Harrison and Avery's World

Christmas Christmas Christmas

2010-12-28T10:02:00.004-05:00

Christmas is a pretty long event around here. First we do Christmas with Will's Mom, Uncle Scott, Aunt Kelly and the kids the week before, then all the school stuff, then actual Christmas and this year my Mom and Dad are coming down later so they won't get here until next week. I have to say the tree is starting to look a little tired (and honestly I think I do too.) SO here are a ton of pictures from all things Christmas... up til now. I'll add the rest after they happen:)

Christmas at Grandma Neenie's
Denny entertaining my kids (and Avery's brief smiling moment, she had a 104 fever by the end of the night)The kids decorated their rooms the day school ended for break Harrison making rice krispy wreaths - we made a ton of cookiesChristmas Eve!Santa came
Christmas morning - Avery looks a little out of it still, Harrison was up for about 2 hours (well before 6am) before we'd let him wake her up.And after. I realized how much older my kids are getting. It took them quite a while to open. Harrison would like to take each thing out and look at it. Avery looks but LOVES boxes and really wishes she never had to open them (I had to put some back together nicely just so she could take the dolls out - hard to do with all those attachers)
Mighty Bean Case, and the new robeAvery and her very own Ds. She is so excited to have one, now they can play together.Harrison's CastleAvery's Castle (after she changed into her second set of pj's for the day)Harrison looking mighty tired - 5ish is too early even for him.And the Lalaloopsy dolls (and Flynn Rider too) Harrison's Lego organizer - he spent hours (literally) dividing all his pieces by shape and type. He has a lot of Legos and he is so excited now that he can find what he needs easily.

So that is Christmas for now....

Winter Arts Show

2010-12-17T12:42:00.004-05:00

This week we had the winter "program" at the kid's school. Since they don't have normal extracurricular activities it was a little different than we are used to. Avery's program was on Tuesday and her class performed a dance number. The video is very shaky. Sorry if it makes you sick. I was holding it in the air and Harrison was jumping up and down in front of me. Not a good combo. She was so excited.

She is sort of in the back from this angle. She is the one who bows A LOT! Ok I realized how hard it is to pick her out after I watched it again but she is the one with black capri leggings vs. tights (she will not wear tights...ever)

Now Harrison has digital art this nine weeks so he didn't have a performance (not something that really bothered him) the 2nd and 3rd grade had their night on Thursday. He had some of his art displayed. It is very cool. They are using programs that I've never seen. So far they have created scenery, used green screens to make mini shows and created the outline for a video game with a story and graphics.

School Pictures!

2010-11-11T17:39:00.003-05:00

Ok so I am trying to stay a little more on task here. These are the kids new pictures. Yes I know the backgrounds are not matching and yes it annoys me but no I am not getting retakes. They are smiling and we are calling it good.

We'll just call this picture extravaganza...

2010-11-04T09:14:00.011-04:00

Instead of "wow I really am bad at this" I am obviously just not getting it together here in blog-land. So this is a little of everything from school starting until now....

Harrison working hard on a haunted gingerbread house..he even cut tiles out of fondant...Avery working hard to eat as much black icing as possible

(so gross)

Avery being me:)

Harrison's first sleepover at our house...we traded the other way the next weekend but had a middle of the night pick-up (late night boy talk of robbers meant there was no way he was staying somewhere else) This is a random picture but it was one of those moments. I am so used to Harrison looking older but still get shocked on occasion how grown-up she has gotten. (she was dancing)

Park day - it was the first (and brief) cool down
She has no idea how to slow down
Super swinger
Every single day she leaves this house with her hair brushed and every single day she comes home looking like she has rubbed her head on the floor all day.
Grandma and Grandpa came to visit!

Pumpkin Patch

Here we are at the City Hall Halloween Party

This is the door for candy

Robo-Boy

Harrison won the costume contest

Waiting in the cotton candy line with Uncle Tom and Aunt Ashley

Pay attention to me Uncle Tom!

Sunny day pumpkin carving

She was so determined to do hers on her own... and oh so mad when it didn't quite work out like she wanted.

Second year of Harrison carving his all alone - he did great!

Finished pumpkins (Will, Harrison, Ashley, Tom, Avery's with no candle and me)

Halloween night with Caitlyn

Ready to go with Friends

Unfortunately this picture sums up the rest of the night - it was hot and Harrison was in a mini sauna. I ended up literally cracking his head off when I thought he was going to overheat. I'm sure that looked pretty crazy on the side of the road! If we ever do something like this circulation will be more thought through, he was melting.

School starts!

2010-08-23T10:00:00.003-04:00

So it has begun. New school, new kids, new teachers even new uniforms. So how has it gone so far? Well not great. It has been a very rough start and I think I am more exhausted mentally than I have ever been. Harrison is holding it together pretty well. He is slow to embrace change and this has been hard on him but I am so proud of how well he is managing. Avery had a rough first morning which I didn't expect so it really blindsided me. She was ok the second though. We are dealing with some issues I didn't foresee with her and her teacher but I am trying to think positively and hopefully handling it in the most appropriate manner. Did I say I was exhausted? Here are their first day pictures, I'm biased I know, but they are pretty darn cute.

Really? Will I ever catch up?

2010-08-09T13:07:00.003-04:00

Doesn't the title explain it? I'm trying to figure out how I missed this entire summer on here. As we go into the last week before school starts I feel like I did miss this summer, it just flew by. We did some fun things, we went to Michigan... but posting pictures seemed to be beyond my ability. In one week both of my kids will be in school, at the same school, all day with the same drop off and pick-up times. Oh the plans I have:) But in the middle of scouring this house, purging things, repainting, getting a new stable exercise schedule going, and trying to find time for drawing I am GOING to get this caught up as well. I have done all those things with two kids here I should be able to be much more productive with child-free time. Right? So I will be back - first day of school pictures are coming....

One quick catch-up story.

One thing that has changed this summer is the number of teeth in Avery's mouth. As many of you know she has had some major, some minor issues with her teeth. She has already logged more than her share of dentist time. Well I guess she has decided to just be rid of them:) The first tooth to go was right before our trip to Michigan. She did a face plant right on the wood floor and dislodged one of the more fragile of her teeth. After going back and forth we decided to just let them pull it out, the adult tooth is coming down already so it would have been soon anyway. And the second was last night. I had just brushed her teeth before bed, we even checked the "wiggly-ness" of her teeth. Yes they are wiggly but not coming out quite yet. Fast forward 15 minutes and there was a Harrison/Avery collision and the victim was the next front tooth. It was mostly out and bleeding in a horror film type way. I looked at her and said, why don't you just yank it... and Avery being Avery reached in and pulled it right out. So she is toothless going into kindergarten. (Harrison was naturally toothless going into kindergarten too) Hopefully we can loose the next ones without any drama.

Avery graduates from Pre-K (and birthday stuff too)

2010-06-10T07:55:00.003-04:00

First a little than and now... she has grown up so much this year. She still loves school just as much as she did that first day. But she had so much nervous excitement that first day, now it is more of a calm confidence. Well sometimes calm.
(I don't know why that is showing up as a link but I'm too tired to fix it)

This is her class (she is the one in the top row on the right..talking)
Avery and Grandma Neenie
Avery and her good friend Hailey
Avery and Alec - the boy she says she is going to marryAvery and Grandma
Avery and me
Glam Avery
And one more birthday picture

Stories by Avery

2010-06-07T21:06:00.007-04:00

First let me explain what we were doing when these were taped. Harrison had a planned a whole surprise party for Avery at Grandma Neenie's house. We were supposed to change and go swimming so he could do the balloons and make a cake with Grandma. But he was mid cake creation when we finished changing so I got stuck trying to keep Avery in the bathroom. I asked her to make up some stories and she wanted to be taped... they're short, she is more into seeing herself than the actual taping part but they made me laugh.

