The Fighter's

Ava's preschool sent home a poem today (see below) and I thought it served as a great reminder that our kids are watching our every move, and how important it is to teach them not only with words, but through our actions and attitude. This was a nice reminder to me and kind of kicked me in my toosh as I have days where I let work stress and my need to have things in order (clean house, schedule, etc.) get the best of me...which ultimately affects my attitude around the girls. Grumpy days are no good...and definitely not worth it! This little poem also reminded me of my parents and the great example they set for Rob, Pat & I as we grew up. They followed through on everything, worked hard, taught us how important our faith is, made things fun, always put others first and we always, always, always knew how very much they loved us. And I pray with all my heart that Doug and I can set the same sort of loving example for our three munchkins! ------------------------------------- When

The girls have been obsessed with two things this weekend...umbrellas & Uncle Pat. They were playing outside on the deck with umbrellas (they are in love with Mary Poppins lately) and my dad made it "rain" which they got an absolute kick out of. Uncle Pat came for a visit and the girls couldn't be more thrilled. They are constantly running around saying..."Uncle Pat"...come play with me, come play! Here they are passing the fire truck back and forth...Kate chatting on uncle Pat's phone. The girls love their Uncle Pat. And...last but not least...Happy 33rd anniversary to my parents! We celebrated with them over at their house with a steak and shrimp dinner. Here's to 33 + more!!

Today was a rainy day, so to spice things up a bit, we added bubbles to the tub in Doug and my room, turned the jets on, which made really BIG bubbles...and let Kate & Ava "swim" and play in the bubbles. Made a bit of a mess (bubbles everywhere!), but I didn't really care...they had fun and their giggles were priceless!

So Ava had her first "homework" assignment and I am a nerd and had to take a picture because it was her first ever! We had to fill out four boxes on a "news flash" that highlighted her favorite things. Her favorite things currently include The Little Mermaid, princesses, trains and Thomas the train, Mommy, Daddy & Kate, bacon, macaroni & cheese, pepperoni pizza...and she saw some apples and grapes and decided we should cut those out and add them too. She wrote her name in Blue because it is her favorite color, and was so proud to take her homework in her book bag to school. Ava had another successful day...absolutely loves school...hops right out of the car and marches in like an old pro. I hope her enthusiasm for school lasts through college!

We are gearing up for my favorite season here in Fighter land! Fall is my absolute favorite time of year!!! This past week the girls and I ripped out our summer flowers and planted some mums. Our summer flowers had about had it after our week long trip to the beach, and were looking pretty sad...so it was time to make the flip over to fall time flowers. Here are a few shots. I'll be getting some more "fall" stuff out in the coming week. Yay! Not to mention the weather has been fantastic!

Ava's first day of preschool was today and she did great! Her and Kate woke up this morning, came downstairs to my office...and I said to her..."it's your first day of school!" Ava proceeded to squeal and was SO excited to get dressed and carry her bag. When we got there she walked right in, said hi to her teacher, found her cubby all by herself and hung her stuff up like an old pro. She even let me take a few pics. After I took pics she said "bye mom!", gave me a hug, then proceeded to sit down at a table and start playing with magnets. :-) The only teary eyed part (and on my part, not Ava's) was when we were leaving...Kate got teary eyed and said "where's sissy?" She started crying a bit saying "sissy"...but then I took her to our favorite park where we walked and played on the playground. I think it may take her some getting used to not having her big sis around 3 days a week, but it will be fun to have some one on one time wit

Kate loves to dance. Whenever she hears music she starts twirling around and singing. It's hilarious. She also insists on wearing her ballerina outfits when dancing. Here are a few of my favorite shots...I especially like the Buckeye/princess combo!

