happy birthday, ava-girl!

We cannot believe this sweet girl is now the big O-N-E!

We had a lovely time celebrating Ava. It was so fun buying pink napkins and plates and making pink frosting. I made her a giant pink cupcake cake and another pink cake with white sprinkles and a beautiful pink pendant made by my friend Tonia {who is not pink, but who most certainly has a rosy disposition}.

Ava LOVED her birthday balloons and wore a cute little pink shirt with the number 1 on it and her favorite pair of jeans. She bounced around from grandparent to grandparent to aunt to aunt and was just the happiest little birthday girl on the planet.

Ava, you are a JOY and a GIFT and we just LOVE you so much! We can't wait for this next year with you -- it is so fun watching you grow and learn and laugh and play! It is hard to believe that you were this sleepy newborn just one year ago....

T is for ENCOURAGEMENT :)

T is for ENCOURAGEMENT.


Before you revoke my teaching license and put Mason on the school bus, allow me to explain:


Kindergarten has been going great. I am thoroughly enjoying teaching and learning alongside our boys. And they are learning and learning and learning and soaking in so much information and truths. It is amazing to watch them unlock door after door in their little brains. I swear I can sometimes SEE the sparks ignite as they put sounds together and make words. I can HEAR their pride as their pencils form real live letters. And I FEEL their joy as their scissors and crayons create I am so thankful to be there for this.


CAN YOU TELL WE JUST FINISHED OUR UNIT ON THE 5 SENSES??


But, let's face it, it isn't all sparks and songs and excitement. There are hard days. And last week had more of those hard days then I thought I could hande. Sickness and busyness and clutter snuck in and began to steal the joy right outta my new role. And this is fertile ground for doubt. Should I have just sent him to kindergarten? Is he learning anything? How can I balance this life as a homeschool mom?


And then I found it: the letter T. There are no words to describe the PEACE that washed over me upon this discovery. You see, I had looked and looked for this letter T on and off for probably a month at the beginning of the school year. I knew I had put it in a good spot. I could visualize it. But I could not put my hands on this letter card. I couldn't let it go. You know how that feels don't you? The soundtrack in my head kept repeating: "You're a mess!" "You can't do anything right!" "Who are you kidding that you'll be able to manage homeschooling!" etc. etc. etc.


And there it was. In the bookshelf where I had looked at least a dozen times. It was noon. I was still in my pjs trying to grab one more thing to wrap up our school day. Frazzled. Frustrated. Close to tears. And then RRRRRRRRRRR----UUUUUUUUU----SSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH: Peace.

Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and mercy. Thank you for knowing me so well that you knew exactly when I needed to encounter this encouragment. You knew how a simple piece of cardboard would soothe my soul.

So, yes, T is for ENCOURAGEMENT [and it really will be when we get to end consonant sounds].

Going Rogue

I had a better post, but blogspot messed up....so this is a test post with picture for your enjoyment:

...on the move...

Just shy of 10 months, our baby girl stood up and walked... She started taking some steps here and there last week and then got more consistent on Friday with 2 or 3 steps. Saturday she was more like 6-8 steps and yesterday included 10-12 steps and turning around and now she.is.non.stop.

The boys announce, "Her's walking!! Her's really walking!?" each and every time.

Side Note: I have been working on the use of SHE instead of HER with my boys...if anyone has any ideas, PLEASE help this momma out! My mom's English grammar gene is kicking in and it is seriously like fingernails on a chalkboard!! I sing "SHE SHE SHE SHE SHE SHE SHE" to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and that isn't even helping.

Oh wait...As I am typing this, Mason just said "SHE'S WALKING!!" Be.still.my.heart! And, OH WAIT!, that walking girl just opened up my kitchen cupboards....YIKES!

NOTE: This is new footage I took tonight as I couldn't get yesterday's to upload! I took just a quick snippet hoping that it would upload without problems...but you get the idea!!

FINAL NOTE: Yes. Mason is asking his Daddy for a lighter at the end of this video. We were building a campfire. Said lighter was not actually used by our 5 1/2 year old....promise!

9 months

Oh Sweet Ava-Girl.




How can you possibly be 9 months old?


I want to change your name to Ava Joy because that is what you do...you bring J-O-Y to your mommy and daddy...and pretty much everyone you meet.

You are cruising the furniture like it is going out of style.

You got your first tooth on Grandma Bella's Birthday, August 13th.

You are starting to eat more foods, but prefer to self-feed. Some of your favorites are: garbanzo beans, cheese, tortillas, oatmeal with some cinnamon, and last night you gobbled up peas like they were chocolate chips!

You sing/squeal your way to sleep during the day.

You are so laid back. You just go with the flow. It is wonderful. It is refreshing.

You still are up once or twice at night, but just for a quick nursing (when will you give momma a b-r-e-a-k??)

Your brothers adore you. They drag you around the house. They make you belly laugh -- loudest, sweetest sound on earth!

Ava Shannon Best -- you have changed our lives. You have added so much J*O*Y to our souls...like, down deep, so far down deep that it hurts. Every day your personality shines more and more...and every day we love you more and more.

