february funnies

hide and seek is more of a smelling game for ava. when she looks for you, her consistent remark is, "i can't see you, but i can smell you!!" huh!!??!! i start smelling myself while in hiding, then giggle so loud she finds me. i obviously had a complex, until she started doing it to other family members. whew! i'm not the only stinky one.

i asked her to please explain...

mom smells like perfume...REALLY!!! :-)
dad smells like the bathroom...funny, but it's his morning "getting ready" products she is referring to
nonno smells like stinky work...he has always smelled like a man who works with his hands
nonna smells like dinner...of course, right? my mom is the cooking queen
baba smells like the basement...this is certainly because baba always takes ava to get cookies there
deda smells like chickens...he did teach ava the importance of feeding chickens fresh picked grass

my dad and i both agree, kids have the best abilities in all senses. too bad we lose so much as we get older.

my favorite funny this time around, is from the other morning after we had a snow storm come through. she was, of course, in bed with me in the morning when she woke up. she looked at me super excited, and i was waiting for the "no school!!!" or "i love you so much mommy, thanks for letting me sleep in your bed, AGAIN!!", but instead she blurts out, "IT'S PAY DAY!!!!"

Yes, that's right, pay day.

We started a small chore list for her to earn money, and it didn't take her long to figure out how fun money is. You may recall, from a previous post, our ban from going shopping. She had obviously reached a point in her young life that meant it was time to teach her about money. She has worked hard at saving her money, and even bought her first toy (a barbie of course!), donated food to the animal shelter, and deposited enough money in the bank to earn two free dollars from the bank. She is quite proud of her money, and now, unfortunately, but hilariously, every time she does a chore she quietly says, "i’m really earning my money now."

that’s my girl. she keeps us laughing and adds such a sparkle to our days.


what's better than throwing a huge snowball at mom while she's trying to take a cute picture



stuff to not forget

she gives light kisses on the cheek to wake me up (at 3am--{sigh}) before asking to sleep in our bed

she gives accurate directions in the dark on how to get home

she rhymes duck with fuck

"mommy, i meant to tell you this...sometimes at bedtime, when i put my hand out, it's to cool it off, not for you to hold."  toddler honesty can't be beat.

ava told me for the first time after school she didn't miss me. then tried so hard not to cry when i took her to school today (her 'trying not to cry' is something i wish i could bottle up---the wet eyes, the red nose, the biting of the lip, the "nothing is wrong", she stands a little bit taller and holds her head high, but still needs me to hug her really tight and remind her how i will miss her and how i think she is the bravest little girl i know. her school friends seems to snap her back to happiness and mom is left feeling a tug at her heart--she needs me, but she is also starting that slow walk away from me)

a made up song--"the heart of the spirit goes to the presents" (clearly this was close to christmas)

she also shivered with excitement christmas morning after yelling, "SANTA!!!!" while scrambling out of bed faster than ever.

"i'm excavating the sand in the water to find destiny rocks."

ava wrapped a fake present for her friend hayden..."i'm teasing him, like daddy always teases me." (the sooner she learns the art of teasing, the sooner she can show her dad up)

"I spy something beautiful," Hayden
"Ava," said me, of course
"Yes," Hayden
Ava just stared at him

"BAM!" = Damn...Mom has since stopped saying damn

ava farts in her sleep and politely whispers "excuse me" ...sometimes we succeed at parenting when we least expect it.

there was excessive fear of the dark and night terrors. it was a hard few months that have seemed to come to an end. night terrors are scary for mom and dad, kids seem to never remember them. we have since learned to touch lightly in comfort, whisper something sweet, lots of "i love you'", and lots of "it's ok, go back to sleep now". never try to wake them and never yell at them to knock it off (i learned that one the hard way).

mom freaks out after the 100th time at the store with a toddler who cries every time she didn't get something. mom makes toddler give away six bags of toys (that is not a typo, it was six). our current record (after a short ban from going together to any store) is 3 out of 4 have ended in no crying. i believe i just taught my first lesson.

some days i rock as a mom, while other days, i am the worst ever. i am finding this is a common theme amongst every single parent in the world, along with the "mom guilt we all carry around like a load of bricks. whether we play for five minutes, five hours, or none, we are never good enough for ourselves" (thank you kind sister, who continued to remind me ... "you play and do more than sooo many mom's...you should feel really good about that and not worry about the times you really suck, those sucky days pale in comparison").

both of my sister's support through my mommy adventures have also brought me to a new feeling I said would never happen...it might be time to give ava a companion for life. the poor thing must not be left to grow up and deal with an aging mom and dad on her own...that is another funny blog post i could write about.

