HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!

Happy 31st Birthday, Chris!

More Water Pics!

This little girl LOVES water - just like her momma. We went to OKC this past weekend to visit my Grandma Patty. We had a nice visit. We decided to let Ava "be a kid" and have fun playing in the sprinkler in her clothes. With it being over 100 degrees - I almost jumped in myself. Actually, I did jump through it a couple of times.
She kept trying to drink the water without it spraying her in the grill. She persevered.
Great Grandma brought Ava a dry fluffy towel that Daddy wrapped around her.
Ava is one smart cookie...funny too. She didn't know I was watching when she climbed up onto the recliner when one of her favorite shows Dragon Tales was on. She sat for a second and then jumped right back off, went and got the remote, and climbed back up again and started rocking. She already knows the symbolic power of the remote!

Now that we're home - it's back to my summer project list. Here's what I'm working on (or attempting or dreaming of working on)

1.) scrapbooking (a never-ending process it seems)
2.) organizing my family recipes (I'm compiling recipes from various members of my family. I got some great candy recipes from my Grandma while we were in OKC. I'm enjoying trying lots of various new recipes.
3.) journaling! (I keep a journal on my computer - thanks Camie for the idea)
4.) landscaping (also an on-going process and much more work than it seems. I'll post pics of my progress later)
5.) ebay auctions (I recently sold some stuff and was very pleased by the process. I'm ready to start listing more things)
6.) home improvements (re-caulking the kitchen and bathroom, polishing my woodwork ... the list goes on)
7.) animals for Ava (Ava loved this cute cutout of a cat at my Grandma's house so I'm going to buy some of those premade shapes they sell and paint some cute animals for her.)

I also have a list of FALL projects that will have to wait until it is not so darn hot!!!

More Backyard Critters!

Mr. Toad is doing fine. He continues to visit us at night.

We did have an unwelcome guest last night that freaked us out. Chris let the dogs out at night and Quartz started barking madly. Chris figured the neighbor dog was out but looked closer and saw that there was an opossum in the backyard! Quartz was backed up a little from it but they were both showing their teeth. Chris ran out there and scooped the dogs up.

He then went out and had to spray the opossum with the hose to get him out of there. Good thing Chris was watching because I guess opossums can carry rabies. Plus, chihuahua vs. opposum - As fierce as Quartz thinks she is, the opossum has the best chance of winning that battle.

New Game & Big OOPS!

Ava has this new GHOST game where she'll walk around with a blanket over her head. She can kind of see through it (I checked by putting it over my head of course ;), but still bumps into or trips over things. My mommy judgment will kick in and I'll take the blanket off and tell her we're all done. And what does she do? She does the "more" sign and begs for me to put the blanket over her head again. Everytime she does it she just giggles and laughs. So, I decided to keep doing it but just to keep a close eye on her. I decided that this didn't make me a negligent parent.

For my big OOPS! Today when I was unloading my sleeping child from the car, I set my stuff on the seat and picked her up, shut the door of the car and headed to my front door. OOPS! I didn't have any keys. And where were they? In the LOCKED car!!! What an idiot! Not to mention that it was over 100 degrees today. Luckily I did have my bag and cell phone. Thanks to Gaia for saving us! We spent the afternoon at her house watching Pirates of the Caribbean until Chris could pick us up. What a day. I'd like to say that this was the first time I've locked keys in the car - but it's not. It had been a long time however. We survived.

Ava's Portrait Sesson

We had Ava's pictures taken and wanted to share the results. (Hopefully I can get them done sometime when Kristi or Kelli come for a visit - but until then - we settled on Target). If you click on the link below and then enter my first and last name you should be able to then view the pictures. Let me know what you think! - Lori


https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTT89501071001TAR

Ava the Adventurous

Ava is pretty fearless when it comes to trying new things!

We were getting ready for an after-dinner walk when the rain started coming down. Ava was disappointed when she saw that we weren't going outside afterall. It was just sprinkling so I thought, "Why not?". So we went outside in the rain. (Of course this was the first shower yesterday and not the thunderstorm). I thought Ava would want to come right back in but boy was I wrong.
She loved playing in the rain! After a couple of minutes it started really pouring. I asked her if she wanting to go inside, or if she was done. She did the "more" sign and shook her head no. It was pretty fun. It was still pretty sunny and warm outside.

After SEVERAL minutes and a few times asking her if she wanted to go inside (everytime I asked she did the "more" sign), I finally picked her up and we went inside. (I know I was getting cold). Thankfully, Daddy had towels ready for us.

That was a fun experience. I figure it's not hurting anything and Ava had a great time - and so did I.

