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Okay so I was tagged by 2 different people who just were dying to know 8 random things about me but since I slacked, I was told I had to come up with 16 total. So if this looks familiar, it is because you may have already seen it on my facebook page approximately a year ago. Ha! It's still relevant even a year later.

1. I have a birthmark in the shape of a unicorn.
2. I have yet to find a pair of slippers that don't make my feet stink.
3. When I sleep, my feet must stick out of the blankets.
4. I hate wearing a bra!
5. I always imagined myself with 3 boys but when it came time to have kids...I wanted all girls.
6. I regret getting a tattoo in the parking lot of a Grateful Dead concert. Only because it was poorly done.
7. I am so glad to have married into a wonderful family.
8.My fingernails often resemble people. ie. David Letterman Jimmy Carter Alan Alda
9. I can draw with my feet.
10. I can not for the life of me remember birthday's that fall between the 20th and 29th.
11. I can't tread water.
12. I often talk in pig latin.
13. I am a news junkie.
14. seeing things hung crooked or even slightly crooked sends me into a tizzy
15. Best class I ever took....Speed Reading...what a time saver!
16. I really hate cooking.

My Prerogative

Since at about 18 months, Ruby has been developing her own sense of style. For the most part, her style has been a bit questionable, one even might call it... avant garde?

Let's take a look at some of her fashion fads over the last 6 months:

Here is what I call the "Head Case"

Right now we are in "The Clash" trend

Alternating with "The Eyes Have It" fad.

Let me tell ya, there is no talking that girl into trying something more mainstream...oh and how I've tried.. She is the quintessential "beat of a different drum" sorta gal....and that...I adore.

Everybody's talking all this stuff about me

Now now why don't they just let me live

Oh oh oh i don't need permission

Make my own decisions oh

That's my prerogative

Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head

Two weeks into preschool, Ava had her first school field trip. One of the many perks of being a stay at home mom is being able to chaperone ALL field trips. Ava loves it and frankly I enjoy it just as much as she does. For our first field trip, we traveled to the Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard in Jordan.

Ava getting ready to board the bus.

We sat in the way back so we could bounce all around when going over bumps.

It started raining once we boarded the bus and I was not looking forward to getting all wet. But once we arrived the rain let up a bit and we took the chance to get on the wagon and head out to to pick out some apples.

Loic and JM stayed pretty dry, thanks to their smart planning. Luckily for us, someone had an extra Jumbo umbrella for Ava and I to use.

"Hey Mom, how you like dem apples?"

We got to see a behind the scenes process of what happens to an apple once it is picked and then prepared for use.

Here the tour guide was showing the kids how they are able to peel and de-core 10 apples at one time.

My kid, along with her pals Mason and James, thought blowing around a dead fly was much more interesting.

We ended the tour with a tasty sampling of their apple donuts handed out by Miss Katy.

Despite spilling all her cider, Ava was all smiles at the chance to sit with Mason and his grandmother.

Before we left we had the opportunity to shop around and I bought some apple bread, 1/2 dozen apple donuts, bag of Honey Crisp apples (the tastiest apples evah!) and a pony named Princess.

1 field trip done, only 10 more to go!

It's a New Day

Two weeks ago today was Ava's first day in preschool. Loic (part time son) is in the same class as well.... which is why I think drop off went so smoothly. No tears were shed...other than mine...and she wanted to go back the next day. Let's hope this enthusiasm continues for the next 17 years.

She has already made some new friends and has her first crush.

"Mom, I made a new friend today. Mason is his name and we played together and sat together at snack."

"Is that so?"

"Uh huh, I asked him to be my best friend because I really like him."

"Sure sounds like it. What do you like about Mason?"

"He's nice but I like his face the most."

Ava and Loic

Arm shelf!

Air Supply

It was a balmy and humid 82 degrees this afternoon and I decided to run an oscillating fan instead of turning on the air. Earlier this evening, Ava went to get her notebook to practice writing and then went to the other side of the room to get her chair. She looked at the fan and sighed, "Why do you keep looking at me?"

Splish Splash

Agent 1007 armed and ready to complete Mission Splish Splash

Target: "The Dumper"

1007 tired of big sis dumping large cups of water on head when bathing together and laughing hysterically at her expense.

Rule #1 Make friends with your enemy; highly recommend getting matching outfits for ease of assimilation.

Rule #2 Pretend that you are bored with activity and leave to climb on playground structure all the while hiding out to make your move.

Rule # 3 Don't wear squeaky shoes.

Rule # 4 Sneak up behind target with full bucket. Proceed to dump water all over HER head.

Rule #5 Squeal in sweet, sweet revenge delight as target runs away.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!


And if all else fails... release pent up frustrations on unsuspecting victim... namely mom.

We Are Family

Ian, Ruby, Ava, Lisa
In this drawing she gave Ian and me some ears(gigantic ones) but didn't give any to herself or Ruby.
Oh, how art imitates life.

Ruby, Ava, Lisa, Ian

I like how she made a mustache and beard on herself so she could look more like her daddy who is in fact a different color than us. Pretty observant, huh?

Speaking of mustaches....
We were at some friends house last week and noticed that her friend's grandmother had some facial hair above her lip and quickly turned to me to ask "Mom, when am I going to get a mustache like hers?"

She may be the only female alive who actually welcomes facial hair. Soon enough Ava...soon enough...

