Time with Loved Ones

 

This weekend we celebrated Grammy's birthday! Audrey and Addison wanted to pick out a cookie cake for her.

 

 

We went out to eat for her birthday. While we were out to eat, Grandaddy gave the girls their "cow checks". Each year he sells a calf and gives them the money to save for their college expenses.  This has been a tradition started by my Pawpaw back when I was little, so I'm glad the tradition carries on.

 

We also got to spend some time with Nana.  It was so good to see her.  My girls can always make her smile and brighten even her worst days.  They love their Nana.

North Pole Breakfast

 

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Henry, our Elf on the Shelf, came back to our house from his long stay at the North Pole. He brought with him a delicious North Pole breakfast.

 

This was the first year I/Henry had done this but the girls absolutely LOVED it.  When they woke up that morning, Henry was sitting on the table and had all the decorations and food out.

 

 

There was fruit candy canes made of sliced bananas and strawberries.  That was quite tricky to get them all lined up that way...but I think it turned out pretty cute.  This was Addison's favorite.

 

We also had marshmallow snowmen to dip in our hot chocolate.

 

And yummy "snow covered" doughnuts.  These were Audrey's favorite

 

Henry wrote letters to Audrey and Addison.

 

He also brought them Christmas socks to keep their feet warm.

 

 

From the look on Addison's face, it is obvious that she is thrilled about the North Pole Breakfast. 

 

It was a big hit with Audrey, too!

I am looking forward to Henry treating us to this special breakfast every year!

Decorating

We LOVE decorating for Christmas.  As soon as the turkey is put away from our Thanksgiving feast, we pull out the Christmas decorations.

 

This year, Audrey and Addison were great helpers.

 

 

I decided that we would create handmade ornaments throughout the season to hang on our tree this year.  So very few store bought ornaments hung from our tree this year.

 

Each year the girls get ornaments to represent something about them and/or their likes that year.  This year they both got ballerina ornaments to hang on their trees.  They both love to dance and this was Addison's first year to take lessons.

 

 

 

The outdoor decorations were also put out.  Sadly, two of our inflatables bit the dust but the girls were still content with the few decorations we had out.

 

I love sharing these memories with my family.

Pilgrims and Indians

 

I do believe these are the cutest Indians ever!  They decorated their costumes at preschool.  So cute!

 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Corey was actually off this Thanksgiving so he was able to join us at my parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner.  My poor mom had been sick for a week and still wasn't feeling her best, but toughed it out enough to make some of her delicious dressing and gravy.  Nana was able to leave the nursing home for a bit to share the meal with us.  She was hurting and tired by the time the meal was over, but I'm so glad that she got to come.

 

I love this time of year!  Thanksgiving is a special time for me, especially the older I get.  I realize more and more each year how much I have to be thankful for.  This year I had such a long list of blessings. 

 

These are two of the biggest blessing in my life...

 

These precious pilgrims (children) are my heart and soul. 

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me and my family!

First Day of Preschool ~ August 2012

This is Audrey's last first day of preschool.  Next year, she will be starting Kindergarten. (sniff, sniff).  This precious child is growing up entirely too quickly.  She has such a beautiful heart and kind spirit. 

 

She was excited about starting school this year.  Audrey will be going 5 days a week this year. She loves school and enjoys learning.  She told me that she was a bit nervous because she wouldn't know her classmates and teachers. 

 

This was before going to school.

 

 Ballerina Ariel had to make an appearance in the photo.

 

 

Sweet girl!

 

She went into her class and was very brave.  She was greeted by her sweet teachers, Ms. Becky and Ms. Amy.  There were lots of fun things out in her classroom for her to do, so she didn't waste much time jumping right into those activities.

 

Audrey and Ms. Becky

Audrey said she had a wonderful day and has already made some sweet friends.

 

Addison is only going 2 days a week this year. On the first day of school, when we dropped Audrey off, Addison cried and cried because she didn't want to leave her sissy behind.  She wanted to stay at school, too.  I was certainly hoping that the next day when she was supposed to stay at school, she would still want to stay there. I was concerned because we had several weeks of crying last year when I would leave her at school.

 

This was my little bit before school.  Where did my baby go??  I think she changes and grows each night after I put her to bed.  Each morning she looks even more grown up than the day before.

 

When I took Addison into school, I was preparing for some tears.  I was pleasantly surprised.  She walked right into her classroom and never looked back at me.  She gave her teachers, Mrs. Juli and Mrs. Karla, big hugs and off to play she went.  From the sounds of it, I think Addison thinks she is the teacher of that classroom. Can you believe that? haha

As a matter of fact, I think Addison was the only child in her room not crying.  When I picked her up from school, she couldn't stop talking about all the fun things she did that day. I love that she is so excited about school.

Addison with her teacher, Mrs. Juli

I took the opportunity to get a couple of pictures of the girls with me and Corey. 

 

 

I do love these 3 people so very much!!

Happy Independence Day~2012!

We had such a wonderful Independence Day! We didn't have anything big planned, just spent the day together as a little family.  It was great to be able to just relax and have a good time.

We spent the morning drawing and painting with sidewalk chalk/paint and playing in the water hose.  After lunch and a nap, we all went outside for some splashing in our little pool.  Then Corey fired up the grill and cooked hot dogs.  The girls wanted to eat outside and that sounded like a great idea!  I made a strawberry/blueberry shortcake for dessert.

After our meal, we did a few "fireworks".  The girls are not fans of loud, big fireworks so we opted for the sparklers and party poppers.

Audrey was finally old enough and brave enough to hold the sparkler on her own (with much supervision).  She had a blast.  So much so, that Corey had to go back and get more sparklers for her to use.  This was the first year she truly enjoyed the sparkler/fireworks.

Audrey also tried her hand at the party poppers.  The strings were a bit hard for her to pull so I had to help.

Addison was not a big fan of either.  But she did love the streamers that came from the party poppers.  The poppers were too loud and the sparklers too "scaredy fire" (as Addison said).  So after a few minutes of enduring that entertainment, she chose to go inside and watch her "sing-a-long" video.

It was such a fun, perfect day for us.  And while we were having fun, we were also remembering and thankful for the men and women who have fought to provide us with that freedom and independence.