Mail from Great Grandma and Grandpa Brick

Ashley and I were out for a walk when she started to tell me how sad she was that she never gets any letters in the mail.  Grandparents must have a sense for these sorts of things because when we got home and brought in the mail there was a card for her and one for Colin.  It was the annual Halloween card from Great Grandma and Grandpa Brick.  The kids were beyond excited.  I miss that excitement for mail :-)  When they opened up their stickered envelopes they found cute Halloween cards and McDonald's gift certificates.  The happiness was overflowing, so much so that it couldn't contain itself and jumps for joy had to be done. 

Back to Bible Study

We headed back to Bible Study and Ashley was so excited to go back to class with her teacher, Dr. Bill.  Colin had no idea what was going on but he seemed excited until he got to his classroom door.  That's when the death-grip set in and the tears started to fall.  I peeled him off and handed him over while watching him scream and arch his back with his arms stretched out towards me.  Talk about pulling on a mom's heart, ugh.  I never went through this with Ashley but I knew he had to just get over it and that he was with wonderful teachers that would love him to death.  It took a few weeks but now he's happy to walk through the little door to his class, friends and teachers.  It's been so fun having two kids in class, I now get two art projects to hang on the fridge each week!  Here are a few pictures from the first day :-)

Our little monster and princess

My Little Ham

Mutt Mingle

When we got home from Ashley's soccer game there was Hauser.  He had been home alone for half the day and was the perfect dog that he usually is.  So, I told Jason we needed to take him to the Mutt Mingle so he could feel special.  When I asked him if he wanted to go to the puppy party his butt started shaking and he was ready to bolt out the door.  When we got there we saw our Bulldog friend Bentley that we met on a walk when he was a puppy 8 months ago.  Hauser had fun meeting all of the doggies, especially the Great Danes- they were his favorite.  The event was literally the dog version of The Taste of Ladera, they had dog treat bars, a lady drawing charicatures of the dogs, games for the dogs to play and win prizes, agility courses and lots of vendors handing out samples and prizes.  After we Mingled with the vendors we decided to let Hauser really mingle with the mutts in the dog park.  He had a grand old time running around with the dogs and it was fun to watch so many dogs play together so nicely.

Hauser made lots of friends

These two raced and raced and raced

The best looking Bully in town

Stopping at the doggy fountain

 

Ashley won a stuffed bulldog and was pretty happy.

Bathtime Babes

I love washing these happy faces at bath time.  It's their favorite time of day, which means it's also my favorite time of day.  They splash, giggle and make bubble beards (it's so funny to watch Colin try to lick it off his chin).  Ashley is the master bubble hair shaper and Colin is the king of splashing.

Driving Mr. Daisy

I was looking for something in my car while holding Colin, that wasn't working so well so I had him sit in the driver's seat.  He thought he hit the jackpot the second he saw the steering wheel.  I have a feeling he will be counting down the days to his 16th birthday when he's 5...yikes!

The first Father-Daughter Dance

Jason took Ashley to the father daughter dance at church, they had so much fun.  Ashley and I had fun getting her ready for her big date and I had a lump in my throat as they drove away.  When they came home Ashley gave me a run down of everything they did.  They danced, played shuffle board and ping pong, talked with other father's and daughters and had treats.  It was so nice to see these two have special time just for them.

Showing off her "fancy nails"

These are some pictures from the dance that the church sent to us.  I love that they had dads do prom style pictures with their girls.

Dad's and Daughters having a blast.

VBS

Our church spread out vacation bible school days through out the summer this year.  Ashley was old enough to attend a few this year.  We only ended up being home for one but we had so much fun it didn't matter.  They did a mini water park complete with a giant slip-n-slide...soooo fun!  She went down water slides, splashed her way through obstacle courses, went on train rides, bedazzled a popsicle stick frame, watched a puppet show and her favorite thing was getting to play on the sunday school playgrounds with water!  They provided child care for Colin so I got to spend 3 hours playing with just Ashley, it was the next best thing to Disneyland.  After she found her treasure on splash island we picked up Colin and headed to the church cafeteria and had lunch with about 100 other moms and kids- it was loud but fun!  I can't wait for next year when she can do every day of VBS.

 

We ran in to Dr. Bill, Ashley's teacher while I'm at Bible Study.  She was so happy to see him, she talks about him almost every day.  That great man made her smile even bigger when he sent her a post card the following day.  We love him!

  

  

Ashley also ran in to her friend Hannah from choir.  They're both very excited for choir to start up again.