Ava's Birthday Celebration with the Hays

After Tiger Creek and a quick lunch, it was time to head home so Ava could open her presents.  Carli was very excited to give her the present that she had bought just for her.  Keith had taken Carli to the toy store and after about an hour of wandering the store, they finally decided on a princess tent. 

Carli could barely contain herself!  She kept saying, "Look Ava, it's a princess tent, just for you...and me!"



Naggy and Pappy got Ava her very own tricycle just like sisters.  Ava was pretty excited about it!  We let the girls "cruise" around the living room for a little bit and after naps, they took the new bike for a spin around the neighborhood.

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan gave Ava a brand new soft black bear.  Now the girls can go on "bear hunts" again!  Their old big white bear made a special trip to the Goodwill.  It had seen better days!  We had not realized how much the girls played with it until it was gone!  So Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan came to the rescue!!

Ava's cake was a Dora cake.  She was pretty excited to see Dora and then she took us all by surprise and took a big bit right out of the cake! 

She was kind enough to share with Naggy.

Eventually she finally used a fork to finish off her portion of the cake! 

Ava had a great time on her "birthday weekend!"

Tiger Creek

The weekend of Ava'a birthday Naggy and Pappy and Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan came to help us celebrate.  We decided to go visit Tiger Creek since Ava has a fascination with animals, and especially loves to growl.  She has a very cool way of saying "Lion" with a growl inserted in the middle of the it...really, it is one of those things I just can't duplicate. 

Ava was pretty excited to see all the lions.  And it honestly was a pretty cool place.  We got to hear all about the stories of the lions and how they ended up at Tiger Creek, which is a rescue shelter for big cats.

Ava and Uncle Kevin

The girls with Naggy and Pappy



Ava had a blast.  Literally.  She pointed, growled and smiled the whole time. 

She did her best to make sure her Daddy had a good time too!



Carli was not quite as enthusiastic as Ava was, but she did at least look at the big cats for a little while. 

And then she insisted that she couldn't walk for fear that the cats would get her...Pappy was heartbroken that he ended up carrying her much of the morning.  Right!

See her enthusiasm!

See the lion in the background?

Ava had no fear and would go right up to the fences and point and talk.  

We had a great morning at Tiger Creek and Ava had a blast!  And that's what counted the most since the weekend was about celebrating her!  :)

May Birthday Celebrations

While the whole family was together down in San Antonio, it made sense to celebrate all of our May birthdays.  We had Ava on the 14th, Uncle Tone on the 15th, Grammy on the 22nd and Logan on the 24th.  The kids decorated big cupcakes for all the birthday folks, plus one for Carli so she wouldn't feel left out.  :)

Can you tell which one is Ava's?  

It would be the one wiht some icing missing.  :)

 We had a "mini" party for Ava and she got to open her gifts from Grammy and Pa, some cards and a gift from Aunt Carolyn.  The big kids thought it was a team effort to unwrap the presents.  Carli is convinced that the play cupcakes from Aunt Carolyn were really given to Ava for the sole purpose of sharing with her!  The wheel barrow and water shooters from Grammy and Pa are a new favorite toy.

After Ava's little party, Uncle Tone opened his graduation gifts and then turned the table and gave Mom and Dad an appreciation gift and letter.  It was pretty cool.   He made a picture collage of their wedding picture using smaller pictures of us kids.  Hard to explain, but trust me it looked pretty cool.

We also gave Mom her Mother's Day/Birthday gift while we were in the gift giving spirit.  We gave her a Spa Gift Card to use after she survives her last weeks of school.  :)

Uncle Tone's birthday gifts were kind of rolled into his graduation gifts.  But the kids were eager to show him his big cupcake they decorated for him.  :)

May is quite the busy month when it comes to birthday celebrations!

"Putting up" our Produce

Our little garden has had a good harvest.  The zucchini have been especially happy!  We've enjoyed a pan or two of green beans, some fried okra, bell peppers and lots and lots of zucchini and squash!  Our cantaloupe are finally starting to show too!  The girls and I have have definitely enjoyed our little venture!  The plan was to eat all that we grow b/c really how much could three 2x2 raised beds produce?  Turns out a whole lot of zucchini and squash.  

With Carli's help, we "put up" about 12 bags of zucchini and squash in our freezer.  :)  It's been a lot of fun and very yummy to eat!  We've even given some away! 

I think our zucchini is about finished b/c I may have broken the stems in an attempt to mow around them.  :(  No worries though.  I think I will plant more green beans and see if we can get enough to put a few away too. 



There is Hope...

With her Daddy's love of baseball and her Momma's love of softball, we have some hope of a future ball player in our midst....

Pls note her style...her glove matchers her outfit...she didn't inherit that gene from her Momma.  :)



Need a Lawyer?

We have one in our family now!  We are so proud of Anthony for finishing law school last week.  We all loaded up and headed to San Antonio to celebrate his awesomeness.  We rented a house so the whole family could stay together.  It worked out really well!  We didn't have to battle the kids in a restaurant all weekend!  Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Johnny and Uncle Danny brought Grandma.  And Aunt SuAnne and Uncle Tom came for the day on Saturday. 

The kids ate up having room to run and play.  Saturday morning before we left for graduation I actually captured a picture of them all, kind of smiling!

Pa with his girls. 

The girls did really well sitting through the graduation ceremony.  Carli had to go potty without fail as soon as it started, and we were sitting right in the middle of the row!  Thank goodness for Uncle Danny answering text msgs and Aunt Carolyn's willingness to take Carli so we didn't have to climb all over strangers to make the mad dash to the bathroom! 

As soon as the graduates started filing in and we found Anthony, we all started taking pictures.  Carli got frantic wanting to know where her phone was...as soon as she found it, she had to snap some pictures too! 

Ava did really well considering that graduation fell right in the middle of her nap time.  She was really into the clapping for everyone!

We are so so proud of Anthony and all his hard work!  Can't you tell his Momma is proud of him in this picture?

We were all very happy that Grandma was able to come see her baby boy graduate.  They have a very special bond.

The siblings

The kids weren't very cooperative about taking pictures with Uncle Tone.  Ava was kind of weary of his hat and the other two were just being difficult.  Here's the two oldest taking a "break" and we snapped a quick picture with Uncle Tone. 

Don't attempt to make my children do something you want them to do, especially if they really don't want to...b/c you will end up with a picture like this!  But at least they aren't in tears!

Congrats Uncle Tone on your amazing achievement!  We LOVE you very much!!

Happy Birthday Logan!

To one of the funniest, sweetest, cutest, most lovable BIG boys I know....

Happy Birthday Logan!! 

We are loving getting to see you every week and can't wait to play with you all summer long!  Hope you had an awesome day being the boss!