Thursday, July 4, 2013

Our Fourth Fourth!

We have been celebrating our fourth 4th of July in our neighborhood since we moved here three years ago in 2010. This also happens to be our neighborhood's 50th Fourth of July Celebration anniversary. We are very blessed to live where we live with so many wonderful neighbors, children and traditions to participate in together. Wow! 50 years of Forest Brook 4th of July Celebrations!!! Today we have enjoyed the annual flag raising where veterans and scouts are invited to wear their uniforms while patriotic hymns are sung and the flag is raised. Howie and the girls then participated in the prediction race which traverses the neighborhood. All participants predict their time of completing the course and whoever comes the closets wins. Mailbox decoration is also a big completion for the fourth. We never win, but it's always fun just to decorate. I hear libations help in the judging ;-). Emma-Caroline participated for the first time ever in the kids softball tournament and Howie participated in the adult softball tournament. Emma-Caroline did really well for her first time out on the field and scored four runs for her team!  The girls also participated in the kids' parade. And Macy and I participated in the canine parade. We later had a wonderful dinner and participated in the family Olympics. All in all it was an amazing day. What a wonderful way to celebrate our nation's Independence Day!
 Howie taught Emma-Caroline how to swing a bat before the game. She had never played before, but did really well!
 Emma-Caroline's number one cheerleader sporting her Forest Brook tee from 2010 and some very patriotic rain boots!
 A serious outfielder!
 First time at bat!
 And she gets a hit!
 She is safe!
 Emma-Caroline being coached by her daddy.
 Running in to score a point for her team! Go Emma-Caroline!
 Sophie was joined by Molly in the cheering section!
 Later the girls got cleaned up for the 4th of July neighborhood parade and other fun activities!
 I added patriotic bunting under the front windows this year. I had to trim those bushes in order for us to see the bunting after I had already put it up. Boy are my arms sore!
 Don't you just love my ADT sign? At least it's blue and white so it goes with the patriotic theme. Note to self to move it some place else!
 Our neighbor's across the street and their mailbox décor!
 And our mailbox décor!
 Emma-Caroline and Sophie with our friend Davidson down the street.
 The dogs even got to be a part of the parade this year, so Macy came along!
 Sophie is all set!
 So are Emma-Caroline and Davidson!
 There were lots and lots of participants in t he children's and dog parade!
 Sweet Macy!

 Getting ready to start!

 Sophie and Abby!
 Waiting for the start.
 And they're off!
After the parade the girls and I went off for food and fun while Howie took the girl's bikes back home. Good thing Emma-Caroline has a bigger bike now and Howie can actually ride it!
Happy fourth of July 2013!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

A Fairy Garden Tea Party!

On Thursday, June 27th we celebrated our little Sophie's sixth birthday. She had been dreaming of having a fairy garden tea party in our very own back yard so that is exactly what we planned. Sixteen little fairies joined us for a fairy garden tea followed by fairy games and the making of their own fairy gardens to take home. Despite some earlier storms in the day that had me dumping water from our back yard tables, the party was filled with sunshine and all things enchanted and little girl. In addition to celebrating Sophie turning six, the Avery House Blog is also celebrating turning five years old. I began this blog to chronicle the happenings of our life for family and friends. My first post was to tell all about our little Sophie's first birthday. I have enjoyed writing about our life over the past five years and cherish the memories I have recorded here. I also have enjoyed the friends I have made through this blog land. My blog home is small, however, it is a place that I do enjoy and will continue over the next years to come.
 Sophie picked out her birthday invitations from Amy Adele at amyadele.com. Birthday invitations may seem like a waste of money to some, however, I enjoy doing these each year and love having the girls help me with the design and wording of their invitations. We have all invitations saved along with photos from each year of the girls birthday parties in a special Birthday Party scrapbook. I hope they will one day look back on their birthday celbrations and enjoy them with great nostalgia.
 Simple outdoor table setting complete with flower horn blower and fairy crown for each guest from a local paper store.
 Our back yard court yard. You can see that the pavers were soaked. The forecast was for possible light showers. There came a monsoon that had me dumping water off of these tables right before the party.
 We had some very special centerpiece teacups from the girl's Mimi and Nana. This one above is from Great-Grandmother Grace's china. The rose tea cup below was from Great-Grandmother Josie's.

 A view of the path to Sophie's Enchanted Garden :-)!

 We have become enthralled with all things fairy garden. We started a large fairy garden in our back yard with the help of Miss Dee at Sweet Pea, a local garden and specialty store. The party fairies each got to make their own miniature fairy gardens complete with a beautiful moss and fairy garden accessories.
 Here is our Miss Sophie Rose with all of her little friends. These friends are all so precious and we are blessed that Sophie has them in her life.
 Being quite celebratory with the flower horn blowers!
 Beautiful little fairy friends!
 The beautiful birthday girl!
 We served strawberry cupcakes, strawberry cream cheese and flower shaped cheese tea sandwiches and fairy wand fruit kabobs at the party.
 The birthday girl and fairy Mommy and Daddy!

 Singing happy birthday!
 Making a wish!
 My beautiful fairy godmother friends. They helped me so much during the party!
 Fairy Nana!
 The girls waiting patiently to plant their fairy gardens.


 Waiting to open up all of the wonderful presents on the pavilion.

 Just what every little princess needs!


 Every girl loves jewelry especially if it's monogrammed!
After the party and getting ready for bed. This was actually her last night to be five as we had her party the night before her actual birthday. Happy birthday to our sweet girl!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Good Intentions and a Family Portrait

I have had the best of intentions of posting so many, many things here on The Avery House Blog. Life has been happening at warp speed and there are so many wonderful things to share. May came and I went off to a wonderful event called The Pearl Event the Triple Strand in Nashville. It was amazing and I will share more soon! We also had an amazing end to the school year and went straight into Vacation Bible School (of which I was a co-director, yikes!) Howie and I just got back from an incredible 15 year anniversary trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley just a day ago, and the girls are full force into summer swimming and tennis. We have Miss Sophie's birthday coming up and a planned visit from Nana. Life is just awesome! For my own sake, I will be getting on here to back-post and post about the wonderful life events we have been blessed to be a part of. Until then, I received a family photo from my sister's Kelly's wedding back in April. This may just be our Christmas card, y'all. But just in case it's not, I wanted to share it here. Hope your summer is all things wonderful and fun!

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