She's 5!

2010-06-04T18:08:00.003-04:00

Well technically not until Monday but we started today. We had pizza and cupcakes in the park with friends... and I think I might have developed a mild ulcer while watching the weather radar willing the ugly orange blobs away. And it worked! Despite forecasts of ugly storms we had light rain for a while then none... no lightning and rain doesn't bother kids who are playing the water. Avery was thrilled.

Inventor's Program

2010-05-30T09:12:00.006-04:00

The second grade has a huge end of the year project. Each kid is responsible for a different inventor and they need to research, write a report, create a tri-fold display, create props, learn lines for a program and have a costume. Really it is a lot for the end of the year. Harrison was Jacques Montgolfier, one of the brothers who invented the hot air balloon. Let me tell you this may have been one of the most frustrating projects I have encountered. First of all since Jacques has a brother there were two kids working on pretty much identical projects. Originally Harrison wanted to make a prop balloon that looked like the original. I can do that, we hauled out the plaster casting stuff and got to work. But then the other kid says his balloon is going to fly, so yes now Harrison wanted his prop hot air balloon to fly. Plaster does not fly. But it still sounds simple right? How hard could it be to make a balloon float? It is really really hard. Especially when you have a kid who really wants it to fly AND look like it is supposed to look. I suppose I was giving helium way too much credit. One layer of tissue paper? Too heavy. I would add something to the balloon and wait for it to dry, paint, glue etc all weigh more when they are wet. And we needed to last at least 24 hours. It became a little ridiculous. I have never willed something to float so hard in my life. We ended up with a floating painted balloon (fortified with hi-float for extra time) after very slowly and carefully adding painted details one by one to see how much paint it could handle and still float(not much is the answer) and trimming centimeter by centimeter of ribbon until it lifted. And while this was going on he wrote a really nice research paper and learned his lines. He also was front and center for the "Robot Dance" which he was really proud of, he is a good robot. Here are some pictures, a video of his lines and a video of the dance. Pardon the shaking, I am not great with video yet.

And just for added fun I forgot to have him try on his black pants that he got in December until a few hours before the show. I don't exactly know why I thought they would fit but they were about 2 inches too short. So in the midst of the balloon insanity I was tearing out the hem of his pants hoping they would reach his shoes. It's a wonder we ever have it together!

Avery and the Hawaiian Dress

2010-05-09T20:34:00.000-04:00

My mom and dad just got back from a trip to Hawaii and sent Avery this dress... many other fantastic thing - don't even get me started on my amazing shampoo - but this dress has been worn three days in a row. And yes I had to paint her face to match.

Tom and Dan came to play

2010-05-09T14:37:00.000-04:00

Tom and Dan made an extra long weekend trip - the kids are always thrilled to see their uncles.

We did the beach!

And ice-cream - and yes this was the closest to them smiling I have

And they were just in time to see the new sign out front (which the kids loved - me not quite as much because now I feel like I HAVE to pick up leaves and mow on time)

A lot of this went on

And I finally got around to getting the pool up

Harrison is 8!

2010-04-20T12:37:00.000-04:00

I am getting behind again! Can you believe I have an 8 yr old? I certainly can't! We had Grandma and Grandpa here for his birthday and spent the day at Animal Kingdom - they are still talking about it. I have tons of pictures from Spring Break and birthday to post and they are coming soon I promise!

He didn't want a big "real" cake, he doesn't like frosting. Instead he wanted to have an angel food cake. We had an unfortunate collapsing disaster the night before, it was ugly but tasted good. So this is just the candle cake. We saw the dragon movie a couple days before, so there had to be some on the cake.(he looks sleepy because he is, this was after being at Animal Kingdom all day)

Beach Day

2010-04-04T19:27:00.002-04:00

I just love the first good beach day! This year was a little delayed because it stayed chilly so long but the chill is definitely gone now. Both kids are getting braver and braver about going in... Harrison especially. I have to admit the ocean is one thing that still freaks me out and now that Harrison goes in quite a way I feel like that total over protective mom who doesn't want to look away for even a second. On the flip side they have reached the age where the beach is a blast, no one is eating sand or flipping out if they get salt water in their eyes!

Harrison's Latest School Picture

2010-03-31T17:03:00.000-04:00

I say latest because they feel the need to take their pictures three times a year, one in uniform, one black and white, and one casual. But this is latest. Just for comparison this one is from kindergarten (I can't find his Pre-K one right now) I have a hard time believing that was only a couple years ago.

Random Silly Pictures

2010-02-28T19:58:00.002-05:00

Ugh I am having the hardest time with the new photo uploader. I can't seem to get text where I want it, and it shows up as a link (which it isn't)...ugh... can I go back to the other editor? Ok enough whining.... But here are a couple new ones. The aren't related but they are all random fun things we have done in the last week.

Avery and her peanut butter. She was so proud that she cut her own bread and made her own sandwich... and I thought she was awfully cute doing it.

This is Avery painting the window. It seemed like a good idea at the time (yes it was made for windows) but it wasn't so fun when I spent an hour scraping it off.

Here are the kids making birthday cakes for Dr. Seuss

This is our fun super hero face paint... no reason, just because (Avery did mine)

Block Kids

2010-02-21T10:54:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Harrison participated in a construction sponsored Lego contest. It was for kids kindergarten through 5th grade (yes Avery was irritated) and they got 100 Legos, 1 piece of string, 1 piece of tinfoil, and a rock then had one hour to build something related to the construction industry. He had a lot of fun, and I think he is already looking forward to next year. Along with the actual competition they had a lot of fun things for the kids to do. Face painting, snow cones, multiple construction vehicles that they could climb in and push buttons. And it was a gorgeous day! We have had such weird weather lately, it was nice to see the sun!

Pre - face paint

Snow cone number one (another one soon followed)

Big trucks
Crane driver
Starting work

Finished cranePost face paint

Bonnaroo

2010-02-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

Bonnaroo

Ear piercing

2010-02-13T14:58:00.004-05:00

So I really don't know where to start to get caught up so I am starting with today and will probably be adding non-chronological posts randomly until we are back to current.

So today Avery got her ears pierced. She asked to have them done a few months ago and we made a deal. I told her that it would hurt a bit (I probably made it sound worse than it would be)but whenever she thought it was worth it we would go. A few months passed, it would come up sometimes but she always said no she wasn't ready. Until last Wednesday. She stayed for all day school with her friends, all of which are already 5 and already have their ears pierced. That was enough. She came home and said "mom I want my ears pierced" and I said "remember it will hurt a bit" and she said "let's go before school tomorrow" and she didn't budge from that point on. I did make her wait until the weekend but this morning we went and put some holes in her ears. She is the proud owner of some fancy rainbow crystal daisies (they only had balls and stars when I got mine done) and she didn't cry or even flinch when they did it. {{big sigh}} She is growing up so fast these days....

I know I know....I'm behind.

2010-02-04T12:39:00.002-05:00

I seem to have lost all concept of time lately. I missed posting a ton of things and now I am trying to figure out how to catch it all up. We went to Michigan in December and when we got back were insane trying to get everything done for school and Christmas. Then came Christmas and what ended up being wave one of sickness. The kids spent their entire Christmas break sick. Thank goodness Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Dan braved the virus house and came to visit. Then back to school craziness and wave two of sickness. Both Harrison and Will have been home for an entire week! I am very ready for normal to return... I will probably just post a bunch of random pictures to catch up and go from there.

