Trip to Nashville

We went to Nashville a few weeks back to spend time with family following the death of my sweet grandfather, Charles Russell Thompson.  We enjoyed spending time with family and recalling the crazy Nashville weather!

One morning it snowed for about 4 hours.

My father ("Skip") and the granddaughters....this was the best picture of all 3.

 Avery trying to catch the snowflakes from the covered front porch....she wasn't too sure about actually going down the stairs to catch them.

Then, in true Nashville fashion, a few days later it was almost 70 degrees, windy, and sunny.  My girls had a great time running and playing in my grandmother's backyard.

(yes, Avery has on the same outfit on both of the days...since we were going to be there for a while, I decided to not pack as much and just do a load of laundry while I was there---why hadn't I thought of this years ago?!?!)

Spring is in the Air!

 So that means that Avery's dance recital is right around the corner!

But first, dance class picture time! (In my mind, what a potential nightmare!!)

One Saturday, all of Avery's dance class gals got together for the annual pictures which feature the girls in their dance costumes.  Prior to the actual professional photography sessions, I snapped a few of Avery and her buddies in their costumes.  Unfortunately Avery and her friends were way too excited to stand still or focus for a picture, so below are the best ones that I got, minus our buddies.

These days, when taking a picture of Avery you usually get one of two faces...

#1:

(overly excited and crazy)

Or #2:

(overly bored and forced)

She can also throw in a curve ball with this face....scared.  Like she doesn't even know who you are.

Can't wait to see the professional pictures of the girls and their pretty little pink ballerina costumes....or the pictures from the recital in May at the BJCC!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a great Valentine's Day this year!  Matt and I had an emotional moment about a month ago, and we realized what a short time we have with our precious children especially when they think we're "cool" to hangout with, so we decided to make these little holiday completely about them.  Plus, Matt said that if he makes it completely about them and they happen to date a boy one day who doesn't do as much for them as he (we) does, then maybe they won't date him any longer :)

The day started with lots of pink and red and balloons.  We had heart shaped toast with red strawberry jam for breakfast.  Matt got the girls roses; each got a rose for each Valentine's Day (Avery got 3, Ansley got 1). We had heart shaped grilled cheeses for lunch.  We made hearts out of almonds by "gluing" them together with chocolate frosting.  We did many Valentine's crafts, talked about love, talked about hearts, etc.  The girls loved it!  Avery got to decide where we went to eat, and after having a hard decision between her two favorite restaurants, Chick Fil A and Cracker Barrel, we ended up at Cracker Barrel along with everyone else who was 65 and older.  We came back home after dinner to open our Valentine's Baskets and take a very special Valentine's bath.

All decked out in Valentine's paraphernalia...

Giving sister kisses...since it was Valentine's Day...

Sweet girl, always so happy....

Avery showing off some of the presents in her Valentine's Basket...a Toy Story thermus cup and a miniature Jessie...

The cookies that the girls and I made....

And the special Valentine's bath.  Thank you, Pinterest!  We put pink glow stick in the bubble bath, turned out the lights, and this is what we got! A great success and so much fun with no extra clean-up!  (in order to not have a flash, I had to put the camera in night mode which made the shutter speed slow, thus the blurred images, but you get the picture)

Potty Training

We have been working on potty training with Avery pretty hard core for about 2 weeks now, and I am proud to say that I think we've mastered potty training, in the daytime anyway.  She can go tee tee and poo poo on the potty all by herself (meaning going to the bathroom, pulling down her pants, getting on the potty without a stool, going, wiping--for the most part, getting off the potty without a stool, pulling up her panties and pants, flushing, and washing her hands).  This is such a huge help during the day!  Now, if we're in a public restroom, the process is a little different...a little more help from me than when we're at home or someone else's home.  Her babysitter, Mrs B, has told her for a while that when she is potty trained and can go poo poo in the potty, she will get her a fish.  So, the other day, off to Wal Mart they went.  Here is Avery with her new pet fishes (there are 3 of them):

 Giving the fishes kisses....

In case you can't tell, she is very proud!
Now, as for nighttime potty training, we are doing Pull Ups, but I have promised myself that I am only buying the one pack (the original, normal sized pack) of Pull Ups, and then it's on to big girl panties.  She wears panties for her naps and has never had an accident (knock on wood), so I hoping it will be a smooth transition!

Good Morning!

One morning, Avery actually asked to have her picture taken during breakfast (this child has HATED having her pictures taken recently...she used to LOVE the camera...oh well). So, I used that opportunity to snap some photos of the girls in their pjs eating breakfast.

Avery is enjoying pancakes, blueberries, and Kix

 Ansley saw that there was food on her tray, and she couldn't have cared less about the camera.  Food is always a winner with her!  Ansley is having blueberries, grapes, and Kix.

Ansley and Her Boo Boos

Ansley almost always has a booboo on her....this day, she had one smack on her nose.  She's a walker now, and sometimes she gets going a little faster than the rest of her little body can handle.  She's also a climber, and sometimes she goes places that the rest of her little body can't handle.

 Had to put this picture up...going for the Pebbles look.  Haven't really ever been a fan of this look, but she looks pretty darn cute if you ask me :)

 You may be wondering if I could give you an example of how she might obtain all of these booboos....here's an example:



Gigi and Skip's House

While we were in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, Avery noticed that Gigi and Skip had many of the toys featured in her "favorite movie in the whole world," Toy Story (aka: my and my brother's old toys).  For example, the Fisher Price phone.  She sat in this chair and talked on it for the longest time.  Notice her putting her finger in her ear in order to hear the person on the other end better :)

 And this old camera that doesn't make any noise, have lights, or actually take pictures (unlike the REAL digital camera that she received for Christmas!)

 Also while at Gigi and Skip's house, she was showing off her new favorite trick....crossing her eyes.  She thinks it's so hilarious.  She holds it for about 3 seconds and then bursts out into a belly laugh!  She wanted me to take a picture of it so that she could see what HER eyes looked like.

 She starts off having to concentrate on something very seriously, and then she eventually crosses her eyes.  At first she was getting reprimanded because we thought she was just giving us mean eyes....then we figured out that she has to do that in order to cross her eyes.  She now says "I am not giving you mean/ugly eyes...I'm just doing my trick."