November/December 2019

Hannah won 3rd place at the Dallas Solo piano competition.  So proud of all her hard work.  She is learning so many great life skills in addition to music.  

The 4th graders at school did a Veteran's Day program.  Their music teacher did a fabulous job putting this together and all the kids worked really hard.  

We had a great Thanksgiving break...love that we are out of school the whole week. We mostly hung out at home, but Nathan did take one extra day off work and we went to the Ft Worth Zoo.  It was a little chilly, but not miserable.  All in all a super fun day.

Our choir and orchestra Christmas concert was really really good.  Both girls sang in the children's choir and they sang in a smaller select ensemble as well.  Hannah was also asked to memorize and recite the Luke 2 Christmas story as an introduction to one of the songs.  She did a AMAZING job! So proud of her. (photo credit Tuyen Le)

2nd Grade also did a school program this year.  It was winter/holiday themed. Abigail's favorite song was "Mr Grinch."  It was super cute and the kids (and music teacher) worked really hard to put it all together.

Hannah is super excited to have finally hit double digits, but mommy is STRUGGLING!  Swear she was just born yesterday.  Her birthday pictures turned out super cute though!

We had a nice low-key Christmas.  We enjoyed lots of yummy food, Christmas sing-along, and opened presents.  The weather wasn't Christmasy but 70 degrees instead.  My dad got the girls a remote control car so they took it up to the school parking lot to play for a while.  All in all it was a great day.

I'll leave you with the 6th Annual edition of jammie pictures in front of the Christmas tree.

July/August 2019

So.....summer kind of got away from me and I forgot to post.  Therefore I'm combining July and August into one longer post.  Still can't believe summer is over and school has started.  We actually had some slightly cooler weather this summer.  The sun and heat are out in full force now, just in time to make walking home from school a really miserable (and sweaty) experience.

The girls are off to a great start in school.  So far they love their classes and their teachers.  I haven't started subbing yet....but I already have a few jobs lined up and I know I'll pick up more.

We packed lots of fun into our last month of summer.  We had several play dates with friends and former teachers and enjoyed LOTS of swimming.

Christmas in July resulted in fun and yummy cookies.  Such a fun tradition.  We also enjoyed spending time with family on the 4th of July.

We also had fun hanging out with Auntie Kara this summer.  She came up to our house to play games and go out for ice cream.  We also took a trip to Ham's Orchard for bbq (and more ice cream).  Then we met her up at her school and got to try out all the string instruments.

All in all we had a great summer and I'm a little sad it's over, but I know we're going to have a great school year!

December 2018

This month is always super crazy with multiple church activities, birthday celebrations, and holiday fun.  But I am always blessed and I love watching the girls experience the magic of Christmas and share the love of Jesus.

We started off the month with the kids choir program.  We did a Christmas program this time called Jingle Bell Beach.  Both girls got to sing a small solo and Abigail's little dance class performed too.  Hannah chose a science class this semester and LOVED all the fun experiments she got to do.

The girls were also asked to be part of the program for the Widow's Luncheon our church deacons put on every year. Hannah read the Christmas story and Abigail sang a solo, and some other friends sang too.  It was a very sweet little program and the girls enjoyed every minute. (photo credit Dave Alvy)

The 2nd weekend in December was the big multi-generational concert featuring ALL music groups at church.  It was an amazing concert!!!  Abigail got to sing her Happy Birthday Jesus solo again and did awesome!  I was nervous for her but she didn't seemed bothered to sing in front of all those people.  Nathan and I were on stage playing so all photos are from the church photographer. (Photo credit Sam Wilson)

Somehow my sweet Hannah is NINE years old!  I really can't believe she is that big.  On her actual birthday she brought little treats for her class and that night was the kids choir party at a trampoline place.  Our official family celebration was on Saturday.  She choose books as her theme this year....not surprising for my little bookworm!

School got out so late this year we didn't have much time before Christmas.  But we managed to watch some Christmas movies, bake cookies, look at lights, play some games, and do a few puzzles.  We also continued our tradition of taking pictures in our jammies in front of Grammy's tree.

July 2018

We continued our 4th of July tradition by attending the Plano Lions Club parade.  Can't beat arriving 10 minutes early and not fighting traffic to leave. 😁

I found these ADORABLE dresses at my favorite consignment store.  They aren't made by the same company but I thought they matched really well.  So I insisted my mom take pictures.  😋

Another 4th of July tradition....staying up late to watch the fireworks from a nearby parking lot (again no crowd or need to arrive early).  Since we had to stay up late we watched a family movie, this year was 1982 Annie.  The girls LOVED it.

Speaking of traditions....we started a new one this year:  Christmas in July.  Summer in TX is HOT and we all love Christmas so why not squeeze in some extra fun.  In reality we wanted an excuse to make gingerbread cookies again when we weren't so busy.  In true "go big or go home" fashion we dressed in holiday colors, listened to Christmas music, and wore Santa hats.  We had so much fun and the cookies were yummy!!

We took a trip up to Arkansas to visit Daddy's family.  The girls always love hanging out with Paw Paw.  Their favorite part is playing with all his beanie babies.  And we always appreciate Tommy letting us stay with him.  This year his blueberry bush was blooming so the girls got to pick (and eat) blueberries right off the bush. FUN!  And we got to take some home too. 

One of the local school districts got out really late this year, so it pushed some church activities back later in the summer.  Music camp is usually in June, but this year it was in July. Our theme this year was Danny and the Shacks.  We learned all about Daniel and his friends and how they trusted God.  Abigail was super excited to be an official participant this year and not just my helper.

We ended the month by checking out one of the museums that is part of our membership.  This museum was in Ft Worth about an hour away.  They had lots of neat hands-on exhibits.  It was a fun day.

December 2017

December is over already and another year has gone by.  CRAZY!!

Hannah's big birthday/Christmas present this year was a loft bed with a desk underneath.  Both girls rooms lack in floor space so this is a really great option.  Eventually Abigail will get one too, but not for a few more years.  Hannah is LOVING sleeping up high, reading underneath like a fort, and having desk to write/work on. 

Our church church did their big choir and orchestra Christmas concert.  It was really long but SUPER awesome!  We played lots of really great songs.  I always enjoy playing with a large group.  Nathan and I played and both girls sang in a few songs with the kids choir.  Our church photographers captured these photos.  Photo credit: David Alvey and Jack Hess

Hannah also turned EIGHT this month.  I'm still not sure how this is possible.

Since we birthday was on a Tuesday we waiting to celebrate on the weekend.  We decided to just to cupcakes this year.  My mom found this cute idea on Pinterest and did a great job making them.  They were super yummy too!

We volunteered at our church annual Three Trees event again.  LOVE everything about this day!!   We give back to the community by providing Christmas for over 300 families.  But even more important we tell them about Jesus and how much he loves them. The pictures of the stage filled with presents blows me away every year! (Photo Credit David Alvey)