Harrison wins the Fire Safety Poster Contest - again

2009-12-05T12:02:00.005-05:00

Oh it is going to be a bad day when he doesn't win this poster contest. He came in 3rd place in Kindergarten, 1st in First grade and now 1st in Second grade. Unbelievable. This year instead of a dinner they had an assembly at school and lunch with the firefighters after. I don't have a picture of his poster yet but will add that later. It is the yellow one behind them.

Thanksgiving and more Thanksgiving....

2009-12-05T11:30:00.001-05:00

These are from Avery's Thanksgiving program at school. She has watched so many of Harrison's that this was huge for her. And we lucked out because Harrison's school had the day off that day so he could come watch her. Now I should also say that leading up to this show was all kinds of drama. Avery did not under any circumstances want to be a Native American. Why? Honestly I have no idea but she was dead set against, she was not wearing a costume and she was not having a new name. Dan was here for part of it so he can attest to the fact that she was adamant about the whole thing. But slowly slowly slowly she decided this was a good idea and by the time it rolled around we had a very happily costumed little girl named Little Dancing Horse.

A gaggle of 4 yr olds

Big goofy grin, and she kept yelling "hi Harrison" randomly throughout....
And these are from Scott and Kelly's on Thanksgiving

Avery playing with Mackenzie
(Mackenzie, Denny, and Gracie are all so great about playing with my kids... they talk about it for weeks)

Avery loving the horses
Harrison would rather watch from here

And then the day after Thanksgiving we went down to Grandma Neenie's for another meal and family time.

Photo Shoot #1

2009-12-01T21:54:00.009-05:00

First of all let me say I really love these pictures. I can't really put them on a Christmas card, well maybe I will you never know, but the truth is they really encompass so much of the way I see my kids. And I mean that in a good way. So maybe I will get them to sit and smile at the same time, maybe I won't... but this was our first attempt.

Turner's in Trees

2009-11-25T10:17:00.005-05:00

This was one of those days when plans just didn't work out and the result was more fun than the original plan. We planned on the library and the park and ended up climbing trees... Florida has great trees for climbing....

Kids amongst the trees

Harrison - who seems to be aging right before my eyes

Up they go

Avery the fearless

Boys in trees

Kids trying to figure out exactly how Dad was going to get down (he was too)

Harrison up a tree

Avery working on her balance

Ditto

Me and my kids

Me trying to convince Harrison to give me a piggy back ride.

The Giant October, Halloween, Uncle Dan Post

2009-11-05T12:16:00.005-05:00

I decided to just put all the stuff I have left for the month in one post. SO there are tons of pictures.... but hey you don't have to look if you don't want to(I'll never know).

Uncle Dan arrives... and Avery climbs all over him as he tries to sleep
And then she pretends he is her cave for her animals...
Avery's class went to an assisted living home to sing and trick-or treat
Uncle Dan came too (he didn't know he was coming for a super hectic week)

Being cute...Being grumpy because the residents thought she was just a butterfly when in fact she is a monarch.
I put Dan to work... making a bean bag toss for Avery's school party

While I worked on finishing this costume.

Harrison's school parade (he would be the giant one)

Here is the 2nd grade

Uncle Dan reading to Avery
Avery ready for her orange and black day partyUncle Dan's super bean bag toss is a hit.Avery decorating her cookie (this one is a little blurry.)

Pumpkin timeHarrison carved his on his own this year. He did great.
Uncle Dan did pretty well too.
Pumpkin heads
More pumpkin heads...I look tired:)
Ready to go trick-or-treating.
Dan and Will manned the cooler and wagon
Kim and I - it was hot and humid...
Kids swarming a house
Sir Harrison (love those big green eyes)
Checking out the loot
So sad - Uncle Dan heads homeWe love it when we have uncles around.

Greenmeadows Petting Farm

2009-10-17T10:20:00.006-04:00

Avery had her first field trip this week and she was thrilled. She is so excited to be doing things she has watched Harrison do for years. Even taking her lunch was thrilling.

I was slightly concerned she was going to try to steal this chicken, she really loved it. I was the calmest chicken I have ever seen in my life.
Riding a pony ( I think she has been spoiled by the horse rides at Uncle Scott's because she wasn't that impressed with the little pony - she wished it was a unicorn)
The cow

She wanted to milk the cow right up until she actually got to, then was less enthusiastic (she got milk on her shoe.)
Avery and Katie

She sees Cyrus and off she goes - I get tired just watching her(but would love it if I had a running stride like hers)A "Zorse" named Tigger. He's a zebra and horse mix.

Huh? I love this expression
An ostrich
I always notice how tall Harrison is but seem to forget that Avery is just as tall as he was at her age. (the boy on the far right is Katie's older brother - he is 2 yrs older than them)
She thought this was hilarious.And then they got to pick out a pumpkin...it was a long process to find the perfect one.
That is her teacher Miss Sherrie who she adores.
And the perfect pumpkin - which she carries around the house and talks to.

Kennedy Space Center

2009-10-10T20:15:00.010-04:00

We went on our first 2nd grade field trip last week to the Kennedy Space Center. I have been there but not since I went as a kid with my parents. It was fun and I was excited to get a little mom and Harrison time. But it was really hot. Record highs this week made it a little tiring to walk around outside all day. Here are some pictures! (and next week Avery has a farm field trip so more are coming)
Here is the entire second gradeExcited about the "Rocket Garden"Not too excited about astronaut ice-creamIn a rocketIn a space suitAnother rocket acting silly
Mars RoverMission Control
Mars Living
The cool rolling ball of constellations
Astronaut memorial

Painting it Red.

2009-10-10T20:15:00.008-04:00

Or I guess I could have called this "Christi feels like painting" I've wanted to paint my bathroom red for quite some time. Most of you know I tend to be quite..uh...picky when it comes to colors, so my bathroom had been covered in squares of different reds for a while because it wasn't "quite right" and if you're going to go red then it had better be the right one. SO I finally found it and painted and I love it.

Avery helping (and dancing in the mirror you can't see)

(the dog wouldn't be helpful and move so please excuse the dog bum, and if you are wondering what is going on in the middle of the other door that is the dog door to outside that he refuses to use)

And then I decided to work on Harrison's room. I painted a 16 sq. ft. section of his wall first with magnetic primer than covered that with chalkboard paint. It was not as easy as I had hoped (and deciding to put up crown molding the same day left me very sore and a little cranky) But he loves it, he has spent more time in his room drawing on that wall than I could have imagined.

Our Personal Roller Rink.

2009-10-10T20:14:00.004-04:00

A big perk of having a Dad who builds buildings is afternoons like this. Who else has a huge clear area to skate in (that they don't even have to share) and they are getting pretty good. Now most of the falls are Avery's and done on purpose for a little added drama.

A visit with Aunt Morgan and Dean.

2009-09-28T12:40:00.003-04:00

Morgan and Dean came down to visit Will's mom and we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with them. Saturday they met up with us at Aquatica, no pictures of course. And then Sunday we went to Grandma Neenie's to hang out and swim. The swimming got delayed over and over because of storms but it cleared up enough right before we went home for the kids to get a quick one in.

School...

