Thanksgiving

Call us crazy, but 7 of us in the Mabry gang got up early on Thanksgiving morning to run the famous Dallas Turkey Trot. Some were excited about it, and others had to have their arms twisted, and yet others graciously volunteered to stay home with the smaller kids who weren't able to go. Here we are with our fake smiles at 7:15 in the morning just before we headed downtown. The Trot has 2 parts - the 8 mile race or the 3 mile fun-run. We opted for the fun-run and so did close to another 31,000 people!!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY! Those of us who wanted to run had trouble, because of the sheer amount of people, plus dogs, and strollers are allowed in this race, so as you can imagine, there weren't many serious runners in this crowd. It was super fun though, and we all crossed the finish line! I think we will make it a tradition on the Mabry Thanksgiving Years.

Before the race

Starting line

Then we came home to the wonderful smells of a Turkey Feast deliciously prepared by Mom. It was fabulous, as always, and tasted really good since we had actually worked up an appetite!

Mom has a tradition of making cookies with the kids on every holiday,

so here are the Turkey Cookies!

Happy Fall

The Verdict

Sorry to all of you who were on pins and needles waiting to hear what Avery decided to be Halloween night, (I'm sure many of you lost sleep over it!) After all my tossing and turning trying to get her just the right outfit............drum roll...............she decided to be the cheerleader! That's when as a parent you just have to throw your hands up and say, "whatever". Anyway, she was adorable and had lots of fun. No child should get this much candy in one day, even if it's Halloween!

With our good friend Michelle

With our good friend Bertelle


Now to a couple of stories: The other day Gabe and I were driving through the Starbucks drivethrough and she was reading the sign. She slowly and carefully spelled F...r...a...p...p...u...c...c...i...n...o. "Starbucks!," she yelled! It was pretty cute.

Then yesterday she was with her best friend Kaidance and her mom Amanda and Amanda overheard she and Kaidance playing dolls, who were going to the Dr. Kaidance said that her doll was sick. Avery said, "Oh no, does she have parvo??"

The Maize

For several years now, we have wanted to go to the Maize, a really amazing corn field in Shallowater, made into a giant maze that you try to find your way through.

We went on a perfect cool Saturday in November and had a great time. Well, Avery only made it through half and then wanted to go ride the train pulled by a 4-wheeler. They also have a little petting zoo and some fun stuff like a rock climbing wall and a pumpkin blaster that shoots at targets and a nice picnic area. It was a great family day!

The many faces of Halloween

Today is Halloween, and so far, Avery has already been 2 different things, and we haven't even had Halloween night yet! For the last month, we've been trying to figure out what she is going to be, and she has wanted to be everything from a scarecrow to a ballerina, from Hello Kitty to a dog. But when she mentioned cheerleader, I jumped on that, because we already had the costume! I figured she could just be a cute little Abernathy Cheerleader - simple, cute, affordable. So that was that.

Until...midnight on Monday night when I realized that if Avery was an Abernathy Cheerleader for Halloween, I would feel like the most lame mom in America. Why? Because it's so "every day"...every little girl in Abernathy has an Abernathy cheerleader uniform, so what would be special about being THAT for Halloween? When I mentioned this to Gabe, he said, "JILL! SHE'S 4 YEARS OLD, AND BESIDES, SHE SAID SHE WANTED TO BE A CHEERLEADER!!" But, I didn't sleep well at all the rest of the night and was overcome by motherly guilt.

Tuesday morning Avery got up and put on her cute Abernathy cheerleading "costume" to wear to school, and I must admit it was cute. And worked out fine that day, because she goes to school in Lubbock, so her outfit was not so common there. That day I was at my friend Helen's house getting a massage and I mentioned my quandry. She told me that she had 4 tubs full of Halloween costumes that would fit Avery! She let us borrow several, so we came home with 4 new choices for the poor girl. Now she could be a movie star, medieval princess, pink poodle, or a dog. Today for our local library carnival, she decided to be the movie star. Tonight for Trick or Treating - the verdict is still out! Thank you Helen for saving me from being a loser mom!
I'll post more after we see what she is going to be tonight...nice to have choices, isn't it?

Before Sonshine School

She said "All Cheerleaders have to have their name written on their head". So....we did.

Miss Movie Star or something elegant - we aren't quite sure.

With her best friend Kaidance at the Library Carnival

Baby Jaxon - for those of you who haven't met him, this is the little boy we keep on MWF. His Nemo costume was ADORABLE!

Our Family Jackolantern.

Avery is 4!!

Sorry this post has taken me so long, we had pictures on 3 different cameras and I still haven't gotten the ones off of Gabe's camera, so I'll just use what I have for now (which is PLENTY as I'm sure you'll notice). I haven't been in the blogging mood, so sorry for the delay, but some of you who weren't able to be at the party are wanting to see what it was all about, so here you go! We are so thankful for our precious Avery and that she is 4 years old!

Mom & Dad got to our house on Avery's actual birthday, and she opened her Baby Doll gift from us and all the Graco equipment to go with it from Mom and Dad. She absolutely loves it all and cried and cried when she had to go to bed and quit playing!

This is the American Girl Bitty Baby Doll. It was definitely a hit.

Avery's Birthday Party was Saturday at Jump N Jungle, and inflatable Bounce-house place which kids love!

Avery and Proud Mommy

Mam and Grandad

Each child that has a party at Jump N Jungle gets to leave their handprint with name and birthday on the wall. The wall is full of them!

Most of the kids at the party. Several had to leave before this photo was taken.

The staff completely sets up the party for you, while you have the Bounce House area for your private party. It is fabulous - they have this party thing down to a fine science.

Being sung to! I think she was a little bit shy and overwhelmed at this point!

World's Largest Hello Kitty Cake! I got a full sheet, don't ask me why, but we just finished eating it a week later! It was strawberry and very yummy.

Back to School!

I knew Avery was excited about going back to school, but I didn't realize how thrilled she was until she awoke at 4:30 am this morning and was ready to go! She was completely happy and chipper and asking if it was time to get dressed and go yet! I tried giving her juice, milk, gatorade...whatever it would take to lull her back to sleep, but the girl was too wired to even think of staying in the bed. So, she got up and watched a video while I tried to sleep a bit longer, but I ended up going ahead and getting up about 5:00. She looked out the window every 5 minutes to see if it was light yet. It was a VERY LONG 3.5 hours until our 8:30 departure time. The other day she told me, "Mom, people get me a lots of energy!" This is so true for our little extrovert Avery. She is completely wound up after being with other people, so it's about time she get back into school.

Not too thrilled about having to pose for a picture.

This is how excited she was - she could not contain her arms - they were going crazy!

We're off to a great start! Avery loves her teacher, Ms. Carie and she is in the Dinosaurs Class. After I picked her up, she said, "Mom, I'm WORN OUT!" Probably mostly because she got up at 4:30 a.m., but I know they keep them busy in her class too. I'm counting on her to sleep well tonight!