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Avery decided she would help us out today and I really think this might be the first time she has actually painted!
She really enjoyed it and didn't do too bad of a job.
You can see in the picture how the paint is just not covering well. It is beyond frustrating at this point. Two coats of primer, three coats of paint and the walls look like that?!?
We decided to take a break and enjoy Memorial Day by heading over to Jimmy and Jane's this afternoon. We swam and just visited for a few hours which was such a welcome change of pace after the busy weekend working on Avery's room. We were excited to see Stephanie's boyfriend, Matt, there too - he's a painter! It didn't take any time at all for me to ask him to come over, take a look at the room, and let us know if he would be interested in finishing it up for us. Truthfully, I didn't care how much it cost at this point! We blew our entire weekend working in there and didn't see any end in sight.
Matt stopped by and said it wouldn't take him more than a few hours to finish it up plus he would touch up the ceiling and paint the doors and trim work as well. Sign me up!!! He plans to stop by tomorrow afternoon to start work. Ah, a sigh of relief! Really, what was I thinking?!?
Painting.
Painting.
Painting.
That's what Wes and I did ALL day and ALL night long. Again, I think I finally crawled to my bed sometime after midnight...maybe.
The sad part? We still have LOTS more painting to do! Even after making a trip to Home Depot this morning to get new, darker primer (which meant yet another coat of primer), it's still not covering thoroughly. As of right now, the walls each have two coats of paint on them. Really, how much more will it take? I have enough paint for one more coat and that's it! {sigh}
I'm seriously beginning to question my ability to successfully finish this project. That's something that I've never done before, but this is really making me doubt myself. Not sure if it's the fact that we're still so exhausted from just finishing softball and returning from Six Flags or what, but it's about to do me in.
Avery went to Jubilee KidsFest with her NaNa, PaPa, and Bowman today. She also decided to spend the night with them.
Instead of enjoying our quiet house, Wes and I decided to inflict torture upon ourselves. After MUCH delay on the part of two parents, the makeover in Avery's room has finally started. If you recall, part of her birthday present was to have her room painted. She went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on paints before deciding on two completely different shades of pink and purple than her original selections.
I'm sure you are asking, "what could be so hard about painting a room?" That would be a sensible question to ask. However, you have to keep in mind that the walls were striped in two different shades of pink. What does that mean? Well, it means that the darker pink paint is thicker than the lighter pink paint. It also means that you can't simply "paint over" the stripes. Oh no...you have to sand them down to even out the walls. We also took down all of the shelves, spackled in the holes, and really just worked to "clean up" the walls.
Oh, don't let the fact that ALL the pictures are of Wes fool you! I did a lot of work too. I just didn't dare ask Wes to take any pictures :)
As you can also tell by the pictures, we worked on the ceiling too. Wes painted it and it really soaked up the paint which is not surprising considering it hasn't been painted in probably twelve years. Know what else soaks up ceiling paint? Carpet. Yep, it REALLY does. Ask Wes, he can tell you all about it. I would like to think Avery's bed will cover that big spot, but it looks like we will be investing in a rug to compliment the new room makeover.
I did manage to get one coat of primer up before calling it a night at about 1:00 in the morning. Hopefully tomorrow will be smooth sailing and we can enjoy this holiday weekend.
After a whirlwind last week of school and end to softball, I found out that my sweet Angel Bug earned straight A's for the entire school year! To celebrate this huge accomplishment, I surprised her with a day trip to Six Flags over Georgia.
We woke up early Friday morning and hit the road. Avery couldn't wait to get there - we measured her several times Thursday night and again Friday morning - and talked numerous times about the fact that she might not be tall enough to ride everything. She's right there at 54" which is the minimum height for quite a few of the roller coasters.
We arrived just as they opened and didn't have to stand in line for tickets since I purchased them online the day before (VERY good decision). We headed straight to the gates and were inside in no time at all. Avery immediately informed me that she wanted to ride Goliath, one of the new coasters. Wow, that was one BIG steel coaster!