2009-09-25T17:39:00.008-04:00

So we are over a month into school and I feel like we are just starting to settle in. Harrison is doing well. He really likes his teacher and I do too. Second grade is so much different than I remember. In second grade at his school they start taking violin and he thinks this is really fun. He is also starting his 4th year of Spanish and his second year of Chinese. It is really humbling to have a hard time helping your 7 year old do his homework. Let's see, what else? He has a field trip coming up to the Kennedy Space Center and he is really excited. I think Will is going with him so I am going to have to trust him to take pictures:)

On to Avery. Here are a few pictures from Avery's class. We were celebrating Miss Sherrie's birthday.

(Miss Sherrie is in the middle next to Avery and Miss Julie is her assistant on the right - Love them)

And this is them "going on a bear hunt" which is her very favorite thing.

So far Avery LOVES school. The first day of school she was off with no tears and barely a backward glance. And it has been that way every day since. She is going to a different school than Harrison this year so she is doing half days and I think this schedule is perfect for her. She always leaves wanting more and is so excited to go the next day. She is having a great time and making new friends. Such a great time that she sometimes forgets that she needs to stop talking, but I have a feeling that is going to be pretty normal for Avery. Her teacher is wonderful, I really like her. So far so good for pre-k!

International Peace Day Assembly

2009-09-22T10:25:00.004-04:00

(I know, I know I am behind again. I will post later about how school is going and all that fun stuff.)

Today Harrison's school celebrated "Peace Day". They had an assembly and released doves and made a ton of pinwheels that they had surrounding the school. The second graders had to write a journal entry talking about what peace means to them. Harrison was one of the four chosen to read his aloud at the assembly. He is getting really good at speaking in front of crowds. So this is the video of him reading, it's really hard to hear so I will post the words once he gets home.

They were allowed to wear their peace day t-shirts.

Watching the birds being released.

Harrison starts second grade

2009-08-26T10:27:00.004-04:00

I officially have two kids in school. It is so quiet here today, a little surreal. I managed to get both kids to school on time. I was a little nervous about that because they start at the same time, but 5 miles apart. So here are Harrison's first day pictures!

And his new shoes!

This isn't a great picture but Avery is exactly the same height Harrison was starting pre-K. I know how many inches he has grown but seeing them next to each other floors me.How he has grown!

Avery starts School

2009-08-24T12:54:00.003-04:00

I can't believe she has started school. She loved it, she barely even waved as we left her there. Here are a couple pictures. Harrison starts on Wednesday so I will post his then.

Here she is waiting for the doors to open.

New Smyrna Beach Vacation

2009-08-03T10:10:00.004-04:00

We all went on an extended weekend vacation to the beach. The kids had fun in the pool and the ocean and building things in the sand. We stayed in a beautiful condo, the beach is always more fun when it doesn't include a sandy ride home. Harrison got a lot braver and was going deeper and deeper and really had a blast riding the boogieboard. Avery doesn't really like swimming in the ocean yet, but she is happy swimming in the sand, and rolling in the sand and throwing chunks of sand. I think I am still finding sand in her hair. So here are some pictures, even some with the grown-ups in them..

Oh I also wanted to add that on this trip Harrison has started using goggles. He is a great swimmer but has sensitive eyes so opening them underwater has always bothered him. And he has always refused to use goggles, he also hates things on his eyes. But apparently he dislikes not being able to dive for things even more because he now wears them all the time! Even in the house. And Avery is floatie free. She was down to only using a ring for jumping in but realized that she doesn't really go under too far so she is good jumping in without one now!

Michigan

2009-08-03T10:03:00.003-04:00

So I have had a really hard time getting all these pictures together just because there are so many of them that I wanted to share. So now we have two slide shows. I can't seem to get the HTML for the second one right so I am just going to post it in a separate post.

So what to say about our trip to Michigan... We all had a great time. The kids still talk about their trip to Windmill Island and Avery wears her wooden shoes around the house on a regular basis. The loved swimming in Lake Michigan even though I didn't bring bathing suits (why? because I thought it would be cold, which it wasn't) and they swam in their clothes. We looked ridiculous but they loved it. They also ran down their first sand dunes. Harrison did it over and over until I thought he would collapse. It was cool for me to see them do some of the things I loved doing when I was little. What else? I saw some of my friends from State and their kids which always makes me happy. I got to see a movie with my brothers and Ashley (and free grandma babysitting which is something I don't have here - amazing!)I went with my mom to a beading class... yes I really did. And I got to go to my first Poolooza, I've always been jealous I couldn't attend so it was really fun for me! We never have enough time to see everyone and visit everything we'd like but we are always ready to get home as well.

Michigan Slideshow Part 2

2009-08-03T10:02:00.003-04:00

July Catch-UP

2009-07-25T20:00:00.016-04:00

Once again I got really behind. So this weekend (while sitting on the 7th floor balcony of our condo on the beach - ahhh) I put some of the pictures from the past month together. So this is everything and anything from the past month minus the trip to Michigan and the beach which are going to have more than enough to merit a post of their own.

Avery has new roller skates from her birthday and I realized it wasn't very easy to have one kid with roller skates. So Harrison now has roller blades. He is even better on them then her. It is a pretty common thing around here for my kids to be roller skating around the house instead of walking.

Harrison and Will in Grandma Neenie's pool. "Throw me Dad" and "Spin me in circles Dad" are the most used phrases when we go swimming together.

These are from the last playday with friends at our house. Harrison really wanted to try tie-dye so I thought "why not do it with 9 other kids" and yes I really thought that. They had fun, were exceptionally well behaved (yet very very loud) and everyone ended up with a cool shirt.
Harrison and James picking out their style
Avery and Cora working on their shirts
Harrison working
Avery all princess-ed up next to Nicole for lunch
This is when Avery wanted to jump on the trampoline in her skates

Will and I went out the weekend before our anniversary by ourlselves but on our actual anniversary we took the kids to Sea World at night for the "Shamu Rocks!" show and fireworks.

Looking up at Manta, the new roller coaster.

Carousels are Avery's favorite
My kids have to pretend to swim in front of this picture every single time we go to Sea World.

Kid rides...Will is very scared.

I always think he looks so small walking with Will, then I remember how tall Will is and realize he is really growing up.....A random day at the Beach

Same thought as above
I have started calling Avery the "Butterfly Whisperer" Ever since our trip to the butterfly encounter she is obsessed with them (and all other bugs to a slightly lesser degree) and they seem to be just as obsessed with her. This is the second time since then I have seen her walking around with a butterfly on her finger or hand.

Summer Photo Shoot

2009-07-02T22:14:00.003-04:00

This is All of the pictures from our summer photo shoot. Even the silly and bad ones. It was humid and Avery was distracted. Harrison honestly loves getting his picture taken, unfortunately he tries so hard that he either looks sad or stressed out. So my main goal was to get Harrison not to try to pose and Avery to look somewhere in the vicinity of the camera. I do think I got a couple of good ones.

(note: thanks to Jamie and Brianna for having such cute tutu pictures so we wanted a tutu as well)

Elephant Jokes

2009-06-27T09:58:00.007-04:00

The kids wanted to make a comedy show. I guess they only know jokes about elephants right now. I'm sorry to say I think they got their joke telling skills from me not Will.

The New Water Park

2009-06-24T17:45:00.006-04:00

There is a brand new park with water fountains near our house. It is a beautiful park and I am sure we'll be back soon. It was way too hot for a long visit, and Harrison wants me to say it was really stinky. It is right on the lake and I think the intense heat may have brought out the fish smell, at least I am hoping that's it.

