School Halloween Party

Today was Ashlyn's class Halloween party and whew am I tired! These types of experiences always give me a renewed appreciation for teachers. Never the less, we had a blast. I am the room mom for her class so I was responsible for a lot of the planning. When I agreed to the "position" I didn't quite consider or realize how much preparation goes in to a 2 hour party for 15 4 year olds. Every minute needs to be planned or chaos erupts (which it did a time or two). I think it is unavoidable when you mix costumes, sweets, and preschoolers together. All the kids looked really great in their costumes and we saw quite a variety. The kids participated in a costume parade for the parents and then a brief performance of Halloween songs. They have been practicing these songs in music class for quite a while and Ashlyn has provided entertainment at home for us as she rehearses the songs by herself. After the performance, the class enjoyed yummy snacks, a fun spiderweb craft, and games.

Avery's school didn't celebrate Halloween during school hours. The church did have a fall festival the evening of Halloween, but the girls chose to go trick-or-treating instead.

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Carving with Daddy

Ashlyn's social calendar

Ashlyn's social calendar is busier than anyone's in our house and possibly busier than any one I know. That tells you a lot about her personality and the type of person she is. She has a lot of friends and makes friends everywhere we go. She is usually very kind to her friends and nurturing when someone is upset or hurt. Because she is so social and friendly, it seems like she is invited to birthday party after birthday party. And of course, she wants to go to every one of them. So this weekend she went to two birthday parties (Sammy's and Pete's), the Halloween party at her gym where she takes gymnastics and also a GLOW Kids service project at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano. Oh, and a soccer game.

Dentist and Carrots

The girls went to the pediatric dentist today for a cleaning. This is their 2nd visit so Ashlyn was very relaxed and actually had been looking forward to going back. Avery was a little reluctant when it was her turn. The dentist and hygienist were actually very good with Avery and had her lay in my lap with her head on my knees while they cleaned her teeth. Boy have times changed! I still remember my first visit to the dentist. I was around 4 or 5 and quite frightened. Parents were asked to remain in the waiting area which made me even more uneasy. I remember crying when the hygienist was trying to take x-rays of my teeth. She squeezed my cheeks and said with a clinched jaw, "We don't cry here!" So I was relieved at the girls' first visit when the hygienist welcomed me back. While getting her teeth cleaned, Ashlyn was entertained by watching a movie on a flat screen embedded in the ceiling. I recall being entertained only by a paper poster of animals when I was young. Like I said... boy have times changed!

After the dentist, we came home to work on Ashlyn's school project... a carrot contest. I had to read the paper twice when I took it out of Ashlyn's folder... what in the world? In honor of the state fair, her school had a carrot "dress up" contest. I mentioned the contest to Mag and she gave the suggestion of dressing the carrot as a clown. So Ashlyn, Chris and myself came up with this clown carrot below. Ashlyn won "most festive carrot!" I thought it turned out really cute.

Email from Ashlyn

Ashlyn recently sent me an incredibly sweet email, with the assistance of Chris. Below are the email exchanges between Ashlyn and me... fills my heart!

I love you Mommy very much, with all my heart. I’ll never let you go. Thank you for being a great Mommy.

Ashlyn



My dearest Ashlyn,

I love you sooooooo much!!! You are so special to me and I will love you forever and ever and ever! You make me so happy and I am so proud of you! I have so much fun with you every day and I love all the fun things we do together. Thanks for being my sweetie pie.

I love you,
Mommy



Dear Mommy,

I will never let you go. I will love you forever, and ever, and ever. Even if I go up to heaven, I will always be with you and never out of sight.

Love, Ashlyn

Fall Festivities

We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and fall festivities this past weekend. Saturday we spent the afternoon at Owens Farm. The girls fed the farm animals, took a little 'train' ride, jumped in the bounce house, and ran among the rows of pumpkins. The tractor hay ride was much fun, too.

Ashlyn was thrilled to see the huge horse- she absolutely loves horses and was disappointed she couldn't ride any that day; Avery was still passed out from the car ride over

Riding the "train"

Hay Ride

On Sunday, our church held a fall festival, called Picnic+. We "tail-gated" with our take out from Charo Chicken, more bounce house fun, and best of all the trunk-or-treating with little friends. Ashlyn was all about the candy, Avery was all about checking out other people's costumes.