Can you tell it was a little warm today? This was early and we were already yucky from sweat! She LOVED the ride though. Of course, I knew she would but it was still music to my ears to hear her squeals of laughter as we zoomed over the track! This was one of the 54" coasters and she had no trouble meeting the height requirement on it. However, when we headed over to ride Batman, they turned us away because she wasn't tall enough.
Even though we talked and talked and talked about it in advance, Avery was still devastated and my heart broke for her.
We headed over and rode the Mindbender a few times (which just so happens to be the very first coaster I ever rode as a little girl). She thought the upside down loops were "so cool" and really liked it!
We rode Goliath a few more times over the course of the day and headed back over to Batman for another try. This time, she had no problems with the height requirement when she was measured. Although it was frustrating from our first experience, I was just thankful she got the opportunity to ride this amazing suspended coaster!
Since it was "Avery's Day" in celebration of her awesome grades, I let her basically make the decisions all day long. We walked past numerous rides that I would ask if she wanted to ride and the answer was always the same, "no ma'am, only roller coasters." I did manage to get her on Monster Plantation and the Log Flumes (only because we wanted to cool off for a few minutes). We were planning to ride Thunder River, but that's about the same time that the rain hit with full on thunder and lightening. Needless to say, we didn't get a chance to do that ride this time.
Recap of our rides:
Goliath - 5 times
Batman - 2 times
Mindbender - 3 times
Georgia Cyclone - 2 times
Great American Scream Machine - 1 time
Ninja - once (that was 1 time too many)
Although we were soaking wet by the time we made it to the car, it was simply an amazing day (complete with MANY blisters for Mom)!
Ah, the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! The kids only went a half day, but thankfully extended day ran for the other half.
Wes called me after dropping Avery off and said she did fine. Of course, I was wondering what he was talking about. Leave it to me to totally not realize that today was her last day at Saint James. Wes said it didn't even seem to phase Avery which is wonderful and reinforces that we made a good decision for next year. I still couldn't help but to cry when I hung up the phone. This has been "our" school for the past four years and the change will probably be harder on me than it will on her. However, the fact that Avery adapts easily and adjusts simply reminds me that I should and will do the same.
Tonight was the final championship game for Avery's team. They were playing Russell Construction who finished second best in the league (7-7). I had no doubt that our team would beat them just like we had the previous two times we faced them and I was right!
The girls came out ready and determined to win! The final score was 12-3!!! With this win, Ambassador Awards won the Montgomery Gray Angels League Tournament in addition to the regular season!
The girls were each awarded individual trophies for their league championship win. The team was awarded a trophy for winning the regular season and our sponsor, Ambassador Awards, was awarded a trophy for the tournament win. I took a picture of pretty much every single player along side all of the trophies :) They were SO proud (and rightfully so)!!!
Wes was pretty excited when Donna told him that the trophy was his to keep!Looks like we might have to work on building some shelving for all these trophies!
Look at this "old school" Mello Yello I came across in the vending machine downstairs today.
I was planning to get a diet drink, but couldn't pass this up. It reminds me so much of the cans they had when I was growing up. I ended up only drinking about a third of the bottle before just throwing it out though. I guess I have gotten use to drinking mostly water with an occasional diet drink tossed in. Don't get me wrong...that's a GREAT thing!
Tonight was the meeting for All-Star selections. Wes was nominated and selected to coach the Angels (9-10 yr olds) and Avery made the team as well!!! She wasn't sure at first that she wanted to play this year - it is a HUGE time commitment. However, she thought it over and decided to play after all (phew, considering we would be at the field ALL the time with Wes anyway).
Tomorrow is the LAST day of school! Wow, where has this year gone?
We are down to the last few days of school and let me tell ya, the kids are READY! Avery tells me every single morning, only x more days of school left. This morning, she quickly announced that there were only TWO more days of school!!!
Tonight, our team played their first tournament game against Montgomery Living. Wow, what a nail biter this game turned out to be!
Avery did a great job and really came through for us with a clutch hit in the last inning to bring in the winning run.
