Abbie's growing up

She's a Middle Schooler...Ahhhhh!!!

5th Grade Continuation

Abbie is officially finished with Elementary School and is moving on to Middle School. We are so proud of Abbie and the kind of student, friend, and example she is!

Abbie and her teacher Mr. Kittrel

Following Continuation Mr. Kittrel came up to Abbie and I to make sure that I knew how fabulous he thought Abbie was. He wanted me to know that at the end of every school day Abbie would make sure she came up to him and told him thank you before she left. He said that on most days, the last part of school can be the hardest for teachers. They are busy trying to help other students who need stuff before the bell rings and are tired after a long day of teaching. He got chocked up and teary eyed expressing to Abbie how much he appreciated her saying thank you every day. I was one proud mom!!!

Date night with Abbie

We have a little reward/punishment system in our house that consists of a jar for each kid and some rocks. I know...it is very high tech! When the jar is full the kids get to plan a date night with Mom and Dad. They get to pick where they would like to eat and what activity we will be doing. Abbie was our first little charmer to fill her jar. She picked Smashburger and the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I love this girl so much! What a great night. Our little girl is growing up and it is so much fun spending one on one time with her. She really is a fun person to be around!

Abbie with her Dad at Smashburger

Shirts and Skins!

This was a very silly movie. Lots of crude stuff that boys like. We laughed a lot (okay, Kent laughed a lot) and squirmed in our seats quite a few times. I am not a big fan of boogers!

Abbie's cooking

This has been the summer of Abbie in the kitchen. She has found a new passion for baking. Her first attempt at sugar cookies were, lets say, a little nasty. Since then she has discovered that she should pay attention to the tsp. on the recipe and not just use the cups. (yes, she put in 1/4Cup baking soda, 1/4 Cup salt, and 1/4 cup cinnamon!) After that first attempt she really has done awesome and loves to make cakes, brownies, and all kinds of cookies. Her favorites are these peanut butter cookies that only have 3 ingredients!!

Chocolate Cake with Rainbow frosting
Yummy peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate and peanuts

She's getting so big...

My little Abbie is growing up so fast I can hardly stand it. She is such a responsible kid and has been such a helper since Jake was born. So, last week she asked me if she could go to the mall with some friends without her younger siblings. That sounded resonable to me. She deserves an afternoon focused on her. Of course she tried to see if I would just drop her off. Yea right, she is only 9! She knew that wasn't possible but she gave it a good effort!! She also gave me all the rules before hand like trying to not be right with them the entire time, and absolutely no camera. I had mentioned that maybe it would be fun to bring along the camera and she freaked out and pleaded with me not to embarress her. So, yesterday I got a babysitter and picked up two of her friends and headed to the mall. She was so cute with her friends and there were a few times I tried really hard to not laugh at loud. It totally threw me back to that age and I had to laugh (at least inside!) I tried to give them their space but Abbie was really so sweet and a couple of times even held my hand and gave me a few thank you kisses when the friends weren't looking. We got a yummy treat at Dairy Queen and then the girls proceeded to spend all their allowance at Bath and Body Works, Claires, and JCPenny's. It really was such a fun afternoon and Abbie was so grateful to have a "big girls" day all to herself. When did she get so big!!! (notice no pictures...I followed the rules!)