Ella Lost Her First Tooth

Ella has had a loose tooth for over a month now but it finally came out!  Ella is much like her sister and other than occasionally moving the tooth back and forth; there will be no further action for removal!  LOL!  And trust me, I am ok with that!  Ella's tooth finally came out during lunch at school and luckily she didn't swallow it.  The evening before, Ella was messing with her tooth and it was a little bloody which then freaked her out.  I wanted Matt to pull it so badly because it was barely hanging on but Ella was having no part of that.  And we really don't want to scar her regarding tooth removal.  Well it came out all on it's own at school and without blood, thankfully...meaning no trauma just excitement for my little one!

She was so excited to go to bed with the tooth fairy pillow and was so excited about the tooth fairy coming.  We talked about whether it's a boy or girl and what they look like...it took her awhile to fall asleep LOL!!  At one point Matt went in to give her another kiss and couldn't see the pillow.  When Matt asked her where it was she had it buried "in a safe place".  Matt had to explain that if the tooth fairy can't find it, they're not going to wake you up so you won't get your gift.  You have to leave it out where it's easy to get to ;)  

Here's my excited, early riser, the following morning.

Ava~6 Years Home

The years are flying by!!  It's so hard for my head to wrap around the fact that you have been by our sides for 6 years already...and I really want time to slow down!  But that being said; this has been a really fun year.  Lots of big changes that we've handled and continue to adjust to, together.  You are so funny!!  You crack us up on a daily basis!  You are a rule follower and make sure we all stay in line.  You're smart as a whip and are excelling in all subjects at school; but you're also really hard on yourself so we work on positive self talk everyday.

1. This last year included some big, hard changes in life.  First of all we sold our house in Omaha and moved into an apartment in summer 2017.  Then we made the decision to move out of state and back closer to family in Kansas.  That move happened in July 2018.  The rest of the summer was great because mom was not working yet so we spent lots of time at the pool and exploring our new city.  But starting a new school was hard...starting new sports is hard...making new friends is hard...and missing friends and the life we knew was/is really hard.  We have cried a lot of tears as a family.  Ultimately this move was great for our family but it has not been easy for you.  But you have definitely reached out for help and persevered.  You're making friends at school, church, and in the neighborhood.  We're so proud of you for hanging tough.

2. School is easy for you!  You lucky girl.  In this way you are not like your mom but instead following in your dad's footsteps.  So far this year you have missed 1 spelling word and it was only an extra credit word; you've only missed a handful of points on math tests; and you're reading is well into what is expected in 2nd grade level.  Your teacher stated,  "She is one of the strongest writers I have ever had in my class. Her creativity and conventions blow my mind! ".  This last school year you have also gotten to participate in an advanced school group once per week for about 2 months.  Working on higher level problem solving skills.  This has not been as easy for you but good for you to continue to learn how to handle things that don't come easy.

3. You are a sweet girl majority of the time but boy can you get raging mad too!  When this happens we always talk about it's ok to be mad but you have to control your emotions and your actions.  You call your response your "emojis" and most of the time will state that you don't know how to control your "emojis".  I love that you call them your emojis LOL!  But boy, girl we definitely need to learn how to control them.  A lot of times these emojis come out when things are difficult and you are tired from the day.  You're gaining on them but it takes time to learn how to control that gut reaction.

4. You are funny!!  You act like such a little adult, so a lot of things that come out of your mouth sound like they ought to be coming out of a 30 year old.  The other day I was coloring my hair and Ava came in and asked why.  I told that I have gray hairs sprouting that need to be covered up.  Ava thought for a second and then replied, " Well good, we don't want you walking around looking like a granny!"  So true girl.

5. You are a rule follower...and call mom and dad out as not following the rules when necessary ;).  If you are unsure is we are following the rules, you ask.  "Are you sure this is ok?" "Are we supposed to be doing this?"  While at school one of your biggest frustrations is your classmates not doing what they are supposed to.  In specials, as a class you get between 0 and 4 points depending on how you do.  Whenever the class doesn't get a 4; mom and dad definitely hear about it because she is NOT happy with her classmates.

