catching up

i know. it's been forever. so much has happened the past few months. ava started kindergarten {tear}, our lives were turned upside down and we all had to adjust to this new schedule, i am back on a "get myself healthy" kick. i mean really, hollis is three...i need to get myself together here. thank goodness to this new schedule, i think it can actually happen. life just seems more organized, more manageable. i actually enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn. schedules and routines are oh so good :) had to share ava's first piece of art from school. her school has this awesome program called artsonia, where the art teacher takes photos of all the artwork and uploads it to the site. you can view their art and even order key chains, t shirts, mugs with your child's art on it. i mean really...we all wish we would have thought of this! anyway, her first masterpiece: line drawing and color mixing.

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flipper

bo backflipped into the pool yesterday {why didn't i get that on video?! stud!}. so then ava had to try a front flip. the girl is pretty fearless! i love it!

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fallen

we have not fallen off the face of the earth...promise! we have been having a wonderful summer, enjoying lots of time in the sun at the pool or the lake! the kids keep us busy and even though it's hella hot here, we have to get outside part of the day to keep their wiggles out! i had an awesome girls weekend in kansas with jen {yes, i'm lazy and am linking to her post so you can see her pics!}, it was much needed and the time went too quickly! of course, it is always sweet coming home to my awesome babies and bo! yes, i know how lucky i am...
ava turned 5 june 30th! we had a great birthday party for her at the water park again this year...i should probably blog that big event! i think i am in denial again this year...i saw school supplies at target the other day and almost had a panic attack. not ready for her to be gone 5 days a week...probably why i am really taking the time to soak up the kids and especially her before school starts.
i'll try to catch up on here, but no promises...we all know how that goes!
xo,
a

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my girl

i am so thankful for this girl always, but this weekend she has shown me how incredibly special, wonderful, and compassionate she is. Hollis and i have been sick all weekend {yes, strep throat has struck again}, bo has been working and she has been an angel. i know she has wanted to do more than sit around the house and watch movies, play independently, and hang out with us sick ones. but she has. she has and has not complained at all. today, my mom rescued her and took her to the antique mall while she an felix worked on their booths and then went back to the house for a swim! she came home happy and excited to tell me all she had done and show me the beanie baby koala bear grans bought her at the antique mall for being such a good helper. She saw the him on the shelf {the him she named "jeanette"} and said he saw her and said. I'm all alone and you look like the perfect girl for me!" cute. then after telling me about swimming and playing she made sure to tell me how much she missed me. i am blessed.

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hairs cut

mr. 2 and a half got his hairs cut. it was a much needed event as he was starting to resemble one of the muskateers...or beatles....or his grandaddy back in the day {circa 1970's}. anyway, glad to have my clean cut little guy back! he actually sat pretty still for me while i cut his hair. on the front porch. yep, we're hillbilly like that ;)

by the way. he is totally two. i think i may need help with this guy. he is giving me a run for my money. literally. today after going potty like a big boy, he ran out the front door all the way to the neighbors yard...naked as naked can be. of course, i was chasing behind him...but good grief, that boy is quick! long story as to why the front door was open...that won't happen again...

so yes, pray for me.

xo,

a

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a little something

just a little something special i'm working on for raskullz!! so exciting!

thanks jen for helping me with the writing!

xo

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icky sicky

ava and i spent the afternoon at the doctor on monday. both of us are fine. no fever, no strep, no bronchitis. really not sure exactly what it is...just a bug i guess. we are both on antibiotics. she went to school tuesday and i think we over did it as today we are both feeling pewney again.

we did make it to "toy story", as ava calls it {toys "r" us} for a valentine's present for ava and hollis. i had promised them a trip with daddy and i to choose out a special valentine. after walking through the whole store {multiple times} searching for the perfect valentine. we finally found what each little one's heart desired and headed out. of course on the way out we had to ride the rides...and stop at the quarter machines for a piece of junk...

poor ava was ready to go home...she was tired and i think her tiredness and not feeling well is really showing in this pic...even though she is smiling...

we are all just trying to keep up with this little stinker lately! he feels GREAT!

hoping this is our last round of sickness for a while...it's not been fun.

xo,

a

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love, kisses, glitter & hearts...

