dear avery

 Dear Avery, 

You're 16 years old now and it feels like time is slipping away faster than I can take it in. I have been desperately trying to hold on to the moments since the day you were born. I would do it all over and over again in a heartbeat. What a joy you are and have been from the beginning. You have challenged us in ways that have only made us better and brought us to our knees before our Heavenly Father begging Him to fill in the gaps that we left open in our parenting. We never wanted to mess up but we have a countless number of times during these 16 years and despite our best efforts, we will continue to. But the Lord has been faithful and He will always be. He's got you.

You're busier than ever this year as you learn to drive and continue to fight for those straight A's in school. Spanish 3 about did you in and brought about your first B on a high school report card. We have never cared about grades and we make sure you know that. But you care. It's important to you and we do our best to support that while reminding you along the way that those grades are not your identity. We speak of colleges every once in awhile as we can feel the time coming near although none of us are ready for it. One night with tear filled eyes, you told me college sounds exciting but you're also scared because you don't want to be without Daddy and I. We get it. we feel the same. But we have been preparing to let you fly since day one and when the time comes, God will give us all the strength we need to thrive apart from each other. 

Teaching you to drive has not been easy on any of us. Ha! You started off scared and we struggled with patience. Daddy taught you the basics first and then I got to join the fun. Whew. It took you awhile to catch on and we were terrified and impatient as we experienced several near disasters on the road. Thankfully, we got over that hump and you are now doing a great job. You only have one in-car driving lesson left and then your test at the end of May. I can't imagine what it feels like to send you off in a car by yourself but ready or not, the time is coming. It's a new first for us and a big step in letting you fly. 

We celebrated your sweet sixteen in big ways with a family party the weekend before and a friend party the weekend after. You wanted both sides of the family together because that's your favorite. You had about 14 friends over to celebrate and it was sweet to see all the different kinds of friends you have. You're friends with everyone because you make a point to be. It's so neat. You told us that your favorite parts of the parties were the interactions of the two sides of our families and of the different friend groups. You love your family and friends fiercely and it brings you so much joy to be with them and watch them enjoy each other. And all of those friends are God's beautiful answer to years of prayers. We're so grateful.

We have been working out at the Y while the girls are in gymnastics class. At first, you mostly enjoyed wearing cute workout clothing and AirPods but quickly grew to truly enjoy the actual working out even more. You also like checking out the cute boys working out as well. 

You're still writing of course although not quite as often with school work and friends keeping you busy. You're currently working on a novel called Painting the Sky and I love listening to you talk about your ideas for it. You put so much thought and time into your writing and I cannot wait until the day one of your wonderful stories gets published and shared with the world. I pray you use your gift for God's glory always and that he'll bless your efforts like crazy. 

We're proud of you as always. You're a gift to everyone who knows you and to get to be the ones who have a front row seat to God's story for your life is a blessing we do not take for granted.

We are beyond grateful He chose you to be ours. 

We love you a ridiculous amount. Happy sweet sixteen precious girl.

Love,

Mommy 

xoxo

avery turns 11

She had another birthday without my permission and I don't even know what happened to the last 11 years.  The sleeping photos always help me put it into perspective.  She is still a baby.  My baby.  And she still sleeps with a giant Orca named Pepsi.  11 is no big deal.  That is what I am telling myself.

She requested that we take her to Build a Bear on her Mommy/Daddy birthday date so she could get this horse that is a sister to a horse she already owns.  Stuffed animals in her world is serious business.  We are enjoying it while it lasts.  

We traveled to Columbus for her date so we could work in some time with Grandma, Aunt Debbie, and Great Grandma.  Always a sweet time with them because even though Great Grandma doesn't remember who we are, she is full of joy and cries and laughs in our company.  It clearly blesses her.  She doesn't remember exactly who we are but she knows that we are special to her and that she loves us a whole lot.

It was no surprise that she chose meatloaf and roasted potatoes for her birthday dinner.  I am not sure how many years in a row it is now but quite a few.  She sticks with it as her very favorite meal.

She chose make your own sundaes for her special birthday dessert.  She loaded hers with all kinds of goodies and we threw two candles right in the ice cream.

