Yesterday morning, Papa asked Ava if she had a boyfriend.
Ava's reply - "Yes, Noah."
Noah was in the other room when this happened, so when he came in Papa asked him if he had a girlfriend.
Noah's reply - "Yes, Ava."
Are there any ages better than three and five?!
4/27/08
4/26/08
The Return of Television
I never realized how much I loved my television shows until I was forced to go without them. Thank you to whomever negotiates the contracts for television writers; you have made me one happy girl. {Second only to the genius who invented TiVo}.
So, in order of importance according to me, here's a recap of the best things that have been on in the last couple of weeks:
1. The Office - Laugh out loud funny. Steve Carrel should win any acting awards given just because he so convincingly makes me pity and loathe Michael at the same time - and sometimes makes me so uncomfortable I want to change the channel.
2. Lost - At this point, I don't really care what the island is. I just think the show is really entertaining and employs a lot of really hot actors.
3. Grey's Anatomy - Again, hot actors. But I didn't really miss that as much as the banter between the characters and the great music. Oh, and I didn't really miss Katherine Heigl either (not her biggest fan).
4. Ugly Betty - Love a show about a not-so-perfect girl being just about perfect.
5. The Bachelor - Ok, I know this show wasn't effected by the strike, but it's like a drug. Every season I swear I'm not going to watch it and every season I end up watching it and making fun of it. Eagerly anticipating the start of the Bachelorette!
So, in order of importance according to me, here's a recap of the best things that have been on in the last couple of weeks:
1. The Office - Laugh out loud funny. Steve Carrel should win any acting awards given just because he so convincingly makes me pity and loathe Michael at the same time - and sometimes makes me so uncomfortable I want to change the channel.
2. Lost - At this point, I don't really care what the island is. I just think the show is really entertaining and employs a lot of really hot actors.
3. Grey's Anatomy - Again, hot actors. But I didn't really miss that as much as the banter between the characters and the great music. Oh, and I didn't really miss Katherine Heigl either (not her biggest fan).
4. Ugly Betty - Love a show about a not-so-perfect girl being just about perfect.
5. The Bachelor - Ok, I know this show wasn't effected by the strike, but it's like a drug. Every season I swear I'm not going to watch it and every season I end up watching it and making fun of it. Eagerly anticipating the start of the Bachelorette!
4/17/08
BUMP at the Zoo
Arielle and Ava
Breck, Noah, and LandonNoah and Ava's preschool took a field trip to the Dallas Zoo on Thursday, so I took the day off to go with them. We met at the school, where I got a firsthand look at what a HUGE amount of patience Noah's teacher, Ms. Lisa, must have to deal with my child and his buddies - they were crazy people! I pray that Noah's kindergarten teacher next year has even half as much patience and love for him.
We rode the DART train to the zoo and what an adventure that was on a weekday during rush hour. The train was packed and we had to ride the first part of the trip standing up and holding on. The kids and I were standing about six inches away from a perfect stranger, and he was turned in our direction so it was a strangely intimate/uncomfortable ride. Once we made it past downtown, most of the train emptied and we were able to sit down and enjoy the rest of the trip.
The first part of the morning we spent at the Children's Zoo. They have made some really cool improvements; there was some new play equipment and a spider web rope kind of thing for the kids to climb on. It was somewhat difficult to pull them away from there to go see some animals!
Right across from there is a bird sanctuary where you can purchase bird seed covered popsicle sticks that the birds will eat from. We hadn't been in there 2 minutes when a bird landed on Ava's stick and proceeded to bite her finger. The same bird also flew up and sat on my head and then landed on Breck's shoulder ...
Next we stopped at the petting zoo area where they have a pony that the kids can ride. Noah wanted nothing to do with it, but Ava and Breck both happily hopped on ...
With only about an hour left before lunch, we finally left that part of the zoo to see some of the animals. We went over to the reptile building where we saw an alligator, lots of lizards and snakes, and some frogs. Both Noah and Ava were fascinated by the boa constrictor and the python, but most interested in the display case with a miniature city inside ... and no animal.
We also got to check out the elephants. This seemed like kind of odd elephant behavior and didn't even look real to me. But I really don't have any idea how they typically act so maybe this is just part of being big, caged in, and bored out of your mind. Whatever - it made for a cute picture.
And here's Ava posing with one of the flowers sweet Breck picked for her - right from the beautifully landscaped flower bed outside the reptile house!
Most of the other kids and parents left after lunch, but we decided to stay and ride the train back a little later. We were able to check out the penguins and see how the kids measured up in comparison ...
Last, we went to the stingray exhibit. Predictably, Noah was super-excited about the enormous Sponge Bob blowup, not so excited about the stingrays. I wasn't all that sure about touching them, either ... I realize that the zoo wouldn't put dangerous, stinging animals in a huge pool and let people touch them, but I had to be repeatedly reassured by the zookeeper that they wouldn't sting us. Every time Ava would put her hand in and one would come close to her, I would yank her hand out of the water. "Steve Irwin, Steve Irwin" just kept going through my head.
We had a great time, and Breck's mom Valerie and I discovered that not only did we go to the same high school, but we graduated the same year! Wow, it really is a small world.
We rode the DART train to the zoo and what an adventure that was on a weekday during rush hour. The train was packed and we had to ride the first part of the trip standing up and holding on. The kids and I were standing about six inches away from a perfect stranger, and he was turned in our direction so it was a strangely intimate/uncomfortable ride. Once we made it past downtown, most of the train emptied and we were able to sit down and enjoy the rest of the trip.
The first part of the morning we spent at the Children's Zoo. They have made some really cool improvements; there was some new play equipment and a spider web rope kind of thing for the kids to climb on. It was somewhat difficult to pull them away from there to go see some animals!
