Thanksgiving 2015!

I love this picture that snapped of Felicity with my i-phone. We were just laying in bed cuddling, and I thought she just looked so beautiful! 

…and these two monkeys love taking a bath together. Felicity has to sit in the front now because Brandt always tries to eat the drain stopper! Boys! ;) Big sister gets to take showers sometimes, so these two get special bath time together. They still all three take baths together some, but that won't last too much longer. They are just getting too big! :(

Brother and sister (and Mommy) were sick on the day that Avaree had her Thanksgiving lunch at school! She LOVED having her Daddy there though. She got to sit on the stage with her friends, their parents, and her Daddy! I heard that Whataburger was also involved. She was a happy girl!

This little guy just smiles all the time--snot and all!!

…and he loves his Mama!!! It's mutual!!

Avaree Grace is always working on something!! She was sitting with me at a meeting at church and just worked away on a little craft! ;)

During Thanksgiving, we traveled all the way to the beach to spend a couple of days with Mom Mom, Pop Pop, and Maw Maw! Maw Maw got lots of quality time with my littles! She especially enjoyed holding Mr. Brandt while he took his bottles!! 

It was COLD at the beach, but there was a lot of sunshine, so the girls bundled up and fished a lot!

Just standing on the dock of the bay… ;)

There was also some dancing…

Mom Mom tried to teach the girls The Twist!

Cutie pies blowing bubbles!

We were on the bay side, but the beach was just across the street. I'm a beach girl. I love the sound of the ocean. It just permeates my soul and fills me with peace, dreams, life--oh, I just love it. Anyway, I begged Brandon to go walk with me, and he finally agreed, but he would not take a picture with me. So, enjoy the back of his head and the beautiful view! ;)

The sun was setting…

I know it was just Galveston, but it was so beautiful to me.

The girlies collected some shells for us by the bay!

I forgot the high chair, so Brandt enjoyed rotating laps to eat every meal! ;) He really enjoyed eating with Pop Pop in his camo sweatshirt!

He got to go outside in the warmest part of the day!

Back porch hangin' with Daddy!

Avaree was digging for treasure at the beach in the sunshine!

Maw Maw and Felicity colored a lot!

…and poor Bella just couldn't find a hiding spot where she was out of their sight.

Sweet girls!

Felicity was hilarious in that hat!

She loved fishing!!

From the beach, we drove to College Station! We finally got to meet our newest niece, Miss Brielynn!!! Contrary to what this picture might lead you to believe, Mommy actually got to hold her first (thanks to Gigi for holding Avaree and Daddy back, so I could have a turn--ha!)!

I can't remember why Felicity was naked, but we enjoyed playing games at 

Gigi and G-Pops house! 

Look at this precious angel!!!!!

I took some pictures of the D Barton family while we were there, and these are two of my favorites! I just love the girls' facial expressions!

 …and look at this gorgeous little beauty!

I LOVED rocking her! 

The three "big girls" really bonded and played so well together!

We caught them playing together so many times!

…and we interrupt this Thanksgiving post with some random park pictures from the week before! :) 

Felicity was a hoot with her green sunglasses! She always needs a pair and tells me that she does not like the sun!

Sweet baby!

Look at that little body with that pony tail!

Back to Gigi's house! Avaree just LOVED holding her baby cousin!

So sweet!

These three had a ball in the princess tent! Blair has SO much personality! I have no idea where she gets that from! ;)

My two girlies being sweet to each other!

The big girls dancing with Daddy/Uncle B!

More dancing! So sweet!

That Friday night, the four of us went on our first ever double date! We had to document it with a blurry selfie! It was freezing cold, late, and raining, but we had a great time! :)

We had a busy, fun Thanksgiving! We are most Thankful for Jesus, and we are so very grateful for all of the wonderful family that he blessed us with! We missed those we didn't get to see this trip, but my Christmas posts are coming, and we saw them then! 

Stay tuned! I will catch up! ;)

October/November/December: Kindergarten Update!

I really can't say enough about Avaree's incredible experience in Kindergarten this first semester! She is in the inaugural class of our school district's new Fine Arts/ Dual Language Academy. Last semester, she had Spanish and Math in the AM, lunch and recess in the middle of the day, and then she had English, Social Studies, and Specials in the afternoon.  This semester, her morning and afternoon subjects have flipped, but everything else is the same.  She was successfully adding and subtracting by mid-October! 