With this win, we move on to the championship game scheduled for Thursday night. The team is super excited (and so is Wes)!! Seriously, how great would it be to win the regular season and league tournament?!? OK, OK, I'm not going to get too excited and count my chickens before they hatch, but I know that we can win this thing!
After Avery's sunburn, these are our two new best friends.
I am pleased to welcome oatmeal bath treatments and Aloe with Lidocaine into our home. They have provided Avery tremendous comfort and it appears that she will be using them for many days to come!
Josie invited Avery to stay over most of the day again today and swim. It didn't take much to figure out the answer to that one - a big ole YES. Avery LOVES to be in the water. She came home mid afternoon after swimming for another 6-7 hours today. However, today she was not quite as good about making sure that the sunscreen was applied.
She was fried. I am really waiting for her to blister up into a sun poisoning rash. It happened last year and was not fun at all. I'm hoping that we can keep her fairly cool and not too hot. Otherwise, the heat worsens it and before you know it...there are these nasty bumps all over the place. Hopefully we can stay away from that this time. I caked her in aloe as soon as she got home, right after her bath, and again before bed.
Looks like fun times ahead...
Today was the final regular season game for our team. We had to play an AUM team (Bulldogs) at AUM in the heat of the day.
Our girls were ready after that marathon game they played Tuesday night. They came out strong, played hard, and put a 17-7 win on the board. What a way to end the regular season!!!
We had a cookie cake and cokes to celebrate their first place finish. Isn't this cake just the cutest?!?
Here's a quick photo of the #1 team in the league.
Way to go Ambassador Awards. I'm so proud of how Avery has advanced this season. Playing up with the older girls (9-10 yr olds) was definitely the right decision. She learned so much and pushed herself more than she ever would have if we had let her stay down with the younger girls (7-8 yr olds). I can't even put into words how proud I am of Wes. He has coached these girls up so well. He worked with each one of them, determined their strengths, and played them up. What an amazing season!
After the game, Avery ended up going with Josie to her Dad's to swim. They invited her to spend the night after swimming for SIX hours. She's gonna be one tired little girl!
Wes took his truck in earlier this week to get the damage from his accident back in April repaired. He was so excited to get it back today and proudly pulled up in the driveway tonight. I think he was just as excited that they washed it for him! However, he did point out that they missed putting Armor All on one tire. How funny is that?!?
I was excited for him though and know he's glad to have it back.
However, as I was walking around looking at the repair work, I quickly noticed several problems. There was TONS of over spray - on the interior side of the truck bed, on the tailgate. There were paint drips down the side of the truck body. Wes just looked at me. I'm not sure if he was irritated or proud that I noticed it. I'm kinda guessing it would be the first option. Needless to say, it will be going back for some touch ups.
Wes went to wake Avery up this morning and quickly came to get me along with the camera. He said, "you've GOT to get pictures of this." Of course, not one to miss a photo opportunity, I was more than happy to oblige.
Anyone that has had the pleasure of sleeping with Avery knows that it will not be a "restful" slumber. We all know that she tosses, turns, talks, hits, kicks, and who knows what else during the night. However, we were still surprised to walk in and find her sound asleep like this. I was even more surprised that the camera didn't wake her up - it usually does.
When we got home this afternoon, Avery pulled out one of her birthday gifts - a stamp set. We (and that really means I) cleaned off my old desk and she quickly set up shop and got to work.
She created all kinds of masterpieces and books. Best of all, she had a grand time!
Today I managed to capture a picture of our sweet Lady. This may seem like no big deal, but that is sooo not true. She is impossible to photograph. The minute the camera comes out and especially once the flash goes off or the clicking begins, it's over...she just gets so excited and crazy acting.
Needless to say, I am quite happy with this shot.
Avery had a game tonight against an AUM team (Blue Angels) that we knew would be tough. We beat them pretty easily the first time we played them, but Wes had a feeling it wouldn't be quite the same this time around. Boy was he right! The game started at 6:00 and they are schedule to last 75 minutes and then they finish out the inning, so typically a game will last around an hour and a half and between 3-4 innings.
