The School Girl Braids

Olivia is simply awesome...

Here's the back just for kicks!

It's My Birthday!

And I get to spend it with two of my three most favorite people, my girls. Since it is my birthday I felt it was only right to do the things that I wanted to do. So I stayed in bed until 9 A.M. Okay it did help that Livy slept in until 8:30 but I was going to do it anyway.

We watched cartoons for awhile and I drank some yummy coffee. Then around 9 AM we moseyed downstairs for eggs and popcorn. Yes, I did say popcorn. Afterwards the girls were cleaned up and I put their hair in ponytails and piggytails.

And they loved their fashionable hairstyles...

Here's a back view of Ava's piggytails.

Ava usually asks for a ponytail but I thought we'd do something a little more festive today. Plus she is wearing her first piggytails on my birthday. I love all the "firsts" that kids have. You lose that when you grow up.

Last night after the girls went to sleep I went into their rooms to cover them back up and straighten them out on their beds. Ava looked so precious curled up in a little ball. Her face was relaxed and it looked like she had a tiny smirk on her face. Olivia had her mouth gaped open and her arms out like Jesus (her usual pose). She too looked so sweet with her face so soft and dreamy. I never knew what my kids would look like or what sex they would be and now that they are here they are so amazingly wonderful and beautiful. I admire everything about them. They are exactly what I always wanted without really knowing exactly what I wanted if you understand what I'm saying. I feel like my family is complete. I love them like crazy and I am so incredible proud of them each and every day.

So now we are off to rent our free movie and get some doughnuts because no birthday is complete without cake. And then maybe we will come home and fingerpaint with all the cool paints we bought yesterday. Sounds like an exciting day...

A little later on...

On the way out of the house Ava hit her face on the cutting board leaving an indentation across the bridge of her nose. She cried and cried and then said she was ready to go to the store. A little bruised and mangled but hey this would not be a day for me without the occasional boo boo. Remember Mother's Day where Ava was hit in the face with the vacuum cleaner and split her face open...

Once on the road we stopped for our movie freebie. We rented a cartoon about ponies and the girls were elated. We jumped back into the truck and headed to the next place. Soon we were eating yummy doughnuts. What a day. We came back home and started the movie. Ava then spilled a little milk on the floor and being the good big sister that Olivia is she grabbed a towel to clean it up. On her way back to the kitchen she threw the towel in the air and it landed on her head as she was rounding the corner to the family room. Of course she ran smack into the wall and cut her lip open on her front tooth. Like I said it can't be a day for me without a little blood.

So the girls went back to watching their movie and I went to make them lunch. The movie was so entertaining that...
Ava went to sleep. Good thing it was a freebie movie.

Here's Olivia loving the fact that she is not the person sleeping!!!

Later today we will go swimming with daddy. Hopefully we have fulfilled our boo boo quota for the day and we can just hang out and have fun.

More... Later on in the day....

Olivia ate lunch with me while Ava slept soundly in her room and then Olivia took her own nap. I laid down on the couch and watched a few hours of recorded shows along with a bottle of wine. Soon Sneaky Dave arrived home from work early to surprise me and then the girls woke up around 4 PM. The three of them went and picked up Chinese food and came back to get me for swimming.

This was such a great birthday. I got to spend it with the three most important people to me in the whole wide world. Thanks you guys for making it so special.

The Fish

Here's the latest swimming pictures. This is week number 2. Ava has really improved on taking strokes and kicking her feet. She reaches for the wall and goes under water.

Ava's practicing jumping into the pool on the count of three with Dave...

Swim fish Olivia practices diligently with her teacher. She is making airplane arms and practicing blowing bubbles at the same time.

This is Olivia demonstrating how hard her mermaid legs can kick. She is having a fantastic time with all of her new friends and can't wait to come back to the pool the next day.

And no blog post would be complete without a photo of the escapee...