She thinks through math equations in Spanish and then in English--which is so interesting to me! 

When she reads to us, she asks us pre-reading questions, questions after every page, and post-reading questions. We even have to raise our hands! ;) She wants to be just like Mrs. Anthony, her reading teacher that is also a reading specialist and bilingual. She is being taught by the best of the best with a sweet heart to boot! I really didn't think it was possible for her to be "inspired" to love reading any more, but she has been inspired and pushed even further! She has been in her own reading group for most of the year, but recently Mrs. Anthony called us and asked if we would be okay if she went to another classroom once a week to meet with a little girl that is close to her reading level. We thought this was a great idea, and so did Avaree! Mrs. Anthony even let Avaree take something that Avaree likes off of her desk, so that she would feel comfortable there. So thoughtful!

Mrs. Sanchez, her Spanish and Math teacher, has been so kind to send us encouraging notes and call with updates on how great she is doing! This particular note is one that I will save forever! 

I agree--she is destined for greatness!

Aside from music, dance, theater, art, gym, and piano at school, Avaree also participated in cheer during football season! She loved it and had lots of spirit!

This was her Kinder school picture!!!!

She has also had two stomach bugs, strep throat, and mycoplasma pneumonia since Kinder started! Prior to the strep, she hadn't been on an antibiotic in a year! I'll take it!!! 

She's also grown up a lot!!!

In late October, Avaree came home with this note that she was nominated to the Corey Hall of Fame by her music and piano teachers for her enthusiasm!!! We were so proud!

She got to draw a picture of her favorite part of school (and she drew herself dancing) and it hung in the hallway with her picture for an entire six weeks! :) 

She was so proud, and so were we! 

Sister also LOVES going to the same school has some of her favorite friends from Pre-K! Thi is Chloe, Ava, and Avaree (and 2 of their 3 little sisters--Felicity did not want to be in the picture) on a random beautiful Friday afternoon!

We went to Avaree's school carnival one Saturday afternoon in November, and she did the firefighter obstacle course! It was very difficult, and she didn't give up!

I had the privilege of volunteering at the Kinder Thanksgiving feast! Thanks to Daddy for keeping the littles for me! I was setting out the handmade placemats before the kids came in, and I teared up when I saw this gem! :) She was thankful for 1)family 2) health and 3) her bible!

She loved her pilgrim hat!

…and having her Mommy there. She cried and cried when she had to go back to class and Mommy left. Mrs. Sanchez held her hand and let her be the line leader because she was so sad. So sweet. 

Three little turkeys before Thanksgiving break!

Avaree and Chloe!

Avaree LOVES that her sweet friend, Ava, goes to LABC with us! They got to come to big church for "Hanging of the Green" on the first Sunday of December! 

 The next day, was Avaree's very first field trip, and (most importantly to her) her VERY first time to ride a school bus!!!!!!!!!!

 Can you see her excitement????

 

 My big girl!!! 

I was thrilled that my Mom was able to come spend the day with the littles, so that I could spend the day with my big girl and her friends!

 We went to the Fort Worth Museum of Nature and Science, one of our favorite places, and we had a blast! First, we had a picnic outside!

 I was responsible for my girl and two of her friends--Mico and Isabella! We only had to go to the bathroom three times in four hours! haha!

 They were so pumped to get to see The Polar Express at the IMAX!

 This is Avaree's class on the stairs before we left! Mrs. Sanchez is a rockstar. She only counted "her babies" 99 times! ;)

 I also had the privilege of helping at Avaree's "Winter Party." It's pretty much a dream to get to be a co-room mom! Remember, I was the one that never got to go to the parties when she was little, so I'm extra thankful to get to do so now! Olaf came for a visit, but he didn't have to speak Spanish!! ;) 

Overall, Avaree's first semester of Kinder has been fantastic. I asked her what she would say about her experience, and she said, "I love it! I love my friends, and my teachers are the best! Dance is my favorite too."

Here's to another semester of Kinder! The first week back went great! :)

Thankful can't even begin to describe my gratitude to her precious teachers.