In Ava's Room

There was a whole list of things I should have been doing today. Although, for some odd reason I just couldn't resist taking pictures of this little pixie-girl, Ava. She was looking cute and I thought I'd try and capture her while she was playing in her room with her favorite baby. She was all over the place - the bed, the floor, running out to talk to "No-nah" (Jonah) and then back again to me and her baby saying "oh baaaaby, oh baaaby..." She's cute.  Although, I should say she's cute by day and trouble by night. Later, after these shots were taken, she was playing upstairs and somehow managed to climb on top of her changing table. She then proceeded to pull EVERY last wipe out of it's bag and then, to top it all off, covered herself in vaseline. Fun! She's a pistol, that pixie-Ava, a real pistol.

I *Heart* the Weekends

Saturday...

Stella started soccer a couple weeks ago. She has practice after school on Thursday's and then games on Saturdays. She's had two games so far. We haven't won one yet, but we're getting better! :)  Go Pink Panthers!! I think she might take after her mom. I just don't understand the whole - dribbling with your feet - I'm more of a hands-on type of girl.

And see, she does take after me.  She's smiling.  I was told ALL THE TIME that I smiled while playing basketball.  What can I say, we're just happy people.

 

Sean has high hopes she'll take after him though.  Stella got a turn at playing keeper.  Here he is giving her some pointers.

 

Praise the Lord she didn't have to make any saves.  It's a little intense watching your child play sports.  This is new for me.  Sean only had to say "easy Sara" a couple of times ;). 

Sunday...

 

After naps we decided to go on a little family outing.  First stop, South Beach to see the sparkly ocean.  Stella and Jonah played on the drift wood, climbing and exploring.  Ava stayed near Sean and I and threw some rocks in the water and managed to get both feet wet. :)

Our next stop was just down the road to the Lighthouse.  Jonah loved it there.  He loved running through all the trails.  He's asked, oh I don't know, like a thousand times to go back. :)

 

 

I'll be coming back to this spot if I can ever get my kids in some cute outfits when I actually have my camera with me.  The ocean back ground and the long, lovely colored grass....yep, it'll be a good spot.

 

 

 

Stella and her - no teeth - smile.  This is how she smiled for her school pictures.  I was bummed, I wanted her to show off her missing teeth....retakes...

 

Self timers.  Wow.  I'm pretty sure the reason I look the way I look - hand on hip?? - is because I had to hurdle a small fence and then sprint to my spot (like 100 times) in 10 seconds.  So yeah, that's self timers for you. 

 

 My Love, aka Spider Man.

Awwwww....there's those teeth.

Ready - Set - JUMP! 

If you've never tried to take a jumping picture, you should.  I know I look like a tub of chub, but it's fun.  It makes you laugh.  Go on and try it.  If you want to be like me and do it in front of a lighthouse, better yet! ;)

 

Time to go home.  "Hurry up slow-poke.  You can't catch me!!"  Stella, talking to me.

She's Got More Than Just Big Hair

~She's got a personality to match her hair.  I just got back from doing a Beth Moore bible study, maybe Ava is going to be a little fireball like her :)

~She calls her sister Della and her brother No-Nah.

~She loooooves her baby dolls and carries them with her wherever she goes saying "Oh! Baaaby.  Oh! Baaaaby."

~She still loves baby food (???) and still wants "nacks" (snacks) alllllllll day long.

~We call her the runaway baby because she has escaped, not once, not twice but 3 TIMES to her grandma's house.  With no shoes on.  We just tell her to be home before dark ;)  My dad, sitting in his easy chair, looks out the window and says "oh, here comes Ava...by herself."

~She gets excited to eat her vitamins in the morning and will hurry and get a "bow" (bowl) to put them in...even if it's just 3 little things, she likes the bowl :)

~She just learned to jump, with both feet actually getting off the ground, and it's probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.

~She still licks her sheets when I put her down for naps or for bed.

~She'll climb up the ladder and slide down the slide by herself...face first.

~She will wrestle with her big sister and brother and do kung-fu with them too.

~She's watched her brother go to the bathroom one too many times...here's a picture to prove it

She's going "poo poo" or so she says.

She's full of life, this girl, and I love every ounce of her.  Even when she's crabby like she was yesterday and I thought I was going to have a baby sale - the 25lb-blond hair-blue-eyed - kind of sale. :)

Here are some photos from a little photo-shoot I had with her - if I can even call it that.  I didn't change her in to a cute outfit, that would mean more laundry and we all know I don't need more of that.  I didn't go find a cool place to take pictures...nope, that would mean me having to get out of my pjs (j/k).   We stayed home because, let's face it, I'm not a photographer.  I'm just a wannabe.  My name isn't written across these photos...go ahead and steal them ;)  Here she is...

She Should Have Been Born In Texas

Ava wakes up with big hair. She's sleeping good I guess. Bigger the hair, better the sleep...or so they say.

 

But it's nothing a little head band can't fix. Right??


Right???

Right.

Summer Wrap-Up

trips to the park...

lemonade stands, or an iced-peach-tea stand, with rice krispy treats...

This was all Stella's idea. At first she thought she should sell some of her art. I told her she might get more business if she sold something to drink and maybe a treat to eat. We don't exactly live on an ideal street for this type of thing, having only like 5 neighbors and living about 2 miles out of town :) but Stella didn't waver. Lets just say it's a good thing Grandpa and Grandma live next door, and it's a good thing we had some hungry neighbor boys. She made $6.50 - we may have just come out even ;). She was was very happy with her earnings.

date nights...

It's fun to go on dates with my husband, especially in the summer. One of our favorite restaurants is open only during the summer season. It's called Madrona Grill and it's out in Roche Harbor. The food is great, the atmosphere is fun and the company is my favorite.

icc soccer nights...

For the past few summers Islands Community Church has held a soccer camp for elementary aged children. This year the camp was run by Sean with the help of many members of the church. It was Stella's 3rd year of participating and Jonah's first. The first night Jonah was nervous. While they were warming up, he came to me crying saying, "I don't know how to skip." I sent him back to the field and told him to just gallop, it's close enough.

I don't have any action shots of Stella. According to her she was playing "defense" which, by the looks of it, meant daydreaming, dancing, and twirling :).

I also didn't take many pictures because I had to keep my eye on my other child, you know, Ava. Just look at what happens when I take my eyes off of her for a minute - she climbs into cars with boys.

family walks, bike rides and strolls...

losing teeth...

6 teeth and counting

pond days and beach trips...

my garden...

Which is more like a jungle. Look at the size of my sunflowers!!! They're like the size of small giants.

I'm sad to see all of these things go. It's been a fun summer.

That's a wrap.