Evolution of Dance

This is such a fun one. Hang in there for the first minute, it gets funnier by the second!

Whoo-Hoo!!!

Next to the day you give birth and maybe the day your child graduates from high school, I think that there are few other days that give you as much joy as the day your child is potty trained!
Ava decided in the last 3 days that she wanted to wear Dora underwear and has been doing great ever since. She is basically accident free and even gives me advance notice that she has to go. Those of you without children can laugh all you want, but I feel like it is a little miracle to see my toddler embrace this new found life skill. It feels like a miracle because I had absolutely NO control over her desire or time frame for this process. I am just jumping for joy that she has decided to and that I don't have to change any more stinky diapers though!

Now, what should I spend that extra $50 a month on....

Ava, Ava, Ava

I forgot about this story but was reminded when I downloaded the pictures from my camera. Because Kate was admitted to the hospital on Jason's birthday we weren't able to celebrate as a family on the 29th. By the time things settled down it was a few days later and we decided to just wait until Aunt Kristine was in town. While Jason was at a church meeting the kids helped us bake the cake. I frosted it while they were sleeping and we planned to decorate it the next day before his party.

Well, we woke up and got ready for church. I called to Ava to come upstairs and get her dress on but she kept saying no. When I finally walked downstairs to get her, this was what I saw.

In a few minutes time Ava had licked around the entire cake and poked dozens of holes in the top nearly taking all of the icing off. When she saw my open jaw stare she promptly said, "Sorry, Mom". But in truth, I don't think the girl felt bad at all. I think that Jason won't soon forget his was birthday cake masterpiece - compliments of Ava. Pretty fancy wouldn't you say?

Good Day Gone Bad

Today was a perfect spring day in Atlanta. We had blue, sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 70's. The kids are on spring break so the day began very leisurely. After hanging out we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the train park. We had the best time all together. Jackson and I tore it up with the aerobie for over an hour. Then he played on the swings until his legs were all worn out. Ava and Kate spent quite a bit of time in the sandbox and followed it up with swinging. I had a Zen moment in the park, watching my kids playing so happily and full of pure joy. Do you know what I mean - when the moment feels perfect?

Almost immediately after that perfect moment, I felt a flicker of worry. Kate complained that she was cold and then kept rubbing her arms. Toward the end of our time there she laid down on our picnic blanket and rolled herself up in it. She said that she wasn't feeling sick and she didn't feel warm to me (probably because I was sweating) so I didn't press it and just let her relax while the other kids finished playing. After a fun 3 hours we headed home for naps. Kate requested a nap (which further concerned me but I pushed it out of my mind). When I checked on sleeping Kate, I noticed that she was breathing very rapidly - 48 times a minute. I busted out the thermometer and she was at 104 degrees! Ughhhh. The moment I read that temp all of those serene feelings dissolved and were promptly replaced with anxiety.

Kate was much more upset this time too. (I mean the poor girl just left the hospital 9 days ago!) She even cried on the way to the hospital and told me that she just wanted to be at home. My eyes too, filled with tears for her sadness.
So here we are again. Kate's ANC is 430 and she has a fever so we're in the hospital for at least 2 days. Hopefully the blood cultures will come up negative in the next 2 days and they'll let us go. This is most decidely not the way to spend spring break!

Mo Willems

I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE Mo Willems. I have a hard time reading these books aloud because I can hardly keep from laughing outloud. There is something so basically hilarious about his writing and illustrations that I can't help it.

My friend Angela called yesterday and told me that Mo himself, was going to be at a local bookstore signing books and promoting his new book, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy. (This book is as great as his previous ones).

So Angela grabbed Jackson and Kate and took them with her boys to meet Mo. They had a lot of fun and were way excited to meet "a real live author". Thanks Angela!

Budding Photgrapher?

When I went to download the latest pictures from my camera, I found a whole ton by Kate. Here are a few of my favorite comments by Kate on her photos.

Me: "Why did you take this picture?"

Kate: "So we could see what show was on."

Me: "Why did you take this picture?"

Kate: Giggle...giggle... "Look, those are my knees". (Look carefully at the bottom of the photo).

Me: Why did you take this picture?

Kate: "I wanted to take a picture of her and then cut it out and put it in a picture frame. Then I wanted to hang it on my wall."

Me: Why did you take this picture?

Kate: "Because I knew Ava would love it."

The Family Room

Slowly but surely is my motto, as far as decorating goes. I am working on it a little here and a little there because if I try to tackle it all at once I get stressed out. We are getting there though and this is the latest update- our family room mantle.

I love the painting that a friend, Cathy, helped me find and so I kind of worked around that. I recently purchased the doors for the walls from Pottery Barn (we had planned built-ins there originally but ran out of $ building) and found the vases and Pussy Willows at Pier 1. (I especially like the Pussy Willows.) Our kitchen, on the other side of the room, has very dark cherry cabinets so I think that the doors and picture frame help to balance out the room. Now I want to get our flatscreen hung up on the wall and work on that wall!