a trip to the American Girl store and a puppy party for her and her friends!

Summer went by so quickly! The girls are ALL back in school now - and loving their new teachers and making a lot of new classmates! Kate is in 1st grade, Emma is in 3rd grade, and Molly started the 2s class twice a week! Drop off isn't her favorite part of the day but she sure has a fun time once that part is over! She is excited to be a "big girl" like her sisters!

We've also enjoyed more pool time, football starting, and our new favorite thing to do as a family is to go on HIKES! The girls love to explore and be outside so we venture from park to park taking fun hikes! One of our favorite spots is  on top of Suwanee Mountain where we hike to the Indian Seats!

We are anxious for fall weather as it is still really hot here in Atlanta - the girls are enjoying tumbling this fall, and Emma has entered the Battle of The Books club at school. I also have picked up where I left off last year with Tutoring, so that too is keeping us busy! Our sweet Sully is 11 months old this month, he enjoys his walks and is very protective over his sisters - we love him!

Happy Fall to everyone! Go BUCKS, Go Irish!

Lots of Love,

Mike, Amy and the Girls

May and June 2014

Where has the time gone? Summer is already half over :( We have had so much fun the past few months, and been very busy! During the month of May we finished up spring sports! Emma really enjoyed her first season of Lacrosse and Kate continues to do cartwheels everywhere we go after a spring session of tumbling! Molly also had fun at her Mother Goose class (Singing and Dancing), and can't wait to start ballet when she is three! Daddy continues to play "old man's lax" as they call it down here, and we love heading to the turf to watch our #7 play every weekend! It is hard to believe that Emma will be in 3rd grade and Kate will be in 1st next year! Both girls had fantastic teachers and wonderful years! They learned so much and made some great friends! As soon as the school year ended, it was GO  GO  GO time for the big girls, we packed up and went to Sunset Beach for Memorial Day weekend..We had a great visit with Gramma and Grampa Bee, and the big girls were extra lucky because they stayed for an entire week! They had a BLAST at Camp Gramma and Grampa where they went to the beach, Medieval Times, learned to golf, and took a visit to Myrtle Beach.. We sure did miss them though, especially Molly!! When they returned summer vacation was in full swing! They loved swimming with their friends, visiting the library, and going on fun field trips with Mommy :) We then headed to Hilton Head Island which is our favorite place on the planet! We enjoyed a week there with Gram and Papa, and cousins Nicholas and Owen, Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Mark too! It is always hard to leave there! Wish we could spend the whole summer in Hilton Head! The girls have been busy since that trip ended! VBS (Vacation Bible School) is always one of their favorite camps to attend, more swimming, book clubs with mommy's tutoring groups, more field trips, and lots of late nights catching fire flies and eating Popsicles in the back yard! It really has been a sweet summer so far! We are also so excited that we have a NEW nephew in the family! Lucas Joe was born June 20th! He is just a doll face and we are anxious to get to Columbus to see him in July!! We hope everyone has had a wonderful summer, and would love visitors anytime down south! Come see us!

Love,
The Barratt Family

March and April 2014

It's hard to believe there is less than 4 weeks of school left! The girls have had an amazing year and we've had a really fun Spring as well! Kate is busy tumbling all over the place as she has perfected her cartwheel in gymnastics class! Emma has really enjoyed her first season of lacrosse...with her proud daddy standing on the sidelines! She is by far one of the littlest ones out there but loves every second of being part of a team! We are proud of both girls! Molly has also been busy, she sleeps in a big girl bed now, and is pretty much potty trained (after a week long boot camp at home!) - if you refer to her in anyway as a baby she will quickly correct you and let you know she is a BIG GIRL! We also traveled to Tampa for Spring Break and had a lot of fun with our cousins  and loved the sunny weather too since it's been so unusually cold her in Atlanta this winter! The big girls also got a special treat this Easter ...we took  them to Lion King at the Fox. This was a wonderful show that we all enjoyed!!! They deserved a special treat for working so hard this year at school! Can't believe I soon will have a 3rd and 1st grader running around!!!

Mike is busy at work as he took a new job through ATT where he is now working on products that will be installed in cars. It is a new challenge for him, one that he loves and is really good at too! He is also busy running! He has already entered to Peachtree Road Race (the 10K on July 4th). He has run a few 5Ks and really enjoys it! We love cheering him on too! The big girls even participated in their first FUN RUN - which was a mile run, and they did really well and enjoyed every second!

I continue to tutor and really enjoy reading and writing with the kids! It also has given me wonderful opportunities to volunteer in the girls' classrooms which is also super fun and special!

We are gearing up for a busy summer - traveling to North Carlolina to see Gramma and Grampa Bee, Hilton Head, Vacation Bible School, and Cheerleading Camp!

We love visitors and our door is always open!!

Love,
Mike, Amy, and the girls

January and February 2014

We have had a CRAZY two months of 2014! Kate turned 6 and enjoyed a birthday party at the gym and a trip to the American Girl store with her sweet doll McKenna! Then, there was the SNOW JAMS we've had! Part 1 and Part 2 shut down our city for two different weeks! As crazy as the weather was....we sure did have fun playing in the snow, EATING snow cream, making OLAF (from Frozen), drinking LOTS of hot chocolate, learning to knit, and sledding of coarse! Obviously, there aren't many sled options down here.... so one store was ordering before the 2nd snow storm hit - I ordered one online...and Mike went to pick it up and stood in a CRAZY line as all the other families were waiting for their sled too - what a memory and SO funny!
The big girls also participated in basketball cheerleading this winter - and LOVED it! Molly kind of became their little mascot too! GO SWEETHEARTS! We enjoyed watching them cheer and be part of a team these last few months! The big girls enjoyed Father Daughter Dance with daddy too this month! They look so grown up to me....time is really flying by! Emma has started lacrosse and is loving it...but NOT loving the cold weather for practices so HURRY UP SPRING! Kate, has lost her first and second teeth and is starting tumbling on Monday. And Molly....she is just little miss independent! She turned two this month, enjoyed a Minnie  Mouse birthday party and went to  Build a Bear for the 1st time. She follows her sisters around and makes us all laugh with her dancing and silly comments :) She is in a big girl bed now, and had her first haircut! We can't leave Sully out either - he is definitely part of the family! We adore him and he is fitting in well! He didn't know what to make of the snow either! He recently graduated from Puppy School and we are so proud :) We are also proud of Daddy who we've enjoyed watching him play Winter Lax! The girls love cheering for their number 7!!!!

Another special part of this winter has been our visit with our cousins Owen and Ava! They came to see us this past weekend and we had NON STOP fun! We played, had slumber parties, went out to eat, got ice cream and just enjoyed each other! We love them so much! What a fun visit we had!

Let's hope the weather warms up soon - we are all ready for Spring!

Love to all, and come visit! We would LOVE to have you!

Mike , Amy, Emma, Kate, Molly, and Sullivan