A Day In The Life...

LEGO Fun

2012-01-12T19:37:00.002-06:00

Is there ever a real cut off age wise to stop playing with Lego's? Eh, probably but then what fun would that really be. If you can't have some fun with Lego's then life just might not be worth really living.

Especially if you can play around with a 1980's lego girl. And even more fun, if you make her super cool with her very own lego version of a DSLR camera. In Legoland, I imagine the camera would even be called a DS{Lego}R. Ok, so it is quite possible I have a few issues, but come on have a sense of humor with me, if you will please! She tried capturing some snowflakes, but really it was just little piles of snow.

Ok so this one looks like she is using some kind of snowflake blaster. She is quite the determined lego girl, to get a snowflake picture. Alas, though I had to bring her inside, because I could no longer feel my fingers or toes. Perhaps, if I was made of plastic I'd have been able to stay out for hours on end, but since I am human, I'd like to continue to keep all my fingers and toes, for as long as humanly possible! :)

If we're going to get snow...

2012-01-12T19:25:00.003-06:00

any kind of snow at all, and freezing cold temperatures, might as well make the best of it. Today we finally managed to get some snow for this winter. We had some flurries that amounted to about oh let's say nothing back in December, and for the most part this winter has been quite mild. In fact, it was in the mid 50's just the other day. That is the kind of winter I don't mind at all, but if we are going to get some snow and cold weather why not try to get some cool winter photos.

This barn is about 5-7 minutes from where I live...and no I do not live out in the country, but it is a perk of living on the outskirts of town. The wind today was brutal so for this shot I most certainly stayed in my car all warm and toasty. -4 degree weather is definitely not to my liking. :)

And I have no real reason for liking old fence posts, but I do. The wind was quite fierce and if I look closely at this photo, I can see it blowing sideways in this photo. This photo was also taken from inside my warm and comfortable car...though not much fun when you roll down the window and are blasted in the face with cold air and snow. Definitely worth it though, since I really really love this picture. The barn is pretty awesome as well, but if I had to choose, I'd definitely pick the fence post.

Snowflake pictures were quite hard to get today overall though because the wind and the cold were bone chilling and trying to stand still and have a steady hand was virtually impossible. Will have to see what tomorrow brings though.

Champions...

2012-01-05T09:51:00.002-06:00

So we are definitely loyal and true Fighting Illini fans, but we are also Michigan fans. If they ever play Illinois of course, then we will abandon the Wolverines bandwagon, but if Michigan plays any other team, we cheer them on. Perhaps it has to do with the overwhelming dislike we have of "The" Ohio State. But eh, whatever! So glad to see The Buckeye's lose their bowl game (sorry Big Ten) and to see...

Michigan take down VT and bring home a Sugar Bowl victory! Life is sweet and even sweeter with a Sugar Bowl title! Nice job to Hoke and his 2011 Wolverines. What a great way to end his first season as head football coach.

Thank goodness Michigan gave Rodriguez the ol' boot last season, because I don't think Michigan would have this scrolling across the big screen, if he was still head coach. The dawning of a new era. Looking forward to what Hoke brings to the table next season...do I perhaps smell some roses in the air. If Illinois doesn't get there first of course! ;)

Happy New Year!!!!

2012-01-01T22:02:00.001-06:00

Well the Illini won their bowl game yesterday, so that made the end to 2011 a bit nicer and the Chicago Bears won their last game of the season today, as well. We won't be heading into the playoffs this season, but at least we won our last game of the season. Looking forward to some more bowl games over the next couple days. Like Ohio State losing to Florida and Michigan hopefully winning their bowl game on Tuesday. Go Blue! Wouldn't mind seeing Wisconsin win the Rose Bowl too for another Big Ten bowl win.

I didn't wake up with a hangover or party like it's 1999. I spent the evening watching movies and hanging out with my 6 year old and my 13 year old nephew. A very low key New Year's Eve here. The highlight of our New Year's was lighting sparklers outside at midnight and listening to people whooping it up outside and letting off fireworks. I must be getting older since low-key kind of New Year's are what I prefer now days! The thought of waking up with a hangover just doesn't sound all that fun. lol

Here is to hoping 2012 is wonderful to all of us! :)

Good-Bye 2011...

2011-12-31T05:41:00.004-06:00

Time to say good-bye to another year and say hello to a new year. Which also means remembering to write 2012 instead of 2011. I am sure I'll get the hang of doing that come June when half the year has already past. lol

I am not sure really how I feel overall about this past year. It was a roller coaster of a ride kind of year for me and my family. I can't say I loved this year as a whole, as some of it was utterly life changing and we are still reeling from those changes that have happened. Still trying to figure out how to move forward and to adjust to the changes in our lives. There have been high points and that is what I try to focus on. Most days I do well with focus on the positive. Most days. The high point of the year for me has definitely been spending so much of the summer with Ava just doing little things and trying to make it a nice and memorable summer overall. I don't know about her, but I definitely feel like this summer we grew so much closer with our relationship. We spent the summer going on picnics, shopping, watching movies, going swimming, drawing pictures, painting, watching fireworks, going swimming some more (we did a lot of this), having sleepovers, staying up late, going to lots of different parks to play, late night trips to eat ice cream at Dairy Queen, cheerleading practice and of course celebrating her birthday. And I know I am leaving out a ton of things we did over the summer. For me that has been the absolute best part of my year. Of course there are lots of other moments, but for me the summer with Ava has definitely been the most memorable.

We've had some downs though when it comes to my Mom and her decline with Alzheimer's. My Mom had a seizure and that was such a scary time. I thought for sure we just might lose her. After that we've had more setback with her and unfortunately the medicine to slow her illness down, just has not been successful for her. We went to her Alzheimer's specialist the day before Thanksgiving and were told essentially there was nothing else to be done to try and help her. She was put on a new medicine to try and help with the aggressive behavior she has been showing on a more frequent basis. We were told she is now in the severe stages of the illness and we should start looking into alternate care for her. We were hoping to be able to continue to care for her at home at least until after Christmas, but 12 days before Christmas we had to put her into the hospital because we were not able to properly care for her anymore. I think that was the hardest day of my life so far. I don't know that I am really able to even put my emotions about this change in our life into words just year. I know my emotions are just all over the place with this still. I am grateful though that this week she was able to be moved to a facility closer to home and is now 10 minutes from us, instead of 40 minutes away. So our prayers have been answered when it comes to her being closer to her family so we can see her on a more regular basis.

I don't know what 2012 will bring for us, but I can only continue to pray for strength and peace for my family in dealing with what is in store for us this coming year. So I say so long 2011, it has definitely been one for the memory books. Now if Illinois just wins their bowl game today, 2011 just might end on a really high note!

Two Cutie Cooks...

2011-12-24T20:45:00.001-06:00

Ok well they are really just dipping pretzels into melted white chocolate. My official job, was shaking sprinkles onto them once they were dipped in the chocolate. In other words, I got the boring job, while they had all the fun.

I have a confession to make though, I am not really a fan of baking. Sure it all sounds like it would be a fun time, but baking really just isn't on my list of top 10 favorite things to do. Not sure it even tops the list if we went to oh say 25, or 50 even. But occasionally, I put on my super awesome Mom hat and we do something fun. And though this is not "baking", we did also make snickerdoodles, and from scratch. None of that pull apart the dough and put on a cookie sheet to bake.

I even invited my niece over to join in the festivities, since this more than likely will not happen again, until next year at Christmas. She had a blast and the girls actually got along quite well. Now, keeping the girls from licking their fingers after dipping each pretzel, was quite the task. I had to remind them, other people were going to be eating these, and it wasn't nice to lick your fingers and then dip another pretzel into the chocolate. Nobody wants to eat that kind of food, even if it is pretzels covered in white chocolate. Though I can think of worse things they could do and then handle food, but we won't go there. :)

A Hot Mess...

2011-12-12T10:37:00.001-06:00

I wonder if this is how Lady GaGa started out?!?! I seriously hope not! I hope she was a bit more creative and freakish with her clothing choices at the age Ava is now. The other day Ava came out of her room looking like this! It took me a bit to even compose myself and to not start laughing to uncontrollably. I mean who even dresses like this when it's not Halloween. I asked Ava what she called this outfit she was wearing, and her response "a hot mess". Whew! Well at least she knows she looks an awful site in this outfit. She is also aware this would never be an outfit she would be allowed out of the house in. :)

Why Yes, Yes I Did Make That...

2011-12-08T18:03:00.001-06:00

When I think of pottery/ceramics, I think of the movie Ghost. I don't know why, but I do. You know that moment with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. Any woman born before 1980 should know what scene I am talking about. Though thankfully for me and my bowl, it was already pre-made. I can assure you my bowl would not have come out so nicely, if it were up to me to shape it. It would end up looking like some kind of unidentifiable object and I am pretty sure a bowl would not have topped the list of guesses.

Today was the first time I ventured into this place called The Next of Kiln. My cousin enticed me to go and I do believe I am now a ceramic painting junkie in the making. This is the bowl I chose. I think it is best to start with something simple and not a lot of detail. Come on, how hard could it be to paint a bowl.
I wanted to paint the inside of the bowl a hot pink color, but come to find out they do not carry that color, because it has to be made with 24k gold or something like that, which make it super expensive, so I opted for a different shade of pink. Who would have thought it would take gold to make pink. In this day and age you'd think they would have come up with a way around that. I am sure I looked a bit odd whipping out my camera constantly taking pictures, but hey I have to document this moment of me trying to be creative outside of scrapbooking and card making. Even if I have the painting abilities of a small child. Regardless, I was having fun.

I painted the outside black and added some circle looking green thingy-s on the inside of the bowl, along with Ava's name, hearts and swirls. I must confess I tried to free hand some white polka dots on the inside of the bowl, but they were not as pretty as I envisioned. Instead, imagine white chicken pox all over the bowl. It was truly a disaster. So, I added another coat of pink paint to try and cover them up. It kind of did. Not perfectly, but much better than if I had left those sad little white dots. That is why I used the green paint to make the circle thingy-s. The swirls around the inside of the bowl would have been much cuter. We live. We learn. The outside of the bowl I used the swirly thing and that was super cute. I wrote Ava's name and drew the hearts freehand, and those turned out pretty cute overall. Live and learn people. Live and learn!

The final touch was to add the date and the To/From. Not that Ava would't know it was her bowl since I wrote her name inside the bowl. You can see the purple swirls better in this photo too. Overall, I think it went over well, minus the chicken pox disaster. Kind of took some of the wind out of my puffed up ego. lol I do know that I will definitely be going back and with Ava next time. And I saw some finished pieces in there, and there are some ceramic-ers (probably not a word, but it is today) and wow some serious talent. I could only hope to be that good. Maybe I should invest in my own paintbrushes or something. My visions of creative genius right now far exceeds how it actually turns out, that's for sure. Baby steps I guess. Now I just have to wait a week while they fire up this baby and slap on some glaze, or however that process works. I'll be sure to post a picture once it is completely done. Well, er, maybe you know, if it turns out ok.

All Turkey-ed Out...

2011-11-24T22:10:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

We Love The Bears...

2011-11-23T18:50:00.003-06:00

Ava sporting her new Chicago Bears T-shirt. She has become quite the fan. Especially of #54 Brian Urlacher. She refers to him on a first name basis like he is a family friend or something. lol

This picture of Ava cracks me up every time I see it. She is too freakin' funny sometimes! :)

We were robbed as kids...

2011-11-01T08:39:00.002-05:00

I know when I went trick or treating as a kid, my bag was filled with lots of tootsie rolls, smarties, dum dum suckers, the occasional blow pop if you were luck, bottle caps, and bazooka bubble gum that was like a rock but you were determined to try and chew it anyway. If you found a house passing out snickers, reese's peanut butter cups, or butterfingers, those were the houses you remembered to hit again before the night was over. Of course changing out costumes with your siblings or friends since you didn't want to be called out from the neighbor for hitting their house twice or maybe even a third time.

This is just a fraction of the candy Ava got in our neighborhood. It's like every kid's trick or treating dream, at least if you are from my generation. Snickers, Butterfingers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups oh my! Finding those in our halloween bucket growing up was like a rare gem. Now days, it's a given.

There is even a full size Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in there. And most kids don't even work for this kind of loot. They have their parents drive them every couple houses. God forbid if there are 3 houses in a row not giving out candy because those kids hop in their parents car and have them drive to the next set of houses with lights on. Clearly though I am a mean Mom, because I make Ava walk from house to house across our neighborhood, even when it's like 40 degrees out on Halloween night. I think if a kid wants that candy bad enough, they will walk, just like we had to when we were kids. Oh, and that long licorace rope at the top of the above photo, what a waste! That house offers like 4 different types of candy all 3 other choices are the full size snickers, butterfingers, or Reeses, and she picks this licorace every year...and then never eats it. Even when I tell her to go for the good stuff and not the licorace. Well maybe next year!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:04:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween! Be safe and for crying out loud, save some of thereally good candy for your Mom and/or Dad, who followed along from house to house as you snatched up gobs of free candy!

Hello Kitty...

2011-10-29T16:17:00.001-05:00

This week was Drug Awareness week at Ava's school and on one of the days she was supposed to dress up as a Super Hero. Since I have a pretty girly-girl kind of kid, we don't have a closet full of super hero kind of outfits. And after running to Target at almost 8 pm, to see if I can find a costume or even a t-shirt with some kind of girl themed super hero emblem I come up empty handed. I found a t-shirt on the boys side with a super man logo, but Ava refused to wear that since it came to the boy side of the store. So we got creative and decided to create our own hello kitty/cat woman super hero costume. I wasn't about to dress my 6 year old in a latex a.k.a. skin tight cat suit, so we went with a hello kitty t-shirt, and tights, and a black and silver sparkly skirt, tall black boots, and a pair of cat eyes shaped glasses. Our young version of "Catwoman" before she became the sex Goddess super hero fans fantasized about.

This is how we party...kid style...

2011-10-24T10:06:00.003-05:00

This weekend we were invited to a kids Halloween party at my cousin's house with a full on haunted trail, monster mash dance, and several games to play. Not to mention prizes and candy as well. My niece Olivia and nephew Kylar ended up going with us as well, since their Mom had to work that night.

Olivia dressed up as a black kitty cat, Mady as Daphne from Scooby Doo, and Ava as a leopard. Ignore the blood splatter on the wall...there was a cat fight earlier! ;)

Super Ninja Konnor...on his way to being super sugared up and showing off his mad Ninja skills as well.

What in the devil?!?! Way cuter than the real devil I have to say. Not that I've seen the real devil, but from what I can imagine, I'd hedge a bet that he's quite horrific. But this little devil stole the hearts of many!

Jordan as an military guy. Not sure the military could even handle this kid. He'd certainly give them a run for their money!

Ava dressed as a leopard and excited to have won bingo. In truth all the kids were winners at this game because it's bingo and I had a massive bowl of treats to hand out anyway. And since I only had one kid going home with me, what do I care really if they are bouncing off the wall until midnight or later! ;)

Olivia wearing the mask my aunt dressed up in. I found this quite hilarious.

Kameron excited with his new Pez dispenser. Sugar em' up...oh yes they were!

Kaylee and Haley! Lovin' the smirk on Haley's face, er I mean Madonna's face! ;)

Brycelynn and some little girl that I don't know the name of or who she belongs too since there were some neighbor kids at the party as well. Brycelynn dressed as herself for the party, well that is until she went out to scare the little kids on the "haunted trail". That's right we give sweet treats and top of the night with a nice set of nightmares. I kid. About the nightmares that is.

Aaaaaaaaaah!!! Oh it's just Braeden! Whew! I thought I was in a sequel to another Scream movie! Lawd have mercy on me!

A possessed Ava with a bum! Great! is this a glimpse into my future?!?!? Oh thank goodness it's just my aunt bummin' around! ;)

See what happens when you eat too many sweets?!?! You lose your teeth! Consider this my PSA for the day! Excuse me while I go whittle down that fun dip stick and create some teeth for Alyssa.

Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road. Lil Miss Dorothy was feeling a bit sassy! Yep that pose and facial expression proves she is ready for her own facebook page now! ;)

Wow what a family. I'd hate to be their neighbors, well except for maybe the little one in the purple!

Richard and Jill. I think Jill was a Pink Lady from the movie Grease! It's been awhile since I saw Grease and well technically I prefer the John Travolta from the 90's and not the 70's since I was possibly not even born (or maybe just born) when Grease came out and that whole Welcome Back Kotter era.

