A,E,I,O,UUUUUUU

I have to brag. That's okay right? I think this merits some bragging.

Recently I bought Ava some educational games from a wonderful shop on Etsy called Second Story Window. Ava love, love, loves to play games so these are just perfect. They teach phonograms, basic reading skills 3-dimensional shapes, etc. Tonight we played one called "Reindeer Feed." To be honest, I always put that one at the bottom of the pile when I give Ava the option to choose her nightly game. I hope she'll find something else she'd like to play before she reaches that one. And, on every other night she has. But not tonight. It's not that the game isn't fun, I just thought it might be a little out of Ava's league, at least for now. But, she proved me wrong.

The gist of the game is this. There are two reindeer Rose and Ross. Each with a feeding trough in front of them. On dozens of "hay" cards are written single words. A player draws a card and determines if the vowel sound in the word is short or long. They then feed the hay to the appropriate reindeer (Rose = long, Ross=short). While Ava has known her ABC's and all the sounds each letter makes since 18 months, grasping short and long vowel sounds can be hard. So, before we began the game I went over the vowels with her (we've done this before) and the various sounds they make. The first few cards, I walked her through the sounds. But after that, she was on her own, pointing out the vowel(s) in each word and correctly determining which trough they went in. On a few cards, she even said, "Okay, there's an 'e' at the end of this word so the vowel says its name." Or, she'd sing a little song to remember the vowels, "A, E, I, O and UUUUUU."

I was so impressed by how quickly she caught on to this concept and that she really, truly understood it. I brings me such joy knowing just how excited she is to learn, and more than that, how excited she is to learn to read. Soon enough, soon enough.

Ava's blanket

I'm finally getting this up. After I finished Jax's blanket and Ava's dress I moved on to Ava's blanket. Here's the finished product. I know it's nothing spectacular. But, for a beginning sewer like me, I gotta say, I'm pretty pleased.


I still need to make the pillow case, which I'll do Monday.

OOSHS

Buying shoes for kids is frustrating on so many levels. First of all, for some reason, my children seem to think that taking their shoes off in a store gives them free-range to run around like a couple of banshees. I think the naked feet make them feel, well, footloose and fancy free. Secondly, for being just three and 14 months, they are very opinionated regarding their footwear. Ava's shoes need to be pink or have pink on them. If pink is unavailable, she will accept bling of some sort (rhinestones, glitter, etc) or black church shoes. Negotiation is not an option. Jax on the other hand, must have velcro. He handed me a very loud "NO!" when I attempted to place shoes with laces on his feet. He likes to play with the velcro, and will often undo it, unbeknownst to his mother which leads us to a nice game of "Where in the store did Jax's shoe fall off?"

Jax is actually on his very first pair of REAL shoes. He's had the soft-soled baby kind and a pair of sandals, but despite my attempts, I have been unable to buy him shoes until now. You see, my son suffers from elephantitis of the feet, or so it seems. Those suckers are enormous! I have, until now, been unable to find shoes to fit his big, fat feet without being enormously long on him. But, now that he walks EVERYWHERE I decided I had to do something. And a kid can only go to church barefoot so many times. So, while perusing the shoe aisles at Target, I spotted a pair that were not only cute but seemed wide. I grabbed a size 4 and held the sole up to the bottom of his foot. Serious overhang. So, I went up to a 5, same thing. The 6 seemed about right, but when I attempt to shove his chunky feet in them, we couldn't make it past his toes. Frantically and a little bewildered I searched for a SIZE 7. With my fingers crossed I slid them on. They fit, like a glove. Then it hit me. My 14-month-old is in a SIZE 7 shoe! His big sister, who is a whole 26 months older than him wears an 8.5.

When I went to take the shoes off to place in our cart Jax yelled, "NO! DON'T!" I explained that we had to pay for them, but he could hold them. He cradled that pair of shoes the entire rest of the shopping trip and in his car seat on the way home. When we arrived home, I asked him where our shoes go and he very gently placed them in the shoe basket by the front door.

This was two weeks ago, but still, he cherishes those little shoes. He gets so excited to put them on and sometimes that's the first thing he'll do after he's done eating breakfast -- he'll go, grab his shoes and bring them to the nearest adult, throw them in said adult's lap and very politely say, "Ooshs." Then, he'll climb up into the shoe-putter-onners lap and bounce his legs with excitement. When the shoes are finally on, he paces around the house, looking down at his shoes most of the time. He loves the sound they make across the tile floor in the kitchen, and is sure to stomp his feet a little more when he's in there.

