Don't give up on me...

I know, you are all shocked. I finally updated my blog. I tried to update a month ago and after an hour, I hit something and it deleted the entire post. I was very upset! So these pictures are from the Summer up until now. I am not going to write a lot you can tell what we have been up to by the pictures. They go backwards. I just wanted to get a post done. Sorry! There are a lot of pictures. I hope everyone is doing great. We have finally got into a routine since school has started. Hayden and Ava both started kindergarten. They go in the afternoon and are in different classes (by my choice). Hayden does go all day. He is in the resource room in the morning. Ok, I will stop writing and you can check out the pictures!

We went to Tanner's Apple orchard this past Sunday

Hayden loves playing on the school bus

Ava and cousin Gia on the barrell ride

Waiting in line for the barrell ride

He also loves the fire truck

Still at Tanner's

Tanner's

At the pumpkin festival parade

This was their favorite ride...the Tornado

I still can't believe I let them ride this by themselves. They weren't even strapped in. I didn't realize this until after the ride started. I had a mini panic attack.

They love the slide

They rode this once. Not as exciting as the other rides

They love the roller coaster

This is Hayden's favorite ride

They still wanted to ride the train

Our trip to Apple Blossom farm

They loved feeding the goats

We took a hayrack ride through the pumpkin patch

Yes, that is my mom going down the slide. It was pretty funny!

Hayden's hilight was the ride on the monster truck

This is a view of our finished house. You can go to my previous post for the before shots. We are so happy it is done and we love the outcome!!!

In the back we have a new patio and Brian put in the retaining walls.

First day of kindergarten

First day of kindergarten

Weekend trip to St. Louis to see Mary Poppins

I bought my mom tickets for her 60th birthday

This was Ava's first musical. She really did like it!

Shopping in St. Louis

Ava's meatball was as big as her head!

We took a quick trip to Gurnee, IL. to stay at Key Lime Cove. We did it last summer and the kids had a blast so we went again

They both ended up going down the waterslides by themselves.

Hayden had fun getting people wet and spraying them

They had fun eating ice cream while in their pajamas

We ate at the Rainforest cafe

At Key lime cove

Getting ready to have some fun!

In our hotel room

We got a special invitation from the Children's hospital to go see the air show practice run.

We got to meet all the pilots. That was really cool!

Long Overdue...

I have failed again. It has been awhile since I have posted. There is no real reason why I have been slacking. We have been busy this Summer. The biggest thing that is going on is the renovation of the outside of our house. We are getting closer to being done. I will have pictures of the final look. Here are some pictures of what has been happening. Some are out of order.

Ava got her hair chopped off. This is the final look

This is the before. It was pretty long

This is our house before the renovation

This is the back of our house, before

We got new windows. This is the big gaping hole before the new window went in

This is a big hole in our guest bathroom. We now have a tub/shower in there

We have had a lot of equiptment at our house lately

July 4th picture ( I had to work so I missed seeing the fireworks with my family)

At the fireworks

At the fireworks

We finally were able to go out to the lake

Playing in the sand

Hanging out on the 7 person float

A New Look and Ava's Dance Recital

This past Thursday morning when I was coming home from work I was talking to Brian on the phone. He informed me that at 2am he got a phone call. The person had said it was the police department and could he come to the front door. When he got to the door he saw that it was the police and that a drunk driver had driven up in our lawn and ran into and knocked down our lamp post. We are so lucky that the driver did not run into our house or Brian's car which was on the driveway. They found the driver a few houses up passed out in his car. We were going to replace this lamp post anyway we just got a head start. So now our house looks even more ridiculous with the work we are doing.

Also, this past weekend Ava had her dance recital. Thursday night was the dress rehearsal and Friday and Saturday night was the recital. This was Ava's third year for the recital. I thought she would be fine. I was wrong. She cried every night before going on stage. Once she got on stage she did great. She did her ballet and tap dances. Brian's parents and Sister and her two kiddos came up from Oklahoma. That was so nice and I know Ava really thought it was neat they came to watch her dance. Her biggest fan was Hayden. He was so proud of his sissy! He told her that she did an awesome job! Let's just say that I am so happy her recital is over with.
Overall, Brian and I are very proud of Ava!

