McMillen Moments

Fall Family Fun

2011-11-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

Right before Halloween, We (Chad, Ronni, Baylee and Ty...and us!) headed down for our 2nd annual trip to Cedar Hill Farms! They loved it last year and this year was no different! The Sunday we picked to go was very dreary and drizzly, but that ended up working in our favor...there weren't near as many people there as we had expected! We had so much fun...I LOVE family traditions!

Nothing says Fall Fun, like a Footlong corndog for lunch :)

I really could eat this boy alive!

What a wild crew

tractor ride

They are growing up so fast!

Waiting for the pig races

One of the better family shots...its hard to get 4 kids to cooperate

Hayride to the pumpkin patch

Corn Maze

A princess model...

2011-11-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

and I PROMISE, this is all her! She LOVES the camera and works it like she knows what she is doing...This was the morning before she started her first full week of school..She picked out the outfit, the jewelry and the lip gloss, along with the "high heels"! She couldn't wait to get outside for her mini photo shoot! God has definitely given me a Sassy Little Red-Head...and I wouldn't change a thing!

Barefoot Summer Nights...

2011-11-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

Full of crazy summertime memories! I love the fact that God have me girls...SISTERS...something I never had, but something that I have LOVED watching! Their relationship is so close and I love the way they play together...who knew a duffel bag and a slide could bring so much laughter! Thank you girls for all the joy your bring to our family...I pray that you never take each other for granted and that you will continue to build on the wonderful relationship that God has given you!

So many posts....

2011-11-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

So little time...as I look at my blog I realize the last post was Avery's first day of preschool! Can you tell that when the semester starts, life gets so hectic that I cannot keep up with all of our life's activities! This semester has been no different than the ones before...school, soccer, church, homework, work, laundry, cooking, cleaning...and the list goes on! So girls, this is my attempt to get our family journal caught up...sorry your momma has been so busy! May the memories in your head fill in the gaps where I haven't been diligent about completely our journal in a timely manner :)

1st day of preschool...

2011-09-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

During graduated entry week...It was Tuesday after Labor Day and that was Avery's day to experience pre-school! She was able to go a full day with only a few of her classmates, so that she wasn't so overwhelmed, and the teachers were able to spend good quality time with each child to discover a little bit about their personalities, strengths, weaknesses, etc... Once again, she picked out the outfit and the hairstyle (not exactly what I had in mind, but my type A self is trying to allow her to show some independence and I realize that some battles aren't worth fighting! ) and she LOVED every minute of her fun filled day! I am so proud of her and can't believe that she is a pre-schooler, but I am thrilled about all that she will learn this year! It's going to be fun!

We decided that since this was such a big day (and the weather was BEAUTIFUL) that we would have a chick-fil-a picnic breakfast in the back of the car :)

Her "spot"! Look how precious she is...

Ms. C

Ms. F

Meet-n-Greet

2011-09-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

So at the end of August, we got the opportunity to go to Avery's new pre-school and meet her teachers, see her classroom and attend a "what to expect" meeting. This day in particular, Avery had joined me at work and we were heading home discussing what we needed to do before time to go to the meeting! I explained that she would need to go ahead and take a bath, so we wouldn't have to do it once we got home! She was going through her closet in her head to determine exactly what outfit she was going to wear! Once we got home, she had her bath and informed me that I was going to need to blow dry her hair straight for the evening, that she would need some "sparkly stuff" on her eyes and her Tinkerbell lip gloss was a must! Oh and we must not forget about the high heels...I am telling you that getting ready for her preschool meet-n-greet was intense....I can only imagine what prom night will look like! Oh my goodness, pray for my sanity...Its going to be a crazy, fun journey! :)

FIRST day of 2nd grade!

2011-08-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I have a 2nd grader! The summer flew by and I can't believe that we are already back in the swing of school schedules! We prayed all summer that Bren would get placed exactly where God wanted her! And that prayer was answered! She got a teacher who is very rigid...she keeps them engaged ALL day at school with lots of work, homework every night (we already have our first PROJECT due on Monday) and Bren LOVES it!! She is my child that learns best when she is challenged and I believe that will not be a problem this year! We are continuing to pray that God will allow her to grow in her knowledge this year, as well as her ability to handle such a huge work load!

KIDCITY!!!

2011-08-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

The weekend before Promotion Sunday at my church, we spent alot of time up there helping to get some new rooms ready! I happened to get involved in a very interesting project of painting our KidCity (children's church) backdrop! Elissa was in charge of the design itself, I was in charge of taping of all those precious squares ! It was C-R-A-Z-Y! Together, we decided which colors were going where and which squares were going to overlap each other! I absolutely love the way it turn out and I am so proud to say that I was able to help with it! I LOVE SERVING AT MY CHURCH!!

2011-08-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

The Wednesday before school started back...I decided to use my day off to spend some time with the girls! We went to see "The Smurfs", The Pink Palace and do a little school shopping! I love making memories with them!

"girly girl" birthday party

2011-08-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

Brenly and Avery were invited to a birthday party earlier this month! It was a girly girl, dress up, makeup, fashion show, slumber party!! If you know both of my girls, you will know that one of them was thrilled, while the other was less than thrilled! I was asked to come and take pictures of the event! We all went, one had a blast, one was a real good sport :)

They all got to make pillow cases!!

Avery in her "dress up" clothes! She LOVED every minute of it!

Instead of dress up, make up and fashion show..Bren found a headset and decided to be the emcee for the event! So glad she was a good sport about it all! I love my little tomboy! :)

Rainy, Summer Nights...

