The past 6 months! YIKES!

Well, I have seriously felt guilty for not blogging...I know that's silly, but I know there are so many fun things that I am forgetting.  I really do want to be able to look back and see my thoughts about our life during this season where the kids are growing and changing so fast!   Well...so much has happened since I last posted...we had a great summer of swim lessons, lots of little friends visiting and swimming in our little temporary pool, our little Ava turned 5 and we had a Strawberry Shortcake party for her at Kids Station.  we went to Navarre. FL with the Ziezemers and had a blast on the beach, shopping, fishing (just the boys), eating, and relaxing.  Oh, I almost forgot...Eriik turned 40 in October, that's a biggie!  I threw a surprise party for him at small group, and he was very surprised!

One major change is that when we got back from Florida this summer we added a little Pug puppy into this already crazy family  We named her Izzy...Alec picked out the name and we all thought it was cute.  When we went to the lady's home in Jacksonville to pick out the puppy, there were 5 little Pugs to choose from....one boy and four girls.  One of the little girl pups was super cute, but a little too big and hid under a little table the entire time, two of the girls just weren't as cute, and then there was Izzy the smallest of the bunch and a little fireball of energy.  Alec played with her the entire time, and insisted that she was the one for our family.  We all agreed and sold...she was a new member of our family!  She was soo quiet, and sweet with us the first couple weeks...we never heard a peep out of her and she just sat on our laps and licked our hands.  Then one day she started to feel more comfortable and boy did she come out of her shell!  I'm thinking our kids might have helped her along in the process of becoming so hyper.  But whatever it is....all I know is she is a wild one!  I think we might need to call in Ceaser the dog whisperer to calm her down a little!  Eriik is not so much an Izzy fan right now, but I believe he's going to come around.  We have taught her to sit and wait and come...and she fetches (when she's in the mood).  Anyway, she's added a lot of fun and excitement to our home over the past several months.

Addison is getting so big...she's a sweet little thing with a mischievously side. Still into everything all the time! She loves to dance and watch Dora...she points to the TV and says "watch backpack"!!! She absolutely loves puzzles and books...can't get enough of them. She can say pretty much anything and says three word sentences sometimes...but she is still our quieter one...at least for now! She sings a lot though! She likes to sing Row Row Your Boat, ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Rock a Bye Baby, and lots more.  Oh, and she can also identify all the letters of the alphabet, even out of order.  I guess the Leap Frog alphabet DVD has brainwashed her :)  Every Wednesday she goes to Prep school to play while I get a little time to catch up, she really seems to like it, and the teachers say she is doing great!

Another big change to our family is that Ava started Kindergarten in  August!  I have hopes that she is going to do a lot of growing up this year!  She WAS doing great and loving it, but just over the past couple weeks, she has had trouble paying attention, sitting still, and she's been talking out of turn.  We are keeping in communication with the teacher and disciplining Ava accordingly..so we shall see.  I'm afraid she comes by it honestly...I remember often having to stay in from recess in Kindergarten because I was talking and not doing my work (hard to believe, I know)...I was never paying attention.  Hopefully she will turn it around and stop being so much like her mommy!  Her teacher has told me more than once how smart Ava is, and what a good reader...I don't know, maybe she's just bored and that's making her act out?  She had a lot of fun at cheer camp and got to cheer at a Panther football game which she thought was the coolest thing ever!  She is also still doing ballet and loves that. 

Alec is doing great in second grade and is in class with a lot of his friends this year.  He loves his teacher and and loves to read, do Math and writing.  In fact they had a little writing competition over the whole second grade and he and 9 others were chosen to participate in morning practices for UIL creative writing competition!  So, every Tues, Wed, and Thursday morning we have to have him at school by 7:15.  His stories are so funny, creative and descriptive...I love reading his work!  He loves playing with his Ninjago characters and other legos with Kobey our neighbor, or Carson when he can come over.   He will have his last soccer game this Saturday, and has had fun with that. He loves Tae Kwon Do, and just received his brown recommended belt, which is a step above brown belt.  He keeps asking us to buy him real Tae Kwon Do weapons (and he's totally serious)....ummm, let me think about that....NOPE!

Here are some pics from the past 6 months in chronological order!  I can't believe it's been that long!  Crazy!