Audrey and Claire - The Last 7 Months

Audrey and Claire had a great summer full of camps and activities.  Claire attended several camps at her preschool where they explored different countries and customs, traveled back in time to the Old West and got down and dirty with bugs and plants. Audrey attended a variety of camps - art, science, track and field and guitar camp.

In August, we had a very special event for our family. My youngest brother, Kyle, got married to a fabulous young woman, Briana, who is definitely the perfect match for him. Audrey and Claire were asked to be the flower girls and they were so excited to be a part of the wedding party.  The wedding was wonderful and the bride was beautiful. I am very thankful that our family was blessed with such an amazing sister-in-law. I will be officially getting another one in less than a year... Tyler proposed to Christina last winter and they have a January 2013 wedding planned. 

Audrey and Claire with the bride at the salon  

Audrey and Claire waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle

Did I mention that Audrey got her braces off just in time for the wedding? She was so excited... She wanted (and got) a smorgasboard of all the things that she couldn't eat with her braces. Our first stop was Steak 'n Shake.  

Claire had a very special August as well... She officially became a student! Her first day of Kindergarten was great! She is a very independent child so there wasn't any issues with saying goodbye. In fact, she didn't really want to be walked to class... Luckily for me the school requires all Kindergarten students to be walked to and from class. But I am sure that next year we will be using the car loop drop-off.  

 Audrey & Claire with Daddy at school

Claire began playing soccer this fall. Not only did she enjoy it, she was really good at it. She is very excited about the spring season which starts in March. Santa brought her a soccer goal to practice in the backyard and a Mia Hamm soccer video that she has watched almost every day.

Audrey is still concentrating on her music and developing her talent in amazing ways. She composes music and is currently working on a song with lyrics - all of which she is writing herself. I find myself in awe of her natural talent every time she plays. She is in the process of recording a CD with her compositions.  I will post a new video of her playing soon. 

A Childhood Right of Passage

For many children, getting braces is just another childhood right of passage.  Audrey is experiencing that right of passage now.  She started Phase 1 of her orthodontic treatment today. The time frame for this phase is approximately 12 months. She was a bit anxious beforehand but did really well.

Audrey brought along a "friend" for support

She chose a different color band for each bracket - "Rainbow colored", as she calls it!

At home... showing off her new additions:)

The one thing that I remember from having braces was the difficulty eating certain foods.  So I am trying my best to incorporate easy-to-eat foods into our good-for-you diet.  I use the word "diet" in the sense of our eating lifestyle, not a weight loss plan.  Although it would be nice to lose a pound or two in the process. :)  But I digress.  So tonight we had "soft" foods for dinner to help alleviate the discomfort that usually comes those first few days of treatment.  Audrey gave her seal of approval for dinner and we made it through the first meal quite well.  We worked on cleaning around the braces after mealtime and discussed the best practices for dealing with meals away from home - like lunches at school, etc.  Audrey is doing great and I hope that this "right of passage" is one that is a positive one for her.