End of Summer & First Day of School

Abby is really loving horse back riding lessons!
We got a picture of her as Jesse from Toy Story riding her horse!
She really likes going on tail rides!
Abby also went to her first circus and we got to ride an elephant!
She also got her face painted while she was there.
We went to the county fair.
We fed lots of different animals at the fair.
And she won a fish, named bubbles, who lived for about three weeks.
We went to Dolly’s Splash Country.
She started 1st grade.
Here is Abby with her teacher.
She has already been to two birthday parties this school year. One at McDonald’s with her classmate.
And one at a splash pad with her friend from cub scouts.
We also had her bff Ivy come spend the night several times over the summer.
This is Ivy as a burrito. They are so silly!
They went to see the Moana movie together!
Not much sleeping happens at the sleepovers.
They are always ready for breakfast!

We have also been to the zoo several times this summer.
Of course, the best part of the zoo is dippin dots!

Summer 2026

We have had a busy and exciting summer. It is hard to believe it is almost time for back to school shopping.

We went to Nags Head for our family vacation.
Abby enjoyed the beach.
And swimming in the ocean. I was so proud of her! She was scared at first but overcame her fear and then we couldn’t get her out of the water.
We also rented jet skis and had fun zooming around the ocean!
She is big into playing with dolls and our house is pretty much covered is these big elaborate set ups.
Here is another one.
We went to a mermaid breakfast at the aquarium.
Abby is considering being a mermaid at the aquarium when she grows up so she was very excited to meet them.
She got to do a sand art craft at the breakfast.
We have gone to the pool almost everyday this summer. Here is our little mermaid in action.
She has a snorkel and is so cute swimming around the pool with it.
She went to VBS and here are some of the crafts she made.
We have also seen Minions and Monsters and Toy Story 5 this summer. She likes to wear her PJs to the movies.
We have also been to the zoo several times.
One of the most exciting activities this summer has been horseback riding lessons.
We are taking the lessons as a family.
We are learning how to care for the horses as well as riding them. Abby’s horse is named Dolly.
For the Fourth of July we went to see fireworks and there was a little train ride.
We also set off fireworks at home.
Abby joined in the fun and shot off some Roman candles.

End of School

May was a busy month as Abby finished up her last month of Kindergarten!

Here is her last day of school picture.
She had a Kindergarten graduation ceremony and here she is with her teacher.
She got to pick the restaurant after graduation and she picked Burger King. I asked her, “don’t you want to pick a nicer sit down restaurant?” And she replied, “well, we will be sitting down while we eat.” 🤦🏽‍♀️ I couldn’t argue with that!
We have already been to the pool almost every day since it opened.
We took a quick weekend trip on Memorial Day Weekend and she also enjoyed the hotel pool!
It rained most of the weekend but we did find this cool indoor playground which she loved!
She is finished with cub scouts for the year.
She is continuing swim lessons. She is getting really good! She can dive to the bottom of the deep end, tread water for over a minute, and swim the length of the pool.
On last picture of our beautiful girl!

This summer she is going to various day camps, will start horseback riding lessons, and go to the beach on our family vacation. She did very well in school and is above kindergarten level in reading and on grade level in math (they only give grades of “on grade level,” “above grade level,” or “below grade level.”)

Easter & Spring Break 2026

This is another school dress up day where she dressed up like her Nana (Jennifer’s Mom). She is just too cute not to post!
We went to church on Easter and Grandpa (Shawn’s Dad) joined us.
And the Easter bunny brought her a bunch of stuff!
Her favorite thing in her Easter basket was a mermaid tail for the pool.
We did all the normal Easter things like dying eggs . . .
And having our annual Easter egg hunt with her friends.
We also had lunch and a did a craft during our Easter party.
Over Spring Break we visited a cat cafe. Abby says she wants to work at a cat cafe when she grows up.
We also went to Knoxville for a few days and went to the Knoxville Zoo with her cousins.
She got to feed a giraffe and ostrich.
See some animals
. . . ride on the zoo train . . .
And play on animal themed playgrounds.
We also went to Dollywood.
We played games, rode a few rides, and Abby got her face painted.
When we got back home, we went to Disney on Ice and all wore our stitch outfits!
Last month, they had a Daddy/Daughter Dance at Abby’s school and we just got the pictures back.

March 2026

We have been very busy this month!

We have gone to Two live performances this month. The first was a community theater production of Frozen Jr.
The second was a broadway production of Beauty and the beast the musical.
We also took a dinner train ride and had tea with the Disney princesses. This was her first train ride!
Abby wanted to dress as “Princess Stitch” so of course I went as Lilo!
We also went to see the movie Hoppers which was really cute.
The night before St. Patrick’s Day, Abby set a trap to try to catch a leprechaun . She made sure it had soft bedding inside the trap so that the Leprechaun wouldn’t get hurt. She is a very sweet girl!
The leprechaun had lots of mischief to spread around our house. He also left some green pee in the toilet.
Her favorite was the green milk for her cereal.
Abby got to go to the birthday party of one of her school friends. They all love K-pop Demon Hunters!
Every Monday this month was a dress up day at school. This one was “dress like you are going on a road trip” day. She looks ready to go!
Abby is getting to be a very good reader. She is doing well in all areas of school. We had a parent teacher conference and her teacher commented that Abby has a strong desire to learn and is resilient. When she gets something wrong, Abby is able to shake it off and fix her mistakes without getting upset. She is kind, a good listener, and always helping her classmates to do the right thing. We are very proud of her!