You are our precious daughter and we thank God for the gift that is YOU!!

Kindergartening ... at home

It is the question that somehow always gets asked right after Mason says, "I'm 5!"

"Are you going to kindergarten?"
"Are you excited to start kindergarten?"
"Where will you go to kindergarten?"

I get it. I do the same thing. It's what 5-year-olds do. I am just a little unsure of how to answer this question.

"Yes" is what I would like to say. And then just leave it at that.

But my sweet 5 year old responds, "I am kindergartening at home." Oh how I love his honesty.

Most of the time there is an awkward pause in the conversation. Or a weird glance up to me to make sure this is, in fact, what is going to happen. Sometimes the conversation is over altogether.

It has gotten easier with each exchange. I am getting {more} comfortable with the idea. I am much more confidant in our decision. I am not {entirely} terrified at the very mention of kindergarten anymore.

The truth is we will be kindergartening at home. Kindergarten came in a box to our front door. And it is now unpacked from that box and getting itself ready for a year of adventure and learning and fun.

How did we arrive at this decision? Let's just say it was a L-O-N-G road of doubt and uncertainty, of reading and information gathering, of praying and seeking wise counsel, of reflecting on our own educational experiences. And finally...to surrendering to what we believe to be the very best choice for kindergarten for Mason and for our family.

I didn't want to. I fought it. But with each new school supply purchase and with each new conversation about kindergartening at home, I gain excitement and momentum to rock this new role.

Or die trying.

One year at a time.

P.H.E.W.

******NOTE: I GAVE UP ON THIS POST. NEVER AGAIN WILL I UPLOAD SO MANY PICS TO ONE POST--THEY WERE ALL IN THE WRONG ORDER AND IT IS TOO TIME CONSUMING TO GET RIGHT. THEN AVA PUBLISHED IT WHEN THE LAPTOP WAS UNATTENDED. SO, ENJOY THE WHIRLWIND OF PICTURES WHICH ACCURATELY REFLECT THE WHIRLWIND OF ACTIVITY WE'VE HAD!! :)********

Wow! We hit the ground running upon returning from vacation. Ear Tube Surgery, Father's Day, Safety Town, Vacation Bible School, and then lots of family time when Uncle Matt & his new girlfriend Michelle came to visit. Emily & the cousins shacked up with us--and it went so well that they stayed almost a week (instead of the 4 days we had planned for)! And, we topped it all off with some good times with Tim's side of the family over a 4th of July weekend to remember .

Happy Father's Day to the BEST Daddy in the world! Mason told Tim he wanted to celebrate Father's Day for 21 days (or years)...We celebrated with a slow restful morning, a big breakfast, homemade cards, and a cookout over at Tim's dad's house. These 3 kiddos are pretty lucky to have such a patient and plugged-in providing, teaching, discipining, discipling Daddy for their Dad.

Ava first tastes of food. Homemade sweet potato puree. She didn't seem to mind the taste, but she had us all laughing when she kept her mouth open for the next 15 minutes and all of that sweet potato goodness oozed out of her salivating open mouth. She prefers chunked food-bananas, sweet potato cubes, cheerios...but, honestly, she just isn't that interested {much to my dismay}. My brother Matt and his girlfriend Michelle spent a wonderful week with us. They were total troopers since I can only imagine that hanging with 5 kids 5 and under is not what their typical Friday night or Saturday night or Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday nights look like. We had a fabulous visit--saw the new elephant exhibit at the Cleveland zoo. Mom and Mason rocking the color blue....at the zoo:

Carnival 2011

We have a yearly tradition of hitting up the St. Barnabas Parish Festival with our dear friends (and former neighbors) Uncle Perry & Aunt Siggy. It began when Mason was a sweet 6 month old and may have just been an excuse to indulge in the a corndog or two, drink some fresh squeezed sugar lemonade, and maybe end the night with a funnel cake. But, as Mason has grown and we have added others to the mix, it has become more about the time together and the overpriced rides!

Safety Town

Oh this 5 year old year is filled with so many milestones and firsts and tear-jerking moments...it is like a year of getting slapped in the face with just how old your baby has become. You used to tell them they were a 'big boy' to encourage growth and development...as in, "What a big boy you are!" "Let's put on your big boy underwear." "Big boys eat their veggies." etc. etc. Well {GULP!} it has been this 5 year old year that has announced loud and clear that Mason has achieved official 'big boy' status.

And this week was Safety Town. 5 days in a row of 9:30a drop-offs and 11:30a pick-ups. He loved it. And I loved 5 days of precious one:on:one time with my second born while Ava napped (more on that later)!

Here are the pics of the Safety Town graduation. I admit I find all of these 'graduations' a little excessive....I mean, kids graduate more now than ever before: pre-school, safety town, kindergarten, etc. I know it is much more for the parents than the kids--which is probably why I find it annoying. But even I have to admit there is something rewarding about hearing your child's name and seeing them accept their 'diploma' when all they really want is the kool aid and traffic light rice krispie treat ;-) Well, if I am being honest, it is also quite fun to chuckle at the parents who arrive {at least} 30 minutes early to get a prime seat {on a picnic table} for this {once of a lifetime} occasion. You can see the back of these parents heads in this momma's pictures.

all systems go!