Alyssa and some scary monster oh I mean her Dad posing with her for a picture. Clearly she isn't scared by his face at all.

Olivia playing our Halloween version of the Bozo Grand prize game!

And Ava taking her turn at it. It's a classic game as a kid I wished I could have played with Bozo and friends. Throwing little ball in a bucket, and then trying your hand at it again with a bucket that is further away, wow that's some fun right there! Come on you know you wanted to play that game as a kid and even still do as an adult. I was at Chuck E. Cheese a few years ago and I was in heaven with some skee-ball and their version of the Grand Prize game!

I don't know who this kid is, but she was there and playing the grand prize game too. She might have been some cheese or something. I don't really know.

Brooklynn taking her shot at the Grand Prize Game!

Kylar being too cool for this kid party! That is until he was able to go outside and scare the holy terror out of children under the age of 11.

No party would be complete without the legendary Material Girl, Madonna (from the 80's when she first hit the scene) crashing the party. Happy Halloween!

The Apple Orchard...

2011-10-09T13:27:00.000-05:00

We spent a day at Curtis Apple Orchard and what a fun day we had. The sun was shining and it was quite warm for a day in October, but that is the thing about Illinois, you never know what the weather will be like from one day to the next. :) Ava had a blast filling up her bag will all sizes of apples. I had to show her the kind of apples we definitely didn't want. Not sure I am down for having some apples with worms in them. Eek. lol

Looking for just the right apple to add to her bag of apples. The first apple I pulled off a tree limb, sent many apples tumbling down and one bounced right off my head. I was like is this even for real! lol Ava got a good laugh out of it though.

Inspecting her apple to make sure it is just right!

Apples were all over the ground of course, but we didn't pick any of those. They made for a nice picture, but definitely not ones that were going home with us.

Ava smiling for me since she knows it is just quicker to smile and move on. She has learned well my obsession of photographing her. I just like to refer to my obsession as her having a well documented life! :)

We even picked out some mums for our front patio. The red one is my absolute favorite one. Ava picked out a pink one and then we both agreed on the white one together. I'll have to be sure to take a couple pictures (or more) of these when they are all fully bloomed. I was told all about how I can plant them and they will grow back each year and while that sounds nice and all, I think I'll just leave them in the pots they are in. I love the look of flowers, but I am so not the flower planting kind of person. After we spent a lot of time in the orchard picking out apples and flowers, we wandered around the other parts of the orchard and Ava had a nice time playing on the playground called Munchkin Land. Loved the Wizard of Oz theme they had at this orchard. We definitely will be returning next fall. :)

Awards Banquet

2011-10-05T11:19:00.000-05:00

Cheerleading is done for the season! Hard to believe really that the JFL football season is already done! Last night there was an awards banquet and the cheerleaders were invited to attend. The girls each got a medal and a bag with their names embroidered on them. Super cute. :)

The girls even did a cheer in front of the whole crowd. It was cute because after the girls were done cheering the JFL players really cheered (clapped) for them. It was neat. It was a great way to end the season. :)

Monkey Diorama Project

2011-09-30T17:57:00.002-05:00

Ava has a slight obsession with Monkeys and for one of her first grade projects she had to make a diorama. Her Dad created the box out of some foam board and Ava and I spent time decorating the inside and outside.

Ava actually did most of the decorating. I used my Cricut to cut out the monkey shapes and then Ava colored them. I used a circle punch to cut out a bunch of green circles and I helped Ava glue them together and we used toilet paper rolls, Ava colored them brown and we attached the circles to a clothes pin and clipped them to the rolls. We shredded different shades of green paper to create the grass and of course Ava wanted to include one of her favorite stuffed monkeys in the project as well. Overall I think it turned out really cute.

Face Painting...

2011-09-27T13:09:00.002-05:00

Ava went to her friends birthday party at a nearby Pumpkin Patch and it happened to fall on a day when a lady was there doing face painting. Ava had never been interested in having her face painted before, but this year she was all for it.

She chose a rainbow colored butterfly to be painted on her face.

I of course took a dozen or more photos of the entire process. Why? Because I am kind of obsessive like that. I don't want to miss a thing. lol

Ava sat so still during the whole process, which really didn't take all that long. This lady had the whole painting process down.

The lady even spritzed some glitter on her face, which Ava was super excited about. And I don't know many little girls that don't like glitter. :)

And there you have it. The end results and one very happy little butterfly! :)

Arts In The Park...

2011-09-18T13:22:00.001-05:00

Ava and I decided to spend a little time down at a local event called Arts in the Park. It wasn't planned, but we had a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun watching Ava enjoy the music and dance for lack of a better term. We went to Del's Popcorn Shop and Ava then took a seat at a picnic table to listen to the band play. For being only 6 Ava really enjoyed their music. Then she kept asking me if I remember the songs from when I was a kid. I told her I did know them, but several were before my time or else when I was a baby myself. lol She looked so surprised that I knew these songs. Clearly I am quite old in the eyes of my little girl.

The evening was a bit chilly, but Ava definitely kept herself warm as she danced and ran around to the music. At the end of one of the songs the band even complimented Ava on her dancing and oh was she ever embarrassed on one hand, but on another she absolutely loved the attention as well. The breeze off of the fountain though made me wish I had worn a sweatshirt or something a bit warmer than the t-shirt I was wearing. We stayed until the band was all done and then we decided it was a perfect time to call it a night for us as well. On our way out, a guy from the band gave her a high-five and told her how great she was. She loved that and talked it about it for quite some time. She was certain she was going to make the cover of the local newspaper the following day, but I had to remind her that there wasn't a news reporter there to take her picture, but I told her if there had been a reporter then I am sure she would have made it on the cover of the newspaper. lol This little girl never ceases to amaze me. :)

Happy 4th of July...

2011-07-04T08:08:00.002-05:00

Before you fill your day full of fireworks, friends, family, fun, and good food, take a minute today to reflect on why we are celebrating this day. Stop for just a moment and thank the brave men and women, who continue to serve this great country. They make a sacrifice for each of us every single day the least we can do is take a moment to say thank you and if so inclined to say a prayer of thanks as well as to pray for those serving overseas and to pray for their safe return to American soil and back to their family and friends.

Thank you to all our military men and women who have served this country well, and to those who continue to serve and protect, my most heartfelt "Thank You"!

Ava & Kaylee

2011-06-14T22:23:00.003-05:00

Growing up I had brothers, a sister, and a lot of cousins to play with. Ava has cousins, but no siblings. So when she gets a chance to hang out with her cousins she is in heaven. And she has a few cousins that really top her list of cousins who are the best to hang with. Kaylee is right at the top of her list for sure. We don't see my cousins family as often as we would like too since life in general keeps us busy, but this past Sunday I was in need of a babysitter on Monday and Jenny was quick to offer to keep Ava and let her stay all night. Ava was thrilled.

Jenny sent me a photo of Ava and Kaylee having fun playing in the pile of sand in their backyard. Clearly Ava is in heaven and quite a sandy little mess. But happy and that is the important thing here...right?!?! lol

Jenny also has two boys. And Ava is usually anti-boys when it comes to playing with boys, unless they are related. Lucky for Kameron and Konnor they are cousins. Thanks Jen for keeping Ava and without me even asking. You are a lifesaver and I am so glad Ava was good for you! :)

Travel back in time a bit...

2011-05-02T22:33:00.003-05:00

I love history. Especially early American history. When I went to Lake of the Woods the other day they also have an early American History Museum called "Museum of the Grand Prairie". It was free to get in, but they do accept donations. In my opinion it was well worth leaving a donation to support this museum. I would have loved to have had more time to explore this quaint little museum and to really enjoy all it had to offer, but I was on a time schedule to get back in time for Ava to get home from school. In another year or two I think Ava would enjoy a visit to this museum, but as of right now she would rather hurry from one display to the other. So maybe in a year or two.

Abe Lincoln and a buggy. Ava would definitely enjoy climbing up and sitting in this buggy or wagon or whatever is the proper way to refer to this.

What the inside of a cabin would possibly look like and the standard items in the home.

The Hearth....This is no 4-6 burner stove that is for sure. Or a microwave where dinner can be served in minutes.

Washing machine/tubs for doing laundry. This would be an all day kind of job for sure. No front loading washing machines in the 1800's. But you would have some strong arms from all that cranking!

Some of the dishes and kitchen items. I really liked the kettle. My Grandma had a similar dinnerware pattern shown on the blue patterned plate. I always loved those dishes when I was a kid. Not my style particularly now, but when I seem a similar pattern it always reminds me of my Grandma's dishes.

A replica of what the inside of a church during that time period might look like. This was one of my favorite parts of the museum. And I loved the stained glass windows too. So pretty. Not to mention the cross front and center of the "church".

Display of a sewing machine and some of the types of clothes worn back then.

Some of the weapons and military uniforms used during that time. As well as a soldiers sleeping quarters.

A wagon and items that those settling in the midwest might have brought along with them.

All in all a nice way to spend my Friday afternoon. I have more photos but this gives a good idea of how I spent my afternoon. :)

Lake of The Woods

2011-04-30T16:00:00.002-05:00

Do you ever see a photo and wonder where was that photo taken? Then you think, hey I would like to go see that for myself. I know I do. I saw a photo on the local news facebook page of a covered bridge someone had taken in Illinois and for as long as I have lived here in Illinois (my entire life of course), I have yet to see a covered bridge up close and personal. So on a gorgeous Friday morning, after Ava headed off to school, I set out to find this bridge. I wanted to see it for myself and not just in a photograph and to actually walk across the bridge. To see this bridge and not just from a photograph. Someone had mentioned in the comments, they thought the photo was from Lake of the Woods, since there was no photo caption, I thought I would take the advice of the person who commented and google map Lake of The Woods. And thankfully they were right.

I don't know why, but I always like taking pictures of little signs/information plaques when they are available at places like this. Perhaps it is because one day they can continue to tell the story of what certain photos are about, when I may no longer be here to tell the story behind the meaning of things. Of course I plan on being around for a long time, but you know...for one day!

Lake of the Woods Covered Bridge. So neat! Can you tell I was quite taken by getting to see this. Who would have thought it was only about 45 minutes or less from where I live. It's the little things in life that make it worth living and just experiencing so many things right around us.

The front of the Lake of the Wood covered bridge. I don't think any of the cars I saw going over this bridge actually went 5 miles an hour. Nowdays, every one seems to always be in a hurry, even in a quite park setting.

I like this photo because it shows how much things have changed over time. A smart car driving over a covered bridge. I don't think those who were driving a covered bridge in the 1800's and early 1900's could have imagined a form of transportation like the Smart car. Times have certainly changed!

I definitely feel like it was worth the trip to go see this covered bridge. Even though it was rebuilt in the 1960's, I fell it is still something worth seeing. After seeing this covered bridge, it makes me want to take a trip in the fall to Indiana and experience the Covered Bridge Festival. They also have a little historical museum I went through (I love this kind of stuff) and hopefully I will get through all those photos and post that in the next few days!

What?!?!? I made it!

2011-04-24T22:32:00.003-05:00

47 days of no eating out for anything. Unbelievable! And actually it has been a little more than that since we didn't eat out a few days leading up to it. I have to admit, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. The last couple days were a bit rough just like the first few, but nothing that I couldn't handle with my focus being on God and the sacrifices Jesus made for me. Initially we were planning on eating out for Easter, but I really didn't feel like doing it. So today I spent my time cooking and preparing for Easter dinner at my house with my sister and her family, my brother and his family, and my Mom and Step-Dad. We ended up cooking out on the grill (not a traditional Easter dinner), but it was so yummy! And the rain even managed to hold off too. Now that I can "officially" eat out again I don't feel this huge need. Funny how that works out. We will be eating out one day this week just so I can have a day "off" but I think I have broken a bad habit. Who would have thought that at the end of these 47+ days McDonald's french fries wouldn't be calling my name. lol Happy Easter!

Finding a Little Sunshine...

2011-04-20T13:40:00.002-05:00

Even if it is with a handful of dandelions. Ava loves to pick me "flowers". Usually by the time the flowers make it inside they are pretty much wilted already from being clamped into her sweaty little palms, but I think that just makes them even more special.

I love that when she sees flowers (or weeds that look like flowers) she thinks of me and how she needs to pick as many as possible to give to me. If that isn't the pure love from your child then I do not know what is. It is in these moments I think God is telling me that he loves me this much, that he gave me this incredible blessing of a little girl. Every single day I feel blessed to be Ava's Mom. I don't know how I got so lucky to have her in my life. She is the best gift I could ever have been given. She is my joy every day even when the sun refuses to come out from behind the clouds.

She melts my heart with how giving her little heart already is! I am blessed beyond measure!

Funny Ava...

2011-03-27T08:56:00.000-05:00

You never fail to make me laugh! One of the many things I love about you!

5 going on 15...

2011-03-26T21:25:00.002-05:00

When I look at my daughter I see an adorable little 5 year old girl, who often times has a style all her own. Then she will have a conversation with one of her little friends or cousins (who are also 5-7 years old) and I will think she's not 15 yet! Why is that conversation coming out of her mouth! Last night at the dinner table she was talking to her cousin and they were talking about Justin Bieber. Sounds pretty harmless. Then she started talking about how her friends at school think Justin Bieber is soooo hot! Over and over the Bieb hotness was mentioned. I thought I might lose my appetite. Then she declared that her and her friends have Bieber Fever! I almost lost my dinner. Fork down. Appetite gone. Really?!?! Is this my life that I am living. She is five! Five! And she thinks Justin Bieber is hot. Wasn't this phase supposed to come much later in life like when she was at least 12? Or better yet 15? Or 25? I guess not.

Of course this conversation wasn't done yet, she felt the need to include me in the conversation by asking me if "I" thought Justin Bieber was hot! And if I liked the Bieb when I was her age. I politely explained to her that Justin Bieber was not alive when I was her age and that I am almost old enough to be Justin Bieber's Mom. And no I didn't think Justin Bieber was hot because thoughts like that could get me thrown in jail. Not that I have those thoughts about Justin Bieber anyway. The only thoughts I have on him is what does he know about being in love and heartbreak and why is he singing this to little girls who have no idea what this is all about either. Oh and he should cut his hair! :)

One Week In..

2011-03-17T01:24:00.001-05:00

I am one week into following my promise to not eat out for Lent. For me this is huge. Huge I tell ya. And honestly I have to admit I am not struggling with it nearly as much since I have changed my perspective and my attitude on this. I am also noticing that we are eating healthier too and making better food choices. We are eating more fruits and vegetables than we were. And that is always a good thing. Ava isn't even bothered by the fact we are not eating out at McDonald's which is most 5 year olds food of choice for dinner. She was with my sister the other day and they were going to Texas Roadhouse to deliver Girl Scout cookies and they were going to eat afterwards. But I let my sister know we were giving up eating out in honor of Lent so Ava wasn't supposed to eat there. That was a bit of a difficult decision to make because I felt bad not letting Ava go, but I also know it was standing firm in our commitment to God. My sister thought it was dumb that Ava couldn't eat out, but at least she did respect my decision even if she didn't agree with it. I felt good in knowing I am keeping to my commitment to God.

I don't think for one minute we will not ever eat out again, but I hope that after these 40 days are up, we will be more mindful of the eating out and continue on the path of making better choices and we will enjoy eating out when we do because it will not be the "norm" for us. This past week things have come up or happened (both good and bad) and we would have went out to eat to either celebrate or on the bad days because I didn't feel like cooking. So my wallet is loving this no eating out deal I have going on. Life is good and God is so very great! :) One week in and we are still going strong and standing firm in our commitment to God.

I Want It and I Want It NOW!!!

2011-03-10T23:02:00.001-06:00

We want what we want, when we want it. So here it is the end of day 2 of my promise to follow Lent. To give up eating out for the next 40 days. Day 1 I said to myself, well I am not Catholic so I don't really have to follow this. So if I decide to eat out somewhere for dinner then it is ok. I mean really does it even matter...afterall I am not Catholic. Funny how the mind (and perhaps Satan too) tries to mess with our thinking and to try and reason with us to break our promise to God. It doesn't matter which denomination or faith we follow, a promise to God is a promise to God. And that is the plain and simple truth.

