Jacy the Cow

Jacy attends pre-school at Training His Treasures Tuesdays and Thursdays.  This year in the Christmas program Jacy played the role of a cow.  When Avery participated she was scared to go on stage and cried a few times.  Jacy acted like it was not a big deal and led her fellow cow down the aisle to the stage.  She sang with the other students and her famous line was "Moo". 

Angels

Sunday, December 16th, the girls participated in our church's Christmas program.  Practice started back in November.  During the week Avery and Jacy would serenade us with Christmas carols and I would play "Name that Tune".  Angels We Have Heard On High was one of their favorites--Gloooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo....I tried my best to help them finish with"ria", but they just liked singing the Gloooo part.  The song that stuck with Jacy most was "Go Tell it on the Mountain".  She can sing the chorus and it is really cute.

Thanksgiving

I am aware that this post is a month behind/the wrong holiday.  However, I have to catch the time when I can to post!  Currently, I am drinking coffee and waiting on the girls (and Brian) to wake up to open the presents under the tree:-)

 

I do think that Avery's "Thankful" turkey from school is fit for posting on Christmas morning.  For Thanksgiving kindergarten parents are invited to eat lunch.  It worked out that I could take off half a day and eat with Avery (as well as Brian) and then take her for her 6-year check up.  The parents were escorted to the classroom to see the art projects.  Needless to say- I was very overwhelmed by Avery's picture.  I pray daily that Avery will continue to keep Jesus (or Jezuz) close in her heart forever.

 

Happy Birthday to Avery

Avery celebrated her 6th birthday with an Arielle Birthday Party.  We had a new addition this year with a bounce house that we borrowed from a friend.  The kids really enjoyed it, even though it was freezing outside!  She also invited friends from school and had one of those friends in attendance!  Of course, there is never a dull moment with the rest of the girls in the family.  We definitely missed the McClanahan's this year!  

We hid a shell for the girls to hunt and earn a "prize".  They spent a lot of time just playing in the basement.

 

 

I really do not know what to think of this picture!

Avery's BIG present!  She has been riding her tiny 12" princess bike, so we opted for a new bike this year:-)

Tooth Fairy

 

Avery came home Monday night (11/19/12) claiming she had a loose tooth.  She has been trying to say that for a while, but every time I check it was not loose.  Monday it was loose and she wanted us to pull it out.  We told her it just wasn't loose enough yet.  The net morning she came through the house saying how loose it was and she wanted it pulled.  I don't know if she spent the entire night wiggling it or what, but it was very loose. 

 

She contemplated letting Papaw pull the tooth, since he pulled my teeth, but opted to have me pull it.  We tied some dental floss and he first pull it did not come.  It really gave me a queasy feeling to pull that hard on her because I had never pulled a tooth before.  She sort of whimpered, but said try again.  The second time it popped right out!  She giggled/hysterically laughed and shed one small tear.  She is quite the trooper and VERY proud.  She has been practicing her smile so that people can see the missing tooth.

 

She came home Tuesday for school  wondering if I would pull the other tooth (which is NOT loose).  I told her it would have to wait!!  We forgot the tooth fairy last night, but as I write this post, it is sitting in a Ziploc bag under her pillow.  When I put her to bed she asked, "What if there really is a tooth fairy?"  I asked her what she meant.  She said, "Well, it's kind of scary.  I think that the mommy's are the tooth fairy."  She is too smart for her own good!

 



When Avery grows up...

Avery's Kindergarten class had the usual Halloween party at school and also were able to go trick-or-treat at the courthouse which is just down the street from her school.  Her teacher requested that students dress up in the attire of their future career.  I figured this would be interesting considering Avery never really says "When I grow up I want to be...." Honestly, the most she has ever said is that she wants to be just like me.  This is both touching and troubling because I know she can do WAY better than me!

When I asked her what she wanted to do she said "Be on T.V."  I poked around and asked like what kind of person on T.V.  She said- just be on T.V.  I discussed some creative costume ideas in which she shot down.  She just wanted to wear a name tag that said "Avery- I am on T.V."  Next, she said a teacher so she could dress like me...Last, she went with a nurse and here is our costume results.

Tennessee Take 2

I just discovered this picture on Brian's cellphone and I wanted to share from our trip to Tennessee.

Happy Halloween

Halloween was cold, cold, cold. Thankfully we only had a few stops to make and then the trick or treat around the track was moved inside to the high school.

 

The girls made their first stop (as usual) next door at Papaw and Mammee's.  Papaw had a surprise for them- he was wearing one of mom's wigs and fake eyelashes!  Jacy was scared and Avery giggled a lot.  We then headed to the nursing home to see Mamaw Alice- because stopping at Mamaw's house on Halloween is a big tradition.  We were surprised that the residents were lined up as we entered handing out candy, and the girls loaded up again on their way out the door.

