Happy 7th Birthday, Abby! [Part 1]

It's hard to believe, but my "baby" girl is SEVEN years old today!!!! She made quite the entrance 7 years ago, and has been dazzling us with her personality ever since. It's funny....I used to always say I wanted to be a mom of 3 boys. Now I can't imagine NOT having a daughter! She is the daughter I never knew I wanted :)

7 Tidbits about Abby these days....

1. She sleeps on top of the covers every.single.night. She claims this is how she's most comfortable, but I know it's because she doesn't want to make her bed each morning. (Shades of her Aunt Bebe!)

2. For the past month, she has been taking a beginner Hip Hop class every Thursday afternoon. The girl has got rhythm!!! (Don't worry, the teacher keeps all the moves very PG.) So far, they have learned choreography to "Thriller" (because of Halloween) and now they are working on a new routine to "Can't Stop the Feeling." She has a recital in May and I cannot wait to see how that goes!

3. She sings non-stop. Anything from church hymns or songs she learned in the school choir, to Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus. She is constantly singing.

4. She loves crafting! Such a girl after my own heart. She has a "shop" with the 2 girls next door, and they sell crafts - drawings, beaded jewelry, bookmarks, you name it. Currently, they are just working on their inventory because the last few times they set up shop at the end our driveway, they only made about $0.50. Ha! I admire her little entrepreneurial spirit!

5. She is obsessed with her fringe ankle boots. She wears them any chance she can, despite the weather. We taught her "These Boots are Made for Walking" song and she cannot get enough!

6. Nate introduced her to an app called musical.ly.... She uses her kindle to make short videos of herself lip synching and then can post it on her profile. Right now, she only has 4 followers because I made her account "private," and she is not happy about that. Ha! Seriously, she is 7 going on 17.

7. Put all of her sass and big personality, and Abby has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen. She is always offering up a hug or smackaroo or a "snoogle." She is the best little mommy to her favorite stuffed animal friends, Helen & Pippy. And, most days, she is my little shadow and just wants to be where I am at all times! I know this will end in just a few short years, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

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Now, it's time for a stroll down memory lane. This is my favorite part of the kids' having birthdays, because it means I get to look through old pictures!!

Newborn and oh so tiny!

6 months old

1 year old - showing off birthday gifts from Aunt Bebe

18 months old

2 years old and already a big fan of dressing up! (And layering!)

2.5 years old

3 years old with her birthday present from Mommy & Daddy!

3.5 years old - at the beach/Berly's house

4 years old - Western Day at school

4.5 years old - Miss Priss loves the beach!

5 years old - she loves to pose!

5.5 years old - oh the sass!

6 years old - she bought "Georgie" at Disney with her own money!

6.5 years old - on the Black Warrior River

7 years old and turning into a teenager :(

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Every year, I ask the kids the same questions. The kids moan & groan when I do it during their birthday breakfast, but luckily, they still indulge me :)

How old are you? 7

What makes you happy? Playing with friends

What is your favorite animal? Kitty cat

What is your favorite thing to eat? Grits

What is your least favorite thing to eat? Lettuce

What is your favorite thing to do? Play with Nate

What is your favorite TV show? “Winx” (on Neflix)

What are you really good at? Singing

What is your favorite movie? “Star Wars”

What is your favorite color? Dark purple

What is your favorite song? “Classic” by MKTO

Who is your best friend? Nate

What do you and your Mom do together? Cook

What do you and your Dad do together? Wrestle

What is your favorite sport? Dance

Where is your favorite place to go? The movies

What is your favorite book? “Eerie Elementary” series

What do you want to be when you grow up? A mommy, organizer, and star

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Stay tuned to hear about Abby's big day! I have lots of fun stuff planned.....

Brace Face!

Last week, Nate became an official Brace Face!!

I checked him out of school early on Thursday and we headed to the orthodontist. He got 6 brackets put on his upper teeth, and should be wearing them for ~ 6 months.

I was really proud of him at the orthodontist's office. He did great, even though I know he was nervous it would hurt.

Before & After

 He got a kit including lots of cool types of brushes, floss, and wax. He couldn't wait to get home & try them all! We made a pit stop at Chick-Fil-A to get a milkshake first :)

 I still thinks he looks handsome, but I know I'm biased!! Really, I think he just looks a lot older now. Which I am NOT happy about!! :(

Halloween Fun!

Halloween was SO fun this year!!!

Mainly because it didn't rain...we have had rain the past THREE years. And personally, I didn't mind that it was 85 degrees. I was happy that Abby wouldn't get too cold in her costume :) Check out my flapper and storm trooper:

Like in years past, we trick-or-treated with the family next door, the Richardsons. They all dressed up as Star Wars characters, so Nate fit right in! :)

We had a total of 11 kids in our trick-or-treating group. Some were the Richardsons, and a few others were their friends from other neighborhoods. The "big" boys in our group were: Jack, Camp, and Nate:

Cute girls: Kate, Caroline, Abby, Tessa

These three had a ball and made sure they were the FIRST to each door to say "trick-or-treat!"

