Temple Anniversary

Wednesday, July 25th was the 3rd anniversary of our temple sealing.  It was the day we became a forever family.  We decided to celebrate a little early on Tuesday with a picnic at the temple.

Snapshots of Life

I like to take pictures of everything.  Since I take so many pictures I end up with a lot of random pictures that don't really merit a post of their own.  I don't want to just forget about them, so this post is dedicated to life's little (but memorable) moments.

Sorry some of these pictures were taken with my iPhone and aren't the best quality.

I love sleeping pictures.

Ava loves to exercise.  Right now she really likes to lift my weights.

This pictures is terrible quality, but I love it.  Ava and I were squished in her tent with all of her stuffed friends and babies.

Ava likes helping prepare food.  As Rich was getting ready to put steak on the grill Ava said, "Wait!  I need to get my knife so I can cut something."  Shen then ran to her room and got her pretend knife to help daddy.  It was pretty funny.

Ava holding Rich's hand while watching a movie.

Ava reading a book to her baby.

Ava and I riding the carousel at the mall.  I don't know why I have such a scary smile.  Maybe it is because all of the going around made me a little motion sick.

Trying to squish together to get a family photo.

A tiny praying mantis got in and played on Ava's aquadoodle.

Swim Class - Guppy

During the second session of swim class Ava advanced to the Guppy class.  This was her first time in the pool without a parent and was a good learning experience.  Ava learned to follow direction and by the end of the session had picked up on most of the skills being taught.  Ava will definitely be in this class again next year, but it is amazing to see the progress she has made.

This is the first day of Guppy class.  Ava doesn't really like to jump in.  She likes to "slide" in.

Ava liked when they played, "motor boat, motor boat."

Ava hated "the shark" game.  It is really called what time is it Mr. Shark.  The kids would usually be fish and one teacher would be a shark.  The kids would slowly swim up to the teacher (kind of like mother may I) and then the shark would turn around and try to catch the kids as they swam back to their side.  Everytime they played this game Ava would say she had to go to the bathroom, so she could get out of playing it.  In this picture she is actually playing because the teacher let her be a shark.  She didn't mind that as much.

It is hard to tell, but in this picture Ava is all the way to the left and plugging her ears.  Sometimes during class the teachers would sing a song and be silly.  For some reason Ava didn't like this much either, so she would plug her ears and drift away from the group.  I don't think she liked when the older kids splashed and sang really loud.

This is how Ava would swim at the beginning of the session.  She would try to kick her legs with her arms stretched behind her.

This is one of the teachers working with Ava on different leg movements.  They taught them "monkey, airplane, solider" to show them how to move their arms and legs.  Ava also learned "monster arms" which help her learn to move her arms up and out of the water while she tried to swim.

This is Ava swimming on the last day of the session.  She never had a problem going underwater, but toward the end she would actually try and swim.  She can kick her legs well and improved on her arm movement.  I think next year she will be awesome.

This is a happy, but cold girl.  Ava loved swim class.  She always looked forward to it each day and still talks about it.

In the Kitchen

We still enjoy spending time together as a family in the kitchen.  Here are some of the things we have made lately...

Ava loves strawberry "milkshakes" (really yogurt smoothies).  Now that it is summer and strawberries are plentiful we have been making more.  It is usually an Ava and daddy thing, but sometimes when daddy is not home I help Ava.

Ava taste testing the milkshake to make sure it is good.

I thought I had half a cantaloupe in the refrigerator, so I decided to make some cantaloupe-coconut ice cream from our Ben & Jerry's recipe book.  The recipe called for coconut creme which I couldn't find anywhere.  After my 3rd grocery store I googled it with my iphone and was directed to the margarita mix section.  There it was in a place I never would of looked without google or my iphone.  When I got home and looked for the cantaloupe in the refrigerator I couldn't find it.  I then remembered I actually cut up the whole cantaloupe and we ate it.  So, back to the store I went for cantaloupe.

This is the final product of all my shopping and searching.  It was good and a big hit with all we shared it with.  Ava loved it and probably would of eaten it all by herself if we let her.  We will definitely make it again.

Stuffed French toast.  I made a cream cheese stuffing and an apricot stuffing.  This was the first time I made French toast with brioche bread, but it won't be the last.  It was delicious.

If they're not helping Rich and Ava are always lurking nearby when I cook to sample the goodies.  Ava is licking the cream cheese stuffing.

Stuffed Cream Cheese and Apricot French Toast

Watermelon-Lemonade Ice Pops

Happy customer!

Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows

Ava did help me make the marshmallows, but her favorite part is always the tasting.  She is always asking, "Can I lick it now?".

Homemade marshmallows for our FHE treat.

