Two Men and a Little Lady

I am one special girl. I know it, because my daddy got all dressed up and even wore a tie and took me to a fancy dance at our church. I got to curl my hair and wear make-up and a real life necklace and carry a purse and eat fancy noodles and dance and dance and dance! (DD brought Kate up for the last part so she could have a little time there, too.) It was such a special night that for the last week I have stopped what I'm doing to let Mommy or Daddy or whoever will listen know about another fabulous part of the dance.

Then my Daddy went out of town to a worship conference and us McClinton ladies took a vacation to Nana and DD's house.

We missed him so much, but it was really special to stay with Nana and DD during the week. And, since Daddy was out of town, DD and I got to go to Dad's Night at my preschool together. I dressed up like a cowgirl and DD wore his special Texas shirt and we painted with marbles, ate trail mix, colored a cowboy, and even did a rocket experiment. It was a wonderful night with my other favorite main man. Daddy was truly sad to miss my big night at school, but there will be plenty more and the sacrifice was well worth the time he spent learning so much about leading worship and praising the Lord. Plus, this way, I took my two main men to two different events in the span on 3 days. Talk about special!

And, Mommy says that behind every good man is a good woman. Case in point: Mommy helped plan the Father Daughter Dance at church, Nana took great care of us all while Daddy was out of town, Amanda and Amelia drove in town to keep Mommy and Kate company on Monday, Mimi sewed my cowgirl outfit for Mom when she was a little girl, and we all know how important the blue dress up dress and doll outfit are that Nanny made us. Kate won't put the blue dress doll down!

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE WEEK (Kristin King Photography was at the Father Daughter dance so when she posts those pictures, we'll put up a link. These are just from our camera.)

Love,

Avery Little Lady McClinton

(PS - What I dictated to my teachers about my Daddy:

My daddy is 8 yrs old.
My daddy's favorite food is oranges.
My daddy's favorite drink is coffee.
My daddy's favorite color is blue.
When I am at school my daddy is at work.
When my daddy goes to work he walks around.
When I'm with my daddy I like to go upstairs and make a choo choo train I got for Christmas.)

Sister's Shadow

My sister is the best. Anything she does, I want to do, too! When she has a baby doll, I get a baby doll. When she plays Barbies, I play Barbies. I even pretend to teetee after she goes potty so I can be just like her. She's my role model.

I love Sister so much that I sometimes lunge at her without warning for a big hug. My favorite hugging time is bath time, which stresses Mommy out because sometimes our hugs involve my face staying under the water for a second or two.

Luckily, Sister loves me right back. She is gentle and loving and completely happy playing Leader in our ongoing game of Follow the Leader.

What a lucky girl I am. What do little girls without sisters do? Play age-appropriate games rather than Barbies and dress up? How boring.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Love,
Katie Beth "Sister's Shadow" McClinton

Daddy's Valentine

Every year, Mommy helps me make a present for Daddy and Daddy helps me make one for Mommy in honor of Valentine's Day. This year, Mommy gave me about 10 papers of ideas she'd torn out of magazines to choose from. I didn't really like any of the ideas that much, so Mommy thought of another idea: Valentine's cupcakes. She pulled out the cupcake book and the pages flipped open to alien cupcakes instead of heart ones. I was riveted! Could there be a better Valentine's gift for Daddy?

Three times, Mommy tried to persuade me to do a Valentine-themed gift for Daddy. But every time, I was adamant: aliens. So, Mommy decided that if this gift was really from me, and if I was so sure about aliens, aliens it would be. Who says little green men don't scream Valentine's?

The aliens were fun to make for the first hour. But then I asked Mommy if I could go play while she finished up. Three more hours and they were ready for Daddy!

When Daddy got home, I told him, "Your aliens are on the table and they are kind of cute." He agreed, and said that aliens were the perfect Valentine's day gift. I knew Daddy would get it!

CLICK HERE FOR THE ECARD I MADE FOR MOMMY AND DADDY WITH NANA AND DD'S HELP

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE WEEK, INCLUDING OUR ANNUAL PLAYGROUP PARTY

Love,
Avery "Out of This World" McClinton

The Zoo!

This week, I filled up my ROCK jar again and we got to go to the zoo! I told Mommy and Daddy that I wanted Nana and DD to come, and so we invited the whole family. Aunt Amanda, Uncle David, and Amelia all came for my ROCK party, too! It was a great day: animals, family that I love, carousels, a train ride, beautiful weather... it couldn't have been better. Towards the end of our trip, I looked up at Nana, turned on my super sweet voice, and said, "Nana, after the snakes and alligator, I really really think I really saw people with cotton candy." Having grandparents at the zoo is super special - Nana and DD understood exactly what I meant and I walked away from the zoo with a bag full of yummy sugary goodness. The trip was so much fun that I have decided that when I fill up my ROCK jar again, I will... go to the zoo!

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Love,

Avery Zoo Explorer McClinton

PS - Mommy says I should tell you also that Katie Beth is having something called a 'language explosion'. She's trying out her voice and has coined some new words: 'gawk' (milk), 'wah' (water), 'that', 'roar' (any zoo animal, including flamingos, snakes, etc.) and a whole lot of repeating words.

New Photos from Kristin King Photography!

I love this lady. She captures the essence of my girls so well. How will I ever decide which ones to print? And, because I know you're wondering, the precious shirts (and bloomers!) are byGrammy's Embroidery and More, my lifelong friend (since birth?!?) Janna and her mom Janet. It all just went together so well and I love that I have such talented friends!










And man, I love these girls!

Thanks so much, Kristin and Janna. I love love love these pics!

(CLICK HERE FOR ALL 63 FABULOUS PHOTOS)