Eight is Great!

Eight years ago today we welcomed our sweet Ava Jane. This year her birthday has been met with extraordinary anticipation on the part of the birthday girl. She simply couldn't wait to be eight. And she reminded us.... a lot... that today was her birthday.

"Amelia, do you have anything you'd like to say to me this morning?"

"Dad, I think I'd like to have crepes for my birthday breakfast. With Nutella please."

For her birthday gift John selected a child sized set of golf clubs and Ava was thrilled. They've been practicing in the backyard all Spring and she just can't wait to golf with her dad, her Papa Ray, Bill and Annie....

To celebrate her birthday Ava wanted to have a pool party at her Papa and Grandma's. We limited the guest list to just a handful of friends. And while May 28th is always a wonderful day, the weather didn't cooperate. It spat ran much of the day. Temperatures struggled to reach 70. But Ava was undeterred. We offered to move the party back a day, but she was having none of it.

The pool was heated to about 85 degrees but the air temperature was only just barely 70. Never you mind - Ava and her friends hit the pool for nearly two hours while the adults shivered on the deck watching them. At least the rain had passed.

The most ecstatic birthday girl....

Ava has such a good center. While I was worried about the weather she knew she would be able to swim. ("Mom, Papa is heating the pool.") She requested lime cupcakes because her friend Ava T. loves limes. (I couldn't find lime cupcakes that looked good, so I made these, Margarita cupcakes and omitted the tequila. They were fantastic!) Ava seemed to soak in all the love and attention surrounding her birthday without getting worried or wound up. I was so proud of her.

Here, opening gifts, while Annie and Grandma Marilyn look on....

Eight years has gone by so quickly - I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to know a kid as awesome as Ava. I am so lucky to be her mom.

Early Out

Every Wednesday Ava has an early dismissal from school so the teachers can use that time for professional development. And most Wednesdays my parents pick her up from school. To Ava this means she gets to be "Keck" on Wednesday's (I don't know why it's called Keck). This week Orbit got to join Ava for her Wednesday afternoon with Papa and Grandma.

Look at the beautiful picture my dad took of Grandma Jo, Ava and Orbit soaking up their time together....

Summer Hours

We're not even to Memorial Day yet and my girls have thrown themselves head long into summer hours. The days are getting longer and my girls are content to spend their time at home roaming the neighborhood with their friends. They eat the snacks proffered by various neighbors (or us), come home filthy with Kool Aid mustaches, falling fast asleep as soon as we dip them through the bath and put them to bed.

Today Jessica was an honorary Moorlach girl for the day. I'm not sure she and Ava came inside except to use the bathroom and find something to eat. Here are the very best friends, hugging it out on the deck. And yes, Ava is wearing fake leather pants (plastic) even though it is 80 degrees outside. Oh, and yes, my mom bought those for her....

Here's Amelia and her posse.... oh these girls - I suspect we'll be posting this picture again and again as they grow up....

Goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

John has been working very hard the past few weeks, putting in long hours at the office - evenings and weekends. Since Ava is on her late Spring intercession John decided to take a day off and take the girls to the zoo. The girls were practically purring with excitement. Through out my work day a series of images appeared in my in box.

At the face painting station - Ava the butterfly....

Princess Amelia who wanted a PURPLE crown, not gold....

Sisters.... pre-face painting....

On a camel ride...

Coming home tonight, hearing about their day, seeing how excited they were to have spent the day with their dad is a good reminder to spend more time doing things with the girls instead of doing things FOR them. It is easy to think that laundry, dinner, bathtime, teeth brushing and book reading means mothering them. But these are the days that will stick with them. I'm glad they had the time with their dad, but I am envious of their adventure and wish I could have been with them today.

Spring Break, Take 2

Ava is in the year round program at school, so as all the other kids in the neighborhood are wrapping up their school year this week Ava is taking her last intercession before her final month of 2nd grade. My parents are kind enough to watch after Ava much of the week, so of course they get the added bonus of Orbit visiting as well.

We've had a couple of gorgeous weather days this week and Ava spent much of the day helping Grandma Jo plant flowers. She was filthy, exhausted, freckeled and happy when I picked her up tonight.

My dad sent this photo of Ava in the sun, watering the plants on the deck...

And Orbit, stretched out in the sun like the catty little dog he is.... Orbit spent most of the day chasing after Daisy and Lily - my parents two collies who are 10 times his size.

Party Animals

Our Saturday started early with my alarm going off at 5:15am to join my running group for a 10 mile run on the trail from Indianola to Carlisle. After a chilly, windy (and tough!) run I headed home to take the girls to a friend's birthday party.

The party was held a bowling alley very well suited for children. The lanes had bumpers, there were ramps to help the kids bowl, there were light-weight children's balls. It was clean, bright, well kept. Even with all that, Amelia struggled with the patience to wait her turn and the requirement to share bowling balls. I think a family return trip is in order, because she seemed to really enjoy the actual bowling part.....

Sisters....

While Amelia and I took a much needed nap John began preparations for a New Orleans inspired dinner for my folks and our friends Bill and Annie. John recently spent a week in New Orleans and came back full of appreciation for the food, the drink, the city, the energy. On our menu were oysters (baked and raw, which by the way Ava ate more of than anyone but John), a rich chicken and sausage gumbo with delicate hush puppies, followed by an apple upside down cake. It was de-lish!

John served up the signature drink of the Big Easy, the Sazerac - perhaps the first cocktail created.