Mr. Toad

We have a new house (or yard really) guest. We've named him Mr. Toad. A couple of weeks ago Chris looked out the back patio door and noticed a toad hop out from a hiding spot and onto our patio. It came right up to the glass door and just sat there. The next night when letting the dogs out for their before bedtime potty ritual, we noticed him sitting in the little space between our back door and our screen door. I gave a little surprised scream because I didn't see him until I had let the dogs out. One hop and he would've been inside.

The next few nights we saw him again, right before bed, right up against our glass door. For the past couple of weeks we've seen him here and there.

Yesterday we put some the dogs' pillows and blankets that were covered with dog hair outside on the patio to sit until we were ready to wash them. We kind of forgot about them until we let the dogs out to potty. There was Mr. Toad, snuggled up between the pillows. It was raining so I guess it was a nicer spot for him. ?? I wonder if he thought we left them out there for him.

This morning as I was picking up the soggy stuff to be washed, I picked the blanket up and out hopped Mr. Toad. I almost apologized to him for the rude awakening.

Sorry if this is a boring post but we like our new little friend. He must like us too because he keeps coming back. It's fun to look for him at night.

Fourth Festivities

We're recovering from a long 4th of July weekend consisting of 2 firework shows, 1 pancake breakfast, 1 family bbq and a portrait session for our little one year old. On Sunday night we went to the Lake Perry fireworks show. It was really fun. We parked along the side of the road, along with lots of other people, and enjoyed the show. This was Ava's 1st time really watching fireworks so we weren't sure what to expect. She LOVED them. It was so cute to see her pointing, clapping. laughing, and oohing and aweing. (sp?). She was also trying to describe the fireworks using her signs - flower, light and ball.
On Tuesday morning we went to our Ward's Pancake Breakfast. The food was yummy and Ava had lots of fun playing on the park equipment. She spent a fair amount of time trying to climb up the small slide that led to more stuff. She would climb almost the whole way and then would slide back down...over and over again. When she finally made it to the slide she was so happy.
Ava had some help going down the slide. She rode with her friends William, Jasmine and Lydia. She even went down solo a couple of times. What a BIG girl!
We had a family bbq at Ava's granparents' house. She loves riding the rocking horse that her mommy used when she was a kid.
Here is Ava with her 2 cousins. (Grandkids 2, 3, & 4). All three of these kiddos were born within a year of each other.

Grandma made some strawberry pie. Ava scooted back to sit on Aunt Vanessa's lap once she saw her get a plate with pie. Aunt 'Nessa was kind enough to share.

We had a great, long weekend. Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday.

Language Acquisition

Ava's is really starting to communicate!

SIGNING: Here are the words she can sign using baby sign language(29):

baby, more, milk, done, wash/bath, eat, hat, cat, bunny, rain, fan, horse, binky, sleep/tired, bear, diaper, ball, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, hair, tongue, feet, (not sure if body parts count but she knows these ones!), where, dog, swim, light, shoes, soft/gentle, duck.


TALKING - Here are the words she can say(26):

hi, book, mama, dada, shoes, socks, off, out, pa/grandpa, kelly, william, kate, heidi, cat, hat, milk, done, bye-bye, up, duck, baby, eyes, ball, car,
car, yes, no, hot.


I probably left some out but this is what I can think of right now. One of her newest, favorite words is "No". She sure knows how to use it too.

Toys, Shoes & Giggles!

I finally found the battery charger (actually Chris found it) and recharged all of our batteries so that I can take more pics! Here is a great pic of Ava laughing at the dogs. Today Maya snipped at her and all she did was giggle more. Ava really has a great sense of humor. We love that about her.I'm convinced I'll never have a clean, organized house again! These are pictures of our living room being taken over by toys! For those of you who know us well - you know that not only does Ava have a lot of toys but so does Chris (GI Joes & Transformers). He has taken over our computer room - at least they are shelved and organized though.

Today I decided that instead of spinning my wheels cleaning the same things over and over again, I'm going to do some sort of project everyday that has been needing to get done but gets put on the back burner due to the stuff that keeps the wheels spinning.

Today I tackled all of the the laundry that hasn't been folded, hung up, etc. That's really something that should be done all of the time but we took a long break from doing it. (This is embarassing but we had Ava's play pen packed with clean clothes to be put away!). Tomorrow I think I will finally organize under the bathroom counter in the master bath. Of course I'll still have to do all of the other things too but I think I'll feel more accomplished getting some of these projects done.
New shoes! I finally bought Ava a pair of Crocs. I realize why so many people have them now - so easy to put on and clean and supposedly comfortable. Chris suggested I get myself a pair when I was pregnant but with my already large feet I didn't want to draw any more attention to them. (I wear size 11 and have been wearing size 10 + since 5th grade. When people ask me my shoe size I just resort to saying, "size clown". Okay, not really.) Ava LOVES hers. We opted for the bright green color instead of pink this time. YIPPEE FOR CROCS!

