Aaallll Done

She likes to really enunciate.

P-U-E!

#2

Last summer, we had a decision to make.....Georgetown, Texas or Des Moines, Iowa? I was leaning more towards Iowa and Shawn was leaning more towards Georgetown. Thank God I stood back and let Shawn make the decision and didn't argue! I really was okay with either place, but for whatever reason I just guess I liked the adventure that would be Iowa...a whole different world than what I had lived 28 years in. Anyway Shawn picked Georgetown and since the day we moved here, God has shown us over and over and over...and over, just what a great decision it was. I truly go to bed every night saying thank you thank you thank you thank you! One of our elders sent Shawn this article the other day and I just thought how neat and it reminded me yet again, just how blessed we are to be where we're at.


I bet you thought this post was going to be about bodily functions.

More funny duck experiences

If you can get past my odd throwing abilities, check out the girls feeding the ducks. Elle's laugh cracks me up and Ava isn't really "feeding" the ducks.

Ava "feeding" the ducks

Burger Nite

Thursday we were suppose to go camping for the first time. After we bought all the "essentials" that we needed to actually pull off the camping trip, we realized that we had no money left to pay for the tent site and the gas to get there and back! So, hopefully we are going camping next Thursday, if the weather allows. Shawn knew I was quite bummed about not getting to go, so Thursday night we headed to the gorgeous park here in town and cooked hamburgers and just had fun. We pretty much got to experience all that makes camping fun, without the sleeping-on-the-ground-overnight part. The girls had a wonderful time and it was nice to be outside in such wonderful weather.

What to do with all those Peeps left over from Easter?????....make S'meeps! Another of Emma's technically amazing cooking recipes: Take a traditional S'mores recipe and substitute a Peeps instead of a marshmallow. Cook as normally done...enjoy! This really is WAY better than the original!
Yummy S'meeps!

The grill master






"Feeding" the ducks...I'll try to download the video to explain why the word feeding is in quotations....
I have found that we can't do anything without some sort of injury involved. Today's injury was 37 fire ant bites on Ava's hand. She rested her hand on a large rock that happened to be home to a colony of fire ants. She started screaming and sure enough they were all over her hand. It's pretty nasty looking, but she didn't seem too bothered by it once we got all the ants off. Poor thing!

18 months....a few weeks late

wants to be just like big sissy
first time with paint...it was hard trying to keep her fingers out of her mouth!

Ava went to her 18 month check up this morning. She is growing great! She is now 32.5 inches tall and 23 lbs. She cooperated very well with the dr which is the first time I've ever witnessed that in the 4 years I've been taking children to the dr. It was a nice break. She only had to get one shot and she only cried for as long as it took me to pull her pants back up. The nurse there has been doing this for years and knows just how to distract them quickly. :) I love that this office gives the kids a book after their shots. Ava is beginning to repeat words we say in a semi understandable way. She can say "sorry" which comes in handy regularly now. She can say thank you, please, more, spoon, swing, rock, bible, pray, amen and a whole bunch of other things. She climbs on anything she can hike her leg up on. She is beginning to be interested in potty training. She knows she she's gone pee pee and likes to go to her potty and sit on it. One day she'll accidentally pee pee in the potty and I can't wait to see the look on her face. She has figured out how to pull a chair or step stool around and use it to reach stuff she's not suppose to! All things are right in the world if she can go swing, see a dog or cat, have her baby, read a book, eat a snack, or have her milk. She has the most wonderful disposition and I think she'll be the one in our family that makes everyone laugh.

81 Snack Bags Later

I just finished divvying up all the candy the girls got for Easter and I used 81 snack bags to put them in! The reason I divvying it up, is that if I don't I will be hounded ruthlessly by Elle for candy every 7.9 seconds of the day. So the rule will be: one bag of candy per day, and you can have it whenever you want, but once it's gone, it's gone.

Thank goodness for self-timers!

Ava and her loot

Elle and her loot

Checking it all out....Ava is putting on her candy lipstick.

That pretty much tells you how Easter went....candy, candy and more candy. We had a nice Easter. The girls did wear their dresses and looked so cute. I wore some not-new clothes because it was too chilly for what I'd bought. At least I have a new outfit to look forward to on the first warm Sunday! After worship we invited a young couple that didn't have family in to come eat with us. By the time they left, it was way past nap time for the girls. After their naps we didn't have time to hunt Easter eggs so we did that today which worked out great because the weather was much better. Enjoy the pics!

Love this picture...so determined to find those eggs and her shirt is so thin you can see her belly button indention...so cute!

After finding exactly 7 eggs, Ava was done and wanted to swing the rest of the time. She LOVES to swing!

A girl after my own heart....a lot of eggs!

I think the reason that Elle didn't seem interested a few weekends ago about hunting eggs, is that she didn't get that it was a competition of sorts. We had tried not to mention the idea of competing to find the most eggs while we were with all the other kids because we didn't want her getting all upset if she only found a few. So, today we told her the real deal with hunting Easter eggs....that you want to get them all! She had a new found drive today to find those eggs!