Dressed and ready to go fight crime at the church picnic

Friends

Costume Parade

Pinkalicious

Yesterday, our friends, Merry and McKenna, treated the girls and me to a fun musical called Pinkalicious. It is based on a book about a girl who loves the color pink, eats too many pink cupcakes, and turns completely pink from head to toe. The musical was very cute and entertaining and had Ashlyn (and myself) laughing outloud at times. It even kept Avery's attention for well over an hour. I did have to bribe her to sit quietly with smarties during the last 15 minutes. Afterwards, the girls and I enjoyed the beautiful grounds of the Irving Art Center where the musical was held. We had a fun filled day catching up with our friends and enjoying the arts.

Grandparent visit to Texas

Chris' parents and grandmom made the long drive from Alabama to Texas this week to visit us. The girls were so excited with anticipation waiting for their grandma, grandad and great grandmom to arrive. We had a fun week visiting with them and with Chris' aunts and uncles. We did a lot of eating out and they ate at all of the restaurants on their "list of favorites," which they look forward to and can't get back home... Luby's (twice) , Dickey's, Taco Delite, Pasado's and Whataburger. We spent some time at the mall window shopping and watching the girls play at the play area, observed Ashlyn during her gymnastics class, and we even went to the pumpkin patch at our church. We had a fun week, the girls kept them quite busy, and we were sad to see them have to return home so soon. The girls miss them already and can't wait to get the chance to visit their grandparents and great grandmom at the beach.

The girls with Great Grandmom, Uncle Bill and Aunt Lorraine

Ashlyn wearing Grandad's boots and new bug catcher around her neck

Avery's turn to wear Grandad's boots, or maybe they are wearing her!

At the pumpkin patch

Playing at the mall

Almost Wordless Wednesday

10/14/08 Texas Day at Avery's school. Mimi found this suede vest probably 20 years ago when a child left it at the Kangaroo's Pouch, a children's clothing store previously owned by my family. Mimi saved it all these years and gave it to Ashlyn a couple of years ago. Now, it's Avery's turn to wear it. It completed her cowgirl outfit for Texas Day where the kids rode rocking horses, played pin the tail on the horse and other western activities. Avery wore her hat and vest only long enough to take the picture. She is my 'strong-willed' child! I didn't even attempt to put the pink bandanna on her.

Now this is a scary thought... in about 12 or 13 years, this might be the real thing!!!10/15/08

Party on the Potty!

Avery met a new milestone today... she went pee-pee in the big girl potty! We were all cheering and clapping for her and she seemed so proud of herself with the biggest grin on her face. She has been sitting on the potty for a week or two just before bath time (see she's Ashlyn do it so probably wants to be a big girl, too) but tonight is the first time to actually 'go' in the potty. This is a very exciting achievement for her but also another reminder that my baby is not really a baby any more. So the question entered my mind for a split second, "Is it time to potty train and completely loose the diapers, cold turkey?" No way! We'll continue to encourage her to use the potty but I think we'll wait a couple more months until she's more developed and ready so we can knock it out it a few days rather than drag it out for weeks or months. Something to look forward to during the Christmas break! Being the mom that I am that loves to document everything through photos, I did take pictures of the 'big event'.

Funny Friday

Ashlyn LOVES Halloween! She gets so excited when we receive the magazines in the mail advertising all the costumes and decorations. She has looked through them numerous times, but it only took the first time for her to quickly decide she wants to be...Batgirl. I guess she has 'outgrown' the princess phase? After all, she thinks she's about 12 years old and insists she is NOT a little girl. How else do you describe a 4 year old? Anyway, the funny part- Chris was kidding around with her and asked to look at the magazine so he could pick out a costume for himself. She had an idea for him. She said, "You can be Batman if they make it in your size." I'm not sure which was funnier- a grown man in a Batman suit (tights included) or Ashlyn wondering if they make a suit that size. Needless to say, Chris is not going to be Batman. At least he won't be wearing the costume, but he has been known to say, "I'm Batman."

Wordless Wednesday

Farm animal outfit Mag made for Avery's 2nd birthday- so cute!

Movie in the Park

Friday night our family went to Movie in the Park. It is hosted by our city and held at an outdoor amphitheater. We had the best time! We brought a picnic dinner, sat on the lawn and watched the Bee Movie on a huge inflatable screen. All the kids there played ball and ran around in a grassy area before the movie started. Ashlyn saw a few friends there unexpectedly. The weather was nice, slightly cool and clear skies, and the movie was really cute. I love outdoor family activities!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Blasters Team Photo 9/28/08

Parent Observation Day at gymnastics 9/30/08

10/03/08