Bringing his "ooshs" to Daddy

Dancing in his ooshs

When it comes time to take his shoes off, he allows us to help him and then immediately, and very gently places them in the shoe basket. They are his prized possession. I think he knows they are his and completely his. They're the one thing in this house he doesn't have to share. Andy and I joke that he's kinda like Dobby the house-elf in "Harry Potter." For you non-HP readers, Dobby is basically a slave. The only way he can be freed from his slavedom is if he is his master gives him an article of clothing. At some point he is given a sock, which he then cherishes. Kinda like Jax with his shoes... minus the slave part.

Mine Mama

Anyone who remembers Ava as a baby/toddler will remember just how attached to me she was. She rarely allowed anyone else to hold her and became very concerned if anyone got to close to me... including Andy. If Andy and I held hands, she'd rip our hands apart. If we hugged, she wiggle her way between us. As nice as it would have been to show my husband some affection in peace, I'll admit, it was nice to know just how loved I was.

Fast forward two years or so. Jax has been having some attachment issues. He's such an easy-going, friendly and super-social little guy. However, as of late, no one will do except Mama. Tonight, Andy and I tried to sneak a hug in in the kitchen while the kids played in the living room. But, lo and behold, Jax, sensing someone was touching his Mama walked into the kitchen, declared "Mine Mama!", pushed Andy away from me and then let out his mightiest "ROAR!" I feel so loved. I wonder how Andy feels :)

Look What I Did!

I've made it my new mission to become more self-sufficient. Which means trying new things (see previous post on my gardening experience). Ava grows so darn quickly that it seems she wears a dress to church once or twice and, next thing you know, it's too short. Thank goodness for cute little leggings. If you've ever bought a little girl's dress you'll know they're not cheap. I take that back, buying one isn't bad. But when your child grows out of them as fast as Incredible Hulk transforms from a mild-mannered guy to a bulky, grean fighting-maching, well then... you can understand my dilemma. So, I decided to make her a dress. I started with the most simple one I could: a pillowcase dress. In all actuality, you're really supposed to make it from a pillowcase. But, I would like to know where in the world I'm supposed to find a cute pillow case, that I would be willing to chop up. Besides, I ordered this fabric from a lady on Etsy and desperately wanted to make the dress out if. So, Joni and I went to work finding a tutorial for making a pillowcase dress out of fabric. We found one. We tackled it. I made one for Ava, she made one for her little girl who will be born on the 17th (you're in single-digit days now, Joni!).

Here's the end result.


I gotta say, it wasn't nearly as frightening or difficult as I had anticipated. I actually really enjoyed it and have already ordered fabric to make other styles. Cost-wise it's much more effective. I love saying I made the dress she's wearing and Ava LOOOOVES choosing fabric! It's a WIN WIN WIN.

I had actually originally gotten my sewing machine out to make a blanket for Jax. I know, it's summer and he doesn't really need one. But I figure winter will sneak up on us in no time and I better be prepared. The little dude has a vintage baseball-themed room and when I saw this fabric I fell in love with it!

Please excuse the wrinkles, Jax had been napping on it just a few minutes prior to the picture.



This is the back. Check out the top seam... get it, it's shaped like baseball stitching. Thank goodness for Joni who is a much better sewer than I. She helped me map out the top stitch and even said nice things when I did dumb things! That's a real friend!! :)

Yes, the sewing machine is still out. I have to make Ava a new blanket with this fabric:

I also have fabric for her curtains, but that will go to the back burner once the new dress fabric arrives.

I think I've found my newest obession!

Greenthumbs

I tend to kill things. Most of my childhood animals died untimely deaths. Some from improper care (apparently frogs can't have tap water), others from food chain issues (hamster escaped, dog ate hamster) and some from heat exposure (RIP, Jenny the Bunny). In college I attempted numerous times to care for plants. Yet, even those were reduced to dried out, wrinkly corpses of what used to be lush greenery. So, one can imagine my hesitation when Andy and I decided to plant a garden this year. I've heard it's not rocket science and anyone can do it. But, I'm not anyone, I am apparently Death. However, Ava jumped on board the garden idea, and I'll admit, I was pretty excited at the possibilities. So, we did it. The kids and I chose a few plants to try out this year. I didn't want to go all out, just in case. I wasn't prepared to expose my children to their mother's innate plant murdering abilities.

