Climb On In

Yep, there she was, Ava had climbed into her toy box. She looks like she is trying to protect herself with her flashlight.

A Sibling Retreat + Mom

L to R (Jess, Mark, Lori, Kate, Me, Michele, Mom, and Rachel)
Jess going down the slide with Braxton and Chase.
Our Awesome long shadows-

At a very cool park in St. George

Having Lunch at the Cabin.
Inside an old tree at Red Cliffs.
Pedicures make pretty toes.

At the end of April we all met in St.George to spend some time together. We left the kids at home........yes a I have a wonderful husband and fabulous in laws. While we were there we tried to cram in a lot of fun. We did lunch at Durango's (mmmmmm), grocery shopped, went to a park w/Rachel and Jessie's kids, went to Jessica's in laws cabin (she also has fabulous in laws), hiked a little at Red Cliffs, and treated ourselves to Pedicures and Scalp treatments. It was strange to be w/o my little buddy Ava. We all decided it was too long to be away from our kids and we all wished we could see each others kids. So next time we might bring them and do one night away instead of 5 nights away. Anyway it was good to hang out with everyone and the drama was minimal. Mark heads out on a 2 year mission to Tampico Mexico in July, so this time spent with him was very valuable, because I doubt he'll want to hang with his sisters when he gets back.

Stop and Smell the Flowers

Ava loves everything outdoors. We were at the grocery store and I was telling Ava "Come on this way", her response"No, this way" . She wanted to take a moment to smell the flowers.....she made sure to smell every color. I think I need to slow down once in awhile and enjoy the small things around me.

Anyone Need a Closet Organizer?

Ava is a little busy body always working on a project. Yesterday she decided the pantry needed to be reorganized. She was lining things up in the entryway while I glanced through the paper. When I asked her what she was doing go said "come here" and showed me the pantry. I said Okay lets put everything back and she did it. Of course she wanted to do it all by herself and screamed "stop" when I tried to help. Ummm Okay I guess I can just watch.

Singing in the Rain

We have a 3 tiered private deck that doesn’t have stairs to the ground. I’ve decided that this area is going to be my favorite place this spring/summer/fall. She totally entertains herself out there. I'm even thinking of putting a sandbox on the deck. Ava went out to talk to the birds and throw them bread and after she had been out there a little while it started to rain. She didn't care that she was getting all wet! I grabbed her umbrella and raincoat because she didn't want to come inside. I let her hang out until she decided she wanted to sit down on a wet step and also didn't want to hold her umbrella anymore. Needless to say her clothes were soaked.

Sing me a song your the piano man........

Ava and Derek took turns singing and playing the piano. It was so nice to watch them take turns. Also you might have noticed she doesn't have her pants on. Derek goes potty on the toilet which in turn makes Ava want to be on the potty. After taking off and putting her pants back on a few times, I just left them off for awhile.

No Fear

Ava has a couple of cousins that have the best toys. Her legs aren't long enough to reach the gas -thank goodness, so Daddy pushed the gas while she drove around. Her aunt found a tricycle the kids used when they were smaller, but she didn't want anything to do with that "baby" bike. She thinks she is so big. The kids just learned to ride their bikes w/o training wheels and she was sure she could do it too. So determined.

March Madness

So the UW Badgers were in the sweet sixteen so we decided to have a few friends over for the game. Would you believe they lost??? It was tied at halftime and thenDavidson was on a roll and couldn't miss. The kids had fun anyway. At first Ava didn't know what to think about all the kids, but by the end she was in seventh heaven. We tried to get everyone to look at the camera but that wasn't going to happen. Kid's were tired on a verge of melting down. Anyway we had a good time and we both agreed that we need to have people over more often!

Ava with her Easter Basket

I caught her in a daze.
Acting Excited!

The Easter bunny came to visit Ava this year and brought her all kinds of fun things. The bunny hid eggs all over the house. Ava acted surprised every time she found one. She also got some dinosaurs, markers w/special paper (good tip from Robert and Colleen), and some water toys she can take to the pool (can you tell we are patiently waiting for summer?)......and a few summer clothes. No candy this year because she would been obsessed with unwrapping and eating every single piece. She did open a few of the plastic eggs she found just in case there might be candy in them like there had been at playgroup earlier in the week.

A Snowman for Easter

So right before Easter we got a big storm that dropped 6". Matt made Ava a snowman that had jellybeans for a face. On Easter we went to church and then we went to Matt's parents for a big Easter Lunch/Dinner. There was a ton of great food (including a sweet potato casserole that I made that I must say was amazing!) It also snowed on Easter, big giant flakes..... I know Easter was early this year, but come on!

Dying Easter Eggs

I couldn't believe how much Ava enjoyed coloring eggs. She wanted to keep on going even after the eggs were all colored, so we let her dye one egg multiple colors (surprisingly it didn't turn out brown). It was fun to watch her little brain try and figure t out. I was glad I put newspaper down because she wasn't so careful about the dye and as you can see in the last picture it also got all over her hands.

First Haircut for Ava

I took Ava in to get her haircut this afternoon. I wasn't sure how she would react but she took it very serious. She did everything my stylist asked her to and sat very still. Everyone in the salon wanted to talk to Ava and tell her how cute she was and she loved the attention. I hope our next haircut goes this well. Her hair isn't much different, we just snipped off the shabby ends.