Right across from there is a bird sanctuary where you can purchase bird seed covered popsicle sticks that the birds will eat from. We hadn't been in there 2 minutes when a bird landed on Ava's stick and proceeded to bite her finger. The same bird also flew up and sat on my head and then landed on Breck's shoulder ...
Next we stopped at the petting zoo area where they have a pony that the kids can ride. Noah wanted nothing to do with it, but Ava and Breck both happily hopped on ...
With only about an hour left before lunch, we finally left that part of the zoo to see some of the animals. We went over to the reptile building where we saw an alligator, lots of lizards and snakes, and some frogs. Both Noah and Ava were fascinated by the boa constrictor and the python, but most interested in the display case with a miniature city inside ... and no animal.
We also got to check out the elephants. This seemed like kind of odd elephant behavior and didn't even look real to me. But I really don't have any idea how they typically act so maybe this is just part of being big, caged in, and bored out of your mind. Whatever - it made for a cute picture.
And here's Ava posing with one of the flowers sweet Breck picked for her - right from the beautifully landscaped flower bed outside the reptile house!Most of the other kids and parents left after lunch, but we decided to stay and ride the train back a little later. We were able to check out the penguins and see how the kids measured up in comparison ...
Last, we went to the stingray exhibit. Predictably, Noah was super-excited about the enormous Sponge Bob blowup, not so excited about the stingrays. I wasn't all that sure about touching them, either ... I realize that the zoo wouldn't put dangerous, stinging animals in a huge pool and let people touch them, but I had to be repeatedly reassured by the zookeeper that they wouldn't sting us. Every time Ava would put her hand in and one would come close to her, I would yank her hand out of the water. "Steve Irwin, Steve Irwin" just kept going through my head.
We had a great time, and Breck's mom Valerie and I discovered that not only did we go to the same high school, but we graduated the same year! Wow, it really is a small world.4/13/08
Works of Art
It's finally Spring! It seemed like the winter and nasty weather lasted a long time this year, so we've been anxious to get outside and play. Noah found this Crayola paint thing that Mamah and Papa had given him for Christmas in his closet and wanted to try it out. I was pretty skeptical that it would even work, but was pleasantly surprised with the results.
Ava took these pictures and I thought they looked like something that someone would frame and hang on their wall. Pretty cool, huh!?
4/8/08
Under Construction
We're there ... the last room in the house is finally on its way to being torn apart and made "new." Can't say I'm terribly excited about this stage of the process, but the results are worth it. All I can say is thank God for Stella Palmer's MAD skills ... there is no way Chris and I would have been able to do anything like it ourselves and certainly would not have been able to afford to pay a contractor.
There's still some work to be done in the kitchen - new drawers, moulding, and wallplates - but it is a fully functional room, complete with running water and a working oven! Here are some before pics ... (okay, the date on these says 2005 - can that be right??)
There's still some work to be done in the kitchen - new drawers, moulding, and wallplates - but it is a fully functional room, complete with running water and a working oven! Here are some before pics ... (okay, the date on these says 2005 - can that be right??)
In the two above, we still had the beautiful gray formica countertops and backsplash, as well as the equally fabulous peeling wallpaper and huge white light fixture. The photo to the right was taken in February of 2007; at this point we had gone about two months without a stovetop, oven, or a kitchen sink. The local restaurants loved us!
Finally ... some after pictures. I focused on the cabinet doors when shooting these, mostly because I was so excited that we were finally able to cover and hide all of our junk.
And now ... on to the BEST remodel in the house. The master bathroom. We began deconstruction in this room in August, and it was finished in early February, so we went about 7 months with only one toilet. You never really realize what a big deal this is until there are four people who really have to go at the same time. Thank God for a privacy fence; the neighbors probably would have turned us in for all of the times we let Noah pee in the backyard.
And now ... on to the BEST remodel in the house. The master bathroom. We began deconstruction in this room in August, and it was finished in early February, so we went about 7 months with only one toilet. You never really realize what a big deal this is until there are four people who really have to go at the same time. Thank God for a privacy fence; the neighbors probably would have turned us in for all of the times we let Noah pee in the backyard.
4/2/08
Noah-isms and Ava the Genius
It seems like Noah has become a "real" five-year old in the last month or so. He's picked up some little catch phrases, like "Oh boy" (that one works in many situations ... when he's surprised by something, when something doesn't go his way, when he's really excited about something that's about to happen), and "tell you what," which he uses when he wants to repeat something he's been told to do so it sounds like it was his idea in the first place. He's started telling knock-knock jokes, and even though most of the time the punchline makes no sense, it's pretty funny to watch him crack himself up. He's also decided to take some things very seriously, like oral hygiene. Tonight I took him and Ava for ice cream and he told me on the way back home that we shouldn't eat ice cream because it contains sugar and can cause our teeth to get cavities. He also wanted me to show him how to use dental floss.
And then there is Ava, girl genius. Tonight she put the forks out for dinner and told me she was going to make a pattern. She took out two regular dinner forks and two white plastic forks and alternated their placement on the table. She is also the queen of adverbs, a skill which I have come to recognize is lacking in most three-year olds, not to mention the majority of the adult population. Some of her more quotable - "My leg is hurting badly," "Noah isn't playing nicely," and "You have to sit correctly". Really!
And then there is Ava, girl genius. Tonight she put the forks out for dinner and told me she was going to make a pattern. She took out two regular dinner forks and two white plastic forks and alternated their placement on the table. She is also the queen of adverbs, a skill which I have come to recognize is lacking in most three-year olds, not to mention the majority of the adult population. Some of her more quotable - "My leg is hurting badly," "Noah isn't playing nicely," and "You have to sit correctly". Really!
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