Abby is 4!

I am apparently only capable of posting something here when there is a big life event in our family. :) I am a couple of weeks late, but we did have multiple celebrations in honor of Abby reaching the 4-year-old mark! We celebrated a couple of months early with Grandma and Grandpa when they visited from Ohio.

Then there was the family (plus Sean and Laura) party at our house the weekend of the Curtis family reunion.

We had a Candy Land themed party the day before her birthday to celebrate with a few of her friends. We were sad that Hallie and Lyla couldn't make it, but I'm sure Abby will just want another party to make up for that later. We did manage to get several pictures with Adalyn and Bella. :)

For her actual birthday, we went to IHOP for breakfast (sorry, no pictures). Then we had to make a quick stop back at the house to drop off a very sick Daddy (sad!) before the kids and I headed to The WonderPlace in Little Rock. Lyla wasn't able to make it to the Candy Land party, but she got to come play on Abby's birthday!

Plus, Mommy got to visit a little with Rachel and Tommy Nix which is always wonderful! Logan was in rare form so we didn't get to stay as long as we had hoped, but I think the kids had a good time! Then it was back home, and the birthday girl requested Sonic for dinner. :)

Abby is growing so quickly! She is 3 1/2 feet tall (90th percentile) and 41 lbs (90th percentile). She has been wearing size 5 clothes for months, and her latest pair of tennis shoes had to be bought at a size 12! She has decided that she needs to grow her hair and bangs out long "like Rapunzel," so we are constantly looking for stretchy headbands and hair clips to keep the craziness out of her face. :) She is very active, and (at her request) we have her signed up to play soccer this fall and spring! We should find out in the next week or so about what team she is on, and she is SO excited to get started.

We are starting a very informal homeschooling reading program this year since she is technically still in preschool. I wanted to wait another year before we really got into phonics, but she has been reading for several months already!! Since she is so eager to progress and read bigger words and books, I figured it would be better to teach her the correct way to sound out words than for her to make up her own methods. We will gradually be working our way through Handbook for Reading this year, and I am hopeful it will give me a feel for how we need to proceed with schooling next year for her. Some of her favorite books to read aloud to me right now include Fox in Sox and Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. She loves to read Logan's board books to him, and Logan just soaks it up. It makes Mommy smile, too. :)

Abby is becoming quite the artist, and she will spend hours drawing, coloring, cutting, gluing, or any other crafting we will allow her to do. Daddy is especially artsy, so that is something special they like to do together. She got a couple of art/craft kits for her birthday, and they have already painted wooden butterfly magnets for the fridge, molded various items out of clay, and made flowers out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners. I am grateful that Daddy has a little more patience for these activities than I do. ;) Of course, these activities are always more fun for our girly girl if she gets to wear a fancy hat or dress while doing it!

She got the Hide 'Em In Your Heart CDs for her birthday, and we listen to them multiple times a day now. I love that she walks around the house singing scripture all the time, and Logan loves them! Favorite book characters right now include Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, Curious George, and Eloise. Favorite shows include Sid the Science Kid, Blue's Clues, Word World, and Strawberry Shortcake. Movies that are constantly on repeat are The Incredibles, Kung Fu Panda, Cars, and Over the Hedge. My sweet Abby is 4 (going on 14), and I just want to remember all of these little things she is loving right now! Thanks to all who survived this lengthy post. :) We love you, sweet girl!!!