2011-08-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

I just love a good summer rain shower (one that does NOT include tornadic activity) We decided to make the most of our night and make some memories (we only have #7000days, ya know!) I love these pictures...my kids, being carefree, enjoying the weather that God was giving us, splashing in puddles, getting soaking wet...

Family Vacation-Captiva Island 2011

2011-08-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Captiva Island!! The last time we were there was for our NayNay's wedding which was 3 years ago, so we were so excited to be able to go back this summer! However the family dynamic had changed quite a bit :) Instead of there being only 6 of us, there was now 12 of us! We enjoyed every second of our week and as all vacations go, it went by way too fast!

July 4th weekend..

2011-08-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

and we celebrated our 2nd annual gathering at our house before the fireworks celebration at the park across the street! It was really hot, but we did a Slip-n-Slide and had a dance party and everyone had a great time!

StudentLife Camp

2011-08-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

This summer I got the honor of accompanying 40 of our 3rd-6th graders to StudentLife Camp in Shocco Springs, AL. I am normally in charge of 1st graders at church, but was asked at the last minute if I wanted to go! I assured our director that I would LOVE to go, but because of a husband, kids, and work...it would be highly unlikely that I would be able to! I told her I would do my best to get things lined up, but it would take a God sized miracle for everything to fall into place! Well, isn't it just like God to show up! Literally two weeks before we left, I arranged for childcare for my kiddos, and my boss was more than happy to let me off for a church trip! So off to camp I went! It was a wonderful four days where I got to meet abunch of new kids, and grow closer to the 13 adults that went! I am thankful for the week and am already looking forward to going next summer!! :)

Dad turns 50...

2011-06-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

..and I don't even have alot of good pictures to prove it! (I'll blame that on the fact that I had only a couple hours of sleep due to Relay for Life the night before and barely knew my name, much less where my camera was...) Mom had planned a 50th birthday bash, full of lots of craw fish, Boston butts, banjo pickin, and friends...UNFORTUNATELY, I only got a few pictures from the event!
Dad know that we love you and are looking forward to 50 more!!

Know what 60 lbs of craw fish look like???

Friendly game of Cornhole....
Rowan checking out ALL those black things that are swimming around...
Our cousins from Atlanta came to join us for the party...Unfortunately I only got a picture of Lauren and not Lindsey (sorry) but we are so thankful that they made the trip to hang out with us!!
Avery thoroughly enjoying herself in the pool!
60 lbs of cooked craw fish! (really that was probably only the first batch!)
Uncle J and Aunt Jenna (minus baby James)
This was the guys hanging out at the craw fish table...

Relay for Life

2011-06-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had the opportunity to be a part of a Relay for Life team that my brother put together! Every team had to have a way to raise money for the American Cancer Society and if you know my brother at all, you know that he always goes ABOVE and BEYOND! He worked his magic and got a rock wall donated for the evening! We had a great time and stayed up most of the night (until about 5:00am) raised money for ACS, spent the night with good friends, and made some fun memories!

Bren's first try at the rock wall...she was frustrated at first but that didn't stop her, by the end of the night she had climbed to the top approx. 15 times :)

Avery and Baylee with "real" princesses
Team "Don't Quit"
Avery's first and only try at the rock wall..but she sure is cute hanging there! :)

We bought luminaries for a few of our favorite people...Our sweet and precious momma, who we miss more than anything..
When we signed up to get the rock wall, we had to have an attendant with it the whole night...turns out that God sent us a 20yo guy who had Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and went into about 4 years ago...so we honored him as well!
our sweet Grandmama...
and our Grauntie, who is an ovarian cancer survivor!!
A little face paint for the little girls

Our team even made it to the 2nd round of the volleyball tournament...not bad for abunch of old folks!!
Robin making her way up the rock wall...at approx. 3:00 in the morning!
Brenly...
up...
up...
and away!!!
Avery still hanging in there at about 1:30am!!

Citizenship award!

2011-06-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

As first grade came to a close...I volunteered to go to the school and help pack up Ms. Greene's room! I was so thankful that on this particular Wednesday I was there...Ms. Greene was passing out end of the year awards! She started out by giving an award to the hardest working dragon and then she proceeded to describe the next award...This award was going to a boy AND a girl...Both of these kids displayed qualities throughout the entire school year that made them a good friend (kind, compassionate, good listener, never had complaints about them) Ms. Greene went on to say that good grades were important, but award meant more than good grades, because it reflected their character which was outstanding...
AND THE AWARD GOES TO...
Brenly and her very best buddy Ethan!!

Not only am I a proud parent, but also a proud Sunday School Teacher...I have taught both of these kids every Sunday for the past 3 years and what an amazing thing to hear that both of them are displaying good characteristics, honoring God and being such good friends to everybody! I love you both!

She's a model...

2011-06-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

She's really not but you couldn't make her believe that...This girl LOVES the camera! :) I promise that all of these poses and head tilts are ALL her...I pull out the camera and she goes to town! :)

A visit with the Great Grandparents...

2011-06-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Memorial weekend we made a trip to Dickson to stay with MiMi and Grandfather and decided to travel a little further to spend some time with the Great Grandparents, Papa Mack and Grandma Mildred! What a wonderful set of grandparents they are...They have lived a wonderfully full life and we are grateful for the legacy they are leaving for us...Unfortunately, both of them are in need of some pretty big prayers! Papa Mack is suffering from Alzheimer's and struggling to keep up with things, and Grandma is a breast cancer survivor who has just been told that the cancer is back and its in her liver :( The next several months will be difficult ones for our family, but we trust in God perfect plan and rest in the assurance that God will provide for our every need, including peace that passes understanding! If you believe in the power of prayer, could you please lift these two wonderful people up to the Father in Heaven...He hears them all!

