Pre-K Rocks!

My baby started Preschool last week. I'm trying not to make a big deal about it because it's not like she started high school but still.  Avery was BEYOND excited to be going to preschool!

The Mother's Day Out program that she has gone to for the past few years actually has a Preschool program so we decided to forego the public school route and opt for what we knew.  We LOVE her Mother's Day Out program and know we won't be disappointed in Pre-K! It's also 3 full days instead of 5 half days. Even better!

 

 

I had to get some pictures of her holding her holding her "First Day of Pre-K sign". I also wanted to throw in one where she has written her name. I want to document her handwriting over the years and can't wait to see how she and her writing changes. I told her to write it big. This was a little bigger than I meant but at least she follows directions!

 

Can someone explain what this fake smile is all about? I can't get a real smile out of this girl for anything! When we got to school her friends, Kennedy and Kassidy were alread y there waiting. Of course this was a photo op!

We went inside and Avery found her cubby. Every morning she will have to put away her lunch and backpack and find her seat.

 

 

She found her seat and she was ready to get started!

I'm not sure where my little girl went.  I wish we could bottle her up and keep her like this!  This is only the first of many first day of school pictures to come.  Such a big girl.  We love her so much!

The Cutest Unicorn

This year has to be my favorite Halloween with Avery.  She finally understood she was going to get to dress up and couldn't wait to go Trick or Treating.  Anytime we went into a store she had to look at all the Halloween stuff.  Usually this means going over to the area of decorations that made noises and had buttons to push. She loved pushing the buttons and seeing what the decoration did.  I shouldn't be surprised about this.  Ronnie LOVES Halloween so Avery comes by it naturally.

When we asked Avery what she wanted to be for Halloween she said she wanted to be a unicorn.

Okay so the conversation may have gone more like this.

Me: Avery, don't you want to be a unicorn for Halloween?

Avery: Yay! I want to be a unicorn!

How easy it is to sway a 3 year old! In my defense, she's really into unicorns these days and I knew she'd love being a unicorn.

We initially bought her costume at Pottery Barn Kids in a moment of weakness.  But after searching Ebay and finding a costume for half the price, the PBK costume when straight back to the store!

Avery had a blast dressing up and wearing pink unicorn make-up!

Avery had a Halloween party at school and had a blast dressing up and trick or treating.















We also went to the Spooktacular event at our local community center.  Along with 4 bajillion other people but that's another issue.

Of course we went out Halloween night as well.  And of course, this mom was too caught up in the moment to snap a single photograph!  I know, I know. Mom of the year over here.  But Avery got to trick or treat with her besties Hannah and Chloe.  Those girls could had a blast running from house to house.  Their little "trick or treat" voices were adorable.  And though we constantly had to remind them "remember to say thank you!" before they rang the doorbell, they were on their best behavior.

Next year we'll have two little girls to dress up for Halloween!  I'm still having trouble wrapping my brain around having two little girls in the house but I can't wait!

More adventures to come!

Christmas in a big giant nutshell

We had so many events that we attended over the Christmas holiday I just can't dedicate a post to each event.  It would be March before I was done so I'll use this post as a big giant catch-up with a few words and lots of pictures.

Avery's Children's Day Out had a Christmas program which may have been the cutest thing ever! I didn't ever get a really good picture but this is Avery during the program.

We also got to go Orr Family Farm.  It was a very cold evening (fa-reeeezing!) but we managed to get in a pony ride and a train ride to see some Christmas lights.

There's always family Christmas get togethers to attend.  We get together with my mom's side of the family every year.  It's always great to see my family. My cousin Tracie (that watches Avery) and her kids were there.  Avery does not lack in the "I am loved" department!

This is Kelli and Avery.  They are the best of friends.

And Peyton.  He's so good to Avery.

This is my favorite picture. This is Mason and Avery.  Mason is the oldest great-grandchild and Avery is the youngest.  My Meemaw never got to meet Avery and I know they would have had the best of times.

Moving on as I wipe away tears...Sheesh.  These posts are supposed to be funny!

Avery did even managed an outfit change into her one of her favortie nightgowns. This was a gift from Avery's cousins.  Tell me who doesn't love Minnie Mouse?!

Next up Christmas morning.  Since Avery was such a good girl Santa was able to make it by.  He brought Avery the cutest little pink chair.

Avery did get her Pop the Pig game too.  She was so excited!

Avery was not lacking in the gift department.

There was so much more that happened that there just isn't enough time to blog about.  There was Christmas with my family and R's family.  We have enough toys for a small orphanage.  We are very blessed and thankful that Avery is so loved.

