Yippee!!!

Congratulations Omi! I was so proud to watch you walk across the stage last night with your cords and your honors. I hope and pray that when my girls are graduating that they will have the same honors, but even more I hope they have your style. Your class. Your commitment to God. Your sense of right and wrong. Your sense of humor. (Definitely your sense of humor!!!) Your compassion. Your leadership. Your dedication to everything. You are a good girl and we are honored to have you as a friend. Thank you for being such a great role model for my girls. We are going to have an awesome summer!

P.S. Thank you also to your family for letting me sit smack dab in the middle of the clan. I love being a part of your family. :)

Brilliant!!!

Last night at dinner Avery said, "Look Mommy, I drew an A". I looked down and she had! They are a little shaky, but definitely A's.

Memorial Day

We went to the lake house for Memorial Day and Reagan went on her first boat ride. She did very well, but made sure her Daddy was holding her tightly the entire time. Avery was a little more relaxed. She stood on Grammy and sang I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart with motions. Thanks Grammy and PeePaw for a great day!

A few more...

Here are the promised pictures from the beach. I wish they were a better quality, but beggars can't be choosers.

Not just for boys!

Josh and Avery went to the Lowe's Build and Grow this morning. They made the cutest flower box so now we need to find some dirt and plant our seeds. That might be a task for tomorrow. Avery had a blast pounding on nails and she was so proud of herself that she even wore her apron... for at least part of the time.

Thank You Mom!

I am spoiled rotten. Yes, I know this although I don't often admit it. Thank you, thank you, thank you mom for buying most of our new camera.

And yes, I see right through you. I know you love me, but you love pictures of my cute kids even more!

Riding the waves

We finally went the the ocean. For Avery it was love at first sight. She went right in with her Daddy and would have stayed in for the rest of the trip had we let her. There was a pretty strong surf and that just made her love it even more.

Unfortunately that made Reagan hate it. She's still pretty short and not completely stable so she would get so mad because the first wave would knock her down to her seat and before she could get up another wave would knock her down again. Hopefully next year she will be bigger and stronger and will be able to stand better. However she loved loved loved the sand.

Ocean 1 - Camera 0. Apparently cameras don't stand ocean water and sand very well so my beloved camera died. We went and got a diposable (how awful!!!), but I have to get those developed (who does that anymore!) so they will have to be posted tomorrow.

Choo Choo

The second thing we did while in Galveston was go to the train museum. I wasn't sure how Avery would like it because she loves trains, but it is a true museum. She loved it. We didn't stand and read much of the actual information, but they had lots of model trains and real trains to look at and walk through. They were set up as they would be in different time periods. So interesting and there was enough outside that Avery could run around. Definitely a plus on any Avery-outing. It also didn't hurt that it was early Thursday afternoon so there were about 5 other people there. That worked for me because then I could take all the pictures I wanted.

Yummy!

The first thing we did in Galveston was eat! We got there about 12:30 and the girls were not waiting any longer! We chose Joe's Crab Shack because we were trying to get Avery to eat some seafood, and we knew what to expect from there. Avery ate chicken strips, but it was all quite fabulous!

I'm so excited...

And I just can't hide it!

Two great things happened yesterday.

1. We put a bid in on a house. It's a foreclosure and everything is looking like it is a great investment. We won't find anything out until next week. My comment was "That's great. I'll forget by then so I won't be nervous." We're praying that if this is a good move for us then everything will go smoothly. If not, God will put in a very obvious roadblock.

and...

2. We decided to go on a quick trip to Galveston. We will be back tomorrow so look for lots of pictures of the princesses in the water. I guess they will be Ariel this time. :)

Talk to you soon.

Again

Does this look like a child with a double ear infection?

The doctor said if she gets another one we're on our way to the ENT. Look out Tubes. Here we come!

A little late

These pictures are actually from Monday, but it's been such a crazy week I haven't had time to log on. We got the sidewalk chalk with the 3D glasses and it actually works!

Avery had a blast, and drew a "W". She was very excited. She knows all her letters and now is starting to write. Reagan was not being as cooperative.

She wanted to eat the chalk, and everytime I pointed the camera at her she would say "No" and walk the other way. COME ON KID. DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE IN THIS FAMILY!!! Josh knew the trick. He held her toys right over the camera and she smiled and giggled.

That girl! She's a mess.