Yummy!

Milk Chocolate Chips & Carmel Bites Cookies

I got the recipe for the cookies from this cookbook.  I checked this book out from our library.  Several of the other recipes from this post are from books I checked out at the library too.  It is a great way to try new recipes and see if I like a book before making an investment.  I decided I like this book enough I probably will buy it on Amazon used (yes, you can buy used books on Amazon and get great deals).

4th of July

For the 4th of July we went to Gridley for a family BBQ and swimming.  It was a good day for both because it was so hot.  Ava was excited to see her cousins and play with them in the swimming pool.  She really is a fish and spent most of the day swimming.

Before heading to Gridley we had a little surprise waiting for Ava.  Ava has mastered riding her tricycle, so it was time to upgrade.  Rich has been wanting to get Ava a balance bike since Christmas, so we decided this would be a good time.  Balance bikes don't have pedals.  It is suppose to help kids prepare for a big bike without needing training wheels.  So far Ava likes it, but is still getting use to it.  It will take some time and practice before she moves at a good speed.  And even longer before she can glide.

Ava just woke up, so she is not thrilled about her surprise.  She just wanted to go back to bed.

We were a little disappointed in Ava's reaction.  She was so tired and grumpy.  In this picture she decided to lay on the ground and hide.

After a few minutes Ava warmed up and was excited about her bike.  She really isn't a morning person and I can't blame her because I'm the same way.

Cute red, white, and blue Papa & Nonna Kurz bought for Ava.

Riding bikes with Ezra.

Ava helping Luca get his ball.  Luca is a silly dog.  When he is being ignored he likes to put his ball or kong in a place where he can't get it.  Then he whines until somebody helps him.  We call it his damsel in distress act.  It can be pretty annoying, but we love him anyway.

Lily getting some air.

I love Sherrie and Eli in this picture.

Uncle Bob is an awesome uncle.  He was throwing all the cousins in the pool and letting them jump on top of him.  I hope all the cousins appreciate him.  This is Bob throwing Kobie.

Bob throwing Lily.

Nathan and Kobie getting Bob.  Ava is just happy doing her thing.

Lily, Kobie, & Nathan on top of Uncle Bob.

Ava playing with Rich.  Ava spent most of the day in the pool with her dad.

This is what my nightmares are made of...

A couple Saturdays ago I was pulling weeds in my butterfly garden and looked up to see this huge black widow.  Of course I freaked out because I was less than a foot away from it.  I got Rich right away and made him take care of it.  Then I made him spray bug spray everywhere because I really, really hate spiders...YUCK!!

Mommy Is Learning Too

Ava truly is a little sponge.  She is soaking in all she sees, hears, and explores.  She amazes me everyday with the things she has learned and sometimes I forget how smart she is.  Sometimes I forget that I need to be sensitive to what she is learning and make sure I am a good teacher.  Just last week Ava said something that surprised me and made me realize I had missed a major teaching opportunity.  This is what happened...

Recently, I have been watching, "Say Yes to the Dress", on Netflix instant.  It is a show about a high-end bridal shop in New York and the brides dress shopping.  I don't usually watch it when Ava is around, but she has seen parts of it.  Unfortunately 99% of the dresses are immodest and unfortunately it didn't occur to me that is what Ava was seeing.  I guess I just assumed I dress modestly and have always dressed Ava modestly, so it wouldn't be an issue at 3 years old.  Well we all know what happens when we assume and boy did I have a wake-up call.

Last week I was watching an episode early in the morning and Ava woke up toward the end.  As we sat and snuggled on the couch she said to me "I want a white dress like that."  I told her she had to wait until she was older and got married.  I also told Ava the dress was not modest and she needed to wear a dress with sleeves.  She told me she did not want sleeves, but wanted a dress like on the show (most of them are strapless).  This concerned me because I realized I had not talked with Ava about modesty or respecting our bodies.  Instead she picked up from this show that wedding dresses are suppose to be strapless and revealing.  At this point I felt like a bad mom.  Ava's view of a wedding dress was skewed and I inadvertently taught her that.

I tried to salvage the moment by talking about my wedding dress.  We even dug it out and looked at it.  Ava still said she didn't want sleeves on her dress.  I tried to talk a little about modesty and respecting our bodies, but by this time Ava was distracted and moved on.  I dropped the subject (for the moment) and we played.

I'm sad I was so oblivious to the fact I was teaching Ava the wrong message.  I should of known better and been more aware of the message Ava was receiving.  This has been a good lesson for me.  Ava is learning from everything around her (good or bad) and it is my job to use these moments as teaching moments.  I want to be the best mom I can be, so I will try to be more diligent and aware.