And for the parting shot.  This is Avery's "cute smile".  Her dad taught her how to do this. He's going to regret that someday!

More adventures to come!

Baking Brownies

For Heaven's Sake!  I blink and all of a sudden it's been a month since I blogged.  Oops!  Time to catch up on what's been going on around our parts.

Avery had a Thanksgiving party at her Children's Day Out program and I was signed up to bring brownies.  Avery and I got to work in the kitchen.

Avery LOVES to help cook.  I try to let her do as much as she can by herself.

We may or may not have had to fish out egg shell.  Don't tell her classmates!

Avery is such a big helper!

Next week I'm going to let her bake a cake unsupervised.  She's old enough.

The hard part was finding the perfect cookie cutter shape.  We didn't want boring, ol' square brownies.  They had to be symbolic of Thanksgiving.  So many choices! Like 100 choices. Seriously.  100 cookie cutters!

 
I had some parameters.  I had to have a certain number of brownies so a lot of the more Thanksgiving type cutters were a little too big.  We went with the heart.  It made the cutest little brownies!

And a few scraps left to, um...share. 

Avery was so proud of herself!  I was so proud of her too.  It was a great way to start the Thanksgiving holiday!

More adventures to come!

Halloween

Halloween was especially fun this year.  As I keep saying, Avery is to the age when she "gets" stuff.  And this year, she "got" that she was going to get to dress up.  We let her decide what she wanted to be for Halloween with a little bit of parental leading.

Me: Avery, don't you want to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween?
A: Yes! Minnie Mouse!
Me: What do you want to be for Halloween?
A: Minnie Mouse!

See how that works?

Trickery. We picked up Avery's costume at a huge children's consignment sale.  I love the JBF Sale.  But that is a whole other post.  As R and I were looking at costumes I asked Avery again what she wanted to be for Halloween.
A: Pink Pwincess
What happened to my trickery?!
Me: What? Minnie Mouse?
A: No, mommy. Pink Pwincess.

I'm not going to lie. I had a moment of panic.  I spotted the pink Minnie Mouse dress and ears and showed it to Avery.  She was sold! 
A: Pwincess Minnie!

That my friends is how this parenting thing is done!

Our Halloween festivities started with a Halloween party at Avery's Children's Day Out program.  It was a little chilly and I had picked up this faux fur shawl that worked perfectly for my little Minnie Mouse!

There just happened to be 3 Minnie's in Avery's class that day.  I knew I wasn't winning any awards for creativity or originality but I knew Avery would LOVE being Minnie so it worked!

R: Avery, how many Minnie's were there in your class?
A: Twee (Three)
R: Who was the prettiest.
A: Me!
Hmmm, she hasn't heard that too much huh?

On Halloween, Avery asked to wear her costume about every 5 seconds.  The girl could have lived in that thing!

Lunch Box

My girl started going to a Mother's Day out program about a month ago.  She loves her Big Girl School! She gets to have a back pack and a lunch box and everything. I love that she brings home fun pictures and gets a little structure.  Not to mention she gets to play with other kids, one of her favorite things!

Avery goes to "school" 2 days a week.  We have to send lunch for her. At first I was a little nervous about packing her lunch.  I mean, what do you pack for a 2 year old?  Sometimes she eats everything, most of the time she eats a little bit of a lot of things.  My girlfriend Bobbi, mother of one of the cutest 4 year olds I know turned me on to one of the cutest blogs.  It's called Another Lunch.  Melissa, the blogger, is a stay at home mom to 4 little ones.  She packs bento-style lunches for her kids. Have you heard of bento? Bento is a japenese word for ready-to-eat lunch in a box. The style promotes less waste (no little baggies or packages to throw away).  I was intrigued and thought, "Eh, I'll think about that when Avery starts going to school."  I checked in with Another Lunch pretty regularly though because her lunches were just so dang cute!
And then it hit me! What a minute genius!  Avery IS in school.  And what does she have to take?  A lunch.  So I tried my hand at packing her a bento lunch with the supplies I had on hand.

This is my second attempt.

I didn't take a picture of my first attempt.  This container came with Avery's lunch box so it fits in her lunch box perfectly.
From left to rightt:
Grapes, Cheese Its, Turkey & Cheese heart shaped sandwich, Go-gurt yogurt in a plastic container I had, semi-sweet chocolate chips in a muffin liner.

I am really enjoying packing Avery's lunch.  I have been trying to be more creative (yay! another creative outlet) and have put a few supplies on her Christmas list.  I mean, she wants lunch supplies for Christmas right? Right?!   

I don't know if Avery eats a thing of what I pack for her but at least it's all packed in a cute little container!

More adventures to come!