Running in the water

Harrison taking care of Avery after she got squirted right in the eye

Run Avery run

Climb Avery Climb

Climb some more, it's only 100 degrees out today!

And this when Harrison got really over heated and sat under the pavilion with me...I took about 30 more..

Pool Jumping

2009-06-22T18:04:00.005-04:00

O.k. so it's probably going to mess up my chronological order but these pictures from today are cute. Harrison started jumping last year and Avery has suddenly figured out water going over her head isn't a bad thing so she is joining in.... I think she will be going off the diving board by the end of the summer.

Check out the stacked tubes too. Avery's head pops out by the third shot:)

I figure another year and he will be too tall to jump into our little pool anymore.

The giant summer catch up post.

2009-06-18T13:59:00.009-04:00

O.k. I have gotten behind again. SO here are a bunch of pictures up to last week.. There are more from last week that haven't been uploaded but this will hopefully get me closer to caught up.

Avery and her roller skates. She is doing ok in them, but she won't be auditioning for the roller derby anytime soon..

Tinker Toys! Will and Harrison are just as excited as her.
Swimming with friends - it has been a hot hot summer already and we are grateful for all the time we have been able to spend in the water.
Avery, Nicole and Cora
All the kids swimming with Uncle Dan. He is now somewhat of a celebrity in the seven and under crowd around here. Actually, since most of my friends would like to hire him as their "manny" I guess he is pretty popular in the mom crowd as well.And their will be more soon.....

Avery's Birthday Party

2009-06-06T20:54:00.007-04:00

This year Avery had her birthday party at the Build-a-Bear workshop with a couple of her friends. Oh and her "best friend" Harrison who she allowed to come despite the fact that was too old. They had a great time, Avery picked a pink unicorn and named it sparkles. Tomorrow is her actual birthday and there will be more pictures then.

Yay look at our fun animals!
The cake
The cupcake she blew her candle out on
(she was really sick this past week and we wanted to keep germs away from the cake - just in case)

Happy Birthday Grandpa

2009-06-06T03:11:00.004-04:00

Grandpa and Grandma are here this week to celebrate Avery's birthday but we thought we should start out by having a cake for Grandpa. Some of you may of heard I dropped the top layer of the cake in the middle of my kitchen. So it was not quite the cake I had intended but it tasted great anyway.

Pictures of Avery's party and fun with Grandparents coming soon. The kids have been sick for the past two weeks so I am behind on posting some end of the school year things. They'll get here eventually, just not in chronological order.

Bowl - a - rama

2009-05-26T13:03:00.007-04:00

I can't remember the last time we went bowling. When Avery gets an idea she doesn't give up until it happens. This time it was bowling...bowling, bowling bowling. So Will and I took the kids bowling and they really had a blast. Then the following Tuesday was supposed to be Harrison's end of the school year party/field trip at the zoo. It has been like a monsoon here so the zoo was canceled and replaced by...you guessed it...bowling. And I took Avery along as well. So I am putting all the bowling pictures here together.

This is Avery's "Mary Katherine Gallager" move

Harrison's better at actually throwing the ball, Avery still bends over and rolls it.Will giving bowling tips.
Yep, I was there too!!
This isn't a great picture but I was shocked at just how tall he looks!

Harrison's school bowling.
I tried to get Avery to smile but this is what I got instead.
I thought the sea of kids in burgundy was funny...

Butterflies and Flowers

2009-05-19T09:20:00.005-04:00

Two of Avery's favorite things! Avery and I went with her friend Alex (and my friend Kim) to the butterfly conservatory last week. The kids had so much fun!

(this is my new favorite picture of her...)

Golfing!

2009-05-16T15:43:00.004-04:00

Avery went golfing today with Harrison and Will. She was so excited!

Harrison's Manatee Project

2009-05-15T12:25:00.002-04:00

For their end of the year project, Harrison and every other first grader had to pick a specific animal and research that animal. They had a list of questions they had to answer and needed to present it to the class in any way they chose as long as they were not reading it off a paper. Harrison chose the manatee. It was a fun animal to do. Lots of fun facts to research. He decided how to present it and did all the research on the computer and in the library all by himself. I am impressed, I certainly didn't google things in first grade. My only involvement was in scanning the pictures he picked and making cookies.
I thought he did a fantastic job!!!

What we've been up to....

2009-05-06T11:12:00.009-04:00

I guess I have gotten a little behind on this.So I am going to try to catch up in one extended post.

We finally got the pool put up and cleaned and filled so that is where the kids are pretty much everyday when Harrison gets home from school. I need to start buying sunscreen in vats.
We also made some ice-cream last weekend. Why? Oh I don't know, it just seemed like fun.
And rainbow pancakes. There has been a lot of discussion over the pancakes so here is a picture.

AND I think this is a cute picture. Harrison and Avery are going through a bickering phase. They love to disagree. The one exception is when they are watching a movie or when Avery is watching Harrison play his DS. Then they cuddle up just like this and are the sweetest brother and sister you have ever seen. (she wasn't feeling great, and this is her "sick" face)

And Harrison lost yet another tooth. Number 9.

And this picture is of Avery when she was sick. Whenever she doesn't feel good she insists on wearing Harrison's t-shirts. It is a non-story picture but that face is just so "Avery" I had to post it.

So what else? Not a lot. Harrison is counting down the days until summer. They are done the 21st so it is coming quick.

The Dance Off

2009-04-17T21:40:00.003-04:00

I know, I know, she is dancing on the pool table. This is really not a shocking thing for Miss Avery. As far as she is concerned it is a stage. So this morning after dropping Harrison off at school I came home with grand intentions of cleaning the house (Avery says it's a pit) and getting the bills done and being all together productive. Instead Avery and I turned the music way up and had ourselves a little Turner girl dance off. And she always wins. SO here is a brief clip of Avery's dance...(she video taped me too but it is only 2 seconds and not nearly as entertaining.)

Another Day at Danger Park

2009-04-17T20:56:00.005-04:00

I think everyone has heard me talk about "Danger Park" before. Harrison, Avery and a bunch of their friends all hung out there after school today. The water is back on (off during the winter) and we pass it everyday on the way to and from school so they were really excited.

I thought the water was freezing but they didn't seem to mind.

Nothing more comforting then a wet and slippery little girl climbing way up in the airThis what we see everyday on the way to school....
Avery and Alex

Easter Randoms

2009-04-17T20:24:00.004-04:00

So after the birthday week I was a little blogged out despite having new pictures. So here are a few Easter weekend pictures. The kids had a really fun time doing eggs. The definitely showed their personalities while dying them. Avery dunked each egg in about 4 different colors just to see what would happen. Harrison's were planned out and precise. And Avery had about 18 done in the time it took Harrison to do 4. And they both were thought theirs were fantastic.

We also spend a ton of time outside because it was a beautiful weekend. Harrison got a remote control motorcycle for his birthday and he(well actually all of us) had a blast speeding and flipping it down the road.

Phew, He's Seven (Final round)

2009-04-10T23:26:00.006-04:00

Wow what a week! I am exhausted, the kids are exhausted but I think he is as officially seven as one can be. I took the kids to Aquatica this morning. The one place we go that I don't take pictures, well due to the fact that it is a water park. Someday I'll get a waterproof disposable camera for the day. Anyway, taking them to the park by myself was a big thing for me. I don't know why it has always freaked me out. Somehow I was convinced I couldn't watch them both there, as opposed to taking them to Sea World by myself which has just as many people and has never bothered me a bit. Who knows why but I am glad we did it because now I know we can. It really was one of those great days where they really behaved fantastically (unfortunately for them it just proves my point that they can) and had tons of fun together. And four hours of Aquatica wipes them out which is delightful.