Ava and I knew we wanted tomatoes. She eats them like candy and I had heard there's nothing better than a homegrown tomato. We chose Better Boys, because that's what the man at the nursery suggested. Who was I to argue? I bet he'd never killed an innocent plant. Ava suggested we also buy cherry tomatoes so she could "pop them" in her mouth and strawberries. Three plants sounded good to me. So, we took them home, potted them and I crossed my fingers.

Within a week, the large tomato had grown quite a bit and several new tomatoes had sprouted. I was feeling good. But, I didn't want to get cocky. So, I still just watched and waited. Ava, took right to the gardening thing and made it her daily responsibility to water all the plants. I must say, she's been great! I rarely have to remind her, usually, she heads right out, grabs her pink watering can and gives the plants a little drink. Sometimes, it's more like a dunking, but hey, you can never have too much water, right?

We bought the plants in early June. By mid-July, our first "red ripe tomato" (as Ava describes them) was ready for the picking. I could hardly contain myself and wanted to nab that juicy ball of tomato-y goodness, dip it in gold and display it for all to see that I, the self-proclaimed killer of all things living, had successfully grown a tomato. But alas, I resisted and allowed Ava to do the picking. That night, in honor of our tomato, I changed the dinner menu and we had BLTs. Those were the best BLTs I'd ever had. Normally, I like tomatoes, but I'm not a freak about them. However, this tomato I would have eaten whole like an apple.


The kids and I have been waiting patiently for the next tomato to ripen. And by patiently, I mean that we go outside every day and inspect each tomato on our vine, checking for any signs of color change. Jax, I assume, just couldn't wait and decided a green tomato was good enough for him. As we played outside one day, he picked one, walked up to me, held out his treasure and said, "Ball!" Fortunately, all was not lost. The tomato was close enough to ripening that after a few days on the counter it was ready to eat. And finally, this week, the rest have begun ripening. I assume that by early next week we'll have 10 ripe tomatoes for the picking.

Our little cherry tomatoes didn't do so well. We got two tomatoes from the plant. Both of which Jaxon picked prematurely. Oh well, we'll see what happens next year. The strawberry plant is growing quite well, but I'm told it often takes a season to get any fruit. So, we're keeping our fingers crossed for some strawberry jam to take with us to Mississippi next year.

It's been so wonderful watching my kids get excited about our little "garden." Ava thought it needed some color, so we went to the nursery just a few weeks ago (the same day we picked our first tomato) and I let her choose several flowers, which we went home and planted together (Jax helped dig, find earthworms and ate some dirt). Then, while at the farmers market Thursday, we picked up mint and basil plants, and have already enjoyed some fresh mint lemonade.



While the fruits of our labors are a great reward, for me, the best part is the responsibility Ava has learned. She takes such wonderful care of the plants and I can see the sense of accomplishment on her face when she picks her tomatoes. While Jax is young and doesn't completely understand, he still likes to help. Often, when we're outside he'll bring Ava's watering can to me and say, "Wawa" (water), asking me to fill it for him so he can water the plants just like his big sister. More than anything, I think he likes the popsicles that come after we've spent some time in the garden.

Now that I know I can have a successful garden, I look forward to taking on some new vegetables next year and maybe adding a few more each year. I want my kids to grow up having a garden and the responsibility, excitement and delcious food that comes from it!

Marshmallows

Ava has been talking about roasting marshmallows for several days. Friday night at the reunion, there had been promises of mallow-roasting, but it was just too late, the kids were exhausted so we didn't stick around for the campfire. Ava, was obviously disappointed, but I promised we'd roast marshmallows soon.

So, Saturday I bought a big bag of mallows at the store. Then, tonight after dinner, we went on a walk with some friends and ended back in our backyard, armed with a camping grill, fondue skewers, marshmallows and three wide-eyed, salivating children.

Ava and Reid couldn't get enough of the puffy, sugary goodness. I'm pretty sure they ate four giant marshmallows a piece -- savoring each bite.



Jax, on the other hand, had a less delicate approach to his mallow consumption.