call me cheesy, but i love valentine's day...especially since i have three super special sweethearts in my life to share this day of love with!

ava made these uber cute melted crayon hearts for her classmates at school. she helped break up the crayons, and put them in the muffin tray! she watched them melt through the window in the oven door. so cute! she was so excited to see how they turned out.

of course we spent the morning at the doctors office today, ava has ear infections..again. we'll see how she feels in the morning...fingers crossed she gets to go to school for the big valentine's day party. we've been talking about it for weeks...she is so excited and will be beyond bummed if she has to miss....

hope you all have a happy valentine's day!

xo

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handsome

a conversation between my mom and ava at the rodeo today....

ava: he is so handsome.

Grans: yes, ava. the cowboy is so handsome.

ava: {with a totally horrified look on her face} not the COWBOY grans....the HORSE!!!

& then i died laughing...

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401

hey ya'll. i know, it's been quiet around here for a while. we had a super busy holiday and i really just wanted to hibernate with the family and enjoy the time together. getting back into the groove of routine, school, everything has been a bit of an adjustment...crazy how two weeks of no routine, sleeping in, staying up too late can get you all out of sorts! i have also been suffering from some pretty extreme migraines...last week i had one day without a headache...ONE DAY! not how i want to live. i'm off to the neurologist on the 25th to get this sorted out. i'm sure it's a messy combination of hormones, stress, & allergies. bo says i'm just crazy...that the longer he knows me the crazier i get...not sure what that says about him! lol! anyway, above is a pic of my cowgirl after a spend the night with her nonna & cousins and then a day at the stock show & midway {rides}! i picked the kids up at 5 after their busy day. they both fell asleep in the car on the way home, sacked out when we got home, slept through the night and in until 8:30ish this morning. i couldn't believe it! they have never been so exhausted! i know they had a blast!

well, i hope to catch up and post a few pics from the holiday soon! lots going on, but want to make sure i get a few photos up from our family holiday!

oh yeah, and this post is titled 401 because it's my 401st post! wowza!

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child of the universe...

saw this on a favorite blog of mine on a day i needed to read it. wanted to post it here so i wouldn't lose it!

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burrnnnnn...

a conversation between mr. o & i after watching coldplay's interview with ellen:

me: if i were british i would never stop talking...

mr. o: ...you must be british...

i swear, i heard kelso from that seventies show burst out with a big ol' "bbuurrrnnnnn!"

lord...i'll get him for that one! ha!

xo,

a

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just a few pics...

just a bit of what we've been up to lately...

ava gets ahold of my phone sometimes and i love seeing what she find to photograph! so cute!

before puss in boots. a fun date!

yep, she got ahold of it again...

ava loves her poppy. these are a couple of my favorite photos ever of them together.

telling poppy secrets. can i hear a collective "awwwwwwwww."

it's been busy. no sign of anything slowing down until mid december. i'm ready for some calm.

a

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trick or treat.

We had such a fun halloween. this holiday is full of traditions and fun for our family. We spent saturday night out with my dad trick or treating around his neighborhood! of course zac and zoe came along, riding in the golf cart and the kids had an absolute blast trick or treating and talking with all the people!

monday we went out to ricky and christina's for dinner with the family and then the annual trick or treating {sans stroller this year! awesome!} the kids had a blast, we had too much fun with family, and i am always so thankful! halloween just might be my favorite holiday. no stress, all fun, kids all cute and dressed up, and an overdose of yummy candy! yep, it's pretty awesome!

hope you all had a great halloween! now the rollercoaster begins through november and december. lots of sessions, loads of parties and get togethers, & tons of reviews on RMRV! it's gonna be a blast!

a

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let them be little {i heart faces}

had to enter this one of my little man, hollis, this week for the i heart faces "let them be little"! he is such a cutie and insisted on including his horsie in the photo...how could i resist?! he loves his horsie!

can't wait to see all the entries this week! i'm sure there will be tons of cute ones!

xo,

amanda

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i heart {pink}

in honor of breast cancer awareness and all of those affected by this terrible disease, the subject this week at i heart faces is {PINK}. well, that is just right up our alley! with a four year old girl running a muck around the house, you know we are knee deep in pink everything! those of you that read my blog, i know you have seen this photo before. it is a favorite of mine and i love that i get to share it with the i heart faces community on such an important week!

