Big day for Ash

Braces!! with cool teal rubber coverings :o)

The torture chair with her stylish bib and protective goggles.. ready to begin.

Ortho assistant preparing Ashlynn's teeth for braces

Orthodontist. The entire process took about 1 1/2 hrs. Ashlynn was a little trooper.

Checking out the new smile in the mirror at the office

Now to learn how to eat again : /

To Nana:

Thank you for the Christmas Goodies! I'm guarding my gift as usual and can't wait to open it Christmas morning. I even tried sneaking it to my corner last night, but they caught me!

Love & Licks,

Riley

Early Christmas :)

Hard as I try, it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE for me to wait till Christmas to give gifts. I justify by telling myself the earlier they receive the gift, the more time they have to enjoy it! :) Plus, it stretches Christmas from only one day, into several!

Top of their list this year were these boots! Aren't they stylish? There's a good reason I gave them this gift early. (here comes the justification part.. hehe) The past two weeks have been exceptionally cold down here. (The girls flip flops and sandals just weren't keeping their cute little toes warm) We only have about 31/2 months tops, from mid November to late February, of chilly weather. So, giving them early allows Ash & Raeg to get as much use out of their boots as they can. The good news; they will stretch. Since we went with size 7, they should be able to wear them for many chilly winters to come!

Mitch Tyson -VS- Percy Ali

Well, the moment we've feared since bringing Percy into our home has finally arrived. This morning Mitch and Percy went at it full force. Poor Raegan got her arm caught in the crossfire while trying to break them apart. Percy's front paw is now swollen with what looks like a hole from Mitch's tooth. It bled quite a bit. Mitch also took a hit to his back paw, but his injuries aren't as severe as Percy's. I think this round goes to Mitch. Both were treated with antiseptic and bandages and they're currently serving time in separate rooms. ha.

Can't we all just get along? I think (besides the fact they're both males) the age difference might have something to do with it. Percy pounces towards Mitch in an effort to play and Mitch is just a grumpy ol fart who doesn't want any part of it. I wonder if the dog whisperer communicates with cats too? because we need an intervention. ha

On a yummy note, we had a delicious bowl of homemade Turkey noodle soup with warm bread fresh from our bread machine. Mmmmm Mmmmm Good. :) Perfect comfort food on a chilly day like today!

The Three Amigos

Raeg, bestfriend Katie, and Ash at the theater waiting for Megamind in 3D to begin.

Feeding the Sandhill Cranes

We came across these beautiful/hungry cranes while walking the other day. They were trying to crack acorns on the sidewalk. Once they found we could crack the nuts for them twice as fast, they were all over it! ha

look at their size!

eye to eye. ha. Having them this close to us was pretty unusual. Normally Sandhills are pretty timid.

Brad was a little leery with the hand feedings since he's seen them spear lizards with that beak. ha

One of Florida's beautiful creatures!

Art Show Awards Ceremony

Raeg with her displayed drawing. Over 800 pieces of artwork were submitted and Raeg came in 3rd in the 6 - 8th grade category! Way to go!

waiting for the ceremony, eating cookies :)

receiving her award

Mr Walker, the girls art teacher

The Family photo that a passerby generously offered to take

Raeg with her drawing (it will be on display at the airport for a year)

Raeg with my MUCH older twin sister. hehe

Ash helping celebrate at... where else? Dairy Queen!

Raeg being a cheeze :)

hmmm... I wonder where she gets it from? ha

a couple of cutie pies

What a great night!

Opening Day

Raeg waited so long for this movie to come out.. She was in Harry Potter heaven! ha

taken in the Imax theater while waiting for the movie to begin

dinner afterwards at Michael's Grill.. yummm

Great memories.. Great day!

School Community Project

Ashlynn's language class broke into small groups and had to create a display representing their middle school. Brad brought the projector home and here is the collage of symbols she created:

Didn't she do a fantastic job! Their teacher, Mr Troop, was so impressed he asked to keep the project to be placed on display in the glass case in the front hallway of the school. Here is the email I received:

Mrs. Turner,


Yesterday Ashlynn and her group presented their community UPA, and I was absolutely amazed by Ashlynn's incredible artistic talent and the beautiful way she captured Nolan in her artwork. She has kindly agreed to allow us to keep the work, and I will be presenting it to Mrs. High so we may put it in a place of honor where visitors to our campus may view it.

I also took a picture of it and added it to the home page of my website. :>)

Thank you for sharing your daughter and her talents with us.


She does you proud!


