Gymnastics

Just a few more pictures of my little gymnast. She loves gymnastics at Fliptastic and does such a great job. It’s so fun to watch her doing something she really enjoys.

Ava ready for class

Practicing hand stands

On the beam

Ready to dismount

On the bars-her favorite!

2024

I can’t believe it. I registered my baby for kindergarten. My last baby. I seriously can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. It was just yesterday that we brought this precious bundle home from the hospital. How could she possibly be starting kindergarten?! She is excited to start school though and I know she will love kindergarten! She is such a precocious learner! She is already reading and doing simple math. She is an amazing artist and just loves soaking up new facts. She often tells me little factoids at dinner time-like “did you know that some bats eat mango and some eat insects?” or “snakes eat rats without even chewing and then they take a rest.” I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself next year, when I am the mother of two school age children.

As I looked over the paperwork at the registration office I noticed that they have Ava listed as the Class of 2024. I remarked to the woman helping me, “Wow 2024! That’s hard to believe.” And she said “2024 will be here before you know it.”

 I suppose it will…

Singing at Winding Commons

Yesterday Ava’s preschool class took a field trip to Winding Commons to sing to the grandmas and grandpas that live there. Ava had been practicing her songs for weeks and was excited to sing to the people. It was very sweet to see and the residents loved seeing the children perform. At the end of the performance—three songs I believe—the kids handed out some artwork they had created to each resident in attendance. What a sweet idea! I’m so glad that her preschool did this!

 Ava ready to sing

By the Christmas tree after her performance

A video of one of their songs

A Field Trip to Safeway

On Wednesday I was able to accompany Ava and some of her friends on a field trip to Safeway. It was a lot of fun! The kids got to visit each department and learn what they do. They started at the floral department and got a bag with a drink and a snack in it. They also were promised a balloon from the department at the end of the tour. Next we went to produce and they gave each child an apple. Mmmm. It was hard for them not to eat it right away. Then we went to the meat department and watched them put beef through the grinder...ew! We got to visit the freezer where they keep the ice cream and the dairy case. We could peek through and see people on the other side! We went to the bakery to see where they bake bread and pies and got a cookie for our bag. Next it was the Deli where the kids got to try chicken strips. Finally we got to go to Starbucks and get yummy hot chocolate. It was a fun field trip!

Molly, Keilani and Ava ready for the field trip

 

In the freezer section. Brr!

 

Ava and Keilani in the dairy case

 

The kids enjoying their apples and cookies

 

Landice and Ava enjoying their hot chocolates

 

Keilani and Molly drinking their hot chocolates

Fruit Loops Last Game

Tonight was Ava's last soccer game of the season and team party. It's all she's been talking about all week. She's been so excited for her "trophy party" and she's been counting down the days until she gets her trophy. She's had a lot of fun playing on the Fruit Loops with her Daddy as coach. I think she's even learned a little bit about the game of soccer. She seems to prefer practices to games, she really likes when they play Sharks and Minnows and will sometimes cry during the game if her coach (Dan) puts her in back to back quarters. She wants to play one quarter and rest one quarter. She also prefers to play defense. At least she knows what she wants. :) Of course, like most of the other under 6 players, the highlight of each game for her is the half time snack, the after game snack, and the player tunnel after the game. 

Tonight's game was fun and the Fruit Loops played a great game. We don't technically keep score, but our team was really good, and if scores had been kept I believe we would have won all of our games except for 1 or 2. These 4 and 5-year olds were really good at passing the ball and spreading out on the field. It must have been their excellent coaching. :)

After the game in the rain, we headed over to Round Table for our pizza party. The kids had a great time eating pizza, playing games and of course, getting their trophies! Dan presented each child with a trophy as well as a candy award. Ava got the "Wild" Berry Skittles because of her wild personality on the field. That sounds like my girl! We ended the celebration with a trip to Lickey Split for some ice cream. Fun times!

Keilani, Catie and Ava on the sidelines

Ava (18) running after the ball

The Fruit Loops are ready to get their trophies

Ava with Coach Dan and her trophy

Excellent Coaches: Dan and Jeff

Ava's Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Today I went with Ava's preschool class to the Pumpkin Farm. It's very close to our house and has so many fun things for the kids to do. First there is a short presentation about the farm. Did you know that corn is in the grass family? Ava and her class do! After the presentation they got to go on a hayride around the farm. Ava loves the animals--she especially liked feeding the goats. We went through a corn maze (Ava ran ahead of us the whole time), then they got to go down a big, giant slide, and play on a hay pyramid. We decided to skip the haunted house. Too scary for preschoolers! Ava and I each picked out a sugar pie pumpkin to take home and she decided that she wanted to make hers into a pumpkin pie. Which is just what we did! 

Ava and Molly

Me and Ava on the hayride

Petting a goat

Ava and Keilani

Sweet girl

In the corn maze

Coming down one of the smaller slides

Me and my girl at the top of the pyramid

Ava and some classmates

Ava and her sugar pie pumpkin

Soccer Girl

Last night was Ava's first soccer game. The team had their first game last weekend, but we missed it since we were at the beach. She looked so adorable in her uniform, I could hardly stand it! She was excited to play with her team, the Fruit Loops, and to see her friends Catie and Keilani. I made the girls matching soccer hair ribbons to wear and she could not wait to give them to her friends! She did a great job during the game. While she wasn't the most aggressive player on the field, she did stay near the action and got a few good kicks in. When she was playing defense there wasn't too much to do (our team is pretty good and spent most of the time near the goal) so she and another player just played in the grass. :)

We are looking forward to many more Friday night games this season!

