ready to hit the road

Ava's got her sunglasses on, she's ready to hit the road in style!

family arts day

This Saturday our local art museum had another free family arts day. This time the theme was "things with wings". The boys got to make paper dragons, butterflies, paper wings and these cute bird masks. The Houston Zoo gave a presentation on birds and brought several live birds that the boys got to pet and hold. It was lots of fun!

playing in the rain

Today we got lots of rain thanks to the hurricane that hit far south of us. The boys went out to play in the rain. They got soaking wet, but had lots of fun. Here they are all bundled up in their towels after they were done playing.

no girls allowed!

Dario drew this picture and asked me to hang it on his bedroom door. If you can't tell what it is, it's a no girls allowed sign. Silly boy! (picture of Dario courtesy of Aunt Lauren)

painting

hats

The boys wearing their traditional Austrian hats from Nana and Grand Dad.

Brian's parents brought back lots of souvenirs form their trip to Europe. All of the kids were so excited to get their presents. One of the things they gave Ava was a cute pink Beret from Paris. So sweet!

swimming pool

I took all three kids to the pool, by myself, for the first time today. Normally three is pretty manageable, however today it seemed like there were double that many. Two of my kids can't swim but think they can! Despite the chaos, I did manage to take a couple of pictures. Next time, Brian is defiantly coming with me!

fourth of july weekend

This past weekend we went to my parents house to celebrate the fourth of July. We ate lots of good food, saw fireworks, went to the beach, swam at the pool and spent time with lots of family. It was the perfect weekend!

one of her favorite foods

Ava loves yogurt. She does a good job of feeding herself with a spoon, with the exception of the occasional spill!

it's a...

Today I had an ultrasound, and we're having a girl! That was what I was hoping for! Now we will have two boys and two girls!

strawberry pie

The grocery store had strawberries on sale for really cheap. I bought a lot and made my mom's recipe for strawberry pie. She has been making this for as long as I can remember and always reminds me of summer.

1 cup mashed strawberries

1 cup strawberries cut in half

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tbs. lemon juice

1 cup water

4 tbs. cornstarch

1 baked 9 in. pie crust

Combine mashed strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, water, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until thick, cool and pour into crust that has been filled with the cut strawberries. refrigerate until set.

painted toenails

Today Ava got into my nail polish and actually opened it! Luckily she was wearing an old shirt because the nail polish was everywhere. After all that effort I just had to paint her toenails!

playing outside

Aiden dressed himself today and put on a long sleeved shirt in the middle of summer. Luckily for him it wasn't too hot because it had just rained and was still cloudy.

plumeria

I have had this plumeria plant for about 2 years and it has finally bloomed, yeah!

fun weekend

what a mess! birthday cupcakes Ava found her cousin"s flower hat tired Ava resting on Grammy's shoulder

delicous kabobs

sweet cousin Avery

sweet cousin Kyla

Aiden enjoying his party

We spent this past weekend with my family. It was fun to get away for a couple of days and finally spent some time with them. On Saturday my sister Lauren and her husband hosted a birthday party for Aiden. Mom brought the food and made delicious grilled steak. shrimp, and chicken kabobs. She also made cupcakes which all the kids loved and smeared all over themselves. On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day. We had a yummy brunch with homemade cinnamon rolls. At church my brother Jeremy, who just got home from his mission gave a very good talk. After church every one came over for dinner and once again mom made delicious food! After dinner Jeremy gave a wonderful fireside. He made a DVD with all the pictures he took of his mission, set to music. He is a very good photographer, and each picture looked like a post card, at the end of the presentation everyone wanted to take a trip to Alaska, it was that beautiful! It was a great weekend and ended to quickly!

birthday boy

Today Aiden turned 4 years old, I can't believe it! It seems like just the other day he was born. Of all my kids births his was the craziest. I just barely made it to the hospital in time and wasn't able to get an epidural. He was also my biggest baby at over 9 lbs, ouch! He is a very sweet little boy who is full of energy, very curious, and often mischievous. We are glad he is a part of our family! To celebrate we went to Chuck E. Cheese, to eat pizza and play games. Then, we went back to Nana and Grand Dad's house to open presents and eat cake and ice cream. His grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were very generous and gave him lots of nice presents.

silly girl

I tried to put Ava's shoes on her. Her shoes that she normally wears outside are a little worn out and dirty looking. She looked at her shoes and said, "no, yucky!" She refused to let me put them on her and only wanted to wear her church shoes. She is only 19 months old and already concerned about what she wears, goodness! Something else that was cute happened today, she was walking around the house carrying her 2 baby dolls, when she tripped and fell. She then said, "oh, babies!" She was worried that they had gotten hurt. She has started calling one Ethan, after her cousin baby Ethan.

too hot!

Today I took Ava outside to play, unfortunately we only lasted a couple of minutes because it was so hot!

movie day

On Saturday we took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda. They loved it and they got a free poster from the theater. I thought it was entertaining, even for adults and the animation was great! A couple of days ago I was putting Ava down for a nap and I heard Dario and Aiden yelling, "Mama, Mama!" I though someone had gotten hurt, but it turns out they saw a commercial on TV advertising Kung Fu Panda happy meals at McDonalds and wanted to get one right that second.

birthday countdown

Aiden's birthday countdown has begun, he is very excited about his birthday! His birthday this year is on Friday the 13th, of all days. Aiden's plans include going to Chuck E Cheese, eating cake and ice cream, and opening lots of presents!