I know that if I am going to make it through this time of sacrifice I am going to have to think of this in a whole other way. If I don't, these may be the longest 40 days of my life. When we tell ourselves we cannot have something, we want it even more. That is just how the mind works. So I have to change my way of thinking when it comes to this. So I am looking at it through the eyes of simply being a Christian and thinking of the sacrifices God has made for me and the sacrifices Jesus has made for me. God didn't tell me I couldn't eat out. God has given us the ability to think for ourselves. We all have free-will to do and think as we please. So this morning I decided to change my attitude on this and recognize this is a choice I made. This is something I decided to do for 40 days. I made that choice. I am also looking at this with the mindset of what am I going to gain for doing this as well. I am looking forward to the positive changes this will make in my life. I don't for one minute think this is going to be a walk in the park, but I know this will be a test of my commitment to God. It will also bring me closer to Ava and though her and I are already close, it will reinforce the bond I have with her and any extra quality time I can spend with her is truly a gift. It is a time for us to sit down at the table each night and talk, laugh, and share our day with one another. It will also be a cleansing experience for our bodies. I am intrested in seeing how much better I am going to feel at the end of these 40 days and how this is going to be a change in our lives that is positive.

Oh and as for day 1 and 2...we didn't eat out! Even when my Mom had McDonald's for lunch today I passed up on it and instead made myself some chili. That was an extra $6.00 in my pocket! Onto day 3!

I Give Up....

2011-03-09T10:44:00.002-06:00

eating out! Well at least for the next 40 days anyway. I have never observed Lent before. Actually I am not even Catholic. But I figure why not give it a try. I don't really know the whole meaning behind Lent, other than the sacrifice part of it. I get that but during these next 40 days I probably should familiarize myself a bit more with what Lent is all about. So I am sure Wikipedia will be my go to resource as I take on this challenge and see if I can actually do this. For as hectic as my life can be or days that are just super stressful and the last thing I want to do is plan or cook dinner, this is a pretty big challenge for me. But since Jesus did sacrifice his life for me, I think I can forgo McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Arby's, Cheddar's, Cracker Barrel, Panera Bread, Sakura, Carlos O'Kelly's....eek!

This just means I have to be more diligent. I have to plan my meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It isn't that I loathe cooking...well most days anyway, but it is easier to grab something on the go or to go to a restaurant and be waited on. That also means no dishes and messes to clean up either. However the flip side of eating out is that it can really cut into the finances too. So after these forty days are up I might see a bit more money in my bank account and that would definitely be an added bonus. Plus, I look forward to Ava spending some time doing a little cooking with me as well. Which will be some nice Mommy and Daughter time. Well I better go look in the freezer and see what is for dinner tonight!

My Love...

2011-02-17T22:14:00.001-06:00

I don't think it is possible to love this little girl any more than I already do!

P.S. We are both definitely ready for spring!

Happy Valentine's Day...

2011-02-14T22:22:00.001-06:00

I am not a fan of Valentine's Day really. I think it is an over-commercialized, over-hyped, holiday for companies looking to make a buck now days. I think that any day of the year is a great time to show those you love them and not with flowers, boxes of chocolates, fancy dinners, expensive jewelry, etc. But to show those we love with kind words, thoughtful gestures and caring attitudes. With that being said, there is one thing about Valentine's Day, the Brachs conversation Hearts.

This takes me back to when I was a very little girl and my Grandpa would always give my sister and me each a box of these candy hearts. My Mom even has a photo of my sister and me enjoying our candy hearts. So when I see these out in the store it brings back a fond memory of my Grandpa. And they had to be Brachs, not some generic version or some Sweetheart tart, whatever you call it heart shaped candies. BRACHS! Even as an adult I still like to eat one at a time, but before popping the candy in my mouth I read what is written on the heart. I sat down and did this with Ava tonight as we were eating our heart shaped candies. Some of the sentiments have changed like the one I had tonight that said LOL, but I hope that Ava one day has fond memories of her Brachs heart shaped candies, just like I do.

Reading is FUN-DA-MENTAL...

2011-02-13T23:36:00.001-06:00

Often times I find it quite amusing the books Ava picks out from her school library. When she comes home with a Disney Princess book, that is to be expected and doesn't surprise me at all. But often times she comes home with books and I have to wonder why she picked that particular book.

She is only 5 years old so it must be the cover of a book that draws her attention to it. But this cover? I mean the lady has some hair that looks like a queen from the 1700 and early 1800's would wear. And a pig...ummmm hog on the front. She likes the movie Charlotte's Web but she doesn't have an obsession with the movie.

But hey whatever gets her to read I am ok with that...well as long as it is kid friendly of course. She needed some help with this book, but by the last several pages she was doing great on her own. It amazes me to watch her sound out words and string the words together in sentences when she is reading. It also amazes me at how far she has come in just the last 4 1/2 - 5 months since starting Kindergarten.

100 Days of School

2011-01-29T14:41:00.001-06:00

100 days of school.

Hi Ho the dairy-o.

100 days of school.

Ava's school celebrated 100 days of school this week. In Ava's class the kids had to bring in something that represented the 100 days of school. So Ava and her Dad put together this Lego house. I am not creative enough to have built something like this. She would have been greatly disappointed in my Lego house if I would have had helped her with this! The backside of the lego house is pretty awesome too. I did take a picture of it, but have yet to edit and upload it to my blog. Maybe by her 200th day of school I will get to that! ;) Happy 100 Day of School Gracie!

I hope you don't have the Farmer in the Dell stuck in your head now! If you do, my sincerest apologies!

Monkey Hat

2011-01-25T21:14:00.001-06:00

This is quite the snow hat! Every time Ava puts it on it makes me smile.

Ava has an obsession with monkeys. Not a freakish obsession, but this girl loves her some monkeys. My sister bought Ava this hat at Kroger and Ava loves it. The hat is massive really. When she bends her head down a bit the monkey stares right at you. It would be insanely creepy if it wasn't smiling. So thank goodness the monkey is smiling, but not overly smiling in a freaky I am watching you while you sleep kind of way! This hat also reminds me of the buffalo hat that Fred Flintstone would wear in the Flintstones cartoons when he went to those Buffalo/Elk Lodge meetings with Barney. Maybe it was a water buffalo. Clearly I do not know my buffalo. lol Anyway, I don't know why it reminds me of that exactly, but it does. Perhaps it is the massive size of the hat as it stands tall on her little head! Clearly I have issues. :)

A Message From Mother Nature...

2011-01-21T00:21:00.002-06:00

Spring is on the way! Or at least I like to think so with the snowflake I was able to capture today with my camera.

I think the snowflake above looks like a little flower. Perhaps a subtle sign from Mother Nature herself that Spring isn't all that far off. I most certainly hope so. Though I live in the midwest and have lived here my entire life, I am not a big fan of the cold, the snow, or the ice. Give me sunshine and 70+ degree weather every day in the winter and I would be perfectly happy with that. However, I also must admit that snowflakes are pretty awesome to photograph! And this is one of the coolest snowflakes EVER!

I like this snowflake because it looks like it lost a "limb" before it found a nice place to land. Can we call snowflake points limbs? lol Anyway, I cannot imagine a snowflake lands hard on anything. So where did it lose it's limb? Or did it only have 5 to begin with? They say a no two snowflakes are a like and I think these two snowflakes prove just that. I am not sure who "they" is, but anyway that is the word on the street! :)

You Know You're A Mom When....

2010-09-04T23:39:00.001-05:00

you buy a monkey mask like this and you let your kid wear it around Target and you think nothing about it. My lil' Monkey had a great week at school and was on "green" all week with no warnings so I thought it would be nice to give her a little reward. For anyone who shops at Target we all know those $ deal bins when you first walk in. Ava loves those bins. And of course every time she is with me we have to stop and look at what deals they currently have. Well Ava spotted this monkey mask right away. Lately she has an obsession with monkeys. I don't know why but she does. Anyway she quickly strapped this mask to her little head and she was thrilled beyond reason. So what Mom can say no to some $1.00 bargain bin toy that brings pure happiness to their child? Certainly not this Mom. All through Target she wore this mask and people would look at her and smile as she would pass them by.

After shopping at Target we ate at the Pizza Hut eatery inside Target for dinner and I tried to get her to take the mask off, but all she would do was raise it up so it sat perched on her forehead. It was quite funny actually. When we got home she played with her new Tinkerbell Jewelry box (yes I caved and bought something else as well for her) and while playing with her toys, she still wore this monkey mask. She even managed to pass out for the night on the sofa wearing her beloved monkey mask. I removed it after taking the above photo. Today she went to the zoo with her grandparents and what do you think went along with her? Yep you got it...the monkey mask. I wonder what the monkeys at the zoo thought when they saw her wearing it? Next time you are in Target and you pass those $ bins see if you can get your own Monkey mask...for your kids of course! :)

Peace Out...

2010-08-27T10:33:00.000-05:00

It is a rare opportunity my nephew Kylar lets me take his photo anymore. Olivia on the other hand, is almost always full of smiles for me to photograph. I watched my sisters two kids last night and was able to get the above photo. I couldn't have been more pleased that Kylar was so willing to let me take this picture and he even smiled in it. Granted he always has to throw up a peace sign or something but I will take what I can get. Olivia wants to be like her brother so she was trying to figure out how to make the peace sign with her fingers. It was so funny watching her look at Kylar's fingers and then back at her fingers trying to make the peace sign. With a little help from her big brother she was able to "make" a peace sign too. She was so excited as you can tell from her smile in the photo. :)

Open House

2010-08-25T09:02:00.003-05:00

Ava had "Open House" at her school last night. I wasn't sure we were going to actually make it because she was in such a grouchy mood. Anything and everything made her cry. I was excited to go to her open house at school and then when she gets home from school she was just in the worst mood ever. Finally she pulled herself out of her funk and off to school we went.

Ava sitting at one of the tables in her class room. I was surprised she actually sat for me to get a picture of her. She loved showing off her class room to me though. I got to see where she puts her backpack. And the different crafts and activities she has done so far. I signed up for her classroom holiday parties and may be joining the PTO. The first meeting is in a few weeks so we will see how that goes.

Next up we went to the music room where I was able to meet Ava's music teacher. Ava had fun signing the big banner in the music room and drawing a picture of her as well. I also met the art teacher as well. Next we went to the cafeteria where some bank was trying to get sell me on their services, but I like where I bank and not looking to change banks any time soon. I did see the Girl Scouts of America and they were like bombarded with people so I will just look online to see what that is all about. I think that might be something Ava would like. They have different levels and I think there is one called like the Daisies or something like that. Our last stop was in the library where they were having a book fair. So Ava happily picked out two new books to add to her always expanding Library collection. Kylar even picked out a book...I think it is from the Diary of A Wimpy Kid Series. Kylar went to the same school as Ava from K-3 grade and he was able to see his Kindergarten teacher which he loved and she was happy to see him too. All in all our night ended quite well. :)

First Day of Kindergarten...

2010-08-19T10:15:00.002-05:00

I have to say I have no idea how it is time to already send my baby to Kindergarten. This day came much too fast. And much quicker than I am even ready for. She seems too little to be taking on such a huge responsibility. I barely slept at all last night and was so weepy over my little girl starting this chapter in her life. I know she went to Pre-K last year and that was difficult to adjust to, but this is more than difficult, it is heart breaking and yet I know I have to let go and give her room to grow and become the person she is meant to be. For the last 5 years I have devoted my entire life to this amazing little girl.

Off to catch the bus. She was so excited to walk down to the bus stop. She didn't have an ounce of fear in her about today. Is this really my kid?!?!?!

Waiting at the bus stop. She was excited to see several of her friends at the bus stop. She was all smiles this morning. My heart was breaking but I put on a happy face for her. And took several pictures too. Though I am sure this moment will be imprinted on my heart and in my mind forever.

Ava and her two best friends walking across the street to the bus. Ava never even looked back she was so excited to go. She has been waiting for this day for months now. This is the moment when my heart truly broke. She was so sure and confident walking to the bus and yet I wanted to grab her up and run home and say forget all this stuff about school. We can wait another year.

But I didn't do that. I let her get on the bus and stood on the sidewalk waiting for my baby to wave to me out her school bus window. Ava waved bye excitedly from her seat on the bus. She was able to sit next to her best friend so maybe that made today easier for her. I can't wait to hear how her first day of school went. I hope she has an incredible year of Kindergarten and it is all we both hope for it to be. I love you Ava Grace.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl...

2010-08-12T22:47:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Ava Grace!

Yes these cupcakes were the cupcakes at Ava's birthday and they seriously are sinful little cupcakes of yumminess. I mean really it should be illegal to indulge is something so delicious. My sister has a friend who makes these cupcakes. Inside the cupcake are real strawberries. Holy Moley Batman they are amazing. And everyone at the party thought so as well. Granted the little boys at the party were not thrilled at the "pink princess-y-ness" of the cupcakes, but it didn't stop them from devouring them either. Anyone could get past the frilly girliness of these cupcakes after just one nibble. And that is all I am going to say about that! :) Oh and also how I wish Ava's birthday and my birthday were at least a month a part so I would have another reason to get some of these cupcakes!

Ava on her birthday morning. I couldn't bare the thought of making her wait all day until her party in the evening to open some presents. That is just cruel to hype them up for weeks about their birthday and then to be like oh you have to wait until your party. Nope that isn't how we do things in this house. She was able to open some of her presents from Mommy when she got up. :)

She wasn't overly thrilled with all the clothes but she did love the toys she got for her birthday.

The girls loved the princess-y strawberry cupcakes. I am pretty sure it was all that pink that drew them in. Ava has an obsession with pink. I have no idea where she gets it from really other than tv or something because I am not a huge fan of pink, and when Ava was little I tried to not dress her in pink all the time. Why couldn't she love red or green or yellow...but not PINK! But nope she loves pink. So she was in heaven with these cupcakes. Her eyes lit up when she saw them. All the little girls hovered around these cupcakes...the boys wouldn't even come close. lol I have more photos that I haven't edited from the party and I may put them up...but if I don't then at least you've seen the cupcakes! Happy Birthday to my Ava Grace!

Back To School Time

2010-08-08T13:21:00.008-05:00

So I have to say I think I've been violated, well more like my checkbook has been violated by the cost of elementary education. But more to the point the ever growing and demanding school supply list. I am OK with paying $60.00 for her use of books in the school. After all when I was in college I paid $200 for only one book for a 16 week class and when going back to sell it I am pretty sure they wanted to offer me like $3.84 for that very book. Which I kept and it is now stored away in some tote in some closet in my house. So to pay $60.00 for an entire school year for books I am 110% OK with. But let's get back to this school list thing.

As I started down the many aisles Wal-Mart has designated specifically for school supplies I noticed many parents staring at the sheer ridiculousness of these supply lists. Some look confused at what was being asked on their list. Some were shaking their heads over how long their lists were. I heard the mutter and grumbles from parents as they asked whatever happened to the good old days when we were kids and all we need was.... type comments. Surely any parent of school age kids can relate. Granted I do like school supply shopping. I do. But even though I love to buy these kinds of things, there are just some things on the list that are quite absurd and in my opinion pointless.

As I am looking at Ava's list I must say, it did contain the basics such as crayons, glue, folders, pencils, and scissors. The basic things that haven't changed since I went to kindergarten oh almost 30 years ago. Wow did I just type that! Now I definitely feel old. Moving on...those supplies I just listed above though were our entire school list back in the 80's. There that doesn't sound nearly as bad or make me feel as old if I say "in the 80's. The school lists we get today are very specific about what we must provide and it seriously grows longer every year. And I know this because I have been buying me nephews school supplies since he started school and he is now going into the 7th grade this year. One item on Ava's list they were very specific about is a school box, BUT only in plastic! I don't know where these people are shopping, but can you even find the cardboard pencil boxes from when we were kids? But whatever I would rather send plastic, since cardboard tears and I know my beloved cardboard cartoon school boxes never lasted the entire school year.

