Ava "Reads" a Book

Brian called me into the room the other night to listen to Ava "read" a book she had gotten from the library. It was so cute the way she knew all the words. You know me, I just had to record it and put it on here...hope you like it! :)

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean

A Month's Worth of Info in One Post :)

I am determined that my blog is not going to become like my scrapboook. I used to be an avid scrapbooker (which I loved). Then one day, I got behind. I'm slightly OCD and I cannot go out of order on my scrapbook (or apparently my blog). I must stay in order at all times. No matter how far behind I am, I cannot scrapbook (or blog) more recent events if there is stuff from a couple months ago still to do. This is where my problem lies because I am most excited about the things that just happened and not as motivated to scrapbook (or blog) things that have significantly passed. With all of that said, I am dying to tell you about the pumpkin patch and all the other wonderful October festivities, but I cannot do that until I give you the Marlett's lost month in one blog post. So, without further rambling from me, here is a top ten list of the posts I have missed while I have been busy painting:

• #10~ The kids were sooo excited about their October box of fun from Grandma and Grandpa. It came in the mail one Saturday and provided them with hours of entertainment!!
  
• #9~ We went to a very fun birthday party in the park. I know this just looks like a park minus a party, but it was there. These just happened to be the cutest pictures. :)
  

• #8~ I LOVE October and I put up all my fall decorations...and even bought some new ones.(I may have even started mid-September!)
  

• #7~ We awoke one morning to find this really cool rainbow outside our house. What was especially amazing was that it hadn't rained all week. Where did this come from?!?
  
  

• #6~ Ava had "cap" day at school. Do NOT call it a hat..she couldn't have worn it if it was a hat...that would not have worked for letter "C" week.
  

#5~ We frolicked outside and took some more fun pics...I never get tired of those. I love fall days!!

• #4~ We went to the Parade of Homes. It was lots of fun to look in all of those big houses that we will never be able to afford. (although, the kids think we can and they want to move). :)
  

#3~ Ava learned to write her name. She casually showed me this picture one day and I told her I liked it and then I started doing something else...then it DAWNED on me...She wrote her name!!! I couldn't believe it.

#2~ We spent LOTS of time this month playing with friends. Every Sunday, some friends (and their kids) come over to watch Amazing Race with us. It's a fun weekly tradition.

And finally....
#1~ Chance had his fall performance at school. He "sang" for us. Sing is in quotes because he really hates to sing, but he did pull off some singing this time. He thought it was fun to spend some extra time with his friends, too. It was a really cute program.

Well, there you have it. That's what the Marlett's have been doing this month while I have been painting (and not blogging). The painting insanity is almost over, so hopefully things will be more on target going forward. Pumpkin Patch and trick~or~treating coming up soon. Stay tuned!!

Hello All

Just a quick note to let you all know that I have not abandoned my blog...at least not forever (although I have seemed to have abandoned it this month!) I have still been painting like a crazy woman...I know it doesn't seem possible that a person can possibly have that much to paint, but I assure you that I do! I am still taking pictures and have lots to tell everyone about, I just haven't felt like working on the computer in my down time lately...(I have lots of shows to catch up on the DVR, too). AHH...my life is so behind right now. On the plus side, I've been loving how my rooms turned out. I don't think the kids will be getting anymore whimsical paint jobs in the near future, however. Don't give up on me...I am still here. ALSO, is it too early to put Christmas music on my blog?? :) Just Kidding, I will wait til at least after Halloween, I promise! Hope to be back soon.

Fair Mishap

So, we went to the fair a couple weeks ago (I told you I was behind on things). You know it's one of my favorite places to go....WELL, it's also lots of fun for the kids (guess I rubbed off on them). There are all kinds of things of fair adventures I could talk about, but in this post, you will hear nothing about how much fun they had in the petting zoo:
...or about all the yummy food they had...



...or about how Ava loved being "farmer for the day"...

...or, even about how Chance was soooo excited to see his friend, Rece (what's up with Chance's eyes in this picture?!?)


We are going to talk about this: BEFORE~
AFTER~



When Ava does something, she does it big. This time just so happens to be the biggest, baddest mud puddle she could find. I still am a bit unclear as to how this all happened. We were leaving the fair and we were all a little tired. She was a couple steps behind me, when all of a sudden, a heard a splash (or rather, a SPLOOSH). I knew it couldn't be good, but I didn't realize how BAD it could be til I turned around. There stood my once clean little "angel" covered in mud. I will say, if there is such a thing as "good timing" in a situation like this, perhaps this was it. At least we were LEAVING the fair. It was a little chilly, though, and I kinda sat there and stared at her for a few minutes as I tried to think of what to do (she definitely wasn't getting in the car like THAT). Luckily, we brought layers with us. We decided to strip her right there at the fair entrance (which was quite entertaining for the crowds of people coming in the fair). After we got rid of all her muddy clothes, we put Daddy's giant sweatshirt on her (I think we lost her in there). The whole time this was happening, she was laughing this weird, nervous laugh. I wish you could have heard it. I think she thought she was in trouble. I was too tired at this point to discipline her for "falling" in the giant mud puddle. Plus, it was actually pretty funny. So, there you have it. This concludes the Marlett Family Fair Adventure of 2009. Who knows how this will possibly be topped next year...can't wait to find out!

Ava Wisdom

I had to share the conversation I had with Ava the other day...

Ava: "Mommy, do I have a brain?"
Mommy: "Yes, Ava."
Ava: "That's good. Do I have a heart?"
Mommy: "Yep. You have one of those, too."
Ava: "I thought so. Do I have Jesus?"
Mommy: "I don't know, Ava. DO you have Jesus??" (I want her to figure these things out for herself.)
Ava: "Yeah, I do. I feel him kicking me."

True, isn't it? Sometimes God has to kick us around a little to get our attention. Toddler words of wisdom. I love it...I think this will preach. Look for it soon in one of Brian's sermon illustrations! :)

Mom the Tooth Hero

Okay, guys. I'm really sorry that I am considerably behind on my blog. I know that five days of non-blogging may seem like no big deal to some, but I have lots to say and just not enough time in the day to say it lately. Still working on painting the entire house and it has me a little preoccupied. There may or may not be a rapid fire of blog posts in the next couple of days...just bear with me.

With all that said, we had some more tooth excitement a couple weeks ago:

Meet Chance. My son with the very wiggly tooth. This particular tooth has been WAY too loose for a VERY long time. His teeth do not come in like most teeth...they come in behind his baby teeth. This makes them not push little baby teeth out like they are supposed to. The present tooth has been sticking straight out for over a month, (which is making me somewhat crazy) but Chance would not pull it. But, as you can very plainly see...THE TIME HAS COME! The poor kid has blood flowing out of his mouth and still refused to pull the thing out. Brian bribed him with toys and everything...he wouldn't budge. However, once the blood started, we knew that this would be the day it must come out. The news was not well received. :( My previously brave son that let the principal of his school pull his first tooth with no tears whatsoever lost his brave spirit...the video says it all:

Ava was very helpful...she offered to do the tie a string around the tooth and shut the door trick. Chance agreed to that one, but after a half hour and no luck (his tooth was sticking too far straight out), we knew it was on to more desperate measures. You can see by the video, that after about an hour of trying to reason with Chance to pull it out, we finally had to take over. He laid a tearful head in my lap and I just pulled the thing out. Just like that. It was so easy. We could have easily saved everyone an hour by pulling it out that fast in the first place. Sometimes we have to let our kids figure these things out by themselves. :) I think he may be braver next time. We can also say that I have now officially pulled out a tooth. Yay Mommy!!