Trick Or Treat! Sounds Good to me!

What a great Halloween this year! We started a day early and attended a friends church trunk or treat Saturday night. The big girls had a blast (as usual) Ava was a little unsure of all the people and the costumes. She clung to Daddy, who I believe enjoyed being "Super Daddy" that night! We carved pumpkins Saturday and Sunday. An owl for Caitlin, a kitty for Isabel and a pumpkin girl for Ava Max! They loved their pumpkins. Halloween night started off with homemade beef stew for supper and then it was time to get dolled up! Miss Cleopatra (aka Caitlin) was kind enough to grace us with her presence and a butterfly (aka Isabel) decided to flutter along with us and then there was a ladybug (aka Ava) who insisted on being strolled along! Thankfully our ladybug was able to get into it and have fun and by the end of the night was saying "Sank You" all on her own! Yay for manners!!! Along the way Cleopatra stepped on her dress and it tore...She swore then and there no more dresses for Halloween! Plus our ladybug lost her antennas and we back tracked and could not find them... The next morning Momma went back and looked for them and Ta-Da! Found the antennas! The universe was now right again or at least Momma's was! All in all it was a fun filled night!

Well blogging is not my strong suit apparently! We had a full summer of fun and travels! The "big" girls attended basketball and cheer camp, Caitlin turned 8, we made the annual 4th of July trip to Oklahoma, Michael turned the big 3-0, went to Colorado for our 11 year high school reunion and celebrated 11 years of marriage! Busy, busy, busy!

Its hard to believe today is the beginning of week 4 of school! Caitlin is my big 3rd grader and Isabel is in 1st! My oh my how times flies!

Just because she's cute...

My sweet Bel!

Caitlin's new do...

I took Caitlin to have her hair cut yesterday and.... She has bangs now!

She looks so grown up... sniff sniff, But SO cute!!

Ava-Max turned 2!

Ava's birthday started like Christmas... presents presents presents! We took the time to make her her very own table (got the plans from Ana over at knock-offwood.com). It turned out SO cute! Memaw and Pawpaw sent her a Bitty Baby and stroller... It only took having 3 girls to finally get one that LOVES dolls! Lol! She was also gifted Daisy the horse from the "Big" girls (sweet big sisters!) Her piggy bank got a little fatter too! Then it was off to the aquarium for a day of fun to celebrate Ava's 2nd birthday!! Wow, that went by fast! Being Memorial Day weekend it was packed... But we survived... Barely! The girls had a blast! We came home had dinner (Penne Pasta and sauce, salad, and bread) one of Av's fav's and then we had CAKE!! Yay for cake! Abby Cadabby was our theme for her birthday and it couldn't have been more perfect! Took all the girls for a walk to the park to play after dinner. They LOVED that.... of course! Perfect perfect day for our sweet sweet girl. We are blessed!!

Duck... Duck...Goose!

Day 2 of summer fun school! It doesn't seem fair to call it home school... The girls love having school at home! We took a field trip to the duck pond (as promised yesterday) and they LOVED it as always!! Ava actually fed some of her bread to the ducks instead of just eating it herself. She laughed and laughed! Plus she learned how to say duck. Always learning!! So far summer goal accomplished!

Busy Busy Bee's!

Since Caitlin's last day of school last Wednesday we have stayed busy busy!! I am trying to keep their summer as full and fun as I can... So far we are on a roll!! (Yay Mom!!!) Thursday we went shopping at the outlet mall in Pigeon Forge or as the girls call it "the outside mall". Friday night we had a date night with some friends (saw the new Robin Hood) and the girls got to spend a FUN filled evening at the church with our Sunday school teachers (they are SO awesome) and their small group - They must have had a ball, because they didn't want to leave! Saturday we ran some errands and went to the library - they LOVE the library! Yesterday after church we pulled out the inflatable whale pool... and yes the older two are waaaay too big for it... BUT they had SO much fun! Ava Maxi had a blast too. Last night we all curled up on the couch and watched the original Annie... There were LOTS of things I didn't remember being in Annie! I must say I'm not sure what those folks were on when they wrote such a thing for kids! Nonetheless the girls loved the singing and dancing and Sandy the dog of course!
Today I took the "Big" girls, Catie B, and Caitlin's friend Anna to see How to Train Your Dragon... It was SO cute cute cute!! Toothless the "main" dragon reminds me of one of our cats (Kizmet) could just be because they are both midnight black and have green eyes... But I like to think their personalities match! Yeah, so I'm a nut!
I am trying to home school the girls a little every morning so they wont be brain dead at the beginning of the school year. Bel told me tonight that home school is her favorite thing and wants to do it every day! Woo Hoo! Caitlin is working on her multiplication and Bel is working on subtraction. We also made journals and they are going to write in them daily... I think it should be fun and keep them sharp. And of course we are going to read read read and read some more!
Took Bel with me to the grocery store tonight and we bought duck bread for tomorrow... So I guess we are off to the duck pond in the morning! Well it's off to bed with me for the night... Goodnight!

Doe a Deer a Female Deer... Ray a Drop of Golden Sun....Me a Name I Call Myself!

Sweet girls! Sunday night was their last church choir performance for the year. They did SO well!
Caitlin even had a speaking part! She did and awesome job!!

"Let them praise His name with dancing. Let them make music to Him with harps and tambourines." Psalm 149:3

Bye Bye Second Grade...