So after deciding on a pink pencil box (plastic of course) I move onto the next item down the list. Up next a plastic place mat for art projects? Are they doing their art projects on some carpeted surface? As a Mom I know that glue and crayon marks can be wiped off a table. And since Mr. Clean developed the Magic Eraser that sponge can clean up just about anything on any surface. But whatever! Next on the list gallon size Ziploc bags. By now it is clear that the school I have chosen for my daughter is not environmentally friendly and they have no qualms about filling our landfill with all these items. Perhaps they should focus a bit on the "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle." Not trying to get all tree hugger on anyone but I am pretty sure we could forgo the Ziploc bags and the plastic place mat. Our environment and future generations will thank you! :)

Next up on the list glue sticks. OK! No big deal. I mean they only already requested an 8 oz. gigantic bottle of glue, but now they also want 8 glue sticks. Granted this is Kindergarten but let's say there are 20 kids in the class, what in the name of peter pan are they going to do with 160 glue sticks and 20 bottles of 8 oz. glue in an entire school year? Is it art class all day long for these kids? I am pretty sure all the cutting they are going to do to use up all this glue will dull their scissors so why don't I need to send along 4 pairs of scissors while we are at it? What I loved though was at the bottom of the list they noted "May need to send crayons and glue sticks as needed". Wow so 160 glue sticks won't cover it for an entire 9 month school session? Glad I picked up some extras just in case!

Up next on the list, a box of Clorox Bleach Free Wipes. Whatever happened to a little bit of warm soapy water and a paper towel? Or a bit of sanitized water in a spray bottle and some paper towel. It is amazing how any of us adults ever made it to adulthood without Clorox bleach free wipes and bottles of hand sanitizer. We felt all was right with the world with simply washing our hands with warm soapy water or just plain water at that. What were OUR parents thinking!

Last but certainly not least on the list of school supplies, was the request for 35mm film. Really? Do people still use this kind of camera? Thankfully I am a parent who was born in the 70's and up until 10 years ago had a 35 mm camera so I know what 35 mm film actually is. But come on, we live in the age of digital cameras. Maybe next year you should request all parents send in $5 so you can just go out and buy a digital camera since they are relatively cheap now days. Or should I just send in a couple bucks to have this roll of film developed later in the year. Though maybe seeing pictures of Sally with her finger in her nose and Tommy sticking out his tongue in 24 pictures might bring me some humor when those pictures would have easily been deleted from a digital camera.

After spending about $100 alone on just school supplies for my one and only child who is off to kindergarten this year, I have to say I am glad I am not the parent this year walking into the store with a TI-84 calculator on their list. It is quite humorous to me, as I see that parent muttering curse words under their breath and wondering why in the world their 14 year old needs a $100 calculator for math. Oh I know my time is coming one day, but at least I know that it is coming.

As for all images supplied in this blog post they came from the Internet. I don't own the rights to any of them, but am thankful to yahoo and google for providing such lovely images for use in my blog. And sorry I don't know who the hand belongs to in the spray bottle photo either. :) Enjoy what is left of your summer!

Crack in a Cookie

2010-07-29T00:55:00.006-05:00

Did I just say crack in a cookie?!?! Why yes! Yes I did! And it is perfectly legal. You can find my crack dealer at an local grocery store and he likes to hang out in the cookie aisle obviously. And he has pointy elfin shaped ears and goes by the name of Keebler! Keebler says these cookies are new, but I am certain they have just been keeping this cookie to themselves for years! They are Cheesecake Middles and they are heaven!

Those ever loving Keebler elves have created yet another crack induced product. I am quite certain if any one at Wal-Mart or any major grocery store chain took even one little nibble of this cookie they would create a separate aisle just for this little delicious nugget. The wouldn't even be able to keep them in stock because as soon as a truck would come in the stock clerks would be mauled as we cookie crackheads were trying to find our cartons of cookies. Yes these cookies are that damn good.

It is one of those cookies that you just can't stop at one and even though you try to hide them in the back of the cabinet or in the darkest corner of your attic or basement your mind can't help but drift to the next time you can eat one of these yummy cookies. It consumes your thoughts. And though I don't really have a crack addiction and never have, I do imagine this might be what it would be like. Though without the shakes and sweats. I don't recommend these cookies to any pot smokers though because you will eat the entire pack in one sitting and that wouldn't be good for your hips or your ass and the Obama administration is trying to get a handle on obesity...just saying. And The Biggest Loser is all about the Pound for Pound challenge so if you are taking part in that, well then you might just want to forget you ever saw this post!

Though I do think when I take Ava to visit Santa this year I am going to slip some of these yummies to the big guy so he brings me and Ava the biggest most bad ass presents ever. And I will be sure to leave him out a plate of them so he knows he has stopped at the right house. And I am pretty sure that will guarantee our names to also be right at the top of the nice list for the rest of our ever loving lives, even though these cookies have to be quite sinful and the work of those evil little elves. I am pretty sure though Rudolph will hate me next year since he is going to have a lot more weight to pull and it won't be from all the extra presents Santa is bringing Ava and me...might have to add another reindeer or two to haul the extra weight of Santa which will be christened with the names Ava and Mandi or maybe Crack and Cookie!

Well I'm off to write a new Christmas song about Santa and his new reindeer posse...but first I think I need to enjoy some cheesecake middles to get me in the writing mood!

Status Shuffle Updates...

2010-07-26T00:16:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah if you are a facebook user and you have more than 2 friends you probably know exactly what I am talking about. Those often times annoying status shuffle updates. Now don't get me wrong some of them are quite humorous and can even be laugh out loud funny, but then there are the annoyingly pathetic lost loved, he doesn't deserve me, why do I date total losers, but still wish he loved me status shuffle updates. One of the annoying, if not THE most annoying one in the entire universe is, "if he doesn't love you at your worst, he doesn't deserve you at your best"! Wow Status Shuffle you know how to speak the words of a woman's thoughts and heart! And women really post this! That is what really gets me more than anything! Then in the facebook world countless friends and acquaintances "like" the post, which in the real world is equivalent to a hi-five! And 99.999999% of the likers of said update are female! Though I am that .000000000001 percent of the female population that is sitting at her laptop and thinking wtf and rolling my eyes at yet again this update.

Getting back to the most annoying status shuffle comment above let's just say ladies, ladies, ladies...Get Over It! Who cares really? I mean OK so he's a loser and he doesn't want you, why oh why must we air to the world of facebook how pathetic we are feeling. When you hit send to post that comment do you feel like you are accomplishing some great feat in this world? Do you feel vindicated. Is that like equivalent to flipping him off the facebook way??? Do you think that by posting that he is going to be sitting at home secretly hoping you post about how he screwed up and he should love you at your best and your worst? Will his friends give him hell because he doesn't want you anymore? No! He won't be! He is out looking for someone else. He has moved on! As should you! And if by some chance his friends to see this, they are probably laughing at how pathetic it is. He isn't thinking wow she must really be hurt since she posted that update...wow I am such an ass! I should text or call her or whatever other means of communication is available. I am pretty sure pathetic doesn't top the list of desirable character traits/qualities that he is looking for. And if it is...well then that might be a good indicator for you to start running in the opposite direction!

The Status Shuffle on facebook should be used for funny...not pathetic and whiney! Your sarcastic a-hole friends like me will love you for it! And for any friends of mine who have ever used this update I still love you and I will be more than happy to talk crap about your loser of an ex any day! :)

The Life of a Rockstar....

2010-05-15T02:06:00.003-05:00

is a heavy burden to carry...

or maybe it has something to do with the 25 lb. backpack on her back! Anyway being a rock star is all about Fashion first! And I believe I have a future Lady Gaga on my hands...heaven help me.

One would never guess this little girl is actually quite shy, but in truth she can be quite shy and at other times she is quite a star...must be the rock star clothes or maybe she relates too closely to the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus character on Disney!

Regardless this little girl definitely has the best of both worlds and I hope she is growing into a very well rounded little girl. :)

Last Day of Pre-K

2010-05-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

So exciting, yet so sad as well. At least for me it is bittersweet! Ava loved her teacher and as a parent I could not have asked for a more incredible teacher for my daughter. Her first experience with school was absolutely amazing! And the kids in Ava's pre-k class were some of the best kids ever. For a group of 20 little kids they were truly a delight to be around. I loved volunteering and being a part of such a wonderful experience. Thank you will never express the true gratitude I have for the pre-k program Ava was in. I cannot believe my little girl is starting Kindergarten here in just a few short months. Thank you Mrs. K, Mrs. A and all the kids for a memorable year!

Silly Simon

2010-05-03T10:21:00.000-05:00

My little Silly Simon Rock Star! But then again she kind of reminds me of the old guy who dances around in those Six Flags commercials too. lol

It's Like The Partridge Family...

2010-04-26T04:58:00.000-05:00

or maybe even The Brady Bunch! Actually, more like the Monkees. But that just has more to do with their acting than anything.

Kylar helping Ava out with the guitar. I think she really preferred just acting like she was playing it and playing the role of a rock star! Lately she has this obsession with "rock star" type clothing and acting like a rock star. It is pretty funny.

Alyssa the next American Idol hopeful? What would Simon have to say about her performance? I think she ended up with like 27%...but hey she is only 5 and she can't read the words on the screen yet!

Ava on the drums, Alyssa on the bass (I think that is what you call it), and Kylar on the Mic! Okay so maybe they could put their act on the road! lol Just kidding...though Kylar did manage to get like 63% accuracy on singing American Pie...the longest song on the whole band hero game! I didn't think it was ever going to end! But they kept going through the entire song!

Regardless of their experience and maybe not American Idol bound, they did keep us quite entertained for a couple hours! I have a video of my brother singing the YMCA, but I think my life might be in danger if I ever posted that! But holy batman I was laughing my butt off when he was singing and my youngest brother was rockin' out on the drums!

Sidewalk Chalk & Flowers...

2010-04-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

It's what bonds little girls to one another!

Ava and I spent a few hours this afternoon over at my cousins house with two of her little girls. It was a nice afternoon for drawing body outlines with sidewalk chalk and of course drawing rainbows and flowers.

And not to mentino picking tons and tons of dandelions. Then girls were all smiles and giggles. Then storm clouds started to roll in and after a very tearful good-bye on my 4 year olds part we headed for home. Not even half way home and the clouds opened up and it poured. Glad we got in the car and headed for home when we did! Mother Nature wasn't playing around with this storm. We even had some hail too. Crazy Illinois weather! Gotta love it!

Snow Angel

2009-12-26T23:32:00.001-06:00

We finally got some snow that amounts to just more than a few flakes dusting the ground. Not that this was knee deep unless you are like a toy poodle or something, but Ava was beyond pleased and filled with a sugar high anticipation with the falling snow we were getting. Amazing how even a hint of snow can euphorically fill our children with some kind of sugar filled high, but without pumping them full of candy and sugary drinks. So after adding several layers to Ava and her gaining about 10 pounds in mere minutes due to all the layers of clothing, we were ready to head outside.

She was all smiles...though I did have to snap this picture quite quickly since she was filled with snow angel making anticipation.

Before she started on her first snow angel though she had to take a minute and test the falling snow on her tongue! Yep it is snow angel perfect!

Sheer delight as she makes snow angel, after snow angel, after snow angel. I think God might be wondering where all his angels were disappearing too...he would have to look no further than our front yard too see them all lined up in a row!

Snow Angels can be made on the pavement too, right Mom! Sure why not!

Wandering out to find a new spot to make more snow angels or else make more tracks from her foot prints.

Well this looks like a good place to sit! So warm and comfy...er I mean cold and not so comfy, but definitely lots of fun!

And time to taste some more falling snow! This must be way better than the bottled water she drinks all the time. ;)

Off to make more tracks in the snow! We hear there is supposed to be more snow in the forecast tomorrow! If that isn't a kids dream come true, I don't know what is! :)

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T08:27:00.000-06:00

From our family to your family...we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Growing Up....

2009-12-10T23:32:00.001-06:00

It wasn't too long ago the xylophone was her toy of choice...now her favorite thing to do is play dress up and wear her high heeled shoes around the house.

Ava's First Christmas Program...

2009-12-09T23:39:00.001-06:00

Ava had her first school program tonight and I couldn't have been more happy with watching her out there performing. All the the little kids in Ava's Pre-K class did an amazing job! They sang several songs and danced to some of them too. All the little kids had their own little Santa hats they made out of construction paper.

Sierra, Ava, and Lauren. Lauren was so funny because there was one song with quite a bit of dancing and she really put her whole heart into it. You couldn't help by smile and laugh watching her have so much fun with the songs.

The girls singing and dancing to the clapping song. This song was so cute!

At the end of the program the kids and parents went back to the cafeteria and had some cookies and juice. The kids were so excited and full of energy. After the program was all over we ended up going to McDonald's for dinner. What a way to end a perfect day!

Grandparent's Day

2009-11-20T21:13:00.001-06:00

Today was Grandparent's Day at Ava's school and she was so excited for her Nonny and her Aunt Sharon to come visit her in her class room.

Ava & Nonny singing and dancing.

Ava & Aunt Sharon. I have the world's best aunt really I do. I adore her and so does Ava. With my Mom having Alzheimer's my Aunt took my Mom to Ava's Grandparents Day. Ava enjoyed so much having both of them there. My Aunt even rearranged her entire schedule just so she could be there for my Mom and Ava. This truly means the world to me.

Ava and her teacher. Ava loves her teacher and I couldn't have imagined or asked for a more perfect pre-k teacher for Ava. :)

After the Grandparent's Day celebration, Ava was treated to lunch at McDonald's with her Nonny and Aunt Sharon. And to their surprise Ava's classmate A.J. was there as well with his Grandma's too. Grandma's sure know how to spoil their grandchildren. When Ava got home she was full of smiles and stories about Grandparent's Day. When putting Ava to bed I asked her what her favorite part of the day was for her, and thinking she would say going to McDonald's as most 4 year olds would say...she said her favorite part of the day was having her Nonny and Aunt Sharon at her school for Grandparent's Day. I don't think my heart could have smiled any bigger and been more proud of her for knowing that truly was the best part of her day. :)

Olivia The Animal

2009-11-15T09:12:00.002-06:00

Our newest nickname for my niece Olivia is "Animal" from the Muppets! And it is a very fitting nickname for sure in looks and in personality! :) I sent this to my sister at work the other day and had her and her co-workers cracking up over this!

A Trip To Allerton Park...Part I

2009-11-05T23:41:00.007-06:00

We decided to take a short drive to Allerton Park and enjoy this nice Fall day. These days are going to be few and far between more than likely with winter being right around the corner. So a picnic and a day outdoors was in order. It has been quite a long time since I've been to Allerton Park. Definitely long before I had Ava that's for sure. Ava had a lot of fun running around outside and kicking up the colorful fall leaves blanketing the ground.

This zip up hoodie of Ava's reminds me of the character Uniqua from "The Backyardigan's".

There were thousands of those tiny ladybugs that fly (whatever they are called) everywhere today. It was kind of creepy how many there were.

So carefree!

Ava was very fascinated with this door. She wanted to go in, but of course it was locked. She even knocked on the door and was like "is anybody there, it's me Ava".

I have many more pictures to edit from our excursion to Allerton Park and will hopefully get to it in the next couple of days and get them posted on here. We've been so sick lately that I have several projects and photos I need to edit and get caught up on.

Crazy Hair Day...

2009-10-28T23:03:00.003-05:00

Crazy hair day was the theme for today. Well that or a wig or a crazy hat. Since we own no wigs or silly hats it was time to be a bit creative and do some crazy hair day style. This is all Ava would let me do to her hair, and even then she was a bit hesitant.

The front of the crazy hair-do. She had multiple ponytails in her hair.

The back view of her crazy hair-do. I don't think she will let me do this to her again next year. May have to look into a silly wig or crazy hat. She is only 4 and already is worried about what others will think. Seriously? At 4 years old? When she got home from school though she was in a much better mood and wanted to leave her hair up in the silly little pony tails. So I guess it wasn't as horrible as she imagined it would be. :)

Pajama Day...

2009-10-28T09:09:00.001-05:00

Today was pajama day for Ava's school in celebration for Red Ribbon week. The yearly "Say No to Drugs and Alcohol" campaign. She thought it was so cool to be able to wear pj's to school. She even had some brand new Tinkerbell pajamas to wear for this special day. :)

She was loving her new Tinkerbell pajamas. All smiles this morning for me. :)

Ava with her friends before school on Pajama day. Tomorrow is wear a crazy hair, wig, or hat day. Will have to be sure to get pictures of that too. :)

My Little Painted Warriors...

2009-10-11T19:38:00.001-05:00

My little painted warriors! Ava and Alyssa had so much fun today painting themselves and each other with washable finger paint. This little adventure started out with us simply painting on some rocks! Then in turned into this!

And this....

