School Halloween Carnival

Audrey's school does the best Halloween carnival every year. They really go all out and Audrey was old enough this year to actually be looking forward to it all week. She woke up yesterday saying "Carnival Day!"

Her favorite movie is Tangled, and when we asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween, she replied "Tangled". Well, Tangled really isn't a person honey, but we knew she meant Rupunzel. It was so much fun to set out her costume in the morning and hear her talk about what all of her friends were going to be at the carnival.

Here she is, ready to go!

With one of her wonderful teachers, Miss Veronica

Look who we found . . our bff Sara, I mean Snow White!

playing games . . .

With her other amazing teacher, Miss Ginger

Yay for bubbles!

Now who's ready for a weekend of Wells' first birthday party, a toddler Hall0ween party, a visit from Uncle Eric and Aunt Amanda, and then Halloween?!!

Thank You

I just wanted to take a minute to thank those of you who have reached out to me since my last blog post about James and I divorcing. Divorce is such a hard thing, and sometimes the easiest thing to do is to just not talk about it. But I have been consistently amazed at the outpouring of love and support I have gotten from so many of you. Some of you that I haven't even talked to in years. It means so much to me to have us in your thoughts and prayers. Just today I got another e-mail from an old coworker expressing her support and it was much needed after a long day.

Audrey and I are doing really well, and it's just so nice to hear the encouragement, because at first I was embarrassed to put it out there. So thank you blog readers and friends for being so supportive! :)

Outtakes

Out to eat with Mommy . . . like M0mmy, like daughter, we both love our chips and salsa!

Uncle Eric and Grammy at dinner

watching "Tangled" of course

{love}

Uncle Eric's Visit

My brother and I are almost 5 years apart, but I would say we are pretty close. We talk frequently and I always love spending time with him. He lives in Tulsa, so we don't get to see him as much as we would like, but every visit is fun! Audrey has a special bond with her "Unc Eric" as she calls him. She was asking all week when he would be here. And the minute he got here they got to playing!

Playing in her toy house . . .
Eating ice cream . . . outside . . . in the 110 degree weather . . . now that's love! ;)

And the swimming! We went swimming twice with Auds and she just had so much fun!!!

Can't wait til the next visit! :)

The Help

Wow is all I can say about this movie. The book was incredibly moving and the movie was everything I hoped it would be. But no movie review I could do would be better than the one my friend Katie did. Go to her website to read:
http://thebrittainbuzz.blogspot.com

The End of Summer

Our wonderful summer is coming to an end, so I tried to capture all of our fun moments in one day. Mainly because it was that one day that was below 100!!

Audrey loved riding her Dora tricycle . . .Blowing bubbles and dancing outside . .

And her absolute FAVE was eating ice cream outside. YUMMY!!!

She also was a big swimmer this year, but I didn't get any pictures, b/c I was the one in the pool with her!! I can't believe the summer went by so fast!

Happy 2 1/2 Birthday Audrey Elizabeth!

Last week, Audrey turned 2 1/2! She is growing up just so too fast these days. Sometimes (well, most times) I wish she had a mid-year birthday. The holidays are so busy, and then BOOM it's her birthday and she gets a slew of gifts and excitement all at one time. But then I have students who complain about their summer birthdays, so who knows? So we are going to celebrate her 1/2 birthday as well! Why not, right? ;)

Audrey, here are some words I would use to describe you at this stage in your life:

• INDEPENDENT! Holy cow do you want to do things on your own. One of your favorite phrases is "No, I do it!!!" said in a very very independent tone. ;) You want to do everything on your own, which is scary and a bit time consuming.


• Smart. Oh my goodness are you smart. I know that every parent says this about their child (I've witnessed it) but I really believe you are above average in your intellectual ability. As soon as we moved into the new house, you walked up the stairs and said "12!" Grammy and I couldn't believe that yes, you counted the 12 stairs correctly, in your head. You can count to 20 in English and Spanish and you have awesome 1 to 1 counting. You actually *know* what 8 means. We are so proud of you!


• Social. You want nothing else than to be around your friends and other kiddos. You don't care if they're 2 or 10, you just want to play! I love how you just run up to a new friend and want to play. I hope you always keep this open mind and outgoing spirit.


• Artistic. You get this from your Daddy. Your favorite thing to do is color and paint and you can sit for up to 45 minutes doing either. You woke up at 6:45 this morning yelling "I need to color!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And you got right to it:

I love this picture of you from Bridgette's birthday party. You were a painting rockstar! :)

Things you are into right now are: Princesses, coloring, painting, Cars!, Dora and Diego still a bit, playing in your kitchen, and then coloring some more! You also love to swim and dance.

Happy 2 1/2 Birthday Auds!!!!! :) We love you!!