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!

Halloween is for adults too!

Halloween isn't just for kids! Chris and I had a night out at Stacie and Anton's annual Halloween costume party. I dressed up as a flapper and Chris as a mobster. I won 2nd place in the costume contest.

Our little cowgirl at Texas Day

Avery's school celebrated Texas Day today. She dressed up in her suede vest, pink cowgirl hat, jeans and boots. She looked so incredibly cute! Chris volunteered at the school event helping with the horse shoe toss. The kids played several other games like lasso the horse and riding in the OK corral. From the smile seen on her face in the pictures, I think Avery likes the cowgirl life!

Little Pumpkins

My favorite time of the year is approaching: October to December. It's certainly not the chilly or freezing weather, but definitely all the upcoming celebrations and holidays to look forward to spending with friends and families. Each month just keeps getting better and better leading up to Christmas.


So today we kicked off the season by visiting a great pumpkin patch in Flower Mound. We make a family trip to a pumpkin patch each year, but this was our first time to visit this particular one. This was a huge, family owned patch that also offers fun activities for the kids. This family opens up their property to the public free of charge asking only that visitors bring canned goods to donate to local shelters/food pantries. Ashlyn and Avery enjoyed the bounce houses, barrel train ride and face painting. Avery chose to have Scooby Doo painted on her face and Ashlyn chose a witch on a broom stick from the offered selections. While we stood in line for the face painting, daddy stood in line (for over 30 minutes) for kettle corn. It was delicious and well worth waiting in line for it. The girls certainly thought so too.

Riding the barrel train

Maze made from hay bale

Avery wanted her picture taken with all the cartoon cutouts. There were 100's of them!

I went to Ashlyn's parent-teacher conference today. Miss Ellis had great things to report about Ashlyn's performance at school. She received great scores on all her testing; in fact she was above average in most areas tested. Miss Ellis told me Ashlyn is very bright, a great helper to her and very friendly to other students in her class. Of course, I already knew all these great qualities our sweet girl possesses.

Old Friends, The Fergusons

We went to David and Holly Ferguson's home today. David is an old friend of Chris' that he's know since a kid. They hung out together and had a common interest in cars (still do actually!). David and Holly have a beautiful home in Celina on a few acres. Ahhh, felt so nice to be out in the 'country'... felt a little bit like the good 'ole days growing up in Murphy. The girls loved the open spaces to ride bikes, motorized cars and space to just run! The very things I loved growing up in (old school) Murphy! David has even grown his own pumpkin patch. The girls were thrilled to get to pick their very own pumpkin to take home. Ashlyn, to no surprise, picked the very largest one she could find. Avery was content will a smaller one, just perfect for her size.

We hadn't seen Dave and Holly in a few years, probably. You know you are good friends with someone when you can go an extended period of time without seeing them, but pick right back up like it was just yesterday when you finally find time to get together.

On a side note: Ashlyn had her second soccer game today on the Blue Diamonds. They are off to a fabulous start! They won their games last Saturday and also today. Ashlyn even scored a goal today! Way to go, soccer star!!! We love attending your games and cheering you on!

Daffron Bike Rodeo

Ashlyn participated in the bike rodeo today at school. Chris volunteered and was assigned mainly to help air up bike tires. They both had fun and I'm so glad Chris' schedule right now allows him to participate in activities the girls have at school.

Plano Balloon Festival

Today we went to the Plano Balloon Festival. This is an annual festival that has been held for many years. I have fun memories of attending when I was a child. Despite the heat and humidity, we enjoyed the crafts in the kids' area, the yummy kettle corn and lemonade, the sky divers with their beautiful American and Texas flags, and mostly the gorgeous hot air balloons. My favorite is the balloon glow that is seen after the sun has set, where all the balloons light up together and rhythmically. The colors of each balloon shine through and give a spectacular sight.

Avery's 3 Year Well Visit

Avery had her 3 year old check up today. We were both glad she didn't receive any shots, just a finger prick. But, she certainly wasn't fond of it either.

Stats:
Height- 38 inches (75 percentile)
Weight- 31.4 pounds (75 percentile)
BMI- 15.2 (40 percentile)

Avery is tall, muscular and very healthy!

Great Grandmom's Visit

Great Grandmom came to visit us the 12th-15th. We had a nice time and the girls always enjoy spending time with their sweet great grandmom (aka GG). We went to church and out to lunch on Sunday, and played lots of games and cards the remainder of the visit.

Avery Build-A-Bear Party

We celebrated Avery's 3rd birthday today with lots of friends and family at Build-A-Bear Workshop. What a fun way to celebrate! Each child was able to pick an animal of her choice, put a heart inside, stuff it, brush it, pick an outfit and then name it. A birth certificate was printed and then each guest took their animal home in a cardboard house. All the kids had such a blast, especially Avery! Avery chose a cat, which she had decided on before the day of the party. The cat is grey, and she named her "Meowie". Then she chose a pink ballerina tutu; quite fitting as Avery really enjoys ballet class right now. Ashlyn chose a brown furry bear and a cute Hello Kitty t-shirt. Afterwards, we sang Happy Birthday had had yummy Princess birthday cake. Then the family went back to Grammy and Poppy's house to open presents.

Cousins!

Grammy, Poppy, Abbie and Sophia were in town this weekend for Avery's birthday party. The girls love spending time with their Grammy and Poppy and their cousins. Avery talks about Abbie all the time, says she loves Abbie and asks when she's coming to visit next. Avery proudly wears clothes that have been passed down from Abbie, and even says the newly handed down clothes smell like Abbie.