Mommy & Me

I signed Ava up for Parent-Child swim "lessons" through Parks & Rec. We've had a pretty good time. The idea is to help the kids to become more comfortable with the water. My teaching artner Diane and her daughter also signed up so we get to play in the pool together. The class meets at the Indoor Aquatic Center (I love not having to mess with sunscreen but that means I will remain bright white) for 25 minutes a day for 2 weeks.

Although Ava is the youngest in the class by a few months, she is the chattiest! It's interesting to see your child in a class setting like that. She's also becoming more independent - trying to shrug my hand away as she walks into water up to her chest. I don't think so Miss Ava.

Today we worked on going underwater. She did pretty well but still hasn't learned to take a breath first. We're also still working on learning to blow bubbles. Oh well - the point is to have fun and that is what it's all about in my mind.

Garage Sale Thoughts

So I'm just now starting to rest after an eventful week/weekend. I've been spending most of this week cleaning out my old classroom and garage in preparation of our garage sale. We participated in a neighborhood garage sale (we figured free advertising - why not) Friday and Saturday. It's amazing how much work putting on a garage sale is! At some point you start calculating (at least I do anyway) how much time you're putting into it and then how much per hour after figuring your profit you made...and then asking, "Was it worth my time?" Here are a few of my thoughts:

Reasons to have a garage sale:
make some $
get rid of stuff
some people enjoy the whole "salesman/playing store" idea
get to meet lost of interesting people
you might get to see someone happily treasure your trash
motivates you to clean out your garage (something we're still working on)
our garage sales end in a friendly donation to our local goodwill - also a tax write-off

Reasons NOT to have a garage sale:
lots of WORK
it's hot outside
your junk is on display for everyone to see and wonder why you ever bought it in the first place
you get to meet lots of interesting people
old ladies might try to steal stuff (ask me about this one later)
you don't have any "junk" of value
it might stress out your family
underpricing woes

Greatest Garage Sale Moment(s):
It's a tie between selling our alligator dog bed to a nice lady who was going to give it to her little chihuahua to sleep in and playing Go Fish with my sister Kelly while waiting for customers. (pretty exciting)

Biggest Garage Sale regret:
Originally pricing our 7 yr. old 27" Sharp color TV for 50.00 (part of the little plastic base was broken off on the front - moving incident) then marking it down to 35.00 too early. After a lady bought it for 35.00 and I put a "SOLD" sign on it, LOTS (7-8) of people were disappointed and said they easily would've paid 50.00 for it. Then the lady I sold it to kept asking me if I was sure it hadn't been dropped. I told her 3 times that it hadn't - she obviously didn't trust me. OH well. We got it out of our garage - that was the point.

So what did I decide?

I decided that it was worth my time. Getting rid of things that you don't use or need anymore feels so good. I'll never miss those things! Chris & I made a pretty decent sum of cash - although I found a great garage sale with the cutest, inexpensive, name-brand baby clothes and spent a good portion of our profit on Ava's wardrode for the next few seasons. Although I feel the fruit was worth the labor, I have decided that the next family garage sale will be held at someone else's garage. I'm too worn out to do another one at our house anytime soon.

Birthday Party

We celebrated Ava's birthday at Prairie Park. We invited family and some friends of Ava's for bbq and birthday cake. Ava had a great time. She got to toddle around, swing, play with kids, and even ate an entire piece of cake!
Some of Ava's friends had to cancel and it was raining when we set up so we didn't know how long the party would last. It's kind of hard to grill hamburgers when it's raining. Thankfully, the rain went away and actually cooled the place down a bit. We had lots of rain-free time to celebrate.
Ava LOVED her cake. No shocker there. She sat and ate the whole piece...one hand-full at a time.

More Birhday Pics

Here are some more pics from Ava's birthday. Ava got a Little People farm set. So cute! Ava, William and Grandma had fun exploring this new toy.
Here is baby Kate in her fruit dress. Ava has a pair of pants and overalls (she wore them at her party) from the same line.
The first thing Ava wants to do when she sees her baby cousin Kate (they are 8 months apart) is hug her and hold her. She just loves babies...especially baby Kate.
We got Ava a baby Leap frog pad. We hope she likes it. She loves books so this will at least entertain Chris and I as well as Ava.

An Amazing Year!

Today is Ava's 1st Birthday! I can't believe my little sweetheart is already a year old. Take a look at how much she has grown and changed over the past year!

Happy Birthday Ava!