Best regards,


Mr. Troop

Ashlynn Coconut and Halloween

Vampire, Supergirl (Maddie), and Strawberry Shortcake

How cute are they? (except Raeg.. she wanted to look scary this year, not cute. ha)

evaluating the goods. (there was a quiz and review of my favorite candies before trick or treating so they would know what to bring home.. hehe)

Ashlynn found an unexpected surprise in her trick or treat bag of goodies! She dumped her candy to find a sucker with her name printed on it.. and spelled correctly with 2 n's! She was a little creeped out until we did some research online to find a North Carolina girl won a 'be a popstar' contest and got her name added as a dumdum flavor; Ashlynn Coconut. ha. Although Ash doesn't care for coconut, it was pretty cool for her to find she has her own sucker flavor. :o)

Saturday Breakfast

with a smile..

Of course, Brad made one for Riley.. she loves waffles too. :)

P.S. check the previous post below for an update on Raegan's artwork! :)

Art Show

Here is a photo of the drawing Raeg has been working on for an upcoming art show at school. 25 drawings will be selected to be matted, framed, and hung at the Sarasota Airport for the remainder of this year. First place receives $100.00.. Second: $50. Good Luck Raeg! You did an amazing job!

"Baby Cub"

Drawn By Raegan

12 years old

UPDATE: Raegan received a letter informing her that she has placed 3rd in the student art show! We will be going to an unveiling of the artwork on Dec 2nd where Raegan will receive her $25 prize. (and we can then look at the artwork that placed 1st and 2nd and talk about how much better Raegan's drawing is and how the judges missed the boat on that one.. ha!) Seriously, we are so happy for her! She was a little bummed she didn't place first until we explained to her what it meant to be placed in the top 3 out of the hundreds of drawings submitted throughout the county. That's saying something! Great job Raeg! You got skillz! :P

A Good Sign

This evening our home was filled with the beautiful sound of Raeg practicing Allegro in A Major and Come Back to Sorrento. She was a little disappointed after her first practice with Christine because she was so nervous during the lesson, she didn't feel she played very well. But.. tonight at home, she played as if she had never stopped. I think it's just going to take a little time for Raeg to become comfortable with a new teacher.. they have to get to know each other. We're not making any long term commitments yet. Raeg has decided to take it one month at a time.. I suggested she go a few weeks and see how it goes. A good piano teacher is so hard to find. (sigh)

7th Grade Portraits

School pictures usually turn out about as nice as a county jail mug shot. But, we were pleasantly surprised when Raeg and Ash brought these home. My only complaint is that they look so grown up! Where did my babies go?

Progress Reports

Unfortunately you can't see this very well, but it's a scanned copy of the girls first progress reports this year! Both Ash & Raeg are maintaining an 'A' average and trying hard to do their best. We're so proud of them.

Announcement, Announcement, Annoooouuunnnnccement!

Raegan started playing the piano at the young age of 7. She truly enjoyed playing and would practice her little pieces of Old McDonald and Mary Had a Little Lamb until she felt confident she could play them perfectly for her teacher, Mrs Weaver. We were so grateful to have found such a loving piano instructor for Raegan. They worked well together for almost 4 years until Raegan reached level 5 and Mrs Weaver could no longer teach her. We then found a young man at church who had gone to school to study music and played the piano beautifully. Unfortunately, he turned out to be better at playing than he was teaching. The experience with her second instructor seemed to have stolen Raegan's enthusiasm for playing. She wanted to take a break after that. Weeks turned into months, and eventually a year had passed with Raegan not interested in lessons and her piano here at home collecting dust. I was torn as to what I should do because I've heard testimonies of people hating forced music lessons as a child, then growing to thank their parents for not letting them quit.

Anyway, Raeg and I were talking the other night and.. she has decided to start lessons again. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you I've waited for this day, and have even pushed a little for it, ha! But ultimately, I want it to be her decision. We found a seemingly nice and talented female teacher who lives only minutes from us. Raegan's first lesson is scheduled for next Tuesday at 4:45. I have no idea how this will turn out, but I'm hoping this teacher can help rekindle the love for piano Raegan once had. Raegan is so talented musically, I would love to see that talent nurtured so it can grow.

I said all that to say, "Yay! Raegan is going to give lessons another try!" :)

Almost Paradise - Captiva Island

Here are some pictures from our relaxing weekend spent at South Seas Island Resort.. compliments of Brad's company. :) We forgot our camera but took these with our phones.

The view from our room

Enjoying the beautiful sunrise from our balcony (can you believe we actually woke up to see the sun rise? shocked us too. ha)
Island trolley ride

One of the ocean side pools at the resort... Raeg was certain we had stepped onto a movie set. ha.


Getting ready to go down the slides. They had a blast racing each other down.





Admiring the Gulf of Mexico from the pool. This was a much needed getaway, which definitely helped us to recuperate after battling the tensions of a first week at a new school.