Family Reunion

This weekend we managed to finally hook up with my Aunt and Uncle and all of my cousins, first, second and third cousins that is, and my parents. They live less than an hour away and for some reason I never think about driving to their house. I literally drive by their house all the time on my way to somewhere else but this time I made plans to see my Aunt and Uncle for lunch. My parents came too to celebrate an early birthday with me and then they came back to our house and spent the night so we could all go to breakfast in the morning.

So the lunch began with us and well... like with most families one thing led to another and soon my entire family arrived, along with a LOT of food. It was great. The girls were so cute and they had an entirely new surrounding to explore and that they did.

Within five minutes of arriving Livy found the bridge in the backyard. She then became the toll bridge collector.
After a few minutes, Ava finally was able to convince Livy to share the broom. Okay so it might have been more like snatching of the broom but who cares really? She's just so fancy in her sundress. It seems a shame to be cleaning in it.

Ahh, Olivia had gotten the coveted broom back and had decided that sweeping the pool was a rather clever idea. Look at how cute she was in her little dress and ponytail.

15 minutes later...

Remember those cute kids with their hair brushed and pulled up into ponytails and the fancy little dresses they were wearing... Not anymore. Ava spent the rest of the day naked going from the pool to the fountain as well as in and out the doggie door.

This was everyone's view of Ava for most of the day. We really only saw her face when she was made to sit down and eat dinner.

Olivia hadn't gotten her clothes off yet when I took this photo of her washing the rabbits but it only was a matter of time before her dress was tossed aside and she too was naked and carefree.

And here's Peppy the life of the party. Ava chased this dog in and out through the doggie door all day. By the end of the day the dog had to rest. So he sat down and ate dinner with us.
We had such a great time. The girls met their cousins and ran around with them all day. It was nice to see them playing with family. Then by the time we managed to get back into the truck and drive home the girls literally hit the seats and went to sleep. We drove home, picked up a cake from the store, and within minutes Grammie and Papa were here to eat cake and sing happy birthday. Off to bed we went... lala land. Wonderful.

Strawberry Fields

This morning we into the fields to pick fresh ripe strawberries. One of us, Ava, ate a little more than she picked and had a great time doing it. Olivia, on the other hand was picking and walking, picking and walking, just following the trail. She'd make a great migrant farm worker. So busy that little one. They both did a great job and stayed in the dirt and off the plants. Occasionally someone would pick a green tester strawberry and toss it into our box but magically they were removed for the plump and juicy ones.

Next we are going to the cherry tree picking place... Hope it turns out to be as fun as it was today.

Swim Practice

Swim practice has begun once again but this summer it is a little more special than the previous summers. This summer Olivia has advanced from the mommy & me group to the 3-5 year old instructor assisted without a parent group. That's big news around here. She and her neighbor friend G are in the class together. The first day they were very well known to the instructor by the end of the session. These two were little devils together disobeying the rules and giggling. But by the next day's session they were on target and swimming like little fish.

So since Olivia is now allowed to swim without a parent, Dave and I were able to take turns swimming with Ava. On the nights he has to teach school, which is Tuesday and Thursday, I take the girls by myself to the pool and swim with Ava. On the other two nights, Dave is able to get in the water with Ava so that I can take pictures. This system has worked out pretty good so far.

And let me tell you who else was a little ham in the water... no, not Dave if that's what you were thinking... Ava. She loved the water. Day one we couldn't get her out of the pool nor her swimsuit. She kicked, she cried, but we convinced her she would be back the next day and finally we were able to wrangle her to the truck. This little girl had no fear in the water. She could monkey crawl, float, and blow bubbles like a rock star. She swam underwater and would come to the surface with a huge smile on her face.

I love that the girls are having a great time and enjoying themselves in the water. I also love that Dave has had the opportunity to be a part of it as well instead of always hearing about what we did during the day. I think the girls appreciate it too. More pictures tonight!

Mother's Day

What a day! I woke up to breakfast in bed. My hubby and kids made me eggs and sausage and fresh hot coffee. Sounds good right? Olivia carried the big plate to the bed almost dropping it on the floor and Ava carried the card. Then the two of them hopped up on the bed and ate all the eggs. There was also this really hot salsa on the plate for me to eat with the sausage. Well since I didn't get to taste the eggs I bent over to take a bite of the sausage and Olivia stuck her hand in the salsa. I said, "Noooo, Olivia it's very hot" so she withdrew her hand and wiped it all over the duvet. I guess it was good that it had a previous stain on it that also needed to be washed.

