Abigail and her friends

     New things for Abigail -- she is handling most of her morning activities herself.  We wake her up with a sweet kiss and hug, and lay out her clothes and tooth brush.  We have come to an arrangement that we do not have to continually keep her on track, she gets it done while we get John ready.  This has made mornings much easier.  
    We have started an allowance a few weeks ago.  We really thought she would go wild spending her money.  She purchased one app on Matt's iPad and saved several weeks, and invested a contribution from Uncle Donald.  She also participated in a neighborhood garage sale, selling old toys and her play table her legs had outgrown.  Then she spent big; she purchased a limited edition Build a Bear Little Mermaid doll.  She was so proud of herself when she handed her money to the clerk!  It is a huge benefit for us as well as we welcome her to spend her money on whatever she wants, just not our money.
    She is also learning to complete her class work in school correctly, as we have her repeat it in the afternoons in addition to her homework daily.  She is beginning to read much more proficiently -- as is usual, she knows more words and how to sound out all but does not often want us to know this.  She is beginning to complete her homework entirely without our help.

Abigail and Madeline at Little Mermaid at Bass Hall.  

The girls were excited all week long.  The costumes and music were incredible.  The girls sweetly danced in their seats.  Abigail was terrified of Ursula, but Maddie helped me explain she was just an amazing actress pretending to be scary.   

Likely one of the last crisp mornings -- we have begun walking and riding the scooter to school again.  Abigail's spirit seems to light up and relax as we see all the kids walking toward the school each morning.  She and Madeline are the  best of friends, and play most days on the playground with classmates, Anayeli, Henry L, Zachary, Natalie and Leah.  

Last week we made a  chalk masterpiece -- this picture was taken right as we started our scene of animals and farms.  Today the rains have wiped them out.  Abigail's flowers and flamingos along with Matt's lizard will be missed.  

Luke and Abigail -- My have they grown over the last 5 years.  

Way back in 2010, we visited Luke for his christening.  On Saturday, we visited the family again for Luke and Adeline's little sister, Eleanor, at her christening.  The kids were fast friends and enjoyed having an entire restaurant to themselves.  They had parades, passed out cookies and giggled all afternoon.