Growing Up!

Avelyn just recently turned 4!  Can't believe how much she is growing up.  Why or WHY does time have to go by so quickly?  I know every parent says that, but it really is hard to fathom how fast time goes once you have kids.  All you want to do is just cherish every moment you have with them.  You never know how much time is left.

My crazy creative daughter decided that for her birthday this year, she wanted a yellow, purple, puppy party.  Yup!  They don't make that one readily available.  Thank the Lord for Pinterest!  I got several ideas just from that.  It actually turned out really cute! Here's some of the things that we did:

 The cupcakes I made myself.  Couldn't find anyone to make it that wasn't going to cost me $75+!  They turned out pretty cute!

 Each kid got to adopt a puppy.  We had dog tags for each of them as well as an adoption paper!  The kids LOVED it!









Along with their puppies, kids got a supply bag with Avelyn's Puppy Chow ( Coco Puffs), puppy vitamins (gummy bears), a nap mat (just felt),  & a ball.

Here, kiddos got a makeover themselves!  They got puppy ears, & then face paint to turn them into a dog. We also had puppy tattoos as well.

The kids then took their puppies to the animal hospital where they could check & groom their puppies to make sure they were healthy.

Needless to say, Avelyn was a happy camper!

Puppy Avelyn!











As always, Roan had to show off his groovin' dance moves!  I love this boy!

We also set up a photo prop for their kids to take pictures.  Jeff just made this from a very large box.  Good job hon!

And of course the games!  This was the Pooper Scooper Race.  We divided the kids into two teams.  Each team had a spatula with a chocolate on it.  They had to run through the tunnel, to the wall, & back to give it to the next team member.  This was definitely a hit!

Our version of Duck, Duck, Goose....  Cat, Cat, Dog!

Sweet!

And of course, the men in my life!



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Along with Avelyn's birthday, we decided that it was time to transition her room from her nursery, to her big girl room.  That was exceptionally hard on me.  I cried the last night the rocker was in her room.  How many of you have done that? There's something about being able to rock your little one and have them fall asleep in your arms that just brings peace to the world, even if it just for a moment.  Avelyn was excited though to change her room and of course, what colors did she want?  Yellow & purple!  Here's her room:

 It's hard to tell, but her walls are actually a very pale gray & then everything else is different shades of yellow & purple of course!

The End of Preschool. :(

Avelyn had her last day of preschool last week. It makes me sad she's growing so fast yet I love how she's turning out. Now, I'll admit, she hasn't had the easiest year. Let's just say that Avelyn has a mind of her own. She started off the school year just great and then...well, the diva came out. Avelyn was the very FIRST child to ever look directly into the director of the preschool's eyes and tell her, "NO!". She also REFUSED to make friends because they didn't know how to play how she did. If she did have friends, they were always in the older classes so she wouldn't play with anyone until she was outside for recess and even then, she spent most of the time on the tricycle. I began to really worry about her. Myself as a child was always the perfectionist and cooperative, yes-ma'am, mind the teacher, child so this was completely foreign to me. Well, Avelyn finally started turning around slightly after the beginning of the year. She started warming up to at least the boys in her class. Gage was always her best friend even though she hardly played with him. Then Price was, then Matthew, and so on...Hey I'm not going to complain that they were all boys. They were FRIENDS! Avelyn finally came around to allowing the girls play with her at the end of the year. Progress!!! Even her teacher Ms. Carrie was excited and Avelyn was even willing to do what they all were doing in class. One thing Avelyn is not, is artistic. Does that mean my child is not creative? No way! That girl can create the most beautiful, hilarious, angry stories I've ever heard from any 3 year old. She's quite brilliant at it. She just doesn't like drawing, writing, painting, etc. If she does do something it's fast, sloppy, & thrown together because she just wanted to get it over with. I got very few projects from her throughout the year. I can probably use just my 10 fingers to count the amount of work I got to see. She would only do them if she was in the mood and that only lasted a few minutes. Avelyn always has more important things to do. Again, foreign to me because I love being crafty! I'm learning that my child isn't me and that's OK. Roan might be my little artist. ;)



Here's Avelyn's EOY party! Her picture with her teachers is the best that I could get from her. She was upset that I made her get off the tricycle and no matter what we would try to do to make her smile, this is the best we got. Oh well! Memories!

 

It's The Return of a Slacker Updater!

Well hey there! Been a long time I think. Don't know how I came across my own blog, but I realized that I once did it for a short period of time and thought maybe I should do it again. Soon my family will be moving to a whole other state and it might be an easier way for our family/friends to catch up on us. :) So here's the skinny...we have another child! Yes! Our son Roan. And guess what...he's already over a year old. Yup. And Avelyn, we'll she's nearly 4! That's how bad I am about keeping this thing up. But these kids of mine are absolutely fabulous! Avelyn is one of the smartest, funniest, most challenging 3 year olds I've ever known. She's freakin' brilliant though. Roan is a natural mama's boy, sweetheart, & the calmest kid you meet until he does get upset. Then that Irish temper of his is in full force. Right now, Jeff is up for a promotion through his company and that means we'll be moving to Michigan as soon as they find something for him. This week he flies up there for 7 interviews with 8 people. Does that make any sense? This is supposively all for 1 position. Crazy! The thing is, Jeff is INCREDIBLY smart and he gets angry with me when I tell people that he will be an executive one day for this company. But I KNOW that this will happen because I believe in him that much. Now me, currently I'm technically a "stay at home mommy" but I tutor part time back in Irving with 5th grade math 3 days a week & sub 2 days a week at my daughter's preschool when they need me. I'm pretty much working full time with a few "stay at home mommy" benefits/jobs. I love it though. I love being able to drop everything to be there for my kids, to be room mom for my daughter's class, to snuggle with my kids during rainy days in the middle of the week, but yet still get out and help those students who need me. Things are really good! So, I'm going to keep this short and hopefully try to get back on track. Lord knows I have tons of things going on through my brain anymore and mayble blogging might help get it out there and organized for a change!