So this is the last (I really don't want to see cake for a while) cake. Just the four of us, after baths..it was a nice end to the week.
And he let her sit by him so she was very happy

If you are wondering it is an angel food cake with sticky frosting which doesn't look great on film but tastes fantastic. And Harrison wanted it to be orange which didn't work all that well considering all I had was pastel food coloring.

Monster Party (Round 3)

2009-04-07T21:27:00.009-04:00

SO yesterday was Harrison's birthday party with friends. He picked 5 friends and we all went to Monsters vs. Aliens 3-D and then home for pizza and cake. At the movie theater I was amazed at just grown-up they have gotten. They sat in the row in front of us (me, Avery and a couple mom friends) all by themselves. They were quiet and so good, listening to them crack up was a high point for me. It made me think how fast the last 7 years have gone and how terrifying it is that soon not only will I not be sitting with him but he will want me to drop him off(probably from around the corner)... time just flies. So being the over planning mom I am I was all concerned about what they would do when they got back to the house...games, they all seemed to young or too old to me. But if you need to entertain a bunch of seven-yr-olds (and some adults) all you need are balloons. We had a tank of helium, long balloons short balloons, big balloons, and punching balloons and they blew up and popped them the entire time. It was loud, I think my dog is traumatized but Harrison said it was "the best party ever" so we succeeded.After the movie, the ones who would let me take their picture"Happy birthday to you............"
(notice Avery..she is getting mad cause Harrison won't let her sit with him)(Notice Avery facing the wall because Harrison won't let her sit with him)Just being HarrisonTold you...balloons....

Birthday with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-04-07T21:27:00.006-04:00

Second cake... and they are going to keep coming. I wish my birthday was a week long. Or maybe I don't based on how tired I am. Here is Harrison doing cake with Grandma and Grandpa on Monday.

Saturday Afternoon with Friends

2009-04-07T14:50:00.000-04:00

Our friend's have a great house on a lake everyone had a blast.

Harrison went on his first jet ski ride.
Avery wrestled an alligator.
The kids looked for minnows (and found a leech - they loved it)

Avery swingingGirls digging.
Everyone out on the dock.
Fishing...although no fish would think of coming near the dock, they were so loud.Avery takes a turn fishing

T-Rex

2009-04-07T14:23:00.005-04:00

Things are going to get a little out of order here because I have a lot to post and I am just going to do it as I get a chance this week.

Sunday, Grandma Neenie took us to the T-Rex restaurant down at Disney Marketplace for Harrison's birthday. My parents were here so they came too. Harrison and Avery were so excited(T-Rex, Avery's favorite stuffed animal came along too)
Harrison and Grandma Neenie

The biggest desert ever
Digging for fossils

Building with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-04-05T08:26:00.004-04:00

Home Depot Saturday again, this time minus the major drama. Grandpa and Grandma are here so they came with us and built birdhouses.

(I love the safety goggles)

Bugz

2009-04-03T09:00:00.014-04:00

This is the video of Harrison's solo. Should have brought the tripod:) Avery feels the need to climb on whoever is videotaping. If you have ever tried to tape something with a three year old on your lap you'll understand why it is so bumpy. I can hardly believe he is the same child from a few years ago. I tear up when I think of his pre-K spring concert when he sat up there trying desperately not to cry because he hated it so much. Now I have the kid with the solo, it is amazing.

And here are some pictures. We were closer so the gym pictures aren't as bad as usual, but not as good as I'd like.

Super Army Ant
He was skipping down the sidewalk.
Big solo time.
She had to try it too.
awwwwwwwww

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2009-04-02T21:43:00.003-04:00

Grandma was nice enough to spend her birthday with us watching Harrison's spring concert.

County fair...

2009-03-29T14:37:00.009-04:00

Aunt Ashley and Uncle Tom went to the fair with us this weekend. Harrison and Avery have been watching them put up the ferris wheel all week and couldn't wait to go. The kids had a blast and we all got a little too much sun....

That's Harrison on the left.

The ferris wheel

Gator coaster...I didn't know my kids would love fair rides so much

I don't know why but this picture makes me laugh.

The double decker carousel

Avery went on this slide over and over and she just kept jumping off the top instead of sitting...she tumbled head over heels every time and was happy about it.

Bumper cars seem to have been the favorite.
This is Harrison and his school friend Lauren.

And Avery...taking the bumpin very seriously.

Let's go fly a kite...

2009-03-29T14:37:00.006-04:00

Uncle Tom and Aunt Ashley came to visit!
(I don't think I need to explain what they are doing...)

(and I don't know why Harrison was wearing the black socks...)

Avery and Alex

2009-03-29T14:22:00.002-04:00

Who knew a can of shaving cream could be so much fun?

Cleaning up is pretty good too when there is a hot tub involved.

What do you do for fun?

2009-03-24T16:54:00.007-04:00

I though this was a cute picture. The kids helped clean up the job site this weekend. Despite the fact that I thought Avery was going to walk off the edge of the building it was funny to watch them. I have never seen two kids have more fun with a concrete block and scrap wood.

Back to the Beach

2009-03-18T14:30:00.010-04:00

We've been to the beach twice in the past couple weeks. I know I posted pictures from the beach in January but it's warmer now so we've actually broken out the bathing suits and everything. I forgot my camera for the second day but here are a couple cute ones from the first.

Avery making sand angels

Harrison being Harrison

Avery eating (shocker) everything in the cooler

The boys heading out into the waves
and Avery not being left behind...

Holy crap, he's a southerner

2009-03-12T10:43:00.002-04:00

First of all, yes I do realize my kids were born in the south. Somehow being raised in a house with two northern parents makes me forget that. Until we have an incident like last night. Harrison was in the bathtub and I was practicing his spelling words with him(he's trapped) and we get to the word "mouth." Harrison says "M-A...M-A" and I keep shaking my head, honestly confused because I didn't think it was that hard. He ends up with M-A-W-T-H. So I spell it correctly and he looks at me and says "oh it's one of those rule breakers were it isn't spelled like it sounds." I look at him and say "not really, there isn't an ah sound in mouth, it's a short o" and he looks at me and says "mouth"...in TWO syllables and precisely pronounced mahw-uth. It shocks me every time.

(Oh yeah, and he thinks I pronounce it wrong)

He is being raised in the south by a Michigander and an Ohioan, his pre-K teacher was from Puerto Rico, his kindergarten teacher was from Kentucky and his first grade teacher was raised in the Northeast (but born at Foote Hospital in Jackson - ironic huh?) I can't quite figure out where he is going to sound like he is from!

Lake Mary Cityfest

2009-03-08T11:11:00.009-04:00

After the Home Depot trip(previous post) we went to the Lake Mary City Fest. It was your basic festival, balloons, junk food, games, music... and the kids had a lot of fun. And unlike the Home Depot trip it was drama-free.

mmmm... Italian ice
Face painting

Uncle Dan and Harrison in a tense boat race..

Avery's dance break ... she loved the band.
(And she has shorts on under the ridiculously short dress if you're wondering. It was the only thing she would wear)

Harrison playing games

Both kids ran relays that were put on by the fire station.

Avery got right in line with the big kids, she did great except she was supposed to sit on a balloon and pop it and she sat then stomped and stomped and couldn't do it.

And cotton candy of course...