Quote of the Day

We babysat Lydia tonight so our friends, Matt & Camie could go out to eat for their anniversary (Happy Anniversary by the way). We asked Lydia to say the dinner prayer. Here is what she said,

"Dear Heavenly Father, please bless that my mommy and daddy will come pick me up at Lori's house. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Chris and I had to keep ourselves from laughing. Chris was concentrating so hard on not laughing that he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and accidentally drank Lydia's milk. Not sure how this happened...Chris was drinking flavored water in a tall "grown-up" glass and there was Lydia's milk in a small, plastic "kiddie-cup". That's when I lost it. I'm still laughing about it.

Mass Exodus

I'm so sad! A lot of my favorite people are moving away. First - Andrea, Now - Sandra, and soon - Camie! Just as my schedule is freeing up to be able to do more with them too! They had a farewell picnic for Sandra on Wednesday.
There was a nice turnout and the kids seemed to have a good time. We'll miss you, Sandra and family!

Wading Room Only

Today was playgroup. We were having a water gun/pool party...only it was a little crowded. You should've seen it when all of us adults got in! (haha) Luckily there was also a slip-and-slide. Ava liked splashing in the water but didn't like falling down in it because it was so cold.
It was cousin Kate's first time "swimming". She had a pretty good time laughing at all of the kids splashing around. I just noticed that it looks like Ava is being "held up" in this picture. :)
Here's Ava petting Smokey, one of the dogs up for adoption from the Humane Society.


I decided to post some pics from our trip to the library Animal Fair last weekend. Ava really likes to look at the animals. She was a little upset that she was too short to pet the bunnies so Chris helped her. She LOVES dogs. She really liked a friendly dog named Smokey. I've been teaching Ava baby sign language. We have two chihuahuas so Ava learned the sign for dog quickly. Anytime we see or hear a dog, Ava will do the sign which is sticking your tongue out and panting. It's so cute but then again, I wonder what people think when she does it. Oh well!

After the fair we went to our favorite bakery, Great Harvest, and got some Honey Wheat bread. I just stole some strawberry jam from Camie to go with it...yumm.

Good Times

Last night a group of us got together to play some kickball. I reserved a nice fenced in softball field and brought the true red rubber kickballs that we played with in grade school. We didn't have a huge number of people attend but were able to play 5 on 5 which worked out just fine. I know Chris and I had a GREAT time and are excited to play again. I hate to admit it but we are so sore! I guess we did a lot more running and used a lot more of our muscles than we normally do. It was well worth it though.

Today we went to Costco to order Ava's 1st Birthday cake. I can't believe that my little girl is turning 1 already! Everyone told me that it would go by so fast and they were right.

After that we went to the Public Library for their "Animal Fair" to kick off their summer reading program. Ava liked seeing some of the animals, mostly the doggies and the baby goats. The Zoomobile from the Kansas City Zoo was there but we weren't all that impressed. Ava did pet a "big" millipede however.

We then all came home and took 2 hour naps...the highlight of our day.

Neat stuff

Here are some of the pictures from her book. As you can see I've even included pictures of the dogs. She really likes to point at the picture - then the dog. Her favorite page to look at so far is the one of her baby cousin Kate.
I made Ava the cutest little book yesterday. It has pictures of all of her family members with their names on the page as well. I used Microsoft Publisher but also used a lot of digital scrapbooking type things - backgrounds, embellishments, ribbons, and then printed it off onto photo paper. (I also had fun making some embellishments of my own - hello graphic design!) I then used my Xyron to adhere the "photos" with enhancements, and then used my Xyron to laminate the pages. Last, I hole-punched each page and put them together using rings. Hopefully Ava will really enjoy it and it will help her learn the names of her family members.

Here are some web addresses of sites that I really like. Most of them offer free items.

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com

This one offers a free monthly digital kit with background papers & embellishments. I used a lot of stuff from this website. GO to the "digital scrapbooking" tab and scroll to the bottom for past monthly kits.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/activityCenterHome?lc=en&cc=us&cat=47205&dlc=en&

This is a site by HP, Hewlett Packard that offers lots of free projects for download. Lots of the projects have pieces that I like and would probably use for other things. If this link doesn't work - just go to hp.com and click on "activity center."

http://www.onescrappysite.com/downloads.html

This site has tons of free fonts for download.

http://www.scrapvillage.com/fontsb.htm

Another site for free font downloads.

http://www.typadelic.com/free.html

This one also has some free fonts.

http://www.creativedelights.com

This is one of my FAVORITE sites for purchasing true type and picture fonts as well as other embellishments to print for cards and scrapbooks, etc. If you sign up for their newsletter you can get 10 free fonts. They also have pretty good periodic sales to watch for.

Well, I hope to have helped at least a couple of you!