A walk around camp djordjevich...

After going through my photos, I discovered I didn't have a picture of the chickens...camp djordjevich without the chickens  {gasp}  at least you can hear them here...

a tree and me...

The tree I climbed when I was 9...

The tree I climbed when I was 14...

The same tree I could barely climb at 37... seriously, the tree is missing some limbs from 1984!
(at least, that's my story).

Wednesday...

A typical day starts around 8:30am with a sweet face giving me hugs and kisses good morning, along with a favorite toy picked for the day, and a rainbow blankie dragging behind. It's a happy moment every time!
30 seconds later...."Okay, Mommy, let's play a game"...and so it begins, with a rhyming game.

"MOM!! You forgot to put the lid back on the glue stick last night!"
(said with a lot of sassiness to a mother who purposely left the lid off the glue stick, which I did not use, to teach a lesson)

"Mom, when I push this (imaginary) button, you have to talk like everyone from Madagascar. But, I promise you, you don't have to do it hundred times." I have done it 100 times, and shoot, I'm pretty good.

"Mom, watch this!" (some crazy dance move)
"Mom, watch this!" (spinning excessively in circles)
"Mom, watch this!" (making spit bubbles while spinning)
I'm pretty sure I watch 1 million things a day.

"Ugh, I’m getting tired of cleaning up this stuff...((sigh))!" (picking up papers she threw on the floor)
(insert more moaning and sighing as she completed the clean up)

Anytime she wanted me to go with her she would say in a sing song-y way..."follow me, kloop kloop (horse sound)...follow me, kloop kloop...repeat 100 times..." I am now doing the same thing.


jiuy76rrrttttrrrrrravadjordjevichbhhdft457566ryfygg65445yvgfggdffgt5555555555555555
guhygyttrevnhfdfgggggggggggggggggggrddttrttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt666666666666666666666tt
yyutyuyyyytyyty56432178iloveyou

Interruption number 500 there.

"I don't want to go to the post office"...insert more sighing

"Can you please tie a leash around my kitty (toy kitty, of course)"..She proceeded to drag said kitty through the post office and Target. It came home looking more like a black dust ball and before I even realized it, the leashed kitty was drug through my house...ugh! Someone remind me to wash, yes wash, my house and remind me to stop saying ugh! Ava does it now, and it's so annoying. ;-)

We then spent the next two hours playing at the park and going for a hike through a dry creek bed in the woods. It was 56 degrees, with a perfect October blue sky, and a fantastic way to end out our day full of ((sighs)). :-) Tomorrow we will do who knows what, but I hope it will be as great as Wednesday.

The summer of fun...and some tree hugging

Today I finally sat down to catch my breath. What an amazing summer we have had, and as I sit here, I feel many emotions creep in. Fall is a great time of year, but it always makes me a little sad...mostly because I HATE cold weather and cloudy days--and not fall cold, winter cold, but yet, sad it is. As I look through hundreds of pictures from our summer, it makes me happy knowing we filled our warm days as a family in so many different ways.

