{Three}

Well it happened my little girl turned {3}.....I can't believe it! It seems as if a transformation took place overnight. She woke up on Friday, her actual birthday, and she was a different more independent little girl.

We enjoyed the day on Friday as a family doing all things Ava! Tea parties, baby dolls, drawing, and eating pancakes! Here she is blowing out candles on her pancakes.

  She was so excited when she opened her Dora shoes! I had to have a come to Jesus meeting with myself before I bought these. She saw these at the store the other day when we were shoe shopping. I was insistent on buying her the Twinkle toes sketchers shoes, and she wanted the Dora shoes. So like a good mommy I went back and got them for her birthday. It was worth the look on her face when she opened them.

Saturday we had a small family birthday party for Ava at our house. It wasn't anything too fussy just a nice family gathering. And I have to brag for a minute, David smoked the best brisket I have ever eaten! It was melt in your mouth good! I guess it was worth him waking up at 3:00 AM to put it on the pit. Anyhow, we had a great time with family celebrating Ava's {three} precious years.

Happy Birthday Ava Joy! What a JOY and blessing you have been to your mommy and daddy, and to everyone around you! Our prayer is that the Lord will use your soft sweet spirit to do amazing things for Him! We love you precious one!


.......I must say that this has been an emotional birthday for me! I am not sure why, I think it is just the combination of her being {three} and the fact that she is starting pre-school tomorrow! It has just been hard for me to grasp all of these changes at once. We went to meet the teacher tonight, and it was sweet confirmation that we have made the right decision to put her in pre-school. She loved it! She sat down immediately and started coloring and talking to her teacher. I almost cried when her teacher asked her what her name was .....she so confidently and proudly said " Ava!"

So it has finally happened folks' ................she is a big girl! ( but still only weighing in at 28lbs! .....so see she really isn't that big!!! )

{This} & {That}

Well I am pleased to say we are finally getting settled back in our house and things are starting to look and feel like {Home}

I have a whole new accumulation of stuff that has been sitting in storage. So unpacking has been like Christmas! I had forgotten about some of the {new} stuff I have gotten. Things that I happened upon at Estate Sales, garage sales and thrift stores. So I guess they are new to me, there are very few things in my house that are new! And you know what, that is they way I like it.

Today Ava and I are having a VERY lazy day!! .....Well not entirely, we did manage to wash the car this morning. We did lots of "chore" type stuff yesterday.....like having the hubby help hang all of the stuff that I have been wanting to hang. So I guess it's okay for us to throw in a lazy day today.


Wow! ...I really have a little bit of writers block! Not much else is going on. I have been reading through Crazy Love. It is the best book that I have read in a while. I feel like it was the perfect book to read while starting this new chapter in our lives. I am trying to sort through what the Fall will look like in our house. Lots of changes! Pre-school, possibly soccer or dance for Ava, finding a new church to call home. But above all we want this season to be what the Lord has ordained.  We don't want to be over committed to fruitless things,  we are ready to be involved with a church body that is being the hands and feet of Jesus!

This is the top part of my hutch that I put above my sofa! I {love} the impact it has here.

I am loving this dresser that I snatched up at an Estate Sale for $20!

Not sure if my mantel will stay like this I like it but I don't LOVE it.....but I am out of ideas at the moment! 

Okay I better get going before you and I both become basket cases, since this was a pretty pointless post! ......Looks like Ava has already become a basket case!

{pRe}- {school}

Oh my goodness! I can't believe I just typed that as my title!

But yes folks' it is true! Yesterday we enrolled Ava in a pre-school program at a local church that will start in Aug!

My how time flies! I feel like it was only yesterday I was nursing this sweet little one and changing her precious "breast milk poo" diapers! ( those who have been there get my drift!).......And now we are entering the preschool world!

We were not sure if we were really going to go the whole pre-school route with her or not. But after much thought and prayer we have realized the needs of our child! ......She has a HUGE thirst for learning. Lately she has been so frustrated when she picks up her books and can't read them. I have been told by other parents of young readers that this is the first step in teaching them to read ......they have to be ready and willing. ( this will be our new journey at home, because I am well aware that reading is not part of the curriculum for pre-school!)

Ava caught on very quickly to learning her alphabet letters, and can tell you what sound each letter makes and sometimes a word that goes with each letter!  ( sorry....yes I am very proud of the little darlin'!)

Not only does she have a thirst for learning she is a very social child and LOVES social interaction with other children! So we felt it was important that she start learning to interact with other children in a more structured environment.

.............Now don't think I am throwing her in pre-school for them to take all of the work off of me at home and let them do it. ( a common misconception!)

 This is a very laid back program, and at this age {3} it really is more fun and play for them at school. She will only go 4 half days a week! That is what I LOVE! She will still have plenty of time at home with her momma! She will have to stay 2 days a week all day ( till I get off work!) ......But still all in all we are thrilled for Ava to get to learn and grow in this new experience. She was more than thrilled about going to visit her new school yesterday.

