Autumn-ish

The leaves on the trees may not be changing and shorts and a tank may still be the best choice of clothing, but autumn is slowly making its way into our lives.

For one, everyone wears maroon and wonders how Mom could forget that Saturdays are Game Days for our dear ole Texas Aggies.  Planning activities during games... unthinkable!

Time outside is becoming more and more pleasant: picnic dinners at the park, playgrounds, and lots of neighbor fun in the front yard.

Another small sign is the goose bumps on our arms when we still insist on swimming.  It may not be miserable enough to stay out of the pool, but it's just cool enough to make us shiver.

And since Labor Day has come and gone, Mom cleaned our closets out of all summery stuff and pulled out the fall wear.  I've refused to wear anything but long sleeves all week, but cry and complain about how hot I am once I've left the house.  I got some special new boots, too.  Ree, for her part, is wearing the fall fashions handed down to her with style.  Mom keeps telling her she's a vision.  I think she's a stinker.  But that's another topic for another time.

Last, fall time means baking!  We made some homemade donuts today to cure the common heartache over missing Nana.  I miss her often (even though I also see her often) and sometimes the only cure for that kind of hurt is sugar.  With sprinkles!

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Love,
Kate Beth

A Week in Photos

 The girls enjoyed Avery's presents.  Here is what it looks like for Avery and Kate to enjoy chalk.

And Reese enjoying chalk:

Last Tuesday, this precious angel started Pre-School.  She was all smiles, all excitement, and all chatty both at drop off and pick up.  

The cat needed a haircut.  So we shaved her.

Not bad.

Then we loaded up our Ark of Animals and headed to Nana and D's to watch their animals.  

Mitzi and Lucy were instant friends.  Lucy and her sister Ethyl could not stand the sight of each other.  Go figure.

While we were there, it rained and got cooler.

So we played in the rain.

And amazingly, three little girls still fit in several swims, most of which were impromptu.

As did the Water Dog.

There may have been a few tears about the temperature drop.

The girls had a beauty spa day and then posed like models for the camera.

The girls celebrated birthdays.  We love birthdays.

On a train at a party.

Reese got stuck in the caboose.

But made the most of it.

And that was our week in photos.  

In Keeping with the Theme...

...it was a Dolphin Party!  Dolphins and swimming... the perfect combination.

This year, I made my own artwork for decorations, added the finishing touches to the cupcakes, and even 'helped' by serving Mom and Dad water while they worked on the dolphin cake.

I was certain of what I wanted - friends, sugar, swimming at Nana and D's house, and dolphins.  Lots of dolphins.  After a Kate-fiasco at the last two birthday parties I had (she was rescued from the bottom of the pool on my 4th birthday and had a nursemaid's elbow at my 5th party), Mom took the safe route and hired lifeguards to watch us swim.  Kate did have to be rescued at one point, but only because she was starting to wear out while treading water in a big group... and besides that one rescue, everyone was all smiles!

The party happened in perfect time also... the night after our party was over, autumn blew in with lower temps.  One of the many gifts God gave me for my 6th birthday was perfect swimming weather.  Yes and Amen!

The best part of the party is that it isn't really over for good... the large blow up dolphins we got for decorations are going to be transformed into costumes so Kate and I can be Winter the Dolphin for Halloween.  Oh yes, dolphin mania lives on!

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Love,
Avery Dolphin McClinton

Really Big Week

It was a really big week.

Avery's first week of 1st grade - So far, she says it's "thumbs middle".  She likes her teacher, she likes her friends, she just says, "it's hard for me to work."  Kate, for her part, hardly knows what to do with herself during Avery's absence each day.  School will start soon for her but in the meantime, Mommy finally got wise and is scheduling playdates to help with the loneliness.

Reese's first day at Little Gym - As one might expect from Reese, she was either happily observant or happily participating through the whole class.  Occasionally, she'd stop and look around and smile, like she couldn't imagine a world that revolved around kids her age.  We happen to think that The Little Gym is like Disney World for 1 year olds.

Kate and Avery's first dance class - Both girls were ecstatic about this.  The dance company is very age-appropriate and focuses on the enjoyment of dance as well as the technical stuff, so the girls came out beaming and showing off their new moves.

Avery's 6th birthday - Big girl celebrated on Friday at school on morning announcements, sharing a cookie cake with her class, being sung to ("my cheeks turned red while they were singing"), and a spend the night at Nana and D's house (her choice - no sister for a buddy, just her).  When she was given the option of any food in the whole world for her birthday dinner, big girl picked noodles with butter and cheese.

Celebrating Avery's 6th birthday with family - In true Avery form, she picked celebrating her birthday meal at the Galleria.  She likes to eat at The Cheesecake Factory and stop in at her two favorite stores; Disney Store and Lego Store.  The girl has really good taste.

Avery's baptism - On Sunday, Avery got baptized.  Over the summer, at our church's Splash Camp, she decided to become a Christian and was tentative about getting baptized in front of a bunch of people but was resolute on following through with her decision.  It helped that Daddy was the one who baptized her.  We're so proud of her for doing something intimidating out of her own desire to obey God.

And a teething, grumpy baby - enough said.

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