Can you keep up?

I keep looking over at my calendar in disbelief. We have got so much going on starting in just a few short weeks and not ending till after summer! Thought I'd share it with you so you know what we'll be up to.
MARCH:
10 or 17-Garage Sale
23-25?-Riley b-day in Searcy
30? Go to Tyler

APRIL:
6-7-Shawn in Dallas for LTC
14- Elle's birthday party
18-19? CCC Sale in Tyler (2nd hand sale to buy Elle's summer clothes)
28- Jr. Sr. Day with our youth group

MAY:
5- Sr. Banquet
and many other Senior Activities
22-8 year anniversary!!!

Then starts the summer with a one week summer camp in June, 1 week VBS in June, CBH (2 weeks) in July and either in late July or early August a 1 week mission trip. I am for sure going to CBH but not sure about the mission trip and not going to the one week summer camp. I will be alone a lot in the upcoming months(which I didn't mind before we had kids!) and Shawn will be traveling a lot in the coming months so pray for both of us. Now go take a nap, because anyone reading this will need to after finishing.

Elle's almost 3!

Some of you have asked for ideas for Elle for her birthday. You can click on the icon to find a few things I think she'd like. She is also is desperate need of clothes and shoes for the spring/summer. We really like Old Navy and Gap's style though Old Navy is much more economical. If you don't want to do the shopping we take cash, check and credit card..ha ha ha! Her sizes are shirts: about a 3T pants and shorts: 2/3 T shoes: size 8-9. She also might need a raincoat for when we are at Blue Haven, but that's only if it rains??? Old Navy has some really cute ones! Happy shopping.

Simple Pleasures

I think I've used that title before, but it seems to fit our life a lot. I am not much of a splurger. I am too tight with money and most of the time don't find joy in spending unless what I'm buying will get a whole lot of use or is very needed. But, I bought two items lately that have really made me smile. First, I bought some camo capri pants. I have been wanting some for a long time. Why? I don't know, I just did. But, they weren't a practical buy since they aren't exactly appropriate for worship time. But, I really wanted them and I had saved some money, so I bought them. I love them so much! I've worned them 2 days straight! Second, I bought ice cream and though that may not seem like much of a splurge, it is! It was almost $5 for the half gallon which I almost felt guilty about except that the flavor was.....COTTON CANDY! I have only seen on rare occasions and not in Texas, cotton candy flavored ice cream. I saw it at Brookshires and just grabbed it. It tastes SOOOO good! So, if you haven't splurged on yourself in a while, it's time. Pick that one item that seems impractical...and buy it! Life's short.

Cotton Candy ice cream...Y-U-M-M-Y!

Thursday Things

I'm borrowing my sister-in-law, Lesley's clever title ideas to come up with today's title. Thanks Lesley! We had a good day here. I am just trying to wind down right now so that when I get in bed I don't lay there for an hour trying to keep my eyes closed. Don't you hate that? That happened the other night so I decided to get up and clean and made my kitchen look spic and span. It was nice to wake up to. Anyway, my sister and my nephew came in for a visit today. She is having some of the walls in her house fixed today and needed to be out. The weather was SO NICE here today so we got to play outside quite a bit. Elle had so much fun with Hiney and Laura. It was so sad when Laura said it was time to leave. Elle got really sad and said "Are they about to leave?" and she had the look of panic on her face. I miss having the girls closer to family :( Oh well, it makes the times we spend together even more special. It would be nice to live in a way where all of your family is in the same city, but those days just seem to be coming to an end. Anyway, as soon as Laura left, my stomach started hurting and I got really sick for a few hours...chills and all. Around 8:30 tonite I started feeling a little better, but my head is still pounding and it hurts to move my eyes. Good thing I'm about to rest them. Just hope I feel better by morning so I can enjoy the girls. Well, nothing else to say really. Hope everyone has a great Friday.

A Typical Ava Tantrum

Finally home!

Shawn got home Sunday night just in time to kiss Elle goodnight. Perfect timing! She really missed him a lot. He had a wonderful retreat! He said it was absolutely gorgeous down there. The college kids were very receptive to him and the highlight was that he helped convert a girl! She is now a Christian!! That was very exciting for him. He came back renewed and ready to get back in the trenches. He really has a talent for working with college people. Not much else going on here. Elle is doing wonderfully. After reading my sister-in-law Emily's blog and seeing that her daughter was night potty-trained, I was inspired to get more on the ball with that. Elle has been daytime potty-trained for a whole year, but nighttime and nap time is hard for her. So, yesterday we made a chart and she gets to put a smiley face every time she wakes up dry. Hopefully it will work. After a week or so, we are just going to go for it and put her in panties and start the process big time. Hopefully after waking up a few times all wet, she'll learn to hold it. We'll see. Elle has also declared what she wants to be when she grows up. She's never said anything before but all the sudden, she says she wants to be a mailman...guess she's taking after my grandfather:) Funny what they say...in Ava news, she's doing great. She has chilled out a little on the screaming bouts. I think her teeth are hurting because she will scream uncontrollably for a few minutes and then just a quick quit. Interesting.....she freaks out every time she sees a water bottle now. She tries to jump out of my arms and get it and if it's really close to her face and she doesn't get it, then she does get really mad! It's quite interesting. Yesterday was the first time since we feeding her rice cereal that she didn't act like we were feeding her lemon juice. She actually opened her mouth and swallowed it. We were very excited about that. For some reason it's really exciting to feed babies for the first time. You get to experience someone trying something they've never had before and it's so fun to see the expressions they give when they get a new taste. Too cute! Well, that's all for now, but I just had a few minutes to myself and thought I'd update. Hope everyone is doing well...you've all been pretty quiet lately.