Alyssa's warrior face! These girls had so much fun doing this today...and I had just as much fun watching them giggle and laugh over how creative and utterly messing they were being. By the time it was over and we were pretty much out of paint, I had paint smears on my dishwasher, kitchen cabinets, refrigerator, and floor...thankfully it was washable and easy to clean up. And as for the girls they had to have a shower first to rinse off all this paint before they could actually have a bath. And they got lots of giggles in watching the water go from clear to murky, very murky as the paint was washed from their bodies and swooshed down the drain.

A late summertime photo session...

2009-09-03T12:02:00.004-05:00

I love doing photo shoots with Ava. Seriously. Love. It. I've always enjoyed photos, but since having Ava I've tried to become a bit more "creative" with my hobby of photography. Today was a perfect day for photographing my little cutie and she was actually quite receptive to the idea. I opted to kind of go for a more classic/vintage feel for this session. I love her "I love the 80's" kind of outfit and big clunky mary janes she had on. So here goes...

The above photo is one of the poses she wanted me to take a picture of.

The above photos is one of my absolute favorites from this shoot. I love her legs propped up casually on the wall. She was initially looking up at the sky and then moved her arms to cover her eyes. So cute!

Her clunky Mary Janes. I heart these shoes...and so does she! :)

No photo shoot would be complete without the silly side of Ava emerging!

Ava and "Backpack" enjoying this beautiful summer afternoon.

First Day of Pre-K...

2009-08-27T22:26:00.000-05:00

The first day of Pre-K for Ava is finally here. This time last year, I thought I would be ready for this day and it wouldn't be all that hard. I mean afterall, it is only for a few hours a day, five days a week. But oh my gosh, I was a mess this morning once she boarded the bus and then that little bus pulled away. There are no parenting books or advice from other parents that can prepare you for letting go and trusting others with this little being you've poured your heart and soul into for the last four years. When we went for the Pre-screening in February, August still felt like a long time away. But those 6 months literally flew by. No one could have prepared me for this feeling so alone and lost without her. Yes, I know it is only like 3 1/2 hours a day, but she is part of almost everything I do in my life and who for the last four years has been my main definition of just WHO I am. Today, I had to let go just a little and watch my little girl venture out into a world so big and brand new to her.

This is the Ni Hao Kai Lan backpack Ava picked out. She could have had any backpack she wanted and she picked this one. We are on our way to the bus stop!

Getting on the school bus for her first day of school. She just seems way to little to be doing this!

Lined up with the majority of her Pre-School class. Not one little kid had the same backpack. I found that kind of funny.

Lined up and ready to head inside for their first day of Pre-K.

And off they go on this brand new adventure in their lives.

Happy Birthday Ava!

2009-08-12T23:21:00.000-05:00

Today is Ava's birthday! I can't believe she is 4 years old already! Each year I wonder how it is possible another year has passed. This year is no different. Time certainly does not stand still for anyone or anything. I enjoy Last year Ava experienced our local Children's Museum for the first time on her birthday. This year both Ava and Alyssa enjoyed the museum again. We even had a little picnic after our adventures at the Children's Museum. After that it was time to head home and get ready for her birthday party with our family.

Ava playing with the water table. I think she just likes to play in the water more than anything. But then again don't most kids!

Ava and Alyssa playing on this wall of "gears" where you can put these little pieces together and spin them around. It is pretty interesting actually.

Ava and Alyssa grocery shopping! It was so funny watching the girls pick and choose what items to put in their cart and what they didn't put in their cart. Kind of amusing really! :)

The girls playing in the doctor station. They were taking care of the little babies and then of course making sure they washed their hands before handling the babies.

Congresswoman Alyssa of Illinois. I love this picture of Alyssa. It is actually the part of the museum which talks about the life of the historic 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln.

Ava loves this Train Town table. She could play with this for hours I think.

Alyssa on this windy kind of path thing-y. LOL For lack of a better description. It is really cool whatever you call it.

Another view of Alyssa climbing up this crazy contraption.

Ava playing in the bubbles. This is one of my favorite parts of the museum. I love these huge wands that make these gigantic bubbles.

Birthday presents and cupcakes. What is so funny is my sister and I both bought the same gift bag for Ava's gifts, and then both of my brothers picked the same gift bags for Ava's gifts. All at different times. lol

Ava, Alyssa, and Jordan. I can't believe this year I didn't get a group shot of all the kids together. After this there was a water balloon fight which I missed because I was inside. All in all a great birthday party for Ava.

The Greatest Love Of My Life...

2009-08-10T14:35:00.004-05:00

How could she not be? Even on her most "spirited" day, she brings incredible joy and meaning to my life. I have never felt a love as intense and amazing as being a Mom to this amazing gift from God.

She brings a sense of purpose to my life I never had until she came into my life. Don't get me wrong, I of course had goals and ambition and dreams before she came along. But once she came into my life, my life's work has been to be the best Mom that I can be for her. I still have my dreams, my goals, and ambition, but my priorities have changed in ways I never expected. My heart beats for her. She is my first thought in the morning when I wake and she is my last thought in the evening before I close my eyes. I live and breathe for this little girl.

Yes it's true, I am very blessed indeed.

An Evening Picnic...

2009-07-23T01:50:00.007-05:00

Such glorious weather we have had for pretty much the entire month of July. The calendar assures me July does actually come after June, but the weather these past two months have me questioning the calendar. June was hot (unbelievably hot) and July has been inviting and wonderful. This evening I decided we needed to enjoy this weather because who knows what August will bring. Hopefully more of the same that July has offered us. So we ventured tonight to a little park a little ways up the road from where we live. It is a very quaint park. It has one baseball diamond, a tetherball court (minus the the tetherball), a small basketball court and a very small area with playground equipment. Ava found more fun on the unoccupied baseball diamond to wile away the evening and to exert a lot of three year old little girl energy. For me this presented the perfect photo op. We did start off the evening with a picnic which surprisingly Ava ate quite well. Most of the time she is so distracted by wanting to play that she barely touches her food. Tonight she surprised me though and ate quite well. After the Mom in me was satisfied with what she ate and how much she ate, I allowed her to run and play until her heart was quite content. She gave a once over to the playground equipment and then set her sites on the baseball field.

Yes, a dirt field will win the heart of my daughter over brightly painted playground equipment almost any day. But then again that is probably the case with most children. I knew she was going straight home to get a bath after this evening adventure, so I was not worried about just how dirty she was going to get. I am sure she was surprised at my carefree attitude this evening. ;)

I even was so bold to suggest that she remove her shoes and run barefoot on the baseball field. I am sure Ava thought I might have just lost my mind to let her go barefoot in a public park without worry of her stepping on something. But Ava did not let her mind ponder on my carefree attitude for but a mere second or two and plunked right down in the dirt to remove her shoe. First she just took one off and was running around with one shoe in hand and the other still on her left foot.

Eventually she decided it was not near as much fun to run and play in the dirt with one shoe on and one shoe off. So off the other shoe came. She stopped for a bit to pick at some dirt under her fingernail. Oh how she can not even imagine this was just the beginning of her adventure. :)

Running in the dirt with her beloved baby and doggie is a exhilarating evening for a little one. Such a carefree spirit she is. Her eyes just sparkled and danced with joy this evening.

This photo above just amazes me at how much she is growing and becoming quite a little girl and is leaving behind this toddler phase I am not quite ready to let go of just yet. I want to hang on for a while longer, but when I see photos such as this it reminds me that her growing up is beyond my control and I just have to enjoy the moments we have right now. It truly just amazes me at how much she has grown since last July. I never thought it was possible to love her anymore that I already do, but I fall more and more in love with her every single day. I never knew this kind of love was possible until I had her.

Okay so onto Ava's dirty baseball diamond adventure! :) See the twinkle in her eye and the joy on her face in the above photo. Her laughter was so contagious tonight. A sheer evening of joy for not only her, but for me as well.

Here she decided it would be fun to toss dirt up in the air like it was raining. Her scalp after all was said and done tonight had a layer of this dirt in it. You could barely see any color of her scalp she was so "dirty". And my bathtub tonight was proof of just how dirty she was able to get tonight. :)

And now she ponders what else she can explore before we call it a night and head for home and a much needed bath on her part.

Oh yes how could she not inspect tiny blades of grass and little granules of dirt. No adventure would be complete without doing this. I find it amusing to watch her explore and discover the little things in life and the things that surround us. If we allowed ourselves to really get down on the level that children do when they want to learn or see new things I think we could learn a lot more than from where we stand and see things. Our view often times is unclear, but we can learn so much from children and the way they do things.

And finally the sun was close to calling it a night and so we needed to head for home. as well Ava must have been wore out because she didn't even protest when I said it was time to go and when it was time to put her shoes back on. While walking back towards the car I followed her and was so caught up in the moment of seeing how independent she has become in just these few short years I had to take one final picture. Here's to many more evening picnics and walking barefoot through the dirt with my daughter.

The Love of A Daughter...

2009-07-07T18:38:00.003-05:00

Today I got little done on my list of things to do because I found myself unable to walk about from watching the tribute/memorial to Michael Jackson. Below is the short clip of his daughter Paris sharing just a piece of the great love she has for her father to the entire world.

Michael Jackson has blessed this world with three beautiful and remarkable children. May he rest in peace and may we all remember the great things he has done in his life and for this world. This world is truly a better place because of him. Rest in peace Michael Jackson. And my thoughts and prayers are with your family and friends as they try to put together the pieces of their lives and may they be able to find more and more reason to smile in the days, weeks, and years to come.

County Fair...

2009-06-18T22:10:00.003-05:00

We spent a little time at our annual county fair this summer. This was the first year my nephew entered some photos in his age group for the photography contest. He was so excited to enter and I have to say for being only 11 years old he already does quite well. This year I actually sat out on the competition for entering, but may just have to enter some of my photos next year. Maybe. :)

No visit to a fair is complete without the customary over-priced, high in fat, covered in powdered sugar funnel cake and Lemonade shakeup. Ava was in heaven.

Making sure she does not miss even a little sprinkle of the powdered sugar. Can we say some little girl is going to be on a "sugar high"?!?!

Look at the greasy napkin! lol Now that is one unhealthy food. ;)

And of course finishing it off with a drink of her lemonade shake-up that was mostly ice!

Kylar posing with one of the photos he took that won 2nd place in his age division for photography! We were so proud of him! :) The photo he titled it "A Soft Place To Land" because if you look closely there is a fly resting on the flower!

An unneeded blow up Dora doll that Ava just had to have. How long will this thing last? 24 hours? A week if we are lucky?

Ava on her very first fair ride ever. She was excited and a bit unsure. But as soon as the ride started she was all smiles!

Ava was too afraid to go down this slide, so Kylar went by himself. A little overpriced if you ask me for one trip down this slide, but what would a fair be, if not over-priced! :) The kids though had fun and at the end of the day that is all that really matters anyway!

How strange it is....

2009-05-24T15:41:00.003-05:00

I was doing my dishes from lunch just a little while ago and as "fun" as that may be for some, my mind tends to drift to a million other things while doing such a mundane task. Inevitably my thoughts settled on my Mom and her Alzheimer's. Now days thoughts of my Mom's battle with Alzheimer's is never far from my mind. And then I began thinking more and more about this disease and how strange it really is. Don't get me wrong I know everyone progresses differently with the disease but as ugly and heartbreaking as this disease may be it is also quite complex and even interesting in a strange sort of way. The way that it destroys so many of the memories a person has. Take my Mom for example, she can is not able to recall so much about her children and grandchildren and our history, but you can play a song from her past and she can recall it word for word. I find myself wondering why exactly that is. I can guarantee you she would much rather have the memories of her children and grandchildren, than to know so many songs of her past word for word. This disease would not be nearly as impossible to deal with if it was able to take away the memories that do not matter as much in life and instead it left all that was happy and wonderful. Just saying!

Stampin' Out Alzheimer's

2009-05-18T05:01:00.000-05:00

Below is a video from Susanna Boyd owner of Papercraft Planet. She has teamed up with Jen Tapler, along with several other sponsors to do a 7 day stamping event for a minimum donation of only $5. You are welcome to donate more, but with this $5.00 donation you will not only be giving towards an important cause that affects millions, but you will be rewarded with free products as well.

I hope you will join in this cause that changes the lives of not only the person who is diagnosed with the Alzheimer's disease, but the families who are dealing with the devastating effects of this disease. This cause is extremely close to my heart because my Mom was diagnosed at the age of 52 with Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. I have shared a part of my Mom's story below. I hope that you will take 5 minutes to read about her battle with Alzheimer's Disease. This disease no longer just effects the elderly generation. All funds donated during this event will be given to the Alzheimer's Association. There is a donation link on my right-hand sidebar. Please help us in this fight to preserve the memories of our loved ones. It is a fight we cannot afford to lose.

The Face of Alzheimer's Disease Is Changing....

2009-05-17T05:05:00.001-05:00

Alzheimer's Disease is no longer a disease that just affects the elderly. Above is a photo taken of my Mom in the very early stages of her battle with Alzheimer's Disease. At the time this photo was taken we were not yet aware of what was going on with my Mom. She was becoming more forgetful and the having more episodes of "walking into the room and forgetting why she went in there in the first place" type instances. Her Dad had passed away several months before this photo was taken of my Mom, so we just assumed she was under a lot of stress. Near the end of 2005, my Mom still felt like things were just not quite right, and she felt like something was really wrong. In 2005, my Mom had just turned 50. Her Grandma had Alzheimer's and died at the age of 81, and my Mom's Dad was showing early signs of the disease when he passed away at the age of 72. So, my Mom made an appointment with a neurologist to see what was going on with her. My Aunt and I went with my Mom to this appointment and shared our concerns about possible Alzheimer's, since we obviously have a family history of the disease with my Great-Grandma and my Grandpa having the disease. My Mom went through a series of questions the doctor asked her, which she did not do to well with at all. The doctor told us she was "too young to have Alzheimer's". Those are words I will never forget. Because going into the doctor appointment I was concerned since I had heard of people getting the disease earlier in life. He never sent her for further testing even though our family has a history with the disease. He diagnosed her with Pseudo-Anxiety and Depression. His reason for her being diagnosed with depression is because of her Dad passing away in 2003. I will admit a part of me was a bit relieved thinking okay this is just depression we can work through this and my Mom will get better. So after many visits to a psychologist and a counselor things were still not getting any better. In fact, they were getting worse.

For almost 2 years my Mom went for the counseling and even tried different anti-depressants to try and find the right combination. All the while she just kept declining with her short term memory. And we were even starting to see some changes in her long term memory. At this point she no longer knew the birth dates of any of her children (she has four children and could always tell you the date and time we were born). She always knew how old we are and now her mind was just blank when it came to that. She couldn't even manage to make a guess at how old we were. Yet, if she would hear a song from her childhood or when she was a teenager she could sing the song word for word. She can hear a song from the 70's and 80's that she knows and is able to sing it. But then then it came to her finances she was no longer able to even manage a checkbook. Something she had done before I was even born. Growing up my Mom was always the one in control of our family finances and now she could no longer even balance a checkbook. In July of 2007 we went to see a different neurologist and after his initial visit with my Mom he sent her for more testing over the next several months to find out what was going on. I knew that this time if this Dr. did not have my Mom go for additional testing we would be going to more well-known hospitals. I didn't care if we had to drive 3 hours away from where we live or where we would have to go. So after several months of different tests, blood work, MRI's, etc. my Mom was diagnosed in December 2007 at the age of 52 with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease and we were told she was in the middle stages already of the disease.

For me when all the testing was going on with my Mom, I thought I would have a bit of relief that just knowing what was going on with my Mom. There was even a part of me that felt like if this came back to really truly be depression and not Alzheimer's a part of me was kind of upset with my Mom, because I just wanted to shake her by the arms and be like "snap out of it". And then I thought if it isn't depression and it is Alzheimer's then we can put her on the medicine and that will slow things down and it might even help a little. I also thought if it was Alzheimer's then I also wouldn't be upset at my Mom because it isn't something she can just snap out of. The not knowing for 5 months was a really hard time to deal with. So many conflicting emotions to say the least. No one ever wants to hear their loved ones has a disease that does not yet have a cure. And one that you are powerless to really even stop. You are at the mercy of the medical world to find a medicine that can hopefully slow down the disease and hopefully one day find a cure for this disease as well. When my Mom was diagnosed I find myself really struggling to make sense of all this. And even now I still am not able to make sense of this disease and why it had to happen to my Mom. I struggle all the time knowing that my Mom is not able to really enjoy the life she has and she is no longer the Mom I grew up knowing.

