Christmas Programs...

This year, both Kensley and Madelyn had Christmas programs at school. First up was the first grade holiday program.  Kensley's group did such a great job and she really enjoyed singing with her friends.

 

  

 

Maddy had her first Christmas program and she did so great!  I wasn't sure what to expect, but she did all the motions and sang all the words!  Her class did Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and The Virgin Mary.



Thanksgiving...

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we traveled over to Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Brauchler side of the family.  We stayed in the red waterslide hotel and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins. 

 

Some pictures of the weekend...

 

The great-grandkids and younger grandkids

The whole fam

Grandma and Grandpa and their kids

The Grandkids

We spent Thanksgiving at Nana and Papa Brauchler's with the Zurchers.  I only took a few pictures.

 

No, it's not Christmas.  Nana and Papa always get the grandkids one gift at Thanksgiving.

Had to capture this one...Emmy voluntarily went to Jeremy to sit on his lap...I think he was helping her with something.

Maddy talked Grandma Zurcher into getting down on the floor with her to play tea party.

Kensley: 7 Years Old...

Here we are another year down and Kensley is 7 years old.  It seems like the years are flying by and I am not sure how we got here so quickly.

Kensley is growing up so quickly and it's so fun to see the little lady she is becoming.  She is quiet and shy and seems to have more of her daddy's personality and demeanor.  She loves spending time with her friends, but often enjoys the quiet of being alone...reading, playing on her ipad, drawing, etc.

This year seems to have really blossomed in school.  She is in a high ability class for both math and reading and she is loving it.  We were concerned that it might be a lot of extra pressure on her, but we are finding that it's been a great fit so far.  She is reading so well and I am amazed at her level.  Her real love seems to be math, though.  And she loves doing math games, flash cards and being quizzed.

Compared to our other two girls, I would classify Kens as more of a tomboy.  She prefers comfy pants, shirts and tennis shoes to dresses and boots.  She is also no frills when it comes to her hair (no bows/headbands), rarely wants her nails painted and never lip gloss.  She outgrew her ruffle stage last year and it made me so sad.

Kensley enjoys doing gymnastics and swimming.  This year she also ran a mile race through school and she really enjoyed it (and was good at it).  She likes to be on the go and still wants to know what our daily/monthly calendar looks like.  She has a soft spot for babies/toddlers and especially loves her little cousin, Emery.

We are so thankful for our big 7 year old.  Happy 7th Birthday, Kensley Elise!


Halloween 2016...

This year for Halloween Kensley chose to be a Veterinarian, Avery was Elsa and Maddy was Anna.  The girls had a few opportunities to wear their costumes again this year.  Maddy was able to wear her costume to school as they trick or treated around the building. 

 


 We also took her to trunk or treat at their school (the big girls were at Awana so they missed out). 

Avery was invited to a Halloween party hosted by a friend in her class.  She met up with several friends also dressed like Elsa. :)
 
Nana and Papa saved the day and took the girls trick or treating on Halloween night.  The stomach bug hit our house hard and fast on Sunday evening and circulated through Kensley, Avery and then myself and Jeremy.  Kens and Avery were feeling better by trick or treat time, but unfortunately Jeremy and I were not.  So we spent the evening on the couch while Nana and Papa walked the girls around the neighborhood with our neighbor friends.

Celebrating Kensley: 7 Years Old...

We celebrated Kensley's birthday the weekend before her actual birthday.  She chose to go horseback riding for her birthday and have a sleepover, so we let her choose a few friends.  Unfortunately the trail ride was booked up for most of the day, so the girls chose to do pony rides instead.

 

After the pony rides we went to Claire's to get her ears pierced.  She had been wanting her ears pierced for a while, so we decided that it would be her birthday gift.  Elli got hers done with her so the moral support helped.

 

After ear piercing we came back to our house for pizza, cake, presents and the sleepover.  I'm not sure how much sleeping actually happened, but they had a great time giggling and talking.

 

Fall 2016 Activities...

We've had a fun (and abnormally warm) Fall so far this year.  Here is what all we've been up to.

These girls participated in the Liger Mile at school.  They did a great job and ran the entire mile!

Their friend got some play makeup for her birthday so they got to do makeovers.  Apparently they were channeling their inner clown.

We went with Kens to the Related Arts night at school and got to see what she is doing in her specials classes. 

We volunteered in Good Neighbor Weekend at church.  The girls were so excited.  Unfortunately our assignment only lasted about a half hour.

Big stuff hanging in the car with me

The girls carved and painted pumpkins with Daddy one night when I was working an event. 



We went to the Headless Horseman at Conner Prairie and had a great time!

This girl was star of the week at school and loved bringing in show and tell.