Then the girls traveled downstairs with their father so I could get dressed uninterrupted and do my bookwork. As I sat down in front of the computer I heard, "Daddy, I need to poop." This was very shortly followed up with, "Ava, did you poop in your panties? Oh no. Don't touch anything. Oh God, now it's all over the floor. Stay there. Just stay there and don't touch anything." Awe, Mother's Day. A day for me to let DAD clean up all the messes I thought to myself while secretly smiling on the inside.

After the poop fiasco was cleaned up and everyone resumed their daily activities I then heard the loud hum of the vacuum cleaner. What a good man I thought. He's even going to vacuum the house for me. Any mother should know every good deed comes at a price... Soon I hear, "Oh my God, are you ok, I didn't see you there. Oh no, you're bleeding." My heart drops as I race downstairs to find out what had happened and who was bleeding. All I could hear was Ava crying, Olivia singing as loud as possible, and Dave requesting Ava to move her hands so he could see her face. I asked, "what happened?" Dave responded with, "I hit her with the vacuum and split her face open?"

"WHAT??????" I asked in a panic.

"Her lip is split all the way through." Dave replied. "I didn't see her walk behind me as I was vacuuming and I hit her apparently with the handle."

After the bleeding stopped and we assessed the situation it was clear that Ava face was cut below her lip, not all the way through, and that she had two cuts in her mouth from hitting her teeth. Her teeth were fine and not chipped. So Dave called the doctor to find out if she needed stitches since it was on her face but they said she didn't and to just put antibacterial ointment on her for the next few days and she'd be fine. It's only 9:30 AM.

A few hours passed with no injuries or incidents...

Since our day was already off to such a great start, Dave started the laundry to clean the duvet and made the girls some lunch. I went upstairs to grab the camera to bring along to the kite festival and Dave walked into the garage to switch the laundry into the dryer. In that two minute period of time, Olivia decided to remove the paper plate that had the salsa on it from breakfast out of the trash can, proceeded to lick it clean, and then wiped her salsa crusted hands all over her dress. I came downstairs, saw the guilty look on her face, noticed the dress, and said, "what happened?" Dave heard me and came back inside from the garage and said, "what do you mean?" I offered Olivia some water as I assumed her mouth was on fire and I pointed to her dress. "Oh, Olivia what is that all over your clothes:( :( :(" Dave moaned. She tells him how she retrieved the plate from the trash and licked it clean. (Keep in mind her lunch was sitting in front of her untouched.)

Again Dave gets out the spray and scrub brush and began cleaning. Thank God this wasn't Father's Day or I would have been screwed. Finally, everyone had finished eating lunch, the clothes were cleaned and new ones were put on, and we were out the door to the kite festive. We drove down the road and arrived where the festival was supposed to be taking place. No one was there. I assumed I must have gotten the park wrong. For 20 minutes we drove all around trying to see kites in the air, hitting all the parks in our city. Nothing. Nada. Nil. Zilch. Are you freakin' kidding me? Olivia had been asking me if we were there yet. We drove home and checked the Internet. I had the right place, day, and time. So we made one last ditch effort to go back to the original location to see if we were just blind the first time. And what did we find...KITES. Thank you God. I was ready to lose it. We hopped out of the truck and flew our new parrot kite and played on the lawn. The girls had a blast.

The rest of the day proceeded like a typical day, except Dave made me dinner in bed as well. That was nice and thoughtful. We spent the rest of the night just reading books and playing games with the girls. We had a rough start but ended the day pretty smoothly. We called Grammie and Grandma and wished them well. I felt my Mother's day was successful. I felt loved and appreciated by my family and I am very thankful to be their mom. The girls mean the world to me and I love them both very much. It wouldn't be Mother's Day without them.