Funny Friday:Avery

I picked Avery up from school today and as I was putting her in to the car she said to me very matter of fact, "I want a brother for Christmas." I had to ask her to repeat herself because surely I just misunderstood what she said. Nope, I heard it just right. Not sure where she came up with that??? How does one respond to a statement like that? I just decided to change the subject!

A few months ago Avery LOVED Dora... she wanted everything Dora... Dora gown, Dora panties, Dora stickers, Dora toys, Dora TV show. A couple of days ago I picked Dora panties for her to wear. As a side note, to Avery the design on her panties is more important than the design on her shirt! She often spends several minutes deciding on which pair of panties she will wear that day. So when I handed her the Dora panties the other days, she says in a serious and frustrated voice, "Mom, I don't like Dora anymore!" What? Since when and why not? I guess this is another indication of Avery growing older and how quickly kids change.

Blue Diamonds Soccer Team

Go Blue Diamonds! Here is a picture of Ashlyn's soccer team. They are a great group of girls who have a lot of fun playing soccer together.

Weekend Entertainment by Ashlyn

Ashlyn kept the family happily entertained all weekend with two soccer games and a choir performance at church. The children's choir performed two songs at the beginning of the church service this morning, including a great hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth." She loves to sing and is very pleased with her beautiful singing voice. Two of her good friends, Katie and Mitchell, that go to church and school with her said "she has the best voice in the choir." She was beautiful in her pretty dress and seemed to appear much to grown up to me!

Ashlyn and her team, the Blue Diamonds, have had a fabulous soccer season! Ashlyn is finally on a great team that has a lot of fun together as well as a team that is really learning to work together and improve their skills. Ashlyn has been attending a weekly soccer skills clinic along with the weekly team practice. The Blue Diamonds have won 5 of 7 games with one game remaining next Sunday. Ashlyn has scored 3 goals this season and has assisted with many others. The whole family really enjoys cheering her on at her games. Chris and I definitely get carried away with our cheering, coaching, yelling... so much so that Chris has almost lost his voice after a couple of the games. Avery is a little cheerleader on the sidelines as well and at times you will find her practicing kicking and dribbling the soccer ball awaiting the time when she is old enough to play. Go Blue Diamonds!

Avery's Bed Transition

I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of Avery's voice outside our bedroom door, "Good morning" she says to Ashlyn. One problem... she still sleeps in her crib which means she must have scaled the side rail of her crib and somehow lowered (or dropped) herself to the floor. We've been in no hurry to move her out of her crib since she seems content to lay in her bed in the morning and sing or play with the 15+ stuffed animals and dolls she insists on sleeping with. More importantly, she is quite an early riser waking much earlier than needed or desired by Chris and me. But now that Avery has discovered a way out of bed we decided it is time to remove the side rail from her bed transforming it into a toddler bed. She now is able to get in and out of bed on her own. As Chris took the side off her bed and then Avery easily climbed into her bed, she had the biggest grin from ear to ear. She must have felt like such a big girl at that moment. She and Ashlyn then played in her small bed for part of the morning enjoying the new change.

Avery handled the transition well last night, staying in her bed all night after being tucked in. I thought it was going to be smooth sailing. However, this evening she has already been out of her bed twice since being tucked in. 45 minutes after going to bed, she is now finally asleep. I hope tonight was just her trial to see "what if".

So, we've met another milestone to make note of and of which to be excited and proud! Chris and I were just as thrilled as she was at that first moment she sat on her "big girl" bed.

Avery- Our Funny Girl

Things Avery said:

Chris sometimes "threatens" the girls into good behavior... he tells them he will call Santa if they don't do what he needs them to do. Last Sunday while getting dressed for church, Avery wasn't cooperating when getting dressed. Chris said to her, "Do I need to call Jesus?" Avery replied, "You don't have to call Him, Jesus is everywhere!" So precious! It's amazing what little kids absorb in school. I'm thankful for her preschool that focuses on Christian teachings.


While visiting Mimi this week, she gave us some stew that she made for us to take home for dinner. Being the "reuser" she is, she put our stew in a large pickle jar to take home. Who needs tupperware when you have things like pickle jars and cool whip bowls! He, He! (one of the many things I love about my Mimi!) When we got home and I was warming the stew up, Avery says to me, "I don't like pickle soup!" I got a good belly laugh out of that one.


Ashlyn is my 'rule follower', at least while at school or with other adults. She gets her feelings hurt and is practically devastated if she gets a time-out or her name called. (I can't say as much when at home.) Avery on the other hand just throws the so called "rules" out the window. Consequences are no big deal to her. This week she has been in time out at school for refusing to pick up with the rest of the class, was being 'talked-to' as I picked her up from school for climbing up on the fence, and today she told me she didn't get a stamp at school. I never did figure out what caused her to loose the stamp. Unfortunately, Avery doesn't feel at all sad or bothered by any of it. She smiles a bit when talking about it even. I'm certain we need to find a new strategy before the teenage years arrive!

Avery Halloween party

Avery's preschool class at CDC celebrated Halloween with a class party. I volunteered to help out at the party along with a couple other moms. Her teachers planned a really fun party with crafts, songs and spider cupcakes that the kids decorated themselves all while wearing an adorable spider hat they had constructed earlier in the week. I enjoyed watching Avery interact with her friends at school as well as seeing the typical 3 year old behaviors of having difficulty sharing. I'm blessed to be able to volunteer at the girls' schools and get a glipse of their days at school.

Goals!

Ashlyn scored two goals during her soccer game today! Way to go, soccer star!