Once we were seated and visiting with Mamaw I realized that I needed to take pictures!  Jacy was a pumpkin.  She loved her costume and is still wearing it.

Avery has wanted to be Jesse FOREVER.  I contemplated making a costume (sorry Avery, maybe some day I will be that crafty- perhaps I could make your prom dress....) but our friend Beth let us borrow Allee's costume.  You would have thought Avery was a rockstar:-)

Here are the girls with Mamaw. 

 

Overall, we had a fun night.  The girls did not even want to stop an eat dinner at Wendy's, but were happy to eat there when the girl taking our order was also handing out candy!

 

We have now consolidated the MASS amounts of candy that the girls received and are hiding it in top-secret locations.

 

Going to the Chapel...

Aunt Jenny Linn is now Aunt Jenny Green!  Jennifer married Brad Green Saturday, October 13th in Louisville, KY.  Avery got to be the flower girl and did a great job!  The wedding was very nice and it was fun to see a new couple begin their lives together.

 

It was hard to find a picture of Avery with her eyes open! 

The blushing bride and the mother of the bride!

Pappy, Jen and Nanny

Avery and Jen

She may not have been a flower girl, but Jacy enjoyed the festivites!

The cake...to quote my brother Bobby, "Stacy never met a cake she didn't like."  The same goes for the girls:-)

Avery and Jacy got to spend time with Debbie's side of the family. 

Here they are with Grandma Vought. 



Tennessee

It has become a tradition to travel to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN during our 3-day weekend in September.  We go down Thursday night and stay through Sunday with Nanny and Pappy (John and Debbie).  We have a very relaxing weekend that includes a little shopping, sight seeing and lots of eating.  Our busy schedules keep us from traveling to Louisville as much as we need too, so the girls really soak up their time with Nanny and Pappy. 

One of Avery's favorite things to do is to ride rides at a park in the middle of Pigeon Forge.  It was even more exciting for her this year because Jacy could ride with her.  You may notice that in the pictures Jacy does not look happy, but that is Jacy's "normal" look.  She wants to act like it is no big deal to be riding the rides and gets really embarrassed if you make a big deal out of anything.  However, she not afraid of any of the rides and loved everyone of them.

Cheerleader and Buzz Crew





 

If you asked Avery early in the summer if she wanted to play basketball, she said yes!  However, after school was underway she decided that she wanted to be a cheerleader. I had promised her I would coach her Upward Basketball team, but now I am an Upward Cheerleading Coach!  Much to Avery's disappointment- I was never a cheerleader but I am picking up on the basics and the 4 - 6 year old girls could care less.  They just want to cheer!

I purchased Jacy a uniform because I knew she would be upset on Saturday
mornings if she didn't get to dress up. 
 

Here are the girls cheering.  Notice how in sync the team is. HAHA

They loved yelling through the megaphones- even though they were not
yelling the  appropriate cheers.  This picture did not capture them wearing
them on their head!

 We were able to run home after cheerleading to do some chores and rest a little before heading back to Stanton for the Stanton Elementary School Fall Festival.  Avery (along with cousin Karlie) were making their debut as members of the BUZZ Crew.  This is a dance group comprised of K-5 students from SES.  I was concerned that Avery had her dad's rythm, but she proved us wrong.  We really look forward to watching her improve and perform with this group.  It is really cute!

 

 

 

Avery took us to her room to see her color by numbers picture.  She was very proud.

 

 Next, she showed us her BEE on the ALFIE.  Part of Avery's reading homework is Alfie.  In her reading folder is a "part" of this Alfie.  Once they "test" out on one page of Alfie, they get a new page.  This Alfie travels all around the hallway of SES and I am not for sure how many words he is comprised of.

Here is Avery's bee.  My heart absolutely explodes with pride when Avery reads from her reading folder.  It is amazing how quick these little minds learn!

First Day of School

Yes, it is September 14th and I am just now writing about Avery's first day of school (from August 6th!).  The night before we read a book that I got Avery "The Night Before Kindergarten".  She made me read it 3 times.  I cried through the book and dreaded what the morning would bring.

 

However, seeing my little girl so excited and ready to go to Kindergarten I was nothing but excited myself!  She chose her little outfit and when we walked her in she was ready to go.  I am so proud of her and everything she has accomplished in the 6-weeks. 

 

I think the best scripture for this day and for the next 12 years comes from

 

Proverbs 22:6- Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

 

This is the guiding verse for Avery's (and now Jacy's) preschool and it is on my heart daily.

