Christmas

We woke up Christmas morning to a COLD house.  Sometime during the night our heater stopped working.  We had to bust out the space heaters and I wore my bathrobe for most of the morning.  By the afternoon the space heaters and use of the oven warmed the house up nicely.  Even though, it was cold it was a wonderful day.  I was grateful to be with my family and have a nice day together.

On Christmas morning Ava woke up and used her flashlight to go down the dark hall to see if Santa Claus came.

Santa came and left us lots of goodies.

Sophie the First puzzle.

One of the things Ava asked Santa for was a Dora the Explorer rainbow purse.

Santa gave Ava a princess (step into reading) book.

The other thing Ava asked Santa for was a "purple" ballet skirt.  She saw this galaxy tutu and talked about it for months.

Ava and Rich putting together some Legos they got in their stockings.

Ava helping Rich open his stocking.

Ava was excited Santa gave me a travel version of one of our favorite games, Hungry Hippos.

Santa also filled Ava's stocking at Papa & Nonna Kurz's house.  Inside she was happy to find a Disney card for her future trip to Disneyland.

Ava with all of her presents.  What a lucky girl.

Ava's favorite movie in Italian.  This is one of several Italian Disney movies Ava got.

Ava with her Lego Pet Salon.

Ava was excited to get Ariel and Prince Eric dolls.

I decorated this purple toolbox for Ava.  Inside was a gift card to buy tools.

Little Mermaid playset.  Ava was excited because it was from her favorite scene of the movie, "Kiss the Girl".

Papa & Nonna

Christmas Eve

School Christmas Program

Ava was excited about her preschool Christmas party.  The two MWF classes sang a few songs and then we had treats.  Santa also came and Ava got to tell him what she wanted for Christmas.  I made Ava this dress for her special day.

Ava did a great job singing the songs.  She practiced all the time and knew all the words and gestures.

Ava was excited to see Santa and tell him what see wanted for Christmas.

Gingerbread House

70th Birthday

In November my mom celebrated her 70th birthday.  We had a birthday dinner at my brother's house to honor our mom.

My mom and Aunt share a birthday

I made my mom a vanilla & chocolate marbled cake.

Ava made Nonna a beautiful blue necklace for a present.

Little Chef

Ava continues to enjoy helping in the kitchen.  She is a good helper, so I decided to let her try something new.  I found I set of kid friendly knives and thought she was ready to chop.  Ava loves her knives.  She has cut potatoes and mushrooms.  It is fun to see her get excited about cooking and helping me make dinner.

Fall Fun with Daddy

The week before Halloween Rich had to conduct his first funeral.  It was a sad event, but meant Rich took the day off.  After the funeral Ava had the whole day with her daddy.  We had so much fun just being together.

First, we went to a local pumpkin patch.  This year the pumpkin patch was rather disappointing.  The farmer decided not to plant very much to allow the ground to rest.  The pumpkins that were planted were pretty much picked over.  Ava was excited to get a Jarrahdale pumpkin to make a fresh pumpkin pie, but they didn't have any.  We played for a little bit, took some pictures, and then headed home empty handed.

At home we decided to take care of the enormous amount of leaves all over our yard.  Ava and I raked while Rich used the leaf blower.  We made a giant pile for Ava to play in before we put them in the yard waste.  Ava had a blast and ended up getting really dirty.  She was so happy to be with her dad and the smiles on her face show it.

Ava thought it would make a good picture for her and Rich to pretend to be tied up.  She had some whole story about the bad guys capturing them and tying them up.  It was weird, but I went with it.

Ava liked it when Rich dropped her in the pile of leaves.

Ava loved being buried in the leaves.  She had Rich cover her up several times.