Ava's firs time to swing

Elle trying to get a bird to land on her finger. "Here birdie, birdie, birdie" was what she was saying.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the body grow tired

What's old is new again....now we're really getting use out of the shape sorter.
Uh, could this be any cuter? We just found that headband yesterday in Elle's stuff.
Sisters smiling for the camera
Smooches and back to the stone cold look...it's becoming alittle less frequent thankgoodness!

This is the first time Shawn has left for a church activity that I haven't had someone here at least part of the time he was gone. It has gone quite well I suspose. Elle is really having cabin fever because her rough-housing partner in crime isn't here and I'm not too good at it. It's just too cold and the wind is blowing 90 mph here right now so outside just isn't an option. Ava has begun a daily ritual as of thursday. At around 3 or so in the afternoon she has an afternoon freak out session. For no apparent reason she flips out, screaming at the top of her lungs. Nothing fixes it and usually it's close to nap time. If I go in her room she gets real quiet and then the second I turn on her sound machine and/or turn off her light, she starts going berserk! It takes about 5 minutes of rocking and patting and singing to calm her down. I really think she's beginning to teethe and her gums are hurting. When Shawn gets back, I'll make a trip to the drug store for Ambosal (sp?). We almost never had a problem with Elle so I guess it was bound to happen. I'm not for sure that this is what it is, but it's my mommy instinct. Well, I have just gotten both of them to stop screaming, ones napping finally and the other is in her room dramatically sobbing off and on while cleaning it. I appreciate my husband much much much more after this weekend. I don't know what I'd do without him! He is so wonderful with the girls and gives me more of a break than I realized!

Ava Stats

I took Ava this morning to the Dr. for a weight check. She is now 15 lbs and 26 in long. Very pleased with her weight!!! At 6 months (a month more than Ava) Elle was 14 lb 14 oz and 26 1/2 inches long so they are still quite close but Ava has a little more meat on her bones which I love!!!

Elle helping calm Ava with her finger. Ava doesn't mind.

Ava's 1st taste of cereal

Snow White and the Babbling Dwarf

5 month comparison

Here's Ava and Elle's 5 month pictures. I will have weight and height of Ava soon.

Elle's First Haircut

All done! And so pretty!!!

Pictures

Snow White

One of the many treats she got...the lollipop is as big as her head!

What a face!

Lots to Say

For a change, I actually have quite a few things to write about and quite a few fun pictures. We returned this morning from being in Tyler for a few days. We buried my great grandmother. It was nice to see family that I haven't seen in a while and be in the area (Jacksonville and Gallatin) that brings back lots of wonderful childhood memories. We wished we could have been there longer. We really spent much of our time driving or getting ready. It was way too short of a trip. Valentine's Day was good. Shawn did a lot of sweet little romantic things for me this year. On V Day I woke up to get ready for the funeral and there in the bathroom was the most beautiful rose I've ever seen waiting for me with a sweet card. Good job honey! That night after we had put both girls to bed, we spur of the moment hopped in the car and headed to Walmart to get a box of chocolates to share. It just doesn't seem like V Day without some chocolate. We got some Whitman's Samplers and ate almost the whole top layer before we got back to Paul and Carolyns! (They live about 3 minutes away!) Maybe that will become a new tradition. Elle had a great time too. She ate more sugar than she's seen in a long time and we keep having to remind her that that's a grandparent thing! She also received her first haircut (about time!) and after taking a trip with Daddy to the bathroom to have a talk, she was sort of ready to get it cut. As soon as my hairdresser started cutting it she was fun, but she tried to freak out at first. It looks much better even though we only had about an inch cut off. It was time. Ava is officially 5 months old and I'll be posting pictures of that later. I will probably take her tomorrow to get weighed and measured just cause I'm curious. She threw her first official temper tantrum yesterday. She had a water bottle licking the outside and Paul needed to set it down to hand her off to me and she flipped out when he took it away and set it down. I couldn't get her calmed down for anything and she was screaming full fledged! Paul and Carolyn were witnesses and both of their eyes got about as big as saucers when she started screaming. It was pretty interesting. All I could do was laugh and bounce her till she was done. In other news, Shawn leaves very early tomorrow morning for a college retreat he's doing down in south texas. He will be gone until Sunday night so pray for his safe journey, a good retreat and that I get good sleep at night to keep up with the girls by myself. I don't mind having them alone, my problem is that I've been sleeping so bad at night because of our mattress that I am dragging all day and never feeling energized. I hate it...but maybe soon we will be able to start saving for a new mattress. I hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy the pictures.

