El Camino...through the eyes of a 3 yr old. :)

Isn't this adorable????

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

We had a wonderful, yet very busy Thanksgiving weekend. We spent lots of time with family and friends and eating!!

My weekend started on Wednesday at noon. I took the afternoon off to bake and start getting things ready for Friday. After an afternoon of baking, dinner, and putting Ava Kate to bed, I went with a group of girls to go see Breaking Dawn. Again. I needed to see if I missed anything. You can start laughing at me now, Heather. :)

On Thursday, we went with my mom and Tracy, Emily, and my Grandma to Sawmill Creek. That's in Huron, OH. It was soooo good! What a spread!




























We attemped a family picture. It didn't turn out too bad. Ava wasn't super cooperative. She just wanted to eat the cherries off the dessert table.














My mom, my Grandma, Ava and I














My sweet girl














Grandma and Ava














On Friday, we had John's family over for dinner. Last year we hosted, too. Well, last year I was crazy busy and didn't really care. So I bought almost everything. And everyone gave me a hard time all weekend long. So, this year I decided to redeem myself. I made almost everything from scratch. Including my first turkey!!

Proud Moment!














The menu consisted of:
Turkey
Stuffing (made my a close family friend)
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Biscuits (these didn't turn out too well)
Cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries
Sweet Potatoes (super yummy) Let me know if you want the recipe! This was the biggest hit!
Pumpkin pie (what a pain!)
Pumpkin bread
Pumpkin Trifle
Banana Bread (made by Aunt Tammy)

Everyone seemed to enjoy it and told me that next year I have to raise the bar. Not sure how, but I'm thinking a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin???

My cleanup crew














Uncle George, Megan, Nick, and Will stayed for the entire weekend. Jolie came up Friday night, too! Ava had so much fun hanging out with her cousins!















































Saturday was the big game. John is a HUGE Ohio State fan. I dressed Ava to represent. Of course, she would cooperate completely. Megan, Ava, my mom, and I actually took off before the game started to go shopping. I can honestly say I'm so over the OSU v. MI rivalry. Facebook is loaded with smack talk, people are so rude and obnoxious. My husband is actually pretty good, but he's a little over the top during game time. So, off I went. We were back home in time to catch the second half. But while everyone was in the man cave, I stayed in the comfort of my living room. I didn't even need volume on the TV!



















Everyone was still in a pretty decent mood even though OSU lost. Mostly everyone took naps and then we headed to El Camino. We weren't that hungry, so we pretty much went for appetizers and drinks. I have lots of pictures from there but I'll save it for another post. We gave Ava the camera. It's pretty funny! We had a great time all night. After El Camino, we just came back and hung out and played cards. There was MUCH laughter! Isn't that the best?

On Sunday morning, everyone took off to head back to Medina. And I may have taken my Grandma to see a movie. Ok, Heather, she asked me too! What was I supposed to say? LOL!!

After we were back home, I decided it was time to get the Christmas stuff out. Ava is really into it this year. She keeps asking about Santa and where he lives. We are taking her to Breakfast with Santa on Saturday. I'm hoping it goes OK!

Here are pictures of our decorated home:


































































It was hard to get a good picture of the tree. But do you see the little Elf under the tree. Yes, we are using Elf on a Shelf this year. She seems to really enjoy it!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! Stay tuned for the El Camino pictures. :)

S.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had a great holiday weekend! Filled with lots of food, family, and FUN! I promise a much longer and detailed post tomorrow. But I'm sooo tired tonight. But I wanted to share this....







Thanksgiving 2010


Thanksgiving 2011



















Can't believe the difference!! I promise I will share more! Hope you had a great holiday!
Love,
S.

Build A Bear

Friday night, I took Ava to Build A Bear. I actually got a gift card at my shower last year.

Since she isn't a huge fan of stuffed animals, I hadn't used it. And then Friday afternoon I got the email that said the had SMURFS!! She loves the Smurfs.

She picked out the girl Smurf AKA Smurfette. She was so excited! And she has carried it all weekend. :)










She got to help "stuff it"














She kissed the heart and put it in her.














Gave her a tubby














And brushed her hair.














