Merry Christmas

Christmas 2010 ranked as one of the best Christmases ever!

Nutcracker Limerick (sort of)

There once was a little girl named Abby,

whose first Nutcracker performance was far from shabby.

All of her family came to watch her debut,
and of course, Liz was in attendance too.

The curls, oh the curls...
just a dream for many little girls.


Mama only fumed
when Abby kissed her costume.

And all that can be said about this pose,

Well...I think she will continue dancing on her toes.

May Farm

One balmy day earlier this fall, Abby went on her first field trip...to May Farm. She and her friends got to feed the animals, which led to the above picture. Abby and this goat had quite the conversation about how much he should really have to eat; he was a tad pushy.

Riding the horse was also fun.

The best part, though, was holding the farm animals...bunnies, chicks, guinea pigs, and chickens.

Sugar Plum Fairy Tea

What an exciting afternoon! Gran, DMama, and I were honored to attend the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea with Abby. The Sugar Plum Fairy Tea is a special event held the Sunday prior to Nutcracker as a fundraiser for Abilene Ballet Theatre.

All of the little girls in attendance donned their finest Christmas attire in anticipation of meeting Clara, The Sugar Plum Fairy, and The Snow Queen.

Entertainment for the afternoon consisted of a silent auction including items such as Cupcakes with Clara, a fashion show of Abilene Ballet Theatre fairy tale costumes, an excerpt from the Nutcracker performance, and a sampling of delectable treats and sweets.

The girls were also given the opportunity to meet and greet some of the dancers. While Abby enjoyed meeting Clara and the others, her favorite (and best picture obtained all day) was her cousin, Mary Elizabeth Walker. Mary Elizabeth was modeling a costume from Sleeping Beauty and will be dancing the role of the peacock in the Nutcracker next weekend.

This evening, Abby was still modeling her tiarra and showing off the autographs she received. It was almost as good as Disney World...

District 7-1A Champs

Abby definitely had something to be excited about on Friday night because

our Hamlin Pied Pipers sealed the title of District Champs!!

Way to go Pipers! We are proud of you and can't wait to continue the football fun.

The Perfect Project

My dad farms my grandma's land. A few weeks ago, he was here to sew wheat and gave Abby a bunch of wheat seed. Of course, she wanted to plant it like Pop. Since we lack the appropriate acreage and farm equipment for such, we had to settle for a flower pot on the front porch.

Within a couple of days, it had sprouted. Within two weeks, it looked like this. Currently, it looks like the pot needs a haircut. It has been the perfect project for a preschooler because the results (to this point) have been so fast. Now, if we can just keep it watered and in the sun enough to see the final product in a few months.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and More Pumpkins

My house overfloweth with pumpkins. Not really, but it is really cute, thanks in part to our recent trip to the pumpkin patch.

"Mama, this one is just perfect!"

Abby just had to have her picture taken in front of the tractor.The best part about pumpkin patches is the variety to choose from.

Abby has had a wonderful time practicing her interior decorating skills as she has moved pumpkins from room to room and place to place over the past couple of weeks. Let's see, we have tried a pumpkin in every room, a pumpkin on every table, lines of pumpkins, groups of pumpkins, pumpkins arranged from biggest to smallest, and pumpkins stacked on top of each other. You name it...she has tried it.

School Highlights

Here is just a small sampling of the work Abby completed at school the first six weeks. A few other school highlights:

• Received first report card. All S's except for one N. The N was for printing her name. Abby writes her "y" backwards, but her teacher is honestly just pleased she can write her name. (Thank you, Ms. Askins and Ms. Lee!!)
• Favorite part of the day: playing!
• Constantly comes home singing a cute song. Whether it is a color song, days of the week song, or a Halloween song, Abby is always singing.
• Eats lunch in the cafeteria twice a week but would prefer to eat cafeteria food more often.
• Loves riding the bus to the high school on Wednesdays (my long work day).
• Likes her teachers a lot and frequently compares Ms. Crowley to Ms. Rogers from Montessori because they both like art. Obviously, so does Abby.
• Has her first field trip next Monday.

True Identity Revealed

We are the proud parents of an...
Emma loving


duck hunting


face painted

game playing

spider monkey!

(partially disguised as a black cat)

Love Our Pipers

Oh, how we love our Pipers! Between pep rallies, team meals, coaches parties, tailgating, sign holding, and football games, we barely have time to turn around. But it is SO MUCH FUN!!!

Finally...

After six weeks of bouncing from house to house and family to family and living out of a laundry basket (remember the post the other day?), we are finally in our house. I never knew it could feel so good to be home.

My Best Friend

Inseparable

Carries my loads alongside me

Well-rounded

Dependable

Good listener

Let me introduce to you...

...my best friend.

Isn't she nice?

(explanation to follow)

Perfect Match

Abby has been on quest for rain boots for well over a year. Right before leaving Amarillo, we stopped at a garage sale one day and found these beauties. It was a match made in heaven as both the child and the boots don't mind getting wet and muddy.

Pre-School

Miss Abby Grace has officially completed a week of pre-school!

Starting school this year was especially exciting because Daddy got to go with us for the first day.

And Mama...well, Mama wasn't really up for pictures that morning but this face depicts my feelings pretty well...happy, sad, anxious...all rolled into one.

How has the week gone? I will say it definitely is not Montessori, but neither do I have any complaints. And Abby? Well, she has based the success of each day on how many times they got to play, which must be an ample amount because she is going back on Monday.

4th of July

Ready to go to the firework display on the 4th of July.

