November 2017

Feels like I just posted, but another month has gone by.   Sometimes I wish time would just stand still....then other days it can't go fast enough.  Here's to trying to enjoy and find the good in each moment.

The kids choir at church had their program this month.  The kids did a fantastic job and put in lots of really hard work.  Nathan and I are loving being upstairs with the big kids this year.  Nathan has also enjoyed his "job" as tech crew.  He gets to run sound and power point words.  Just point him in the direction of technology and he is happy.  =)

Hannah wanted to audition for a solo again.  She really seems to enjoy performing of all kinds.  She did a great job.  Both girls picked dance as their elective class this semester.  They had fun!  There were over 100 kids singing....that's LOTS of kids hearing about Jesus!! All these photos were taking by our church photographer.  Photo credit: Jack Hess

Hannah had a piano festival one Saturday as well.  She did a great job and received the highest rating.  So proud of all her hard work.  She has learned so much in the last 2 years!

There's a different group of kindergarten teacher at school this year than there was 2 years ago.  Almost all of them were at the school but in a different grade level.  There was lots of movement within the school this year.  Anyway, with new teachers comes new activities.  They brought back the Thanksgiving Friendship Feast.  I was selfishly hoping they would invite parents and then they asked for volunteers to set up and serve.  I happily volunteered.  The kids were so cute in their Indian hats!

The girls had the whole Thanksgiving week off school.  The vacation was really nice and we tried to do a balance of free time playing at home and special fun activities.  LOTS of Lego playing, we made a fort (under the coffee table), colored, and played outside Thanksgiving day with my dad.  We also went to see the movie Coco.  It was really really good and actually made Nathan and Hannah cry.  Our other big family fun activity was Six Flags Holiday in the Park.  I think that's my favorite time to visit...first of all it's not melting hot, and I LOVE the pretty lights and Christmas music.

October 2017

We had two days off school for Columbus Day and parent/teacher conferences.  Love getting to hear about all the progress the girls are making and hearing their teachers brag on them.  So proud of all their hard work.  Auntie Kara was off one of those two days as well so the girls and I met her for lunch.  Then we went back to her apartment to play with her kitties.  Her beloved kitty passed away in Aug at age 13. =(  After visiting many shelters she decided to get two 5 month old kittens.  They are not siblings but they seem to be getting along.  They are SO cute and we enjoyed getting to play with them, even if only one cooperated for a picture.

Nathan and I decided to "graduate" ourselves upstairs for church choir this year now that we no longer have anyone in preschool.  We are having fun and so are the girls.  Abigail LOVES being upstairs with all the big kids.  The kids choir sang a song in big church one Sunday this month.  Our church has an awesome photographer that takes pictures so here's a few he captured. Photo credit: Jack Hess

The city of Plano put on a Family Safety Fair a few weekends ago.  Sadly it was the day before the cold front came through so it was 90 degrees.  But we had fun.  Hannah was especially excited to get to see some of the fire clowns.  They had just been out to their school to do an assembly about safety.  Abigail was to shy to get in the picture.

We decided to go with a super hero theme for our Halloween costumes this year.  My mom found super cute and reasonably priced costumes for the girls on-line so we did not have to make anything, which was nice. We did splurge on the ADORABLE bows, but they TOTALLY make the costume and we may wear them individually upon occasion if we have clothing to match.  My mom did a costume photo session one weekend and I am so pleased with what she captured and all her editing work.  So much fun!! 

This jail idea was all my sister.  I think this is my favorite series of photos we took.  They make me laugh every time.  LOVE the cute thought bubbles my mom added!!

We hit two fall festivals over the weekend and then trick-or-treated around the block in our neighborhood on Halloween night.  More than enough candy!  We also got to wear our costumes to church choir one night so yeah for getting extra use out of them.

Sadly the tummy bug made it though our house at the end of the month.  NOT FUN!!  It was short lived, but brutal.  It it Abigail first and she actually missed one of the fall festivals.  We thought we were safe after several days and then Hannah and I got it.  So far Nathan has escaped and we pray that continues.  Being immune-suppressed means getting sick is really not fun for him.

September 2017

The calendar may say that it's fall, but in Texas it still feels like summer...ugh!!  I'm not ready for the cold, but temperatures that aren't in the 90's would be nice.  We did have one weekend where it was in the mid 80's so we went to play at the park.

The girls spent the night with my parents one night Labor Day weekend.  They had so much fun swimming, watching Little Mermaid, and meeting Auntie Kara's new kitties.  Nathan and I enjoyed a date night.  We went to see the latest Planet of the Apes movie and then out for dessert.

Over the summer Hannah wanted to learn about cheetahs.  So we checked a book out from the library and she wrote a list of facts.  Then we worked together to create a power point presentation.  She was so excited to share it and thanks to Chrome Cast she got to use the big TV to present.

The girls really enjoy puzzles and I recently realized all the ones we had were too easy.  So I picked up a few 100 piece puzzles at a consignment sale.  They have already put 2 of them together.

My sister plays in a group called New Life Symphony and they do several concerts a year.  Most of them are a mix of classical and church music.  They recently did a children's concert with fun movie music.  Concerts are in the evening which conflict with bedtime, so we crashed their Saturday morning dress rehearsal.  The girls LOVED hearing all the music and even got to go up on stage during the last song.

Both girls continue to LOVE school.  They are having a great year.  I have stayed fairly busy subbing.  I've worked at least one day a week since the 2nd week of school.

