The Fighter's

One of my favorite things about being a mom is hearing Ava and Kate say fun, new things. While Kate is 17 months and just beginning to figure out this whole speech thing (although she is our loudest child with constant babbles and a few occasional words that only Doug and I can understand...she manages to bring the decibel of this house up about 50 notches)...Ava has become quite a conversationalist. It cracks us up. A few favorite words/phrases from the past week... Ava... Ava...walking down to the basement with Doug..."Dad...it is quite a mess down here." Me to Ava..."can you turn off the lights downstairs?" Ava to me..."sure Mom, no problem." Ava to the librarian during story hour as the page was turned...and very matter of factly ..."that's a submarine." Huh??? Where did she learn submarine?? While making snowflakes, as I'm trying to help her..."I can figure it out, okay mommy." Whoa! Kate... "Mammy" aka Grammy;...

Tonight, Doug and I babysat for some of our very good friends who have an adorable little peanut named Leah. Kate is SO infatuated with babies (both dolls and real babies), the minute Leah got here, she had a huge grin on her face and was saying in a high pitched voice...."hi baby". As soon as we sat Leah on the floor, Kate was smothering her with toys, love pats and hugs. The whole time, crouching down and talking to Leah in baby babbles...like she knew exactly what she was saying to her. I wish my camera was charged tonight...I would have loved to snatch a shot!

This past weekend we drove up to Grandma and Grandpa Conover's and had a fantastic time! Friday night we hired a sitter and headed to one of our favorite spots...Venturas...with great family friends. Saturday...Doug and I were crazy and ventured out in the never ending snow storm (almost 12 inches) to house hunt with a realtor. We looked at almost 15 houses...whew! Long day but so much fun and good to get a great start on our "list". Definitely found a few that have future Fighter home potential. Of course we're waiting to sell before buying...so if you know of anyone who's looking for a great home... :-) While Doug and I were out braving the elements, Grandma ventured out herself to buy Ava the cutest snow suit ever, and...purple sled. Doug and I came home to my dad pulling the abominable snowman, Ava, around the house in the sled. She absolutely LOVES the snow and thought this free ride from Grandpa was the greatest. Katelyn came out to join her...her first re...

Watch out Lance Armstrong...here comes Ava! Santa brought her a brand new "big girl" bike, that ended up being to big for her, so we tucked it away until she grows a bit bigger and found a new one for the mean time! First our little engineerish girl had to help her dad put it together. She is just so into putting things together and fixing things...I love it! Kate wanted in on the action too. Then we let her pedal around the inside of the house to get the hang of it...and finally headed outside. She did great and we even went 1/2 way around the block! Little Katelyn chased back and forth after her sister as she went in between neighbor driveways. At one point she was even cheering Ava on with enthusiastic claps.

Have you ever gone to church, heard a speaker, or had a conversation with someone and walked away feeling as though someone just bonked you over your head with a shovel and told you to wake up and examine yourself? Ever had little bells go off in your head….”ding, ding, ding, ding”…like whatever that person was saying, totally hit the head on the nail when it came to you? This past Sunday in church, I had one of those moments. In fact…Doug even had that moment…for me…nudging me through the whole sermon. I think he saw the guy hitting me over the head with a shovel, the guy's words applying directly to me. I have to admit that I am a worrier. I worry about everything…my girls, my husband, my family, my friends…work, the move we’re attempting to make, keeping my house clean, keeping our financial health in order, keeping myself in order. I feel guilty on days when my perception is that I didn’t spend enough time with my girls, or that I didn’t achieve enough at work, or for saying no...

Our good friends Krista, Dan and their little peanut Lydia came over to welcome in 2009! Doug made dinner (with Dan's help)...a Rachel Ray menu....beef tenderloin and spinach with shallot sauce and shrimp. We nicknamed the guys Rachel and Ray and they were so proud of their concoction. We had a great night...catching up (and watching Dick Clark...oye). Happy 2009! Rachel & Ray... The final masterpiece...Krista & I were impressed! Had to post a few baby shots....sweet Lydia & Kate the bouncy seat/binky stealer...

A few pics from our trip to the zoo...lights...and afterwards...Olive Garden. See Doug's new beard...he's been on vacation for a week and a half, and has enjoyed not shaving:-)

Me and my girls... The girls and their friends...