Our lovely lamp post

Ava waiting to line up

Nana and Ava

This was her tap outfit

Grandma Mavis and Grammy came

Getting flowers from Daddy

Getting her flowers from Aunt Julie, Grammy, and Grandma Mavis

She was very proud of her flowers

Ava in her ballet outfit

Hayden, Ava, and cousins Johnathon, and Alex

Nana and Opa

Ava and Miss Jessica (her dance teacher for the past three years)

Ava and her proud brother

Ok, Ok, Ok....

So, I finally sat down and I have updated my blog. I have been getting a lot of comments about me not updating. So here it is...I hope you enjoy! We have been very busy since the beginning of May. The first week of May we went on a family vacation to Florida (Disney). My parents, my brother and his family and our family all went together. We had a great time!!!! We went to Disneyworld, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. We spent time at our resort's pool and visited Downtown Disney. Watching the kid's eyes light up was amazing. They were able to ride most of the rides. Hayden loved all the transportation. His favorite were the trams you ride the entrances to the parks. The only thing is that he called them "tramps." He asked if we were going to take the tramp to apricot (his word for epcot). Too funny! He also informed us that we should lock our house up and stay in Florida. Ava's favorite was the magic kingdom castle. I have never heard her so excited!!! When we got back from Florida the kiddos started T-ball. They both have done a great job playing. Also, we are starting a house transformation. We already have a new garage floor. We are going to be putting in new windows, siding, replacing the brick in the front of our house with stone, new driveway and sidewalks, and a couple of things inside the house. Now that it is nice outside the kids have been playing outside all the time. Their favorite thing is to play in the sprinkler. Then, last night we surprised the kiddos and took them to the circus. It was great! I was amazed at what they can do. They were doing things that people shouldn't be able to do. Hayden said this morning, "Mom, I really had a lot of fun at the circus... it was awesome." This week they have vacation bible school, t-ball games and pictures and Ava has her dance recital. Busy, busy, week!

At the circus

Enjoying her pretzel at the circus

Hayden liked his pretzel, too

Enjoying a summer treat

Watching the new garage floor being poured

Ava in the catcher's uniform (Yes, she does have her hands on her hips)

Getting ready to catch

Ava up to bat

Showing how she gets ready for the ball

Not sure what she is doing here

Again not sure

My dad tearing up our garage floor

Cheap entertainment during breakfast

Hayden up to bat

Waiting for his turn

Playing catch

My baseball player

I tried to save money and pack Ava (that's ok ....right?)

Waiting for our airplane

This fountain was at our resort

On the teacups

They had to get ears!

Waiting to go to dinner

Having breakfast with grandpa on the patio

At Hollywood studios

Grandpa and Grandma with the grandkiddos

I just think he looks so cute in his p.j.s

Walking to one of the pools at our resort

In front of the tree of life at Animal Kingdom

On the safari ride

At Epcot

At the Toy Story ride

Buzz Lightyear ride

Hayden in his racecar

Ava driving her racecar

Just a cute picture

At the Hoop-de-doo-revue dinner/show

Our table

Ava got a hair wrap at our ppol area

Our last night at Disney...waiting for the Spectramagic parade

We can't wait to go back!!!