You give me fever

Well, I made the best of yesterday. Elle was much better so we decided to go walking around the mall at Cedar Park and I needed to do little bits of incidentals shopping. So we headed that way, and I got everything I needed to make Elle's invitations/announcements for her 4th bday. Then we needed new umbrella strollers and we got two pink ones. Everyone watched us the rest of the day when we walked anywhere. We were all dressed alike and we were pushing two pink strollers....it was cute but almost a little odd, but then again, that's us. We ate lunch out to eat for the first time in a long time, just our family. Went to Applebee's where they have taken my favorite thing off the menu so I'd done with that place. All morning Shawn was saying "Man, I must have slept wrong. I feel so sleepy and my neck is stiff and I'm starting to get a headache." By the time we got home, he was really not feeling well. I put the girls down for their nap, Shawn went down for a nap, and I got some stuff done and just enjoyed a quiet house. I went to wake Shawn up a few hours later and he was really feeling sick. His head was hurting horribly and he had a fever of 102.something. By last night he was up to 104.7! I gave him two Excedrin Migraine pills which are pretty heavy duty and he's pretty much been in the bedroom ever since. So to put it all together, Ava was sick from Sunday to Tuesday. Elle was sick from Tuesday to Thursday. Shawn was sick from Thursday to the present. So, I'm just waiting for my turn, which will occur most likely tomorrow sometime. I am trying to figure out what to do for Sunday. Important decisions. Easter dresses and freeze or regular dresses and stay warm? I'm definitely not wearing mine because I would totally freeze. The girls???? Anyway, we'll figure it out as we go, but that's what's been happening at my house. I am ready for everyone to stop getting sick!

Sound Off

Okay, I'm about to flip my lid. I'm already annoyed because I should be in Arkansas right now spending time with family laughing, playing, talking, and relaxing but I'm sitting here at my boring house already getting annoyed with the "mommy, mommy, mommy!" that has begun. I love my kids, but I was so excited to get them in a different environment and let them play with their nieces and family. But, they got sick. Right at the perfect time. Now they are mostly feeling better, but the window for traveling has closed.
On to the second and last sound off for this morning. I went to check the weather for the next few days, this morning. Sunday as you know is Easter. WHY oh WHY does a cold front have to come through on EASTER? It is going from high around 80 and sunny on Saturday to high 54 on Sunday with chances of showers. There goes the cute Spring outfits and any chance of a picnic outside with egg hunting. This is the second year in a row where that has happened.
I wish something redeeming would happen today to make those two injustices seem a little less aggravating. If they do, as a positive person(most of the time), I will make sure and blog about it to make up for this sound off I've just posted. Have a GREAT day! (can you sense the sarcasm?)

Tea Party

The library here had their annual Tea Party yesterday. I thought it would be fun to take Elle since she's quite girly. We had a wonderful time. As soon as we got there, a little girl gravitated to her and they stuck close the rest of the time. What's ironic is that the little girl's name was Ellie! We ate more sugar than we knew what to do with, drank apple juice out of our cups, and danced to the great piano player who was playing and singing Disney songs. As soon as Elle finished dancing she said her head hurt really bad. We left since we'd been there an hour already and by the time we got home she was full blown sick. This didn't surprise me since we had just dealt with Ava being sick, and when I say sick I mean puking all over me and fever up to 103.5. At the present time, Ava is well, but has a rash all over her body, and Elle has had fever since yesterday though it's gone down from 102.6 to about 100. Oh the joys of parenthood! By the way, with all this wonderful sickness we are now missing our little mini vacation that we were planning to take to Searcy to celebrate our nieces birthday! But, back to the tea party....it was fun while it lasted. Maybe if we're lucky, which we usually are, Shawn and I will get sick and I'll miss Easter too! YIPPIE!

Elle and Ellie started off a little shy...but as you can see below, that went away quickly.

MASH Easter Party

Can you find the girls?

Nothin better than gettin candy
Best friends

Bending waaaay over for that egg

all those girls! and they are all within about a year of each other

run elle run!

She spent almost an hour swinging nonstop in this swing. Lots of people took turns pushing her for a few minutes. She was wonderful!

Yesterday we all got together for the MASH Easter Egg Hunt. I really thought Elle would be awesome at the whole idea of running for candy...but it wasn't so. She enjoyed herself immensely, but had not big rush to get any eggs. She would stop in front of a group of, let's say, about 10 eggs, pick one up, and head off looking for more eggs....not really sure what she was thinking but whatever! Ava on the other hand, got the idea quite quickly and thoroughly enjoyed picking up eggs, though she didn't care who's basket they went into...hers or another kids, as long as she picked up the egg. I was the kid who had to be told to stop hunting and let the other kids find some too. Enjoy the pics.