Confession of a Food Snob

If you know me, I am a bit of a food snob. Well, not really. But I do get a bit fussy if I don't get green vegetables for several days. And I generally refuse to partake in gas station food, particularly Allsup's burritos...I would rather starve.

Then on vacation, thanks to Jeremy's desire to eat every couple of hours, a magnificent discovery was made...Stripes convenience stores with a Taco Company. These tacos/burritos were yummy to the point that we went out of our way a couple of times in search of another one and basically ate lunch before lunch on one occasion. Yummy still to the point that we looked for more on our way home (Stripes are common but Stripes with a Taco Company seem to be less so) and Josh called us with the exciting news when they found one near Lubbock this past weekend.

So if you drive by a Stripes with a Taco Company in your near future, I recommend paying them a little visit. Coming from a sort of food snob, it will be worth your while.

Sea World 2010

In addition to the beach, we also made a stop in San Antonio where we had dinner and purchased this little Mexican dress for Abby. She chose red because she thinks that Gran is going to find my pink and turquoise ones from when I was a little girl. Hmmm...

But the real reason for stopping was to go to Sea World. It was soooo much fun, and may have honestly been our favorite part of the whole trip, especially if you could have heard Abby's enthusiastic remarks throughout the day.

"I took my picture with Shamu. Awesome!" (the chosen adjective for the whole trip)

"Mama, take a picture of every animal. I want to remember them ALL." Oh, and did you know that one of the whales had a baby back in January? It came out with its mama during the show, keeping us enthralled the whole time. No picture though.

"This is so fun. This is so fun. This is so fun!" She actually said this after sliding in the waterpark but she also liked feeding and petting the dolphins. A couple of other highlights from the day included riding Journey to Atlantis enough times to make me halfway sick and seeing the show, "Believe."

Beach Pictures

When our lives were just crazy and not super crazy, we went on vacation. Abby Grace has never been to the beach so that is where we went, to Port Aransas. We had a fantastic time playing in the ocean, catching sea creatures, wiggling our toes in the sand, and just hanging out with our friends, the Josh Damron and Wayland Damron families. While we were there, we had a photographer take beach pictures of us, and a few of them are now posted on her BLOG. And because I know you want to see, I am sharing the link.

www.aleighphotography.blogspot.com

Her pictures speak volumes when it comes to her talent, but I will throw in that her personality and ability to handle kids in the sand was equally impressive.

Lastly, I am still hoping to get vacation snapshots posted soon, along with 4th of July pics and a move update.

Hamlin Pied Pipers

Yes, I have been absent for a while; we have been busy. Let's see, I graduated, took (and passed) the NAPLEX, went on vacation (a post on that to hopefully follow soon), and took the law exam today. But that is not all! We are moving to Hamlin!!

I know...I know...you have questions.

Where in the world is that? Well, it is near Abilene, but more importantly, near Stamford. If you know us, that is significant as Jeremy is from Stamford and my parents are from Stamford/Sagerton and make frequent trips back there.

Why are you moving there? It all happened very quickly, basically within the last week. Jeremy interviewed for, was offered, accepted, and was approved by the board for the head baseball position there.

When do you move? Not sure yet. We are in the process of putting our house on the market and signing a contract on a house in Hamlin.

That is all the questions you get to ask for now, as our house goes on the market tomorrow and I have much cleaning and straightening to do. But I might let you ask a few more later...

Finally, I apologize for the impersonal nature of our announcement. I hope to get a few phonecalls made, to tell you what you already know, in the next few days!!

Dr. Laura Kate Mueller

What an amazing, surreal, and emotional weekend it has been! I graduated from pharmacy school!! But it really wasn't just me. On many levels, my family and friends also graduated with me as they have been by my side every step of the way. Therefore, my graduation weekend festivities were made that much more special because Jeremy and Abby, Mom and Daddy, and Larry and Susan were all able to attend them with me. I will keep the actual graduation details brief (Luncheon and Hooding Ceremony on Friday and Graduation on Saturday), but I am going to include a slideshow of some of the great pictures that were taken and tell a story that I have been crying over for 2 days now.

Slideshow:

Story:

After I left the hotel for graduation on Saturday morning, Abby wanted to get me a present, so Jeremy and his parents took her to Wal-Mart to pick something out. If you can see the necklace (and earrings) in this picture you can see what she chose. If you know me, you know that it really is not my style but you will soon see why I will cherish (and wear) it. Upon my opening it, Abby was just beaming...and talking 100 mph. So I got down on her level and asked her what she was needing to tell me. She said, "Mama, your friends got necklaces yesterday and they never called your name. I wanted you to have one like your friends to wear for graduation. See (pointing to the pendant), it is like theirs." She was referring to those in my class who had received honors and were presented with medallions. I don't think she could have given me a more special or thoughtful gift. And according to Jeremy, they tried to get her to switch to about 6 other necklaces, but she would have nothing to do with such; she knew exactly what she wanted!

Oh, and one other thing, Abby also kept telling me all weekend, "Mama, you dance good on stage." Ha!

4 Year Well Check

Abby Grace went to the pediatrician today for her 4 year check-up. She weighs 37 1/2 pounds (75%) and is 41 1/2" tall (90%). One thing about it, she is consistent with her percentiles! I was a little sad, though, as we traded head circumference in for blood pressure this year. I guess that is what comes with growing up. Overall, she got a great report, and 3 immunizations, a few tears, and a lot of "OWIEs" later, we were off to the new play area at church to play.