(I had a lot more pictures from vacation but I didn't want to bore you with them)

Fish Fry

Saturday was a glorious day! It was so beautiful out. We woke up and got some errands done. We had to finish shopping for vacation (we leave Friday). When we came home Brian went out and mowed the lawn and the kiddos went outside to play. They ended up playing with the neighbor girls. So they had a lot of fun outside. I ended up inside making dessert for our fish fry. We left our house a little before 3 and headed out to mackinaw. Hayden's main objective for the day was to get as many pug rides as possible. So when he saw my dad he immediately asked where the pug was. My dad took him to go get it. Ava wanted to fly her kite. Brian tried. First it was a blow up kite. Not a good idea. It went up and came back down and popped from the grass. So that lasted 5 minutes. She ended up getting on the pug for a ride. We got things ready for dinner. My whole family came out. My Uncle Doug was here from Arizona and when he comes he always does a fish fry (it is so yummy). We had a great time. We had pug rides and sat around the fire talking. We started to hear thunder so we packed up. We just made it to our cars before the rain and hail started to fall. Talk about a close call.

This week is a full week before vacation. I work tonight, mon. night, and wed night. Tues, Ava has her first softball practice and Hayden has his first ball game. My plan is to start packing today. Hopefully that will get done. Hope everyone has a super Sunday!

Getting the kite ready

Giving it a go

Grandma Mavis brought out wishbones for the kiddos

Hayden doing his wishbone

Ava relaxing by the fire

My Uncle Doug making the fish

Luke, Ava, Hayden, and Gia waiting for their pug ride

Sneaking graham crackers

Hayden in his seat

Ava ready to go

Easter Day

I hope everyone had a great Easter! We had a great day! It started out by waking up at 6:15am (I know, our kids are early risers). They looked for their Easter baskets. Ava found hers behind a couch and then Hayden got mad because he couldn't find his. We gave him a hint and he found his in our pantry. They were very happy with their binoculars, candy, books, and other little things. We ate a quick breakfast and got ready for church. After church we came home and got ready to go over to my mom's for the day. We had a very yummy lunch and then the kiddos got their Easter baskets from my parent's. Then we went out and had an Easter egg hunt. We had way too many eggs. My mom's front yard was completely full of eggs. The kids had a blast. Then my dad took the kiddos out to Mackinaw for a little bit and so my mom, my aunt Julie, and myself watched a movie. We watched, "Mama Mia." We had a fun, relaxing day.

Ava with her Easter basket

Hayden with his basket

Hayden before church

Easter picture

Hayden sneaking a kiss

She wouldn't put her head up

He was very lovey, he was sneaking another kiss

Looking at their baskets from grandma and grandpa

Kiddos with grandma

They got goggles for Florida

The Easter egg hunt

All of Ava's goodies

Easter Eggs

What a glorious day! It was so beautiful out! Love it!!!!! We got an early start this morning. We went shopping for summer clothes today. We needed to do that because we are leaving for Florida in 3 weeks! We went to a few stores and the mall. We ate lunch at Q-Doba! Yummy! Then we came home and the kids went outside for 3 hours and played with the girls who live behind us. They have so much fun playing with them. They go back and forth between playsets and they have a trampoline so the kiddos love jumping on that. I went to Wal-Mart to buy my food for tomorrow. I am responsible for making green bean casserole and our salad bar. The store was soooo busy. They were out of cauliflower so I had to go to Kroger. They had a ton of it and it beautiful. I came home and boiled our eggs so we could decorate them. Brian took the kids to Mackinaw to dump some clippings and he got rid of our bench outside front of our house. It wouldn't be such a big deal but he gave it to me on our first wedding anniversary. It was so weathered and gross but I parted ways with it ( I am dealing with my sadness. Just kidding!). They found my dad out there so the kiddos rode back in his truck (they love riding in his truck!). They came home and we ate a quick dinner and started to dye Easter eggs. We dyed them first and then they took showers. When they were done with showers the eggs were dried and we finished them off by decorating them. They did an Egg-cellent (he, he) job!!!! Then they got to have a special Easter egg cookie. Good times! Tomorrow we will be at my mom's to celebrate Easter. Hoppy Easter everyone! ( I couldn't resist)

Before the Egg-stravaganza (I just had to)

Waiting for them to dry

Hayden decorating

A final product

Hayden being silly

Beautiful eggs!

Egg-cellent job!!!!