Since my Mom's diagnosis, she has been on Aricept, Namenda, and the Exlon Patch. She is currently on the highest dosage possible for the Exlon patch and is also taking Namenda as well. My Mom's pharmacy actually had to special order the Exlon Patch dosage that my Mom needs because they never had to fill a prescription with a dose that high for someone before. Even with the dosages being increased like they have for my Mom, these medicines have yet to slow down this disease. My Mom has deteriorated mentally with this disease pretty quickly. Right now she is still in the phase of the disease where she is aware sometimes that she has forgotten or that she is not able to follow through with even the simplest of instructions or things that came second nature to her. This disease has left my Mom a shell of the person she used to be. She was the person who never knew a stranger, who everyone loved to be around, and she had the ability to make friends easily and she had many friends. She loved to have her family around her and had many holiday parties and cookouts at her house. She was always loving, kind, and encouraging. Now it is rare that we get to see the person we've always known. She was an incredible Mom and so I find I struggle greatly with all that I've lost in having my Mom like she was before this disease. My Mom does not deal very well with having Alzheimer's. Instead of trying to live life and take it all in and be as much a part of it as possible, she hides herself away. She rarely goes out of the house and often times sleeps the days away. There are days she will not even get out of bed because she doesn't want to deal with yet another day. She no longer goes to most family events because she is so paranoid that people are talking about her...and really no one is talking at all, they just want her to be there. But because of her own insecurities she rarely goes to anything. This disease not only robs a person of their memories, it can even alter the persons personality in ways you cannot begin to even understand. This disease does not fight fair. It is an incredibly ugly under-handed disease. It takes the things that mean so much to a person. My Mom is now only 53 years old and at the age where she should be enjoying the middle part of her life with her husband now that her children are all grown and out of the house. She should be able to enjoy her grandchildren and being the Grandma she was able to be the first 5 years of her eldest Grandson's life. She should be able to enjoy the fruits of her labor into raising her children to become the adults we have become. But instead she is now battling Alzheimer's at the age when she should really be enjoying the life she had built and worked so hard for.

I am sharing this because I want people to know Alzheimer's can happen at an earlier age. Alzheimer's does not discriminate against age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. There may not yet be a cure for this disease, but if we work together by bringing more awareness to this disease, we may just be able to find a cure before it is too late for my generation and I can only pray if not a cure for my generation, then a cure before it is to late for my daughter's generation. We owe it to our children to find a cure, so they no longer have to worry if Alzheimer's disease will affect them. We can no longer sit by and believe that this is a disease that only effects the elderly. Please help in joining the fight to find a cure for Alzheimer's.

Fields of Grace

2009-05-12T02:18:00.005-05:00

I love this time of year when the trees are regrowing their leaves and no matter where you go you are bound to find a field of flowers! Something magical happens every spring. And having a toddler taking it all in around her renews my spirit as well. Watching Ava pick a fistful of flowers to add to her growing collection, as she was quick to tell me this afternoon, makes spring even more amazing in my eyes. This afternoon was gorgeous and we spent it outside until it was just about dark. We ended up finding an amazing field of yellow flowers that was sheer delight for Ava. She got out and picked flowers until her little heart was content.

Her showing off the fruits (or should I say "flowers") of her labor. A fistful of yellow flowers. I have no idea what kind they are but I can assure you they will soon be adding more color to my kitchen.

After we left this field of flowers, we decided to continue our journey through the countryside and eventually made our way to Wolf Creek, where Ava picked even more flowers. This time adding some white and yellow flowers to her collection in the car from our first stop.

Before leaving Wolf Creek I was able to get Ava to let me take a few pictures of her. We were literally just steps away from the lake and this very weathered log was just begging to be my prop in taking some photos of her. Of course, here she is still hanging onto her flowers. She was not going to let these beauties out of her sight or out of her grip! Surprisingly she is very choosy about the flowers she decides to pick for her collection. :) Okay so this was a very unplanned photo op for Ava since when we left the house her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and by this point the ponytail was no longer! But I still like how some of the photos I took of her turned out.

I am actually very surprised she actually let me pose her in any of these photos. But she did. I love this one below of her. She just looks so innocent and peaceful.

This one is just simply a black and white version of the one above. I love it in black & white as well as in color.

This one is just slightly different than the one above. Her eyes are a little more open in this one and she is looking right at me. Again I love the peaceful expression on her face. The lake was right behind me, so maybe that helped in giving her such a calm expression.

After taking these photos we made our way over to Eagle Creek so she could play on the playground until it was time to head for home. She was definitely one worn out little girl when it was time for bed tonight!

Not A Care In The World...

2009-04-26T14:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday it was kind of a dreary day outside, so Ava spent some time totally engrossed in watching some of her Barbie movies! We actually do not watch a lot of TV around here overall but on days like today it was just one of those movie marathon kind of days. So while she totally ignored me, I decided to take the opportunity and snap some photos of her just off in her own little world.

I love this photo below of her just chilling on the arm of the sofa and then of course how she has her foot kicked up. She was laying like this for quite some time. :)

In this photo I love how she has her lips. She was so unaware of me taking any pictures of her.

There is just something about this photo that I love. She just looks so content. And like the title of this blog she doesn't have a care in the world right now.

She is holding one of her baby dolls she has had since she was a newborn. And again here she look very content as well.

Am I Ready For This?!?!

2009-04-22T06:56:00.002-05:00

I went and registered Ava for Pre-School. She had the pre-screening for Pre-K in February and I got the call in mid/late March from her soon to be teacher, that she was accepted into the Pre-K program and that registration was on April 20th at 9 a.m. As much as I thought I was ready for Ava to go off to pre-school for a couple of hours a day, I know emotionally I am not ready to let go of her just yet. Just thinking of her growing up so quickly, makes me want to hold on just a little longer. Parts of me want to home school her just to keep her close. I know she is excited to go, and it is only for a few hours a day come this fall, but she still just seems so little to be taking on such a big responsibility in her life. I did go on Monday and register her for Pre-K, and though the very end of August seems quite a bit away, I know it will pass by more quickly than I want it too and the day she goes off to school will be here before I know it. I sit here and really wonder where all the time has gone and how is it possible that it passes by so quickly. If I am this sad to see her go off for just a few hours a day, I am going to be a wreck when she goes to Kindergarten all day next year!

Two of my favorite girls...

2009-03-28T22:34:00.000-05:00

and two of my most favorite football teams! :) I am definitely ready for football season to start again! Ava was wearing her Chicago Bears cheerleading outfit and so we got out Ava's Illinois Fighting Illini Cheerleading outfit for Alyssa to wear. Then I put both girls hair up in pigtails and tied it with some navy blue ribbon. Such adorable little cheerleaders!

Ava & Alyssa were all smiles for me. I love when they let me take their photos will little begging on my part! :)

Alyssa smiling for me. I love how she has her hands on her hips in this one! :) Now here is to hoping the Bears and Illinois have a much better season this year than they did last year! :)

My Little Princess...

2009-03-19T14:09:00.006-05:00

Ava can be such a girly girl at times and then other times she is a complete tomboy. That is just one of the many things that I love about her personality. And sometimes she can be wearing a dress and totally want to dig in the mud and play with rocks or climb a fence. She just wants to have fun and enjoy life no matter what she is wearing. Yesterday, I put on her Easter dress to get some photos of her. It was gorgeous outside and what a way to capitalize on this great weather we are having. I spent a lot of time in stores and even looking online for an Easter dress for her. I couldn't find one that I even wanted her to wear even looking online at many of the Children's stores. Then when I found this one, I just fell in love and I found it at TJ Maxx for like $25. What a bargain. I knew as soon as I saw this dress, this one was the one! :)

Ava was actually quite preoccupied here with playing in the rocks, but I was able to get her attention for just a split second and was fortunate enough to get this photo of her just as she turned towards me.

It seems like in order to get some cute photos of Ava, I have to bribe her and let her know if she will smile for me in some pictures, she can then make some funny faces and I will take pictures of her doing that too. So this is her making one of her funny faces.

I love her expression in this photo below. It is one of my new favorite "Ava" photos. And I even love it being in color more than I do in black & white. So odd since my favorite photos almost always tend to be black & white ones, but the colors in this photo add to the mood of this photo.

The wind picked up just a bit when I took this photo, but I love how the little wisps of her hair are blowing in this photo.

The next few photos are just detailed shots of her dress and shoes. Often times we forget the little details and I just want to have photos to remember those little details. I love the photo below of the bottom of her dress and her sandals.

Another favorite of the details of her dress, but Ava without her sandals. I love the barefoot shot I was able to get. And I like how you can see a bit of detail from the dress in her shadow.

And this just shows the back of her dress with the bow. I like how I was able to capture this image through the slats of the stairs. It just gives it a framed sort of look. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

2009-03-17T22:41:00.002-05:00

Wishing you a very Happy St. Patrick's Day...even if you aren't Irish. We hope you wore some green and didn't get too many pinches if you didn't! :)

Letters...

2009-03-16T22:47:00.002-05:00

I have been working with Ava on writing her letters. She knows how to write her first name already, but considering her first name is actually only 2 letters out of the entire alphabet, I have my work cut out teaching her the other 24 letters in the alphabet. Today we did practice on the letter A and I also introduced the letter B and C to her as well. Below are a couple photos of her practicing her letter "B".

Right now I am just working on lower case letters with her. I probably need to make some flash cards with my Cricut sometime soon. Hmmmmm. :)

What's your number?

2009-02-13T16:56:00.003-06:00

I have been trying to teach Ava her telephone number for the last couple days and was not really having any success. Or so I thought! I would say the numbers and have her repeat them back to me, then I would try and get her to tell me what it was on her own, and nothing. Nada...Zip. Just a blank stare or the "Mom you are crazy" look. Then, today she wanted a snack, so I was like "tell me your phone number and you can have a snack"....and she rattled it right off. So, of course, I had to call my Mom and she rattled it right off to my Mom and Step-Dad. Here she has known it and made me think she didn't! :)

Do You Ever Just...

2009-01-25T02:00:00.009-06:00

stop and watch children play. To watch their minds at work is truly an amazing experience to behold. It is a moment you will carry in your mind and in your heart for a long time to come. I could just sit for hours on end watching my daughter, and my nieces and nephews play. I could get lost so easily in their world of pretend play. Today was one of those days for me to get caught up in the life of my toddler and I brought out the SLR today to capture this moment. Since having my daughter I often find myself experiencing the forgotten wonders of being a child. The heart comes alive in a youthful kind of sense, when you step outside of the daily life stresses of an adult, and step into the world of a child. When you experience the life around you, through the eyes of a child, you see a world that is filled with unlimited possibilities and the courage to be who God made you to be.

I love this picture simply because she is so focused and I love her mouth in this picture. She was completely focused on coloring this picture. I love it. And of course, I love it even more (if that is even possible) when I turned it to black & white.

She looks so sweet and innocent is this photo. Still completely lost in her own little world too.

The above photo and then the next one I opted to leave in color and not go the whole black and white photo route. It kind of symbolizes how she "colors my world". She brings so much color and meaning to my life, that no words will every truly express just how special she is to me. My life is more blessed and more colorful because of sharing it with her.

Another favorite of mine from today. You do not really see a lot of her face in this photo, but I love how her chin is resting on the table as she is trying to decide just what to color next and how to go about doing it. I love how she has the colored pencil poised in the air as she determines her course of action.

I chose to end with a black and white photo. As soon as I took this picture, I knew it was going to end up here on my blog. I love her expression in this photo. It is just classically Ava!

Bella's...

2009-01-12T14:05:00.003-06:00

2 Stamping Bella cards I made in the last couple days. One I used the "Ipodabella" on. She is so hip and trendy! And then the ever so beautiful "Content-to-be-a-bella". The butterfly embellishment on the brown card was cut from my Cricut "Storybook" cartridge. Such an adorable cartridge with all the cute flourishes!

Yee Haw....

2008-12-27T22:08:00.000-06:00

For Christmas Ava got this stuffed pony toy. And this was such a huge hit with the kids on Christmas. Pictured above is my niece Alyssa. My nephew Jordan is on the stuffed Panda toy that was for my cousins little boy Emery. Who would have guessed these toys would have been such a huge hit.

This photo of Jordan just cracks me up because he is acting like he has a lasso and was saying "giddy up". He was having such a great time.

A more tame picture of Jordan on the horse! These cowboy hats were actually from Emery's first birthday party back in June. Who would have thought six months later they would come in quite useful. :)

Ava on the pony. She felt like the pony should be wearing the hat instead of her. :)

Emery on his Panda. He already has a wooden horse riding toy his Grandpa made for him, so I thought it would be pointless to give him a stuffed animal that was a horse too. So he ended up with the Panda. And since his Dad's nickname used to be Panda as a little kid we thought it was quite fitting. As for Emery in this picture, the poor little guy was just so worn out from a busy and exhausting day. Not long after this picture was taken was he out like a light in his Auntie Cera's arms.

Merry Christmas....

2008-12-26T19:17:00.000-06:00

Christmas Morning 2008

Ava's letter from Santa. And the remnants of the yummy Pop-Tart and mug of milk left for Santa. I was out of cookies...I know that probably makes me a bad Mom, but at least I had Pop-Tarts and milk in the house...so that is what we left. Ava thought it was neat "Santa" left her a letter!

This year Ava had the opportunity to open gifts with her cousins Kylar and Olivia. Last year Olivia was only a week old and in the past few years Kylar has been with his Dad on Christmas morning. So this year it was really nice having Kylar home with us to open presents. Kylar and Ava helped with the opening of Olivia's presents. Next year though I am sure Olivia will not want their help.

Kylar opening one of his gifts.

Kylar searching under the tree for more gifts with his name on them. He did find quite a few more presents under the tree. Santa, was quite good to Kylar this year! :)

Ava carefully unwrapping one of her presents. She isn't at the age quite yet, where she just rips into gifts. I am savoring these moments, in watching her slowly unwrap her presents, and take in each gift, before wanting to rip into the next gift. Kylar, is at the age where he rips into the present, and then quickly moves onto the next gift. However, in our house (and my sister's) he has to wait his turn. After he opens a present then it is someone elses turn to open a gift. So, no matter how fast he opens his present, he still is going to have to wait to tear into another one. It actually works out well when you do it this way, because you see what others got, plus that gives you the opportunity to check out the gift you just opened for yourself. I hated waiting as a kid, but as an adult, I see why my parents made us do this at any gift giving holiday. Okay so that probably makes me officially "old", since I am now seeing the logic and reasoning behind some of the things my parents did when raising my brothers, sister, and me.

Olivia was by far way more impressed with the gifts Ava got, than she was with the ones she got. She wanted to tear into this kitchen set of Ava's so bad and she loved the Barbie car that Ava got too. I can so foresee future disagreements over these toys!

Kylar checking out his new cell phone. He has wanted a cell phone for the last couple of years and has been begging both his Mom and even me for one. So this year he finally got it. He just has a basic phone for now, but if he does well with this one, it may eventually be upgraded to an actual camera phone. My sister was smart enough to also invest in a pay as you go plan, just in case he would lose the phone or who knows what can happen in the hands of an almost 11 year old.

Kylar testing out his new tripod with my smaller point and shoot camera. He left his digital camera at home. He was so excited over this gift. I thought he would like it, but he actually loves it. And has been taking a ton of pictures and trying different settings and whatnot. So fun to watch him be as interested in photography as I am.

Ava and Alyssa playing with some of Ava's Christmas gifts after our Christmas dinner. Ava ended up getting 3 tea sets for Christmas. Can you tell everyone knows she loves having "tea parties". Overall it was a really nice Christmas. I had family over for dinner but decided to do the dinner at 5 p.m. instead of the usual 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I just hate feeling so rushed with getting everything ready between opening presents and getting cleaned up from that, it is just too much. I definitely prefer having a dinner at like 5 p.m. And there ended up being like 20 people here for dinner. It was a houseful, but it was nice to spend time with my family. Merry Christmas!