They were tied and ended up going EIGHT innings for a total of two and a half hours before losing. Our girls played their hearts out and fought hard, but the other team was just able to push through a little harder at the end. I was still unbelievably proud of every single girl on the team for their effort!!!
It's hard to believe that school is winding down. Less than two weeks left and Avery is counting down the days!
Avery surprised us with cinnamon toast for breakfast this morning.
Such a sweet girl!
Wes and I enjoyed getting to sleep in a little bit this morning.
We grabbed a quick lunch at our fave Mexican place, Jalapenos and then ran to Winn Dixie to pick up a few things. We also returned our RedBox rentals from yesterday and picked up one more. Wow, I'm SO not use to this!
I don't have an actual picture for today, but I do have a product of what I did today - scrap! You've already seen two of my pages that I scrapped today (the bowling pages posted Friday). Here's another one that I worked on today.
click here for credits and journaling
I've done really good so far this year, but this scrapping competition has really kicked my hiney. I'll try to do better, but...
Avery didn't make it home until after 4:00. Syd fell asleep in the car on the way back, but not Avery. She even told Mrs. Julie that she hoped she could go swimming when she got home. What?!? They swam for over 6 hours today! I really do think this child is a fish.
I woke up with a migraine this morning, quickly took an Imitrex, and headed back to bed for a bit. A few minutes later (around 8:45), the phone rings. I forgot that I'm Officer of the Day at the ballpark and there's already a problem.
Of course I jump out of bed, grab a quick shower, and quickly head to the field arriving right at 9:00. Turns out there was an error and two games were scheduled on the same field at the same time.
If you think grown ups act like adults, you are sooo wrong. You would think this was major league ball and there was money on the line based on how some of these folks acted. After an hour and a half, the situation was resolved and games were being played.
Would that be the end of my O of the D problems? Nope. Let's see - a teenager was pick pocketed ($200 stolen), parents almost got into a fight following a game, and there was a dispute with an umpire regarding calling a game due to time.
On the upside, my migraine was quickly the least of my concerns!
Avery also had a game today against a team that hasn't won a single game all season. Wes made the decision to pitch some of our girls that really haven't pitched before and it didn't go too well for us. We took our second loss of the season with a score of 6-13. Seriously though, our fielding and batting should have kept us in the game. I think the girls all got a little lazy thinking they "had" the game and it was an "easy team." They didn't hit well, their fielding stunk, and it just wasn't a good game for us.
On the complete opposite end, a team that would have finished the season without a single win, beat the best team in the league. How awesome is that?!?
My picture is probably something that Avery is going to kill me for later, but it represents today.
When Avery got the fields today, she realized that she forgot to put deodorant on. Wes ran back home to get it and I helped her put it on when he got back. Once she lifted her arm I knew what we would be doing when we got home.
Seriously, how did I miss this?
Like I said...this is our today.
A great ending to the day though...Sydney invited Avery to go to the lake with her AND spend the night!! It took all of .001 seconds for a YES from Avery!
I did my WalMart shopping this afternoon and picked up two RedBox movies to watch tonight. And that's exactly what we did - it was completely relaxing.
Today was Avery's third grade year end party. They decided to have it at Ace Bowling Center and the kids had a blast. Personally, I thought it was a little much considering they just had a huge field trip yesterday.
Each kid was assigned a lane and their names were already programmed in (which was SO nice). Avery wasn't paired up with any of her good friends, but she made the best of it. She won the first game with a 112 score, but didn't do quite so well the second and third games.
Typically, I would show you photos of the day. However, I have actually already made LO's so you get to see those instead :)
Look what was in my bed this morning.
I enjoyed her cuddling with me the past few nights, but it's time to head back to her own bed tonight. That's always the toughest part - sending her back to sleep alone :(
It was so good to have Wes back home tonight though! Of course, we had ball practice but that's alright.