Today was Caitlin's last day of school. Bye bye Second grade... Here we come third grade! The school day ended in tears, bless her heart! She didn't want the year to end! The end of the year has been a busy one!! Last week was Camp Skeeter... Where they pretend they are away at camp... We wrote letters and sent a care package to "camp" for her! It truly was a special event! This week she had games, gadgets and gizmos day, rag and a bag day and today was B.E.A.R. day (Be Excited About Reading). I signed both "Big" girls up for Basketball camp today and then Cheer camp... The summer is looking VERY fun for these two precious girls!!

Hello Tree

After school we went to Isabel's teachers house and planted a tree in her front yard to remember this years kindergarten class. It was really special for us because Caitlin also had Miss Ellis when she was in kindergarten! We planted a dogwood tree. Thanks to Shannon for pulling the whole thing together!

Goodbye Kindergarten... We will miss you!

Isabel's last day was a busy busy one! Her teacher Miss Ellis is getting married this summer (Yay!) So one of the other mom's put together a surprise "shower" for her! It was very cute and she was truly surprised!!
What a GREAT year 'Bel had! Such an awesome group of kids!! Fingers crossed she'll have a lot of the same kids in her 1st grade class. I will miss Ms. Vicky next year she was a great addition to 'Bel's kindergarten year! Look out first grade here we come.... But first a busy summer full of fun!!

Here Ducky Ducky

We took the girls to the duck pond to feed the ducks and look what we saw! I love Spring!! There were two sets of ducklings with their Momma's. SO stinkin' cute! And those kids aren't too shabby either.... ;o)

Where does time go?

This school year has flown by! Tomorrow is my sweet Isabel's last day of Kindergarten.
*Sigh*
Caitlin has 4 days left in second grade and my baby is no longer a baby! Just a few weeks until shes 2... Officially that is! Everyone tells you that it is going to go by quickly, but you never believe them!! Now Im sitting here and thinking about proms and graduations and such... It just seems like it's right around the corner and I know it is. I wish they could all just stay my sweet babies.

An Increasing Vocabulary

Ava has been a jibber jabber for awhile now but rarely does she say actual words! Lately she seems to be picking words up left and right! Her newest collection includes ball, da baby, there she is (from peek-a-boo of course!) That 2nd birthday is fast approaching. Where did the time go?! She continues to amaze me every day. Growing, changing, and learning! Can't wait to see what we learn in the next month before the big 2!

Where's Ava?

Ava is a professional peek-a-boo-er!
She loves it! It is her favorite game and she loves to say there she is!

Get your strut your on!

Caitlin's 2nd grade class

It's time for the annual Sam Houston Smokie Strut! This year we had 2 strutin' their stuff! They did such a great job. Caitlin ran 17 laps and Isabel ran 16 laps!

ABC

The theme of Isabel's Kindergarten program was the ABC's the kids were SO cute! They did they a great job singing and dancing!

Easter or something of the sort

Easter weekend was an adventure to say the least! My mom and Dan plus Christopher and Caroline came to visit and all went well with their time here. Then Ava Max came down with a 103 degree fever...which led to a doctors office visit... Which led to this test and that test and so on... Which ended with her and I both in tears!
Michael's parents came the Thursday before (because the girls were out Friday) We ventured up to the outlets and did a little shopping. By Saturday morning Isabel had the fever and was not feeling well at all. She missed the church egg hunt. It was sad.... Poor girl! Caitlin, Ava, Memaw and I went searching for eggs. The girls had a ball and Ava was so cute picking up eggs! Easter morning I woke up sick Isabel was sick and so no Easter dresses on Easter. It took Sundays after that for us to all be well and ready! We managed to get the girls in their cute dresses and even managed to take a few snap shots! By Tuesday Caitlin had strep! What a weekend!!

So I think I missed a few months?!

Wow! Did I really miss a whole year? YIKES! Makes me sad to think this time last year Ava Max wasn't even a year old! Can that be right? So Bryant family highlights for 2009... Hmm lets see....
This is where the little swirly goes round and round...
Ava Max hit all those big milestones like crawling, walking, getting her first tooth.
We spent her first birthday at the beach in West Palm Beach, Florida! She hated the sand and the ocean... She really wasn't too sure about the pool either!
Michael and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary (is that right?) We dropped the girls off in Colorado for a week with Grandma and Grandpa (It was a first for us to leave without our kids, and it was hard) We spent a week in Marco Island.... Oh how I miss it there!
We made the annual summer trip to Oklahoma!
Caitlin turned 7 in June and started 2nd grade (crazy I know!) She has really enjoyed her teacher and class this year. She has made a best friend and it is amazing to see her blossom!
Isabel started the big K and turned 6 in December! We got Miss Ellis again and we were thrilled! Isabel has already decided she is going to marry a boy in her class... and I thought Caitlin would be the boy crazy one!
Halloween was wet and muddy! Caitlin was a monarch butterfly, Isabel was a black kitty, and Ava Max was a monkey... They were SO cute!
Christmas... Disneyland!! We spent Christmas in Orlando with part of my family! AMAZING! Michael and I were able to take just the "big" girls the first day we went and it was SO much FUN! They opened and closed the park! What troopers they were. Taking Ava Max on It's a Small World was the highlight I think... She never moved or blinked! What great memories we have from last year!