Summer Hydrangeas

One of the blessings of the home we have is an abundance of beautiful hydrangea that bloom with such a splendor, it is truly an amazing site to behold. We have at least five different types of hydrangea in our yard which makes all of the blooms even more magnificent to look at. I will admit,  I feel that I am one of the luckiest girls on the planet to have such a wondrous garden in my very own back yard. Here are a few of our beautiful ladies in full bloom.

Preschool Pomp and Circumstance

Our sweet Sophie Rose graduate from Sacred Heart Preschool on May 16, 2012. It's a little hard for me to believe that our time at Sacred Heart Preschool has come to an end. We have enjoyed all the years that we have been a part of this wonderful preschool beginning with my own years when I worked in the three year old room with Miss Michelle while I finished my Masters in Elementary Education, and then later when both Emma-Caroline and Sophie began attending the preschool as infants and now have both graduated to go on to elementary school. Miss Candi and all of the teachers as Sacred Heart Preschool are the BEST and we will miss seeing them each day. We will visit often and will always look back on our years at Sacred Heart Preschool with great fondness.

Mother's Day 2012

This year Mother's Day was made extra special because my mom was with us for a visit in order to see the girls perform at the Tennessee Theater, Sophie graduate from preschool as well as to spend her special day with all of us. We had a wonderful day attending church in the morning and then going out to lunch at two of my favorite Knoxville restaurants Cafe 4 in Market Square and Coolato Gelato Downtown. The girls gave me some beautiful dogwood James Avery earrings that Daddy helped to pick out and some nice hand made gifts as well. It was nice to know that Sophie thinks I am 100 years old, that I have yellow hair and wear a size "skinny" shoe. Love it! Emma-Caroline also made a beautiful picture for  me of her and I underneath a rainbow. These are the gifts you cherish forever. I hope that all the mothers out there had as wonderful and blessed a Mother's Day as we did here at the Avery House!

Tennessee Theater 2012

This May, both Emma-Caroline and Sophie danced on stage at the Tennessee Theater in their dance studio's dance annual dance performance. Emma-Caroline performed a ballet dance as a woodland fairy and a tap number. during her 2nd performance, I could tell something was not quite right. We later found out that she was running a high fever. Poor thing! She was a trooper though and still went on with the show. Sophie performed as a rainbow and did a wonderful job in her first ever performance at the Tennessee Theater. We were excited to see our girls perform in such a wonderfully produced performance by all the dancers. We were also excited to have Nana with us to watch the performance as well as Ms. Ellison, Emma-Caroline's first grade teacher and Mr. Garvey, Emma-Caroline's choir director at our church. It was a wonderful evening despite Emma-Caroline's sudden illness and we all enjoyed  a lovely time!

 Mary Helen and Sophie

 Sophie's first performance at the Tennessee Theater

 Emma-Caroline's ballet performance as a woodland fairy.

 Emma-Caroline and Lucy

 Emma-Caroline and the girls of tap, Anatasia, Lydia and Lucy

Bearden Boardwalk 2012

Each year Bearden Elementary holds it's Spring carnival fundraiser entitled Bearden Boardwalk. The children have a wonderful time playing games, getting their faces painted, eating snow cones, purchasing a Jazzy Jar or two and much more! This year, Bearden Elementary introduced it's new mascot Bentley Bear. Emma-Caroline stopped for a moment for a quick photo op with her school's mascot. We all had a wonderful time enjoying this annual tradition of fun fundraising for our school!

 Bentley and Emma-Caroline pose for a photo.

Emma-Caroline, Nikol, Sophie and Lucas having fun on the playground during Bearden Boardwalk.