I don't exactly know what they were doing here but it was cute with their little fire hats

Building at the Home Depot (the drama)

2009-03-07T15:53:00.007-05:00

Every month they have a kid's "clinic" at the Home Depot where they have these cute little kits to put together. Last month Grandma Neenie came up and took the kids and they made jewelery boxes and they had a blast. So we marked our calendars for this months "Speedway" building day, Harrison couldn't wait (this is important later). So today Uncle Dan and Lonni and the kids and I got ready to go meet Grandma Neenie to make the very anticipated speedway.... and Avery threw what I can honestly say what was the most horrifying fit(like I have never seen before) before we were even in the car. So after that major drama(which was delightful to deal with in front of company) we are all finally in the car and heading to Home Depot. So now Avery is over it and in a good mood and Grandma Neenie calls and says she is there and they are out of the speedway kit. Now Harrison is all mopey and sad, he was not buying that bookends were just as good. Couldn't they have just had the misery moment at the same time. We get there, we don the orange aprons and make a set of bookends and a flower pot(which Avery actually liked better) And Grandma Neenie saved the day by not only getting donuts but by going back in with Harrison for the next session and getting him a speedway to make at home. So here are some pictures from what was a very stressful morning event:)

(And Dan and Lonni not only survived but went to a city festival with us afterward, pictures will follow shortly)

The day the Boone family came to play

2009-03-04T13:37:00.015-05:00

This has been the hardest post. I am just not all that good at being mushy, but at the same time it is hard to say "Carrie came over" as if it is a normal occurrence. So because of that I am staring at this blank space trying to decide what to write. Carrie and her kids were in Orlando this past weekend. So I got to have them over for a couple of hours(minus Sierra) and it was amazing. She is my best friend and I talk to her almost everyday. Every mom should be lucky enough to have a friendship like ours, it has saved my sanity on more than one occasion. As much as I love talking to her on the phone it was great to have her at my house. Here are a bunch of pictures

Brayden, Parker, Lilly, Harrison and Avery
Me and Carrie
Parker Lilly and Harrison
(this is Harrison and Parker when they met)
Will and Lilly
This is why we shouldn't have any more babies:)
We give them pizza...
And beer...Harrison LOVES holding babiesAvery and Brayden playing Wii
(this is Avery and Brayden last time they were at our house) Brayden
Parker and Harrison
All of the kids playing with the marble run

Avery's Dance Class

2009-03-04T10:15:00.003-05:00

I haven't been able to take any pictures of Avery's class since it is a drop-off class. But lucky for me my friend is in charge of the after-school classes and she had a couple she was willing to share with me.
(Thanks Nadine!)

Big Foot!

2009-03-03T16:41:00.003-05:00

Or just Harrison.
I took Harrison out to get new shoes (again) and can't believe how big his feet are. I think he may have just passed Aunt Ashley. These are his new shoes next to mine. If they are this big at six what on earth will they look like by 18....

Trains

2009-03-03T16:19:00.004-05:00

This is what we use our pool table for these days.
Finished product

Fancy Avery

2009-03-03T16:02:00.003-05:00

Since the obsession with Fancy Nancy began we have been seeing a gradual increase in accessories around here.... even T-Rex has a purple boa... Thought I would share.. and yes she does leave the house looking this way, even the shoes.

Wii Boxing

2009-02-26T19:48:00.004-05:00

They just made me laugh.
Avery loves boxing because (despite the many twirls) it is the one Wii game that she can beat Harrison pretty often.

Company...

2009-02-24T11:21:00.010-05:00

We have had a lot of company over the last few weeks. Some staying with us, some at hotels and some just for a quick day visit. February and March are busy company months. So here is the first round.

Uncle Bryan, Steph, and her daughters came over and the kids had fun playing. I of course waited until right before they had to leave to say "oh throw the kids on the couch we'll take their picture" The fact that 4 out of 5 are looking up and not sad is good enough for me.

Avery and Madison
Harrison and Madison
Avery and Paige
Our next round of company was Grandpa Steve, Brandy and Jet.

This "would have" been the best picture. Unfortunately I was busy talking to the kids instead of focusing. It kills me when a picture "would have" turned out great.

SO this is what I got when I said "come on guys, sit by the tree again" And this is the best of them.
Avery and Jet playing

Bookworm

2009-02-24T11:21:00.006-05:00

Harrison is a reading addict. A fact that thrills me beyond words. He has always loved being read to, in fact we can even use "you will only get (fill in the blank) books tonight" as a threat. But he has finally reached the point where he reads well enough that he can sit down and read a book (with chapters, without pictures) all by himself. In the past week I have caught him reading before anyone gets up in the morning, after he is supposed to be asleep. And one time when I didn't know where he was I found him snuggled up in his bed reading (see below). He has read three chapter books in the last week!

Saturday Pudding Parfaits

2009-02-21T13:01:00.006-05:00

This morning my kids were crabby... tired and crabby. So we really needed to do something, anything before...well before my head exploded from the constant bickering. Avery's current obsession is Fancy Nancy. I don't know how many of you have been exposed to these books but they are very cute. Everything she does needs to be slightly fancier than normal. And Avery thinks this is a great idea. So making pudding as a distraction somehow morphed into making pudding parfaits in martini glasses. Marshmallows, sprinkles, bananas (sliced by Harrison) and graham cracker crumbs (ground up by Avery) were involved and despite one broken martini glass and a giant mess it turned into a pretty fun morning for everyone.

(the finished product)

Horses, Trampolines, Little Dogs and Cake

2009-02-15T08:02:00.004-05:00

All in an afternoon at Uncle Scott's house. Throw in playing with cousin Denny (Mackenzie and Gracie were gone for the weekend) and it's no wonder why they love going there.

Avery being a cowboy..or a princess...

Going for a ride

Giving the horse a snack after the ride.

Harrison on the trampoline.

Avery and Will jumping...

Just being cute

Harrison and Joe (Cousin Stacey's dog)

Happy Birthday Uncle Scott!

Avery and Torre by the pool
(Avery was down to underwear and in the pool shortly after this)

Avery and the rash.

2009-02-14T10:34:00.001-05:00

Avery has a nasty case of Fifth's disease. Which is pretty much the most ominous name for a simple virus I have ever heard. Anyway, after the sickness part of the virus which includes plain old cold symptoms you get a rash over your face and limbs. Avery is in that period now, and I don't know if it is because she has very sensitive skin or what but she sure got a good dose of it. I only really mention it because as Harrison says she looks like a "pink jaguar" and I figured it would be easier to post an explanation than have people wondering why she is all splotchy in the past weeks pictures. The warmer she is (Sea World, the park) the worse it looks. But she is fine, it will fade away and rarely bothers her.... just thought I would explain the pinkness.

Sea World with Friends...

2009-02-14T08:46:00.007-05:00

O.k. lots of pictures here, but it is hard to choose. Friday Harrison's school had the day off for a teacher work day. So we and a bunch of his friends went to Sea World for the day. The kids had a blast. And somehow we managed not to lose a single one!

I love this picture

All the kids touching the stingrays. Harrison did it for the first time, the stingrays always creeped him out.

All the kids (minus Harrison who was being very uncooperative at this moment) in the underground dolphin area.

Dolphin feeding time, Avery is going to fall in one of these days.
They rode a ton of rides Climbing the rocks in front of the Sharks....
Silly faces..
Cora, Avery and Harrison
Checking out the sharks...The steel drum band. I couldn't believe how much fun they had with the drums.
I am sure Harrison and Julia wouldn't love this picture but I think it's great
Avery and Cora, very amused with themselves.Net climbing
Hydration break.
Ice-cream break.

