And So It Begins...

I began a tradition with the kids last year of doing something "Christmas-y" every day in December until Christmas day.  We had so much fun with it last year that we are doing it again! Tradition states that the first day of our 25 days of Christmas is a pajama present.  The original goal was to give them Christmas pajamas, but I ended up finding regular p.j.'s that I liked better, so I went with those.  Here are some pics of their pajamas they opened.  We are ready to get our Christmas festivities started! :)

Ava's 1st Girl Scout Ceremony

Ava had her Girl Scout Investiture Ceremony a couple days ago.  It was her first special event with the Girl Scouts and she was pretty excited about it.  All of the different divisions (Daisys, Brownies, and Juniors) all had a special ceremony.  It included a song from each group, and everyone got their pin and a certificate...and of course, COOKIES!  A good time was had by all.  I even recorded Ava's little song, but I'm feeling too lazy to put it on here right now, so coming soon.....

So, I'm Gonna Cheat a Little....Okay, a Lot...

I'm sure all two of my readers out there have noticed that I've been a little absent lately.  I just can't seem to get my act together following my computer mishaps.  All of the problems I had with the computer got me out of the blogging habit and it has been nearly impossible for me to get my rhythm back.  With that being said, Christmas is upon us.  I did the 25 days of Christmas with my kids last year and I had a wonderful time talking about it and I need to begin soon. However, I have discussed before that I cannot blog about current events when I am missing the rest of the sequence.  So, here you go.  I am cheating.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last few months.  Yes, I am still taking pictures, I am just not doing anything with them.  

For those of you who actually want NEWS...the school year is going great so far.  Chance is loving 3rd grade and recently started taekwondo.  Can I just say, I know I'm his mom and I have to say nice things (lol), but this kid can do an awesome push up! I am also really proud of how well he is doing in school.  He loves to read.  We are very happy to have an avid reader since Brian and I are also no strangers to reading.  

Ava is also enjoying kindergarten.  Her teacher's main comment about Ava is that she is HYSTERICAL.  She has a story about Ava on almost a daily basis.  I should really be keeping some sort of journal.  Her extra-curricular activity of choice is Girl Scouts.  As you can see, we really are keeping quite busy...it's no wonder I haven't had time to blog...haha. 

Brian and I went to Eureka Springs over fall break and it was wonderful to get away for a few days.  He also recently spoke at the Mississippi State Youth Convention....AND I got to go with him.  It was great to hear him speak.  I rarely get to do that anymore. :)  Perhaps the biggest news of all is that he graduates with his masters in a few, short weeks!!  His last Thursday night class is actually this week.  I am SO proud of him.

Well, there you go...a brief update.  Now enjoy the pictures from the last couple of months.  Hopefully, I'm back on track now...fingers crossed, but don't hold your breath~!

Happy 5th to My Lil' Ladybug

Ava wanted to have a ladybug birthday party this year.  (She has only been talking about it since the day after her 4th birthday!).  We decided to keep it simple and have it at our house.  I love it that her birthday is in the summer because we can move the party outdoors.  Our house may be on the small side, but we have lots of room in our yard.  The only issue we have to battle is that her birthday is in August and the heat is extreme.  We decided to have a water party this year and make it as late in the afternoon as possible.  Don't get me wrong, it was very hot, but it was not TOO unbearable.  We had a wonderful turnout for her party and I think everyone had a blast.

Our awesome friends, Davis and Shanon, were nice enough to let us borrow their water slide...it was a hit!  The kids loved it.  Add in water balloons, pizza, cake, ice cream, and a pinata...and we had a considerable amount of happy children.  The only sad thing is that I can't believe my baby is 5 now!  Where does the time go?!?

And...last, but not least...here's a little video of the pinata.  Don't let people try to tell you to go the safe way and not use a bat....just pull a ribbon.  Um...yeah, right.  That didn't really work as planned.  However, all the kids still got candy, so I suppose they are happy.  :)

40th Anniversary Celebration

Hello all.  I am back.  I know we've all heard this before, but my computer has still been giving me serious issues.  I will not bore you with all the details.  I am sorry to my two readers for my absence...lol.  Needless to say, as usual, I have some catching up to do.  

I skip way back to the end of July when our church celebrated our 40th anniversary.  It was a weekend long celebration that consisted of softball antics, ice cream, snow cones, fun at the park, a few dinners, and a look back at our church's history.  There are many things our church has done right, and equally as many that haven't turned out as they should.  I am very thankful to everything my church has meant to me.  It has given me life-long friendships and family.  Some I don't see as much as I would like, but they will forever hold a special place in my heart.  

