Seven Reasons why Abigail Ann is Awesome

It's only a FEW days after Abby's 7th birthday, and I am finally getting around to finishing up my post about "why Abby is Awesome."

1.  Abby is awesome because she is so loveble.  I have never met anyone who knows Abs who hasn't fallen in love with her.

Here is Abby when she was 3 months old.
Here she is on her first birthday!!

2.  Abby is awesome because she loves with her whole heart.  She loves her family, her friends, her animals... she is kind and gentle to all.

This is Abby on her first day of pre-school in College Station.  She was 18 months old.  Check out that new Minnie Mouse lunchbox!!
3.  Abby is awesome because she is so "un-dramatic".  When you live in a house with a bunch of girls, it is SO REFRESHING to have one who isn't a drama queen.  Abby isn't.  And for that we are so grateful!

Here's a picture of Abby at 2 years old.  Look at that bunny rabbit!!  She wanted to squeeze it SO BADLY.
Here is Abby at 3 years old, posing with a baby calf.  Are you seeing a theme here?  Abby loves animals.  She always has.
4.  Abby is awesome because she knows who she is.  She is comfortable in her own skin, and is OK being herself.

Here she is at Christmas time a time a few years ago, when she was 3 1/2 years old.

5.  Abby is awesome because she is so smart.  She isn't really "loud" about it, but if you can ever get her to talk to you, she will blow your socks off with all that she knows.

Here she is at age 5, the big "pre-school graduate".
6.  Abby is awesome because she is always ready to help.  She'll help me, she'll help her teachers, she'll help her Dad, she'll help her sisters... she is always ready with a smile and a pleasant attitude.

Here's Abby at age 5 1/2, dressed as a beautiful witch for Halloween.
Here she is last year on her birthday, holding one of the chicks that she asked for as a gift.
And, what did Miss Abby ask for as a gift this year?
You guessed it... a bunny!  Meet our newest family member, "Carrots".  I must say, he is pretty cute.  And, he's a really good bunny so far... no biting, no scratching, loves to be held... can't ask for much more than that.  

7.  That leads me to the final reason that Abby is awesome... she's awesome because she's mine.  She's one of the best things I've ever done!  Seeing her each day is a gift... she is like watching my heart walk around outside my body.  I thank God for her each and every day.

Happy Birthday, Abs.  I love you.  You're AWESOME!!!!

Fast and Furious

Is it just me, or are the weekends going by faster?  

I swear, I turned around, and it was Sunday evening.  

How'd that happen?

Somebody SLOW IT DOWN for me, here!!

Playing "catch up"...

... on photos, that is.

I am starting to load some of the photos that I missed out on posting during my little "bloggy break".

Here's Miss Gracie, who has the same hair-do as her beloved Polly Pocket.  So cute!Kate's 4th grade play was that week before Spring Break.  She was the "Yellow Rose of Texas".  She had to dress kind of like a saloon girl... believe me, this costume gave me fits.  I tried to order something off the net, but I couldn't find anything that would work. So then, I asked a friend if the local Civic Theatre might have anything that would work.  They had the skirt, which was too big, but I was able to alter it.  I went to Hobby Lobby and found some feathers and a boa, and then bought some satin to make her a little vest.  By the time I finished tinkering with it, it looked GREAT.

She was wonderful in the play, and her big solo was awesome.  She has a lovely voice (and I'm sure I'm not a BIT biased! ha ha)



Also during that week before Spring Break was Abby's first grade Western Day.  Is this not the cutest cowgirl you've ever seen?
Happy Friday, and Happy Weekend!

Happy Birthday, Abigail Ann!

Today my middle child, Abby, turned 7 years old.

Wow.

How time flies when you're having fun.

I do believe it was just yesterday that she was a fat and happy baby, wanting nothing more than to be held by her momma.

And now she's a big first grader, turning 7.

Luckily, she still likes to be held by her mama, and for this I am eternally grateful, because she is just the most amazing child.  I am working on a post (maybe I'll have it done by tomorrow) with 7 pictures from her life and 7 reasons why she is awesome.  For now, we'll just say that watching her grow and change is my greatest pleasure in life.  I am blessed to know her, and even more blessed to be her mother.

Tonight was her "special night".  In our family, on the night of your actual birthday, we have a family dinner, and the birthday girl gets to choose the menu and the cake and the theme and anything else they want.  It's their day.  We were lucky enough to be able to have Luke's parents over for the evening.  Abby wanted Minnie Mouse on her cake, and I found some silly Minnie ears.  Here are the girls, modeling their ears with their Grandad, who was a really great sport to pose wearing those ears!!




Our dinner table centerpiece was the lovely rose that was delivered to Abby at school today by her "best friend in the world", Miss Lainey.  Thank you, Lainey!

Here is the birthday girl, posing with her cake.
Here's a close up of the cake.  Abby has always loved Minnie Mouse... we have a gigantic Minnie Mouse up in our play room that her Gran gave her for Christmas when she was about 3 years old... Abby was Minnie Mouse for Halloween when she was not quite 2 years old... I guess the love continues, because this was her choice for her special day!
I call this picture "portrait of a seven-year old".  Note that she is holding up 7 fingers!  
Happy, happy birthday, sweet Abby.  You are one of a kind, and everyone who ever has the joy of knowing you falls in love with you.  Thank you for sharing these first seven years with me.  I can't wait to share all the years to come with you!

Back to the "real" world...

Hello, again, internets.

Sorry I took a little "bloggy break" there... it was much needed for several reasons.  First of all, just to see if you missed me!  And, my two readers have contacted me to let me know I was missed, so I feel so validated (Are you hearing my sarcasm here?  All you lurkers who don't leave me comments... you crush my bloggy spirit!  Come on!  Step up!  Leave word that you were here!!)