A couple randoms...

2009-02-14T08:37:00.010-05:00

These are pictures that really have no other place to go but that I liked.

Harrison on his bike. He is ready for a bigger one, probably for his birthday. As you can see the training wheels aren't doing him any good, but he refuses to let me take them off.
I have no idea why he wouldn't smile for me.
(probably because I was telling him his training wheels are 6 inches off the ground and to let me take them off)
Avery on her bike, singing as usual
Hmmm....
There is wheel that falls off Avery's tea cart. She loves fixing it so I just let it continue to fall off.

Avery and Savannah

2009-02-14T08:37:00.007-05:00

We had company this week. My friend Kristen and her three-year-old daughter Savannah came to visit and the girls had a great time. Here are few from the park.

Avery has figured out the firepole, and will do it over and over and ...

After school classes

2009-02-14T08:19:00.007-05:00

Avery has been taking dance class and Harrison has been taking cooking class at Harrison's school. But since these are drop off type classes I haven't taken any pictures. Last week, Avery wanted to choose her own dance outfit and I thought it was really cute. This is what she picked (T-rex was not part of the outfit, he just goes everywhere on days when she doesn't feel good)

2009-02-02T13:12:00.005-05:00

I have been working on my annual DVD of our family pictures. Unfortunately, after uploading literally hundred's of picture's I just haven't been in the mood to upload more. Anyway, as I was sifting through them all I thought these two of Avery were cute so I thought I would share.

Avery and her red glasses.
She saw these in the store and just had to have them. I popped the lenses out because they were reading glasses and I thought she might run into walls:)

Avery and the salon chair.
This should be under the heading "what did you think would happen" Which by the way is what Will said after Avery found real scissors instead of the plastic ones that came with it and gave her new doll a bob. And in all honesty worse things could have happened. I could have found a pile of her blond hair ...oh wait that did happen once.

Sick Days

2009-01-26T19:12:00.002-05:00

The nasty winter virus season has hit Harrison's class. Yuck. So we have had a few sick days home and a lot of grumpiness lately. I know it's weird but I still take pictures even when they are sick.

They were even sick enough at one point to cuddle up next to each other and not fight.
(This was the beautiful face I got from Harrison when I asked him to smile, Avery didn't even bother to pretend)

This was when I started trying to think of things to keep them busy. After the feeling bad was over but before they were well enough to really do anything.

So we made hats....
(excuse the dripping juice on her face, she ate about a million mandarin oranges. It was all she wanted)

And flowers.....

And flowers with beads glued on...

And muffins.....(while wearing the hat of course)

But everyone seems to be back on the road to healthy now so things (mostly my house) can start to get back to normal.

Foreign Language Fair

2009-01-20T22:20:00.006-05:00

Tonight we went to the "Foreign Language Fair" at Harrison's school. The first grade part of the show was to sing a song they learned in their Spanish class and a song from their Chinese class. As always, I can't take very good pictures in the gym. The gym is bright, the stage is dark and I am just not good enough to compensate (maybe by high school graduation I will be) So this time I attempted to just take a short video with Will's camera. We weren't that close so it isn't as clear as I would like, but I tried. So here is the first grade singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in Chinese.

(Pause the music on the side first)

Beach Day

2009-01-18T20:34:00.014-05:00

We always seem to need a day at the beach in mid-January. It is always a little colder than I like, and Avery always falls in the ocean despite the cold. Harrison ended up in a bathing suit this time around (which I will bring for Avery next time despite the chill because she ends up soaked anyway) because he was braver than ever before and ended up waist deep in his jeans. They built sandcastles and collected shells.

My biggest conflict about this blog is pictures. I take a ton(and by a ton I mean I took over a hundred just today) and have a hard time picking two or three, it's just not the way I am. So I am going to continue posting more than that and just posting them smaller, you can always click on them to enlarge.

Me pulling a dripping wet Avery out of the ocean after hearing "I won't fall in mom" repeatedly

Avery's Show Day

2009-01-13T17:45:00.015-05:00

Avery's last gym class was today and they had their big show. She was really excited and I am going to post lots (and I mean lots!) of pictures because she had multiple routines and I couldn't just pick one or two.

(Because of the volume of pictures I made them small, if you want to see them bigger just click on them.)

Avery's group getting ready for their balance beam routine.

(One foot balance -and I was a super proud mom because she was the only one not holding on to her teacher)

Bar routine
(Avery's favorite, not a surprise since it involves spinning way above the ground and Mr. Evan always does the bars with the kids and he is Avery's favorite)

Floor Routine

And getting her medal (from Mr. Evan woo-hoo)

Day with Dad

2009-01-03T20:48:00.005-05:00

Will took the kids to the park today and got a some really cute pictures. Of course, neither one has their hair combed and they both look a little worn out (Christmas fun will do that to you) so of course today is the day they are super cooperative and smiling in pictures.

Groundbreaking

2009-01-03T20:32:00.003-05:00

These are from the groundbreaking at Will's new project. It was actually the week before Christmas but I didn't get around to posting them then. The kid's felt very important with their golden shovels. It's called Savannah Park and is going to be the location of Cotter-Ryan's new office building. (Will can add more here if he wants to)

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-01T23:07:00.004-05:00

I hope this works

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T10:24:00.005-05:00

The kids threw confetti and covered each other in silly string. This year Harrison really wanted to stay up until midnight, he tried but only made it until 10:30 before staying awake stopped being fun.

I haven't forgotten about the blog, we've just been pretty occupied for the last week or so. I plan on getting all the Christmas stuff put away and things back in order around here this weekend. Hopefully that will include getting Christmas pictures together and uploaded. I am just trying to figure a good way to do it since there are quite a few (I know, it's not a surprise)

Christmas Message from Harrison and Avery

2008-12-24T18:02:00.004-05:00

We all wish you a very merry Christmas!
(Pause the music so you can hear)

Who needs a playground....

2008-12-20T20:51:00.003-05:00

When you have a construction site and big equipment? Both kids got a chance to hang out with Dad this week. Avery got her chance while I did school stuff with Harrison. Harrison spent all day there with him today. Will started a new project this week and there were cranes, excavators, concrete pours....and of course lots of dirt. Avery now gets up in the morning and asks if she can go play at Dad's trailer!

School Christmas Party

2008-12-20T11:18:00.008-05:00

It is officially Christmas Break!
Harrison had his school party yesterday. I think every year it gets just a little bit louder. It is so much fun to see his class, the majority of them have been together since Pre-K and it is amazing how they have all changed. After his party everyone collected their younger siblings and we spent the afternoon at the park having pizza and enjoying a very warm December day.

Harrison's Class - minus a couple early vacationers
(it is so weird to see them without uniforms)

This is what happens when mom's take too long taking pictures

Harrison working on his gingerbread cookie. Harrison and Julia (too cute)

Noise makers - believe me they didn't need help

Happy Birthday, Will!

2008-12-18T20:15:00.004-05:00

Will turned 33 today!

The kids did the wrapping and the baking all by themselves. They had huge plans for his cake which included many layers... some green layers(Harrison's choice) and some with sprinkles baked in (that's Avery) and it had lots and lots of icing topped with a sprinkle Sparty head. The Sparty was Avery's idea but she really wanted it to be purple.
Avery also practiced singing Happy Birthday over and over...and over. So it could go with her dance moves (performed on the table of course) It was delightful (and very loud)
And here is the birthday boy with the cake and the kids
(which he ate like a champ, for which he gets lots of Dad points, once again it had LOTS of icing)