Another Chapter Closes...

2011-06-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

and we are VERY sad about it! Avery had to privilege for the past two years to be cared for by one of God's greatest treasures, Mrs. Monika! While in panic mode two years ago, we pleaded to find someone who loves the Lord, loves kids and the ability to invest in their lives...and boy did God provide!!! Mrs. Monika has been one of Avery's biggest cheerleaders for the past two years, encouraging her everyday to Love the Lord, to be compassionate towards others, learn bible verses along the way..and Avery has developed a HUGE love for her because of it!
Mrs. Monika, Words can't express how grateful we are for you, for your love for the Lord, and for your dedication to love on Avery every day for the past 2 years! We are very sad to see this chapter close, but looking forward to see what God has planned for you and for Avery! We pray that the next year will be rewarding for you as you follow where God is leading! Know that we are sad to leave, but grateful for the memories made and the special place you have in our hearts! May God richly bless you because you have been such a blessing to us!

Olympic Night...

2011-06-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

For Avery's birthday, MiMi and Grandfather gave her a semester of gymnastic lessons...and she LOVED it! For the last night of the season, they hold an olympic night to show off all the things they have learned...PRECIOUS!! Avery did so good, well, until it came time to swing into the foam pit...and then she LOST it! But she did good on everything else! Here are a few pictures from the evening!

(Here is Avery with her two "best friends" from class...Maggie and Emily)

Baylee and Ty were sweet enough to come watch, along with Aunt Ronni...Uncle Chad had to work :(
my sweet buddy, Ty Austin
Big sister showing her support
Can you tell that these cousins LOVE each other!!! precious!
Showing off a few of her skills...
and here is where the meltdown started! She was SUPPOSED to swing from a ring into the foam pit...UMMMM, she never made it :( Absolutely pitiful!!
Doing an assisted flip on the trampoline

Race in the foam pit...AVERY WAS THE WINNER!!! :)
Her medal and her cup full of goodies!
KeKe had to show everyone up and bring flowers to the event! Seriously???
Baylee kept telling Avery..."I am SO proud of you Avery, you did so good!"
So thankful for gymnastics! It has been a great experience and we look forward to many more semesters!

If it weren't for Mrs. Hanks...

2011-06-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

...there wouldn't have been any Mother's Day presents! We have grown to LOVE Mrs. Hanks not only because she is a wonderful art teacher, but because she has become a great friend..and we couldn't be more grateful that she is willing to share all of her art secrets with us! This Mother's Day was filled with wonderful creations that we learned from her and everyone LOVED them! Thank you Mrs. Hanks for who you are, and what you have become to us! :) Hope your Mother's Day was blessed as well!

(MiMi's art creation...all of her grandchildren under the tree!! She cried :)

(Avery's personal creation...Brenly made one for MiMi at school and it was already wrapped)

(We made Gran one with both handprints)

Rain, Rain...

2011-06-02T13:59:00.001-07:00

and MORE rain! April and May were months that were filled with days with LOTS of storms and LOTS of rain! We found out exactly why we had to buy flood insurance, thankful that we had it, fortunately we did NOT have to use it!
After approximately 24 hours of HEAVY rain, our street became a fast moving river...

She's my baby...

2011-06-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

and she is growing up so fast...I took out the camera and this is what she does...SO SASSY and I love it!

Our newest baby cousin...

2011-05-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

and he is SO precious! Uncle Jay and Aunt Jenna decided to come home for the long Easter weekend as well, which meant we got to meet our 3 week old baby cousin!
The girls were SO excited and feel in love with him immediately! Thank you Jay and Jenna for coming down and allowing us to love on him! It did all of us good!

Easter weekend...

2011-05-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

and we headed East! We went to MiMi and Grandfather's house for a long weekend and had a great time! we arrived Thursday night and stayed until Sat. afternoon! NayNay and Rowan came on Saturday, so the girls and Rowan stayed outside and played! Brenly was itching to get into the swimming pool...keep in mind they just opened it and the water is FREEZING!!

We also got to dye Easter Eggs and bake an Easter Bunny Cake!

SO thankful for our wonderful family! We are very blessed!

Spring is here...

2011-05-03T12:37:00.001-07:00

which means that baseball is too! Brenly started her 1st season of "Coach Pitch" this year (last year was t-ball) and it has been interesting...She has decided that baseball is her 3rd favorite sport, behind basketball and soccer! I really just think that it has far too little action for her and she gets bored! :)
But she is trying her hardest and we are enjoying watching her!

Howdy Partner...

2011-05-03T10:14:00.001-07:00

We were invited to a sweet friend's birthday party and had so much fun!
It was a "Jessie" (from Toy Story) party and Avery got to dress in her cowgirl gear! C had 2 horses there as well, So Avery got to be a real cowgirl and ride one! :)
We had a great time and are so thankful for sweet friends that we can celebrate!

ADPi Delta Upsilon 50th Celebration

2011-05-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

In April, I got to attend a reunion for my college sorority! and what a fun time we had :) It's amazing that we can all go years without talking, yet the minute we see each other, its just like old times! As I am surrounded by all (okay some..not everyone chose to attend :( I am reminded how blessed I am to have so many friends from college...Many of these women helped shape me into the person I am today! I loved my college days and it was mainly because of all my sisters! God certainly directed my path during those days of Rush and I couldn't be more grateful that He placed me exactly where I was supposed to be! :)

I had LOTS of pictures of the whole event...but don't have time to upload them all!

A star is born...