Evers & Nate

(It was too hot for Evers' gorilla mask, ha!)

Miss Priss literally skipping from house to house :)

Abby with Loa Harper, ninja turtle extraordinaire!

Unfortunately, Greg was still at work teaching while we were trick-or-treating. He came home just in time to hand out candy, and this little flapper sat on the porch for over an hour with him! Her favorite part of Halloween is seeing all the kids costumes and handing out candy :)

Nate's Halloween Party

I got these pictures of Nate's Halloween party from a friend.

He said he had so much fun!

Snacktime

Popcorn relay

Popping pumpkin balloons to find prizes inside

Abby's Halloween Party

Abby's class was not allowed to wear costumes to school for Halloween (sad!), but luckily they were doing "trick-or-treating for UNICEF" a few days at school, collecting money, and I got to grab a class picture. (Abby wore an old costume; didn't want anything to happen to this year's one!)

I'm Abby's Room Mom this year, so I figured I needed to wear a costume to the class party. This is as good as it gets, people.

#smartypants

Most of the time, Abby loves having me involved in her school parties and field trips. Halloween was no exception, and she was quite the goofball. We started with snacks.....

Then it was time for games! The class was divided into 3 groups, and rotated between 3 game stations. First up for Abby: the Mystery Box!

The kids looooooooooooooved this! I had "brains" (cooked noodles) in hole #1, "fingers" (sliced hot dogs) in hole #2, and "hearts" (peeled tomatoes) in #3. Their facial expressions were priceless! They got candy based on how many right answers they had. Only one kid guessed the "hearts" correctly!

Showing off their prizes from the Mystery Box. And clearly they all had plenty of sugar that day!

I was stuck manning the Mystery Box, so I only got to see Abby play the other games from afar. This was the pumpkin beanbag toss station....

....and the Candy Corn bowling station.

Such a fun party! I love spending time with my girl and her sweet little classmates. Nothing makes me happier to walk into her classroom and hear them all say "Oh yay! It's Abby's Mom!" :)

Greg's Favorite Day of the Year

Nuts and bolts + Carving pumpkins = Greg's favorite day of the year!!

Two days before Halloween, Greg spent a good bit of the day cleaning the guts out of 3 pumpkins (his and the kids. I am the worst carver ever and don't participate anymore).  He also made one of our family's favorite snacks - "nuts & bolts." (Translation: a fancy chex mix.) That night, the kids got their turn.....

Abby drew the face on her pumpkin & Greg carved it, while Nate did it ALL himself. I was very proud of him. Look how focused he is :)

 They couldn't wait to "light them up" outside!!

 For those that know Greg, he is VERY serious when it comes to pumpkin carving. He alternates each year, doing a design for each kid. This year was Abby's year! He keeps the design secret, even during the 3 days that he is working on it.

 Just a few of his masterpieces from the past.....

 He revealed his design to Abby right before dinner. For once, she was speechless!!!

 It was a nod to our family Disney trip.....Tinkerbell sprinkling her magic on the castle. Look at that detail!!!!!

 He drilled each of those tiny little holes. It wrapped all the way around the back. How in the world does he have that much patience!?

 Proud of their creations!

 Ready for trick-or-treaters!!

Fall Festival 2016

Last Friday was the annual Fall Festival at the kids' school. I was on the committee this year, and poured my heart & soul into this event for the pats 2 months! Needless to say, Greg was on "kid duty" during Fall Festival, as I was helping where I could.

 It was held in the high school gym, and on the back fields as well. We had 18 game stations, as well as a hayride, 4 bounce houses, petting zoo, Tumblebus, and lots of great raffle prizes.

Greg said these two ran around together most of the night! #besties

I caught glimpses of Nate thru the night, and found him trying out the new slingshot game!

Too cool for school - George, Chandler, Reagan, Nate

Abby had NO fun whatsoever :)

Nate wanted to show me the monster he had made in art class!

(They were used to decorate the gym doors)

It was *so* funny to see Greg trying to help Abby & 2 friends try to figure out the photo booth!!!

Our sitter, Sydney, is a high school cheerleader, and was volunteering

at the face painting station! Abby went back twice :)

Nate visited Sydney too!

Greg and the kids left around 8 pm. The festival ended around 9, and me & this crazy crew cleaned up till 10:30 pm. We had been there almost 11 hours that day!! Needless to say, we got a little slaphappy in the photo booth :)

All in all, it was a very successful fundraiser for the school, and a great event for the kids.

I was so happy to be a part of it!