About a week later, she got to have four friends over for a little party.  It was loosely animal themed and she helped figure most of it out.  She is totally into party planning and we had fun coming up with some ideas together.

While she was at school the day of her birthday, I made some updates to her room including a new bookshelf, desk, and comforter as well as some other things on her wall.  She was totally surprised.  I kept her likes in mind as I made the changes and she loved them.

After school, Violet and I took her and a best friend to get ice cream at UDF.  It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun.

This girl.  She is something special and definitely worth all the celebrating!

dear avery

Dear Avery, 

My firstborn baby girl.  You are turning into a young lady right before our eyes and it doesn't seem right.  But we could not be more proud of your growth and love seeing glimpses of what kind of woman you will grow into someday.  

You have developed quite the guilty conscience and when absolutely anything is bothering you...you confess to us.  It is typically something tiny and not that big of a deal but we listen and remind you how loved you are, that we know your heart, and that the moment when you made a bad choice does not define you.  You want to do the right thing all the time, but that's hard and we all fail at times.  We're so thankful that you think through these things and come to us with them.  We pray that you will always talk to us about whatever is on your heart and mind and if you aren't talking to us, that you are talking to your Heavenly Father, who somehow loves you even more than we do.

You still like me to pick out your clothes for school sometimes but mostly because you just don't want to mess with it.  You have stories to dream up and write and books to read, I understand.  Your passion is writing and you come alive when telling us about your latest idea and reading us the newest page of one of your stories.  Your eyes just sparkle when a new idea comes to you and at times, you can barely get it out to tell us because you're so giddy.  I can't wait to see how God uses your writing for His glory.

You have had a crush on the same boy most of the school year.  When you asked me on the first day of school what you should do if you have a crush on a boy, I responded with the idea of just being his friend and not worrying about the crush since you are only in fifth grade.  You listened and took my advice and you two have a sweet friendship.  There will be plenty of time for boyfriends later in life but right now, my girl, I don't want you to worry about that.

You made friends instantly in our new neighborhood and met your current and very best friend, Lilly.  She shares your love of stuffed animals. You two have come up with more dramatic scenarios than I thought possible for your beloved stuffed animals.  I am still waiting on you to make me a family tree so I can keep track of all of their names and family dynamics.  You take it all very seriously.

Somedays, you get frustrated when the little girls won't leave you and your friends alone, and then other days, you totally embrace the role and let them in on whatever you are playing.  Your siblings all look up to you so much.  You love to cuddle Violet, play with Mia, and wrestle with Tyson.  You guys will have a wrestling match almost every night before Daddy reads.  It makes my heart happy to hear the laughter that comes from those matches.

You love school and you do exceptionally well.  You love the reading and writing but probably your favorite part of school is the friends.  You love being around your people and you often talk about how classes at school feel like family away from home.  You've been so blessed with great teachers that have built into you and loved you.

Avery Nicole, you are beautiful.  Inside and out.  What a blessing to have front row seats to watch your life story play out.  We could not be more thankful that God chose us to be your parents. 

Happy Birthday my little punkin pie.  

I love you a ridiculous amount.

Mommy.

xoxo

she won the spelling bee

This was Avery's 3rd spelling bee experience.  Last year after she got out on her very first word, she told us with a big smile on her face that she would win next year and it turned out, she was not kidding.  

She knew what to do.  She had been through it before, the first year she focused on studying the easier words and didn't worry about the bigger ones.  The second year she focused on the harder ones and got out early with an easy one.  This year, she knew she had to study all 450 words in the packet that was given to her and that was exactly what she did.  She studied each night until she got through the list multiple times.  We were so proud watching her work hard for something she wanted so badly.  

The spelling bee was right after school and Jason came from work for a bit but had something going on that evening and could not stay for the whole thing.  He wished so bad he would have stayed anyway but she had me, Violet, and Grandma, & PaPa there cheering her on.  

I was a nervous wreck as usual.  I texted the family thread often updating them on the words and how she was doing.  Alaina said she could hear my heart beating from Delaware and I wouldn't doubt it.  I was a mess.  My heart almost exploded right out of my chest.  It was an unbelievable experience.  She spelled words like tenaciously, pertinacity, netsuke, raspingly, and immersed.  You could see the shock on her face when the boy who had won the last two years got out with a few students left.  She had said she was going to beat him.  She is amazing. 

