Fun With Dad

I love how Ben takes pictures of the kids whenever they have outings together, most often when I'm gone (out of town or out with friends for the night). These are some of the more recent gems. They warm my heart up so much. Love my family immensely!

These pictures are from some time at Scene 75- glow mini golf and air hockey were the highlights.

These pictures are from when Daniel helped Ben at the local aviation museum. They go and help move planes around or tinker and fix things or set up for events and such. I love that they do these things together.

There's a video of Daniel driving, too, but it's too large to share here. So these are clips from that video. It's cute to watch him! 

 

Going to Five Guys for burgers and shakes is always a fun treat for this crew!

Art Show 2025

Daniel has been taking a photography class at school this semester. He's been really into and we love it for him! Grandma Mary Kay and Grandpa Larry gave him a really nice camera for Christmas and it's been great for Daniel to learn to use that. Uncle Jason had also loaned a digital camera to Daniel for him to play around with as well, so between the two, Daniel is really getting into this. It's such fun! The assignments for the class are creative and often done at home (and sometimes on local walking trips around the school during class, which is pretty cool). Daniel even lets me tag along on some of his assignments, and I love the time with him. The teacher for the class, Mr. Hodge, is a really cool guy- we all really like him. 

Anyway, Daniel texted me during the school day one afternoon and said, "Going in the art show i guess" and I was immediately excited for him and of course wanted to know alllll the details so we could go and celebrate him! Over the next couple days, he found out more information and I marked our calendar and shared the dates with grandparents, too. 

We had a lot of fun attending the opening night of the show! There's so much talent and so much creativity out there and it's just fun to see what all the kids at all the schools are up to in their art classes. Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Gary came with us, too, and they also really enjoyed seeing all the art. We saw Mr. Hodge there and he spent time talking to us and took a picture of our family- he's just such a nice guy. Daniel has really enjoyed him as a teacher and is already talking about taking more photography classes in the next couple years. 

Anyway, super fun night and we were SO excited to celebrate Daniel and his cool photos that were placed in the art show! 

 

My mom took this cute one of all of us at the show. I'm glad to have it and we're so glad we could all go! 

Looking Gorgeous!

Annabel has been begging for a vanity for her room. It really was an excellent solution to the whole two teenagers in the house thing! 

So it became her early birthday present, thanks to Grandma Mary Kay and Grandpa Larry! 

We ordered it from Amazon and it came quickly- almost too quickly- Annabel couldn't wait to build it! But wait she did, just a day or two, for the weekend, when there's more time for big projects. She and Ben got right to it the minute he could though! 

They put it together in the playroom and then moved it into Annabel's room when it was done. She wasted NO time filling it right up! It's so cute in her room and just PERFECT! We love it!

Annabel is thrilled with her new vanity!! 

Annabel had kitty company while they moved the vanity into her room! They aren't often allowed in there, so this was a treat for them. 

Ta-Da! All filled up and gorgeous! Super fun!

Aunt Allison the Babysitter!

I got to babysit my nephew, Graham, this weekend! I don't often get to babysit there, let alone just one kid, so this was such a special and fun time for me. Graham is just TOO cute and I loved every minute of my time there. We played and played and we both had a great time! He was so good, just rolled right along with things, didn't bat an eye that I was the one there for him, we just immediately got to playing. I love this age so much. 

Thanks for asking me to sit, Christina! Aunt Allison had a ball!

Find a Friend Who...

Find yourself a friend who treats you when you need a pick-me-up, in more ways than one!

My dad had been in the hospital (this was the first week of March, he sadly missed Annabel's scholarship concert) and, at the same time, my mom was home sick with a nasty stomach bug (so she also missed the concert and all the days my dad was in the hospital, too)- it hadn't been a fun week. I was worried, I was driving to the hospital daily, and occasionally stopping by my parents' house for one thing or another, it was a busy week for me. 

I really was very happy to visit my dad every day, play games of Uno, talk books, talk kids, and take him for walks on his floor as he healed and regained strength. I made sure he had what he needed, took him charging cords, backup batteries, etc. The driving was a lot, yes, but my gosh, the time spent with Daddy meant a lot to me, truly, I was SO glad I had the time to be with him, that I could just go do that so easily...I considered myself fortunate actually. 

Anyway, back to this post- my friends rallied, checked in on me, and I'm so grateful for their warm wishes and thoughts. And their (unnecessary!) pick me ups! Man, I have wonderful friends! 

Esra brought flowers and delicious, huge!, cinnamon rolls which became our breakfast for dinner that very night- so yummy! I was so grateful for her sweet and fun pick me up.

Christin texted one day and said lunch? and I didn't for a second hesitate to say yes and she took me out to McAlister's (my favorite lunch spot) and we even went straight to Target when I told her my dad needed books to read and she said it has to be this book I'll take you right now to buy it and so we went. (Update: he LOVED the book and went on to read the rest of the series in rapid succession!) I was grateful for Christin's fun diversion and the time to chat and catch up and get some fresh air. 

I really have the best friends.  

Annabel Wins an Award!

At our middle school band concert in February, our band director announced the winner of a scholarship, which is given to one 8th grader, and it was Annabel!! We were SO surprised and SO pleased for Annabel! I'm so proud of all of her hard work and dedication these years in band- this award is well deserved! What an honor for Annabel that her directors have seen her and nominated her for this.

The award is from our local municipal band and she will get $200 from them towards lessons or band camp, etc. Annabel would also get the opportunity to play with the municipal band in their next concert, where they would recognize all the area scholarship winners (each middle school in our town has 1 award recipient). 

Anyway, this was all SO exciting!  

 

And then, March 2nd was the scholarship award concert at Wentz Hall! Annabel received the award at this concert and got to play with the municipal band, too. Bonus- she surprised her flute lesson teacher! Debbie had no idea Annabel had won the award and would be at that concert on stage (next to her, no less!). Annabel had not told Debbie at any of her lessons, so Debbie was SO surprised to see her! It was actually kind of funny and very cute. You can see Debbie beaming in some of the pictures- she was just really tickled. 

Anyway, this was a really fun concert, too. My parents couldn't make it to the concert (long story) but Grandma Mary Kay and Grandpa Larry came, and my sister came, too (which was SO sweet of her!). We're just so proud of her! Congratulations, Annabel! 

The gal talking to Annabel is her flute lesson teacher, Debbie. She was SO surprised to see Annabel that day! Annabel, humble non-chatty teen that she is, had not told Debbie that she'd won the scholarship award and would be at this concert. Debbie plays in this band regularly so we knew we'd see her there  but Annabel just didn't think to tell her. (Erika, our band director, plays with this band, too, but couldn't make it to this concert unfortunately.) Anyway, it was so funny and Debbie got a real kick out of seeing Annabel there and playing next to her. It was kinda fun to surprise her, actually!

Again, CONGRATULATIONS, Annabel!! Well deserved! We're SO proud of you!