January 2020

Somehow January feels like a long month, even though we always hit the ground running once school starts.  Both girls birthdays being on either side of Christmas does NOT help.  Speaking of birthdays....my sweet and sassy Abigail is EIGHT years old.  She is looking entirely too grown up.

For Christmas my dad gave Hannah and Abigail a kid's digital camera.  They are having so much fun taking pictures of anything and everything.  We had a Grammy day right before school started again and we took a walk around the block with our cameras.  Love this sweet photo my mom captured.

All 4th graders were required to participate in either the Science or History Fair this year.  Hannah loves history so that's what she chose.  She researched Florence Nightingale and learned tons of information.  The students were given three choices of how to present their research:  poster, power point presentation, or performance.  Hannah chose to write a script and recite it for the judges.  She did a great job and had lots of fun.  She was the only one to participate in that category so she won 1st place in her division.

Our sweet neighbor across the street knows that Abigail LOVES all things frog (she has several frogs in her garden).  We came home from school one day recently and this was sitting on our porch.  Abigail doesn't look too excited in the picture, but she jumped for joy and then carried Sir Ribbit Bibbit (as she named him) around the house for 2 days straight.

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.

January 2019

We always start the new year running with birthday celebrations! Guess that's what Abigail (and I) get for having birthdays in January. 😆  Abigail chose a penguin theme this year.  My mom got the adorable cupcake toppers of Etsy.  Still can't believe my sweet baby is SEVEN!!  We tried to tell her she was again backwards and was going to be 5....but she wouldn't go for it.

The adorable stuffed penguin was purchased by Hannah at Sea World this summer.

I was excited to join Abigail's class on a field trip to the Outdoor Learning Center.  Even though the kids go every year, it's still a fun trip because they learn about something slightly different.  And we got lucky that it wasn't freezing, just a little cool.

Our school always does College Week in January. They talk about the importance of education and setting goals, etc.  The girls are always happy to represent Baylor.  Sic 'Em Bears!!  We had a new dress up day this year where the kids dressed as their future career.  It was so fun to see what all the kids chose.  Hannah picked librarian and Abigail chose artist. I thought their costumes turned out super cute!!

It feels like we did way more stuff this month, but at the moment I can't think of anything else.  Stay tuned for more.

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.

April 2018

I have cousins that live in Arlington (about an hour away) and you would think we'd get together more often.  Sadly we are all busy and it doesn't happen often.  But my aunt and uncle were visiting them so we all got together at my parents house. It was great to see everyone, but my favorite part was the music concert!!  Hannah and my mom played some piano songs, and my sister and cousin Thomas played some cello duets.

My sweet aunt is a former preschool teacher so she always knows where to find fun things for kids. She was sweet enough to bring a box of goodies for my girls filled with notebooks, crayons, and even some Benadaroos or Wikisticks (flexible string wrapped in wax).  The girls love making creations!

Since both girl's birthdays are near Christmas we only ever celebrate with family, everyone else is too busy with holiday plans.  Every other year we try to have a belated party at the park in the spring.  It never fails that the weekend we plan it we get cooler or rainy weather, even it's been 80 the day before.  Such is life in Texas in the spring.  It was sunny and cool but it was CRAZY windy which isn't my favorite day to spend at the park.  The kids however had lots of fun.  I had great intentions of taking pictures and then completely forgot until all by one friend had left.  I was able to score one extra photo from another mom though.  😀  All in all it was a fun day!

Hannah competed in the Jazz festival again this year.  She worked really hard and played very well.  All that hard work payed off because she won 1st place in her division.  I was even able to snag a picture of her with her judge (and her trophy) afterwards.  Way to go Hannah!!

Both girls love singing in choir at church. One of my VERY favorite things they do each year is go visit local senior homes and sing for them.  Their director also challenges the kids to go talk with at least 2 residents afterward and thank them for coming.  I could not love this more!!!

January 2018

Our year always starts off with a crazy bang as we scramble to get Christmas stuff put away and get ready for Abigail's birthday photo shoot.  We had so much fun with Hannah's candy theme last year that we decided to save our props and use them again.  Abigail was super excited....even about wearing the same outfit since props were made specifically to match.  And just like Hannah her favorite part was getting to eat a sucker.  =)

We didn't actually celebrate her birthday until a week later, but she was good to be patient.  Loving the adorable cupcakes my mom made.

Our big family gift this year was a membership to the Heard Museum.  We intentionally joined at the level that would give us joint admission to the Perot Museum downtown and the Science and History Museum in Ft Worth.  Nathan actually had MLK Day off as a holiday this year so we decided to make use of our gift.  It was cold and windy outside so we headed to the Perot Museum which is indoors.  My sister was off work that too so she joined us as well.  SO much fun stuff to see.  We took out time and only went through 2 1/2 floors.  It was a great family day!

Hannah had another piano festival.  She really enjoyed learning her piece The B-I-B-L-E.  She learned lots and earned another 1+ rating which is the highest.  Super proud of all her hard work.

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)