Many will tell you that I am not sentimental about things in the least, but I am quite sentimental about people and places.  It was good to have this weekend to look back and reflect.  It was nice to have my kids there to participate in the activities.  Chance actually played in the softball game (which was more of a crazy fun alternative to softball).  I was excited to see him jump in because he is usually much more content to watch from the sidelines.  The softball/ice cream event was my favorite event because it was a simple, relaxing evening that included everyone from the small kids to the senior adults.  Everyone worked together and had lots of fun.  

I included some pics of the kids at the bottom.  Enjoy. :)

The Missed Marlett Family Happenings

Well, needless to say, much has happened while my computer has been on its little hiatus. Instead of doing countless blogs for the next million days, I thought I would just put a few of my favorite pictures in one extended post. Buckle your seat belts! :)This summer, I got a couple new pieces of furniture for some of the blank spots in the living room. Ava "helped" Brian put together a book shelf.

After we tackled the living room, I decided that the patio could use some updating and also got some patio furniture. This was the pile before...
...and one of the chairs after. The complete set has two of the above chairs, a love seat, and a table. Just add some throw pillows, and there you have it. I really love the set. Too bad it has been molten lava hot and we haven't used them too much yet. Rest assured, in the fall, they are going to get some good use. I'm counting on it! :)

What's summer fun without LOTS of swimming?!? I am very proud of both of my kids and their new swimming accomplishments this year. Chance is very comfortable with swimming now, and Ava has recently discovered that she can swim without her life jacket (limited, but coming along nicely!)Ava spent some time hanging out with her cousin this summer, which she thought was fantastic because she loves to go to people's houses.
We went to a couple birthday parties this summer. This one happens to be at the splash pad in Norman. The kids really love that place.
Probably the most exciting news of the summer...Nevan came home from the peace corps. It was very unexpected. The kids thought they wouldn't see her for a couple years and they were very excited to find out they were wrong. We all went to pick her up from the airport.

Here she is!!!
Since Nevan has been home, we've spent a lot of time hanging out with her. In this pic, we were at our favorite frozen yogurt place.

Chance decided to show us how he could jump over the shrubs. Quite talented. lol

One night, we helped clean up the church sanctuary for the 40th anniversary celebration. Chance is holding a large stack of communion cups. Apparently, no one actually throws those away...I really liked this picture of Chance and Brian. I don't know what it is about a full moon that instantly makes me want to take lots of pictures. Reason #365 why I need a better camera. Then, perhaps, the pictures may actually look as good as it does in real life. I can never quite capture the moment.
Surprise~ We swam some more!

Brian and I went to see Howie Mandel at a local casino. He was so funny. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Very fun evening.

An awesome man at our church volunteered to teach some kids to golf. Chance hesitantly decided to take him up on it. I must say that Chance may have some hidden golf skills in there somewhere. George said he had some real potential. I'm interested to see what he can do with a few more lessons under his belt!

Chance is also wanting to perfect skateboarding. Now that it has gotten a little cooler, we have gone out in the evenings to let him practice.
He skateboards and we all watch! :) No skateboarding for the rest of us. That could be quite dangerous.
Last, but not least, Brian and I had an amazing night out with some of our closest friends to celebrate our friend, Shanon's, last round of chemo. She has been battling breast cancer since January and she has been amazing! We are all so glad she is done with chemo and can put that phase behind her. It was great to hang out with my friends and have a nice, relaxing evening.

Well, there you have it. Those are a few of the things we have been up to the last month and a half or so while my computer as been absent. There is a lot more to come. Stay tuned... :)

Hello All

Just to inform everyone...I have not dropped off the face of the earth. I have been having MAJOR computer drama. I am not going to give you the long version because I am tired of reliving it, but very long story short, a series of events occurred that caused us to have to wipe our entire computer and then when we got it back, it still hasn't been right. For awhile, we couldn't get the Internet to connect, then the computer crashed again, then the Internet wouldn't connect AGAIN. Now that everything is in working order, I have to hold my breath and hope that I can reinstall all of my camera software so I can upload pictures. UGH! Let's hope this all goes smoothly because we all know that I am computer challenged. Let's also hope it happens rather quickly because my memory card is filling up at a rapid pace. GASP. Did I mention that all of the computer craziness has been happening during the busiest part of our year?? Between Ava's birthday, all of Brian's back to school activities at the college, and our own kid's back to school stuff, I kind of feel like I'm loosing my mind. Hopefully, everything is close to returning to normal. I say this as poor Chance is laying sick in my bed on the FIFTH day of school. Yeah, it's gonna be one of THOSE years. Last year he had perfect attendance...this year, not so much. Look for a substantial amount of updates soon...if I don't loose my mind first! :)