Year After Year

The year Matt and I bought our house, we planted several tulip bulbs in our front flower bed. Each year since then, they have bloomed and painted our doorway with beautiful colors in the spring.

In April 2010, Ava was 4 months old, and she quickly became mesmerized by the tulips blooming in our front yard. I took a quick picture to capture the moment and little did I know, it would become a tradition. 

One year later, in April 2011, Ava was 16 months old and she had finally mastered the art of walking... Which made looking at the tulips fun for her, and a headache for me. The tulips did not last quite as long in 2011, since they were trampled, almost daily, by Ava's stomping walking feet.

Since we had virtually no winter this year, our tulips started blooming in February, and by the end of March, they had already passed their peak. Matt and I are kicking ourselves for not setting aside time to take pictures when the tulips were in their prime. Regardless of the backdrop, and the fact that Ava had just woken up from a nap, I'd say this is still a pretty cute picture.

Can't wait to see next year's photo!

Boot Camp, 2012

This past weekend, our church held its annual Boot camp weekend for the youth. The short explanation of Boot camp weekend: A weekend full of fellowship, fun and growing deeper in your relationship with God... And more specifically, this year's theme was "Becoming A Disciple of Christ."

For the entire weekend, Matt and I hosted 7 wonderful 6th grade girls and 2 amazing college leaders. May I first say, that hosting all of these ladies for the weekend would not have been possible without God. Let me also say that we had many friends and family members help us out for the weekend... We borrowed air mattresses, borrowed a truck, a friend made cookies for the girls... We were very blessed to have so many people behind us for the event.

Ok, so here is a photo re-cap:

This is what our living room floor looked like at 7:30am Saturday morning. Not sure what time they finally fell asleep... All we know is that they were still up talking at 4:30.

The college leaders had great activities and illustrations for the girls... Including a trust walk.

Somehow, our piano became one of the most popular things of the weekend...

As did the dog door.

What 6th grade girl sleepover is complete without a pyramid?

And hair braiding?

Lots of laughs were shared around this table.

And most importantly, God's word was shared, taught and discussed throughout the weekend. I love a good living room Bible study.

The CLC at our church was transformed to fit the Boot camp theme.

And the kids took part in an afternoon of activities, including a workout that was quite intense!

Also part of the afternoon activities... Blind food tasting

Team building word scrambles

Frisbee golf in the rain

Obstacle courses

Slides

And picture posing.

Matt and I had a great time getting to know each of the girls throughout the course of the weekend.

We also feel humbled and consider ourselves blessed to have been able to take part in a weekend that not only glorified God, but touched the lives of 161 of our youth.

Can't wait for Boot camp, 2013!

Birthday Party Bonanza

We have spent the last 2 weekends partying it up and celebrating birthdays for some of the cutest kids I know.

Last weekend, we enjoyed a lovely backyard birthday party for Ava's friend, Jackson. Let me give you just a few of the many reasons that this was an awesome party:

1. It was outside and the weather was perfect

2. It was a football themed party

3. The food was some of the best I've ever had

4. There was an egg toss. With real eggs. With real, uncooked eggs. There were also a few t-shirts covered in egg yolk.

5. The Tar Heels beat The Wolfpack while we were at the party.

Happy 1st Birthday Mr. Jackson! Don't you just love a good cake smash?

This weekend, the parties continued... Yesterday, I spent the morning at my friend's house for her Thirty One launch party. Girl time, food and bags/purses... Pretty good way to start a Saturday morning!

Later in the afternoon, we went to another wonderful backyard birthday bash. This time, for Mr. Tucker Holbrook's 5th birthday! A swing set + power wheels + ride-on toys + Frisbees + wagons + food + a bunch of kids = An excellent birthday party!

Ok, the following picture just cracks me up... Tucker's younger brother, Finn, enjoys driving his John Deere power wheel around the yard. He can push the pedal, but he has not yet discovered how to steer the tractor. The solution? Finn's parents sit him in the tractor seat, pull the steering wheel all the way to one side, let him push the pedal and watch him ride around and around and around in a circle. Talk about chillaxin'!

Ava took her first swing at tee-ball.

She climbed a rock wall.

And went down a slide.

The boys played games.

While Ava and Daddy played keep away wit a giant Frisbee.

We sang happy birthday to T-Man, followed by eating cake and ice cream.

Little ones enjoyed the swing set...

And brothers fought over the John Deere Tractor.

Ava stayed hydrated.