OK - my little rant is over... on to the other reasons I was a little "out of it"...

I have been a little sick.

Actually, that's not true.  I've been a LOT sick, but I am better.

And, the kids were on Spring Break.  GLORIOUS!!!  We had a fantastic week, and I was not ready for it to be over.  For the first time in, well, FOREVER, Luke took a week off and we just stayed at home.  No huge vacation, no big plans, just BEING TOGETHER AT OUR HOUSE AS A FAMILY.  It was refreshing, and I think it helped us all remember why we like each other.  We got a lot done around the house, but we also took some time out to play. We went to the lake.  We went to the zoo.  We went to Dinosaur World.  We went to Fossil Rim.  (All of these are within an hours drive of home. )  The kids spent a night out at their Grandparents' farm house.  They played with a couple of friends.  We all slept late.  All of this and MORE made it so very difficult to wake up early this morning and get back to work and school.  But, we did it.  Reluctantly.

I have lots of pictures to update you on, but that won't be happening tonight.  My country-fried internet is being a bit cranky tonight, because of all the clouds.  But, get ready... they are coming!

Also on the horizon... Abby's 7th birthday is coming up on Wednesday.  My heart aches that she will be 7, so get ready for a sappy, weepy post about my precious little one in a couple of days.

Ah.. it's good to be back, internets.  I missed ya'!

Hello, there.

How are you, internets?

I'm doing better.

I've had bronchitis and a "touch" of pneumonia, but hubs assures me I'm on the mend now.

Now if we could just get rid of this cough that is hanging on like a bad, uninvited guest...

I throw up the white flag...

... and surrender to this virus, or whatever it is that is making me feel so rotten.  I have been DOWN AND OUT for a couple of days now.  I am feeling a bit better this evening, so hopefully Mr. Virus is on his way out the door now.

May he NOT darken your own door soon.

My bleary-eyed thoughts...

My family might be having a little bit of a difficult time adjusting to this whole "rock-your-world, "steal an hour of your sleep", "no concern for your health" thing called "Daylight Savings Time".  I found a cartoon that sums up pretty much how I'm feeling about it... Since hubby was on call this weekend, we didn't sleep well anyway.  (I don't sleep soundly when he's away, and then there's that whole "beeper going off in the middle of the night" thing, too.)

Then, to top it ALL off, I have one of those clocks that is supposed to re-set itself from the national clock (or something like that.)  Last night when I was going to bed, it still had not re-set itself, and I was afraid the alarm wouldn't go off and we would be late getting the girls off to school.  SO, I re-set it manually.  Clearly a mistake, in hindsight, because the clock ALSO set itself.  When my alarm went off, I hustled out of bed like a good mommy and stumbled upstairs in a daze to wake my brood.  Only AFTER waking them all up did I realize that ALL THE OTHER CLOCKS IN THE HOUSE SAID IT WAS AN HOUR EARLIER THAN MINE!!!!  We wasted an EXTRA hour of sleep, in addition to the one that daylight savings time took away.

Great.

Because we weren't already tired or anything...

My "big" girl

Yesterday after school, Abby went home with some friends to play.  She was pretty excited.A few hours later, my friend Courtney called me and asked if Abby could spend the night over at their house.  She wanted to.  Ack.  Mama angst was getting to me.  Abs had never spent the night at a friend's house before.  Hubby was working, so if she needed me, I couldn't even go and pick her up in the middle of the night.  And, to top it all off, it was the first time, and it's not something Luke and I had even discussed yet.  He was at work, so it's not like I could run it by him.  I said no, even though there was a part of me that was saying I should just let her do it.

A few hours after THAT, the phone rings again, and this time it's Abby.  "MOM, why can't I spend the night?"  I gave her my reasons, and told her I was afraid she might get sad and not make it through the night.  She responded, "Mom, if I don't make it, I promise I will ground myself."  It was really cute, and actually very mature.  She wasn't begging or whining, just reasonably discussing.  I relented and told her she could stay, and to have a really good time.

I was afraid she'd have to come home, but as you can see, it is now 9:00 the morning after, and I haven't heard from her.

She made it.

What a big girl.

A small part of me is crying inside, because another milestone has passed.  Somebody just tell them all to SLOW DOWN!!!!!!!!!!

But I guess that's just not the way it works... they grow up no matter what I do.

My LATEST embarrassing moment...

So, this morning, I'm trying to get the kids dropped off at school.  It's a little hectic.  I went through the drive-through lane, and got everyone out the door.  Just as they were shutting the door, my phone rang.  I was trying to answer the phone and drive off when... WHOOPS!  I ran over the traffic cone!  I went forward a little more, but didn't see the cone behind me.  So, I pulled over, and GOT OUT OF THE CAR to look under it for the cone.  No cone.  So, I'm thinking that maybe I didn't run over it, or maybe I just didn't see it behind me.  I got back in my car and drive off.  As I'm driving down the hill, I can hear something rubbing under my car... hmmm.  I decide I'm going to have to stop again and check it out as soon as I get to Sonic for my morning "pick-me-up".  As I am pulling into Sonic, I hear a very loud noise.  I look behind me, and THE TRAFFIC CONE HAS FALLEN OUT FROM UNDER MY CAR!!!!!!   Ugh.  It was barely recognizable.  It was a crumpled heap of orange plastic.  I was so embarrassed!  Shelley and Judy were both at Sonic, too and both had a REALLY great laugh.

That's how my day began...  hmmm....