The end of the year always gets busy with trying to finish off the posts for the year. We've got Abby's birthday and Christmas break (the usual end of year posts). However, this year, we took a family vacation before our usual Christmas vacation with family, so I have a ton of pictures to share from that. We'll start with Abby who turned 10 on December 19th. That morning, before school, (it was the last day before the break) Abby came into my room so I could wish her a happy birthday. I just kept saying things like, "I have a 10-year-old? I don't think that's possible. If that were the case, then I'd have to be old, and I'm not old! No way. You can't be 10" etc. :) She convinced me it was true and we started out our day. The girls only had a half day of school and partied for most of it. Abby and Tessa both got to go dressed in pajamas, so the only picture I got on Abby's actual birthday is this first one. However, I found this cuter one from her school choir concert, so I'm sure she'll appreciate having this one posted as well.
To devote a post to Abby, I like to pretty much do her first half of the school year since she's also the only one who's had events at school already that include pictures, so here are a few things to update you about our blossoming tween.
First off, Abby still sings in the honor choir at school. Not many 4th graders stay in, but she loves it so she did. Hopefully you can find her in these pictures. She's been on the next to top row, so that's been fun for me especially because I was always on the front row for everything! They've had two concerts during this first half of the year. Her first concert was on Taryn's birthday. It made us have to rearrange our celebrations for her birthday, but it was good because Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons were able to be here for her concert. The second concert was a Christmas concert and they sang songs from around the world even learning some in different languages like Silent Night in Japanese. It was pretty cool. Abby is still our singer and loves to sing all the time wherever she is and as loudly as she can. She also loves to add the piano to her singing although she's never taken lessons. She just plays the few songs and chords she's learned over and over again. She did teach herself how to play Silent Night so she could sing and play at our family talent show over Christmas. She did a great job.
Abby also stays very active, whether that means she's playing outside with friends, hitting a volleyball around (which she's getting very good at), or dancing. At school, she was involved in a Kids Excel program where people come to teach the 4th graders some dance moves choreographed to music. Their performance was the last week before the Christmas break. I thought that it would be just a dance performance, but they invited the other grades to come and watch and it was more of a presentation to the other students about what they learned and why. It was still fun to watch, and my kids (even Taryn) have learned the dance moves and phrases and do them all around the house all the time once Abby taught them how. Here's a picture of Abby's group and also one with her favorite instructor, Laura.
What else about Abby? She still gets straight As in school, and loves to be the teacher's pet. The teachers rave about how helpful and nice she is. She ran for class representative this year and was the runner-up. She tied originally, so they did a re-vote between her and another student and she lost that one. She still is involved as the runner-up so she enjoys that and is looking forward to run for a school position during her 5th grade year.
Abby can be very helpful around the house as well. She's a great little mother to her little sisters - sometimes a little too much when she starts bossing them around. She loves to be in charge as she plays with her sisters and friends. She refuses to let me cut her hair and loves having it long even though she pulls it into a ponytail almost every day. She is definitely a true tween as she gets closer to those dreaded teenager years. She begs to have her ears pierced still (we won't let her until she's at least 12) and she can have an attitude and an eye roll like you can't believe, but she's quickly learning the benefits of being older like staying up later and getting to do more "adult" things like playing board games with mom and dad. She's definitely maturing and turning into my little friend, instead of just my little girl. And I guess I shouldn't even say "little" because she keeps commenting how she'll be taller than me soon, which is probably true. She's growing up quickly right before our eyes.
We love this girl and even though we can't believe she is already 10, we can't imagine our family without her. Happy Birthday Abby!
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