Chase and Ava

Having a little painting fun.

Chase playing with a toy rocket.

Ava frustrated with Chase not sharing his rocket toy and goes into the other room to "read" a book.

Ken with the Kids

I needed to get somethings done around the house, so Ken took the kids to the park to play for awhile.

Caden won a free kid's meal from Texas Roadhouse from school for being a good leader. Ken took Caden and Chase to go and redeem it. Caden and Chase had so much fun and often bring up their special lunch with dad, even months later.

Here are some pictures from our family home evening. We made cake pops. Yum!Yum!

Caden got sick one night and had missed family home evening treats. He didn't forgot though. As soon as he was better, he reminded us that he had missed his bowel of ice cream and wanted it as soon as possible. This boy loves ice cream.

Silly Ava

Ava believes ketchup is a new food group.

Ken was doing a Wii night with the boys and Ava while the 2 older girls were with Mom. Ava crawled into Ken's lap and almost immediately went limp. She was out cold.

We have church at noon, which makes nap time for Ava really difficult. On this particular Sunday she had missed her naps altogether. Around 5 things suddenly were too quiet. I realized I hadn't seen Ava in awhile. We started looking for her and calling her name...no response. We started to get a little worried when Ken stumbled upon Ava asleep on a stool. She was apparently on a mission but got too tired. The kids thought it was hilarious and started laughing, which woke her up. She was not too happy to be woken up by her laughing brothers and sisters and laying her head on a hard counter top.

Pretty girl in pink, ready for bed.

Ken's 35th

Ken's actual birthday celebration was a bit delayed but the kids made sure we didn't forget. The kids were so excited to give Ken the presents they picked out for him...a pocket knife and a hiking backpack with a water bottle.

Ken is having a hard time coming to terms with how old he is. He keeps telling people he is 33 (totally by accident). Yes, keeping track of your actual age just isn't as important as when you are a kid.

Family Funplex

The kids had no school, Dad had no work and we were all itching for a little fun, so we went to the Family Fun Plex for a little swimming (they have an amazing price for families). We had tons of fun! The room was a little chilly (they were having problems with the heating) but the kids swam forever.

Ava loved jumping in to big sister Kailyn....

and jumping to big sister Jordan.

And jumping in again to Kailyn...

She jumped in again and again, she loved it.

Jordan going down the big slide.

Kailyn loved it too!

Caden was very sad he couldn't go down the big slide like the girls, luckily we found this smaller one he loved.

Chase loved it too.

Caden checking out the fun waterfall.

The wading pool was great for Ava and Chase.

Ava was very resistant to going down the slide but once we got her to go down she loved it.

 Chase and Ava swimming with Mom.

Jordan

Chase

Caden

Me freezing to death.

Ken and I decided next time we need to time it a little better. We will plan it so that we get done swimming at bed time  so that when they do this, we can just transfer them straight to bed.

Ava is 2!

Can you believe that Ava is 2! She is getting so big. She is a smart little chic. I love how much more she is talking lately. She is much more understandable and her thoughts are so much more complex. Like today, I laid her down for a nap (she has been fighting naps lately) and started a movie for Chase to watch. After about 5 minutes she comes down. I told her it is nap time and she needs to go back to bed. Her reply, "Mom, I went to sleep and then I woke up. Now I watch a movie too."

Ava and Caden. Caden loves Ava. At night Ava is often grumpy and does not want to be hugged or kissed good night. This does not stop Caden from trying every night to give Ava a kiss good night.

Ava opens her present while Chase and Caden excitedly look on.

Yes, Ava loves being the one who gets to open all of the presents.

Hugs from Caden.

Package from Grandma and Grandpa Jones.

The stroller from Grandma and Grandpa J was a huge success! She takes it everywhere...it even sits next to her while she sleeps.

With a little encouragement she even blew out her candles.

I love this little girl's smile and laugh. It is the best thing!

A little about Ava (according to Mom)

Favorite color? ???? she is starting to try and pick out colors, she is actually right a lot of the time

Favorite food? what food doesn't she like. This girl loves to eat. She loves chocolate (and I swear can smell it from a mile away), loves yogurt, fruit leather, strawberries, waffles/pancakes/french toast/German pancakes

What do you want to be when you grow up? be like her brothers and sisters that she constantly copies

Favorite thing to do? she loves to go anywhere, she loves to be outside and is constantly trying to sneak out when her big sisters or brother go anywhere, she also loves to torment Chase

Who are your friends? I don't really know why but she loves Kailyn's friend Anna W. and gets so excited anytime we see her (she even knows her by name)

What is your favorite toy? the toy her brother Chase is playing with

Favorite Story/Book? she actually loves to read stories (she is not normally the one to initiate), she especially loves to read if she can sit on your lap and/or if it is one on one. She loves lift the flap type books.

Where do you want to live when you get big? she is going to be with us a long time yet

How many kids are you going to have? ???

Favorite song? any song she can dance to, she loves to dance and has started to even dance when there is no music playing. We do a thing called Music Makers every Friday and she loves the song we sing every week that has the kids sing "la, la, la" in different ways. In fact she will ask if we are going to "la, la, la."

Favorite movie? she loves Dora even though she has only seen it a couple of times

What makes you happy? chocolate and being held by mom

What makes you sad? when she can't eat when/what she wants, when someone is leaving and she can't go with

How do you know mom and dad love you? they put up with my frequent 5am, 3am wake up calls; they snuggle with me; they kiss my owies better

Some more about Ava...
Ava is a little snuggle bug. She doesn't just want to be held she wants to have as much body contact as possible. She sleeps on her stomach with her hands under her stomach. She is good with names. She can name a lot of the kids' friends' names and anytime there is someone she doesn't know she asks "Who is that?" She is a good little runner and loves to run. She loves her baby (which is a doll that has been through Kailyn and Jordan and definitely shows it). Definitely, in the 2s. She doesn't tantrum because we can't understand her but because she doesn't get what she wants when she wants it. She has bitten poor Chase a few times now. It normally occurs when they are fighting over a toy and they start yelling and then Ava gets frustrated and bites. I hate bitters! it is such a hard thing to break. She is very polite and is constantly saying 'thank you' for every little thing others do to help, she also says 'excuse me' all the time, and uses the phrase 'my I please..'.