Ava wrote a story in school in which Bill and Annie were the main characters. The first lines of the story... "Annie is a good cook and she has a husband named Bill. Bill is good at reading and riding a bike." From there Ava concocts a story where the stew Annie is cooking for dinner comes to life.

Reading the story, "The Food," to Bill and Annie...

Orbit, tolerating the Amelia love....

Today we are planning a much quieter day!

Fully Operational

The floors are finally done! The furniture is (mostly) back in place! But most importantly, the stove and refrigerator have been hooked back up! And we have a new toilet in the bathroom on the main floor. Not only are the floors lovely, but we can finally (FINALLY!) cook again.

So of course I made a dessert that does not require the stove. But it was easy and tasty enough that I had to share:

Strawberries with Cannoli Cream Dip

Ingredients:

15 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Strawberries for dipping

Directions:

Combine the ricotta cheese, sugar, cinnamon, orange zest and vanilla extract. I used our food processor, but I certainly think a mixer would work just fine. (The sugar was a little bit grainy in the dip - it didn't bother me, but I might use super fine sugar next time. Or maybe brown sugar.) Fold in chocolate chips by hand.

Source: Well Fed Newlyweds

The girls are already big fans of strawberries, but this dip convinced them that strawberries are dessert. Ricotta is a very lean dairy and good source of protein. There isn't so much sugar here that I feel at all concerned about the quantity of this dip my children have consumed over the past couple of days.

Yum!













Striking a strawberry pose!

Mother's Day!

Oh warm weather.... how I've missed you. I think we can finally, officially kiss cold weather good-bye. We might have some chilly days, some rainy days, but I don't think we're going to have the heat on again until this Fall. Fantastic!

Today is Mother's Day - everyone likes to be acknowledged, celebrated, but I don't have big expectations for the day. After brunch at my parent's house we went to the garden center to get herbs for our little garden. Here we have fresh oregano, thyme, chives, Italian flat leaf parsley with a little spot for tomato plants, yet to be planted....

A pot of fresh sweet basil and (not pictured) a pot of rosemary. I can't wait for summer tomatoes with some basil, salt and pepper. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

With temperatures topping 80 degrees the kids begged, pleaded and cajoled and finally we got the sprinkler out. The neighborhood kids descended. I popped 3 bags of microwave popcorn, made and refilled 2 pitchers of Crystal Light lemonade and one of the other neighborhood moms showed up with popsicles.

Amelia and her friend Selena....

The view from our deck....

Since our house, particularly our kitchen, is still kind of in pieces John is getting creative with Mother's Day dinner. Steaks on the grill, stuffed mushrooms in the toaster oven and a salad. Yum! Oh and we're sipping these. (Link courtesy of Meghan!) Life is good.

Sort of almost finished product

Friday the workmen finished our floors. Our appliances are in place (on lifts of sorts) but are not hooked up until Monday. This is the view looking into our kitchen - don't the floors look beautiful?

This picture didn't turn out as well, but this is the view into our front room, where we keep our computer, a chair and a half and often sit to read. These floors were refinished. I had no idea how badly they needed to be refinished until I saw how beautiful they looked when they were done.

Alas, we cannot put any furniture on the floors until Monday evening. We have to walk in socks only - no shoes, no bare feet. It is good to be back in our house, but it still feels a bit like we are camping out. Here's the view of our living room. Sigh.... just a few more days.

Update from the Home Improvement Project

When I got home tonight I was trying to take a picture to capture the progress of the flooring installation, complete with most of the kitchen being shoved into the living room. Orbit, the puppy spaz, had a rough day with the workmen in the house. He was a little wound up, very happy to see us and came careening around the corner right as I snapped the picture. Totally cracked me up!

Come on, you know you're jealous. You know you want your kitchen table and refrigerator shoved into your living room and a new puppy to boot!

Creatures of Habit

There's nothing like a little construction project to throw a girl out of her routine. Oh and to remind me what a creature of habit I am.... (as if I didn't know). Our house is in total disarray as we kick off the installation of new flooring. There's no where to sit, no real ability to cook. This morning I needed to take the girls in to school, which is normally John's job, so he could greet the workers and sort through the maze of logistics necessary to complete this project.

In the middle of a somewhat hectic morning I was trying to figure out what to do about Ava's cold lunch. (She steadfastly refuses to eat hot lunch) She was rejecting all the 'easy' possibilities and my anxiety level was climbing until John chimed in and said "I will take Ava out for lunch today."

This arrived in my in box a few moments ago....

Lucky Ava - lunch at Boomers with her dad!

A nice reminder to me to relax and locate my sense of humor. The next week or so is going to be inconvenient. I don't need to make it even more difficult!

Construction Project

We are staring down the barrel of a construction project that will make the next 10 days kind of an inconvenience. We have decided to install hardwood floors to replace our 10 year old linoleum.

Friday a large stack of wood was delivered....

To replace this beauty....

We (ok, really John) has to clear out everything in the downstairs bath, mudroom and kitchen. This includes our toilet, deep freeze, our refrigerator, our stove. Which also means no cooking for us for the next 10 days. And trying to figure out what we're going to eat for the next 10 days. Installation starts tomorrow - we get chased out of the house for a couple of days starting Wednesday (where we move in with Papa Ray and Grandma Jo, puppy and all). We'll be able to be fully back in the house next Tuesday or so. I am sort of dreading this part of the process, but can't wait to have new, beautiful flooring.

Is Orbit lucky or tortured to have little girls who love him so? He is being fully incorporated into outside play now that the weather is finally, blessedly improving. I think he likes it.... Maybe.