Ava Takes a Bottle

Ha! Not really, but this is one of her favorite "teething" toy choices!

Ava's Teething Biscuit

I am not a fan of teething biscuits. They get so nasty and messy that I avoided them at all cost with Carli. But Ava is teething harder than I remember Carli doing so, and she is constantly picking up things (not small objects, but larger items) and putting them in her mouth. So, I gave in and got her some biscuits...



By looking at these pictures you would think she would be a pro at feeding herself cheerios and puffs too - but that is not the case. She refuses to put small things in her mouth. She will try to put them in your mouth, but not hers! Ah, the intricacies of the mind of Ava...

Carli's New Shoes and Gloves

We got home last Thursday and Carli had had an awesome day with Grandma. She had a nap and got to play outside - so she was one happy, fiesty little girl (this has nothing to do with the few M&Ms she may have eaten on the 45 minute drive home!) And where there is energy, there is imagination!


And pretty much, my oven mitts have disappeared more times than I can count over the last few days now. And I can't just ask Carli where are my oven mitts, I must ask, "Carli, where did you put your new shoes and gloves?!"

Playing while Daddy Works!

The weather was PERFECT the two weekends Keith worked to put up the new swingset and the girls had a blast playing outside.

Carli really liked her telescope

This lasted an instant before Ava got off (by herself) and was using the fish to support herself standing.

And Naggy succeeded and getting a SMILING picture of the girls together!

We are looking forward to many, many more fun days spent in our backyard. Now if the pollen would just go away so we wouldn't all be miserable the following mornings after spending the day outside!

Carli's Getting a Swing Set - Part 4

We were super excited that the girls enjoyed playing on the fort and slide for the week...

We were even more impressed that Carli could climb the rock wall after Daddy only showed her how to go up once!

We are so proud that Carli LOVES to share her slide with her B-Ava!

Saturday Pappy and Daddy got to work bright and early. Keith had finished up the rock wall the day before so all that was left was the picnic table, more railings, accessories and the most important of all, the swings!

Keith and his Dad work really well together, and they got everything pretty much finished around lunch time. Carli really, really LOVES her new big girl swing! And Ava thinks swinging is the funniest thing ever!


Here is the final product of close to 20 hrs of work. I think it turned out really awesome and Keith did an amazing job at getting it all put up quickly. A huge thanks to David and Pappy for their help.

Now, do we have any volunteers to help us water seal it?! :)

Carli's Getting a Swing Set - Part 3

Sunday afternoon, Keith was out in the yard again. He was determined to get the fort part of the swing set done at least so Carli could slide. He worked another couple of hours adding the railings to the top half of the fort so that Carli would not fall out from 10 feet up in the air! He also skipped ahead a few steps and secured the slide down.

When Carli woke up from her nap, she was pretty excited to see what her Daddy had accomplished! She was also pretty excited to have her Grammys puppies at her house for a few days!

She tested out her slide - and it goes pretty fast! She was one happy little girl!

We decided to leave the fort be for the week since Pappy and Naggy were coming to visit and Pappy could help Daddy finish up the project!

Total time: 12.5 hrs

Carli's Getting a Swing Set - Part 2

Last Saturday morning started off at 8 am. Daddy was ready to go and so was Carli! She was amazingly patient through the whole process of putting up her swing set. I was very impressed! David and Kenzie arrived later on that morning to help out. We were so very thankful for David giving up his Saturday to help us out. Keith and I think so differently, I quickly volunteered to watch all the girls if David would come over!

The girls did a good job helping out.

The guys worked all day. They stopped only for about 45 minutes to eat lunch. Finally at about 6 pm they were ready to call it a day. I forgot to get a picture at the end of the day - but this is one from about 4. They made a TON of progress!

Total Time: 10.5 hrs

Carli's Getting a Swing Set - Part 1

Keith and I had toyed with the idea of getting a nice swing set for the girls - perhaps for Carli's birthday. The only downer is that Carli's birthday in in October about when the weather starts cooling off, so she'd spend a good 6 months looking wistfully out the window at her awesome swing set! So, we decided that we should go ahead and get one. Carli loves to go to the park and swing and slide. We looked around a lot online. Spent one whole Saturday driving around looking at Rainbow's, some Amish made ones and the ones at Toys R Us. We finally decided on the Highlander by Leisure Time Play Sets at Sams. The folks that make this set are the same ones that make the Backyard Adventures one. But what really sold us was that there were three different levels, all encased with railings, with small steps to go from one level to the other - not just one 'deck.' We thought this would be easier for the girls to get up and down - and it made Momma feel better too!

Last Friday night, Keith and I spent an hour and a half just sorting all the wood!

I think Keith said there were over 1000 wood screws!

Ava and Tighty thought the boxes were awesome!

To say all the wood, screws and instructions were intimidating would have been an understatement! Keith enlisted the help of our friend David to come over, and they hit the road running Saturday morning...

Daddy's Girls

It's a Sheet Fort at Grandma's House!

Anyone else remember the days of forts out of blankets, sheets and table tops? Turns out, Carli spends most of her time at Grandma's rolling around on the floor playing with blankets and pillows. So it dawned on Grandma and I to get out the folding table and make her a little fort...




Turns out, Grandma and I are geniuses!

Carli's New Responsibility Chart

Carli went to visit Grammy at school the other day and they were having a book fair. Carli was very excited to go have a look. While we were there, Grammy found this really neat responsibility chart with some magnet/stickers. Carli was so excited to get to bring it home and hang it up. We haven't quite got her to understand the whole concept yet - but in due time it will come!

Carli is so proud!

Thanks Grammy!

Happy Birthday Pa!

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Spring has Arrived!

With the warmer weather blessing us more days than not this last week, Carli, Ava and I have enjoyed a few afternoons outside. Grammy gave Momma a seed starter set so we could plant flowers. Since it's been so nice, Carli helped me plant a few seedlings.

Putting in the dirt...

Using a shovel makes more sense!

And then we had to wet down the soil...

And finally, while Momma planted the seeds, Carli washed (perhaps scratched a little) my car!

Every time we go outside now, Carli has to water our "plants." This interprets to Carli drowning the poor little seedlings, so I am afraid our efforts won't net us any flowers! Oh well, we did have fun playing in the dirt and water though!!