Happy 26th to me!

Two Special Guys

Ava and Brad cleaning the mirror!

Being a single mother I have often worried about who will be a great male role model for her. I know that of course her father will be, he just doesn't have all the characteristics that I think she need in an awesome role model. I am so lucky that Katie is married to such an awesome guy, who lets us tag along on their family outings and spend so much time. Not only does he like us but he has been willing on many occasions to be an example for me and to Ava. I really look up to Ryan and hope that one day my life will be blessed with someone so fun to be around. Ava and I have also been blessed to have Brad become a part of our lives. He is so wonderful to Ava, and to me. He spends time with Ava, giving her much needed attention that I can't always give her. He just plays with her doing whatever she wants . He lets her wash her hands as long as she wants, wash the mirror using as much windex as she want (I never do this), he teases her too! I just love when they get to spend time together. I feel like it fills a gap in her life. Last Sunday Ava and I went to Sharon and Brads for lunch after church. Brad and Ava made silly hats for us all to wear. Then after lunch they disappeared into the bathroom (one of Ava's favorite places to play). They cleaned, which she also very strangely likes to do, then when Sharon inquired on what exactly they were doing for so long Brad's reply was "We've moved on to face washing!" I went to see what exactly this meant, and Ava was wiping his face with a paper towel. It was just too funny. So, Thank you Brad for giving Ava some much needed "fatherly" attention! It means more to me than words can ever express.

Memory Monday!

I thought I would post this picture of Becca on her first day of Second Grade. Becca had her first day of Eight Grade last Monday and I can't believe how grown up she is! This is the way I will always remember my cute little Doobie.

Silly Girl

Ava is definitely going through a fun stage right now. She likes to pick her own clothes, put them on all by herself (after asking me which way the go), pick her own shoes, and fix her own hair. She is actually pretty good at getting her hair into little ponytails, they aren't very cute but it just amazes me how she keeps trying and trying to do it until finally she masters it. She is obsessed with fixing hair right now and stands on her stool in the bathroom getting the comb wet and combing her hair into the funniest little ponytails. She wears her princess shoes most places. Last Saturday I asked her to get ready to go grocery shopping, these are a few pictures of what she came up with. Keep in mind she did all of this on her own, the clothes the shoes, the hair and the accessories. She cracks me and while letting her express herself might be a little embarrassing I feel inclined to just go with the flow and pick my battles!

Cherry Hill

Well, Ava made it back from a two week visit in California on Saturday and I was definitely glad to have her home. On Monday Katie and I loaded up the kids and headed to Cherry Hill. The kids had a blast. Ava and Cooper didn't spend as much time going down the slide this trip like they usually do. Instead they tried to sit on the fountains and wrestling with each other in the water. I must admit that at certain times I was worried that one of them was going to hit their head or scrape their face on the bottom of the pool because they were pushing each other around so much and laying on each other in the water. But they had fun, and that is really all that matters. It always amazes me how well Cooper and Ava can get a long and then within a minute they can be fighting like crazy. I am really glad the we all got to spend the day together.