One year older...same costume!

Ava actually got to wear the same Halloween costume as last year since she was such a chubby 5 month old and now a skinny little toddler. So, I couldn't resist showing you last years Halloween picture to compare. I'm not promising you won't see it on her again next year!!!

Time for Bed Little Goose.....

Well...Ava loves to be read to...probably one of her favorite things right now. But even more than me reading to her she likes to tell me what the pictures are. Normally when she wakes up from her nap she immediately wants to get out of her crib...well on this day when I went in to get her she was asking for her favorite book (Time for Bed) that she saw on the floor (she also asked for a toy and another book..I guess she was planning on staying in there for a while!). I handed it to her and she started "reading" it to me proudly. For some animals she just makes the sound they make, and with others she says their name. She knows every single one of them, although she didn't say all of them on the video. I had to capture this because I know it will be so fun to look back one day and hear her sweet little baby voice.

My 36 year old home body...

Well....Eriik turned 36 yesterday. Just about every year for his birthday we have just gone out to eat and had a cake or something and a couple presents...he doesn't like a fuss, and he HATES being the center of attention. When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday this year he said that he wanted to stay home and make pizza. You see, he doesn't like to go out to eat, he had rather be in the comfort of his own home, where the kids run around and we can just relax (not that we can ever REALLY relax with a three year old and a 16 month old!) I have to say that at first I thought it was strange since I love going out to eat, but it was actually a really fun night. Eriik with the help of Alec made a homemade (dough from scratch) pizza (Eriik is the bread maker in our family...I always seem to turn bread into door stops). It turned out really yummy...we may be opening our own pizza restaurant soon! Anyway...I did jump out of my comfort zone and make a homemade apple pie...he's not into cake. It was just a really fun homemade family night at home...I think Eriik is right...it makes better memories than just another night at Olive Garden. I am so thankful that God gave me such a wonderful man to lead our famlily.

The Pumpkin Patch...

This morning we drove out to our favorite pumpkin patch. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny and around 70 degrees. This is our third year going to Moore Farms. We always have such a great time there. They do the whole hayride out to the pumpkin patch thing. And it's a real farm too so they have chickens running around...which Ava particularly loved chasing! They have goats, pigs, and sheep too. There is a corn maze that we have not yet braved....we were considering doing it when at that moment a young family with a baby and a four year old came out looking miserable and bewildered saying that they got lost and were in there for over an hour!....no thanks...Ava would have melted down for sure :) We had enough to stay busy with anyway...there was a mini maze for kids that Alec went through a couple times, and they fed the animals with corn that they shucked themselves (they had an old timey shucking contraption). There was a water pump for the kids to play with too. And of course there were many photo ops....as you will see. I took an unreal amount of pics...here are a few. I just love this time of the year!

A super hero, zoo, bouncy picnic weekend!!!

Well....this past weekend was busy but fun. On Friday we went with our playday group to the zoo. Rachel, Brett, and Eva rode with us which was fun. It was really cute seeing Alec and Brett chase each other all over the zoo. This was the first trip to the zoo where Alec walked (or ran) all over rather than rode on the back of Ava's stroller. It was a fun day...

Here is Alec and his little friend from church Sophia. I was trying to get them both standing on one foot like the Flamingos. When one was doing it the other wasn't.

They gave us a little EdZOOcation class where the kids got to learn about some animals and pet them. Ava looked a little cautious petting the farret.

I think the biggest hit was the bird walkabout. The kids loved having the birds land on them!

On Saturday we had our MOPS picnic/Hop a Thon. The kids bounced to raise money with pledges.

We had two bounce houses set up for the kids to do even more jumping in! Here is Alec, Ava and "Little Pumpkin" climbing into the small bounce house.

Alec loves the ladies!! He and Sophia are becoming fast friends.


After the picnic we ran home for the kids to get a nap in before heading out to Brett's Superhero Birthday party!

Bible Bop...

Ok...so, at the MOPS convention I bought a couple CD's for the kids. The group is called Go Fish and it's super cute. Alec especially loves the song "Super Hero" and wants me to play it over and over. But it's a fun song and really doesn't annoy me at all. Do I sound like a commercial or what? Anyway...today Alec asked to listen to the Super Hero song when he got home from preschool. He and Ava started dancing around like usual. I videod them dancing to the "Bible Bop" Check out Alec's cool grooves.

Learning as we go...

I really don't even know where to start. There is so much that could be said about this weekend. Thursday night through Sunday evening I was in Dallas with 6 other ladies for the MOPS convention where we joined with 5000 other mothers of preschoolers and mentor moms! It was an amazing experience and one in which I am very grateful for. It was more than I expected...I thought it would just be a nice little break from the kiddos...sort of a fun retreat with friends, where I would be encouraged as a mom. But it was so much more than that for me. The speakers poured into us, and God spoke to me in a personal and mighty way. The speaker that really caught my attention more than others was Erwin McManus who is the author of "Living Wide Awake". He was one of those guys that as he speaks you want to write down every word he says because it's all so rich with wisdom. I am definitely going to get his book. Another speaker I loved was Tim Kimmel author of "Grace Based Parenting" ...wow, he really gave a lot of interesting incite. He spoke of treating your children the way God treats his children (us). God wants us to raise kids who love him, live for him and make an eternal impact on the world. God wants us to raise our children for true greatness rather than earthly success. Well...I can't say it all in this short Blog, but his book should be really good! The singers were all moms too...Jaci Velasquez, Plum, Kim Hill, Avalon ....they were all a blessing! Anyway...it was great.....we had a lot of fun shopping, and eating, and staying up late talking and learning more about each other...doing pedicures. What a great group of girls to hang out with...luv ya'll! Thanks Christy for heading all of this up, and getting us there!

Let me just also say that MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!!! He took care of our children for three days while he was sick with a terrible cold! Not only did he just take care of the kids...but he did dishes, and swept the floors!!! Honey...I love you very much....you are my hero....SERIOUSLY!

Here we are on Friday ready for our sessions (minus Neely who joined us on Saturday.)

I just had to pose with the live statue. Eriik trust me... it only LOOKS like I am flirting.

Here we all are outside the hotel restaurant we ate at Saturday night.

Here is a picture of our atrium view outside our balcony at the Gaylord Texan....pretty cool huh!