2011-05-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

...well, a Gym Star that is!! For Avery's birthday, MiMi and Grandfather promised that they would pay for a semester of gymnastics for Avery! We finally got her signed up for the crickets class and she was SO excited...well after we calmed her down from an emotional meltdown!!
KeKe decided that she was going to take us up there (as KeKe is well known at the gym from all of her cheerleaders!) While I was signing all the papers, KeKe took Avery in the gym and started talking to two of the coaches, who happened to be men! I could tell that Avery was acting weird, but just thought that she was being shy! We get back to the car and Avery starts crying hysterically...so much so that I thought maybe she had gotten hurt! FINALLY after asking some question, we got out of her that she was devastated that she was going to have a boy coach..she really wanted one of KeKe's girl cheerleaders to be her coach!! OH THE D-R-A-M-A!!! KeKe explained to her that she would more than likely have a girl coach and then she was fine! Does somebody want to go ahead and sign up to take her from 13-18 years of age?? :)
She has gymnastics once a week and she LOVES it...Here are a few pics of my Sassy superstar!

Sorry the picture quality isn't good...its through a window! :)
And her favorite...a Hello Kitty stamp for doing so good!

Happy Spring...

2011-04-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have always (ever since my girls have been on this earth) wanted to take Bren and Avery to a big field of daffodils and take lots of cute pictures! My momma LOVED "buttercups" and every year around this time, all of the blooming buttercups remind me of her and how much I miss her!...Well this year, now that they are 7 and 4,I FINALLY got around to doing it! :) I took off one afternoon from work while they were on Spring Break and went to Memphis Botanic Gardens..the flowers were BEAUTIFUL and my children were halfway cooperative (they were much more excited about "my big backyard than taking pictures) Out of the HUNDREDS of pictures that I took...these were the only decent ones we got...But, I'll take it!

Happy 7th Birthday sweet girl!

2011-04-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

March 16th, 7 years ago was one of the greatest days of my life...I got to meet one of the greatest gifts God has ever given me! I can't believe that the time has passed so fast! You're growing up into the young lady that God has created you to be...but it doesn't mean that I don't miss those first few "baby" years I had with you! You are such a sweet and funny girl...one who LOVES basketball, soccer, and softball, riding bikes, bugs, video games, board games...you love to learn, you are reading like crazy and spelling words that even I don't spell very good :0) Your sense of humor makes us all laugh and you have the cutest gap in your mouth where you have lost your top 2 baby teeth! I love you more than words will allow me to express and want you to know how proud I am of who you are and what you are becoming! Hope your this 7th year of your little life is one of the best years yet! We had to wake up with birthday pancakes, because that is what you asked for :)

and what is a birthday without a present...although you have already had your party and we couldn't leave out Avery...she needed a little prize :) Just what you wanted...a stealth rider (tiny remote control car!) explaining exactly how it works then we met our cousins at the park for a picnic lunch Avery and Grace Brenly and Grace All the kiddos Ava came to join in on the fun Unfortunately, the day didn't end without a few boo-boos...SEVEN to be exact...how appropriate that your 7th birthday started with 7 boo-boos

We ended up at YoLo's for a little birthday treat Ava was over having her picture taken...she just wanted to eat her yogurt in peace Enjoying some yogurt goodness AND ANOTHER PRESENT...MiMi had sent you a package... a $50 dollar bill to buy you a new Kinnect Game and of course, Avery got a little something too! Happy Birthday Bren! We love you!

Harlem Globetrotters

2011-03-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Brenly has really gotten into basketball this year, and so for her birthday, KeKe got all of us tickets to go see the Harlem Globetrotters! We had a girls night and had so much fun!

Thank you KeKe for such a fun night full of memories!

Art Party for our "almost" 7 year old!

2011-03-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Jessie Hanks is Brenly's wonderful art teacher...she is also a wonderful friend! Several weeks ago I was at an art party with Mrs.Hanks (she does Canvas Vino Art parties around town and they are super fun!) and she made the suggestion that we should have an art party for Brenly's birthday...I came home to tell Brenly about it and she was THRILLED! So yesterday was the big day! And I have to say that I think the party was a huge success...The kids enjoyed themselves and got to take their art home with them! TOO MUCH FUN!

The "camo" table...Notice that Brenly is at this table :)

the pink and black table...
the purple and blue table...
the pink and green and blue table...
Pure chaos...that was tons of fun :)
Avery's creation...isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!?!?!?!?!
And since it was an art party...I decided that they needed to create their very own cupcakes...
Look at the concentration in making that PERFECT cupcake :)

She's "almost" 7!!

Wii Hunting Game from NayNay...
KeKe got her a basketball explaining that she is going to the Harlem Globetrotter's on Tuesday Night!!!
The birthday crew!!
Mrs. Hanks displaying her amazing talent...she is awesome

Keke's job..using the hairdryer to dry ALL THE PAINT that these kiddos used, while Aunt Carla held the masterpiece...

Rowan got a little help from his momma...

trying to "girly" Brenly's masterpiece up a bit :)

Adding a name to these girls masterpieces sure helped them quite a bit! Precious little angels :)
Brenly with her favorite teacher, Mrs. Jessie Hanks!
Thanks you Mrs. Hanks for the most awesome party ever! You are the best and we are grateful to have you in our lives!

Happy 7th Birthday to my precious angel! I love you bigger than the sky and so thankful that God has allowed me to be your momma! May this next year hold many blessings for you!

Brenly's birthday month begins...

2011-03-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, Brenly was dying to open the present that Avery had gotten her for her bday...Keep in mind that her bday isn't until next week, but we were celebrating with her party on Sunday...but Avery agreed that she needed to open it!!

Avery was so proud of herself and Brenly LOVED it :)

Don't you wish...

2011-03-07T12:30:00.001-08:00

...you were this cute with your belly hanging out of your bikini??...

