The Worleys

Beware!  This is a very long post! December was a very eventful month for the Worley gang.  We had THREE birthdays, Breakfast with Santa, Christmas, New Years, and a family dinner with my sister.  And the biggest event went by very quietly - my retirement. It all started with Breakfast with Santa on December 3.  A bit early this year!  This event was held at our usual Breakfast hangout, Texas Star in Euless.  We had fun, a neither kid cried on Santa's lap!  How often doe that happen?  There was reindeer food to make, cookies to decorate and eat, yummy breakfast, etc. Next was Jay's birthday, December 5.  We won't speak of his age.  It is tradition now for all of us to go to Jay's house where Sarah has lovingly prepared Jay's favorite meal...well actually it is a Worley favorite as well...Beans and Cornbread.  YUM! Jay and Sarah already had their tree up.  Kids changed into their jammies and went to bed before we l...

My camera keeps deleting pictures from the s/d card before I can put them in my computer!  So, I am resorting to phone photos!  Ava received a lot of dress up clothes for her birthday.  Sarah sent me this shot of her in her new Cinderella dress. This is Ava in her Thanksgiving hat she made at preschool. And Ava now has moved up to a big bed at Grammy's!  This is in what used to be Jenni's room.  Ava likes to sleep in "Jenni's bed."  It is a queen size, which is a lot bigger than her twin size at home.  She wanted the pillows beside her so she would not fall out of bed.  I am spoiling her rotten -- we watch "Olivia", or sometimes "Tangled" in her room before she goes to sleep.  Fun Times! This is precious Eli supporting his teams!  I am amazed he actually kept his hat on.  Is that a guy thing? Speaking of "guy" things -- this picture definitely is not!  Ava loves to play dress up, and now she has her own ...

Our baby girl turned 4 in September!  Can hardly believe how grown-up she is!  We started her birthday party day at our family Saturday breakfast spot.  Sarah was at home preparing for the party! The theme for the day was:  BALLET!  Ava loves taking ballet!  And she loves wearing tutus!  And what little girl doesn't?  The door was decorated with Sarah's Ballet shoes!  Cute!! And the color for the day was PINK!  Surprised, aren't you!  Ava wanted chocolate cupcakes with pink icing.  Her party favors were pink, and of course, the Ballet Slipper Pinata (I don't know how to put the little sign over the "n", but you can figure it out) was pink! Cousin Bella Ruthie Of course the little girls wore ballet outfits and Tutus!  I only managed to get a picture of two of them.  Cute! Then came the whacking of the Pinata! Ava got the first whack. And it took a lot of whacking to break it open...

I am the proud graduate of a 5 month round of Physical Therapy after having had my left rotator cuff repaired on April 7, 2011.  Those are the weights I now use as I continue the rehab process at home.  Please don't laugh!  Those of you who work out will recognize these are only 1 lb and 2 lb weights!  But believe me, when I first started, these were very heavy!  In fact, there were no weights when I first started rehab! Rotator Cuff Surgery was quite an experience!  Something I had not planned to ever experience.  I take care of patients with this surgery -- I am not supposed to NEED this surgery, right?  It was an amazing learning experience!  I really can now counsel patients having this surgery with a lot more information! I wish I could say I had this injury from some wonderful physical activity experience...you know, like a sports injury.  But no, I had bone spurs in my shoulder that severed my rotator cuff from the bone. ...

I cannot believe how grown up Ava has become in just one year!  I was just looking back at last year's cute picture for comparison. This year she got a brand new full size back pack!  And she is totally big enough to carry it! Doesn't she look older?  She won't turn Four until September 30, which is not really too far away now. In these two picture she reminds me a bit of her big cousin Devon Worley.  She really loves going to school.  She goes two days a week, and then on Friday has ballet lessons.  She had her second ballet lesson today.  Last week, she showed me all her Ballet positions.  I cannot imagine teaching a 45 minute ballet class to 3 and 4 year olds! The ballet school that Ava attends has very strict rules.  They have a uniform and they must wear their hair up in a bun or held out of their face if it is short.  Ava was so excited to tell me all about her hairdo for ballet.  I love the pink tights!  Her l...

We now have a new Worley tradition:  Put the Baby in Ava's Elmo pajamas.  Below you will see a picture of Eli in Ava's Elmo pj's.  He is EIGHT MONTHS old!  And they look like they fit him to a T. And of course he looks adorable in them! Now you can feast your eyes on Ava wearing these same pj's!  As you can see, she is standing up.  She was already walking by this age.  She got the pj's for Christmas, if I remember correctly, so she is at least FIFTEEN MONTHS old in this picture!  Judging from the fit, probably even a little older.  She started the tradition of looking adorable in these pajamas! I promise you, Eli is not big for his age.  On the other hand, in this picture Ava WAS small for her age!  She has now grown to be tall for her age.  Amazing what time can do!  I look forward to seeing another grandbaby in these pj's in the future!  (no, not expecting any more grandbabies right now.) "As long as we have fo...

Who is my favorite grandson in the whole wide world?  Elijah James Worley, of course!  Mike and I have recently begun having BOTH Ava AND Eli over lately.  It makes for a busy evening!  We are not used to having two to watch!  This past Friday, we decided to have pizza.  Ava and Pop went to get the pizza, which left me alone with Eli for a little while.  Below is the video I took of Eli reading the newspaper.  He seems to really like newspaper! He is really fond of Pop.  He was hungry, but would not take his bottle of breast milk from me!  But he was quite happy to let Pop give it to him.  Same story, second verse with the applesauce.  But he quite happily sat at my feet and played with Pop's pen for 15 minutes while we ate pizza. The next video is at breakfast the next morning with the family at the Raven.  He was quite happy the whole meal.  He has started playing "Where's Eli", and he was just so cute!  I ...

Every July we congregate at Uncle John's Cabin in the woods of Minnesota. It is a lovely time together. This year, it was very cool while we were there. A nice respite from the 100+ temps we were, and still are, having here in Texas! Below is the view from the upper back porch. My favorite view. Very peaceful looking. Mike and I drove up. We met Rusty and Patsy on the way and all of us spent the first night on the road in Des Moines. So proud of Mikey -- he negotiated a deal at a very nice hotel for all of us. Very, very cheap. We arrived on Friday in Minneapolis in time for lunch with Pat and Leah, and then on to the cabin. One of my favorite meals at the cabin is Steak Night. This is usually on Saturday, and Pat provides the best steaks in the whole world! And they are always cooked to perfection! Leah makes the absolutely most delicious salad to go with it. This year I was slightly handicapped. I had rotator cuff surgery in April and was not allowed to use m...

I love to read, but seem to take forever finishing a book unless I am on vacation. I look forward to our trip to Minnesota every year because there is time to read.  Mike and I usually drive up each year.  That is a 20 hour trip.  I cannot spend the entire trip reading, but I do my best. This trip I have managed to read four books so far!  You see them posted in the blog.  I read The Help first.  Jenni gave me a copy.  Good, fast read.  And I was excited to find out that a movie based on the book is coming out in August.  I cannot imagine that it will be as good as the book, but I hope to see it!  This book is very popular.   In case you are unaware of the plot,  The Help  is a  2009  novel by  American  author  Kathryn Stockett . It is about  African American   maids  working in white households in  Jackson ,  Mississippi  during the early 1960s. Safe Haven ...