It's a Beautiful Day

My sister-in-law is an amazing photographer and she took some pictures of our girls over Christmas break. Check out Dominique's blog here so you can see what an awesome job she did. I can't wait to print them out and get started framing them! THANKS Nikki - Brian & I are amazed at all the little expressions and faces you captured! Wish Michigan was closer to Texas so we could get you to do it more often!

Thank you Lord for 55 degrees today. Avery is here in the study playing her computer games, which I am amazed how fast she figures out, and T & L are napping, so I finally have a little bit of time to blog. Over the weekend, we had some of the coldest weather we have had in a long time in Houston, in fact I think they said 1989 was the last time it got this cold for this long. Anyway, we don't have an excuse to wear mittens and hats that often, so we took full advantage of it. Yesterday while we were eagerly waiting for Brian to get back from coaching school, we played in the driveway and I got some video of Laney walking. She's been walking for a couple weeks, but she has just gotten really confident over the past week. She also climbs on everything. We now have to keep all the kids chairs turned over on their backs so she can't use them to climb on top of their table. I can't believe she will be ONE on Wednesday. Her sisters are both crazy about her. Tatum calls her "my Yaney."



Another important event that happened last week was Tatum's first success at #2 on the potty. We celebrated the big event at Chuck-E-Cheese that night with some friends. She was so proud of herself and I was too. She is getting to be such a big girl.

Avery started at her new school this week, and so far we are really happy with it. I was amazed, but in a good way, at the amount of "homework" she has. It's really fun stuff, like this weekend, we had to fill the class "Letter Box" with things that start with "W", since that is the letter of the week. So the teacher sent home this big tupperware box decorated with all the ABC's and we worked all weekend to fill it up. By the time she took it to school this morning, it was chalk full of things that start with "W." Her teacher told me today that she did a great job explaining all the objects to her friends.

Here's what we thought of:
water bottle, washing machine (from her little dollhouse), winnie the pooh, wax paper, wipes, gummi worms, washcloth, magic wand, walkie-talkies, wheel, wings (from fairy costume), white crayon, whisk

We also got to make a photo collage of our family for the class photo album. Each child gets to take the photo album home for a week so they can get to know the kids in their class & their families. I'm excited for when it's her turn to take it home so I can see all the other kids' pages. Here's her page:

I'm sure when I have 3 in school and they all have this type of homework, it may not be as much fun, but we had a blast this weekend doing these fun projects together.

Like I mentioned, Brian was out of town all weekend and we missed him so much. Baseball season is fast approaching and we will be missing him alot over the next few months. I figured out last week why I hate baseball season so much. I don't hate the baseball part of baseball season - the actual games are a blast and it's fun to watch him coach and hear the excitement in his voice about it all. I just hate baseball season because I miss Brian during baseball season. That's it. I just miss having him around. When he's not home, home is not the same. It's hard to describe, but if you have a husband who has to travel alot for his job, you probably know exactly what I mean. Baseball season is like one long business trip that lasts three months. Life is not normal for those few months and I love our normal life together. That's not to say I can't change my attitude... I am praying for myself to have a completely new attitude this baseball season and not complain and pout, but be energetic and strong and understanding. That will be completely the Lord if that happens. I hope it does.