Guess what else I got back today? My truck!! Turned out to be just the battery - woo hoo!! Total cost = $180 because they had to run diagnostic testing on it, but that's a lot better than it could've been. What was so strange is that NONE of the battery gauges or indicators were lit up or unusual. End result, it's fixed AND clean!!
You know what today is...glasses day!
Avery begged and pleaded and begged some more for me to pick her up early from school.
No such luck. Regular time as usual kiddo. I'm already getting to work 30 minutes late since I'm taking you to school with Dad out of town.
It took all of 3 minutes for them to fit Avery and we were out the door again. I waited until we got home to take any pictures :)
I can't get over how grown up she looks.Can you see the hot pink and purple on the frames?
Avery is IN LOVE with her glasses and that makes me happy.
We are still surviving without Wes, but I have an addition to my bed. Actually make that two additions - Avery and Princess. They are a package deal ya know.
I noticed the reminder magnet on our fridge last week for Avery's annual eye exam today. I picked her up after school and we headed to the doctor's office. We had to wait about 20 minutes, so Avery tried on just about every single pair of frames in the kids area - that girl is silly.
Turns out, after her exam, that she needs glasses. It's strange because she is nearsighted, but she needs reading glasses. Dr. Jackson explained it to me and I completely understood, but I can't explain it again now. This is a quick photo after the drops (sooo not happy - "they burn").
To say Avery is excited would be a complete understatement. She was literally bouncing in the chair as he was telling me!
We head back out front to look at frames. Good thing she had already checked some out, huh? She didn't really see anything she loved, so they headed to the back and came out with about 50 pair of frames. Totally NOT kidding and Avery tried on all of them.
After an hour (which was more time than we spent with the doctor), she narrowed it down to two frames before deciding on a precious pair. I must admit that once I saw the cost of the others ($238), I was quite happy with her choice too($138)!
Avery fully expected to leave this afternoon with her glasses. Luckily, they have the lenses in stock and we can pick them up tomorrow afternoon.
To top the afternoon off, my car started acting up and I had to take it to the shop. Thankfully, they gave me a loaner until they can take a look at mine. Initially, it seems to be an electrical issue - ack!
So, Wes headed to Savannah yesterday for his conference. The phone rang bright and early this morning and he was NOT happy. Turns out the conference doesn't start until tomorrow - he arrived a day early.
Did I mention yesterday that as he was leaving, I noticed his arrival date on the hotel reservation had TODAY's date? He immediately ran inside, called, and reserved a room for last night. Well, that will be $200+ out of our pocket now - YIKES!!
Lesson learned from this little mix up? Always check, double check, and triple check everything. Oh, and don't rush to fix things either!
On the up side, at least Wes has a free day to explore Savannah :)
Avery had a ballgame tonight and this was the first one that Wes missed. She played A-MA-ZING!! At second, she stopped a line drive for an out at first and then stopped a second line drive to tag a girl out running from first to second. I was SUPER proud of her!! On top of that, the team won 12-3 but it was a tough game. I think 7 or 8 of our points were put on the board in the 3rd inning. {phew}
Alrighty, my picture of the day....
This is one of the shrubs on the side of our house. I normally have a flag that hangs from the house, but last fall we noticed that it had gotten a little shredded and tangled in the shrub so we just took it down. Shortly after that, Wes noticed that the shrub was turning brown. Here we are several months later and it's obvious that this shrub is dying. I can't imagine that the flag caused it, but all the "damage" is right where the flag started.
All I do know is this is not going to be fun to remove!
Happy Mother's Day!!
Wes and Avery woke me up with the most delicious breakfast in bed.
Avery wanted to make a smilie face plate for me and it was wonderful. She even came up with the idea to change out the plate we made for Wes a few years ago by adding "Mo" over the "Fa" to make it say "Mother's Day." Seriously, how sweet is that?!?
We had a wonderful morning leading up to Wes leaving for his trip to Savannah. He'll be there until Thursday for a work conference. I wonder what kind of trouble Avery and I will get into while he's gone this week?