Olivia Photos

2008-12-23T22:32:00.001-06:00

Olivia turned one earlier this month and my sister asked me if I could take a few pictures of her for her 1 year pictures. I agreed, but Olivia wasn't particularly receptive on this day. I think it also might have helped if my sister was there to help me with her. But then again are one year olds really ever that easy to photograph! Especially ones that are up and walking like Olivia! :) I did get a few pictures I like, but none that I think are especially great, or have that WOW factor. I could just be way more critical than necessary, but hopefully we will try and do this again after the holidays are over.

The dress Olivia is wearing is actually the same dress that Ava wore in her pictures when she was one. So I was really glad my sister wanted Olivia to wear that same dress. Looks like this dress has one more reason to be kept. :)

I think she just looks like a little doll in this dress. And I love the barefoot pictures of her.

Opted for a somewhat "Christmas-y" theme since her birthday is the week before Christmas so she is kind of like a Christmas baby!

Ava's Christmas Pictures...

2008-12-22T20:46:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas 2008

Ava actually was sitting next to this present and decided to lay her head on it. It just looked so sweet and innocent and I thought it was worth capturing. So cute!

I love the pouty looks I get from her sometimes. She thinks she is being uncooperative (which she is), but they make for such awesome photos too. I do not feel like the person always has to be looking at the camera and smiling to capture such great photos!

She wanted to open this present so bad, even when I kept telling her there actually wasn't anything in the box. It was just for decoration.

She loves these snowflakes on our tree and it makes for an adorable prop. A little messy since there was glitter everywhere from the snowflakes, but well worth it, since I love this photo of her.

Priceless. This is Ava doing her "cheese" smile, but also with the added bit of laughter too. Once she warms up to having her picture taken she is quite a bit of fun.

This is Ava's you can't see me pose. :)

A Baby Changes Everything....

2008-12-17T00:59:00.001-06:00

by Faith Hill

Girls Soup & Sandwich Night...

2008-12-09T11:51:00.005-06:00

This tradition if you will, was actually started a year after my Grandpa passed away. He passed away December 10, 2003 and the following year my Aunt wanted to get together with all the ladies in our family and celebrate the life of my Grandpa. This was also a way for us to get through the holidays together. So initially that is how this all came about. My aunt always made the calls in early to mid November announcing the date in December for this get-together. Last year several of my cousins, my sister, and I were talking to one another, and were wondering if the girls night was going to take even take place, since here it was the very end of November and no one had gotten "the call". Then, the next Sunday we had each gotten the call for when it was. And here again a few of my cousins, my sister, and me played bunco together and that night we were like giddy little girls asking each other, "did you get the call" and we each just lit up with delight revealing we each had gotten "the call". At one point during that night, we were going around the room talking about what we were thankful about, and for some reason I felt compelled to share with my aunt how excited many of us were to get this call from her because we were all looking forward to this, but we weren't sure if we were going to have the girls night. Little did I know or any of us in that room know, that was exactly what my aunt had needed to hear. A little while later, I had a conversation with my aunt and she mentioned she had thought about not doing it, because she didn't want us to feel "obligated" to be there, but what she didn't know or realize until that night was, that it was a night we truly all looked forward too. And not one of us felt like it was something we had to go to out of obligation to her. That also was a huge turning point as well, because even though it started with celebrating the life of someone who meant a great deal to all of us, it has not turned into a night of celebrating family and the women and even the little girls in our family who will one day become women. Even though the girls night has taken on a new meaning, I know my Grandpa would be so proud because his life was lived showing his family and friends just how much he loved them and how important family is. So by doing this, we are honoring my Grandpa in the greatest way imaginable.

"The One Who Started It All"

I have an aunt, who every year for the past 4 years now has started this annual "Girls Night Soup and Sandwiches" tradition in our family. First let me say she one of the most thoughtful and amazing women that I know. And then on top of that, she is one of the most amazing cooks as well. So, this is definitely a night all the women in our family look forward too. Anyway she makes 2 different kinds of soup and then we have a few different kinds of cold cuts and several different cheeses on Hawaiian bread! And she is also sure to have lettuce and tomato to add to your sandwiches if you life. Yum! She makes the most delicious cheese soup and also a taco soup as well. This is a night where "no boys" are allowed. We have fun eating dinner and catching up with some of the ladies in our family we do not see on a regular basis. As well as, just spending time together with those we do see on a fairly regular basis. Girls under the age of five are not yet allowed if at all possible, and if the Mom's choose to leave the girls at home who are old enough, and just want to enjoy a night without their offspring that is okay too. Even though Ava is not quite five, I truly look forward to this night and one day sharing it with her.

Okay, so onto this years wonderful "Girls Night" event. Out of the 20 people invited 19 actually showed up. And each year it seems like the crowd just gets a little bigger and bigger. This year had an important meaning as well because last year my Mom was diagnosed with the middle stages of Alzheimer's and my aunt and my Mom are very close. With how my Mom has declined just in the last year, it was really important to my aunt for my Mom to be there. So I made sure my Mom actually was there this year. It was important to me as well that she be there. Last year my Mom didn't go and my sister had to work, so even though I love my family dearly, I just felt like something was missing for me. But this year both my sister and Mom were there and it felt like it should. So on this night we enjoyed delicious soup and sandwiches and played fun games. There was even a game that was a series of questions about my aunt and how well we each knew her. For as well as I thought I knew my aunt and as close as I've always been to her, let me just say I learned a lot about her! :)

It is truly funny the things you learn about people that you think you know so well. Try it sometime. Ask your Mom or your aunts, Grandma's, sisters, cousins or whoever it is you think you know oh so well. You might just surprise yourself and learn something you thought you knew about them. And often times we think we know a person and maybe at one time what we think we know was true, but people change. Their likes and dislikes change over time. No one ever stays exactly the same. Last year we did this with my Grandma and as well as I thought I knew her, there were things about her I definitely learned.

Another game we played was a game with 30 different bags of "things around your house". All you could do was reach your hand in and feel the item. No peeking in the bag, then you would write down your guess. I missed one out of the 30 items. I could have sworn that one I missed was actually fruit snacks. But of course by the time it got to me, it was a mutilated Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. ;) Anyway my cousin Beth won that game since she got all 30 right! Darn! And I lost the game about how well I know my aunt too. I didn't do horribly, but I didn't do that great since I obviously didn't win.

The final game we played for the night was a rousing round of bingo. This game was played because when my Mom and aunts were growing up my Grandma's favorite game was bingo. You would think she would be one of those little old women who frequent the bingo halls, with a table lined with trinkets and doo dads, but she isn't. Yet she loved to play bingo with her family at home. She has been to the bingo halls and has fun, but it isn't the place she spends much time. Anyway we played the "Letter F" for Family. And we all got a really good laugh out of my sister when she displayed one of her not so bright moments and asked my Aunt why she kept calling "O's" when you don't need them. Which we all did need the first one in the O row. Needless to say she didn't win that round of bingo. Sometimes I would swear she was a blond...but she is a brunette through and through!

After the games my aunt then surprised several of us with "recipe boxes" of our own. These included many of her most favorite and delicious recipes. She even hand wrote out each recipe in the box. She even included for each "family", different recipes she thought they would really enjoy. For example, mine includes more "chicken" recipes, since I do not eat a lot of red meat. To see the excitement on every one's face was just something I will never forget. It was so fun to watch everyone look through their boxes and ooh and aah over the recipes. Truly the most perfect gift she could have passed onto us. We are truly blessed. Oh and as for my gift to her, she loved it. I talked to her the next day and she just went on and on about it. That definitely made me really glad. After the gift opening she then served up such delightful deserts. There was pumpkin pie, cheesecake, or brownies to choose from. And after all was said and done we all left with a tray filled with many different kinds of homemade cookies and banana nut bread. She truly spoils each and every one of us. I am so thankful this girls night has become a family tradition. I hope we never get so caught up in our lives that this falls to the wayside. Happy Holidays!

Seriously People?!?!

2008-12-08T01:40:00.007-06:00

Is the "breaking news" of Barack Obama being a smoker worth creating National headlines? Is the state of our economy not more newsworthy than this? Or the Mumbai attacks? Or the many American workers who are losing their jobs because of the economic recession we are dealing with? Or the fact that the automotive industry wants billions of dollars to bail themselves out of their financial mess? And that if some kind of plan is not agreed upon, many more Americans will be out of work? Yet tonight, I log onto my yahoo main page and the main topic featured at that time was "Obama says he won't be smoking in the White House". Wow! Good for him! I don't know how much sleep I would continue to lose over the fact that the President-elect may or may not smoke in the White House. Oh wait, yes I do. I wouldn't have lost any sleep over that little tidbit of information. What might have me up at night and losing sleep is our economy or terrorist attacks or countless other topics, but I can assure you I will not be losing sleep over such an insignificant issue as what Tom Brokaw thought was an important issue to raise of Barack Obama's smoking habits. Even as a non-smoker I could care less about this issue. There are more important issues facing this country and more important questions I would think that Tom Brokaw could come up with! Shame on him and anyone else who thinks this is even front page "breaking news". Get a life and start asking real questions that really matter to Americans! Questions that will have an impact on the future of this country.

3-D Embellishment Bouquet...

2008-12-06T01:07:00.001-06:00

I have an aunt who hosts an annual soup and sandwiches dinner which I will detail in another post here in the next day or so. She is one of the kindest people I know. So this year to show my appreciation I created a 3-D Embellishment Scrapbook Bouquet for her. She has just gotten into scrap booking in the last few years and is slowly expanding her horizons, and thanks to me she is actually probably moving deeper into the scrapbook world at a faster pace than she would have. I admit, I am an enabler when it comes to the amazing gadgets, gizmos, and thing-a-ma-bobs when it comes to scrap booking. A girl can never truly have too much can she?!?! Okay so some may argue this point, but a true scrapbooker knows the answer to that is a resounding NO WAY! Anyway onto what this post is all about. I just wanted to create something she could fully enjoy and a simple thank you was not enough. I hope she enjoys this even half as much as I enjoyed making it. Check out the pictures below for more details on this adorable creation.

As I mentioned above, this was a lot of fun to make. I was lying in bed the other night and this idea just kind of popped in my head. I had envisioned this and was just hoping it would turn out the way I saw it in my mind. I am glad to say it did. There have been many times, when I have wanted to create something, and it doesn't turn out quite the way I had envisioned, but then there are times when they do, and these are the times that make it worth the while. The base to this is how I store my 3-D embellishments. I use a photo storage box and it works perfectly as a way to store your 3-D embellishments in an organized way. Then, inside the box I used that floral desert foam stuff (I am sure regular floral Styrofoam blocks would work just as well), Popsicle sticks, and glue dots! I am sure you could use a hot glue gun if you wanted to glue the Popsicle sticks together, but I chose glue dots for putting this together.

When putting this together, I wanted to kind of subtly create a message of thanks and appreciation. So, the tallest embellishment in the back row simply states, "love is you" and my aunt does things out of the kindness of her heart and she is just so filled with an overflowing abundance of love. So, this was the perfect embellishment to sum up how I feel about her. In the middle, there is an embellishment that says, "Thankful" because we are all very thankful for her. And in the very front near the bottom is a 3-D embellishment that says "Let It Snow" and it has snow men on it, because she loves snowmen. Then, each embellishment I selected had actual meaning to things in her life. For example, she has a granddaughter who turned 16 last year and she is getting ready to start a scrapbook for her, plus this spring her granddaughter will be attending her first prom, so there is an embellishment for that. Then, she just recently went on a field trip with her 4 year old grandson. There are embellishments for road trips and the like, since her and her family like to go on vacation and travel. She loves fall and so, there are various fall and Halloween embellishments. And of course, Christmas embellishments and a few bottles of Stickles glitter glue in Christmas Red, Lime Green, and I think Crystal. I cannot remember which one I used for the white colored bottle in the picture. lol I personally, use most of my 3-D embellishments on cards and things like that, so I enclosed ivory and white colored note cards and envelopes, tied with a "Merry Christmas" ribbon.

Here is a closer view of the things inside. Now, I did consider filling the bottom with a confetti type filler, but honestly, that just makes a mess and it serves no useful purpose at all. But, I still needed to cover up the foam. It honestly didn't look bad, but I still couldn't stand not seeing it covered up. So, eyeing the yards and yards and yards (sad I know) of ribbon I have, I decided to cover the foam in ribbon to give it that perfect finishing touch. And, it actually serves a purpose when it comes to scrapbooking. So, I filled the bottom with an assortment of ribbon. All embellishment stickers are from either Jolee's or Soft Spoken, except for the "Thankful" one and I believe that one is from "Me & My Big Ideas". The ribbon is mostly from I believe, S.E.I. and the photo storage box is from Paper Studio. It truly makes the perfect Christmas gift or birthday, mother's day or whatever kind of gift. I know I would love getting something like this! :)

Photos of Kylar

2008-11-18T11:36:00.004-06:00

My nephew Kylar is at that age where he is not a huge fan of having his picture taken. He will let me take some of him sometimes, and today he happened to just let me take a few. So of course, these are moments I have to capitalize on when I can.

I of course, love to shoot photos of him in black and white. His Mom and I both love the look of black and white photography. And a little tilt of the camera just gives it an added look that I sometimes like.

Opting for the black and white photo, but not tilting the camera for this picture. I like the really casual pose here. And the smile is actually relaxed and genuine and not a forced kind of smile.

And dabbling in a little photo shop with this next photo. I actually really like this picture. I love the black and white photo but then the really vibrant color of the red jersey. I also love the fact that in this photo he is not looking at the camera and smiling. He just has this really serious pose about him and I like that. When I photograph Kylar I like to get in a few shots of him that are "posed" and of him smiling, but overall when I photograph him, I want him to be who he wants to be. If he chooses not to smile, then that is what I want to capture for most of the photos.

A Little Photo Shoot With Ava...

2008-11-15T00:46:00.007-06:00

Ava is not always receptive to the idea of a photo shoot or of me just wanting a couple pictures of her to add to my ever growing collection of photos of her. In fact, when I decide to do an impromptu photo shoot with her, she has to warm up to the whole idea of it. She is not a "smile on cue" kind of girl. She has even told me countless times not to take her picture. Why didn't I get a child who will pose or smile anytime a camera is pulled out! Haha. Of course, I knew she would be this way from the very first ultrasound I had of her and she was swimming all over the place. And then at the second ultrasound when I dreamed of the perfect side-profile shot of my baby to one day scrapbook, and instead she refused to cooperate with the technician and I instead have ultrasound pictures of a leg, a foot, an arm, and the top of her head looking down, but never that ideal side profile shot I so wanted! But I digress.

So, on this particular day she looked so cute in her turquoise sweater and khaki pants, and sporting two pigtails, that the camera was just begging me take it out and photograph her. As you can she see needed to warm up to the whole idea. Thus the pouty picture! Oh believe me, I have more than one picture like this! What is one to do when presented with this type of situation? BRIBE them! That's right. I am not ashamed to admit it. I even told her she could make silly faces and I would take pictures of her doing that. I knew things would go well if she would just come to the decision that SHE wanted ME to take pictures of her! :)

So, here she is pondering the idea still and my bribe of making silly faces and I might have even thrown in a bribe of a lollipop or two at this point. But I am not admitting to that one! Unbeknownst to her this pose made a really cute picture for me! :)

Here again she is still thinking about the proposals I've presented to her. And yet again she is not aware that I still am thrilled with these poses and the, "I'm still not posing for you" attitude she is giving me. When life hands you lemons (or in this case a non-smiling child), you made lemonade (or still take amazing photos of them in all of their sulking glory). :)

Finally she is coming around to the idea of letting me take photos of her.

I said she could make a silly face....so here it is. And it turned out pretty cute even if she is sticking her tongue out and being silly.

A smile and a laugh! Wow she must really want that candy. :)

And the pose that I absolutely adore! Yet it is kind of bittersweet. For as much as I love this pose of Ava, it makes me sad at how grown up she is getting and so fast, yet I also see this amazingly beautiful little girl, that I love more than life itself. I have indeed been blessed!

And no toddler photo shoot would be complete without the "cheeeeeeeese" shot! :)

Madagascar 2.....

2008-11-14T22:09:00.002-06:00

This was Ava's first time going to the movie theater and with Madagascar 2 hitting theaters last week, this was the perfect first movie for her to see in the theater.

I wasn't sure how well she would do, so we decided on a matinee movie. We actually happened to also be the only ones in the theater during this showing. Which I guess worked out kind of nice for the first time around. Though Ava did really well that I wouldn't mind taking her and having an actual audience in the theater! :)

Ava eagerly anticipating the movie. She had no idea just yet what was in store!

