Emma's Princess Party & Ava's Shoe Obsession

Ava poses for her princess picture at Emma's birthday party. All the pretty princesses. I love how frilly they all look-- so cute! Ava lining up her shoes

We had a fun, busy weekend in Fort Worth, seeing family, friends, attending birthday parties and Chad's 10 year high school reunion. It was good to see everyone, even though it was a fast and furious visit. Maybe next time we'll get to visit a little longer. The first 2 pictures are from Emma's 3 year old princess party. It was so cute. Julia decorated the house like a castle and all the girls were dressed up like princesses. They decorated crowns, ate lunch, listened to a princess story, and took pictures on a "throne." But Ava's favorite thing at the party was all of the little shoes the girls were wearing. My girl is obsessed with shoes-- big shoes, little shoes-- doesn't matter, she LOVES them. If you've been around her for more than 5 minutes wearing a pair of flip flops, she's probably either asked you for them, or just taken them right off your feet. The last picture is Ava lining up her all of her shoes-- one of her favorite games. She might end up being a little obsessive compulsive. That will probably be the one thing she gets from me. I have to fight those OCD tendencies! (And for those who are interested, she is sleeping great in her new big girl bed. She loves it and has slept through the night with no major incidents of wandering through the house. . .yet.)

"And Ava will be there. . ."

Today in Bible class Ava learned a new song. When she learns something new, she repeats it over and over. . . and over, just to make sure she's got it down. Today's song is to the tune of the Farmer and the Dell and goes something like," We are going to Bible class, and Ava will be there, and Jude will be there, and Emma will be there, and Ashton will be there,. . ." this goes on and on as you say every child's name in class. Ava sang this all afternoon inserting almost every name she knows into the lyrics. At one point, Kate and I were driving in the car with her and we started laughing at the length of the song and how many people will "be there." Ava quickly changed the song to, "And mommy will not laugh and Kate will not laugh. . . " This of course only made us laugh harder. She is a funny kid. This picture has nothing to do with my story, but new photos are always fun. This one is of Ava reading and singing as she rocks her baby.

The West Texas Fair and Rodeo, ACU & other things

1. I tried to take a picture of Ava's first day of school ,but whenever I tell her to smile, she makes this face. She closes her eyes as soon as I hold up the camera. What a goofball! She was pretty excited about having pockets on her jacket, so she walked around all morning with her hands shoved deep in her pockets as you can see in the picture. (Note to moms out there: Ava's hair is getting lighter and thinner. At first I thought it was just because we were in the sun, but it's gotten so thin, I can't even keep a bow in it anymore. I am starting to worry that she is malnourished or something. Is this normal? Do you have any ideas or experiences with this? I don't want to be paranoid but people ask me about it all the time, and I'm getting more concerned.)

2. We went to the annual West Texas Fair and Rodeo last night with our small group. I ate Sharon Allen's chopped brisket sandwich, sweet iced tea and a funnel cake. What's a trip to the fair without sticky fingers and a layer of white powdered sugar all over your clothes and mouth? Highlights for Ava include dancing to the western band, feeding the goats at the petting zoo, and riding the train. (It cost $6 stinkin' dollars for a 30 second ride-- $3 for her and $3 for me because she's too young to ride alone.) Somebody is making some serious bank at the fair and I'm pretty sure it isn't the "carnies" who work there. Highlights for me include watching Kevin Campbell ride a fake bull for 8 seconds, dancing with Ava to the music, and hanging out with my friends. Something about that environment reminds me of being in middle school! We had fun, but 2 hours at the fair is about all I need until next year.

3. Today I went to chapel at ACU with my cousins and had "Cousin Lunch" afterwards at Little Panda. I've got four cousins and a nephew at ACU right now. Being back on campus is interesting. It has the same feel with the same young faces, so I kept expecting to see someone I recognized. I caught myself scanning section "L" for a familiar face. Then I did a little math and realized that the freshman starting ACU this year were in 2nd grade when I started at ACU in 1995! Needless to say, that one made me feel old. Still, being on campus brought back great memories. Ava loved the singing and seeing all those kids in chapel!

4. For those who don't know, I took on a second part time job. In addition to being the Nursery Director at Highland, I am now a Rep. for National Geographic and a few other publishing companies. I market curriculum and instructional materials to schools. Generally speaking, I hate selling anything to people. It is just not my personality to be a salesman, but I am stretching myself and giving it my best effort. I took the job because we have to replace our air conditioning unit so we needed to make a little extra to help offset the cost of that, plus our electicity bill, and the gas prices lately have been making us feel the crunch. Chad has also been working extra hours. We've both been pretty worn out, but we're thankful to have ways of making extra money to help when we need it. I know many people don't have those opportunitites.

Good Morning, Patty!

So I spoke with my dear friend, Patty, a couple of days ago, who told me she checks my blog every morning after she gets to work. Talk about putting on the pressure to post more often! Everyday she checks only to be disappointed that once again there is nothing new, and then, wa-lah! Two posts in a row. Happy reading, Miss Patty!

This got me to thinking about who actually reads my blog. Patty has never posted a comment so I wonder who else has been secretly reading. Kind of creepy when you think about it. Have you ever cliked next blog in the upper right hand corner of your blog just to see where you end up? There are some pretty interesting folks out there. I actually don't recommend this practice because there's a pretty vulgar blogging culture outside of the family oriented bloggers I'm used to reading. It is interesting though to click and see that many of the other blogs are written in different languages. It makes me feel somehow connected in such a big world.

Isn't it crazy that you can use the word blog as a noun, verb and if you really stretch, an adjective?
I am a blogger.
I blog.
I have a blog.
This is blog world.
Fun Word! Hope all you non-posting blog readers out there have a good day!

Happy Birthday Dear Ava

Two years ago today, our sweet Ava Grace was born! It's so cliche to say this, but I can't believe how quickly she's grown from being a tiny baby to a little girl. The past two years have been the most fun, exhausting, joyful, selfless, happy, prayerful, thankful two years of my life. And we're just getting started. . .

This week, Ava has been saying, "Oh my gosh." We think she picked this up from a decorating show as the room was revealed. It could be worse, but still, it doesn't sound very nice coming out of her little two year old mouth. We have been redirecting her to say, "Oh my goodness" instead. A few nights ago during dinner, we repeatedly corrected her "Oh my goshes" to "Oh my goodness." After a few minutes, she announced. "I don't want to Oh my goodness. I want to Oh my Gosh!" She certainly has a mind of her own! Oh my Goodness! Needless to say, we're still working on it.

We've been so into the whole birthday thing lately that Ava has been singing "Hatty Burtday" to everyone and everything. In the past couple of days, she's sung happy birthday dear peanut butter, squeaky shoes, Abraham, and cantelope to name a few.

I love so many things about Ava, but mostly I love her spirit. She has something remarkable and hillarious to share with me everyday. I am blessed to be her mother.
Here are some pictures from Ava's ladybug birthday party:

Our little ladybug

Smiling for the camera Ava and mommy

Blowing out the candles