Friday Fun

We had fun this afternoon playing with the Mardi Gras beads we have collected over the last year (mostly from eating at Oby's). We put them on as necklaces and then she loved that I made them into bracelets for her. It was pretty funny because she kept either holding her arms up or holding them close to her because she thought the bracelets were going to fall off.  It's fun when small things can occupy for long periods of time!

School is Fun!

Well, this picture does not do justice to the way I found Avi when I picked her up at school on Monday! I was really worried about her transition back to school on Monday after being out for 2 weeks. On Monday morning when I dropped her off, she went right to her teacher and seemed happy to be there. When I picked her up Monday afternoon I died out laughing when I saw her! They were on their way in from the playground when I got there...she was chasing Channing, a little boy from her class. She didn't even notice me standing there for several minutes! Her teacher said that she and Channing had even been holding hands on the playground! She was having a blast. She actually ran away from me when she noticed I was there. She didn't want to go home with me! She wanted to stay and play. Her hair was ringing wet, and her cheeks were bright red from playing so hard! The funniest part of it all is that she had gotten something on her clothes during the day and had to change into her extra clothes...and, well, the ones she had to change into were still her winter extra clothes! I guess I had never updated them since the summer began, and she hadn't needed them until now! So, she was also wearing clothes that were:  a.) too small and b.) not season appropriate...the pants were above her ankles and the shirt was now a 3/4 length sleeve instead of long sleeves! And, really I had to bribe her into getting into the car with me. I had a pretty good laugh from it all, and I think she needed a break from me as much as I needed a break from her :). I didn't take the picture until we got home, so as I said, it really doesn't do the situation justice, but I thought I would at least try to share my laugh. (I know she looks unhappy in the picture, but she wasn't; she just wouldn't smile for me!) Oh, and a side note: she hasn't needed extra clothes all summer, but Monday she had on her extra clothes when I got there, Tuesday she had on her shirt and someone else's shorts, and yesterday she had on an entirely different outfit (an extra from the daycare) when I got there! Crazy.

Beach Pictures

This was one of the last pictures we took last night on the beach...she was so tired! However, this is a pretty typical look from Avi!

Mimi, Avi, John Michael, Madison

Abbi & Joel (my sister and her husband) moved to Athens, GA last week, but we are so glad they joined us for most of the week at the beach. We will miss them greatly!

Another typical look from Avi :)

This has been one of Avi's favorite things to do this week...she loves to get buried in the sand.

Sweet cousins!! 

Avi decided she might need to take a little nap!

This was the demise of "boppy" at the beach last night! She dropped boppy when she was getting some sand, and needless to say it got very wet. I thought a meltdown might happen as a result, but she handled it pretty well!

Love this one...wonder what she is thinking about!

Adorable John Michael

Beautiful Madison

Love this one too!

Avi has kind of had a love-hate relationship with the water! She loves it but she's not too sure about it!

The sand is so much fun!

I brought out trusty Mr. Potato Head for this trip. This is the first time she has played with him, and she has loved him. She played with him a lot on the way down to the beach, which by the way was very successful! (I was very worried about it.) Anyway, as you can see, she found something else to do with "tata head's" eyes!

Okay, these last 2 pictures just make me laugh so hard! Avi loved putting on Uncle Joel's socks (these were ankle socks on him by the way) and his shoes! Too funny!

The Beach

Avi and I have been at the beach for almost 2 weeks (Saturday will mark a full 2 weeks). We have had so much fun. Avi has been such a trooper. She's had her moments, but all in all she has been terrific. I am headed to bed right now to gear up for our last full day at the beach. However, I wanted to post a sweet picture that I got of Avi Grace tonight when we were taking pictures. Many more beach pictures to come!!

Happy 4th & a late Father's Day!

Happy 4th of July! I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday. It has been a very busy summer so far. I taught a Maymester class and I taught a class in June. Thankfully the June term ended Wednesday, and I am SOOOO looking forward to having some time off in July! Avi Grace has totally enjoyed swimming this summer. She LOVES the water. We went to Geyser Falls (water park in Philadelphia, MS) one day last week, and she had the best time. She also loves to color these days, and I was just a hair late getting the camera out the other morning when she was coloring...she was lying on the floor on her tummy coloring; I hate I missed that one! But, I did get a few other cute ones of her on the floor with her red color.

She had some wild hair that morning!

Love this one!

Happy Father's Day daddy!

Avi and Drew before church last Sunday.

She liked playing with the camera lens cap instead of smiling at me for a picture.

Avi Grace and her teacher, Miss Emily

Avi's school had a 4th of July parade on Thursday. Her class rode in their bye bye buggies. She was waving the flag they made in class.

Waving an American flag

One of Avi's FAVORITE things to do these days is to pick vegetables out of the garden with her Daddy. They started out picking cucumbers together and have now moved onto picking peas. She loves it! Above is a funny video I was able to get of them picking cucumbers. She took a little spill, which was pretty funny. Enjoy!