Ava modeling her hair ribbon

Keilani and Ava-best friends

Ava's 4 year check up

My baby girl had her four year old check up this week and she was so brave. I have an honesty policy when it comes to Dr. visits so when she asked if she would be getting shots I had to tell her yes. She was very distraught at the thought of this and cried and asked lots of questions. I gave her the play by play of what would happen during her visit, from weighing and measuring, to talking with the Dr., to the nurse coming in and giving shots at the end. She seemed to get her head around it and once it came time for the actual shots she watched them do it and didn't even make ONE peep! What a brave girl she is! We did bring the bubbles to calm her and distract her from the shots and that seemed to help a bit, but she managed to spill most of the bottle on the floor. Note to self-next time bring the smallest bottle of bubbles you can find.

So her vitals are: 40 3/4 inches tall (66%) and 32 lbs 12 oz (27%). The doctor said she is growing fine, she's just small and that she is finally on the BMI chart now! They also tested her hearing, which was great and her vision, which wasn't as great. Apparently she has 20/50 vision in both eyes! They suggested that we take her to see an optometrist so they can test her again.

She can't see so good...

but she can hear just fine!

VBS-High Seas

The kids got to attend Vacation Bible School this past week. This year the theme was High Seas Expedition. They played games, made crafts, heard God's word and sang songs. They had a great time and especially enjoyed it because some of their best friends were in the same group as them. My favorite memory was picking Drew up one day and he ran up to me and said, "Mommy! Do you know what? Jesus is alive!" So cute! We are planning on sending the kids to at least one more Vacation Bible School this summer--they love it so much and I enjoy my 3 free hours each day while they are there.

Drew, Jacob, Ava, Keilani and their new friend Justin

Drew and Jacob

Drew and the Captain

Ava's Last Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Ava's last day of preschool. She has had a great year as a Happy Butterfly and loved her teachers Miss Mendy, Miss Cathy and Miss Ashley. It was a bittersweet last day, because Ava will not be going back next year. We are moving her to a preschool that is closer to home. It was hard for me to say goodbye to everyone, because we have been going there for three years-since Drew was in the 3s class. They have been with us as we prepared for and then went through his heart surgery and did such a good job of caring for the whole family. I love them all and will miss them next year!

Ava with Miss Dawn, the preschool director

Ava with two of her teachers, Miss Cathy and Miss Ashley

Our class gifts to the teachers-potted plants with giftcards and homemade cards from the kids

Flipper

Saturday evening we had the opportunity to join our friends the Adamsons for dinner at their house. As we're eating dinner I see Ava out of the corner of my eye on the trampoline. Here's what I saw.



What a crazy girl! I had never seen her do that before and as far as I know they didn't teach her that in gymnastics. She is brave!

Spring Sing

Ava's school had their annual spring sing the night of her birthday. She had been practicing her songs for weeks and I loved hearing them. But I wasn't sure if she'd perform onstage. During the Christmas program she just stood there and barely moved her lips. But she did look adorable! Anyway, we practiced singing really loud so we could all hear her in the car. It must have payed off! We could totally hear her voice during her songs. The entire performance was so precious. I am a little sad that this is our last year at First Covenant. They did a wonderful job with both of my kids and we loved our time there. Thank you to all the wonderful teachers and the director who loved my kids like their own.

Happy Birthday Ava!

We had so much fun celebrating Ava's birthday yesterday. I went in to wake her up and the first thing she said was "I'm four." We got up and went out to see the kitchen decorated with streamers, balloons and our "Happy Birthday" banner and all of her presents. She had a birthday crown from preschool on Thursday and she put it on right away. She opened a few presents, including her new hula hoop and her very own pink Leapster from Grandma and Grandpa.

I told Ava she could pick whatever she wanted to eat on her birthday. She chose cereal for breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes for lunch and Godfather's pizza for dinner. Drew had to go to school so after we dropped him off Ava and I had fun hanging around at home and she played with some of her presents. I had to go pick up her Cinderella cake from the store and she came with me and was sure to tell everyone there it was her birthday.

Her party was planned for 2:00 at Fliptastic. Ava loves her gymnastics class so this was the perfect party for her! We invited her whole preschool class and most of her friends from church. It was a lot of fun and not a lot of work for Mom (my favorite kind of party). The kids enjoyed playing on the equipment, jumping in the foam pit, jumping on the trampoline, jumping in the bounce house and playing with the parachute. Then it was back to the party room for snacks, cake and presents.

After the party we had about twenty minutes at home before we had to head over to Godfather's for pizza and arcade games. Ava had her Spring Sing the same night and we had to be at the school by 6:20. So we had a quick but yummy pizza dinner and then went to school to hear our little performer sing. She did great! I was so proud of my big four-year old sweetie!

Ava enjoying some time on the floor

The kids on the parachute

Ava and her Cinderella cake

Mmm. Yummy cake!

Opening presents

Drew wanted to get Ava an Ariel princess...so sweet

Mommy and Daddy with Ava