At the end when it was down to her and one other student, they began giving them words that were not from the list and she still nailed it.  She was as cool and confident as could be and I was bursting with pride.  It all started going really fast at the end and the boy spelled a word wrong and then she spelled a word wrong.  It was the only word she spelled wrong.  He spelled his next one wrong and then she spelled two words correct to claim the title.  

When it was over and we both realized she had won, we didn't think a thing about anyone else and totally ran to each other.  She jumped in my arms and we celebrated all of her hard work with a giant hug that I never wanted to end.  Watching your child's hard work pay off is one of the most beautiful things you can experience as a parent.

My girl.  The fifth grade spelling bee champion.  Just like her Momma.  

first day of kindergarten, second, and fifth grade

Sending them to school this year felt harder than ever for several reasons.  One being that we had the most amazing summer.  Two being that Mia was starting kindergarten.  Three being that we were moving 2 short days after school began and we knew chaos would come along with the move.  

The kids were all so excited.  Tyson's favorite day of school is the first day and after that, he is kind of over it but Avery gets crazy excited each year and loves it everyday.  Mia had been counting down the days until she was a big girl in school so she could not wait for it to actually happen.

It was a rude awakening that morning to actually have to wake up to an alarm clock and get everyone ready for the day.  Whew.  They all have tired eyes in these sweet photos.  Serious tans and tired eyes.  Both signs of a beautiful summer.

Avery's teacher team this year is awesome and we could tell from our first meeting with them.

After the first drop off of the day, everyone was in good spirits.

And then we moved on to the second drop off.  Our big second grader.

We loved his teacher right away too.  She has a great laugh and gives hugs.  My kind of girl.

The girls, especially Violet was not excited to see her bubba go.

We had some time in before dropping Mia off since she is in morning kindergarten.  She was more than happy to let me take one million pictures of her because she was proud and excited.

She was sporting french braids since Mommy finally learned how to do them and her newly pierced ears with pink hearts.

She was so excited to be wearing a special school dress designed by Mommy and sewn especially for her by Grandma.

Seriously, I cannot even put her excitement into words.  It was precious.  She reminded me so much of Avery when it was time for her to start kindergarten.  I love their enthusiasm for school.

And then it was finally time for Mia to go to school.  I cried like a baby as we walked out and her teacher hugged me and handed me some tissues.  It physically hurts me to leave them at school each year...but especially that first year.  It's rough.

Oh, how proud we are of our babies and how thankful we are for incredible teachers that become part of our "village" and build into them in so many ways.  Summer will always be my favorite though.

last day of first and fourth grade

The kids had such an awesome school year and we are once again thankful for God's faithfulness in providing awesome answers to our teacher prayers.  These two really are buddies and it's sweet.  Tyson thinks Avery is everything.  Being the oldest has its perks for sure.

Tyson had the same teacher as Avery did for first grade.  She is wonderful and it made the transition to first grade so easy for all of us because we were already comfortable with Mrs. Edwards.  Tyson's only issue this year was when he going to the restroom a hundred times during the school day.  His teacher asked me if something was wrong because she was concerned.  I talked to him about it and even asked his doctor who didn't think there was any problem.  It took me some time to figure out that I was making him smoothies before school everyday and he was drinking way too much which made him and his small bladder have to spend the day in the restroom.  I stopped the smoothies and the problem was solved.  Whew.

Love this girl and her devotion to crazy socks even when they have a hole in them.

It was her last year at this building before she would move on to the intermediate school so we had to do an obligatory sign pic of course.

Avery's teachers loved her and she did awesome.  She consistently got all A's and had a great attitude.  The girl LOVES school.

Her favorite friend this school year was Kaylan.

I thought I would have fun with silly string this year.  So me and the little girls bought some during the day and surprised Tyson with it since he was the first one to get home.  He loved it and had just the fun reaction I was hoping for.

Next up was Avery and they were ready for her.

Avery, on the other hand was not excited at all and could not believe they did that to her.  Oops.  That was definitely not the reaction I was hoping for.

Oh, well.  No more silly string for Avery.  Lesson learned.