JUNE

      

June starts with a fabulous trip-- a stop in the Smokey Mountains, to bringing a sweet

addition, ten years later, to our honeymoon spot.  It was lovely (for the most part).  :-)

Everything else we did...

       waiting to get signatures at PINKALICIOUS - building LEGO's, and many other

playtime favorites went on - a fun JOHN DEERE day helping Daddy

 we love the chocolate cake dessert at Appanoose Rapids (and the Cuban!!) - waterpark trips are
abundant this summer - and biking in Ottumwa Park is a favorite past time

Showing off some biking skills to Nonna and Nonno

  

 hanging on the "beach" in ottumwa - ottumwa balloon races going past our home one
 beautiful summer morning - and presents from auntie danica always bring a lot of joy

 Cousins visit (without any other adults than me--scarey) for three days.  It was a blast, and an inside view of what parents of three kids go through everyday (whew) 
- Nick and I build a ring of fire - 
Harris' skinny teenage back with four bee stings (this was on a seperate visit in Hamilton after a day at the Country Club). 
 In true Harris fashion, he said, "ooww, ooww, oww" quietly, then asked for pictures to send to friends.  I love teenagers (of course, when they aren't mine)

 

With record heat and a bad drought in the making, we spent many days in the
back yard floating in the kiddie pool avoiding all the crunchy burnt up grass

JULY, oh wonderful July

This is what the City of Ottumwa did to our neighborhood in July... 

 

My feeling then...God Bless America and the government in control of our children's future!

They took down six trees around our home, which were among hundreds of others to redo the sewer, and my hell raising consumed a lot of time.  To tell this story would take a seperate blog post, which I have no time for, so to sum it all up--I got the city of Ottumwa to pass a New Resolution to start an Urban Reforestation Program.  Plans are under way as I write, and I can't wait to plant the first tree.  Below is an email I got from one city council member that made it all worth it...

Francesca:

Politics is a funny beast. Just by being there, you put a great deal of pressure on the other guys to follow through. Thank you for caring and standing tall for what you believe. Your strength and that of your friends will result in a change in the way this city operates from this point forward. Think of that! One little lady and a few friends has changed the course of an entire city. This will start now and go into the future. You have done a mighty thing. God Bless you and all of us "tree-huggers". John Richards

my feeling now...be the change you wish to see in the world (thank you gandhi)

THE REST OF JULY

A few pictures from our tree saga...

handing out flyers, with some true friends, to get support -- the kids hanging around our beautiful trees while they were getting cut down --what we salvaged, for building a fairy garden for Ava, with left over tree stumps (this is a work in progress, more like at a halt, until we get rain to soften up the drought riden ground to dig holes)...

   

  

Ava goes away for the weekend without Mommy for the first time and she cries while riding the horse :-( , we took two trips to the zoo, and cousins hanging out on the ONLY cold evening this summer--but still in the pool...

 

The Circus comes to town and Ava proceeds to want to be in the Circus...

  

We babysit a few times and Ava makes a great big neighbor sister...

My sister and I go see Rythmic Circus and have a REALLY good time

(I still need to give my friend Mark hell about that light)...

Another visit with cousins...

 this visit takes us from "roughen it" to pampering ourselves at the nail salon..

My cousin from Colorado came to visit for a week and we took all the kids to Lake Wapello... My favorite memory from this trip, besides the lake, is sitting on my back porch (until god knows when) with Becky & my sister, talking and laughing until our stomachs hurt.  Something about cousins can make everything seem so much more fun!

A fun visit back in Camp Hamilton takes us down memory lane (Ava in my prom dress from 1992), to the "old bridge" to watch barges, and big hugs between cousins.  This trip was extra fun...

 

FINALLY ON TO AUGUST

 Lots and lots of fun in August with even more cousins & family, and one wedding thrown in there...

and more visits with cousins...have you started to notice a pattern here?  I think they all like coming to our house..and eating ALL my food.  :-)

and some last minute fun stuff before school started...

By the end of August, Iowa is the driest I have ever seen it . Creek beds and river beds are empty, corn fields are withering, trees, flowers, grasses, and my water bill are all suffering.  The clouds came through all summer, but the rain just wouldn't come.  What little rain we have had, has been a blessing, and God got lots of thanks those evenings from Ava for even the littlest rain puddle to splash in.

This is one of the last bike rides we took that I cherish...I miss our summer evening walks already.

 THEN THERE WAS SCHOOL!!!!

  

 

 teacher of the century mrs. johnson - getting our new tradition of after school ice cream - 

and the heart she carried on her hand during school in case she missed her family.  she did great, but did tell me she kissed her heart a couple times when she thought of us...oh, my melting heart!!!