Weekend Fun

Friday night fudgesicles.  HUGE mess.  Apparently Ben ran up our neighbor's driveway and the next day they thought it was blood.  Oops.  

We had a Saturday morning birthday party at the splash park.  The kids had a ton of fun.

We stopped by to see Uncle Stephen's new ride.

Ben was completely worn out.

Sunday we celebrated Memaw's birthday with lunch and swimming.

Another fun summer weekend!

First Day of Kindergarten

Big day!

Tuesday we met her teacher and dropped off her supplies.  Her teacher seems very nice, and a quick search told us she was Teacher of the Year last year.  There is also a little girl in her class from her old school, so a familiar face was nice!

Ben ran into the school like he knew where he was going, and proceeded to try to dismantle Avery's classroom, periodically running out of the room and down the hall.  We had lots of questions we wanted to ask the teacher but needless to say, we didn't get around to it:)

Then we found the gym and unleashed him!

Last night we made her lunch.

We received a text from her teaching saying how excited she was to see all the kids the next day (how times have changed!).

We sprinkled (a small amount of) the "jitter glitter" she got on meet-the-teacher night under her pillow.


This morning she declared that it worked great!

She was very excited this morning.

She did so great, and although she was a bit apprehensive when we got in the classroom she didn't cry. She quickly set to coloring her sheet.  So proud of her! I think she's going to have a great year.

Family Fun

Uncle Tom, Aunt Laurie, Kristi, and Daniel came for a visit this past weekend.

Avery and Gigi had been plotting an evil trick on Tom for weeks.  Avery was tickled to present him with a box of toenail clippings.

Everyone enjoyed the warm weather and hanging around the pool.

Poolside snacks

Playing with Ben's new book

Honeysuckle

Direct hit on Gigi.  Ben has figured out the water gun.

New suit from Tom and Laurie

Hammock time

Hopefully we'll see Tom and Laurie more often now that they're moving a bit closer!  We really enjoyed their visit and appreciate Gigi and Pepaw feeding us-not to mention putting up with us-all weekend!!

Growth & Development

The rapid development of this guy in the last month or two is incredible. It seems like it happened overnight but in reality it's been over the past month or so.  He has changed so much even since his birthday a month and a half ago.

All of the sudden he is speaking in sentences.  He can identify several shapes (circle, oval, square, diamond, heart, rectangle).  He can count to 12.  He knows primary colors.  He can identify common animals and their sounds.  Recently, he is really into reading books.  He has his favorite books, which he knows by name.  He picks out his bedtime books each night and has gotten into the habit of asking for "one more?"  The other evening we were reading on the couch and after each book he would go into his room to get another, calling over his shoulder "be right back."

He still doesn't watch TV but there are a few videos that he'll watch on the phone.

His most favorite thing ever is to "dwive."  He LOVES to play in the car, pretending to steer, pushing buttons, turning the windshield wipers on, etc.  Sometimes Rob will take a drive around the neighborhood with Ben on his lap (I know, call CPS).

And oh, does he love his sister.  He always wants to know "where's Avwee?" It is going to be tough on him when she starts school next week.

Prepping for Kindergarden

Avery starts school next week.  Next. Week.

I can't…

It is really hard to believe that she is starting kindergarden.  Aye.  She is pretty nervous.  She's very aware that this will be a new place and that she won't know anyone.  We try to reassure her that it will be fun, that she will make new friends, and that her teacher will be nice (we're pretty confident these claims will materialize).

We went out this past weekend and got her supplies and backpack and I've been picking up clothes here and there.

Of course she wanted a character backpack and of course I gave in.  I pretty much avoid character shoes/clothing except in rare instances, and she never seems to care one way or another, but she was very excited about this backpack.  What the heck…

I think what got me was "won't I look so good walking into my new school?  The teacher will be like 'oh, Avery, I love your backpack.'"

Sold.

Monday we go for registration, Tuesday is Meet the Teacher night, and she starts on Thursday.

Very excited and nervous for her to start her first year of school!

Reunited with Friends!

We have enjoyed a nice visit with our friends from Texas!

Baby Will has grown so much since our last visit in May.  Soon we won't be able to call him a baby, though!  He's already about the same size as Ben.

During their visit, Avery got to have her very first sleepover at uncle Stephen and Tim's house (her first at a non-grandparent's house).  It sounds like a good time was had by all!  There was a new Barbie (with a built-in camera-Barbie has come a long way!), a jewelry craft, cupcakes, and Thai food.

We celebrated a little early birthday for Will.  He definitely enjoyed his cake.

Fun times! We will definitely miss them!!