Itty Bitty Basketball Time!

Zach practicing his dribbling

Zach taking a shot!

I'm so proud that he's actually FOLLOWING the ball!

This is Gages little brother Tanner. This little guy LOVES to HATE me! I keep trying though!

He's probably looking for Gage to pass the ball to!

Gage getting some dribbling pointers. He loves it too!

Ava, of course, found a friend (Abby) and they played with Ava's hair bows and Ava's birthday sunglasses the whole time!

Tuesday March 16th Zach started basketball. He was a little nervous because he hasn't ever played it, but he ended up liking it alot! The pictures are grainy and bad but Zach is number 13 and his friend Gage is number 5 (he HAD to be number 5, I was afraid he wouldn't play if he didn't get it!). They were SO cute! The coach gives them colored wrist bands when they are out on the court and they are supposed to guard the kid on the other team that is wearing the same colored wrist band. Zach even does pretty good. Chris has been working on dribbling the ball with him and I think he is getting the hang of it. This past game on Tuesday the 23rd he even scored a basket! He was SO excited!! Anyone who has seen Zach play soccer is probably wondering if he fights his "invisible ninjas" on the b-ball court? Well, luckily the "ninjas" made a brief appearance in the first game but they didn't come back for the second game! Zach gets a little distracted on the soccer field and he just starts doing fight moves all by himself on the opposite end of the field! We have great video of him "fighting" and it is pretty funny, but I'm hoping the "ninjas" don't show up for his soccer game this Saturday!

Ava's First Dance Class

They did a little dance with teddy bears and she caught right on!

Ava dancing in her "dancey-class-shoes", as she would say

Ava being a "fish in the sea"

This is their "Freeze" dance where they dress up and freeze when the music stops

This is hands-down her favorite part!

Ava post-dance class (and post-yogurt!)

I finally decided to enroll Ava in dance class. She had her first dance class on March 16th. I have been thinking about this for a while because she has been asking to go to "dance class" for months since she found out one of her friends goes. So I called the Syracuse Dance Academy and they said I could trial one class to make sure she understood what she was expected to do. I was sure it would be a flop because when I enrolled Zach in a Mom & Tot class when he was 2 or 2 1/2, it was horrible. He was so naughty. We never went again! And I think that Ava is the youngest one in the class, she just turned 3 and the class is 3-5 years. But Ava loved it! She LISTENED to the teacher and tried SO hard. I was so proud I almost cried. I took pictures because the only reason they let me sit in on the class was because it was her first time. So I took full advantage of my visit. It is a closed studio except for the first Tuesday of every month. This makes me sad, but they know what they are doing and told me that kids this young do better if their parents aren't there. She has a recital in June (seriously! a recital!) at the Val A. Browning building at WSU. I can't wait. They are doing a dance to the music of "Painting the Roses Red" from Alice and Wonderland. The theme of the whole recital is "Let's go to the Movies". She has already been fitted for her costume and I think I'm more excited than she is! Is that crazy or what? Maybe just sad!

Maybe Mommy is "Ogre" doing it.....

The other day Ava was sitting next to me while I was studying and I noticed that she reached up to pick her nose and then her little finger slid nonchalantly down to her her mouth (Blech!!!!). I understand kids do this when they're little but it's still nasty! I was so grossed out! But most of all I was so shocked! Where did she learn this? I do not pick my nose and eat it! Seriously. I told her that "princesses do NOT eat boogers! That is so gross and Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty would tell you that it is gross too." She just stared at me, so I kept going. "Ava, ogres eat boogers, did you know that?" She still just stared, "Ava, who's an ogre?" I was trying to prompt her to say Shrek because she loves Shrek and knows he's an ogre. But when I asked her who's an ogre, and she said, "Me", and started crying. I had to back track and tell her that she was a princess and not an ogre.

Happy Birthday Ava Kate!

This is the Birthday Girl when she woke up.

Birthday wishes from Dad.

Ava Kate turned 3 on February 24th. We celebrated with 2 parties and 2 cakes. She was very spoiled because her birthday fell on a Tuesday and that is the day I have class. I felt really bad but I could not afford to miss ANY classes. She had her second party the following Sunday at my moms house. But... of course I had to work. I felt like a bum mom all week, but fortunately I don't think she noticed to much! She kept telling me "Mom, mom it's my birthday!" It was so cute. She really wanted some pink cowboy boots. I really don't know why, because I am everything but country and she is never exposed to it. I don't know of any of her friends who have any. But this was the one thing that she consistently requested when asked. So my mom mad her day by giving her the cutest cowboy boots (well, cute for cowboy boots anyway). The best part....They light up! It's so funny. She struts around in those boots like she is top stuff. Some times in just her favorite "princess panties". Zach gave her some "Elton John" sunglasses, they take up her whole face. She has always liked to wear sunglasses and when Chris saw them at Nordstrom he couldn't resist. Zach was so excited to give them to her. He kept them a secret for almost 2 DAYS! Good job Zach! Happy birthday princess!

