A Big Week for Abigail!

Last week was a BIG week for Abigail for so many reasons. She just had way too much fun ... so we thought we'd share a snapshot of it with you!

On Saturday night, our church took over the entire local bowling alley ... over 150 of us! We took some of our good MMS friends with us, the Gettles and the McClary's and had lots of fun together.

Of the 10 of us who bowled (Naomi was the only one who didn't!), Abigail's score of 138 placed her in second place beating both her mummy and daddy by about 20 points!! Yes, she did have the bumpers in place ... but so did the rest of us. With every strike and spare she bowled, she came running back for high-fives from everyone! As you can see below, it's all in the technique!

On Sunday's Abigail has morning and evening Sunday school which she loves. It had been a shame that we weren't able to get her into a pre-school for this academic year (long story!). Anyway, the previous week we had been to an open-house evening at a preschool we'd only just found out about in preparation for September. The short version of the story is that she started in the younger class immediately for the remainder of the school year on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Abigail was so excited on her first morning (above, just before we got in the car to go!) and has loved it each time she's been there ... full of stories of what she's been up to and what the teachers have been telling her! The class focus on one letter of the alphabet a week and Abigail's first week was the letter T. She very proudly showed off some of her handiwork when she got home! (The purple and red thing is a toothbrush in case you were wondering)

Wednesday morning's is Storytime at the library and has been since September last year. Abigail loves to go and take part, listening to the stories, sometimes singing a song and most weeks do a craft too. It's only for half an hour but she looks forward to it and then enjoys picking out new books and dvd's to have at home afterwards. This week instead of a craft, the kids had Oreo cookies and sang Happy Birthday to Oreo's as they were 100 years old ... they all thought that was great fun! We even enjoyed some special Birthday Cake Oreo's at home too.

On Thursday evening Abigail went to her first ever Bridal Shower. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the chocolate fountain! It was extra special as it was for one of Abigail's favourite people, Kyla and Abigail is going to be her flowergirl at the wedding! Kyla came to stay with us last week too (more smiles from Abigail!) ... and will be with us between now and her wedding to Adam in April!!

Friday morning was the monthly MOPS meeting so while the mummy's get to hang out, the kids get to play! For the first time ever Abigail had no problem going off to play for a couple of hours and had lots of fun! On Saturday we rounded off the week with a trip to Columbus for shopping and a quick trip to the zoo. So as you can see it has been non-stop fun for our biggest munchkin recently! As well as the usual giggling and cuddles with her little sister, of course!

Popeye Saves the Day Again!

While Mark was away in PNG, although his girlies missed him, we had lots of fun! Jenny's sister, Pippa (aka Popeye) came to stay ... on a Rapid Response Trip of her own! She was here to keep us company and help. She was a HUGE lifesaver so the phrase 'Popeye saved the day again' was one we found ourselves using on a regular basis!

One thing Popeye was looking forward to enjoying with us was the snow. This has been the mildest winter that we've had since living here, unseasonably mild ... so the minute the snow started to fall she and Abigail went running outside to experience it! Just two hours later we were out in back garden doing snow angels and building snowmen!

Naomi was enjoying the snow in her own little way too but then it all got a bit much and the white fluffy flakes just became the stuff of dreams!

We had our fair share of goofiness too! Visiting Amish country a couple of times and buying yummy doughnuts and huge heart shaped cookies ... and just playing around at home, baking and painting the alphabet among other things.

 

One 'tradition' that has maintained with every visit that Popeye makes is a change in her hair ... as you can see, this time it was a cut and colour, although the red streaks don't show up too well in the photo below!

Other highlights of the time when Mark was away included Naomi receiving her UK Passport. She now has one of each and will be the only member of the family who will be able to stay in the USA after our visas run out on December 14th.

Abigail went on a dress-up 'tea' date with her best buddy, Bri. As you can see they had SO much fun together with their heart shaped sandwiches!

We enjoyed lots of yummy food too. Popeye had her first taste of American pancakes, which she loved ... amongst other yumminess! Sometimes it was just us and other times we got to hang out with some of our good friends (including the Gettles below!).

Mark didn't want to be completely forgotten by us while he was away. He made sure he was remembered by sending some hand-dipped chocolate strawberries to his wife ... they were the juiciest, most succulent strawberries ever and huge too (you can't really tell from the photo!).

He may have been on the other side of the world but daily emails, occasional Skype's and the strawberries certainly helped keep him as part of the family while Popeye was here! One of the biggest things that happened was Naomi started walking and by the wonders of Skype, Mark was able to see this milestone just minutes after her first attempt!

All that's left to be said is the BIGGEST 'Thank You' to Popeye for taking time off work to come and help us ... and have lots of fun at the same time. We miss you!