Getting ready to go to Worship Services just now, I asked Ava if she had finished her Chicken Nuggets...

'Yes, Mom! I ate them all, now can I have a treat?'

'Well, let me go check & make sure....'

{looking to see}....

'Ava, there's one left! You forgot to eat that one!'

'No, I didn't. I just didn't love that one.'

{evidence}

You just never know what you'll find when you go through 496 pictures that your 3 year old took...

Let us take a glimpse at some of my favorites, shall we??

These flip-flops are 2 sizes too small & she refuses to let me have them.

In fact, when I put them in the 'donate' bin, she sneaks in there & takes them back out.

Just had her nails 'did.'

As did I.

Broken keys on the keyboard, anyone??

Okay, so I snapped this one of her! She was feeding her baby while we were playing in her playhouse & it was the quickest camera I could grab!!

That girl is the sweetest thing!!

Probably cooking some Lego's as usual.

Notice, this pic is of me cleaning her playroom {which she was supposed to be helping me with, but instead decided she'd document it in pictures}.

Max & Ruby....

Ruby & Max...

This is obviously evidence of her sneaking in the goodie cabinet while I'm taking a cat nap!

Her favorite cereal!

D.Might looks so much like his dad in this picture!

I honestly hope someday we will actually wear the same size shoe!

D. will not know what to do with himself...

Practicing her 'self-shot.'

Oh this one I just llllloooovvveee!

I dug out my Wizard of Oz characters awhile back & she hasn't let them out of her sight since!

{Belle & Cinderella are also in the line-up}

{The Wizard of Oz is her favorite movie}

HAHAHA!!

This picture cracked. me. up!!

The Wicked Witch is giving Glenda the 'what-for!' Hahaha!

Traffic jam.

PopPop in true form.

Not. Even. Kidding.

I have NO IDEA how she figured out her camera did this, but I PROMISE this is exactly the way I found on there!!

Love that girl...

Check It

While doing a little bit of laundry, Ava comes in to supervise, our conversation is as follows:

Ava: 'Mom, is my green belt in there?'
(referring to the dryer)

Me: 'I don't know, Ava.'

Ava: 'Well! (obviously annoyed & not understanding why I don't just open up the dryer and look) Can you check?!'

Because a Monday just wouldn't be complete without wearing a green belt.

Love.
That.
Girl.

'It a Bright Sunny Days!'

When Ava wakes up in the mornings, she gives me the daily weather report.

It's either 'Mom! It's a bright sunny days outside!' if it's nice or

'Mom! It's not a bright sunny days outside.' if it's yucky.

On such a Bright Sunny Days, we made a quick trip to town, swung through Micky D's for a little picnic fare & decided to have a picnic lunch outside at home!

Don't be confused by her face. She did in fact enjoy her picnic lunch, but this face is in reference to how she really felt...

I believe she told me 'Mom, I just can't finish my lunch right now. I have to go to my swings.'

Enjoying a little swing time - it is truly a great day when you learn how to pump your legs & swing all by yourself!

Doing her 'Best of Both Worlds - Pssshh!' pose.

She loves her scooter!

And she's never far from a thing of bubbles :)

When I saw her drawing with the sidewalk chalk, I said

'Oh, Ava! I love the lines you're drawing!'

To which she replied,

'Mom, they're not lines, they're 'L's'.'

I should've known better...

Climbing the ladder up to the slide...

Before she goes down it, she always asks 'Is is hot or warm?'

She refuses to burn her little behind on it.

After this pic, it was melt-down city as I dragged her inside for a nap. She loves to be outside! With this beautiful weather we've been having, who can really blame her?!

Ava's Mommy According to Ava

Me & Little Tutu after services this morning.

Since I got the planters for my first Mothers Day, I get flowers for my planters every year to fill them - aren't they beautiful?!

Okay, so I saw this on a few blogs & decided to have Ava do it, as well... her answers are in Italics....

What is something Mom always says to you? ‘I gonna give you whoopins!’ (Haha!!)What makes Mom happy? ‘My Playroom’
What makes Mom sad? ‘My Playhouse’How does Mom make you laugh? ‘Umm….’
What was Mom like as a child? ‘She liked candies’How old is your Mom? ‘3’
How tall is your Mom? ‘As tall as Daddy’What is her favorite thing to watch on T.V.? ‘Phineas & Ferb’What does your Mom do when you’re not around? ‘Goes to town’If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? ‘Uhhh…’What is your Mom really good at? ‘Laundry’What is your Mom not very good at? ‘Mowin the grass’What does your Mom do for her job? ‘Cleans the house’
What’s your Mom’s favorite food? ‘Cereal’
What makes you proud of your Mom? ‘Huh?’If your Mom was a cartoon character, what would she be? ‘What?’
What do you & your Mom do together? ‘Go to town’How are you & your Mom the same? ‘We’re bossy’
How are you & your Mom different? ‘I’m done talking’
How do you know your Mom loves you? ‘She says ‘I love you so much!’What does your Mom love most about your Dad? ‘He loves her so much’Where is your Mom’s favorite place to go? ‘WalMart’

Maybe next year, after a little Preschoolin', she'll be more inclined to answer the questions with actual true answers, haha! Except that 'bossy' one - that's true :) Love that girl!

Current AVA{isims}

AVAisim: Good Bread

(Reality: Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich)


_____________________________

AVAisim: Carn-i-pickle

(Reality: Carnival)
___________________________

AVAisim: Hamburger

(Reality: Arby's Ham Melt)
___________________________

AVAisim: Lip Sauce

(Reality: Lip Gloss)

_________________________

Oh this girl...

She keeps me on my toes :)

Love her!!

{the musings of a munchkin}

• It was around mid-morning, Ava had already had her breakfast (a strawberry Pop-Tart that she didn't finish) and a small snack of Cookie Crisp. It is not uncommon for her to ask all. day. long. if she can have a snack - to which my reply is usually "Just a few more minutes until lunch/dinner..." I say that hoping that she will eat a good meal instead of just a snack. I went back to what I was doing & she did the same.....so I thought. About 15 minutes later, I see her walk by my office with a bag of Goldfish crackers and a cup of water in her hand. I didn't give her either of which. Apparently she is just tall enough to reach into the "goodie cabinet" & find her fix - ...yep, she ate the whole bag of Goldfish (bought Sunday, mind you). I asked her "Ava, did you eat all of those Goldfish?" to which she ran off & hid behind the kitchen table - afraid she'd be in trouble for it, no less. Of course, I couldn't get onto her, poor kid, she was apparently just starving to death & her Mean-Ole-Mom wouldn't give her a snack, so she got her own - she was just trying to survive!
  

• She's not one for getting into trouble - as in she doesn't like it when she's in trouble. When we get onto her, she usually changes the subject to "Where's Stella?" or "Look at that ceiling fan, it's spinnin'!" Case-in-point: I don't typically let her have pens (paper is not her favorite thing to write on - she likes either herself or the walls), but I guess her Daddy let her have one at some point. We were sitting in the living room when I notice a mark on her leg. I asked her "Did you mark on your leg with a pen?" She started sinking down in the chair, trying to hid her leg under mine...."What?" she said... I asked her again "Did you mark on your leg?".... she replied "What?"...trying to act like she didn't hear me, I should speak up. I just went ahead & told her that she is not to have pens & we only mark on paper, otherwise, she could have done that all day....

• Speaking of "getting-on-to's" .... I have boycotted cleaning up the Playroom. I didn't make the mess & she's gotta' learn sometime. So it had been a few days of the disaster, and after I had asked her many a time, I finally asked D.Might to tell her to clean it up. It was right before bath time, I was in my office (yeah, I live in there, I know), so I could see all of this. He told her she needed to pick up her toys & put them away. She proceeded to pick up the toys in the living room & put them back in her Playroom. He then told her she needed to put away the toys in the Playroom, too - and this is what I saw: Ava running to her Playroom, head in hands, screamin' and cryin' - "I not want to! Please help me pick up my toys!" .... uh, negative. I can then hear her in her Playroom, banging things around, jibber-jabberin' (still crying hysterically) & started making out pieces of what she was saying. "....and Mommy and Daddy make me clean up my Playroom and I not want to and Stella acted ugly and (sniff, sniff, sniff) and I have to pick up my toys all by myself..." basically telling this sob story & how mean we are to her.....so I said "Who are you talking to?".... "I talkin' to Ashes! I tell her how I clean the Playroom...." Seriously, y'all....yes, I know where all this drama came from, but really - already having to get on your cell phone to vent it out - you gotta be kiddin' me!!

Random Ramblings

This post is a bunch of random things thrown together that I don't want to forget & know that at least the Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, & Family Members will appreciate :) !

*Ava still calls people all day long. I gave her my old Razor phone (pink, of course, because any other color just wouldn't do for her :) & she "talks" on it non-stop! She frequently calls Ashes (I guess because she knows you're the farthest away?! :) & will talk for quite awhile - this is the conversation I hear:

"Hello?! Ashes are you there?"

"Yes, it's me, Ava."

"Uh-huh, Daddy's at work."

"Haha! Stella's silly"

"You come over Ashes? You workin'?"

"Okay, bye, lub you!"

When she hangs up, I always ask "Who were you talking to?"

She says "Ashes - she come over after workin'."

*She's really gotten into coloring & "writing" lately. She'll come to me or D. & say "Write my name" She then tries her hardest to trace over what we've written & just beams with pride & shows us when she's done! The other night, I overheard her ask her Daddy "Write my name"

He said "Okay, what's your name?"

She said "T0"

-him- "What's your name?"

-her- "To"

-him- "No, what's your name?" (Thinking she was saying "I'm Two")

-her- finally fed up with the situation "TUTU!"

* She's still loving to play dress up & carry her handbag (notice I didn't say purse, Ashes) around with all her goodies in it! Thanks to Gigi & PopPop for sending this little Pretty Pretty Princess number her way :)

(She was saying "Cheese" in this picture - it's the best I could get, sorry!)

What Princess outfit would be complete without glass slippers?! These are leftover from summer - she never even wore them - but she plays in them inside everyday!


*Awww...how cute! Depending on what mood she's in, she likes to have her picture taken. Sometimes, she'll know it's a "picture worthy" event & come say "Mom, take my camera (aka picture) - Cheese!" Such a moment occurred below....

Next time you see her, ask her to do her "nose trick"! She cracks me up with this & can do it over & over again & hold it that way for awhile! If only I could find the picture to scan in, you'd see she gets this from her Momma ;)

* Speaking of getting things from her Momma....
She's a sneaky little thing - while D. was getting ready for church the other night, he brings her into the kitchen & says "Look what she did..."
I should obviously keep my make-up in a more secure location - especially the hot pink lipstick, which seems to be her favorite! This happened 2 days after I found her playing in my make-up drawer...tops off of things, brushes strewn everywhere...maybe I should get up & get ready before she wakes up :)

* Thanks to her Mimi, she now has a fear of monkeys....
If she's acting ugly, all you have to say is "Oh, Mr. Monkey...."
& she will straighten up pretty quick! If she starts acting nicer, you say "No Monkey's, stay back! Not get Ava!" Monkeys live in the trees (any tree, anywhere), for those of you who don't know, and they only come out when kids are acting ugly or not minding (hmmm...kind of reminds me of Hobe & Jobe, Lori Beth :) I haven't heard if these Monkey's eat ugly acting children or pluck their eye-balls out or anything, but it works none the less! If Ava thinks you're acting ugly, she'll switch it around & do it to you, too...the other morning, I don't remember what I was doing, but she said "No Monkeys, stay back, not get Momma!" Needless to say, it's pretty entertaining :)


*Ah, a moment of peace & quiet! When I need a few moments to get something done (or just need to keep her busy) I just bust out the art supplies & she is in hog heaven! Today she made a "fall-inspired" piece - I drew the tree on there, but she glued on the "leaves" & then colored it with markers, too! A way to work on her fine-motor skills & make a memory for Mom, too :)

Here's her Fall Leaf Tree all finished!
(for the record, those leaves are not pink, they're red:)


Nothing too out of the ordinary or exciting, but things I felt the need to share, none the less!
I know you enjoyed it, Ninner :)

Cookie Monster

Yesterday I baked a batch of chocolate-chip cookies to take to a member of the Church who had just had a baby. I went to my closet to put on my shoes so we could take her the goodies that I made for her. Here comes sweet little Ava around the corner & all I hear is....

"Mmmm, Mom! Good cookie!"

Sure enough she had her the biggest cookie she could get her hands on!

Lessons Learned:

1.) Let cookies cool somewhere other than the edge of the counter.

2.) If you tell Mom how good her cookies are, then you can eat the whole thing!

Johnny

Tonight after Bible Class, I took Ava to our seat & told her to show Daddy what she did in Bible Class. She handed him the little "take-home" paper below:

He said "Oh, Ava! What did you learn about in class tonight?"

And her response was:

"Um, Jesus....um, Bible....um, Johnny..."

Johnny (for those of you who don't know) is John the Baptist. I'm pretty sure she thought this one up on her own - I highly doubt her teachers referred to John the Baptist as Johnny ;)

Lazy Summer Days

Just wanted to let everyone know...WE'RE STILL HERE! We just haven't been up to much of anything lately :) Ava & I have enjoyed watching re-runs of Full House in the mornings (along with Tigger & Pooh & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, of course) while "waking up" & grazing on our breakfast. Then we play for a little while or lounge around until lunch time (if we had GRASS, then we'd be outside, but it's just not that fun playing on concrete:) The day wouldn't be complete without a nap, of course, so that comes after lunch. We then start to get dinner ready & anxiously await D.Might's arrival. After dinner, we all usually go out on the front porch & sit & play awhile (even had one of the neighbor's stop by for a visit tonight :) Then comes bath time & bedtime! See, not too exciting, but oh so enjoyable!

We did manage to go to story time at the Library yesterday & then had a picnic lunch in the park & played on the playground, so that was nice! Andie is also staying with us a few days a week for the next couple of weeks - Ava likes having someone to play with besides me!

Speaking of little Tutu, here's just a few thing's she's done lately:

* Tea Parties have become a daily occurrence. It has to be with the Tea Pot that sings, of course, & if you're around during "tea time", it's not a question whether or not you will participate.

* She has started getting out of her bed whenever she is no longer tired (after I bragged on her for staying in it so well :) - she usually busts in our door around 6:30am every morning (yes, I do go ahead & get up - I know you're all surprised-go ahead & pick your jaw up off the floor :). At least D.Might gets to see her before he goes to work!

* The other day, I put her down for a nap & kept having to go in there & tell her "It's night-night time, lay down" & put her back in bed. For awhile there (like 2 hours later), I though she was asleep, so I opened the door to check on her. I no more cracked open the door & she laid down in front of it (to where I couldn't open it any wider) & said "No Momma! I seepin! I seepin, Momma!" When I finally got the door open enough to squeeze in - she was trying on shoes....again...

* She has become quite the singer here around the house & has also become outspoken on what music she wants to listen to - yeah, we know where she gets it, too :)
Here are her Top 5 Sing-a-Long Songs:
1. "I Can Learn About Jesus from Bible Words"
2. "Jesus Loves Me"
3. "I'm in the Lord's Army"
4. "Oh Where, Oh Where, did my little Ava go?"
(tune of "Oh where, oh where, did my little dog go?")
5. "If You're Happy and You Know It"
Luckily Vacation Bible School will be next month & maybe she'll pick up some new tunes!

* More than 2x a day, I catch her heading towards the garage - with baby doll in stroller, purse on her arm, sunglasses on, & cell phone in hand - & she announces "I ready to go, Mom, bye!" I'll ask "Where are you going?" Depending on the time of day & her mood at the time, her answers are as follows (in no particular order): Target, 'Nastics (Gymnastics), Work with Daddy, Emme's, Outside - all answers come complete with a thoughtful look, finger on her chin & "Mmmm..." before them.

That's all I have for now - I will try to post new pics soon!

Sweet Little Ava

I just thought I'd post a few of the cute things our child has been doing lately:

* Tonight at dinner, D.Might turned on basketball (apparently there's some kind of tournament or something going on). Ava was sitting in her seat & watching the TV & out of nowhere goes "WOOOOO! PIG SOOIE! RAZORBACKS!" (It was actually USC & Kansas State) We still couldn't be any prouder :)!

* When we pulled in our neighborhood the other day I asked Ava "Who's house is that?" (referring to ours) & she matter-of-factly answered "Daddy's."

* She has been doing really well with the potty training & I just make the BIGGEST DEAL out of it every time she goes (including song & dance). Needless to say, when anyone ELSE goes, she does the same for them :)

* She has come across these little Bible Reference books that we have & has started carrying them everywhere & refused to let them stay in the car when we went to the Water Dept. & Post Office today.

* She finally has a favorite TV show (it took almost 2 years for her to even watch the TV). We have every episode DVR'd (& even special ordered the DVD) of My Friends Tigger & Pooh. First thing when she gets up, she gets something to drink & goes straight to her Daddy's chair & watches it while I fix her breakfast. Sometimes she asks for it throughout the day...at least she can understand that Tigger & Pooh take a nap too ;)

* Saturday morning I got up & made just the two of us Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast. She got up & came in the kitchen, looked in the oven & exclaimed "Cookies Momma! Thank You!" & even gave me a hug & kiss!

* Her favorite phrases of the moment are " Hey (insert any name here), what doin'?" & "No, I not want it, thank you."

* She has become quite the chatty-cathy on the phone. Grandparents & her aunt call to speak with her & if we let her she will carry on a conversation for at least 30min....seriously.

* We no longer have a diaper bag to carry around, it is now a Purse. Please do not call it a bag, because it's a Purse & she will correct you if you call it anything but that. It holds her cell phone, keys, pen & paper, stickers, & sometimes a snack. Oh & sunglasses, you can't forget the sunglasses.

* I asked her what her name was the other day & she answered "Tutu". I asked her again & she said "Ada" I said "Good Job, but your name is AAAvvvvvaaaa." She let me know "No, Mom, it's Ada."

That's all that I can think of for now, I'll post some more as I remember them, since I don't write them down when they happen like I should :)

What Ava's Been Up To

She walks around the "guest house" going "Momma? Momma?" looking for me (by the way it's an open room) and we she see's me shouts "There she is!"

When you tell her "No, No" & explain why not to do it, she changes the subject & starts looking for the cat saying "Stella? Where's Stella?"

When she wakes up the in the morning, you can hear her rattling around in her crib & then she says "Momma. Mooommmaa. Momma! Hi Momma!" letting me know she's ready to get out.

When she's done with her food, she holds up her plate and sings "Tick Tock Tick Tock" which is a song they sing in Bible Class (Tick Tock Tick Tock it's time for Bible Class...) They hold up paper clocks & sing it.

When she wants a bite of something you're eating (or more of what she's eating) she says "Peas" (please)

When you give her something she asked for she says "Day Do" (Thank You)

If you haven't heard I have the Cherry Red Washer/Dryer combo that i'm VERY protective of. It's now out in the open here in the "guest house." Ava is allowed to touch the doors, but not the buttons. The other day, she walked up to it & I just watched to see what she'd touch. She put her hand up near the buttons, put one finger on it & very lightly tapped it over & over & kept saying "No-No, No-No" (I just laughed to myself when I saw that! Haha!)

She's a good laundry helper... She takes the clean clothes out of the dryer & puts them in the basket (after positioning herself between the dryer & the basket). She takes them out one by one & when she can't reach the back, she'll look at me and say "Peas" so I reach back there & move the rest of the clothes to the front so she can reach them (because it would not be pretty if I just took them out myself or if she handed them directly to me instead of the basket, they have to go in the basket :) When she's done she shuts the door & walks away saying "Day Do"

Never a dull moment....:)