The girls woke up around 8:15, and we came down to open presents. You could tell Ava was so excited to see her presents...but as usual, very even keeled. More determined to tackle the mission at hand of opening presents, as fast as possible. Kate headed straight for her new "Little People" bike and did not want to get off. So excited to have a "bike" where she could touch the ground. She also loved her new "cleaning supplies". Another favorite moment...as we were opening presents, we turned around to find Kate quietly eating Santa's left over cookies (see pic below...along with others of her hamming it up). Grandma & Grandpa Conover, uncle Pat, Lindsay and Grammy came over later that day and we had an excellent Christmas dinner (despite the fact that I burnt the ham...oops)! It was a super Christmas. Hope yours was just as great!

Christmas Eve festivities kicked off with 3pm service at our church...such a beautiful service. My favorite part was (as always!) the candlelit portion during Silent Night. I love how the candles serve to remind us of The light that came into the world over 2000 years ago. Instead of a candle, kids got a glow stick. Ava thought it was the best thing ever...she kept waving it around extremely ferociously in between (and despite) our efforts to remind her we were in church. She must have kept "forgetting"...just so excited (and it cracked me up!). I also had flashbacks to Christmas Eve service growing up...standing next to my Grandma Louise...while she sang along to Silent Night in German. Then it was off to Grammy J's for Christmas Eve dinner with the Fighter family, the Hayhurst family and...Uncle Pat and Lindsay joined us this year. Mom F. made the BEST beef tenderloin with twice baked potatoes , fresh green beans, rolls and salad. I about licked the plate. At around ...

Some of my most favorite days are filled with staying at home and just playing. Here are some shots from our day today. The girls' imaginations have been taking off lately. Ava with her train tracks and "Little People" village. She loves to set up her track, build tunnels and "Little People" towns around it. She puts the little people in the trains and takes them to different destinations...the zoo, town, their home, etc. Katelyn on the other hand loves dolls and her toy kitchen. When she's not inadvertently stepping on her sister's railroad track (which then causes havoc), she's feeding her baby's, pushing them in a stroller or patting them on their backs. And for me...I just absolutely love watching them play. I love watching them talk to their baby's, trains and little people in mini voices (Kate babbling all the way...but saying something for sure). I love watching them figure out how to do new things (like build a lego tower into a ...

Ava and I made a few batches of Christmas cookies this season. Spritz cookies, soft gingersnaps, peanut butter blossoms and cut outs. She especially loved rolling the dough, and the sprinkles. She LOVES sprinkles. I even caught her at one point, lying on the floor, on her belly, trying to get every last sprinkle into her mouth. A true sweet tooth. Here are a few pics. I especially love the last one...she's really getting into it!!

Every year some of my best girlfriends and I get together for an annual Christmas cookie party. We started this tradition 7 years ago. We were ambitious then...got together and everyone brought cookie dough or ingredients to actually bake cookies at the party. After a few years of that, we just brought cookies (already baked), traded and focused more on having fun. The past few years....we have become lazy and dropped the cookies...and moved towards an ornament exchange. But...we still call it the annual cookie party??? Not ashamed to admit that none of us are Martha's! This year we traveled up to our friend Alicia's house in Cleveland and I think it goes down in history as one of the best cookie parties ever. We kicked it off right by changing into pajama's about 1/2 hour after we got there. Then we proceeded to pig out (courtesy of Alicia), drink " Flirtini's " (courtesy of Kristin), play a fun game of " Guesstures " (love this game... ensues sill...

I finally ventured out for my first day of Christmas shopping Thursday - DSW our first stop. Mission...to find Doug a nice pair of brown "going out" boots. I always have trouble picking out clothes/shoes for him and was just so excited because I found a pair (on sale) and thought for sure he would love them. A score for sure...so proud of myself (you know how it is after you find the perfect gift?). Fast forward Friday night to Doug, Kate, Ava and I eating dinner around our table, talking casually about the day's events.... Ava: (out of no where) "Daddy...we got you shoes for a Christmas Present." Christmas surprise spoiled. I about choked....Doug laughingly prodded for more details. No secrets here in this fam ! Moral of the story...don't take your 3 year old Christmas shopping with you!

Ava has always been skeptical of Santa Claus. She has never had any desire to sit on his lap...preferring only to observe from afar. While Christmas shopping today, Ava decided without any prompting...that she wanted to meet Santa Claus. When it was her turn, she confidently walked right up to him, stepped up on the stool, hopped onto his lap and said..."trucks and trains" with a big smile. Her sister on the other hand...cried the entire 10 seconds it took to snap the picture below (which was to be expected)! One of these days she'll find out that Santa brings the good stuff...and will learn to butter up Santa with a big grin, just like her big sis did! When we were leaving, Ava told the elf that was helping us that Kate didn't like Santa. She also was insistent that Santa would have to go through the door because he was too big to fit down the chimney. I told her that Santa was magic and would be able to come down the chimney, to which she responded..."you'r...