pumpkin painting

Another one of our fun fall activites is painting pumpkins.  So, one night, we got out our pumpkins, paint, paintbrushes, and ups of water...and painted away.

All ready to paint...

 Brady painting...

 ...& me painting.

 All smiles...

 Me & my finished pumpkin...such a masterpiece, huh? :)

 Brady & his pumpkin...after he had painted it so carefully, he decided to just brush the whole pumpkin, mixing all his colors together...making this "lovely" gray color!  Either way, we both had a fun time!

nutcracker

Mommy took me to see the Nutcracker with Oma, Aunt Helen, Kaitlyn, & Stephanie.  It was a fun girl's afternoon.  I enjoyed the ballet, even though I was not happy to see a man dancing on stage without his shirt on...and I made sure to ask Mommy about that right in the middle of the show.  :)  We had a fun time, and I am so thankful for time with just my Mommy & me.

sleeping angels

One day, we may not be glad that Mommy posted these pics of us, but she says that she loves coming to check on us each night...making sure we are sleeping ok.  All is peaceful as we sleep...and she thanks God for the blessings of her (& Daddy's) 3 little angels!!

learning

While I (Averie) was out from school sick with that nasty stomach bug, I was able to help teach my "baby brother" about spelling.  We worked together on spelling cow.  He would tell me the sound a cow makes, and I would tell him the letters as I put them on the puzzle. :)

 He sure loved just telling me the sound a cow makes...so cute!

 I sure love my brother...he's my buddy!

yellow stripe

Guess who earned his yellow stripe on his tae kwon do belt this past week?  Yes, it's me...Brady!  I was super excited to receive it...I am enjoying all I am learning from Master Kang in Tae Kwon Do!

 (Oh, and while I am busy taking my class, Averie & Brecken draw on this big chalkboard...they were having lots of fun as well!)

little chef...

Brecken LOVES to pretend that he is cooking...all the time.  If he isn't playing with cars, looking at books or following us around, he is cooking.  Mommy caught him with her phone (why the pics aren't super clear) as he was preparing her quite a yummy meal!

"Tossing" Mommy some yummy food!

 Cooking away...

 LOVE the tongue...concentrating hard!

 Another day...another time to cook some more food...this time, he was using the pans!

 Big smiles again!

Putting Mommy's food in a muffin pan

 Such a cutie you are, Chef Brecken!  Mommy sure loves her time with you while the others are at school!  You make Mommy smile a lot!

when it's warm in december...

So, what is one to do when it's in the 70's in December...& what we really want is a little chilly weather?  Well, we utilize that sled we bought (with hope for at least one good snow day), and go "sledding" anyway! :)  Averie takes piano lessons once a week.  While she is inside having her lesson, we get to play outside with our friends (the piano teacher's children), Claire & William.  So, we decided to take the sled for a ride...with no snow!  And, we had a great time!  (Sorry for the blurry pics...these were taken with Mommy's phone!)

William pulling me (Brady) down!

 William's turn...

 My turn again...

 ...& again!

 Then, William took Claire, me, & Brecken down...fast and fun!

 And, Brecken & me!

 Sure was a fun time...we still got to go "sledding" in the unseasonably warm weather!

girl's night in...gingerbread houses

One of Mommy's favorite girl's night activities in the winter is making gingerbread houses with some of her dearest friends.  Mrs. Meredeth (who moved to Tennessee about a year ago) was even here for the 6th annual event.  They had a wonderful time...laughing, eating, creating, laughing, talking...& laughing some more!

The ladies and their finished works of art!

 Squeezing in as many ladies as possible in this picture...

 ...& another attempt with more laughs!

What a fun night for Mommy!

(Of course, we loved hanging with just Daddy, too!)

santa visit

My (Brady) preschool had their Breakfast with Santa event, and we enjoyed going as a family.  There were door prizes, activities, breakfast...& getting to visit with Santa, of course!  We were super excited to get to talk to him for the first time this year!  

When we first saw him, Averie & I jumped right up in his lap...telling him all about what we wanted for Chritsmas.  Brecken just watched at first...a little hesitant because of his beard and such.

 Then, Brecken decided to sit on his lap...and we all (including Gracie, of course) smiled for our picture.

Santa & Averie

 Santa & Me

 Brecken & Santa

(Brecken did warm up to Santa pretty quickly!)

 After enjoying breakfast, games, & visiting with friends, it was time to head home.  We asked to stop by and see Santa one last time...and we all crawled up in his lap for another picture...not sure why he seems to be "hiding" in this picture, but we were happy to see him!

A fun "Breakfast with Santa" event!

bobcats game

Brady & I got to go to cheer on our Charlotte Bobcats.  This was Brady's first time, and it was my second time (first time this season).  We had a great time at the game with Daddy & Mommy, even though the Bobcats lost!

brecken time

After we (the older 2) go to bed (on school nights), Brecken gets to stay up for about half hour with just Daddy & Mommy.  We always wondered what they did for that 1/2 hour...now we now! :)

Reading with Mommy...

 ...& sword fighting with Daddy!

 I think Brecken usually defeats Daddy! :)

 And, of course, there is always time for a little wrestling...

We love spending time with our Daddy & Mommy!

maize maze

 Our small group had a fun, family, fall activity...the maize maze.  We had never been (neither had Daddy or Mommy), so it was a fun adventure.  We split up into teams...and it was a race to complete the maze.  Daddy/my (Brady) team won, but Mommy/Averie/Brecken and their team was a super close second.  We had a great time!

Some of our group!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

We love getting the house all decorated for Christmas...the mantle, the tree, the poinsettia's, Tinsley (our little Elf on the Shelf), the gifts, & our Advent calendars...we just love Christmas!

Our Mantle

Our Tree

Our Stairs

This year, Daddy & Mommy decided that we could each put a tree in our own room...we got to pick out our ornaments and tree skirt.

We had fun decorating our own tree!

My tree!

Brady decorating his tree.  (He also dressed himself...which explains the shirt...and the gym shorts over his gym pants! :))

He had a great time!

Brady & his tree!

Brecken isn't quite old enough to have lights and breakable ornaments in his room, so he just decided to cook in the playroom while we decorated.  Of course, he wanted to cook with a pirate hat on, so he did!

He had fun, too!

He's a pretty cute pirate, too!