She is so proud of herself and can't wait for it to be warmer so she can try it out in MiMi's pool!!!

Why stop at 1...

2011-02-19T12:56:00.001-08:00

when you can lose two in a row!!
Brenly's teeth are dropping like flies! She lost one on Wednesday night, and then after Uncle Chad told her it was good luck to lose two in a row...She HAD to lose the other one the next night...so after a full day including a birthday party, we had to spend quite some time working to get it out

and after some pulling and tugging...She finally got it out!

I can't believe how much older she looks...

It's PARTY time!

2011-02-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

Because we had to reschedule Avery's party because of the snow...She couldn't wait for the day to finally get here! This is the first "BIG" party that she's had...Brenly and Avery shared a PumpItUp Party two years ago, but this is the first time for Avery to have one by herself! She was so excited and she had LOTS of friends show up! We are so blessed to have so many people that love us!
The slide is definitely her favorite part...
HER Macie...This is one of her very best friends...so glad that she was able to come :)
SILLY GIRL!
ALL of her presents...
The cupcakes that I made and she decorated :)
Blowing out her "4" candle...she is getting so big, so fast!
Look at all her friends...
So excited for new toys
and books

and earrings...
Happy 4th Birthday Avery...from all your wonderful friends!!

Missing....

2011-02-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

BRENLY'S TOOTH!!!!!
Brenly's two front teeth (on the top--she has already lost both of the bottom teeth) have been loose for quite sometime now...and me, being her hygienist momma, have been trying to encourage her to get them out!! She has taken her sweet precious time, UNTIL yesterday when I received a call from her best buddy saying that he had lost his tooth! Then, and ONLY then, was she ready for me to work on getting hers out...We worked for about 15 minutes...

and before we knew it, BRENLY had pulled it out all by herself...and she was SO PROUD of herself!

This morning when I dropped her off for school, I was sure to get a picture of her and E...They lost the EXACT same tooth within and hour of each other!

and then his sister wanted to get in on the action, although she had no gap in her mouth :)

The birthday that keeps on giving...

2011-02-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

The day of Avery's birthday...it snowed like crazy...The girls were LOVING it, especially when Uncle Scott called to say that he was going to take them sledding...

Unfortunately, because of the snow, we had to cancel (and reschedule) Avery's birthday party...so we decided to bake cupcakes and have a little celebration of our own...

Then on Friday, MiMi and Grandfather, along with NayNay and Rowan came down for a visit and she got ANOTHER present...

and THEN on Moday night she got a present in the mail from Uncle Jay and Aunt Jenna...

SO its been a week and she is still going strong with this birthday stuff...Tonight is her big party at PumpItUp...and she is so very excited! This had just been the birthday that keeps on!! :)

So long, Fusion...

2011-02-11T12:27:00.001-08:00

It was nice while you lasted...but time has come to part ways!

Two weeks ago, Ray was on his way to the grocery store, when I got a call, telling me that it was going to be a while! He had gotten in a wreck (and he was fine, PRAISE THE LORD!) and unfortunately my car didn't make it! He was turning left into a parking lot and a woman hit him in the rear right wheel, damaging the back panel, breaking the axle and the suspension on the car...Needless to say...it was totaled! BOO! I loved my car, however I know that once a car has been in a wreck, it rarely ever is the same...so with knowing that...We have said our last goodbyes...and looking forward to what God is going to bless us with next...

She's FOUR!!!

2011-02-11T08:08:00.001-08:00

Can't believe that my littlest baby is now four! The years have flown by and she has blessed us so much! We decided to wake her up with a little birthday present...
WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!

It was so funny, after she realized that it was her birthday, she looked at me and said..."But I don't feel four! Did I grow any?"

Brenly got her the dress that she has been eyeing from Target...

And of course, She HAD to put it on for her big day! SASSY!!!

She decided that for her birthday she wanted to get her ears pierced! We discussed many times about how getting earrings would hurt a little bit and how if she got one pierced, she would have to follow through with the second one! She knew all the facts and wanted to go through with it! So we went to Claire's...She was really excited, especially when the woman working there, let her borrow a bright pink boa AND a pink birthday crown :)

It was time...Look at the look on that sweet face, I think she was seriously reconsidering her decision at this point!

She did GREAT! NO tears, she was shocked for a minute, but she was SO PROUD of her one purple amethyst (her birthstone..and one of her two favorite colors, the other is PINK!)

And then it was time to do the other ear...SHE LOST IT!!! Starting screaming hysterically, I yelled to the woman, to just get it done..AND QUICK!!!

Can you see that she is NOT so happy...

I told her that I needed at least one smile with her earrings...this is ALL that she was giving me!

But thank goodness, that only last for just a little while..and then she wanted to get down and see the HUGE selection of earrings that she gets to pick from (after 6 weeks is up and she can take these out...although, she did tell me that she was NEVER taking them out...she thinks it will hurt as much as getting them done, bless her sweet heart!)

We got home just in time, for God to give her a birthday present of LOTS of snow!

Goodbye year #3...

2011-02-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of Avery's 3rd year of life!!! Tomorrow she will be 4...I cannot believe that my BABY is getting so old! When we arrived home today Avery had a surprise waiting on her by the back door!

Brenly wanted to get in on the action...

MiMi and Grandfather sent Avery a huge bouquet of balloons and the softest stuffed lion...

Good Night sweet 3 year old angel!! You are one of the biggest blessings of our lives! May God bless you in the coming year! We love you more than you will ever know!

We're getting a new nephew...

