The Fighter's

All dressed up and ready for church...I had to snag a few shots:-)

Ava is absolutely loving her art class! Below are the two most recent things they put together...a crab and a lizard. I'm taking pics instead of hanging onto everything (as much as I would like to). I'm such a sucker and hate throwing stuff away so pics are the next best thing. AND...in BIG news tonight...Katelyn went potty on the big girl potty for the very first time!!!!!! Right before bath time and with a little encouragement from her big sis...we had success!!! She was SO proud of herself that she sat on that potty for about 10 minutes, clapping for herself and doing a little dance (while sitting on the potty) to the music that plays when she goes!!!! It was hilarious. Doug and I were making fun of ourselves for how excited we got. She's still a little young so we're not getting our hopes up for complete potty training, but it is at least a start. And we are SOOO proud of our Katie-Kate! Ava was also proud of her self for encouraging her sis. She said to me..."

It has been raining this week and I have loved it. Thunderstorms are the best...as long as there isn't too much wind and lightning:-) And this week they have been perfect. Enough to make us feel cozy inside! We had a downpour today and as I was loading the dishwasher, I looked over to the family room and saw the girls just absolutely fascinated with the water spilling over from the gutters. I had to catch a picture. They sat there for about 10 minutes and just watched it rain...asking questions..."where does the rain come from", "why do plants drink water" and worrying about their picnic table getting wet. I love little kid curiosity and fascination. It's the best!

Thankful isn't a big enough word to describe the gratitude we have for all the men and women that have sacrificed so much and served our country. And we're just as thankful for their families that have given as much. We have been blessed in this country by these men and women in ways beyond compare. It's because of them that we are able to freely enjoy fun mornings as we had today. We picked up grandma & grandpa, ate "downtown" at a cafe, drank coffee and watched our town's Memorial Day parade. Ava and Kate loved it, and I had fun going a little crazy with red, white and blue accessories:-)

The girls were so excited for Grammy to come and spend the weekend with them! They had so much fun with her...early morning bubbles on the deck, a walk/bike-ride to the park, shopping, reading, playing and of course lots of hugs and Grammy cuddles. Not to mention Grammy spoiled all of us (including my parents and family friends) with a super yum dinner of London Broil and her famous salad and twice baked potatoes on Saturday night. She spoiled Doug and I with some extra help and motivation around the house. Doug and her cleared out the last of the moving stuff and boxes and we can now park both cars in the garage. After 3 weeks we are officially completely unpacked. Yay ! We love our Grammy.

We are so enjoying this weather...playing outside, windows open, trips to the park. And...the pool opens this Saturday...can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my favorite things this spring is all the plants in our backyard. I'm still trying to figure out what everything is (I'm hoping Doug's mom can help me when she visits this weekend), but I am definitely enjoying the scenery. I also put together some pots of flowers...now lets see if I can keep them alive throughout the summer! I am a nerd and took some pics to document Fighter-ville's first bloom in our new home. Hopefully one day far in the future we can look outside and it will still be just as great (I'm really worried about killing it all!....did I mention I don't have the greenest of thumbs?). If not, we'll at least have the pictures to remember it by! Hope you are enjoying your spring just as much!

Doug and I were so lucky at our first home to have landed next to people that would not only be our neighbors, but that would become some of our very best friends. We all started out living on our street (2 and 3 doors down from each other), newly married and no kids. After hanging out a few times and clicking...the rest is history! Look at what we've grown to over the past 6 years (see pic below)! Seven kiddos all under the age of four and one on the way! We have shared lots of meals, play time, pool time, zoo time, babysitting time, pregnant time...just lots of time together. And even though we live 2 hours north now...we want to continue the fun. So...the neighbors drove the 2 hours north and came to visit! We were SO happy to have them...it was so much fun and the kids had a ball! The day started with a pizza party lunch, followed by lots of playing, chaos, screaming and running around the house (did I mention they were all under the age of 4?) and a trip to our town

Tonight the girls and I went to my parents for dinner and my dad got orange/vanilla ice cream but told the girls that it was Orange Scream Ice Cream. So after dinner he dished out our bowls of "orange scream", took a bite and screamed. The girls thought it was hilarious and followed suit. They took the orange "scream" very literally...screaming after their bites:-) Who knew ice cream could be even more fun than it already is! Here's to Grandpa (pee-paw or gaw-paw as Kate says) and orange scream ice cream!

Happy Mother's Day! I am definitely a happy mom. My girls bring so much joy to my heart and I am so thankful that I have been so blessed by them. And not only am I blessed to be a mom on this Mother's Day...I'm so blessed to be a daughter to my amazing mom and mom in law. They are such strong, good hearted, faithful, loving women and if I can be half the mom and set half the example that they've provided to Doug and I, then I'll be doing OK .

Ava had her team pics taken today. They were too cute not to post. Go Wizards!

Kate found a pair of underwear today and put them around her head and arms. She was so proud of herself and kept saying..."look mommy". Her own unique accessory!

Ava & Kate have been snagging my camera...here are some of the shots they've taken. It's kind of fun to see things from their perspective:-) And...Ava is actually not that bad of a photographer. The first one is her taking a picture of the window...you can see her reflection! Kate's turn...

I decided to try a vegetable garden this year with the girls. I've never done this before and I don't have the greenest of thumbs but we're going to give it a whirl. Two types of tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos (for Doug) and pumpkins. The girls were so into planting the seeds (Kate wanted to eat the seeds) and hopefully they'll get a kick out of watching their veggies grow. Keep your fingers crossed that I can keep these veggies growing. I'm waiting for Grammy Fighter to visit town to transplant into the ground...too scared to do it myself:-) It will be a celebration when we have our first successful veggie result! 5/19 Update...they're growing....:-)

Fun Ava quote of the day.... Ava to me at Kohl's: "Mommy...look...a Tinkerbell towel. Tinkerbell's everywhere." Me to Ava: "Who else is everywhere?" Ava to Me: "Thomas (the train) .....and God." :-)

We had such a great day today! Saturday morning...woke up to Ava poking my face, made coffee, relaxed...then headed out the door to Ava's 9am soccer game and practice. My dad, Uncle Rob & Aunt Carly joined us...and I'm pretty sure that 3 year old soccer games may be one of the funniest things ever. Not only are they all just in their own little world...but the kids are just so darn cute. At one point a little boy got the game ball and started running towards the goal. ALL the other kids (on both teams) started chasing a ball in the opposite direction, that was sitting off the field. Definite You Tube moment. Laughing so hard I cried! Mornings don't get much better than that!

So first of all...I am happy to report that Ava has gone almost a whole week without binkies . My three and a half year old was only allowed to have them for naps and bed time, but boy was she addicted. She even slept with one in between the toes of her feet:-) A year ago the binky fairy came which worked for a few days, but then Ava came down with the flu and we didn't think it was the right time to make her give up binks being sick and all. So after some contemplation and advice from loved ones...we decided that it wasn't the worst thing in the world for her to have a bink . As other kids have thumbs, blankets, tags, etc., the bink was Ava's comfort, and as I did with my fingers and Doug did with his thumb...kid's will usually decide on their own to give up the habit. So instead we decided to try to encourage her every day to sleep without binks , but would give it until this summer to go cold turkey. Thankfully this past week at bed time, Ava said to us out of no