Hoppy Saturday!

I have this thing about going to the mall every Easter as well as Christmas and having the girls photos taken with the very same Bunny or Santa depending on the season. I buy the package of photos and every year, at the appropriate season, I pull out all of those photos and set them up for us all to look at and remember how much we liked or didn't like Mr. Bunny at the time. It's a nice way of chronicling my girls' growth and actually something that I look forward to each year as the seasons approach

 This morning we added a little something to our traditional visit to the mall Easter Bunny;  a stop at Bravo Italian restaurant to have breakfast with Mr. Bunny's Brother, Butterscotch. Our Mall Mr. Bunny is Peter Cottontail and is quite the busy fellow, so his brother Butterscotch happily obliged us with a fantastic breakfast.

 We then headed over to the mall for our traditional photo op with Mr. Cottontail. The girls love to see their fuzzy little, or not so little, friend. We are now ready to hunt eggs next Saturday when all of the Easter egg hunts begin!

Hope everyone has a very Hoppy Easter!

In God's Time

Last Thursday evening, I packed my bags, loaded up the car, said good-bye to the girls, Howie and dogs, and drove myself to a beautiful retreat site on Watt's Bar Lake called Grace Point in order to participate in a spiritual retreat called Cursillo. As I drove the 40 miles to the retreat site, I felt anxious. I was concerned I would be uncomfortable in my more rustic camp style accommodations. I am not a campy, rustic type girl. I know this, and more importantly, God knows this about me. I had even packed my travel iron (yes, I really did pack it) in hopes that perhaps I might be able to sneak in a bit of ironing while I was on my retreat. As I entered the gates of Grace Point, I prayed this simple prayer, "Dear Heavenly Father, I know that you know that I packed my iron and that perhaps that is really silly of me since I will be at a camp site this weekend. Please let me let go of my need to have my clothes ironed so that I can fully enjoy this weekend as you have meant for me to." I drove up the hill to my final destination and was greeted by many smiling faces of those who would be taking care of me on my weekend at Grace Point. I was led to the girls Tree House, and as I entered and was shown my bed, the lady said to me, "Amy honey, we have you set up right here. Did you request an outlet be near your bed?" I was shocked! No I hadn't requested an outlet, but sure enough, my bed was located next to one! I had read in my devotional that morning before coming to the retreat that no request is too small for God to be asked if we come to him with complete trust. No, I didn't ask for an outlet, but it was provided for me anyway. The simple thing of an electrical outlet graciously provided to me left me with a sense of peace that transcended any kind of understanding of my own making. We were asked to give up our other electronic devices and time pieces that weekend which I gladly relinquished. It was a weekend spent on God's time in which I was blessed over and over again with love, grace, renewal, and many gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is a time that I will always cherish and carry with me in my heart for the rest of my days here on earth. Although I can't fully explain the moments of grace that I experienced in my weekend I will say, it began with that one simple act of trust in letting God take care of all my needs and unfolded into a beautiful weekend walk with my Father in Heaven. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." ~Matthew 7:7

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Two years ago, Emma-Caroline came home from preschool all a flutter about how the leprechauns had gotten into the toys and books and had strewn them all over her classroom. They had also turned the milk green and had left gold coins and goodies for the kids to find. What??? I was shocked! I had never heard of the leprechauns doing such things. Apparently I was in the dark about the happenings of the little men in green in the classrooms around Knoxville.

 At the time, Emma-Caroline asked me if the leprechauns were going to be visiting our house. I was in a quandary. I didn't want to disappoint Emma-Caroline and her expectations of the funny things the leprechaun might do at our house, but we were getting ready to put our home on the market to sell and I wasn't about to have a leprechaun "mess up" my house! The leprechaun instead visited the back of Howie's car leaving treats and goodies for the girls in all colors of the rainbow. Thus began our leprechaun tradition here at the Avery House.

 Leprechauns do indeed come to our house, but they are particularly fond of Howie's Volvo and leaving treats for the girls there. Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. We picked Sophie up at preschool and she couldn't stop talking about those silly leprechauns and all of the stuff they had done in her classroom. Last night, Sophie said, "Mommy, do you think the leprechauns are going to pinch me in my sleep?" Just to be sure that they wouldn't, Sophie dressed herself in a green tinker bell night gown.

 This morning, the leprechauns did not disappoint. Outside in the back of Howie's Volvo station wagon were all sorts of goodies for the girls left by the leprechaun.

 Sophie squealed in delight that the leprechauns had been to our house. I actually don't think I've ever seen her more excited! I'm so glad we celebrate this little tradition at our house now. It's so much fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Taking the Training Wheels Off

This past weekend, Emma-Caroline requested that her Daddy take the training wheels off of her bike and that he teach her to ride it two-wheeler style. 

 After church on Sunday, we took Emma-Caroline up to the cul-de-sac and so began to path to being truly a big kid.

 With a tiny bit of jitters at first, a few pep talks, some coaching from Howie, and a whole lot of cheering from me and all the parents in the cul-de-sac, our girl learned to ride her bike without training wheels.

  I am so proud of our sweet Emma-Caroline for her will, patience, determination and can-do spirit.

 She did it!

Way to go sweet girl!

Turning One Year Older Now and Then

 I celebrated my birthday on Tuesday, March 13th. My actual birthday was a beautiful sunny day in Knoxville. The daffodils were in full bloom and all of the birds were singing their most favorite songs. It was a great day and this week has continued to be one beautiful day after another. I was completely blown away by the amount of birthday wishes I received on Facebook, It sure does make you feel loved to see so many happy thoughts just for you on your special day. My mom surprised me with a photo of me on my 8th birthday.

 As I looked back and remembered my special day at 8years of age, I remembered how awesome it was to have all of my cousins and friends over to eat cake and ice cream, wear a party hat and open birthday presents. Parties were simpler back when I was 8 and it was AWESOME! I am thankful for each one of the 30 birthdays since I turned 8 that I have celebrated and for all the friends and family who still come out to say, "Happy Birthday!" I am one blessed and lucky girl!

Striking Up a Great Time!

This past Saturday on March 3rd, we celebrated Emma-Caroline turning seven at the Strike and Spare Family Bowling Alley. I love my girls birthdays!  It's such fun to plan all the little details, from the invitations, to the cake, to the party favors. This year, I found an adorable bowling invitation at  amyadele.com.

 I loved how this little invitation turned out! I even gave it to the lady at Daisy Cakes who was able to replicate the invitation exactly on the cake. The cake was also very tasty!

 We had an awesome time with all of Emma-Caroline's friends from many areas of her life. I was thankful to my friend Mary for taking my camera and getting so many awesome captures from the party while I served pizza, cake, etc. to all our guests. I will leave you with some of those images from the party. It was definitely a "Strike" for birthday party fun!