2011-01-31T14:08:00.000-08:00

and this weekend, we got to shower Aunt Jenna with LOTS of fun presents!! We traveled to Dickson to attend a baby shower for James! God has continued to bless our family with such sweet babies and I can't wait for another one!! :)

Her very own cheering section...

2011-01-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

and she was THRILLED!!! I sent several of Brenly's b-ball schedules out to people who had asked for them...and little did I know that they would ALL show up on the same night! Right before the game started...she look at her "cheering section" (which literally took up a WHOLE section of bleachers)and said, "I feel like this is a really big game for me...almost like the Superbowl!" You gotta love that kid!! and she did really good...I think she had 4 points and a few rebounds and played defense like crazy :)

I failed to get a picture of Brenly with Mr.Ben and Mrs.Callie at the game...but here they are at their rehearsal dinner last month!

100th day of school...

2011-01-31T13:27:00.000-08:00

and we were supposed to make Brenly look like she was 100 years old...Did it work??

and if I take a picture of Brenly, you KNOW that Avery has to get her picture taken, right... Here is Avery on Brenly's 100th day of school...looking just as precious as ever!!

Avery's letters...

2011-01-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

Poor Avery, she is SO the second child...we haven't spent near the time with her as we did with Brenly, as far as writing is concerned :( SO here recently, I have decided to really start working with her...and I have to say that she has done really well! She was SO proud of how well she is doing that she wanted me to take her picture with her board!

She has come so far in such a short time!

Brenly and her basketball...

2011-01-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

This is the first year that Brenly has decided that she wanted to try basketball...and I think that it has quickly moved to the top of her list! She loves it and has done really well with it! The past two games she has gotten a "BEST DEFENSE" star..She is much more aggressive than I ever thought that she would be...so much fun to watch her!!

Snow Day...

2011-01-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

was much better than our snow night...the wind had died down and it wasn't nearly as cold as the night before!! We stayed out for about 5 hours sledding and had the best time! Lots of laughs and lots of memories :)

We acted like we'd never seen it before...

2011-01-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

IT WAS SNOW for cryin out loud...so why in the world did we see the need to go out in the blizzard to go sledding???? Because we had friends that invited us and it "SOUNDED" like a fun idea...and it was for about the first 15 minutes...then we realized how cold we were and how hard the wind was blowing :)
I could barely even get a decent picture because it was coming down so hard!

It sure was freezing...but it sure was fun!!!

Its the Wedding Day!

2011-01-13T10:16:00.001-08:00

and they looked beautiful! Again, there was NO tears, and NO complaining about getting ready! I was shocked and surprised UNTIL I remembered that I had promised a surprise! :) The day started EARLY...Everyone had to be dressed and ready at the place at 2:00 and the wedding didn't start until 6:00! We made sure to bring their DS's to keep them entertained for a LONG while! (Brenly, Avery and Ethan...Brenly's very best buddy in the whole world!)

The bride and groom look amazing and the ceremony was beautiful!

And after the wedding was when the fun started...I have never seen so many children, breaking it down on the dance floor...they had a BLAST!

"DRESS" Rehearsal

2011-01-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

and if you know at least ONE of my children, you know that getting her into a dress was going to be a REAL BIG FEAT!!! Ever since we found out that the girls were going to be in a wedding of two of our very good friends, Mr. Ben and Miss Callie (I have known Callie for all of her life and I have been teaching Sunday school with Ben for the past 3 1/2 years), I have been doing my best to explain to both of them, about what that entails :) Wearing a dress (TWO nights in a row) with tights and dress shoes (and while getting dressed I must hear N-O complaining and have N-O tears ,listening to where you are suppose to stand, standing still, smiling pretty, etc...I will admit that there was a little bribing went...IF they accomplished ALL those things they would get a small prize after the fact! :) (You gotta do, what you gotta do!!) I have to tell you that the night of rehearsal went great! Couldn't have asked them to be any better! I have to say they were pretty cute girls! And Look...they are BOTH in dresses! A very RARE occasion

Daddy and his girls!
The family!
This is Callie with her "Granny"! I have known and worked with Glenda for the past 12 years! They are like family to me!

Out of Control Christmas...

2011-01-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

at MiMi and Grandfather's house...Every year, MiMi tries to "warn" us that she has cut back this year and that we won't be getting as much! and EVERY year, she is SO wrong, and this time was no different! Santa Claus stopped by and dropped off some goodies for the kids and then MiMi and Grandfather proceeded to spoil us all! I am so very blessed to be in a wonderful family! Praise the Lord from whom ALL blessings flow!

Brenly's "Santa" pile

Avery's Santa pile
Rowan's Santa pile
Brenly so excited about her Ipod Touch :)
Yes, they both got one!
Look at all those sleepy eyes
Rowan LOVED his Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads
Avery and her new TuTu!
Brenly got a "Spoon"
Princess books
AND a NEW DS from MiMi and Grandfather :) Look at that face!
Grandfather explaining to Brenly that he had talked to Santa and had Him deliver the basketball goal to our house from them!
And MiMi said that she was scaling back, we weren't getting as much! VERY SERIOUSLY DOUBT this is scaling back!
Brenly's art work that she had wrapped up for me! I LOVE IT!
Her Poinsettia...WOW!
It was a semi- White Christmas
Avery letting Rowan watch Sesame Street on her Ipod Touch
He apparently figured out how to use it himself! :)

Christmas Eve...

2011-01-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

This year, Christmas Eve was bittersweet! The first anniversary of the last day we spent with dad before going to meet Jesus! We all got together at Chad's house and made the most of the day...realizing now more than ever that any day could be your last!

