School Days

School is back in session and we have survived week 1! It was a big year of changes as I started teaching a new grade at a new school. Avery also started kindergarten...right down the hall from me! She didn't seem excited or scared the first morning...just shy. She had a great week, but was so tired every evening..... I've been putting her to bed 30 minutes earlier and she hasn't complained!  We've had to get up a little earlier, plus she has a busier school schedule with no more naps. Maitland started back a week earlier and has adjusted well also. I think we are all going to have a great year. Pardon the picture overload! Some are out of order but I'm too tired to fix them ;)

It was a bit early..."why is the moon out?"  

                                               Avery in my room after she met her teachers

                                           

                                            manicure and pedicure before starting school

                                                   Before the tears.....

                                   She wasn't too sure about it all, until they passed out the play-doh :)

                               Poem that Avery's teachers gave her at Meet the Teacher.

                           after her manicure we went to Tarjay for a few last-minute school items

                                                          back-to-school gifts

                                       She wanted to close her eyes and act surprised :)

                                                  she loves her new charm bracelet

                            we sprinkled her confetti out to help with back to school jitters

 

                                                                it worked! :)

           Avery  let me take a picture with her homeroom teacher even though she was acting super shy (this is her teacher for Spanish days; she alternates every other day with Spanish and English instruction.) She got 2 WONDERFUL teachers!

                                                   heading home after a long but great day.

                                           Second day, second classroom!With Mrs. Simpson.

Dreams Come True

For the past few months Maitland has been obsessed with all things princess and dancing. We have a large collection of princess dresses and old dance recital costumes that she rotates wearing. She wears them all day, everywhere we go. We've watched Cinderella and Barbie Princesses more times than I can count (mostly in the car). Each time she puts a dress on, she says "ooooh, deems come tooo" (dreams come true) then proceeds to spin around and dance. I have to say, it is the most adorable thing. Now, she doesn't always act royal when she is wearing these dresses. It has been quite entertaining at times when she has been throwing a tantrum while wearing a Snow White or Belle dress. Some of the dresses have been handed down and some we have bought, but they have been better than any toy we have given the girls. I remember Avery going through the princess phase, and I hope Maitland doesn't outgrow it any time soon :).

Rooms!

The girl's rooms are coming together. While they stayed with their grandparents for a couple of days, I was able to move furniture back in and complete a couple of projects for their rooms. I still want to find a desk for Avery, paint her bookshelf, and figure out what to put on her accent wall. Maitland's room won't be complete until she gets a big girl bed and I figure out her room arrangement and bedding. I also want to find a monogram to go on her wall (her old one was ruined in our move) and complete a couple of pinterest projects.  The main accomplishment is that we finally got them both painted...we put that off for so long but I'm glad we got it done! I don't have any 'before' pictures, but imagine blue walls in Avery's room and dull grey in Maitland's room.

         I could never find a window treatment I really liked so I decided to make one! I found this simple tutorial for a window cornice on pinterest. If you look closely you can see where I struggled getting the fabric around the edges, but overall I think it turned out nice...and cheap! I couldn't decide on fabric so I bought 2 different colors. Now that it's up, I keep leaning towards the other color I bought :( It would be simple to change it out though.  I could never be an interior designer...I change my mind too much!

       The lighting in these pictures makes the walls look kind of yellow, but they are really more of a cream/beige.

             That random blue chair in the corner goes to the girl's play table we keep in the living room. Avery always drags one chair from it into her room when she plays teacher. After I took this picture I realized it looked like a little timeout corner, ha!

                    I took leftover paint samples and painted the frame below in Mait's room. It was white so adding color made a big difference!

                              I found this end table for $3 at a flea market. Very patriotic, huh? I primed and   painted it green. It's beside Avery's bed in the first picture.

Fun times!

I can't believe June is over! I hope July goes a little slower. I didn't realize how busy we have been, but here we are, on the 4th of July!

• The girls and I headed to MV to visit for a few days of fun, shopping and visiting family. 
• We started working on the girls rooms. New paint, re-doing some furniture. And before long, Maitland will have a big girl bed! 
• Avery took swim lessons from Ms. Kat. She's doing great, but sometimes when I'm in the pool watching both girls, I feel safer when she still has floaties on.
• We are adding more PINK to the family! My brother and his wife found out they are having a girl!
• I went to visit a dear friend ( since 2nd grade!), Amanda. I spent the night and we stayed up talking and laughing just like the old days! She and Zack are about to start a new adventure in Denton, where she will be working at UNT. I hope we don't wait too long in between visits again!
• On my way back home, a window panel flew out of the truck in front of me. It shattered glass everywhere and even though I swerved out  of the way, somehow a piece shot up under my durango and tore the radiator. Luckily I wasn't too far from Lufkin. Shaun came to the rescue and got the car back home. We had it in the shop for a few days and it's all fixed up now. 
• We had VBS at our church. The girls loved it!
• Shaun's cousin was getting married in Austin last weekend, so his family decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. We stayed at a condo in nearby New Braunfels a few days. Avery and Mait were the flower girls for Kathryn, and it was a beautiful wedding!
• Lisa, our wonderful children's minister at church, hosted a splash party at her house. Maitland went up and down the huge inflatable water slide with no fear. The girls played and swam so hard that when we had lunch they scarfed their food down so fast and were begging for seconds! After a second round of sliding and swimming we headed home for after-swim naps (the best kind!)
• We are about to head to Arkansas for a weekend cabin stay with my parents, brother and sis-in-law. Looking forward to another fun weekend. :)

                                                                swim lessons!

                                                            getting ready to paint

                                                  one of my favorite MV spots..the library!

                                                              the donut queen

                                                      this happened in Rockwall :)

                                           Avery helped me make strawberry shortcakes

                              I found these sandals on clearance at Target. I thought they were fun!

                                                      ready for vacation bible school

                                                     ready to swim in New Braunfels

Before I knew it, Avery went up to the bar at the reception and ordered a sprite.. It is a treat to have soda, so she was quite excited to have her own can.

          Shaun and I headed out one night and walked around Gruene. Such a neat, old town!

                                                 Maity insisted on wearing her towel like me.

                                     Shaun had no shame wearing a pink bag...but not for long!

                                                   fun with friends at Ms. Lisa's!

                                                           Happy Independence Day!