Strawberry picking!

Getting a lesson on how to pick strawberries.

Picking her first one.

She got the hang of it pretty quickly!

Andrew was proud of his!

Davis moved quickly!

Sharing the bucket.  Yes, they actually did share!

Tatum, Aubrey, Karsen, Andrew, Davis, & Avery.

All done and ready to eat some!

My children and I LOVE strawberries so we were excited to find a place here where we could actually pick some!  We went with some good friends & had a blast!  We had a girl bucket and a boy bucket and we've already made a significant dent in each.  Maybe there will be enough left to make some muffins... maybe!

Aubrey's first soccer game

Ready to play her first game.

Practicing.

That's the other Aubrey facing her.

Gathering the team up.

Practicing dribbling.

Ready to kick it in.

There she goes.

Mommy with her soccer star!

Watching with Daddy.

This is right after her goal, she was so proud!

Exhausted and ready for a snack!!

Last season we watched Andrew NOT want to play soccer.  Today we watched Aubrey go after it!  After no practices and never really stepping foot on a soccer field, she played her little heart out, even scoring her first goal!  She is definitely our aggressive child.  As for Andrew, he was perfectly content to sit on the sidelines and cheer his little sister on.  Both boys were super proud of her and Davis even picked her up after it was over and gave her a huge hug.  There is another little girl named Aubrey and a boy with Aubrey as a middle name.  It was very confusing at first so we ended up cheering for Aubrey Claire.  So proud of my sweet girl!!!

Black Belt Graduation

Mrs. Corley (his current teacher), Davis, and Mrs. Boyd (his preschool teacher).

Aubrey sitting waiting with Mrs. Boyd.

Saying their creed.

Reading his essay on what being a black belt means to him.

Shaking hands after receiving his black belt.

Taking off his old belt...

..."soaking up all the knowledge from the previous belt"...

...tying the new belt on.

Receiving his sword.

The newest black belt class.

So proud of our little black belt.

With good friend, Seth.

The Three Amigos who can all be together in class again!

Our neighbors, the West family.

With Mrs. Boyd.

His award.

With Master Zach.

So proud of this guy!

Words cannot express how proud we are of Davis today.  The day began with pancakes for breakfast and then it was off at 9:15 to drop him off at the karate studio.  In all the chaos, we couldn't find Andrew's shoes (they were in my car) and we forgot Davis' water bottle (we got it to him, Betty, he used the one you gave him).  His test was at 10 and we picked him up at noon.  I expected him to be exhausted but he met us at the door with the biggest smile on his face and a huge hug for all of us.  Andrew and Aubrey were all hugs for Davis and both kept saying, "we're so proud of you, Davis!"  At 1:00, it was graduation ceremony time.  Davis was surprised with the appearances of his current teacher and his preschool teacher!  Our neighbors, his best friend, Seth, and his two friends from karate also came to watch him receive his new belt.  Along with his belt, Davis also received an award for perseverance, never giving up.  They mentioned how proud they were of him for coming in October to congratulate his two friends even though his own graduation was pushed back.  There was scarcely a dry eye in the room and several people gave him a standing ovation.  We are so proud of you, Davis, and we couldn't love you more!!!!

Sneak Preview

Here it is!!!  The much anticipated black belt that Davis will receive on Saturday after his black belt test!!

Ballet video

Aubrey loves ballet the best and she was way too cute dancing today!

Aubrey's Little Gym show!

2nd from the left, waiting to go in.

3rd from the left awaiting instructions.

Standing on her "x".

Tap!

Changing into ballet slippers.

Dancing low and slow.

Dancing medium, she's on her knees.

Gymnastics time!  There she goes!

Playing with one of her favorite teachers, Ms. Sarah.

On the balance beam (her favorite part) with her other favorite teacher, Ms. Britttany.

All by herself!

So proud of my sweet girl!

The class.

"Ta da!"

Aubrey has been taking ballet, tap, and gymnastics at the Little Gym since early this summer and today they had their mid-season show.  She was a little shy during the tap part but warmed up for ballet and gymnastics.  She even surprised everyone by doing a flip over the bars (she usually HATES the bars and steers clear of them).  So proud of my sweet girl!