Full Schedule

We have a full schedule lined up this school year. Gymnastics on Tuesdays, Awana at church on Wednesdays, and dance classes on Thursdays. My girls love it, and I love watching them learn and grow. Just hoping we don't get too worn out.

Wednesday night kicked off another year of Awana for the girls. Braylee moved up to "Sparks" and Brynna is now a "Cubbie." Greta and I are teaching the other Cubbie class. Alex is in his 6th year of teaching the 5th & 6th graders so he must like it. I prefer to stick with the younger kids...they say the funniest stuff! :)

Posing for a quick picture after Awana. I noticed Brynna was standing funny.

She said, "I'm standing like a ballerina!" :)

My little dancer finally became a REAL ballerina at her 1st dance class the next night! She was sooo excited! She had been counting down the days and couldn't wait to see Miss Brittany. She made me put her hair in a bun that morning. :) Braylee enjoys dance too but doesn't have the "passion" that Brynna seems to have for it. She listened to every.single.word Miss Brittany said and told me all about ballet walking, using the barre, etc. when we got home.

Friday night, Braylee raced a turkey at the Turkey Trot for the 1st time. She named her turkey "Alexis." At the end, she was all smiles and said, "I didn't win but I sure had fun!"
Today, Braylee brought home her 1st homework assignment. She couldn't wait to do it...and asked for more when she was finished! Braylee seems to really enjoy learning. Last night as she was reading to me in bed, she was getting frustrated with words like "fascinating" and "interesting" in her Fancy Nancy book. She whined, "I just want to be a good reader!" I assured her she is doing just fine with her reading, and she'll continue to learn new words all of the time...just like mommy and daddy still learn new words. The homework assignments are easy...mostly just reinforcing concepts from school and keeping the parents involved. Tonight, her assignment was to review the sight word "We," recite the days of the week, and practice writing her letter As correctly. I had to include these pictures as I know our family will get a kick out of them...totally their personalities. :)

Braylee is so into her assignment...and Brynna in her own world.

"My first homework, Mom!"

Starting to sing...a made up song about homework.

Really getting into it and Brynna still oblivious. ;)
Grand Finale.
Happy Little Girl!

Labor Day Weekend

Our weekend consisted mostly of cookouts. The weather was gorgeous for the holiday weekend!

Saturday, Braylee and I had a mother-daughter day in Evansville. She cracks me up. At school last week, they were discussing punctuation, specifically using a period at the end of a sentence. It was cute to see her writing sentences in her new journal on the way home instead of just random words. She did ask me if "nice" was spelled "nis." I told her it was a c instead and asked her about the long i. She said, "Oh, better add an "e" on the end!" :) 

While we were away, Brynna enjoyed celebrating her best friend's birthday! Brynna and Emma were due the same day but Emma is exactly one week older. Brynna had a blast and can't wait for Emma to come to her party in a couple of weeks.

Saturday evening, we went to Jessie and Dusty's for a cookout. Braylee was super excited when she found out her buddy Ava was going to be there!

Braylee & Ava

Brynna looks like she's fishing. :)

Sadly, Sunday we attended a funeral for Alex's cousin's husband. He was only 29 and left behind 3 little ones. It was definitely a reminder not to take a single day for granted. That afternoon, we spent quality family time at home and then headed over to Jenn and Brad's for a cookout. We played wiffle ball...so much fun watching all of us 30-somethings running around the bases! The kids got a kick out of watching us too!

Emma, Brynna, Abby, Lillie, & Braylee

Yesterday, we went over to Gramma and Pappy's (just beyond our backyard) for another cookout. The kids thought it was fun having a picnic on the back of the golf carts.

Ella, Braylee, Gabe, Brody, Trista, and Brynna

Picking a pumpkin from Gramma's little patch

This morning, I sent my little Kindergartner off for her 1st "School Picture Day." She looked pretty cute! :)

Quick peek...Aunt Mandi snapped a few pictures for us yesterday so I can get the girls' birthday invites ordered. She happened to catch these close-ups too. Aren't they amazing?! Don't mind Brynna's bruise on her forehead. ;) (I can't decide if I like the b&w or color picture of Braylee better. )

Since School Started...

Braylee loves school. I knew she would since she's such a social little girl, but Brynna and I sure miss her while she's gone.

Except for a fun camping weekend, we haven't done anything too exciting...but here's a quick review of the last three weeks.

Gabe and Ella came to play...and I'll point out Braylee is "chugging" a pop, not something else. ;) My girls drink water 90% of the time so "pop" is super special.

The girls did some crafts.

Mamaw let the girls have part of their birthday present early so Braylee could wear her new shoes for PE class.

One day, Brynna and I took a golf cart ride up to the school to see the kids at recess.

Cousin Trista & Braylee- notice she's wearing her new shoes :)

The girls splashed around at Ava and Jake's birthday party.

Alex played in a softball tournament with his Swartzentruber cousins.
I've been working on their playroom. It needed a little something, so we planted a garden. ;) I still want to make the "gumball" tree fuller and add more flowers.
A special request from Miss Annabelle...a pink ballerina fairy.

This past weekend, we camped at Shakamak. It was a perfect camping weekend...cool enough at night for the fire but hot enough for the pool during the day! Friday evening started out very uneventful, until little Pierce fell and busted his head at the playground. :( Lillie and Karson stayed with us while they went to the ER.

Jenn, Abby, and Me (& Brynna)

The next morning, we took the kids on a long hike.
And then headed to the pool.
Alex enjoyed being a kid again for the weekend!
Braylee braved the big diving board...while Brynna posed and danced like Brynna does best! :)

It's super blurry, but this was too sweet not to share.
Brynna has decided to be a golfer by day and a ballerina by night.

On our way back to the pool on Sunday...
love little Brent's face peaking out behind Braylee!
We had the pool to ourselves! It was the best!

A quick little story about Brynna... Today, she wanted to help me clean. She thinks using the scrub brush is sooo fun. I told her she needed to let me pull her hair back first. She pulls open the drawer and starts to pick up a pink hair tie, then says, "Actually... I want a blue one." Before I can finish my thought that she might actually be considering opening her world to something other than pink, she says, "'Cause I don't want to get my pink ones dirty!" :)