The Book Nook

Elle and I went to the library today. When we got home I needed to get a few things done so I made her a "special" book nook where she could read her new books. She absolutely loved it and spent way more time in there than I expected. Yeah for simple pleasures!

Valentine's Dessert MASH

The men come under fire in the newlywed game.
Shawn was the host of the game.
Troy got 1st place for his yummy dessert.
The gang
The 3 of us. Ava looks pretty good for having been up for 4 hours straight...no food!

Our MASH group (Married And Singles Heavenbound) had a Valentine's Dessert Party Friday night. We had a lot of fun and after all that planning I was very happy with how it turned out. Ava did WONDERFULLY! and it helped that a lot of people wanted to hold her and help me. It allowed me to have a good time too! Elle stayed home and wonderful Gramme came and took care of her. It was just a nice night and the first time we have taken Ava alone somewhere. That will be important as the girls get older. Anyway, Shawn made a Brownie S'mores that was really really good. He got the recipe off of foodnetwork.com . It didn't win overall but it was really good. We had about 10 different desserts to pick from and they all were really good and surpisingly very different from each other. Believe it or not, a simple dump cake took first place. It tasted wonderful!!! Just goes to show sometimes simple beats everything! Here are a few pictures from Friday night.

Mammie

Jewel Jenkins, known to most people as Mammie, has finally gone home. She was 101 years old and every person she met was changed by her attitude. She is a woman that other women want to be as they get older. I only hope that the legacy I leave when I'm gone will be half as amazing as the one she left. She was my great grandmother, my mom's grandmother. Please pray for peace as my family mourns her lose and celebrates where she is now.

Random Ava Pictures Part 14

Already a princess

I LOVE this picture!!!

Yes, she is sucking her toes...and yes that is her chubby tummy.

She's already cruising!!!! Okay not really, we just stood her up and made her hold onto the couch and it just looked like she was cruising.

Believe it or not Ava will be 5 months old next Tuesday. Here are a few moments in her daily life.

Yes, I'm still alive

and I say that because one of my sisters-in-law called today to check and see if I was. I haven't posted in almost a week, which is unheard of for me. I don't know why exactly that I haven't. Probably a combination of being busy with the girls, really tired from bad sleep (our mattress is slowly killing me every night) and lack of stuff to write about. But it was time to update because I've taken lots of pictures in the last few days and because something actually happened today. My sister Laura, and Hiney my nephew came for a visit today. They were just having a little cabin fever at home and decided to make the drive for the day. It was a nice distraction from the daily grind. We played a lot, and ate at CiCi's and napped and then played a little more. The day went way too fast. But, we all had fun and Elle really liked getting to see Aunt Laura (who has way more energy than mommy) and Hiney. She wouldn't leave him alone! She was hugging or tickling him nonstop but it was pretty sweet to watch.

In other news, Shawn and I are throwing a Valentine's Party tomorrow night for all the MASH people from church (MASH stands for Marrieds and Singles Heavenbound). Thankgoodness it's not at our house but we are still in charge of it. It's a dessert MASH and the men are doing the desserts to be judged by everyone. Shawn's sounds really good so I'm saving all my calories for tomorrow nite! I hope that it goes well and that we have a good turnout and that the activites we have planned don't flop. We will have Ava with us, so that will also be interesting. I just really hope she behaves. Gramme is coming tomorrow evening to watch Elle while we go so at least that's one less thing to worry about. Well, that's all for now. I will update again this weekend with pics from tomorrow nite. Stay warm.

Elle giving one of her many hugs to Hiney.

Hiney had a bit of a sinking spell during lunch but came back alive when we got home!

What a good picture! All three girls looking at the camera and no one blinking!

We're cultured!

I gave Elle a little taste of "culture" today. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra was in Greenville today performing Peter and the Wolf for all the school kids. My friend from church told me about this months ago and I marked my calendar. I don't miss opportunites for free entertainment! Elle and I went and she was mesmorized. There was a group of HS age kids performing along side the music and they did a great job. Elle was totally into it. She wouldn't get out of my lap for the first 15 minutes because she didn't want the wolf to get her. Mind you we were up in the balcony far away from him, but nonetheless, just in case! She really enjoyed it and I loved it too. It was so nice to have something different and something that I could take her to. I so miss having things to do with Elle and eventually Ava. Oh well. We had a great time and it was nice to spend time alone with her.

She did this after watching American Idol with us.

Baby in a Bonnet

I got bored yesterday while Elle was napping and Ava was awake so I decided to put a bonnet on her to see how it looked. She looked so so so cute in it so I took some pictures. I love how they turned out! Also I'm still working on getting video up, but google still isn't working for me. I'm also having trouble viewing some of your blogs. It won't even let me open the page to view it so I'll keep trying. I don't know if it's my computer or if it's technology in general??? I'm thinking the latter.