6. We have found an amazing church in KC for both mom and the girls.  Ava loves Sunday School and that is definitely something to not take for granted.  In church we are going through a book called "Believe".  And the kids have a children's version of the book that they are learning from.  Ava has really been digging in and getting what Jesus is all about.  It makes me so happy for her.  And my little rule follower definitely keeps us on track with out reading each week.

7. Sister/sister: you and your sister have a tight bond.  You definitely have your moments of arguing but for the most part you 2 could play for days; making up different lands and stories, pretending to be animals, or dressing up to suit whatever the current dream is.  It's fun to watch!!  Some weekend days in particular you'll be together for hours and mom and dad start to miss you.  We'll occasionally head into the play room to see if we can play too and you'll oblige for a short time and then kindly state that you gals are just fine on your own and we are free to go!  LOL!  On one of the flights for vacation in January; the gal who was sitting in front of you girls turned to me after the flight and said, "good luck mom".  Since you girls had been great on the flight I definitely gave her a puzzled look.  She then stated, "I listened to your girls talking the entire flight and they are thick as thieves...you are in trouble!"  Boy is she right!

Ava, we love you so much that just thinking about it makes my heart feel like it is going to explode.  You were the answer to so many prayers that made me a mom.  And the fact that our personalities are so alike is just an act of God.  For better or for worse; you are very like me my girl.  Hopefully I can help give you some pointers on how to be you and do you in this crazy world we live in.  You are such a bright star in the world...and you make me smile every day.  Girl, you are going to rock this world with your fierce drive for what is right and with that big heart of yours.  I can't wait to see it!  Love you Ava Girl.

Disney Cruise

Would we recommend a Disney Cruise?  Was it worth the money?  I get these questions regularly this month is returning from our trip and the answer is hands down--YES!!!  We had the same questions before we booked and still second guessed our decision after we put the money down.  But we had an amazing time!  The service was incredible...as I hear Disney is second to none in this area.  The boat was so well kept up that it could have been it's first time at sea.  The wait staff loved and played with our kids each evening as they served dinner.  The shows...oh my goodness; the shows were Broadway, Disney style shows and they were incredible!  We saw "The Golden Mickeys" which was a compilation show of lots of great Disney shows and then we saw Beauty and the Beast.  So freaking good!!   The character experiences were also a huge win for us.  Over the last year the girls have started talking about going to Disney.  But we were not ready to do the entire Disney World experience.  1. We want the girls to be able to ride all the rides and 2. We want them to be able to walk the entire park.  We are not carrying them around all day!  LOL!  So that's where the idea of the cruise came in.  They got the characters and we all got a great relaxing vacation, beach time, great food, and no worries about rides and walking the park.  We didn't pay any extra for character experiences and I'm telling you; the characters were everywhere.  We'd be listening to music and dancing before dinner and all the sudden Pluto, Cinderella, and Rapunzel are on the floor dancing with us!  Or we'd be on the beach and here comes Mickey Mouse.  Seriously amazing!!  My little kid definitely came out!  LOL!  Lastly, Disney's private island Castaway Cay was gorgeous!  And because it's Disney owned, food and drinks are included during the day in your all inclusive price!  We swam, played in the sand, looked for seashells, snorkeled, and relaxed every second they gave us on this gorgeous island.  

 Shopping in Nassau, Bahamas

 Ice #181 of the trip!

We started our vacation a few days early and left the freezing weather of Kansas and headed for Cocoa Beach in Florida on New Years Day.  We spent our first day at the beach.  The girls had a blast playing in the sand, jumping in the waves, and Ava loved looking for shells.  It was so wonderful being in the sun and warmth!

Our second day in Florida we spent at NASA...this place is "out of this world!"  Yep, I totally went there LOL!!  Seriously though it's an awesome place!  We were there from opening to closing and could have spent more time.  Ava in particular loves learning about space and Mars in particular.  But we all had a great time.  We learned about the Apollo missions to the moon, Atlantis space ship, and learned about where space exploration is going in the future as we continue to research and privatize space exploration.  

Prototype of Mars Rover

3D movie time