August 2017

Oh summer, where did you go!!!  We had so much fun this summer and the time just flew by.  I do love the routine and schedule of being in school though.  And since we live in Texas, it still FEELS like summer outside.  It could actually cool off just a little and I'd be happy.  =P

During July and August I had a the girls do a few learning activities so we could use our brains.  We practiced some handwriting, Hannah did some logic puzzles, and both girls did creative writing.  I wanted to make the writing fun so I found some cute prompts on Pinterest and then we listened to classical music while they wrote.  It took 3-4 "writing sessions" to finish their stories because we only wrote for about 15 mins at a time.  Both girls had so much fun though.  Then we decided to type the stories and illustrate them.  They turned so so cute!!  Love their creativity!

It is still crazy to think that both girls are in school this year.  My house is REALLY quiet while they are gone.  They are both having a blast and love their teachers.  I'm getting several things done around the house, but I really miss them while they are gone.  I plan to substitute teach part time at their school this year.  I've only worked one day so far, but it will pick up.  And I think between teaching and some church activities it will be a nice balance between being busy and having time at home alone.

Below are pictures of both girls with their teachers and some of the back to school photos we took with my mom.  We stuck with tradition and did our first day of school pictures a few days before the REAL first day of school. Way less crowded.  We also did an old fashioned photo shoot with Abigail similar to the one we did before Hannah started kindergarten.  Love all these cute photos!

Mrs McCary and Hannah

 Mrs Kirby and Abigail

We celebrated a successful first week of school by going out for a donut breakfast last Saturday.  There's a little donut shop right next to our neighborhood that we like to visit a few times a year.  We definitely limit the amount of sugar the girls eat so it was totally a treat. Making family memories is the best!

July 2017

All of our summer church activities are over so now we have more time to relax.  We had a wonderful time celebrating the 4th of July.  We stated off by heading to the Plano Lions Parade.  It's really small and kind of cheesy, but my girls love it.  And we can arrive 10 mins before it starts and leave without fighting traffic...so it's a WIN!

Then we headed to my mom's house to hang out, play, and swim.  My mom bought these super cute wings at Dollar Tree.  The girls love anything dress up related so they were excited.  The cute outfits were from my sister. We had lots of great family time together and ate yummy food.  And we got some adorable pictures too!

Then we headed home to change into jammies and watch a family movie, Madagascar 2.  The city fireworks didn't start until 9:30 so it was the perfect activity while we waited.  There is a church at the edge of our neighborhood that is kind of up on a hill.  You can see almost all the the fireworks from their parking lot.  So we sat it the back of Nathan's truck and enjoyed, but didn't have to fight any crowds when the show was over.  Perfect!

We also did swim lessons this month.  Both girls took a class through the city of Plano and then Hannah did a few extra lesson with a former piano student of Grammy's.  I am super impressed by the progress both girls made this summer.  Although it still makes me a little nervous I feel like Hannah swims well enough to not use or puddle jumper anymore at least in the shallow end.  Hopefully the two videos I included will work.  =)

We were also able to have a few friends over to play.  Hannah's best friend from Kindergarten moved to Euless last summer but the girls have stayed in touch by writing letters...and we've actually seen each other in person a few times too.  We also had Hannah's precious Kindergarten teacher and her two kiddos over to play as well.  We LOVE Mrs Beckham and were heartbroken when she got moved to another PISD school  Thankful we've been able to stay in touch via Facebook.

June 2017

You would think now that school is out, we would have more free time.  WRONG!!  This month has been super fun, but crazy crazy busy.  So thankful that our church offers lots of amazing programs and that my schedule allows me to help and volunteer.

A few days after school got out we did VBS (Vacation Bible School) at church.  Our theme was "Short Circuit, Rewired for Life"...think lots of robots and gears.  The girls had a fantastic time learning about how God made us special and wants to be our friend.  I worked in the preschool music and story room again, think this is year 4 in that room.  It's the best room ever, and working alongside two good friends makes it even better.

We had a few days off between activities and headed up to AR to visit Nathan's family.  We had a great visit and Daddy even pulled out some old games and puzzles from the garage for the girls.

 Daddy joined the puppet show at the church he grew up at.

 We also had some NOT FUN things happen this month. Our air conditioner broke and was unable to be repaired. =(  So we spent two very HOT weeks with no AC while getting 3 companies out to give us quotes for a brand new system.  Thankfully everything is fixed now and our house no longer feels like a sauna. 

Week three was music camp for elementary age kids.  This week is always super busy and chaotic, but it is so much fun!  We had 170 kids that learned an entire musical in one week.  Most of the songs were scripture so lots of God's word was hidden in our hearts.  Since I was working, Abigail got to participate as well even though she was technically too young. She learned all her words and motions so she got to perform in the program on stage too. Hannah decided to audition for a solo and she was part of a quartet on one of the songs.  Super proud of her! She also took a craft class and a dance class. It was an amazing week and I'm so glad I got to participate. Our church photographer Jack Hess took these great photos.

 LOTS and LOTS of kids worshiping God!

Hannah singing with her quartet...other singers not pictures. 

Crafts from class 

Tambourine dance

Last but not least, this week is Preschool Music camp.  Much less intense than last week!  This year Hannah is too old to participate so she has been my assistant.  The older kids (4 and 5 year olds) rotate through my room and two others and by the end of the week they have learned 6 songs.  Then they sing them for their parents on the last day.  This is my 4th year to do this camp and I think it's my last.  It's has been lots of fun though!