My little singer...

The other night Ava was singing in the bath tub, and I thought I would capture it on video after getting her out. Every night I sing to her before bed, and she sings along...it's all I can do to not crack up because she is always trying to "out sing me" by singing louder than me. Anyway...I didn't want to sing along with her the whole time because I wanted her voice to be heard, so she has just a little trouble remembering how to wrap it up :)

Random cute things....

Well, I wanted to take a minute to write down a few cute things that my kids do or say before I forget them completely! These might be things that only the grandparents and myself find adorable...but I had to write them down for memory sake.

I love how Ava calls anything sparkly or shiny "sprinkles". For instance, this sunday I was wearing a necklace and Ava climbed up in my lap and touched the necklace saying "Oooh mommy, I love your sprinkles!". Then this morning I had on a tank top with rhinestones and she said "I like those sprinkles!"

I love how Alec improvises to get things done, instead of just saying "I can't do it". Sometimes I'm singing to Ava in the rocking chair and I ask Alec to turn out the lights and he will run to his room and grab his stick horse and flip the switch with the mouth...or he will grab a hanger, or a piece of a car track to reach the switch.

Ava likes to add on words to the end of her sentences that don't quite fit sometimes. For instance she likes to tag on the words "a minute" saying " I want my sippy a minute" I think she gets this from me since I am always saying "I'll get it in a minute". Another thing she tags on is "So". She'll say "I don't like that diaper...so..." I think she got that from me too...there are so many times I don't finish a sentence and just let it trail off like that. She just now came in and said "Mommy, I have a boo boo.... something" That just reminded me that she tags on "something" all the time too!

Cute things Alec said:
"When I lived in French.....I mean France....the French people taught me how to make really good noodles." (Don't ask me where he got that from! I didn't even know he knew there was a France!)

He was playing in the toy kitchen one day and said "Mommy this is a special "coffee faucet" just for you! You just turn on the faucet and coffee comes right out!!! "(He knows me too well!!!...I told him he will have to invent one of those when he grows up! He said..."but I did, it's right here Mommy!")

We were outside playing with "sidewalk paint" and he said "Mommy, you are just like Special Agent Osso because you always let me try new things and he always tries new things too!" Special Agent Osso is a cartoon character on the disney channel for those that don't know.

Ok...enough of my rambles! Also keep in mind that all of these things are a million times cuter when said in the sweet little voice of a 2 and 4 year old!

This is a picture of Alec attempting to carry Ava in the Baby Bjorn that he found. She ended up pulling him all around the house with it!

Ava's Prayer...

Every night before bed Eriik asks Ava what she wants to pray for and every night she answers:
"Girls, Jesus, and.....I go potty in the potty" She says girls because she wants to pray for her girlfriends, Jesus, because that is who she is praying to, and potty in the potty because she has heard Eriik and I on many occasion pray that Ava will learn to use the potty! You see we have been pretty lax on the whole potty training thing up until now, and she has just gone to the potty when she was in the mood, and would go in her pull up the rest of the time. We just recently started getting a little more serious about it, and she has been bucking against it. So...I had to bring out the big guns....meet "The Princess of the Potty"!!!!

OK...I realize that it is just a miniature Sleeping Beauty doll, but humor me OK...Ava thinks she's cool. She resides in the medicine cabinet above the potty (we call it her Castle), and "talks" to Ava while she is sitting on the potty. She gives her little "potty pep talks", which Ava gets a big kick out of. Ava will get to free the Princess of the Potty from her castle (and keep her) if she stays dry for a whole day. In the mean time she gets to put a stamp on her potty chart and a couple mini marshmallows everytime she uses the potty. This "princess of the potty" thing better work...cuz I'm running out of ideas!

You know...10 years ago, I NEVER would have pictured myself dreaming up these kinds of schemes to get a 2 year old to use the toilet!!! What has happened to me?!?!? Oh well....I'm a mom...that's just the way we roll I guess :)

Random fun at home

Well...the kids are done with their summer program (Discovery Days) that they were going to twice a week, and so we have been finding ways to stay busy...at home and out and about. We went to Kids Station with Alec's Karate buddies, Dairy Queen to play with our MOPS friends, the public pool with the Webbs which is always a good time, and Alec went mini golfing with his bud Carson, but I didn't get pics of any of that. So, here are some pics of the kids hanging out at home this week. A couple of the pics are of Alec and Ava with their tent that I helped them build. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of building tents around the house with my brother Shawn. I think kids just like having a secluded little place to hide and call their own. The only problem with the tent was that Ava kept wrecking it, but at least Alec learned how to fix it in the process. The last few pics were taken this evening after dinner...they were still in their church clothes, and I thought they looked cute so I had to break out the camera!

Ava eating a Popsicle...or as she calls it "popskull".

Inside their "tent"

Taking a break from splashing in the water...sitting up in their play gym.