She didn't disappoint

You might have wondered how I came up with the name "The Steeple People". It's actually a funny little story. Our church has a preschool choir for children ages 3-5. Being as Avery falls into that category she has Harmony Hoppers every Sunday night and they perform as a group about every 6 weeks usually falling in line with some type of holiday. Avery is a performer. She loves the attention, but once she realizes she has it, she's not always quite sure what to do with it. That's when things get a little crazy. After the first few performances the staff at church decided to rename the Harmony Hoppers. What did they come up with? You got it... Avery and the Steeple People. The name fits better than I would like. The other children are quite a bit older than Avery and so they don't "entertain" quite like she does. Here are some of the comments I've received... and I'm not sure they are compliments.



I love it when the children sing. I make sure no one is blocking my view so I can see Avery.



I can't wait to see what she will do today.



I can't wait to watch the "show".



Avery was having fun today wasn't she. (The pastor... from the pulpit!)



You get the idea. So it starts Sunday morning. The kids go up on stage and Avery looks down to see me in the front row with the regular camera. So she comes back down and asks (loudly) "Where is the video camera?" After assuring her that she is being recorded she goes back up. However, it's mother's day so I got a little surprise too. I got to stand up there with her. They sang a song and Avery danced, and dusted off her skirt and giggled. There wasn't much singing going on, but she sure was cute... and everyone was grinning when they were done. Avery and The Steeple People have done it again!

Daddy's Little Helper

Josh was feeling ambitious this morning so he decided to wash the van. Of course he couldn't do it alone so Avery offered her assistance. She had a blast and actually helped a little. Reagan was helping Mommy by sleeping late. She must be growing.

Tea Anyone?

Avery's class had their Tea for Mom today. It was really sweet with adorable decorations and yummy cupcakes. The placemat said that Avery loves me because I'm growing up everyday. However, what she really told her teacher is that she loves me because I'm growing. I'm getting bigger and bigger everyday. Oh, the joys of children!

A Snack just for 2

This is what I found after the girls were a little quiet this afternoon. They were sharing Avery's snack. I love that!

My Favorite People

There are times that things you already know just hit you. As I was driving my hour long journey Monday morning I was thinking about how wonderful my family is. How blessed I am and how spoiled I am even though I know often I take it for granted. Here are a just few reasons I love these people more than life...

Josh: Because he understands me better than I do myself; because he will go to the Selah/ Point of Grace concert with me and not complain... too much; because he will go to the Selah/ Point of Grace sound check at all; because he drove around last night for almost an hour looking at houses; because he is so good with my girls (yes I know they are his too, but still...); because he brought me my camera to school yesterday even though I didn't ask.....

Avery: Because everytime she sees me at school she yells "Mommy" and gives me a big hug; because she loves Reagan so much... even though sometimes she has a funny way of showing it; because she will talk to anyone whether she knows them or not; because she loves to read her Bible; because she sings all the time; because when she sings and we can't understand the words we still know the song from the tune; because she loves to dress like her sister; because she giggles.....

Reagan: Because she reaches up when I walk in the room; because she says "Thank you" when you give her something; because she makes the cutest noises... not to entertain me, but to entertain herself; because she sleeps through the night (notice that isn't on her sister's!); because she blows kisses; because Avery is her favorite person; because she giggles.....

Thank you Lord, for the blessing of these.

Gig 'Em Ags!

I've been going to baseball games longer than I can remember. My mom and dad used to take me to Astros games waaaay back when they had the rainbow uniforms (I still think those are great) and they played in the Astrodome. You could get tickets for $1 (no, I'm not that old) on the very top ring. Trust me. It was way up there. We would sit behind Jose Cruuuuuuuuuz (my all time favorite player) and if I had to guess my dad would explain the technical aspects of the game while I would run around. I'm pretty sure no one else was that far up... even though tickets were only a buck.

Fast forward a few years... then a few more... okay a few more. Last night we took Avery and Reagan to an Aggie baseball game. What a blast!

We took Naomi because she needs to be told all the wonderful aspects of College Station. I tried to explain that this was just a little taste compared to a football game. We'll have to go again in the fall. There's nothing better than Aggie football.

We ate at Freebirds. At that point Josh was happy no matter what.

We got to see Uncle Daniel who is leaving next week for an internship in New Mexico. It is so fun to watch him with my girls. I think Avery could ask for just about anything and he would give it to her. As he says, "That's what uncles are for!"

Avery got shoulder rides to and from the game, but the biggie... Daniel caught a foul ball and didn't even think twice about giving it to his favorite nieces. Big bonus points for Reagan since that's her favorite toy right now. So she walked around saying "ball" and chewing on it. I know that's gross, but she'll eat dirt at some point and it wasn't worse than that.

I was so proud of Avery. She really struggled at first because of all the strange sounds and the different atmosphere. But after a while she calmed down and had fun. She was even able to dance to the music between innings. She's getting better.

Unfortunately the Ags ran out of time, but they'll get em next time. All in all, a very succesful night. Whoop!