3 years already?!

Despite my best attempts to keep up, I always seem to fall behind. It's already December and I have yet to post a solitary thing. No time like the present to ditch old habit.

I can't believe that 3 years ago yesterday I was trying to convince Aaron and my mom to to turn off the TV and take me to the hospital. Contractions started at dinner out to Applebees and kept on until I asked to go to the hospital around 9 pm. While things progressed slowly at first once my water was broken it seemed like just minutes until Avery was born! How lucky we were and are to have such a happy person enter our lives.  In an effort to track both the girls changes over the years to come, I'm going to try to embark on a new tradition...a survey taken each birthday to try to capture each of their interests. A snapshot in time if you will since I can't prevent it from quickly passing by.

Avery Ebhelin Mason
12/9/2013

1. How old are you? 3
2. Favorite animal? Elephant
3. Favorite thing to do? Trains
4. What do you love most/why do you love Kendall? Because she is so sweet
5. Favorite color? Pink
6. Favorite movie? Fern Gully
7. Favorite book? Pigeon
8. What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to poop in the potty.
9. Who do you love? Kendall
10. Favorite food? Pizza
11. Favorite toy? Dolls
12. Favorite food? Grapes
13. Favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
14. Favorite holiday? School
15. Favorite game? Little Red Riding Hood
16. Favorite restaurant? Grandma's
17. Favorite place to go? Grandma's
18. What color is you hair? Pink
19. Favorite drink? Lemonade
20. Favorite number? 8

Well that's Avery in a nut shell. We love her.

The Farmer and the Dell

 Halloween 2013 - or any Halloween for that matter, wouldn't be complete without pumpkins!

October was nice here, so we headed out to Clinton Sease Farm with Gma and Gpa who had never been.

 This one is for you - Great Grandpa Wayne.

 We didn't do the big corn maze, but this smaller one was just as fun...the goal was to reach each of the 5 stations where you could color each one of your fingers a different color.

 But, the best part was the slide!

 Even daddy liked it.

 Avery got so good, she decided to be adventurous and go down backwards.

And here is Kendall reading Dick and Jane to Avery.

Apple Mtn 2013

 A few weeks ago we headed to Clarksville/Helen GA to stay at Apple Mountain Resort. Along the way we stopped several places to take in the sites. Here we are at a orchard feeding goats, racing ducks, and playing cornhole.

 Of course no trip would be complete without a stop at Cabbage Patch Kids. The girls had a blast again.

 While in Helen for their Oktoberfest, Gpa Bob bought the girls a 'can of nuts' at the magic shop. Avery was surprised to find it wasn't really nuts. But the ice cream a little later made up for the scare.

 We took in some dancing and authentic German food.

 Portrait by Kendall.

 And of course...Goats on a Roof!

The girls both agreed their favorite part was the watching the momma kitty carry her brand new baby kittens from the roof to the store by the scruff of their necks. So cute! All in all it was a great time!

Fall 2013

 Gma and Avery putting together a puzzle.  Both the girls have gotten really good at puzzles.

 Kendall practicing her letters using an App on the Ipad.  Her memory is amazing and I swear she has all the little songs/jingles memorized for each of the letters. 

Avery's personality is changing a lot lately.  She is becoming so much more independent and self assured.  She no longer copies everything Kendall does.  That also means they fight more. But even with those battles, the girls still have their moments where they can play so well with one another. I love that they are so close in age and will have each other as play mates (and hopefully friends) as they grow up. 

 We recently got a new trundle bed off craigslist and retired/sold the old car bed.  Avery loves her new big girl bed.  They haven't yet had a reason or opportunity to be roommates (that is, to pull out the trundle and sleep together) - we will see how that goes. 

 Avery on her way to preschool.  Avery really seems to like her new school. The other day I got an email message from her new teacher telling me what she did along with a picture of her at school. Meant so much to know to me that they took the time to share how she is doing. Everyday she asks me if I am 'going to work today' to which I reply 'yes' and she informs me that 'you don't want to go to work today' - not going to lie, breaks my heart a little every time!

 We've barely started potty training...she just doesn't seem really ready or interested.  I don't think it will be too much longer.

We recently went to a great event sponsored by the Lexington Recreation and Aging Commission. An overnight camp out at a local soccer field, complete with smores and a movie (the Croods). Despite the awesome night and great time, the girls opted out of spending the night in the tent, so we took down the tent and headed back home...both were just so tired after a long week! We woke up the next morning and headed to mom and dad's for a garage sale (the second one in two weeks) where we successfully got rid of nearly all of our stuff...even made a little money.

Here is Avery being silly and repeating a series of lines from the movie Merida. It isn't exactly correct, but cute just the same! 

Kendall is amazing us every day with how much and what she is learning at school. She has progressed from the continents to learning metal insets, addition (no joke, she can actually add numbers), and all about apples.  She can tell you all about the various kinds of apples...their correct names, what they look like, etc. The other day she mentioned learning a new lesson using dominoes. So, I pulled out the Mexican Dominoes game and had her 'teach' me the lesson - to count and write out the numbers from each side of the domino...place value! After my lesson, I decided to have some fun and 'teach' her how to make a long line of dominoes and then knock them down. We have parent teacher conferences next week. I am very much looking forward to learning more about her lessons. She has also taken to calling me on the way home with daddy to ask me about what we are having for dinner. It is just surreal to have an actual conversation with her on the phone - she is getting to be such a big kid.

Back to School 2013

Well it is back to school time...a few weeks ago now even. 

Kendall was excited to return...this year as one of the bigger kids in her class.  She has the same teacher as last year - Ms. Gleaton.  So far Kendall's highlights are bringing her own lunch box (princess of course) a day or two a week, Math, the insect bug (not really sure what this is yet), and the afterschool program. She is also doing really well at reading her Dick and Jane book that Grammy bought her. 

In the meantime, we've tried to keep cool and enjoy the last remaining bits of summer. Mom and dad have posted several good pictures on their blog here.

We found out at the last minute that Avery would also be attending preschool this year. Two days a week for just 3 hours at a local Methodist Church's preschool program. I was able to drop her off on her first day. She did great...better than me who just couldn't take holding that little hand on the way in to drop her off. You'd think that I'd be old hat at this now...but, it was still tough!  So far I think she really enjoys it. Her highlights so far are the playground, new friend, baby dolls, and play dough.  Her teachers are Ms. LeeAnne and Ms. Wendy.

Aaron has started a new year as well to include a grad school class. I must admit I'll be glad when he finally has the degree...and pay raise. He has the same teaching partner as last year and teaches social studies and language arts again. I think this is the first time that his teacher responsibilities and partner have stayed the same for two consecutive years.

Things are tenuous at work for me (with so many recent changes stemming from a new Director about a year ago), but I continue to stick it out and try to remember that I am lucky to have a job that I like. That is the news from our neck of the woods. I'll try to be better about posting regular updates and maybe even some videos of the girls. I have to admit that having the iphone makes posting pictures so easy to facebook that it makes the blog seem a little more irrelevant, but it remains a good way to reach everyone and to record the happenings of our lives.