make sure to check out all the other pink-ified entries over at i heart faces and get ready to be inspired!

xo,

a

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the keets.

my mom decided to get ava three parakeets {which ava has lovingly called "keets" and named "cookie", "blueberry", and "raspberry". interesting choices.} yes, she is spoiled. yes, she loves them. she spent about two hours with bo working with the parakeets trying to train them to sit on her finger. by the time we left, one would sit on her finger. she was so excited and wanted to bring them home! during this two hour training session we had to give the keets a break, it was a lot of training. so ava sat like this in front of the cage and talked to them. it was SO cute! we just laughed and laughed and watched her and listened to her words. "i love you" & "i'm so proud of you." and "my grans got you for me". such simple phrases, but her expressions and hand motions {yes she takes after her mama on that one! lol!} well, it really was just the cutest thing ever!

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the crazy train...

we are still here...hanging on! life has been a bit crazy lately...we had a fun few days with my cousin & his family & my aunt and uncle, then had a few days recovering! lol! we all stay with my mom when they come and it is a blast to be together. but, it is always nice to get back home! It can be a challenge getting things back to normal after the "spoiling" takes place, though! ha!
then this past week we spent sick, the kids both had ear infections and a shocker diagnosis of strep. they had zero symptoms. crazy. glad i took them to urgent care over the weekend...even though my pediatricians office told me to wait it out {all THREE times i called.... :/ } but everyone is on the mend, ava was back at school today, hollis is acting a bit crazier than usual. i blame it on his 5 days of steroids they prescribed him! so, yes...lots of updates & photos to come from all the fun we've been having around here! {besides the sickness, of course!}
just wanted to check in...so you would know we are still kicking!

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first day jitters...

my girl on her way to her first day of preschool! {sorry for the fuzzy photo...she was bouncing all over the place!!}

it's official. i am now "ava's mom". that is how i will be known for many, many years. i can't believe we are already here.

preschool.

ava did great. she went in, found her cubby, hung up her things, hugged {and tried to kiss} her teacher, miss vickie. looked at me with "that look" i get when she's ready for me to dissapear and sweetly said, "bye, mom"

of course, i made her give me a kiss and a hug and told her to have fun, yes i am that mom. and then i was gone and she stayed. and for 6 hours i had no idea what she was doing.

i missed my first shadow. this is going to take some getting used to.

i had a great day with hollis, although the 7 a.m. wake up call wasn't his favorite thing in the world. i am looking forward to this special time for him and i...but letting go of my little girl is proving to be quite a challenge.

i have all these fears, what if someone is mean to her, what if she gets embarassed, what if she is unkind to someone else, what if she doesn't eat her lunch....well, the truth is i know someone is going to be mean to her at some point and that she is going to have moments of embarassement. and i know i will always be here to hug her and love her and tell her to keep her chin up and keep moving forward.

i feel like that mama bird, pushing my little baby bird out to fly {even though my baby bird seems to be leaping out of the nest head first}. i feel like this is the first major step in letting go. she now has a life outside us. she will make her own friends, her own choices. she will have conversations and encounters i will never know about.

& this scares the shit out of me.

oh, the joys of being a parent!

xo,

a

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my boy...

i took a few shots of the kids the other night for a post on the giveaway blog...i was so happy with the images i came away with of my boy. he only gave me a couple minutes, i don't think he was feeling very good, and it was almost bedtime. but hey, you get what you can, or at least that's what i've learned when it comes to shooting my own children...make it fun, come armed with surprises, and when they are done, let them be done. anyway, i can't believe how grown up he looks in these photos and how much of his personality shines through. he was having fun hamming it up a bit for me for sure!

love this one! that sneaky little grin...he must get that from his daddy ;)

my sweetness. he really wanted his horsie in the photos for a bit...who am i to tell him otherwise?! cutie pants!
stinker!!

this was actually the first time i've photographed my own kiddos in a while, especially hollis...he's not a huge fan of the camera these days...i have to say, even though it didn't last long, we had fun together!
xo,

a

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