Our little princess turns 7!

Dear Abby,
     This letter is a few days late but I still wanted to write your birthday letter.  Mommy and Daddy had the best time celebrating your birthday with you this year.  You are so much fun to be around and we love our time with just you.  You always tell us that you love your brothers but you still love spending time with just mommy and daddy. 
    This year has brought many changes in your life.  You have lost a grand total of 6 teeth .  Losing teeth has been so exciting for you and you love to flash that little toothless grin.  Mommy and Daddy were a little sad when you lost those top two because it made you look so much older.  No baby look anymore for you!  Luckily, you still love your dresses and bows.  I think Daddy will be the saddest of all when you refuse to wear your big bows.  Your style has changed a little in the past few years.  You love wearing boots and jeans now.  You also love skirts these days.  We have branched out from just bows to flowers in your hair too.  You still like to wear your hair long and we usually get about 3 inches taken off a few times a year.  It grows so fast.
    You continue to love every minute of school.  You play with several people in your class but have about 3 close friends at school with whom  you spend most of your time. You love your teacher, Mrs. Boyter and like to tell her stories about your brothers and all of their wild antics at home.  You are doing an awesome job with your reading this year.  You learned all of your sight words early on this year and you can read well over 100 words per minute.  What I am most happy about is that you genuinely love to read.  A few weeks ago you picked up a chapter book and finished it in less than a day. You were so interested in it that you couldn't put it down.  The boys love for you to read to them.  You read with such expression that you keep their attention and that is not an easy thing to do.  Your favorite subject this year is actually math.  You sit at dinner and ask Daddy to make up challenging math problems for you to work in your head.  Most of the time you can figure them out and as always we are constantly amazed.  You also have shown a real interest in science this year which is something you obviously get from Daddy.  You really have a good understanding of science concepts and constantly ask Daddy about how things work.  You are doing a great job at school this year and we couldn't be more proud.  The most exciting thing of all is that you truly love learning. 
        Abby you have come a long way from the baby with colic and the toddler going through the wild 2's and 3's.  Even though you are still very strong willed and determined, we see very few traces of the meltdowns from your younger years. You are still a very sensitive and tender hearted little girl.  You can't stand the thought of hurting some one's feelings.  A few weeks ago Nathan started telling one of his long stories at dinner and you made an ugly comment.  Before we could say a word to you, you burst into tears.  You immediately apologized and told Nathan that you didn't mean to say it.  Other than the occasional fights with your brothers, you are such a good girl.  You are always respectful and well mannered to adults and treat your friends with kindness.  One part of your personality that is really coming out these days is your competitive side.  Sometimes you seem to be just competing with yourself to improve but this is a very strong part of you these days.  This really stood out when we went to the Cup Stacking competitions this year.  Yes, you wanted to win and wanted trophies but you really wanted to constantly beat your own times. You are a very determined little girl and I'm sure this will take you far in life.
     Abby, Daddy and I love every second of being your parents.  You are an absolute joy to watch grow into a young lady.  We are amazed every day at what a unique and special girl you are. 
Happy Birthday Princess!
Love, Mommy and Daddy

Winter Break

The kids were out of school for 2 days for a little winter break.  The first day we just hung around the house and then took a trip to the library.  Noah is now fully into Super Heroes.  He checked out 7 Super Hero books.  As I read them to him he constantly asks, "Is that a good guy or bad guy?".  Nathan has checked out every train book in the library.  The librarian even told me she knows when she finds our books in the book return because of the train books.  Thank goodness he has branched out and he chose an assortment of books this time.  Abby is a big helper in the reading department now.  I love to read to them but you can only read the same book so many times. 

On Tuesday we  ventured out with Mimi and Clayton to the bounce house.  We had plans to go to Chic Fil A for lunch and the playground.  It was so crowded that we ended up at Moe's instead.  They all had a great time together jumping.  Abby and Clayton love spending time together and they don't get to see each other much these days. 