Nonna and the older girls
Grauntie getting some lovin from Ty Austin
All the kiddos...so hard to get a good one of all of them...AT THE SAME TIME!
getting excited about present time
Kris and his mini me
Just because he is so stinkin cute!!
Grauntie and Nonna...Jenni was sitting in the same exact spot that dad was last year when I took the last picture of him... :(
After we ate, opened presents and played alittle, we headed east to Dickson to celebrate Christmas with Ray's family :)We got there just in time for church...
Some of the family, waiting to open Christmas PJ's
Precious kiddos!
Uncle Jay and some Ninja game that he and Brenly were playing
Setting up to be a white Christmas
Dad got to open his present on Christmas Eve, because he would need it for Christmas Morning...A New Camera, since they haven't had one for a LONG time!
MiMi and her babies!

Christmas Adam...

2011-01-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

you know, the day before Christmas Eve...We have started the tradition of spending Christmas Adam with Chad, Ronni and the kids every year. And we are ALL about traditions...Growing up in our family we had lots of traditions, and now with our parents gone, we realize exactly how important they are and how we want our children to have traditions as well! We (Ronni and I) decided to add a few new ones this year, that we hope to keep going for years to come! Like getting matching Christmas PJ's

We eat dinner and then let the kids open all their presents from us...They dont really care much for the dinner, so we have to threaten them...You don't eat, you don't get presents :)

As usual, the kids got WAY TOO MUCH, but they loved everything!
Another new tradition is to do resurrection rolls...Although this is more of an Easter project, we wanted to understand that we celebrate the Savior's birth, with the hope of knowing that He was born on earth, for crucifixion AND resurrection...
We took a Marshmallow that represented JESUS (white as snow) and then dipped it in butter, representing the oils placed on his body

and then in a cinnamon sugar mixture representing the spices that were place on his body...

Then wrapped the marshmallow in a crescent roll representing the cloths they wrapped him in and placed "him" in the tomb (or oven in this case) for 3 days (but really just for 15-18 minutes...

and went they came out and you bit into them, the marshmallow (or Jesus) was GONE...
What a NEAT way to explain such an important part of our faith!
(and the tasted WONDERFUL!)
Then we decided that we would start the tradition of doing Gingerbread Houses...knowing that when they all get big, that our houses will become bigger and better and more creative :)

Getting crafty

2011-01-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

with KeKe! One night before Christmas we decided that we wanted to try out our hand at making a gingerbread house...(In all of my years, I have NEVER made one, until now)We just bought a kit with all the supplies in it and dove in...Me and Avery on a team, Brenly and KeKe on a team! You have to know that I am "a little" type A, maybe even a little OCD when it come to crafty projects like this..But I was determined to keep my personality out of it and let Avery decorate it however she wanted to...
The girls are pretty excited about it...

It takes LOTS of concentration to get all the decorations placed correctly

Avery was pretty proud of HER creation...I had NOTHING to do with the design of it!

Team Avery
Team Brenly
Looks good enough to eat...But we didn't :)

I think they turned out PRECIOUS!!! We had a great time, being crafty!

Alpine Village

2011-01-03T16:17:00.000-08:00

with the Parks! Last year we went to Alpine Village with Baylee, but this year they were out of town :( But lucky for us..the Parks' were up for going! Such a neat mission project that a church here in town does...everything is free and the kids LOVE it!
Brenly, Avery and Maci...the best of friends
Maci and Avery almost look more like sisters than Brenly and Avery :)
CJ's best friend is Brenly...he LOVES her!
The crew with Santa Claus...they ALL want Ipod Touches...seriously!!

They have fake snow and it gets stuck in their hair...so my kiddos were smart and brought hats this year!

Best Buddies!

Christmas tree Angel...

2011-01-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

from Ms. Greene's class! We went shopping for a little 2 year old little girl that lives here locally! Neat to see the kids want to give to others during the Christmas Holiday! We got LOTS of good stuff for her!

Christmas Parade....

2011-01-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

We love the Christmas parade...for one, its huge (about 150 entries) and 2, we get to spend time with some of our favorite people (The Willard's and the Willer's) If nothing else we get to have LOTS of food and LOTS of laughs!!

A Texas Thanksgiving!

2011-01-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

The girls and I (Ray had to work :( went to Texas for Thanksgiving to spend it with Ray's extended family! We traveled down there with MiMi and Grandfather and had a good time! However I forgot to take pictures (I don't know what in the world I was thinking :)

MiMi's parents (PawPaw and Grandma)

Brenly FINALLY mastered the Monkey Bars while we were there...something she has been working on for a while!!

"If the crown fits..."

2011-01-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

My precious Avery...She really does think she is a Princess, and so when we found this canopy at the top of her closet, it HAD to go up immediately! After getting it put up, a few minutes later, she mentioned that she just needed to rest (this from the child who has given up naps long ago...) I think that she just needed to sleep under her canopy!! I walk in a little while later and she has crashed, with her little legs crossed, under her canopy and the sign on her wall that says, "if the crown fits..." I believe she thinks it fits her JUST FINE!!!

My sweet girls...

2011-01-03T12:44:00.000-08:00

Ever since I got my new camera, I LOVE taking pictures of my girls! I just wish that I knew what I was doing...I think if I could do anything different (as far as I occupation) I would love to do photography! Perhaps maybe this year, I can learn more about my camera and start trying to learn "MINOR" editing! Who knows??
I took them out to the town square to attempt to get some pictures for the Christmas Card...Here are a few of the ones that were decent enough to post! :)

Halloween

2011-01-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

Chad and Ronni have said for years how their neighborhood goes ALL out for Halloween...And they were NOT kidding...It was CRAZY how many people were out trick or treating! And instead of the kids coming to the door, people set up stations at the end of their driveway to make it a little easier! We had such a good time and the kids got WAY TOO MUCH CANDY!!