This is Zach giving Ava his present.

Ava opening her princess dishes that she totally found 3 weeks earlier, but we made her wait.

Ava and Zach having a tea party with the new set.

So big! I can't believe she is 3!

My mom got her a Tinkerbell cake and she LOVED it!

Krissy, Zach and Ava messing around.

Ava actually got 2 cakes. Elaine made her one and had a special dinner for her while I was at school.

Island Park

Chris and Zach having fun on the tube pre "incident"


We decided as a family that we needed a little R & R. So we accepted the Cooks invitation to go to Island Park. We have been going with them for the past 2 or 3 years and it has now become some kind of tradition. We almost decided not to go because of school, work, life, ect. But I am so glad we went. However, last year Zach got sick and the year before that I got altitude sickness, so needless to say I was anticipating some kind of "event". Well, fate delivered! (Or should I say Chris delivered!)
Chris decided to tie a tube to the back of his snowmobile and pull Zach around the cabin. At first the nurse in me screamed "Helmet!!", but Zach was having so much fun and Chris was going pretty slow, so I relented until he came back from his ride to make him put his helmet on. I guess Chris forgot Zach was 6 and not a full grown adult because he started getting a little wilder (anyone who has been on the boat with Chris and been the unlucky soul out on the tube knows what I mean!) Well, all of the sudden I hear commotion on the other side of some pine trees and I hear Zach crying and Chris saying "You're fine, bud. You're fine." (This is his fix-all comment for everything). Then I hear the snowmobile start back up and Chris finally comes into vision pulling Zach on the tube. He rounds the corner by the truck and BAM! Zach's tube careens into the tire of the truck and Zach goes bouncing off in to the snow. I, meanwhile, am videotaping them coming back-drop the camera and run to check on Zach. BLOOD EVERYWHERE! His poor face looked like he had been in a fight! So as I'm looking at Zach trying to assess what's wrong, he proceeds to cough up blood! I'm thinking "Oh. My. Gosh. I am going to have to call Air-Med to pick up my child who has blunt chest trauma!" Chris is yelling at me to calm down and that it's just a bloody nose! Seriously though, the kid had blood everywhere! Even Anne and Katie where worried. I guess what happened was back behind the trees Zach had fallen off and gotten hurt and THIS is where he got a bloody nose. Chris then loaded him onto the tube to bring back to me and they just happened to hit the truck tire on the way back to add insult-to-injury. I thought the blood was from hitting the truck but it wasn't. So my smart husband had thrown my nose-bleeding-child onto the tube lying on his back and pulled him back to me. Everyone knows if you have a bloody nose you don't lay back! It sounds so morbid- but it was a sight, considering it was just a bloody nose! The tube, his jacket, his bibs, the snow, everything had blood all over it! So as I look back at the video of the "incident" you can barely see Zach hit the tire but you can see him bouncing out and all the while my darling husband has this passive look on his face as he rams my child in to the truck! LOL! I've decided there will never be a dull moment with Chris in my life!!

Jenny PULLING Zach on the tube. This is how we roll now!

Chris and Ava

Me and Ava before our ride

This is Ava after she face planted it in the snow. That's her neck warmer that has slid up.

Zach and his ever rosy cheeks!

Mother of a soon-to-be delinquent...

So I used to show my kids songs and clips from You Tube because my iPhone has a permanent application for it and this would keep them entertained while waiting for tables at restaurants and what not. Well, I received an email with a Harry Potter puppet clip where they sing to the tune of "lollipop" and then Voldemort blows them up with a pipe bomb and he does this little jig (its just a little puppet show and the blowing up is just the screen blanking out and some fabric fluttering down- I'm not that bad of a mom!). So I made the mistake of showing it to Zach a few months back. BAD IDEA! Okay, so every time we get in the car it's always "Mom, can I play on your phone?" Well, Zach and his buddy Gage LOVE to watch their "Harry Potter Puppet Pals" video (this is what they call it). So today I pick up Gage to take him to school and of course, no surprise, they want to watch it on my phone. So I'm listening to them plan out how they are going to "recreate" this puppet show, deciding who they will ask to be in it and who will play Hermione (Emily Stevenson) yada, yada. So as they are planning this they are watching it over and over when my son finally announces "So now all we have to do now is figure out how to build a pipe bomb!" I mean-Seriously.

