Thursday, May 2, 2013

Ava's 8th Birthday!

Ava turned 8 on Feb 22nd! She has been begging for a sleepover for some time. Many of her friends have had sleepovers. I was hesitant but then realized that it would probably  be cheaper and easier! She picked 10 girls to invite over! She wanted a "Cowgirl" theme! So unusual for her! She has never really been into boots, cowgirl stuff or hats? But, she wanted it so we went with it! My mom and dad came into town to lend a hand! That is always so helpful!

The birthday party was great! All the girls were very well behaved! They ran around the yard, jumped on the trampoline, played soccer, played on the hammock and played tag. Interesting party! Cool that the kids played those "old school" party games! We had a balloon guy that came; he made amazing stuff! The kids were pretty amazed at his works of art! I ordered a ton of Chick-Fil-a! I thought I ordered too many nuggets and strips! We only had 3 left out of 98! Crazy! Hungry girls! After supper we had her super cute cake! And then it was movie, popcorn and veg out on the couch time!

The next morning I made chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries! The kids loved them! Everyone cleared out by 9am! The house had minimal clean up! Yay! Ava and I were preparing to go to a Girl Scout event. I realized Ava didn't seem herself; I felt her head and she was on fire! She had a temp of 104!?! She ended up having a horrible case of strep throat! :(

She had both sets of grandparents here so she got a lot of TLC! Her party was a hit even with the sickness!!!

She got lots of Monster High Dolls, art supplies, clothes, money and a fun gift card! She got an American Girl Doll from GiGi and Poppy. Grandma and Grandpa got her the Guiness Book of World Records and a puzzle. Sarah-Tate and Griffin got her Monster High Stuff. Mom and dad got her clothes, Bike, legos and art stuff. :)


Cute party favors!


Cowgirls


Amazing Balloon Horse


All the girls stuff


Pretty Birthday Girl and awesome cake


Amazing cake



Things to remember about Ava at 8.......

You love to read! She get lost in books! You read a whole book driving home from Grandma and Grandpa's house! You love all books! You are into science or animals!

You still wear tank tops all the time! Along with leggings and skirts. You really hate shorts. You love flip flops.

You are an amazing artist. You take art lessons each week; your work is incredible! You are also into Zumba and AcroJax.

You have one of the biggest hearts ever! You love taking care of your siblings. They drive you crazy but you look out for them all the time. It is sweet how you always think of them when you get a surprise or treat. You want to make sure they get one too!

You love nature walks, riding your bike and going to the beach. You love swimming and miss it so much during the winter.

You love banana bread, muffins, pepperoni, spicy jack cheese, poptarts(only healthy ones), strawberries, dried mango, freeze dried fruit, fruit leather, pies, ice cream, nitrate free hotdogs, milkway, lasagna, spaghetti, orange chicken, sesame chicken, broccoli, roasted brussel sprouts, roasted asapragus, oatmeal, raw broccoli, chicken and dumplings, grilled salmon, shrimp, pretzel bread, annie's bunnies, macaroni and cheese, fried eggs, bacon, bars, cantalope, watermelon, berries, sushi and almond butter! I am sure there are many more favs but I cannot think of them right now!

We love you Ava! We love your passion and look forward to the next year and all the great things you do!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Thanksgiving

We headed to NC for Thanksgiving! So much fun as always! We stayed for a week! We visited with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and friends. It was great. Our trip started out kind of bumpy! We were supposed to leave Saturday morning but Ava came home from school Friday with a temp of 104! :( She was so sick with a sinus infection. By Saturday morning she was feeling better with the antibiotics. Too tired and weak to travel so we had to leave Sunday. On Monday Griffin had a constant fever. We took him to urgent care, he had a double ear infection! And Sarah-Tate had strep! Ha! Crazy!

The girls spend time with Aunt Sharon. She did a sewing project with them. They made pot holders, purses and dolls! Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob are always so much fun! The girls also helped Aunt Sharon put up her Christmas tree! They loved it and so did Aunt Sharon! :)

We also went to Ava and Sarah-Tate's favorite place to eat Asiana! Aunt Sharon, Uncle Bob, Matthew, GiGi and Poppy! It was super yummy! The girls ate so much food! Their GiGi was shocked!

We had a yummy meal on Thanksgiving! Aunt Lillie came over as well as mom's family. It was so nice! We always have so much terrific food! YUM!

Mom and I did our usual day after Thanksgiving shopping. We seem to beat the crowds! So nice! We go early and leave by lunch to come home!

On Friday afternoon we got a wonderful visit with my cousins Aaron, Bryan, Ashley, Claire and Reese! Bryan and his family live in Atlanta, it was so great to see them!!

As always the time passes too quickly when we are home! :(





Happy Tuesday!

January is almost over...

Fall is my favorite season, it passes so quickly! Crazy!

Run down of the fall/winter activites!

October we went trick or treating with some friends in our neighborhood. The kids had a great time. Ava was a black cat, Sarah-Tate was Belle and Griffin was Batman. Cute. They get a crazy amount of candy!! Between school parties and trick or treat we have candy for a month!




I made these cute treats for school parties!




Ava did a book report on Junie B. Jones for her Halloween dress up at school! So cute!


So sad that I am just doing this post and it is the end of January! Happy Tuesday!


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Fall.....