A Few More Italy Pictures

Matt in front of a giant door. So crazy common here.
This is a replica of the Michelangelo's David. The actual David is in Florence in an indoor gallery that we walked by everyday. We waited until Saturday to go to that gallery and the line was super super long, so we decided to go on a walking tour instead. Well to our surprise we ran into this replica and that was good enough for us!
This warthog fountain has a lot of luck and wishes associated with it. I guess if you rub his shiny snout you will return to Florence someday and then if you drop a coin from its mouth and it fall through the grate your wish will come true.
We are on the way back from our walking tour. Don't ask me what the building is in the background because I don't remember. I bet we saw over 100 cool historic sites, maybe 200, yeah between 100 and 200 sites.

Here are a couple more pictures and I included one that shows a set of large doors. Some of these giant doors would have a small door you could walk through. These castle like doors were on buildings that weren't anything special-like every building had them. Imagine dragging groceries through these doors. I think it would be a workout just to answer the door :)

Our fast trip to It-lee

Me on the Ponte Vechio
Matt and I at the top of the Duomo (a very, very, large cathedral). It was over 400 stairs to the top.
The Market where I found the most beautiful leather handbag and Matt got some super cool silk ties.
Matt chillin' in the coutyard of a church that was built in 345 AD. Ummmm that's old.
Me standing by a very small car. There were even smaller ones driving around italy.

So I had to catch up on my blogging so I could post our most recent trip. I planned a surprise trip to Florence Italy for our 5th year wedding anniversary. Of course I couldn't it a surprise forever so I did tell matt about two weeks before we left. I had been here briefly for work 3 years ago and fell in love the moment I had gelato. The Italians have great food, great style, and amazing amount of history. We left Wednesday night and came back Monday Night. It was a lot of travel for such a short trip, but it was worth it. We left Ava with Matt's parents and sister. They took such great care of her. They sent bi-daily emails on what she was up to (how she sleeping, eating, and even pooping :) ). We missed her soooo much and kept seeing kids around her age in the city. We took over 200 pictures (a lot of gigantic doors) and had a wonderful time. Don't worry I won't put them all in my blog. Matt joked (at least I think he was joking) about setting up a slide show at our house. Doesn't everyone want to look at 200 pictures of churches, statues, and giant doors?

Too Many Fishies

I swear that half of my posts could be little messes made by little Ava. I happened to get a photo of this one. I gave Ava a few goldfish in her snack cup. While I was making oatmeal in the kitchen, she somehow got the whole bag of gold fish and decided she needed a few more. Ummmm........yeah there are many more goldfish than can fit in the cup. Later I noticed Ava had fed some of her "fishies" to some of my plants. This week I found a few Cheerios in my plants. I guess everyone could use a snack once in awhile.

Brunch Anyone?

Girl POWER......Lilly (6), Vivian(5), Morgan(7), and Ava(1 1/2)
Lilly loved my Camera, so we attempted a self portrait.
Lilly and Morgan attack Kevin while Vivian watches the chaos.
The boys Daniel( not pictured) and Matthew play catch with Robert while Jami and Colleen chat.

Our friend Robert lost his mother a couple of weeks ago to cancer. Although we hope we are able to meet under better circumstances next time, we did have a good time getting together for brunch at Jami and Kevin's house. Robert and his wife Colleen adopted two little girls from the Ukraine in November and we finally got to meet them. There were lots of kids running around and Ava loved it! Kevin and Jami's daughter Morgan really took Ava under her wing and kept her entertained with Dolls and Barbies. By the end of the day, to Morgan's delight, Ava could say "Moe" which is her nickname. We enjoyed our time in Milwaukee with friends and look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Everyone Needs a Best Friend!

Ava shares a big chair with Derek. He makes her laugh often. So this slide house is their favorite. The slide is so small, but it doesn't matter.
Ava is attempting to change Derek's Diaper. What a little mom.
Making Easter Cookies.
At first I only had one diaper box and they would both want it. But of course as any mom knows diaper boxes come around frequently. So I saved another one. 2 boxes, 2 happy kids! (too bad dad didn't know we needed two and threw one out last week)

Ava talks about Derek all week awaiting Monday and Tuesday of the next week. My friend Deanna and I switch off and take care of each others child. The kids don't always want to share or do the same activities, but they get a long great. Anytime anyone comes to the door or even when Daddy gets home, Ava always thinks it's Derek. I'm lucky to have a mom to switch off with. Some of my errands would never get done without this luxury. We are all looking forward to being able to go to the park and pool. Yes I am beckoning summer. Summer where are you?? Yeah, Yeah, I know Spring comes before summer. So we'll wait.......and....wait........and wait.

Potty Time

So we aren't trying to potty train, but we have a little potty that is in Ava's bathroom. She has gone in it a few times by chance and wasn't even sure how the "stuff" got in it. I just thought it couldn't hurt to have it in the bathroom in case she was interested. One thing we do while she hangs out on the potty is blowing bubbles. Ava gets bubble solution on her lips and still is trying to figure out how hard to blow, but I'm sure by this summer she'll have it mastered. Have I sais I can't wait for summer. I should post all the summer clothes I have already bought.

Video Cilps

Here are a couple of video's. One is of Ava stomping about in her new shoes. She lost one of her old shoes at the airport. The other video is Ava licking up the frosting on her Valentines Day Cookie. I have no idea how to make these into normal posts with comments. I'll have to figure that out someday.

Making V-day Cookies

Ava and I made cookies for the first time. Well I should give Pillsbury some credit because they made the dough. We cut out hearts, cooked them, and then frosted them. As you can see in the pictures Ava was all about eating the frosting and cookies. I told her to make one for daddy and she did, and then she ate it. We had flour and frosting everywhere. Maybe next year we'll attempt sprinkles.