Fly to your heart...

This makes my heart sing...I only wish the blog world would have let me upload the whole video.

I love these girls and how cousins can be such great friends. 

Being 37

This is where my life choices have lead me...

I love being able to have the time to help at Ava' s school and

see her, first hand, being a school kid

A few class trips have kept the kids busy this week. 

This one was to the Canteen for milk shakes. 



This one was to the Eye Dr.'s and those kids LOVED those sunglasses.

We also started swim lessons this week.  Now that she knows what goes on, we will see if the next class is as successful.  She did have tears, but said she had fun...who wouldn't when you get an ice cream sandwich after.  :-)



 The anticipation was killing her.

She was eager to go with the swim instructor.

there is a funny story to go with that...my sister (jenn) and i cried bloody murder as kids during swim lessons with an older lady.  my mom pointed the famous finger and said, "class is paid for, you are finishing!"  we cried the ENTIRE time.  needless to say, by the fourth class we had a new instructor, a cute young man with a mustache, and guess what?  we jumped right in and put on a real show...without tears.  the apple clearly doesn't fall far from the tree, i've never seen ava so willingly go with anyone before.  he was even able to get her to stop crying EXTREMELY FAST after dunking her under water.  how the hell did he do that?!?!?

waskily wabbit

These two actually think they are going to catch a baby rabbit with MY garden lettuce in THAT contraption....stay tuned. 

 (don't worry, no killing will go on in my yard- i once made my husband catch a mole, contain him in a bucket with dirt, and later, i actually drove that mole out into the country to give him back his freedom)

Dad's are so fun to have around.

a whole slew of things keeping us busy

Happy Birthday to Yammi and how about that stare down with the cupcake...ha

  Watching hockey and having a beauty parlor all fall within these girls fun meter.

 Harris and Nick always shy away from the camera, but I did catch them...secretly of course.

 Also, Happy Birthday today to Nick!!! 

 I slept in the same room as this guy and his RED heat lamp  :-)  I think I would have slept soundly,despite the light, had I not been kicked by a three year old and annoyed by snoring from my other half.

Doing Dot Art at Hotel Vetro

US Olympic wrestling try outs in Iowa City hosted this cute guy...the only one as I could tell.  ;-)

 Can you believe there is only a month of school left.  We have had a great year!

I like this picture for many reasons, but the swagger Ava has going on is number one.

Finding stuff to do...

And this is what we did...

A bookshelf decorated by a toddler turned doll house by Mom

(I saw the idea in land of nod)

AND

A box of oatmeal turned into a headband holder

(thanks pinterest--not as well done, but good enough)

                                    before I remembered I had a glue gun...

we don't have a lot of headbands, so we used a small box, larger are available

 For lack of motivation to move these pictures up, here are close ups of the bookshelf. 

(Ava also drew some artwork) 

We had so much fun.  Only problem, I got so serious about it Ava lost interest

and naturally didn't want to play with it after we were done.  ha  We did today though!

  

  

 

On to April

 It is fairy house building time again...only thing, the trees are blooming this year.  Beautiful show.

Something totally unrealated to anything in this post...

"Mommy!  Hello Kitty Boobies!?!?" 

 (poor hello kitty and poor child innocence-I am so annoyed at what options these girls have. Since when do little girls need padded bras with hello kitty on them? *sigh*)

Onto Easter...

 Easter Egg Hunt Success

 Grandparents minus Nonno (he's always behind the camera)

Harris grandkids and their egg hunt drop off spot (that's only half the eggs) 

Drum roll please....presenting the BEST family Easter photo EVER

Quote from the weekend comes from Yammi after dropping money into the basket at church service..."WHY do we have to pay!?"  She proceeded to tell Dejan about all the "much better things we could do with that money". :-)  It was a really fun Sunday with my entire family.  We haven't done that in a long time.  We went through old boxes, played at the park, laughed a lot, played yard games, and just enjoyed the beautiful day.  I also had a nice car trip with my brother-in-law...it was nice to have a calm car ride.  He knows what I'm talking about, and frankly, we should do that more often!  We have all gotten so busy with our kids and work, that sometimes we forget to hang out as adults only.  It's good to have a few moments to just be us, without interruption, without judging, without having to watch what we say. 

Thanks to both sets of grandparents for spoiling Ava and putting together some yummy Easter meals! 

March photo session

Ava's spring concert & I turned 37...I still like being thirty something

The DQ opens on a cold March day, but then record warmth for a trip to the zoo

Spring = broken mower, which is no match for my handy husband and three year old

   

  We say bring on the warm weather and enjoy an entire weekend on the lawn

Yes, don't blink twice, that's a camel on the back roads of Iowa

We had a super fun weekend with cousin Anna, which included a coloring magic show

(that's them under the blanket)

  Pointing out the first two planets to align this year
 while enjoying the first fire and marshmallow roast of the year

A crime scene & heading out to her first play - a good combination, I think

(Leaving Iowa-starring my good friend Joanna)

I LOVE HER!!!!

Off to a great birthday party...

The original fab five

 

She still loves grapefruit & waiting on the porch for her daddy to come home from work

We did a papertowel tulip project and have taken a lot of walks

Preschool homework that makes my heart smile

Flowers just like we used to decorate our mud pies with as kids...these make me happy too

And finally, taking cue from Uncle Dusan & her Daddy, she gives a thumbs up to Buffalo Wild Wings