Sunday, December 26, 2010

A Christmas Conversation

Kate (while watching Avery stir cupcake batter): "Why, Eggie?"
Avery: "So we can make cupcakes for Jesus' birthday."
Kate: "Why, Eggie?"
Avery: "Because Christmas is when Jesus was born."
Kate: "Why, Eggie?"
Avery: "Because He came to save the world."
Kate: "Why, Eggie?"
Avery: "Well, because He didn't want the world to break in half."


Monday, December 20, 2010

A Tale of Two Families...

One of our favorite family traditions is enjoying a character breakfast and then the Kid's Crazy Christmas Show at Second Baptist Church. This year, we ended up with two extra tickets to the breakfast and so Avery and Kate got to invite their BFFs Hannah and Abigail. It was such a fun morning of vast differences...

When we first arrived, Hannah, Avery, and Abigail sprinted through the parking lot to hug Avery's Nana. Abby went immediately to DD and let him hold her while we waited in line. When the characters began to appear, Hannah and Abby pressed their noses to the glass, trying to get a better view. Kate grabbed Daddy tightly and yelled, "Go 'way, 'noman!"

During the breakfast, Kate and Avery chose to avert eye contact and cover their faces with napkins when the characters came around. They were persuaded to take one picture with the Snowman, as long as Nana and DD were holding them. Hannah and Abigail, on the other hand, walked around the room, finding more and more characters to pose with. They even went up on the stage and took a picture with Santa! (To be fair to Kate, she warmed up some and waved at the characters as long as she was safe in Nana's arms.)

During the puppet show, Avery chose to sit down with the rest of the children for the first time ever. I was concerned that she might get scared, but Hannah put her loving, protective arms around Avery and all was well!

It was so much fun to have Hannah and Abby along for the trip - Avery and Kate loved their company, and I got to experience the breakfast in a whole new way from years past with my two children, Timid and Shy!

Monday, December 13, 2010

In Sickness and In Health...

This week, Avery was sick, sick, sick! For two days straight, she laid on the couch, moaned, complained of a stomach, tooth, and headache, and generally was absolutely miserable. Poor Avery even felt so bad that she fell asleep on the examining room table at the doctor's office! I didn't understand why she wasn't playing with me and why Mommy would tell me no when I tried to sing to her and kiss her on the couch.

Luckily, Daddy was home this week and Mommy was still able to take me to Little Gym and other fun Kate time things. I got to help shop for Christmas and had lots of quality time with whichever parent wasn't in the sick room (usually Mommy... I gather that Daddy is the nurturing one when we're sick).

Avery didn't really feel well for most of the week, but luckily she perked right up in time for us to go to school Friday and in time for weekend fun. On Friday, I had my Panda Class Christmas party that both Mommy and Daddy got to come to. Then, to give tired parents a break after a long week of sick, Nana and DD hosted us for a sleepover. To end the healthy weekend, we went to our annual Rowdy Rebel Christmas party at Clay's. They had leftover snow from their Snow Day, and even though Avery told Daddy, "It's not snow, Daddy. It's dirty ice," in the end, she came around and we had a blast.


Love,
Kate "The Picture of Health" McClinton

Monday, December 6, 2010

Mommy's Birthday!

This week we celebrated Mommy's birthday. I decided a few weeks ago that I really wanted to make Mommy a fondant cake and it had to have flowers. We were pressed for time on Saturday, so Mommy baked the cake while we shopped for the ingredients for the fondant. When I found out Mommy was making her own cake, I was deeply bothered. "But she can't make her own cake! It's her birthday!" Mommy assured me it was okay, Daddy helped me decorate the cake, and in the end, it turned out faaaaaan-cy.

I also told Mommy that I thought we should go ice-skating for her birthday. One time around the rink and I was done with the heavy shoes, but Katie had a blast going around with Daddy (especially when he picked her up and skated super fast).

On Sunday, we got to eat the cake and celebrate with Mommy some more. Kate caught Nana singing, "Happy Birthday, Jesus... I'm so glad it's Christmas..." and had a stern word for her: "No no, Nana! Mommy 'Irh-day!"

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE WEEK (including Daddy's trip to Vegas)

Love,
Avery Professional Birthday Celebrator McClinton