I think it's safe to say it was a pretty successful trip!!

Mama is a Twi-hard...

I'll admit it.

I love Twilight.

I've read the series 6 times.

I've seen the movies too many times to count.

And I was there at midnight when Breaking Dawn premiered.




And I wasn't alone....Nope! I was there with 8 of my closest friends and family. Including my GRANDMA!!!




















Though, we didn't dress up in costumes, we did have T-shirts made.
































Breaking Dawn, Part 2 comes out November 16, 2012. Guess where I'll be????

Love,
S.

Swim Lessons

Ava is back in swim lessons on Thursday nights. And I'm loving this session because she MOVED up! I don't have to get in the pool any longer. I get to sidelines and watch...AHH...

No more freezing for me! Poor Ava is freezing afterwards, but we started a new routine. I have been giving her a shower and taking her jammies for afterwards. That way, she gets warmed up and part of routine is done before we get home!

She does so great!!










































































Doesn't she look like such a big girl?

The Dentist

Have you read this book??

Well, we have. Many of many of times. This book came along in the welcome packet from Ava's Denstist. We read to her every night, so we incorporated the book into the nightime routine the week prior to her first visit.

The story is about Jake and Jessie Judd and their first visit to the dentist. It goes on to tell you how to brush and shows Jake Judd with the cavity that needs to be fixed. It tell you what to eat, blah, blah, blah...

Long story, short...we haven't read the book in months. And today for Ava's dental appointment, she walked in and said..."where's Jake and Jessie?" I double over laughing! I seriously cannot believe that she remembers that. The receptionist was no nice and explained that Jake and Jessie had to go to school. So funny!!

Anyhow, the rest of the visit didn't go so well. She did great in the chair, but she has 4 cavitities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so bummed. Apparently the enamel on her teeth is basically non exisistent. :( So, the dentist wants to put her under general anesthetic and take care of everything at once. He said if not, it will be in 3-4 visits with shots to numb. He said "she'll hate me, she'll hate you, and she'll hate the dentist". True that. So, now we have to wait to see what insurance covers and schedule the appointment. It scares me to have her put under, but I also have a better feeling since I know she has already been under once to have her lip repaired. Please pray for Ava!

Daddy's Home!

First, I wanted to share this picture with you! Isn't is AMAZING??? We got our family pictures done a few weeks ago for our Christmas cards. I have to say I'm extremely pleased!! I have some super cute ones of Ava, too. I'll have to upload those later!

Monday night, I took Ava to the library for the first time. She LOVED it! It was almost overwhelming. I would start to read her a book and then she would exclaim "I ant anoder book!" So funny!! She loved this little Peek a Book, too! Until a little boy tried to sneak in when she wasn't looking...Bad move. Haha!














And Ava and I were so excited to pick up Daddy from the airport last night!! He was in Florida visiting Jeremy and Ashley. Ava was so excited to welcome Daddy home!!!

And for those of you who may possibly care about my obsession of high school football, Genoa lost their game last Saturday. Concluding their 2010 - 2011 session. I was very happy with the game, though! We played Kenton, whose quarterback is ranked 10th in the nation. So the fact that we only lost by 10 points says ALOT!! What a great season, Comets!! Now, John is thinking I'm a freak because I want to go to the next Kenton game. The kid WAS GOOD!! But the only game he could go to is on the 26th. Well, considering it's the OSU v. MI game, that's not gonna happen. Is it wrong I'd rather go to the high school game than watch the OSU game?? :)

Hope all is well!!

Talk soon!

S.

Baby Sawyer

Last night we went to visit baby Sawyer. He is so precious. Absolutely precious. Ava loved him!!

Isn't this the sweetest picture?

Ava loves her Uncle Keith.

Sawyer with his infamous Aunt Frannie blanket.

Uncle Keith completely spoils Ava. He rubbed her feet for almost 15 mins. And then after she kept going up to him telling him that her feet hurt! Haha!

Aunt Sara Sister

How can you not love him??

Ava is spending the evening with her cousins while I am getting ready to head out to the Comets game. We are playing the #1 ranked team. Praying for an upset! Let's Go Comets!!!