I love Fall! I love pumpkin everything, cool weather, decorations, college football, fresh apples and Pumpkin Spice Lattes! Love it! Things are in full swing with the kids. Ava has Zumba on Mon, Art class on Tues, Brownies on Wed and Gymnastics on Thurs. Sarah-Tate has Ballet and Tap on Thurs. Griffin is in preschool 2 mornings a week. He loves it!

Sarah-Tate had a birthday party in Sept. We invited the girls from her class and a few other friends. She had wanted a Pump-It-Up party but they were all booked so we just did a pool party at our house. So much fun! Her theme was My Little Pony Princess. We had lots of food, drinks, pizza and yummy rainbow cupcakes! All the girls had so much fun swimming!




Cute girls!  Fun party!!!!!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

School days....

Wow, the summer flew! I always feel it goes quickly but I think this summer went really fast. I miss the kids so much when school starts back. The house is so quiet. It is strange!

Ava is in 2nd grade. For K and 1st she looped up with the same teacher and same class. This year she got a whole new class and teacher! She was a little nervous the first day but excited that her daddy got to take her in! She loves her new teacher Ms. Relaford. She also has a few friends in her class...Kierston, Mia, Sydney, Alex and Connor. I was shocked they had homework the first week. I think Ava was too! She is signed up for Zumba and Acrojax as well as Art. Oh and Brownies! It will be a busy year!

Sarah-Tate started VPK. We love her new school. Her teachers are awesome and the class seems really great. She didn't even cry or seem concerned when I left. She just smiled and said good bye! I was worried. At her old school she cried often. :( She has already made lots of new friends! We hear about Sadie, McKenzie, Sophia, Rowan and Eliza. She is the tallest kid in her class, the first day someone thought she was a 1st grader! Ha! My kids are all so tall. Not sure how? She is also doing an awesome job writing her name! Yay! We have worked on it all summer. She does it but in her time. At school she has done it everyday. She is also coloring awesome.

Griffin will start school 2 days a wk after Labor Day. He and I have had quality time. Today we did the library story time and then puzzles for about an hr. It was so much fun. Normally I feel so stressed or in such a hurry. Nice to just have him and time to kill.




Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Birthdays and stuff....

I totally missed the post on Ava's Birthday!?!?! We had a small party this year instead of a big class party. Ava invited Sarah-Beth, Dominique, Ragan, Sydney, Summer and Sara to go the movies and see Arriety for her birthday! She had a Monster High Cake and cute lollipop party favors. The movie was great and the girls were wonderful! After the movie we came back to our room, had cake and opened presents. Ava's teacher, Ms. Helms and her daughter Katlyn came. Ava was so excited! She got lots of Monster High stuff! Gigi and Poppy also came to visit and go to your party!

I cannot believe Ava is 7! These years have gone so quickly! It seems just like yesterday I was at Dr Boyd's office and he said I had to be induced the next day! Crazy!!! Ava was so tiny when she was born 6lbs 2 oz!!! We had to go buy premie clothes to fit her! We were both so nervous! It was crazy to be so nervous b/c I had always taken care of kids? I think I expected her to be bigger and not so petite and fragile!

I am so blessed to have Ava bean in my life. She is such a ray of sunshine. Always a big helper. Always watching out for her little brother and sister. Ava makes me smile each and everyday! She also makes me want to be a better person. I love you Ava bean! I am glad you had a wonderful birthday! I hope all your birthdays are magical.....

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Christmas and other stuff....

Wow, such a long time without blogging! Well, Christmas was wonderful! We headed to NC to be with my family this year. That is getting harder and harder! We have 3 kids, a dog, the 2 of us, all our luggage and then all the presents! Wow, our van was FULL! But, we made the trip and the kids were beyond excited to be at the farm for Christmas! We had a full schedule as always! The first night my aunts, uncles, brother, sisterinlaw and cousin came up for supper. The next day was shopping and last minute stuff. Saturday, Christmas Eve we spend the day cooking for a mid-afternoon lunch/dinner. I made hashbrown casserole, poppyseed salad and made from scratch red velvet cake! YUM! The cake was almost a disaster b/c Mr Griffin upped the temp on my mom's oven! Thankfully I smelled it before it was too late. He is a mess!

We had a wonderful get together! My sweet 92 year old mamaw came! I love her and miss her so much! Wish we lived closer!

Christmas Day was wonderful! The kids got an overload of STUFF! Ava and Sarah-Tate were so proud and happy to finally have an American Girl Doll from Santa! They both asked for Kanani, doll of the year! They also got games, dolls clothes, books and the list goes on and on! Griffin got a John Deere Tractor from my mom and dad that he can ride on! Oh, that was it for Griffin! He is obsessed with that thing! Loves it! After presents we had our traditional breakfast of biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, eggs, grits and homemade jelly. Once everyone was settled mom and I went to visit Mamaw were she is staying. She is so cute, I hope I live to be 92 and have all my kids love me as much as we love her.

On Sunday Ava had a sleepover with her cousin Caroline. She had waited all week for this special moment! They were all so cute and excited!

Funny how you plan for so long but the trip is so, so fast! When we got back into town Matt's mom and dad came up from Sarasota! It was nice seeing them. The kids were excited of course for round 2 of Christmas! Unfortunately, Griffin got really sick New Year's Eve! Matt and I ended up spending our night in the ER downtown. Turns out he had a hernia and hydrocele. It was an awful night. They had such a hard time getting an IV in him and he was miserable, crying. So sad! :( Thankfully he got treated and sent home. We ended up having surgery at the end of Jan. He did awesome and is all good now! Yay! Can't believe he is almost 2!!! Time flies!

Some Christmas pics....