Princess goes to the Dentist

This is Ava telling the hygienist what she is "allowed" to do.

This is Dr. Wall counting Avas teeth.

This is the hygienist doing what she is "allowed" to do.

This is Ava getting her 2 x-rays before she was "done".

Ava had her first ever dentist appointment. It definitely went better than I expected. I didn't expect to get any x-rays. She actually did give them two out of four x-rays. I really can't be upset because I didn't expect any! She let her hygienist clean a "few" teeth. She was very explicit in what she would allow to be done. She even smacked the hygienists hand away a few times if she didn't listen. However, she was so proud when she got her Snow White tooth brush, that she said "I was soooo good, huh mom?" I had to say yes because I expected it to be so much worse!

School Dayz....

Sometimes when I wake up and my kids come and jump in my bed and are so excited to see me, I often forget about my worldly obligations.............. Then I remember that it is Friday and I have to learn a weeks worth of graduate level physiology, complete an essay assignment and take a test all before Sunday night at midnight. I have to wonder if it is all worth it. My family has had to make some sacrifices these past couple of months for me and they do it with a happy heart. Chris has been so selfless and encouraging, he really wants me to succeed. He often has dinner for me when I get home from the hospital. He does the laundry, bathes the kids and reads to them on nights when I have to study or work late. I often feel that I don't deserve such a wonderful family. But I love them so much and know that they love me.
Zach is getting so smart. He wants to read ALL the time. He reminds me and Chris if we ever try to let a night of reading slip by, that he needs to do at least 20 minutes. He brings me his 1st grade level books to read often even though he struggles through the entire thing (I personally think its because they only make Star Wars books for 1st grade level and up). But even when he struggles he doesn't give up. He gets so excited when he pronounces a new word that he never has before. His teacher, Miss Washburn, had great things to say about Zach and Chris and I as well at his parent teacher conference this week. I am proud to be his mom.
Ava has been going through her terrible twos' and I don't see an end in sight! I think she will transition right on through to terrible threes' with out a hitch! She has been saying all kinds of funny things lately. She tries so hard to be an adult, only to breakdown and have a tantrum and bring herself right back to two years old! She asks at least once a week when we are going to Disneyland. This kid has a steel vault for memories! She will constantly ask if we can just ride "Woody's Ride one time today?" as if its just in the backyard! I think she dreams Disney at night! She loves her brother and whenever I get mad at her she runs right to Zach crying! He of course picks her up (or tries anyway!) and coddles her like a baby and she eats it right up! Her latest and greatest is to run from the room crying into her bedroom and slam the door. I go after her only to find her sobbing (or at least pretending) into her pillow! She is our drama child!
Chris sold one of his spec houses a couple weekends ago and we were so excited. Even though we had to finance them, we are still getting money each month to cover the home and that is blessing enough.
Chris' sister Lori is coming in today with her husband Mike and her new baby Catherine. We are so excited to meet this baby! She was born in November and Mike and Lori live in California so we have not met her yet. It should be a fun weekend with Chris' family as we celebrate his Grandma Garners birthday!

Fresh Start

Before I start my new years resolution to start blogging, I need to explain why I chose to do this. I recently went back to school and have felt like there is just not enough time in the day to do all that I need and want to do. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I LOVE to read. I can read a book in record time. However, since life has thrown us some fastballs that we weren't expecting and Chris and I both find ourselves back in school, I have not read any books in several weeks. This might not sound that bad but considering that if I have enough books then I usually read 2 books a week sometimes more. I also recently started "Couponing" that crazy world of women who obsess over finding the best deal to "Pinch your Pennies". There is no longer any time to keep up with that. I also like to watch Heroes, Greys Anatomy, Private Practice and American Idol, but haven't watched any of these since the end of last season. I have found that in order to fit in the demands of school I needed to give up some things. I wasn't about to give up my time at night reading to and with Zach or playing princess with Ava Kate. I decided that something had to give, things just aren't fun when you don't do anything for yourself. After some thought I figured that I would make time for blogging because it's something I can keep forever and while I am doing it for myself, I am also doing it for my family. I don't know if I would have ever even considered it if my dearest friend Stacey hadn't started one of her own, and because my friend Jessica set up the entire thing several months ago to help me get going. Well here I am finally getting started...