So we had another Katelyn adventure tonight! I made lasagna for dinner and while I cleaned up, Doug gave the girls a bath (it's getting hard for me to bend over the side of the tub these days:-)). Sounded like they were having fun, and then after about 15 minutes I heard Doug yell..."Kim...I need some help up here." I went upstairs to find Ava out of the tub, Doug shaking his head pointing towards the tub and Kate sitting in the tub with #2. Kate went poo in the bathtub and was sitting there, looking up at me with big brown eyes...so innocently. Doug had clean up duty in the girls bathroom and I took the girls down to our tub to re-bathe them. Thank God for bleach! (for the tub...not the girls:-)). We just had to laugh. I told Doug that I think Katelyn pulls something new about every four days. It never gets boring with her around! She definitely keeps things interesting, and keeps us laughing!! We love her so much...poo adventures and all. Other than that we ha

So I was on a walk with the girls this morning and started thinking about how in the next month or so, it will change from being "Ava & Kate" to "Ava, Kate and Baby". The days of just "Ava & Kate" are slowly coming to an end. I know when this baby comes, as with the girls, it will be hard to imagine what life was like without them. It's amazing how these little bundles come into your life, rock your world a bit, and then suck your heart in like nothing else on this planet. It is so true...nothing can explain how amazing the love you have for your children. So in the spirit of Ava and Kate adventure, we jam-packed our day today. First we went out and checked our veggie garden. This is my first year ever growing veggies, and I'm pregnant, so slacking a bit in the gardening department (making up excuses?). I think I got them in the ground a bit too late. The plants look as healthy as could be but so far...no tomatoes...just pumpkins...and cuc

We had SUCH a fantastic weekend! Doug was out of town Friday for work, but the girls and I packed up that night and headed over to Ava & Kate's friend Emma's birthday party. It was a pool party complete with lots of friends from church, pizza, watermelon, hot summer weather, cupcakes, sprinklers and a tent tunnel. The girls had an absolute ball and so did I. The time out of the house with friends was much needed! It was heartwarming to watch the girls run around, laugh and play all night with a handful of kids their age. I tell you there is nothing better than to watch and hear children laugh and play (and makes it that much better when a few of them are your own!). And, for me...it was just so nice hanging out with friends...some near and dear to my heart that I grew up with and am enjoying catching up with again. I also getting to meet new people too which was fun! A small little milestone...Ava finally grew the confidence to swim around the pool all by herself (with l

So Kate has been extra ornery this week...I never believed in terrible two's with Ava, but after this week am starting to think there's some truth to it! Kate's latest antic.... We went to the grocery store today. Kate sat in the front of the cart while Ava walked. Almost to the end of our trip, I was gloating to myself, in my head about how good they had been. I should have known better... We got to the hot dog section...Kate is a HUGE fan of hot dogs. She could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner (takes after her Aunt Carly!). And...we have not had any for about two weeks so when she saw what I was putting into the cart...she started going CRAZY. I gave her the hot dogs to hold but she kept on whining..."hot dog, hot dog...i waaaaaaaaanna hoooooooooooooot dooooooooooooooooog". I told her we would have some for lunch tomorrow and kept walking, ignoring the tantrum. I turned around to pull some stuff out of the freezer, happy that Kate had quieted dow

Down to the docks to The "Real Seafood". I love my husband so incredibly much. Nothing else I'd rather do than date night with him:-)

We had a small birthday party for Kate on Saturday. Some of her favorite people were there...Grammy, Grandma & Grandpa, Cousin Luke, Aunt Amy and Uncle Tim. We had a Sesame Street theme...and lots of pink and purple balloons (Kate loves balloons), cupcakes and pizza. Despite being a bit under the weather, she loved being sung Happy Birthday and demanded that we sing it multiple times (pronouncing "happy birthday" as "happy dirdday"), she loved blowing out her candles and opening presents. Kate and Ava both wore their princess dresses. Ava was SO excited for Kate's party...she was so sweet and wanted to help decorate and encourage her sis through all birthday related activities. All in all a fun party for a very loved 2 year old! My camera's flash is broken, so all I'm able to take are black and white's for some reason, and outside pics. I'm going crazy and will be getting it fixed this week!

Seems like just yesterday she was this tiny... Today she is full of personality. Our little comedian, making us laugh all the time. She loves her sissy, her blankets (aka night nights), Sesame Street, swimming and Sleeping Beauty. Kate cracks us up by breaking into her little "song and dance" routines, always loving an audience. Some of her favorite songs..."If You're Happy and You Know It", "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" and the Sleeping Beauty theme song. Her fragmented sentences crack us up...and she does her best to keep up with her sis and the "big" kids, and does a pretty good job! We love our Katelyn Jane and all the absolute fun and joy she brings to our day! Below are a few shots of her family birthday celebration. Low key and celebrated a day late after Ava got discharged from the hospital. Look for pictures from her weekend birthday party to come!