Trick or Treat!

Jason and I went trick or treating around the neighborhood with the Taneri's. Ava loves chasing around after Zach and Bryce- and Halloween was no exception. The first few houses we went to had candy sitting out on the porch and Ava didn't even care to pick it up- Zach, on the other hand, was really sweet and always made sure that he got one for himself and one for Ava. He helped her put the candy in her bucket. One of our neighbors had a really creepy house, but it didn't seem to bother Ava at all- she walked right up to them and stared- no matter how much we prompted or asked, she wouldn't say Trick or Treat. She has been saying Trick or Treat all week long, but she ended up choking when it came down to it- she made me proud, though, and said Thank You every time. Her favorite part of the evening was riding in the wagon with Zach and Bryce. She loved climbing in and out of it and when the boys weren't in it, she kept switching seats not quite sure which way she wanted to face when she was riding.
After trick or treating, we came back to our house and let the kids continue playing while the adults enjoyed some adult conversation and hot chocolate.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Ava's Halloween Parade

Ava's school has many parades, but the Halloween parade is the most fun. All the parents come and take pictures of the adorable kids walking around the parking lot. Some of the kids dance, some of them skip and they all wave at their mommies and daddies. Ava was not feeling her best that day and so she saw mommy and daddy and ran to us and didn't want to walk with her class. We ended up taking her home with us after the parade and so she had to miss her class Halloween Pary where they ate all orange foods. She got some TLC and geared up for trick or treating that night.

This is our little princess when she first saw us

Ava and her teacher Ms. Tisha- she didn't want to walk without being carried

This is Austin, one of Ava's boyfriends at school, she loves his Lightning McQueen costume :)

Homecoming 2008

Jason and Ava went to cheer on Georgia Tech against UVA at the Homecoming game this year. They met up with the Bishops and Ava and Christian had fun hanging out together. Nikki was so sweet to bring Ava a cute warm-up jacket like Christian's- a couple people walking by asked if they were twins! They spent some time at the house, walked over to yellow jacket alley and Ava looked for Buzzes on the way to the stadium. Ava lasted until the 2nd quarter and then she was over all the excitement. It was a gorgeous day but an unfortunate loss for the Yellow Jackets.

Better Luck next year...

Looking too cool in my shades to smile

Posing with Buzz

Daddy and Ava

Let us outta heeere!!

Notice Ava holding onto Jason's ear for support

I can picture her in this same pose 5 years from now on a soccer team


On their way to the stadium

I love this picture

Ben and Christian

The Bishop Family

Sweet Cheeks Stein

On Saturday, Ava and Jason went to Dylan Gould's Wild West 2nd Birthday Party- unfortunately I had to work, but I heard that it was so fun! The Goulds did a great job with the theme and made these wanted posters for all of the kids.

Ava's wild west name was Sweet Cheeks Stein and she makes this cute face and points to her cheeks when you call her that. I'm not sure who taught her this move, but it is adorable!

Dylan's party must have made quite the impression on Ava- lately, she's been singing Happy Birthday to Dylan as part of our bath time music.

The birthday boy enjoying his cake- yum!

Poker Night with the Boys

On Friday night, poker was at our house. Ava was extremely excited to play hostess and was really interested in handing out the chips. She was very generous and kept giving away Daddy's chips to Len. She sat with uncle Tony for a few hands before having to go upstairs for bedtime. She must be a good luck charm, since Tony ended up in the money. She will definitely have to go to Vegas next time with Daddy!

Uncle Tony, what do those two A's mean??

Daddy did my hair...

...and Mommy was so impressed!

I'm loving these pigtails- what a cutie!

Popular!

On Wednesday, it was my birthday celebration, part deuce. Because Les Mis turned into such a debacle, Jason was sweet enough to find tickets to Wicked for us. It is my absolute favorite musical and we had fantastic seats- no abnormally large headed people in front of us this time! I could not resist this adorable T-shirt for Ava.
It was such a fun evening and I loved having another excuse to go to The Fox.

What a difference a year makes!

2007

2008

The Pumpkin Patch

Well, it's October and time for our annual trip with The Malcoms to the pumpkin patch. This year we went to The Berry Patch Farms- it was such a beautiful day! Ava went for her first hayride and loved walking through the pumpkins and looking at the animals. We brought home a huge pumpkin! On the way home, we found a Dippin Dots store- this may become part of the yearly tradition too :)
We can't wait until next year!

Monkey Joes with Kim and Emmie

Today, Ava and I met Kim and Emmie at Monkey Joes. Ava always has so much fun running around with (or running after) Emmie. Lately, she has not been crazy about going down the slide unless mommy goes with her, but she LOVES jumping in the big round jumpee with Emmie- the girls are so cute! They hold hands and sing "ring around the rosie" and giggle so hard when they "all fall down".
We went to Stevie B's for pizza afterwards where Ava tried loaded baked potato pizza for the first time- and loved it! What a great afternoon and the perfect way to spend my birthday morning :)

Stopping for just a second to snap a picture!

This is probably Ava's favorite thing to ride at Monkey Joe's! She likes to ride this over and over and over when she gets sleepy- I always have to make sure to have plenty of quarters on hand...

Climbing through the tunnel

Having fun!

Ava and Uncle Tony

Tonight, Tony, Alina, Gigi and Grandma all came over to celebrate Alina starting a job with Starwood Hotels and Resorts- Congratulations to Alina!! Ava, as always, loves hanging out with her Uncle Tony (no matter which one- she calls Alina 'Tony' also). Tony was a fun uncle and got down to play with Ava in her tent. They read stories together, named all the animals on the tent and played with her toys. Ava loved having him in there!! She now 'calls' Tony on her Elmo cell phone daily and can't wait to play with him again.

Don't they look like they're having fun??

The real fun (ok, fun-ny!) part came when Tony had to figure out to get out of the tent... but, not many people would get stuck in a tunnel for their niece, so he's the best in our book. :)

My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades...