A Month at a Glance

So maybe in September I may have forgotten to scan the girl's school photos. I guess it is never to late to finish the job the following year right? In that case I might as well add gymnastics, our vacation, X-mas, and a few other trinkets.

School photos:

Photo above by: Insight photography.

Here's my beautiful Olivia sitting so pretty for her second year of preschool.

Photo above by: Insight Photography.

And my wonderful Ava just beaming that it is finally her turn to be in school. She absolutely loves it and can't wait to jump out of the truck every day.

Gymnastics:

The final days of gymnastics. Ava struts her stuff.
Climbing thru the tube.
Olivia and her famous hand stands.
That's Olivia over there rolling backwards down the cheese.

Santa's visit to school:

Ava with Miss Karen making reindeer food. (They gobbled it off the lawn X-mas eve.)
Ava with her best friend and Olivia while they waited for Santa.
When Santa asked who wanted to be first to sit on his lap- Ava jumped up shouting, "ME!!" Nothing shy about her. She told Santa she wanted a big princess bike for X-mas.
Olivia whispered to Santa what she wanted so I guess the mystery will forever remain between the two of them.
The love for Santa.

Our two week vacation:

The artists at work. Unfortunately Dave had to work a trial and was only able to drive up for 2 and a half days but at least they were the best days- X-mas eve and X-mas.
Olivia kickin' bootie on her skates she got for her birthday. She wanted to skate fast, faster, and then she'd hit the ground but she got up laughing and started again.
Ava can do whatever Olivia can do and she'll prove it to you.
The bikers went on a long bike ride every day it didn't rain.
And of course there was snow and sleds. Look at that cutie pie face.
Dave and Olivia flying down the hill on their sled.
Ava speeding away.
Snowball fight.
Me and my silly girls.

Christmas:

Yes, there were presents just in case one X-mas from now the girls tell me they never got anything for x-mas. Here's the proof.
And Santa prefers chocolate and hot cocoa to cookies and milk. The deer were fed earlier in the evening.
The ripping and unveiling has begun.
All of Ava's pictures are a blur because she never stopped moving until she found the Barbi and horse. Then all unwrapping ceased for an hour so she could play. Her exact words were "I'm done. No more." Ok then, Santa will pack a lighter load next year.
A lot of dresses and toys.
This is their new soccer goal. Dave's favorite gift besides their guitars.
Who are those people?
My Queen.
My Queen and her coveted Barbi.
The curlers. Olivia loves these things and was very upset Daddy didn't know she was supposed to sleep in them. Next time my dear.
The gang headed out to skate.

School artwork:

Before I clear the board for some new creations of the new year I though I had better capture some of the girl's art work.

When Makeup Attacks:
They did each others makeup. Ava's going to need a little more practice unless Olivia is the newest member of KISS.
They seemed to like it. Good enough for me. These two are enjoying the abundance of nail polish they received too. Glitter and Glam. That's what the world has turned into.

Ava's Quote:

Keeping in mind she wears a pull-up at my parents house just as a precaution that we actually call her "precautions"... she woke up one morning and had not taken it off yet when I asked, "Ava did you pee in your precaution?" and she said, "yes, my crotch told me too." Enough said. That was our month.

School Work

Ava's school work:
Olivia's school work:

So last year I was all productive and on top of Olivia's art and captured pictures of it as soon as she was out of school. This year I am finding that with both kids going to school everyday and every day there is a bunch of art and school work to photograph there is just no way for me to photograph all of it all of the time. They always say the second kid gets the shaft. Parents always go over the top with the first and then it trickles down to almost nothing with each subsequent kid. In other words- Poor Ava. At least I do take the time to hang it all up on the walls.

School's OUT!!!

Last Day of school for Olivia. She has now completed her first year and she loved every minute of it.

Here's the star that told her where she sat everyday. It was always somewhere different and by someone new.

Enjoying the last few minutes...

And even on the last day of school, the kids still made something cool- a Father's Day gift!

Way to go Olivia!!!

After school got out we headed to Tori's school for a big kid school picnic. Water balloon tosses, a jungle gym, lunch... the works. What a great end of the school year day.

Fun

What didn't we do yesterday?

We ate breakfast and lunch outside on the picnic table. Lady snatched Ava's sandwich right off the table but we made another and continued on. We painted a few pictures. We took Sugar on a walk. We played on the swings and slide. We collected worms and rollie pollies. We ran around like crazy people. Oh yeah and we had fun outside in the nice hot sun. After spending last week battling allergies, yesterday was like a dream come true.

And of course we went swimming. Dave came for the last part of class and surprised the girls. Here, Ava had to sneeze while learning to swim on her back.

And Miss Olivia swam by herself on her back. She also went all the way under water to get the ring off the bottom of the pool. She is really learning and loving the pool. Look out Grammie. We're coming to your house!!!

Play Play Play

If only playtime lasted forever.

Today is such a nice day outside but instead of being outside and enjoying it we are trapped inside until Ava's checkup tomorrow. The doctor said to keep her still until then and to keep her free from dirt. To him, this probably seemed like two simple requests. Not so much. All Ava wants to do is climb and jump on the stairs, run around, and I don't know- be 3 years old.

And then there's Olivia who doesn't get the, "all for one and one for all," concept of being trapped inside with Ava. Together they are getting on each others nerves, my nerves, and our pets nerves (yes, the cat has been puking... which has now become the most widely used verb in the house today... PUKING). Because that's exactly what you want your kids running around in house yelling about. Oh I feel like an expert parent. I've tried to compensate for saying 'puke' and bring back the concept of 'throwing up' but I was disregarded and outnumbered and now PUKE has found it's place in our house.

This is what being trapped inside in the house for a week does to a family. We end up posting about puke, the girls are talking in robot voices because that is their second passion of this minute since Olivia learned 'the robot' in dance class, play-doh has become the center of our artistic lives, and well we simply cannot watch anymore TV. Oh and earplugs come in handy when you feel like you might crack.

Cheers to earplugs and play-doh and to everyone who gets to enjoy the beautiful world outside today. Secretly we are inside loathing you.

Daddy Day Out

Builder Ava made this fancy car holder at the HD with her dad.
Olivia made one as well and pounded her own nails.
Then Daddy took them to meet Clifford while I prepared for Ava's birthday party.
Ava's loving Clifford.