Avery did have Sydney come over and play for a few hours this afternoon. It sounds silly, but it was kinda nice to have a little break since they occupied themselves and it gave Julie a break too.
Wow, today was a busy day!
Avery was up bright and early to work on a project - for me :) - for Mother's Day. Luckily, she was able to get to work without my assistance right off the bat!
Notice the paint on her face and hands?
She had a 10:00 ballgame that she played great in! They won 12-2 and are still in 1st place in league standings!!
After her ballgame, everyone (John, Carol, Mama Bill, Papa John, Brian, Mollie, and Bowman) came over to our house to celebrate Mother's Day. The kids played on the Slip 'n Slide, but Bowman got cold and changed before I could get any pics of him. I did snap a few of Avery since she never gets cold and would live in water if allowed :)
We ate a delicious lunch of BBQ, ribs, burgers, hot dogs, and all kinds of fixin's to go with it. I made a new pie that was to.die.for. yummy! I'm craving it just thinking about it as I type. {uh oh}
Everyone opened cards and gifts, but somehow I managed to NOT take a single picture of that or of us as a group. Seriously, that never happens. I think it was just the rush of getting the food together, trying to watch the kids play, visiting, etc. Oh well, there were lots of good memories!!
Everyone stayed until early evening. Brian and Mollie had plans to eat dinner at Bonefish and invited us to join them. Although I was stuffed from lunch, we decided to go along for the company. After an hour wait to be seated, I did end up getting a salad and crab cake, but couldn't eat even half of either of them. We had a wonderful dinner out with them. It totally erased all the pressure and stress of the day and put me in a FAB mood. I went to bed relaxed and that's something that doesn't happen too often.
Check out my early Mother's Day present!
I got my own set of wheels!! Ever since Avery learned to ride her bike, she has been wanting us to get bikes too AND she wants to ride e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. we go. I figured it couldn't be too hard to learn to ride again right?
Of course, we had to go for a ride as soon as I got home tonight. I'll admit, my balance was a bit off to start but I quickly remembered what to do.
I'll say it was a success simply because I didn't fall off!
Does anyone else hang clothes up to dry? I dry most of our clothese this way on a handy little drying rack which ends up outside when the weather is nice - kinda like yesterday afternoon.
So, why am I telling you today what I did yesterday? Because this is what I woke up to when I let the dogs out back this morning.
Woopsie, I forgot to bring the clothes back in last night. There's nothing wrong with a little overnight dew, right?
On occasion, I will buy the little mac and cheese cups that you add water to and microwave (when I find them on sale). She gets one every few weeks since they are a "special treat." Avery asked me to send her mac & cheese for lunch today. The funny thing is, she doesn't like to "cook" it at school. So, I prepare it in the morning and place it in a thermos or something similar to keep it warm.
Today, Avery asked me to please send her mac & cheese in her "Jasmine thing" as shown here.
Yep, it would be an Aladdin thermos. It makes me smile just thinking about it now. Knowing that at 9 years old, she still says these funny little things.
Avery had ball practice tonight. I decided we were going out afterwards to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Obviously everyone else in town had the exact same idea as me! Needless to say, we ended up eating at Chappy's! On the upside, we ran into tons of people there and actually ended up eating dinner with Sydney and her mom.
They had just finished ball practice too (hence the icky looks on both of them). Avery was in heaven.
Obviously the ducks enjoyed the dinner Avery provided them last week because we had one return today. This was in our driveway/side yard when Avery and I got home from school.
She quickly ran in to get some bread to feed it :) I just think it's so sweet that the joy and excitement of this NEVER gets old for Avery. Seeing things through the eyes of a child is simply amazing.
Avery had a game tonight and it seems like her batting is finally coming back around. The girls played extremely well at AUM and ended up with a 20-11 win!! It was a super late night since the game didn't start until 7:30. Avery didn't make it to bed until 10:00. Yuck for in the morning :(
Our team is now 8-1 and ranked in 1st place which is just fantastic - way to go Ambassador Awards!!!
