You Better Not Cry!

Last night we had a wonderful Christmas party at Oma and Opa's house.  Ainsley was so sad to leave and she was crying really hard.  We thought turning on music would help.  It happened to be Justin Bieber's Christmas album.  Porter has that thing memorized.  He was getting really frustrated that Ainsley wouldn't stop crying.  After a couple songs he said, "Turn it to number 4!"  That song is Santa Cluas is Coming to Town.  Porter started singing along and he turned and sang to Ainsley "You better watch out, you better not cry."  But she kept on crying.  Porter, in a very exasperated voice said, "Well that didn't work!"  Chant and I were dying laughing.  Towards the end of the song Ainsley started to calm down and when she finally quit crying Porter threw his fist in the air Rocky Style and said, "Finally!"  Oh he was cracking us up!  Love that little boy!

Pumpkins!

 Ainsley had to bring a pumpkin decorated with a character from her favorite book to school.  Right now her favorite book is "Pete Rocking in My School Shoes."  Chant worked his magic and he was able to draw the cat and his guitar and Ainsley painted it. 

 Porter didn't want his pumpkin "cut" so he painted.  Layer upon layer of different colors that all ended up looking kind of gray with a smear of red.  But he was havin fun.

 Miss Brinn went the traditional route.  She even helped cut it.  First she designed it with a marker and then they carved.

 After Ainsley finished her pumpkin for school, she went to town on her pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.  She only painted too.  Mr. Pumpkin has spots all over it.  I love how it looks like the pumpkin has hands.

And my sweet girl ready to take her "Pete the Cat" to school.  Love this picture! 

My Two Front Teeth

Two teeth in two days, this little lady can now sing "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."  Of course Grandpa had to ask if she's been kissing the boys.  She just giggled and said, "Yep, my Daddy!"

Witches and Pumpkins

 Last weekend we took advantage of the good weather and went on a witch hunt at Gardner Village.  There is a list of 15 different witches to find and after finding them all, they get a free cookie.  We are ready to go hunting!

 This was Brinnley's favorite:  a witch talking on her eye phone. 

 Love Porter's cheeser smile.  They had a great time. 

 Next stop was the pumpkin patch.  Brinnley was on the search for a pumpkin that had different colors.  She finally chose one with green.  Porter had to have one he could pick up himself.  Funny boy.  So his is smaller.  But that's what he wanted and he was happy. 

 At the top of the hay stack.

It was an awesome, busy day.

Caramel Apples and Spooky Lunches

 This month has been a lot of fun!  A couple weeks ago we spent Friday night making caramel apples.  We drizzled white and milk chocolate on them then added candies on top.  They were definitely works of art. 

 The kids got invited to a "Spooky Lunch" by their friends, Olivia and Caleb.  Ainsley wanted to be Hannah Montana and Brinnley is Miley Cyrus.  They have the attitude to pull it off for sure.  Love these spunky girls!  Porter's lunch was the next day, so he didn't have his costume on.  But the Little Prince is ready for Halloween.

 

A Good Friend

 Brinnley was awarded the Principal's Pride award this month.  This month's award was for friendship.  That was the perfect thing for Brinnley.  She is a wonderful friend, always caring and concerned about others.  I am so proud of my girl and I love her so much! 

Crazies

 So I'm WAY behind but I thought these pictures were funny so I had to share.  September was crazy hair day at school.  I braided their hair the night before and took it out the next day.  I thought it was pretty awesome looking!

Pencils, Crayons, and Loaded Backpacks

 Monday, the 27th we had our back to school dinner and yearly theme reveal.  That evening I took the girls to get their hair cut, which turned out super cute, and then we came home for our pizza dinner, which the kids chose.  The theme we chose this year is "Be brave!  You can do hard things."  It felt fitting, for all of us.  And it applies to all areas of life, not just school.  We had a long talk about all the ways we can be brave in our lives and what being brave means.  I am so excited for them and the things ahead of them this year. 

 We all signed our names and promised to take every opportunity we can to be brave. 

Brinnley started 2nd grade on the 28th.  I let the girls choose their own outfits this year.  That is one of the few outfits during the year that I have normally chosen, but I let go and let them pick what they wanted. 

 I did talk Brinnley into letting me curl her hair, and it looked beautiful!

 The 28th Ainsley had an appointment to meet her teacher.  She was so excited!  Her teacher seems awesome.  Brinnley really liked her when she worked with her last year, so that made me feel better.  It's going to be an awesome year for this little lady. 

 She is so excited to be a 1st grader!  I was a little nervous about her being gone all day, but she came home smiling.  And then she crashed hard on the couch half an hour later.  All day is going to take some adjustments!

I babysat all day Tuesday and Wednesday, so the first two days of school Porter had someone to keep him company.  But Thursday and Friday it was just Porter and me.  At first I didn't know what we were going to do all day.  But it was really nice.  Thursday he and I laid out on a blanket in the backyard and he played on the I-Pad while I read a book for a while.  It was nice to just be together.  Then Friday we took a walk and a bike ride.  Surprisingly, he didn't ask to watch TV all day.  He played with toys, looked at books, helped me fold clothes.  And we even did some preschool stuff.  This is going to be okay!  We are all going to be okay!