Tucker was blown away by our gift... A combination padlock. In all honesty, that is pure joy on his face (seen below). Good thing I asked Tucker's mom what he wanted before the party... I would have never thought to look in a hardware store for a 5 year old's birthday gift.

Believe it or not, we had another birthday celebration to go to immediately following Tucker's party. Ava and I had already had a very long day, and I was afraid that with no nap, taking Ava to the next birthday party was just a disaster waiting to happen. We hated to miss sweet Amelia's 1st birthday party, but I am fairly certain you had a great time celebrating without a screaming, pouting, in-need-of-a-nap 2 year old running around your party.

After church today, we headed over to birthday party #4. Yet again, this was another wonderful birthday party and let me tell you why!

1. It was in a gym. A gym filled with toys. A gym surrounded by walls. The kids could run and play to their heart's content, all while being contained in one area.

2. It was basketball themed.

3. Ava had a blast playing basketball and running around for 2 hours!

What basketball birthday party is complete without a basketball cupcake? Forget the grapes and celery on her plate, Ava went for the cupcake first. A girl after my own heart. Take a look at the picture... Ava is able to shove the cupcake in her mouth without touching the icing and while keeping her fingers clean. That's what I call talent!

Ava's fingers may have stayed clean, but her face is a different story...

Ava was in heaven playing with the giant, inflatable basketball.

I showed off my one and only basketball skill... Palming a men's basketball. I can totally palm a basketball in my right hand. My left hand not so much.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Cannon! Thanks for letting us come and play for the afternoon!

Daylight Savings Time

I will admit, I am not a fan of "springing forward" for Daylight Savings time and losing an hour of sleep. I am, however, a fan of getting an extra hour of sunlight everyday. This extra hour of daylight can only mean one thing... The smell of sunscreen, sweaty kids playing outside until the sun goes down, fireflies, grass stains, swimming pools, the beach, picnics outside everyday, sunbathing, dripping ice cream cones, grilling out and evening bike rides... Summer is just around the corner.

Tonight, we wanted to enjoy the extra hour of daylight, so we headed over to the local park for a picnic. When we were through eating, Ava knew right where to go... the playground!

My brother, and Fergie, joined us. For those of you who may not have heard, my brother is now the proud owner of our former, and still beloved pup. Nothing happened, she is still the greatest dog on the face of the planet, but for several reasons, Matt and I decided it would be better for us (and her) to find a new home. Lucky for us, my brother had been contemplating getting a dog, so the timing was perfect. We know Fergie is in great hands, and as a bonus, we still get to see her a few times every week!

Nothing like a little daddy/daughter time. Oh, how I love these two.

Typically, when you go to a playground, you see all of the children releasing their built up energy by running around and climbing on the playground at rapid fire speed. Not Ava. Little Miss Timid takes her time and essentially looks like she is moving in slow motion compared to all of the other kids at the park.

She'll eventually make her way to a slide, bridge or swing and when she does... don't blink! Or, do.... I probably blinked about 5 times before she finally made her way down to the bottom of this itty bitty slide.

Ah, the temperature is rising, the pollen is floating through the air (I could do without that), it is still light outside at 8pm... Bring it on summer. Bring. It. On!

Weekend Re-cap

Matt, Ava and I spent the weekend at my parent's house in Fuquay Varina.

We enjoyed some girl time around the backyard fire pit.

When the temperature started dropping, Ava snuggled with mom...

And dad.

What backyard fire is complete without s'mores?

Mmm Mmm Good!

After stuffing her face with s'mores, Ava bounced the night (and the sugar) away on this horse. I believe this particular photo was taken as Ava was coming down from one of her many, many bounces.

Sunday, we went to a local park. Ava and Opa took a walk.

Ava climbed on the equipment.

A friendly mom took a family picture for us.

My parents tried to hide from the bitter cold by hiding under the playground.

Ava and I played 'underdog.'

Ava has been getting over a cold, and 90% of the pictures I took this weekend look like the one below... Ava hacking up a lung.

Remember that picture of my parents huddling under the playground? That lasted only a few minutes. Somehow (and I honestly have no idea how), my dad realized that the ground (covered with that rubber mulch) was really warm. So what did my parents do? Lay down on it, of course.

The picture above makes it look as though the swing set is tucked away in the playground and no one would notice my parents laying down on the ground. The picture below would show otherwise... My crazy parents were the first thing people saw as they approached the playground from the parking lot, and the last thing they saw before they left.

We enjoyed our time with Oma and Opa! Thanks for letting us come visit. Perhaps next time we come it will be warmer and you won't have to lay down on the ground to stay warm.... Or you could bring a coat. :)