Spring Fever

Before

Before


We have been saving little bits of money here and there for a while in hopes of revamping our flowerbeds this Spring. Yesterday we bit the bullet and did it. Let me just say that I think choosing plants for the flower bed has been a harder test on our marriage than ANYTHING else! We came through it with flying colors though and truly hardly any fighting! It is harder to make decisions about plants than anything I've ever done...especially on a small budget! Anyway we got all of it picked out yesterday and around 6 pm(I love the time change!) Shawn began the work. We pulled up all the old stuff and "went Green" by recycling it to the backyard. I was proud that we didn't throw it away even though it isn't our favorite types of plants. Anyway in the front we put purple fountain grass, lavender, a few joystick red thrifts, and two sweet brooms. We are also planting one sage plant on the left side of the flowerbed to cap it off. Later this afternoon Shawn is also going to sow some bluebonnet seeds throughout the flowerbed. We are very excited to see how it goes as the seasons go on. I am so glad it's Spring!

After

I am so glad he likes to play in dirt...yuck!

The back fence (and a half naked little rugrat sticking her stomach out)

Independence

Little Big Girl
Getting ready to leave for the night.
At the hotel having a pj party
Ava never sits still for the camera!

Before I even became a mom, I knew one of the main goals I wanted to strive for is having children that had a good sense of independence and confidence. I knew it was probably going to be harder for me than them, to let them become independent. Yesterday was a BIG step in that direction for Elle and us. Paul and Carolyn came down for the day on their way to San Antonio to see the girls and celebrate Elle's bday. They had a wonderful time together and Elle got to pick out her birthday present all by herself. She picked out a Barbie "laptop". It's not a real computer but it does the alphabet and some games and such. She also picked out something that makes my heart swell with pride! She picked out a bow and arrow/indian "kit" and some rubber snakes! I am just so proud of her. Finally she is breaking away just a little from all the pink! Although I love all that girly stuff for her, I was the girl who asked Santa for G I Joe's...and got them! I'm glad to see her diversifying. Anyway, now for the big part. She went with Paul and Carolyn to check into the hotel they stayed at last night, and on her own came up with the plan to spend the night with them! She begged me like she has never begged for anything before! After much explaining that I wouldn't be there to tuck her in and that there would be no coming home no matter how sad she possibly got, she was still begging and acting very confident with what she wanted to do. I wanted to say yes right away, but Shawn was having a little bit of a tough time. I told him it would be so good for her independence and would get her a step closer to sleep overs with friends and it didn't take much convincing...he knew it was a good idea....it's just hard to give up control. Anyway, we sent her off for the night with Papaw and Carolyn. This morning around 10 they came back with a happy smiling little girl who was happy to see us but pretty much just as happy to see our neighbors who were out front with us. Of course it gives just a little pinch to my heart that she took another step away from us, but it makes me so so glad that she felt confident enough to be without us! Carolyn said that the only time she even mentioned anything at all was right as they were saying prayers and such and she said "I miss my mommy and daddy" and Carolyn said "It's okay to miss mommy and daddy but it just makes it that much sweeter when you see them again." Good answer and Elle said, "Okay" and that was the end of missing us! Yeah Elle!

Where it's at

Elle sings the books of the New Testament

Bunny Family

I did a post last year around this time showing 2 cute little bunnies I made for the girls for Easter. This year, I found the directions again and got the urge to finish the family. I had also wanted to redo the two girl bunnies because they were not too stable. Here is the finished family. The designer of these bunnies is Jennifer Murphy and if I was to buy them from her, they would be a whopping $85 per!!! I had so much fun making these and they are SO cute!!! From left to right, it's me, Ava, Elle, and Shawn.

Third Times a Charm

Yesterday we headed to McKinney Falls State Park. It is the closest state park, I think, which is about 15 miles from the Capital and about 45 minutes drive from our house. It's just about a straight shot down I35. Well as you can tell by the title, it's a keeper. I was a little wary at first because I knew it wasn't too far from the Austin airport so I thought there would be a noise issue, but I only noticed a few airplane noises and only because I was really trying to hear them. We LOVED this state park. It felt very woodsy and secluded. For it being a Saturday it wasn't overly crowded but that may be because it's been VERY cold here the past 2 nights. Anyway, there is tons of trails to explore and many are somewhat paved which makes it easier with a toddler. Lots of water stuff too...and the kind of water I think I'd be okay wading in. The water areas are quite safe for kids too because the bed of the river is made of rock so the water is quite shallow and not muddy on bottom. The tent camping areas were WONDERFUL! We started out trying to jot down the ones we liked for when we come back to go camping, but there were so many good ones, we just quit! They are all pretty secluded with very good tree coverage. None are very close to each other and they are all a ways off the road. Exactly what we had been hoping for. We will definately be trying out our new tent in the very near future...hopefully in the next few weeks the burn ban will be lifted and we'll have a fire. Anyway here's pics from today.

Amazing pic....both girls looking at the camera and sort of smiling!

Daddy taught Elle to climb a tree
Then of course Ava had to try

My almost four year old!

What a big girl sitting at the picnic table and she's my almost 18 month old!

Now THIS is a picnic area...no ground raisins either!

Standard picnic picture

A flower for mommy

Sitting over the edge...Ava wasn't too fond of the loud fast moving water being that close to her.

Elle thought it was great!

The trail leading to the lower falls