January & February 2026

We have had some cold and snowing days so we are embracing indoor activities. We saw Zootopia 2.
Played lots of games inside.
We went to a boat show and Abby tried her hand at kaiaking. She loved it and we will do tit for real when the weather gets warm!
Abby got a new loft bed to give her more area to play in her room. Both Abby and our cat love it!
I had to go to a conference in Louisville and Abby came and stayed the night with me at the Omni hotel. She loves hotels!
We went to the Newport Aquarium with some friends on one of the days she had off school.
She had her best friend Ivy over for a sleepover and they enjoyed hot chocolate and a movie!
They wore matching shirts to church the next morning.
She is really into making friendship bracelets lately.
Abby did have a lot of fun playing in the snow!
Snow Angel!
And we made snow cream!
They were out of school for almost two weeks when the snow storm hit. We did “NTI” (Non-Traditional Instruction) for most of those days.
When they finally went back to school, they celebrated the 100th day of school by dressing up as old people.
They had a Valentine’s Day party at school.
We celebrated at home with cards, candy and some new K-Pop demon hunters swag.
We finally had her grandmother’s memorial service at the end of the month. It was a hard day for everyone but Abby handled it well.
Abby has also restarted swim lessons and is doing very well!

Happy New Year!

We had a fun Christmas Break and a Happy New Year!

Abby insisted on getting a new outfit for New Year’s Eve! We toasted with Sparkling Apple Cider.
She tired her hardest to stay up until midnight but at about 10:30 we looked up a count down on YouTube and celebrated (blew horns, toasted, kissed, etc.) then went to bed.
This was New Year’s Day breakfast. Abby’s new years resolution is to eat 5 fruits and vegetables everyday and so far she is doing great!
Over the break we had lots of days of play at home. These 18 inch dolls are her favorite toys right now.
We went to lights under Louisville and she loved it!
We went to the science museum.
Abby got her first professional haircut.
We had some warm days and went to the zoo.
Thank you for all the Christmas gifts that were sent to Abby! We have enjoyed them all! Here we are playing the Hello Kitty Game while we wait for our food at a restaurant.
Unfortunately, Shawn’s Mom passed away a few days after Christmas. Abby is upset of course but we all take comfort that she is no longer in pain and that we will see her again in heaven one day. The memorial service won’t been until sometime in February.

Merry Christmas 2025

We had a very Merry Christmas this year with many Holiday activities! It has been a very busy month.

We visited Santa and as usual, Abby is afraid of him and had to have Mommy in the picture as well. Her number one wish was K-pop demon hunter’s dolls and hair coloring chalk (she got both, see pictures at the end of the post).
She won’t even get close to this Santa statue.
We have already missed three days of school because of all the snow we have gotten!
Each day of December, was a different dress up day at school (that is 15 days if you are counting 😳). This was dress up like your favorite Christmas song. Of note, Abby in formed me at the end of the day that her favorite Christmas song is jingle bells. I got this shirt because this is the only Christmas of her life where she will actually be missing her two front teeth.
She had a school Christmas performance which was really cute!
Here is a video of one of their songs.
She had a school Christmas party in her classroom. Here she is making a snowman ornament with her friend Octavia. (Also, this was “Polar express: wear your Christmas PJs day”)
Her teachers had presents for all the kids.
Abby has been so excited about decorating for Christmas.
At Abby’s request, we got inflatable decorations for the front yard.
We went to see A Christmas Carol. This is Abby with the ghost of Christmas past.
Some friends had us over for a gingerbread house decorating party.
She also had a dance performance.
It was a grinch themed performance.
Abby did great!
We went to Nana’s house for a few days before Christmas and the cousins put on a Christmas story play which was so cute!
All the cousins also wore matching shirts.
We sang happy birthday to baby Jesus.
We drove around and looked at Christmas lights.
And Abby did some outdoor ice skating.
On Christmas Eve, we went to the candle light service at church.
Santa came on Christmas Morning!
There are her K-pop dolls!
We had Christmas dinner with Shawn’s parents. Notice Abby’s purple hair—she got a set of hair chalk and now she can have all the hair colors!Shawn’s mom is not doing well. She has stage 4 pancreatic cancer and is near the end now. It was a bitter sweet Christmas because we know she will not be here next year. We would appreciate your prayers as we walk through her last days with her.
Abby is a silly Willy!

Elf on the Shelf

Abby has been visited by an Elf on the Shelf for the first time this years and our whole family has enjoyed our elf, Cookie’s overnight antics.

Day One
Day Two & Abby’s first snow day.
Day Three & one of Abby’s favorite.
Day Four & the only one Abby hasn’t liked. She thought it was gross and a waste of cereal.
Day 5 & the morning after Abby lost another tooth.
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight & she loves kinder eggs
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven & Morning after Abby’s Dance performance
Day Twelve & Abby’s second snow day

Day 13 & Hopscotch upside down!

Day Fourteen & the morning after her dance recital
Day Fifteen & Cookie painted Shawn’s toenails in his sleep. This was another of Abby’s favorites.
Day sixteen
Day Seventeen & K-pop Demon hunters Elf which is Abby’s favorite show. Abby said this one was her very favorite!
Day Eighteen
Day Nineteen
Day Twenty
Day Twenty-one
Day Twenty-two
Day Twenty-three
The Last Day!
On the last day, Abby made Cookie mermaid clothes and we went to the new SpongeBob movie!

Let us know which one is your favorite in the comments.

Thanksgiving 2025

We went to Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
And Gabby’s Dollhouse live with her friend, Ivy.
She is learning a lot in cub scouts.
Here is picture of her class at school.
We had Thanksgiving at our home.
Here is her yearly picture with the thankful pillow.
We also went to see Wicked and dressed up as Elphaba and Glinda.
We also went to an outdoor skating rink and she loved it!

We have been doing Christmas activities non-stop and I will have lost of pictures of that on the next post! We hope everyone is staying well and warm!