I am a very strong believer that every child is different and has different needs. So what is right for one may not be right for another. To be honest I was very reluctant to make this move because I wanted to make sure I was being a good steward of my time with her at home, and .......well this kind of thing cost money, so I did not want to be wasting money.

.....for a little bit of history, I started working part time ( 2 days a week) about a year ago, for the purpose of being called to be at home more with my family. I have absolutely LOVED every minute of this. Ava currently goes to a home sitter on the days that I am working. We have been BEYOND blessed with Mrs. Rachel. .....So naturally it would have been easy for me to just let her stay there for two days and then be with me the other days. ( which has been fun and exciting!)

But, I saw needs in Ava. The need to be with other kids, playing, learning, growing and experiencing new things!

So we shall see how this goes, and as always we will re-evaluated the situation as needed.

I will leave you with some pictures of our {Sweet Summetime!!!}

I think this is my FAVORITE pic of the summer so far! hahaha

{ Today } ....mostly in pics!

Today was a rather exhausting and busy day!

.....And I have forgotten to mention that we are back in our house folks!

David was at the station today, and I am having to learn to adjust to him being away for 24 hours at a time. ( but when he is off for 5 days in a row it is BLISS!)

I try to stay busy when he is working just so the day passes by faster.....but there was rain in the forecast all day today so I thought we better just stay in. Loading and unloading a toddler in and out of a carseat all day in the rain, has proven to be pretty miserable in the past.

Cute heart PJ's that are Ava's favorite!

BUSTED! Jumping on the bed

 BUSTED again pulling all of the bedding off of the bed!

Whew! Okay I am off the bathe the princess and maybe squeeze in some reading.....started reading Crazy Love......and it is crazy good!

{SuMmeR}

( pic was taken at my best friends wedding in April)

Well I figured that is was about time to update this blog of mine! I have taken a little hiatus from the blogosphere! I was becoming a little overwhelmed with the blog world. Of coarse I have still been reading my  "must have" blogs, but a little break was definitely needed.

So......let's see, what have we been up to???

In a few short weeks we will be moving back into our house. I think my heart just skipped a beat typing that! We are soooo excited. There really is no place like home. For those of you that have been keeping up with the " we will be selling our house saga,".....yes our house is still for sale. We will continue to leave it on the market when we move back in. It may sell fast, it may not! Whatever happens is well with our soul. I love my house, and it is prefect and fine for us, we are just hoping we can upgrade to something larger with room to roam!

On another fun SuMmer note....Ava started swimming lessons this week.

I finally had my I am so proud and in awe of my little Ava moment. Yes, I have always been proud and in awe of her....every single day. BUT this week it was taken to a whole new level. A big girl level!!! You see, her mommy decided it was best to put her in the preschool ( ages 3-5) class instead of the waterbabies class ( ages 18months- 2) With Ava being right on the cusp ( almost 3) I decided that she needed to be with the preschool class. This is a class where the parents are not in the water with them. We talked about it with her the week before, prepping her and telling her she would be swimming with her friends and her teacher.

I am pretty sure on the first day of class I was WAY more nervous than she. BUT when her name was called to go line up with her class for the very first time her face lit up! She got up, walked over there and said "bye mommy!" There was just something about watching her cute little swimsuit booty walk over there that made me a little teary!

And then it was time to get in to water! ......She did it! ( she could barely touch, compared to the others in her class, but she held her own!)

I don' think she quit smiling the entire class! I mean like ear to ear grin.

We sat and watched in amazement of this little girl that she has become. I felt like on of "those" parents, you know ...the "that's my kid!"

On another summer note, we are headed on vacation next week! We rented a little cabin on the river in the hill country! I will be sure to update with pics when we get back. ( I don't want to say where we are going till we get back, just in case there are any weird blog stalking crazy people out there! :)

I will leave you with some pics of Ava at her swimming lessons! And I promise to be back with an update soon.

gOoD nEws!

Yesterday we got some great news from our renters!

Originally their lease went through Aug..........BUT they called and are needing out in June!

So.........we get to move back in 2 months earlier than expected.

This comes with a bitter sweetness........of coarse we will LOVE being back in our own place, BUT it has been a blessing to get to share Ava with my mom and dad, and my grandfather; who lives with my parents.

Yes, it has been a crazy ride, and a  bit crowded at times, but the relationship that Ava has gotten to establish with her Grandma, Pops and Papa is one that will be cherished forever.

So in a few short months........we will be back in our HoMe....living as one CuTe little family! I must say that there is something great to say about living with family....you always have help!

Thanks Mom and Dad ( Grandma and Pops) for opening up your home to us!

......As I was browsing my pictures to find one of our house, I came across one of my favorite pictures of Ava!

SpRiNg

I love that spring is finally almost here!.....In Texas it pretty much is here already!

Of course I love spring because of all of the crisp newness that is in the air, the blooming flowers and whatnots......BUT  I mostly love spring because it means the start of my thrifting season begins.

This morning was an absolutely beautiful and perfect morning to venture out to some local estate sales that were happening.

On another exciting note; my sister and her families farm was featured in an article in the Texas Live Magazine! I am so excited for them and the amazing growth that their farm is experiencing.