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!

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!