American Girls Store: A 7 Year Old Tradition

 I remember taking Olivia to the American Girl Store for her 7th birthday and it seemed like such a big deal.  It was new and different.  I thought how fun it would be to do this for each of the girls when they turned 7.  And now here we are already with the last.  We took the girls out of school early on Friday to head down.  This was a real treat for them since we never get out of school to do something fun.  It was nice and quiet at The Grove for a change.  We were there before the evening crowd and not there for the Saturday crowd.  We didn't have any plans except for shopping at the American Girl store so we were able to relax and take our time.
Abby felt like a queen.  She had already decided that she wanted the doll, MaryEllen.  Now that we are reading the books, she is actually a lot like Abby.  Abby also had money from her Grandparents to spend at the store, so this really was an American Girls birthday.  She loves her new doll and really loves that she has matching pjs to wear with her.  It's been fun to see all of the girls excited about their dolls again.  Playing with their dolls is one of my favorite things to see and hear my girls doing.  After we meandered around the store for awhile, we wandered the book store and then ate at the Cheesecake Factory.  We enjoyed the fountain and live music before we hit the road to head back home.  It was a sweet afternoon with the family and I think Abby was pretty excited about the whole day.

Happy 7th Birthday Abby!

 Abby has been counting down for her seventh birthday since, well, her sixth birthday.  She feels like she has to wait so long for her birthday because it is at the end of the school year.  I remember when Abby was born.  Olivia was in kindergarten and I hauled my post c-section body and baby (with the help of my mom) to Olivia's last day of school festivities.  Abby has brought so much joy to our family.  She has such a great attitude and confidence in herself.  I hope that it will take her far in life and that she will always carry that confidence with her.  She tries and tries at things until she succeeds and is satisfied.
I just love talking with Abby.  She loves to chat and chat about anything and everything.  She has always been this way.  It's been great having her as the youngest.  She definitely keeps me on my toes and motivated.  She has a contagious energy about everything.  We love this girl!  Happy 7th Birthday!

Sunday Afternoon

Every now and then, when life is quiet and still I can just feel my Heavenly Father.  I know that He is watching over and I know that He is aware of every trouble that I have.  He is aware of my happiness and also my struggles.  He knows when I cry and when I need comfort.  These feelings always come to me in the simple moments.  Sometimes they are just fleeting feelings.  They come over me for just a moment and make me stop and think.  I'm grateful for these moments.  He knows how troublesome life can be for us and these moments when His Spirit whispers in my life are treasures.  I had one of those moments last Sunday.  Abby and I were sitting out on our little rocking bench and the thought just came to my mind that my Heavenly Father is ever aware of the things that I go through.  Abby was chatting away about the things that happened at church and the things she was learning.  My heart just seemed to fill to the top and spill over.  I felt that I was doing ok and not just ok, but far better than I felt I was doing.   I feel that motherhood is a constant feeling of "Am I doing enough for my children?"  I'm glad that my Heavenly Father lets me know that my best is enough.

Open House 2016

We had another successful Open House at the elementary school.  Sammie and Abby have both had great years and great teachers.  I kinda wish this year could just  keep going.  With our school being so large, sometimes it is hard to make friends each year.  By the end of the year, they are finally settled with a group of friends and then summer comes.  I have so many pictures with Abby and her friend, Mia.  Those two just can't get enough of each other.  I'm glad that they have been friends this year.  I feel like these school years are just going so fast!

Our Middle Schooler had Open House too.  We didn't take many photos, but she had lots of her art on display in the library.  I think she did great this year.

Abby's Super Exciting Field Trip

To say Abby was excited for her field trip is an understatement.  She was so excited that she woke up super early and had herself up and ready before Joey or I even had our eyes open.  

I woke up to a gentle tapping on my arm that just felt like Abby.  I feel like each of my girls have a different way of touching me to wake me up.  I knew immediately it was Abby.  At first I thought it was the middle of the night and she was waking me because she couldn't sleep.  As my eyes adjusted, she started blabbering away.  Then I noticed she was wearing a hat and she was saying, "I'm all dressed and I even have my shoes on already and I put the foot spray in my shoes.  I got my hat and all I have to do is make my lunch." (She had her whole outfit laid out the night before and had already labeled her lunch sack with her name, school, and teacher)  She just seemed to keep talking, "I think I've been up since 4 something because I came in here and I could hear dad snoring."

I encouraged her to get back in bed with me.  I think it was only 5am.  Joey had just gotten up and was in the shower.  She didn't last long sitting on my bed.

Her field trip was all of the fun that she hoped it would be.  They walked to the High School where there was an Ag event.  She got to ride a donkey and be in a group with her very favorite friends from her class.  She told me all about it when she got home--how the mile walk didn't even seem that long because they were having so much fun and how she walked so much that day.  Abby has more energy than anyone in our family combined.  

Sisters

It's harder to write about my middle-schooler because they don't want to be written about.  I love this sweet moment between Abby and Olivia as they were getting ready for church.  I snuck the photo.  Abby absolutely hates it when I touch her hair, but she will let her big sis, even if it hurts just as bad.  It's a way they can connect with one another and so Abby puts up with it.  She puts up with the pulling because it is attention from her biggest sis.  In moments like this, I don't even think they realize how much they love each other.

A New Bedroom

My mom came and stayed for a few days a couple of weeks ago while Joey was gone for a conference.  I've been planning on re-doing Sammie and Abby's room for a while and my mom and I got right to it when she arrived.  I had to go through all of their things and got rid of lots of stuff that they had in their room. It was mostly books.  Some we kept in a box in the garage that they can still get to if they need it.  I made them giant magnet boards so they can hang all their things in one place and they each have their own side of the dresser.
I love picking out paint colors.  I searched high and low for the perfect grey to compliment their decor.  I just wanted it to look soft and relaxing.  I felt like they needed a space like this.  Sammie and Abby just love it and, for now, they have a place for everything (even some of their "treasures" aka junk.)  I find myself going in their room and sitting because it feels like such a relaxing spot.
They have been so much better at keeping their space neat and clean and comfortable.  Now if I can only get them to make their beds regularly.  That would be awesome :)

Track

Sammie signed up for track so that she could qualify to earn her school letter.  I have to be honest.  Our track programs is a little overwhelming.  The meets are gigantic with so so many kids from different school districts.  Saturday was a little overwhelming and then Sammie realized that the track was much larger than the one they had been running on at the middle school and so she had never actually practiced an entire 100m run.  It was a little intimidating, but she ended up having a good experience in the end.  I was proud of her and her efforts.
In her long jump she really did well.  Her longest jump was 7'9".  She was mostly concerned with not fouling on her jumps.  Sammie is a details person and the jump was successful for her if she did it right.  It can be hard and intimidating to try new things like this, even for me as a parent.  But she did well and will have one more meet in a couple of weeks and now she has some goals for herself to see if she can do better than last Saturday.  I find track to be so exciting.  I remember getting butterflies in my stomach before my races when I was in middle school.  I loved it!