Getting a "GOOD" Picture of ALL of them was near impossible, but this one turned out pretty good!

Painting Pumpkins

2011-01-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

with our cousins...The night before Halloween we went Chad and Ronni's house to spend some time together and we thought it would be fun to paint pumpkins together...they are clearly to young to carve, so painting will have to do this year! We LOVE spending time with our cousins...no matter what we are doing!

Pumpkins with the Peterson's

2011-01-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

Our good friends, the Peterson's recently moved to Collierville and we decided that we wanted to have them over for dinner and pumpkin carving (or pumpkin painting...for the kiddos) We LOVE them and were so glad to get to spend some time with them!

1st field trip

2011-01-03T12:05:00.001-08:00

for 1st Grade! We got to go to a fall fest at the Memphis Botanical Gardens...It was a beautiful day and the kids got to go to many different activity stations and learn about different things! We had a great time and we were so thankful that MiMi got to come in town to go with us!

Donalson Elementary was there as well, so we got to see our friend, Gavin, from church!

Mrs. Libby Green (one of Brenly's favorites :)

Brenly's First Grade teacher, Ms. Michele Greene...WE LOVE HER!

Mrs. Hanks, Brenly's art teacher who has become a good friend!

Award Winning...

2011-01-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

BRENLY!!! After the first 9 weeks, we were invited to a PTA meeting because Brenly was up for an award...Not only did she get 1 award...but she actually got 2! We are so proud of our little first grader!

"Most Responsible"

and "Appropriate PE Behavior" (not sure but she got an award for it! :)

Friday...OUR VERY FAVORITE DAY!

2011-01-03T10:06:00.001-08:00

Friday was our last full day in Orlando and we had lots planned for the day...But our most favorite was that we got tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! The girls got to dress in their Halloween costumes and Party the night away!

Brenly was already planning on being a pirate for Halloween, so Ray called and got her an appointment to the Pirates League to get transformed to a "REAL" pirate!

She even got her own Pirate Name...GERTRUDE SEAGULL

We got to ahave a "Semi" private Dance Party with Woody, Jessie, and Bulleye from Toy Story...Definitely one of Avery's favorite memory :)

And even got to meet some of the Not so Popular (or not seen very often) Disney Characters

Then we went near Space Mountain for another Dance Party

Then we got to see the Not so Scarey Parade..but more importantly, we got to meet up with the Pierce's (Our worship leader from Highpoint that moved to Orlando a while back)

It was a long day...but lots of fun with lots of memories! :) They were EXHAUSTED!

I do this everytime...

2011-01-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

and I get so mad at myself!! I get alittle behind on posting things on here, and then get overwhelmed by exactly how far I am behind..and so I take months off from posting...and then feel guilty because I have so many pictures that I want to post, but can't seem to start from right now...I have to go ALL the way back to my last post...Seems to me, like it would be MUCH easier to stay on top of it! Maybe this year I will be a little better...but don't hold your breath! :)
*Be patient with me as I go ALL the way back to OCTOBER to catch up with current events*

Thursday...day full of fun!

2010-11-16T09:09:00.001-08:00

First things First...
we were heading to Cinderella's castle to eat breakfast with the princesses...so they let us into the park FIRST!

We were the FIRST ones on main street

and the FIRST to check in with our reservations...Because we were FIRST...We were the FIRST ones allowed in the castle,

Brenly and Avery got picked to be Princess for a day!

the FIRST ones to see Cinderella and the FIRST ones to walk up the spiral staircase

and the FIRST ones to sit down at our Royal Table

They gave the girls princess wands,

however Brenly quickly traded hers in for a sword :)

and then it was time to meet all the princesses...

Because Avery was dressed like Ariel, she was sweet enough to spend "alittle" extra time with her! Precious!

After everyone was finished with Breakfast, the girls got "wishing stars" and they had to close their eyes, wave their wands (or swords) and make their wish!
(check out her eyes...too funny!)

What a wonderful time we had at the Royal Banquet!
We left the castle and headed over to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Brenly's absolute favorite...Avery was a good sport, but didn't love it!)

We also rode Alladin's magic carpet

and actually got to meet them as soon as we got off the ride

Then we boarded the monorail and headed over to Hollywood Studios again...

We got to Hollywood Studios and headed straight to Toy Story Mania!! All of the fast passes were LONG gone and so in line we stood, for 70 MINUTES!! (seriously, what in the world?!)

Then it was time for Lights, Camera, Motors...A stunt car show that was very interesting and the girls really enjoyed it, which surprised us :)

The girls were ready to burn some energy after sitting during the last show, so we took them to the Honey, I shrunk the Kids playground!

We were going to finish our day with riding Tower of Terror (failure...see next post:) watching Beauty and the Beast! What a fun day!

Day 4 at the parks..

2010-11-16T07:48:00.000-08:00

and we are heading to Epcot for the first part of our day!

Our first stop 'Soarin' (and I took NO picture..what a slacker) and then we went to see Nemo

We had reservations to eat with all the Princesses in Norway...Avery loved seeing the princesses, however we did not love the food! (Notice that Brenly was having NO part of the whole princess thing :)

It was SO hot, but we walked around all the countries and decided that we were ready to go...Epcot certainly didn't keep the kids interest...Glad we went, but we didn't stay long! As we were leaving we ran into Daisy Duck :)

After we left there, we decided that we were going to go to Magic Kingdom to see the Electric Light Parade and the fireworks...Such and awesome experience!

and then it was time for the fireworks...so neat to see your kiddos caught up in the magic of Disney! :) This night made all the crummy days totally worth it!