She was hooked from the first second the previews started. It was so cute too because after each movie preview was over she would look at me and say "well that looks like a great show". It was pretty funny.

And the movie we came to see! I enjoyed the movie I think just as much as Ava did. I know I would watch it again! Looking forward to it coming out on DVD!

Taken of Ava at the end of the movie while the credits were rolling. She wanted to watch it until the last word scrolled across the screen. I would say today was definitely a wonderful and memorable experience!

Brush-a-Brush-a-Brush....

2008-11-12T15:40:00.003-06:00

Ava loves to brush her teeth. And she brushes them at least 3-4 times a day. She has the whole routine down pat too. She climbs up on the counter, turns on the cold water, gets out her toothbrush and her own toothpaste, puts the toothpaste on the toothbrush, brushes her teeth (front, top bottom, all the way in the back too), then rinses off her toothbrush, rinses her mouth out, turns off the water, then wipes her mouth off on her hand towel. Finally she climbs down off the counter. She is just getting more and more independent every day!

Ava's Real Live Baby Doll...

2008-11-09T14:19:00.000-06:00

I think Ava truly thinks her cousin Olivia is her own real live baby doll. They are almost 2 1/2 years apart in age and Ava loves to pretend like she is taking care of her. She absolutely loves to play with Olivia. She is so kind and gentle with her. Sharing between the two isn't always a bright spot in their relationship, but neither really know how to share just yet. And Ava just sees Olivia as taking her stuff...and Olivia sees something she wants and just grabs it. And Ava doesn't understand fully that Olivia is just a baby, so she is going to take things even if it is not her turn or if it is not hers to take. But, overall they get along really well for being a baby and a toddler trying to play together! On this particular night, they were playing really well together in Ava's room, so of course my sister and I keep checking on them to make sure all is okay. Well when my sister went in to check on the girls, this is what she found!
I, of course, was actually told this time to bring my camera with me and see what the girls were doing. Not that I wouldn't have brought out the camera anyway. Since it sits right on my table at almost any given moment. Ava had put a bib on Olivia and was pretending to feed her. And Olivia sat there as patient as can be. It was so cute because they were both pretending. Ava even gave Olivia some pretend fruit to hold. I am pretty sure Ava was using that as a bribe to keep Olivia from crawling off. But hey as long as it is safe for both of them right?!? They played like this for a good 10 minutes and continued to play even as we sat there and I took pictures! :) I hope they get along this well for the rest of their lives! :)

History Has Been Made...

2008-11-05T01:09:00.007-06:00

Wow where does one even begin to describe an event like tonight. When you are able to watch first hand history being made. I have voted since I was able to vote. I have voted for Republicans and Democrats in past elections. I do not identify with one particular party 100%. My vote has always been with who during an election I identify with the best and the one I feel is the best candidate for the task at hand. Be it a Republican or a Democrat. Even in this election, I did vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, however I did not vote strictly democrat in regards to other candidates running for various positions. When Barack Obama announced his intentions for running for President of the United States, I knew that is someone I could stand behind and someone I would support all the way to the White House. Never before has an election been so emotional for me, as this one ended up being. I have never shed a tear during any presidential election or any election for that matter. However, tonight I was moved to tears several times. Tears of joy, happiness, and a hope for this country like I have never felt before. I was so anxious in regards to this election. Hoping and praying for change, knowing our country needs to move along a different path. A path we have steered clear of for decades and even centuries. This election proved, that we as a country have progressed and are ready to set our feet on a new path, a new beginning. Tonight, I was overcome with emotion when it was announced on CNN that Barack Obama was to be the next President of The United States. I immediately called my sister and again I was moved to tears. My sister has two bi-racial children and this sends a very clear message to them that no matter their skin color, they can achieve great things in this country. When I look at my nephew and my niece I do not see that the color of their skin is different than mine. I see them for the amazing and intelligent individuals that they are and who they will one day become. Tonight though I fully believe a message was sent across this country that greatness and success is well within any ones reach if you work hard and do not allow anyone to tell you that you cannot be great or make a difference in this country and even in this world. Success and the ability to make a positive difference in this world is there for the taking. That is what rings true for every American in this country.

People came out in record numbers in this election to let their voice be heard and the voice of America has spoken loud and clear. We did not allow racist and ignorant remarks cloud our judgment or make us feel like our vote and our voice would not make a difference. We pounded the pavement, knocked on doors, made the phone calls, and supported Barack Obama and Joe Biden in this election 110%. We gave it all we had and then some, and at the end of the day it paid off in record numbers. This was not a neck and neck election like many thought it would be. Americans from across the United States declared that we are ready for a change and that change needs to happen now. There is a new face in America and I am not just talking about Barack Obama. The face of America has changed. We are no longer okay with how things are run in this country and we are not willing to just stand by without a voice. We no longer feel like our vote will not make a difference. Today proves that every vote matters and if you believe in something enough for this country change for the better can happen. Now that the next President and Vice President of the United States has been decided by the voters of the United States, it is time for this country as a whole to come together regardless of political affiliation and get to work on repairing this great country and setting our feet on the path of new beginnings. God Bless America.

Are You Ready For Some Football...

2008-10-17T23:42:00.000-05:00

So I thought it was about time Ava experienced her first live football game. It was an area high school football game, and hopefully we will be making a trip to Champaign next season to watch the Fighting Illini. :) Anyway onto the game we watched from the stands. The Home Team: Central A&M Raiders Visiting Team: Maroa-Forsyth Trojans. A little background here...Central A&M usually is a dominating force in area high school football. This season though they have struggled to make their mark. Maroa-Forsyth is also a dominating force in area high school football and they have continued dominating the grid iron this season as well. This game was extremely important to Central A&M if they had hopes of making it into the playoffs this season. Would this be the game that Central A&M would rise up and let the other area high schools know they are back with a vengeance and they are still a team to be reckoned with this season? I have two cousins who go to Central A&M and one of them plays on the freshman football team, but this was not the freshman team playing, so I had no real vested interest in who won or who lost in this game. Now with that said...here we go!

Okay let's kick off more commentary with the Central A&M High School Marching Band. Let me just say right here a few years ago I had some other cousins who played for Central A&M and so I did attend those games and if memory serves me correctly, that era of the marching band was much better. I hate to say this, but this marching band was just sad. I mean maybe if they played more enthusiastically that would motivate their team. I don't know...I am just saying! Seriously this marching band played with very little heart and if that was them playing with enthusiasm I would hate to see them play with no interest at all.

Ava enjoyed the excitement of the game. Watching the fans. And she got a huge kick out of some of the more "animated" fans who would get all upset and irate over certain calls of the game. I couldn't help but laugh either, because some people are such idiots! ;) Ava wanted to make sure that "baby" didn't miss out on any of the excitement of the football game either!

The team behind Ava in this picture is the Central A&M Raiders. As the clock wound down in the first half against the Raiders & Trojans, the Trojans led the game 41 -0. At every turn the Raiders got smacked down by the Trojans! I mean if I was a Raider fan I would have been one unhappy fan, but honestly the mistakes they made in the game were just laughable. For a team that was such a force to be reckoned with in previous years, this team looks nothing like the unstoppable Raiders of the past.

Half-Time Thank Goodness!!!

With half-time now underway Ava enjoyed some hot chocolate that had been allowed to cool to just being warm by this time. What would a football game be without a cup of hot chocolate? She had never had hot chocolate before, and I must say she thoroughly enjoyed her delicious treat.

The most exciting part of the night had to be the Central A&M Pom Pom girls! Ava was completely enamored by them. She watched with such an intensity at the girls performing their routine. It was just so cute watching her take in this whole experience.

Once half-time was over it was back to watching the game. And hoping the Raiders could pull out a touchdown or at least a field goal. I mean come on...get on the board for the love of Peter! In High School football they have a new rule this year that in the second half they have a continuous running clock unless a timeout is called or a player is injured on the field. That is the only time the clock stops. Personally I think it is a stupid rule, but what does my opinion matter?!?! Yeah it doesn't! Okay so onto the second half and hoping the coaches were able to get the Raiders pumped up to give it all they've got.

With the clock quickly winding down the Raiders still failed to get on the board with a field goal or a touch down. However, they were able to keep the Trojans from scoring at all in the second half...or maybe the Trojans just felt sorry for them and kept from scoring on their own. Regardless, the Trojans went on to take the game 41-0 and increase their winning lead in the division. Next week the Raiders play Meridian. Another team this season who is almost unstoppable. Meridian isn't usually a tough school to beat, but it looks like the roles have reversed this year. Here is to hoping the Raiders at least get on the board next week!

And a final picture of Ava at the game! She was so well behaved and just about perfect I must say! I look forward to taking her to more football games in the future! :)

A Day At The Park...

2008-10-10T19:14:00.002-05:00

We know that this nice weather is not going to last much longer as the month is quickly passing by. So I decided to take Ava to McDonald's for lunch and then we took our lunch to the park to enjoy our lunch in the park. We invited my Mom to join us on this impromptu outing today as well. Ava had fun eating her cheeseburger and apple dippers. Though there was this annoying bee that kept flying around us and being quite the nuisance. I think Ava got an even bigger kick out of me trying to kill this stupid bee before it stung one of us. I of course, had my Mom telling me that I better watch out or it was going to sting me. Thankfully, though I won the battle and the bee did not live to sting any of us or anyone else for that matter.

I like this picture of my Mom and Ava together. I normally always look at my lens before taking pictures because Ava has been known to mess with my camera and it is inevitable for her to get fingerprints on the lens! As you can see, I failed to look at my lens before taking this picture. However, I did remember to check soon after and so at least the whole day of pictures do not have this smudge on them.

After eating lunch Ava was eager to run and play on the playground. The weather was beautiful today. A little windy from time to time, but still a very nice day overall. Ava enjoyed climbing this rock like structure to the top, but most of the time she would not go down the slide. She is funny like that. Someday she will go down the slide over and over again, and others she has no interest in the slide whatsoever. Today she went down a couple times, but overall she had little interest in the slides.

Though I did manage to get one picture of her going down the slide today. She was determined to not look at me though as I took the picture. She even squeezed her eyes closed to make the point she wasn't going to look at me. Ornery little girl! ;)

Though finally I was able to get her to sit still for a few seconds so I could snap a couple pictures of her. Though I am pretty sure she had more fun things to do, than to sit and let me get a picture of her. This is her "cheese...take the picture quick Mom" look!

And this is a picture of her I managed to get while she was climbing through those tubes/tunnel things that playgrounds often have nowdays! You just gotta take what you can get! She ended up playing on the playground for about an hour before we called it a day and so I could get her home for an afternoon nap. I enjoy these kind of days with her where we just break out of our routine and just do something random. She had fun, I had fun, and my Mom even had fun. :)

Like A Good Neighbor...

2008-10-09T21:59:00.003-05:00

I am not one that bakes desserts often, and very rarely do I have most ingredients on hand for things like making pies. However I did make so fudge this past year and I had an extra can of carnation condensed milk...I think that is what it was or evaporated milk. Whatever it is you need to make pumpkin pie anyway. See you can tell I am not a baker, since I can't even recall what kind of milk it was. I do have like a box of Betty Crocker Brownies and cake mixes on hand usually, but you can just add like eggs, oil and water to that kind of stuff. But when we are talking about baking from like scratch...yeah so not something I do on a regular basis. In the winter I sometimes get the urge to make chocolate chip cookies and things like that and have those kind of things on hand, but to make a pumpkin pie?!?! I've never baked a real pie from scratch in my life. Sara Lee all the way here! Or the pies you get from the bakery at the grocery store! Sad isn't it!?!? Anyway my neighbor came to the door asking if I had a can she could borrow. Which amazingly I did. She was making pumpkin pies with her granddaughters. She promised to return the milk, but I told her it definitely was not necessary. Well, this afternoon another knock on my door and it was my neighbor sharing her pumpkin pie with us. Very sweet of her. And Ava and I both enjoyed the pie. As delicious as the pie was, it still doesn't make me think, wow I should try making one of those myself from scratch. But I just might pick up a pumpkin pie from the bakery one of these days! ;)

Breaking that 9 year losing streak...

2008-10-05T13:06:00.001-05:00

against Michigan that is! The Fighting Illini had a tough first quarter, but the rallied back something fierce the rest of the game to finally defeat Michigan since 1999. Now if the Illini could just beat the Wolverines on their home turf! Go Illini! Don't get me wrong I do like Michigan, and if they were playing any other team I would be wanting Michigan to win, but I have to stay loyal to my Fighting Illini. Here is to hoping Michigan and Illinois win against the teams they are to meet up with this coming Saturday.

Trying To Keep The Faith...

2008-10-03T23:03:00.001-05:00

Today, I went with my Mom to her neurologist for a follow-up appointment. This is one of the doctors that basically monitors her Alzheimer's, and the progression of the disease. I missed the appointment she went to in May, but of course, I was at the appointment in January of this year. Anyway, every time we go, they do the same test and it helps them determine how she is doing and if she is doing better, getting worse, or staying the same. I remember all to clearly how she did in January, and every other time I've been to these appointments with her. These are the things that kind of stay with you. Anyway, the nurse starts asking just basic questions. Like what day is it - it was a Friday and my Mom had no idea the day of the week, but she said she thought maybe it was a Monday. The nurse asked what month it was - My Mom guessed August. My Mom just turned 53 on September 29th, so you would think logically she would have been like well I just had a birthday so maybe at least guess September. When in fact the month we are in is October. They asked her the season next and realistically you would think okay you just answered August for the month so August is a Summer month or even just kind of think about the weather outside...my Mom's answer was Spring. They don't ever correct her when she is wrong they just continue onto the next question. There is a part of the test where you have to remember 3 words and then a few minutes later they go back and ask you what those three words are. Those 3 words are "Hope, Shoe, & Acorn". My Mom very rarely remembers any of those words when asked to recall them. Every once in awhile she will get one of the words, but that is very rare. Well this time she was able to recall 2 out of the 3 words. I was really excited about that. Then they came to a part where she had to draw the face of a watch. She was able to do that, but then the nurse asked her to draw the hands of the clock to show 20 after 11. My Mom in the past has never had an issue doing this, today she only knew where the 11 on the clock was. She was not able to figure out that the 4 on the clock represented 20 minutes. Then she had to look at this diagram and re-draw it. It is basically just two shapes overlapping. In the past my Mom has always been able to draw this fairly accurately. Today she couldn't draw this without getting completely confused and finally it just became to overwhelming for her. When the doctor came in to evaluate her, he said she had remained the same from her last appointment in May. So in a way that was good news that she has declined, but from her appointment in January to now showed a pretty big decline. We requested her medicine for the Alzheimer's be changed this summer from Aricept to the Excelon patch and even though we have not seen huge improvements, we are not seeing a decline in her like we were with the Aricept. So, to have the doctor tell us she has declined since we made the change in her medicine was very welcomed news for us. I truly feel if we had kept her on Aricept and not found out about the Excelon patch she would be far worse off. So here we are just taking it a day at a time and hoping against all odds that there is a cure found one day really soon.

What To Do On A Rainy Day...

2008-09-11T23:25:00.004-05:00

How fun and exciting for a 3 year old to build a tent/fort in the middle of the living room with sheets, blankets, and dining room chairs. Though according to Ava she kept referring to this as a volcano. Not sure why or how she came up with that. The imagination of a 3 year old! :) We had a lot of fun spending the day indoors. Though I felt like crawling up in the tent with a good book and then eventually drifting off to sleep. That of course, was not the case. Ava had other plans for the "volcano". It wouldn't have been a complete adventure without flashlights, 27 stuffed animal and baby dolls, a couple pillows, a blanket, and some other miscellaneous things that fascinate a toddler. Once all of Ava's things were piled into the tent, that didn't leave much room for me to stretch out and read...much less to take a nap. ;) We left the tent up until bedtime at which point Ava was very sad to see her new hideout be folded up and put back in the closet, the dining room chairs returned back into their spots at the table, and all was left was her pile of goodies she moved into their new home. But alas another rainy day will come again and we shall reconstruct the tent/fort/volcano, where Ava can move back in her countless toys and spend the day in her hideout adventure.

Go Illini....

2008-09-06T16:03:00.000-05:00

A picture of Ava sporting her Fighting Illini outfit last year! :) What an adorable cheerleader she is!