 

 

 

 

Avery Continued

I am not for sure if Avery fully understands the number of people that have been praying for her, asking about her and sending texts about her.  Her bed time prayers tonight included her thanking Jesus for making her better.  I can only pray that she continues to have such an overwhelming love and trust in Jesus as she grows up.  At church on Sunday Brother Greg talked about Heaven and what it would be like.  He mentioned that some people may think it will be boring.  Avery turned to me and said, "Why would you be bored?  You get to play with Jesus and dance with the Angels."  Her sweet innocence is amazing and I pray that she will maintain that loving heart!

We are thankful that Avery will see the cardiologist on Thursday at 11:00 a.m.  We could not get through to a person at U.K. to make an appointment, which was very frustrating.  We will be seeing Dr. Camp at Central Baptist- which our pediatrician highly recommended. 

  This is Avery Saturday night at Chick-fil-A

Avery

We (as in Brian and I) spent Saturday morning on July 28th cleaning house!  I love having clean floors!  The girls were entertained by their big cousins (Taylor and Abby) by playing in the basement.  After lunch, we headed to Bob and Jen's pool to spend the afternoon.

Swim-time was cut short by Avery complaining and crying that her "heart was beeping" and it hurt (she held her hand over her chest).  We have had this happen before, but I always thought she was just anxious/crying and that's why it felt like her heart was beating so fast.  I told her to calm down, breathe slow and it would be okay.  Thankfully, Jennifer was there to check Avery's heartbeat.  Jennifer checked her heartbeat for about 30-40 minutes and kept getting 180-200.  We would let her sit and relax, then she would check it again.  In fact, Avery was asking to go back swimming. The fact that I could see her little chest pumping up and down so fast was very scary and it prompted us to leave for the E.R.

This was one of those times when you have to remain calm and maintain composure, but it is very hard to not burst out crying.  This is also a time when I realize what it really means to be a Mom.

On the way Avery said her heart had stopped "beeping" but that it still hurt.  I was worried we would get there and everything would be normal.  We had discussed this issue with her pediatrician in the past, but the episode was not happening, so the doctor could not tell much about it.  However, when we were taken back to a room and she was hooked up to a monitor her heart rate was at 250. 

The room filled with nurses at that point to draw blood, set-up an IV, and to start an EKG.  They also placed her on oxygen through her nose and started applying ice to her face.  The doctor explained this was to try and lower her heart rate.  If it did not work they would administer medicine through her IV that would drop her heart rate, then it would rebound to normal.  Then they would send her on to U.K.  They did give her the medicine through her I.V. and then sent us to U.K. in an "ambalance truck" (This is how Avery says it).  We were finally released from U.K. around 8:00 p.m. with a prescription until we could see a cardiologist and a HUNGRY girl that just wanted to go to
Chick-fil-A !

I have to brag on how amazing our little girl was in such a scary situation.  There was never a time that she cried at the hospital and she would giggle when asked questions.  The nurses bragged every time that they entered the room.  My heart swelled with pride, but was being crushed by the pain of watching her go through such a traumatic situation.

The next morning, I was still hugging and snuggling with Avery and she informed me that I could stop hugging her!  She is so funny and I will share later some of her funny stories with the doctors and nurses.

Happy Birthday Karlie & Abby

We are blessed to live so close to our family that we can celebrate every special birthday!  Last week Karlie and Abby had their birthday and we got to celebrate with lots of cake and swimming.

McKinley, Mattie, Karlie and Avery

The girls + Abby and Taylor

Where was Kylie???

We always joke that there are NO BOYS allowed at our parties except for Daddys and Papaws.  Clayton Hall has been invited this summer and the girls LOVE him:-)  When I took this picture Clayton said, "Now that's one for your photo album!"  He's really funny and fun to have around.  I guess we will make an exception for Clayton!

This is Bobby riding Karlie's BIG surprise over from the garage.  Everyone at the party laughed as Bobby made his way down the road.

Karlie received her first Corvette- Mary Kay Pink!  She has been practicing driving and is doing a great job- if we can just keep her away from electric poles!!

Abby celebrated her birthday with an icecream cake at Mammie and Papaw's- then had a big birthday party on Sunday at her house.

Overnight Guests

We had the privilege of hosting the McClanahan family (minus Jeff- he was in Texas) on Thursday-Saturday!  Jessica was in town to spend time with her Mom at the UK Hospital (see her blog------>) and we got to spend time with her and the kids.  We went to the Splash Park in Stanton and spent some time playing in-doors due to rain.  Our kiddos play SO well together that it made for a fun time.

Everyone wanted to sit by sweet Luke!

The kids decided to put these band-aids on their noses.  They called them "noseys"

I was very proud that I managed to get 5 kiddos sitting and eating lunch!

This was the last night.  Everyone was exhausted...except for Jacy!