We finished up the day by getting Nathan a hair cut.  Nathan was so calm and sweet while she cut his hair.  He has come a long ways since the days of pitching wild screaming fits during his hair cut.  Abby and Noah were so good while he got a hair cut.  She read books to him and they sat quietly the whole time.  I'm not bragging but it's so nice to see how they are growing up.  We have actually gone out to eat a few times lately and older couples have come over to compliment us on their behavior.  It just makes us feel that we have done something right! haha! 

Way to go Abby!

Abby had her final cup stacking competition a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately, we didn't find out about until a few days before and it was 3 hours away.  Mommy had plans to go for a Girls Day Out to celebrate Aunt Tonya's birthday.  Daddy was more than willing to make the trip and coach his little girl for the day.  Abby has been going to practice once a week for cup stacking all year.  At the last competition she kicked it into high gear and that "C" family competitive streak appeared.  She learned a few shortcuts and cut 20 seconds off some of her times.  She got second place in all of her events and made it to the afternoon finals.  Daddy was calling me all day to give me updates.  After the finals she managed to pull out a 2nd place in the cycle event which is usually her weaker event.  She got a trophy!!!!!  That just made the whole day.  She also managed to get two 4th place, one 5th place and a 1st place in the team event.  She came home a very happy and TIRED little girl.  I'm not sure who had more fun...Abby or Daddy. 

One tired little girl!

Daddy & Daughter Date Night

Our local Chic Fil A hosted a Daddy Daughter Date Night.  So, we made reservations for Bobby and Abby to go but didn't tell her.  I told her 1 hour before Bobby would be home that someone special was coming to pick her and take her on a special date.  We got her dressed and curled her hair.  She couldn't figure out who was coming and where they could be taking her.  She was so excited to see Bobby walk in the door.  She loves spending time with just her and her daddy.  What a DADDY's girl!  Chic Fil A did a great job.  They decorated with hot pink and zebra print and had tons of balloons and flowers.  They also had carriage rides.  Abby and Bobby both had a great time. 

Noah the wild man

The boys couldn't be left out (Nathan)

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was a little crazy around here.  First of all, we have had 4 cases of strep throat in 3 weeks. (Noah had it twice!) Nathan was home last weekend and on Monday.  So, I didn't really get to get out and buy goodies or plan for Valentines. Noah was home sick last week so we missed his Valentine's party.  Abby did manage to get make her little party.  So, we got her all dressed up and managed to make some goodies for her class. (White chocolate popcorn which was YUMMY!)  Since I was stuck at home in quarantine on Monday I had to get the stuff and finish it on Valentines.  I finally finished and we headed out to drop it off at school and....Noah has locked all the doors on my van with my keys in it.  Oh my...I was not happy!  Bobby had to reschedule his whole day and get home in time to pick Abby up from school.  I was able to catch the room mom and she stopped to pick up our goodies.  It was just one of those days where everything went wrong.  On top of all of this, we still had to make it to ballet that night.   I did manage to get the kids some cute new little character cups for Valentines and we had Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.  Poor Bobby tried so hard. He gave me a gift certificate for a couple's massage.  He dropped everything and ran home but I needless to say I was not in a very Valentiny mood.  I didn't manage to get any pictures of the boys because we never left the house.  Hopefully, Bobby and I will get to celebrate with dinner and a massage in a few weeks.  Even with the craziness in our house the last few weeks I am still very thankful for my 4 sweet Valentines!

Monkeying Around...

Abby has finally mastered the monkey bars.  She can climb them and swing from bar to bar.  Quite an accomplishment for our big girl.

A look of deternination!

Nathan- What a cutie!!



Noah-What a ham!



It's a Winter ONEderland

Guess what sweet boy turned one last week.  It seems like just yesterday we were waiting in the hospital for him to be born.  Jonathan had a Winter ONEderland themed birthday party.  It was so cute with the little snowmen and snowflakes.  He was so happy and enjoyed his party.  He is such a happy baby!  He wasn't so sure about the cake part but most one year olds feel the same way.  (Such a shame because I could have eaten that entire smash cake!)

Two tired boys after the party

Noah

Abby and Mary Helen

"I don't know about this cake stuff."