Eight Days a Week

Ava's sense of time is one that leaves me laughing daily; like when today I overheard her talking to her best bud, Loic, about something that happened yestertime...he understood perfectly. He must be in that same time zone as her.

Here's a handy translation:

last Friday= the last time it occurred
the udder day= any day...go crazy and just pick a day
yestertime= yesterday
dis Monday= sometime in the future
last week= months and months ago
da next day-= tomorrow
last Tuesday-= last week

She's Got The Look

Killer pose: check (who taught her that?!)

high metabolism: check (21month old wearing a 6-9 month onesie!)

stone cold facial expression: check (trust me if looks could kill...you better pray you never get on her bad side)

natural strut: check

adoring fans: check (HELP!)

Tangled Up In Blue

We were on our way to spend the weekend at Rose's parents cabin out west of the cities and Ava, then 16 months, had fallen asleep as it had began to grow dark. We pulled up to a gas station so Mike and Rose could fill up their gas tank and "Tangled Up In Blue" came on the radio. Ava immediately awoke and smiled the biggest grin and began singing along with Bob Dylan. It was the oddest and yet... most magical moment...

Beat The Time

2-3 times a year we make the 6hr trip "home" to visit with our family. I pass the time by playing my Ipod while singing and seat dancing (I'm quite skilled) all the way there. The girls both brought books and dollies to play with but after the first couple hours I turn around to find the girls jamming out.

Toe jamming...that is.

My cue to bring out the DVD player.


In other news....Ava saw her first rainbow!

They Way You Make Me Feel

To say that Ruby has a mild obsession with our cat Murray (aka Momo...some days MoFo) would be a gross understatement. She is what I would consider a bit of a stalker. She is on a needs-to-know-exactly where her love is at all times.

Every morning she goes gaga at the very sight of him and must do her daily introductions.

Ruby to me: Mama!(points to Murray) Momo!
Me: Yes, I see him. Hi Momo.
Ruby to Murray: Momo!(points to me) Mama!
Murray: Meow meow meow

Every cat, black or otherwise,is called Momo. She carries around a picture of Momo and even carts him around in her baby stroller.

Don't get me wrong, Murray loves the attention as he is a ladies man, er cat...um cat man? But some days the tail pulling, the body using for one's personal pillow, and the scrap food stealing can be just too much for this itty bitty kitty.

Okay, there's nothing itty bitty about this kitty but he's finally found a way to stay incognito and keep his stalker away for at least a few hours and catch up on some much needed zzzz's.

"Uh oh, she's looking this way...blend in, don't breath, I am invisible..blend in, don't breath, I am invisible"

Take Me To The River

A year ago, you couldn't get Ava into a pool without a lot of resistance and then once you got her in, you couldn't pry her off the stairs. I heard of an amazing swim school from a fellow mom (thanks Dawn!) and was astounded with how fast her son progressed. I did some additional research and Foss Swim School kept coming up as the place to take my apprehensive swimmer.

Two weeks ago, she finished her 11 week session and she did amazing! She ended the class with the ability to hold her breath underwater for 13 apples (seconds). That's quite a feat...stop and try holding your breath for 13 seconds right now............she's pretty amazing, right? Not only did we come out of this session with a better swimmer but a girl with a lot more confidence...priceless.

Look at her go!



**** warning**** you might want to turn down the volume(second video) as my cackling might cause permanent ear damage...at the least.. nightmares.

How Sweet It Is To Be Loved You

Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. ~Author Unknown

1. Daddy can scratch two backs at the same time.

2. He likes playing Webkinz as much as Ava.

3. He has unbelievable balance even after spinning the girls around one hundred and one times.

4. He's the go- to- guy when someone gets a boo boo.

5. He comes home with the best "toys". Black light lamp and large red siren to name a few.

6. He gives the best horsey rides.

7. He's OUR soft place to land.

8. When Ava draws our family, she often draws herself with a beard.

9. We picked Ava up from Sunday class and she had two slips of paper in her hand. One read " I love my mommy because she makes good food." (I know, I was shocked too!) The other read "I love my daddy because he's my favorite."
Not a shocker there....he's everybody's favorite. And rightly so.

10. He makes raising kids look oh so easy.



Thanks for making every day Father's Day!

We love you!

Let It Grow

About a month or so ago, Ian came home from work and declared that we would be taking our recent virtual MyFarm addiction into a real life application. In the continuing efforts of going "green", Ian's company decided to start a company farm and dole out some unused land to those employees interested.

Yes! I could finally show everyone all those wasted hours and accumulated millions were not in vain.

Here's our plot of land. We haven't named it yet as all my suggestions have been shot down.

A few days earlier upon visiting the farm, Ian worked hard and did all the grunt work and planted watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Our job this day was to do a massive weed pulling sweep.

The girls did fantastic...I, on the other hand, starting pulling the all "big" weeds I had spotted. I quickly ripped them out and beamed with pride when I showed the fam just how skilled I was at this farming business...turned out I had pulled out all the tomatoes! *insert bruised ego here*

Ava watering the tomatoes/ "big" weeds after Ian replanted them.

Hanging out with "Dada" as Ruby affectionately called him. Tall and skinny...close enough.

Head To Toe

What's the perfect accessory for that adorable polka dotted swimsuit?

Polka dotted feet to complete the ensemble , of course!

Courtesy of those infamous, so ugly they're cute, Crocs.