Well, here is the indisputable evidence: When I say our baby girl is crawling at 6 months of age...like, really crawling...I mean it.

She is quite proud of herself. We are quite proud of her. I guess it is time to start vacuuming and mopping every day week. :)

totally tubular

Our sweet Ava {and her poor, poor parents} have been dealing with chronic ear infections since March due to persistent fluid in the ears. I blame Tim. I blame my sister. Both of whom had poorly tilted eustachian tubes as children. I thought my children would be invincible to ear infections since they are given only the good stuff, but {ALAS!} this was not the case. We tried every known natural remedy in addition to the dreaded antibiotic route, which, by the way, is absolute torture for parents and babies alike. Most antibiotics require 10 full days of twice a day dosing--seriously??!! These fancy schmancy pharmaceutical companies can't come up with anything better--a dissolvable tablet??

And, while it took everything I had not to chug the entire bottle of 'bubblegum medicine' (the smell of the 'pink stuff' (amoxicillin) brought me straight back to my childhood), Ava's sensitive pallet was not impressed in the least. Let's just say that I have no worries that my baby girl will ever be held against her will. She learned quickly and effectively how to evade the medication and adapted her evading techniques {pursed lips, head turn, spitting it out, double head turn} as I tried every possible position and coaxing technique under the sun. I dreaded 7a and 7p each day...for a long time!

In reality, Ava handled the pain associated with these infections like a super champ, but enough is enough. In addition to not wanting to pump any more antibiotics into my 6 month old, that nasty fluid in her ears was causing hearing loss/distortion, which is not good at this age in speech development. I was proud of myself for going in for a second opinion, which luckily agreed with the first opinion.

So, today at 7:30a Ava had a new pair of ear tubes installed in her sweet little bulging ear drums. Dr. Katz also assured me that he drained lots of 'thick, yellow fluid' from behind both ear drums. He said that our happy little girl should be even happier {which is hard to believe}...but I take this to mean that she might just start sleeping thru the night....hey, I can dream, right??!?

I was so thankful that everything went off without a hitch and that my hot hubby {he even rocks a blue hair net} was there to handle the job of holding Ava while they put her to sleep and then holding my hand while we waited the 7 minutes for the procedure.

Ava was a little confused and upset upon awaking, but quickly settled down and then slept off the anesthesia for 3 hours at home.

Beach Bummin'

Oh what a week we had in Myrtle Beach, SC!! My parents gifted my sister and me a week at their Marriott timeshare and we picked this fabulous resort in N. Myrtle Beach. Can you say "OCEANFRONT WITH 4 POOLS?" It was beyond wonderful!!

A blog I used to read described how she loved to 'freeze' her kiddos at the beach every year. And this description has stuck with me. The running on the beach...how did my firstborn baby get such big boy legs? And how fun are these cute little girl bathing suits?? Enjoy these pics of our amazing week of fun in the sun...in no particular order... :)

Ava supervising her brother's sandcastle making

Levi riding the waves with Daddy -- he LOVED every second of the ocean!!

Beach baby watching the wave riding


Daddy & Ava catching some rays (and tasting sand)

oh this face says it all! Did I mention Ava started crawling a few days before we left for vaca!

Pooltime with Daddy Shark...

love this surfer boy!

Mason's turn riding the waves. He took a little longer to warm up to the ocean's 'roughness', but by the end of the week he didn't need to strangle Daddy with his death grip....he actually was riding the waves NEXT to Tim and loved getting pummelled by the waves!

Even the promise of chocolate ice cream didnt get a photo of all 3 smiling

Mason found this hermit crab and wanted a pic.

Our Sleeping Beauty: poolside. Ava was a total trooper, sleeping when she needed to wherever we were. So this is what it is like to have a laid-back baby!

My sweet nephew Elijah -- he LOVES the water! He would go out on the balcony every morning and point to the ocean saying "waddur" with a huge grin!

waterslidin'. the sign said you had to be 48", but the lifeguards were super cool and our kiddos couldn't get enough of this slide!

brothers -- and I didn't even have to bribe for these smiles

and awake poolside

my boys: beach bound

Mom, there's a tv in our room!!!! I am surprised he left this bed all week!

the boys

nursing our 'babies' on the beach....

Luke & Levi buried by Mason.

Mason buried.

Levi taking a little break from the waves.

The girls.

our family of 5

this is the life.

Ava's first shower. Each of the kiddos had their first shower with Daddy while on vacation!

My sleeping beauty! (the animal print bikini made it despite Daddy's protests ;-)

"Mom, why do I have a boys swimshirt on???"

Trying to get a family pic was difficult to say the least ;-)

but we took it anyways!

Sunbathing with Daddy...

one of the pools! the kids loved the splash area!

My sister Emily showing off her 25 pound+ weight loss!!

Sportin' the shades ;-)

All systems gos for the beach!

w We stayed with my dear college friend Tricia and her familyon the way down to Myrtle. More on this later!! It was so fun--she is an absolute inspiration and we haven't laughed this much in a long time!