Marlett Family Adventures

Happy 6th Birthday, Ava!

2011-08-24T14:57:00.001-07:00

I have already told you about Ava's party...but this was actually Ava's BIRTHDAY. That's right, my baby is officially 6. Ava spent the night with my mom the night before her birthday, which kind of altered some of my birthday plans. I knew she had been dying to spend the night with her Mema, so we made the most of it.

I had found an idea on pinterest to fill up the room with balloons the night before your child's birthday (while they are sleeping), so that when they wake up in the morning, they have a birthday surprise. Well, since she was gone, it didn't go quite according to plan, but she did come back first thing in the morning and was greeted by her birthday balloons. Ava's response: "What the heck?!?" That's my Ava. She loved them. It was actually even better than I thought it would be. She played in her room with all of her balloons all morning. We had to drag her away when it was time for church. We had told Ava that we had a surprise for her on her big day, and she thought it was the balloons. Wrong. There was even more!!

After church, we took Ava out for her FAVORITE lunch (Taco Bueno), and THEN to Build-a-Bear. She really loves to put all of her little animal friends in clothes, so we thought it would be perfect to let her build another bear and pick out some clothes. We must have picked a great day, because they were having a big sale. Needless to say, we are suckers, (especially on birthdays) and we ended up coming out of the store with TWO bears and TWO outfits. (She was quite adamant that her bear needed a "morning outfit" and a "nighttime outfit". Yeah, I know, it was overkill, but it made her really happy...and she only turns 6 once!!

We had a great day with our li'l princess. It was a day of birthday surprises and I am very thankful for this day to spend with her. :)

~Crystal

Last Bit of Summer Fun

2011-08-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

We went to the zoo a couple days before school started. Call it one last attempt to make summer last just a little bit longer. It's been a really great summer. I have basked in this time with my kids. Could we just have two more weeks? Sigh.

I feel bad that the zoo hasn't really been part of our summer routine this year. I suppose over 50 days of over 100 degree heat dampens zoo plans. This was a fairly nice day, though. I'm glad we got to squeeze in one trip to the zoo before school. We do have a zoo pass now, so hopefully, it will get to be part of our fall routine. I'm waiting ever so (im)patiently for those 70 degree days! Here are a couple of pictures from our trip to the zoo.

I know this is not an animal (or my children), but I thought this sunflower was beautiful. I loved the way the sun was shining through the trees. It looked like it was just there to highlight this little sunflower. So pretty.

This, by far, was the highlight of the day! The baby elephant!!!!! I have been dying to see this little sweetie for a few months now. I was secretly terrified that she would already be all grown up. Luckily for me, it takes elephants a long time to grow. I. Love. This. Elephant. So much so, I'm contemplating a way to have a baby elephant in my own backyard. Think that will work? No?!? Well, I love her. I literally could have stayed right there and watched her all day.

I'm not entirely sure why this picture of the sea lion is four times bigger than all of my other pictures, but I am way too lazy to figure out what is wrong. Just go with it. This was the other highlight of the day. We never go to the sea lion show, but we definitely should. I don't think my kids have EVER been to the show, but they loved it. This was a really slow zoo day and there were not too many people in the auditorium. We got to sit on the very front row and she came right up to us. We literally could have touched her. The kids thought it was a blast to be so close.

See Chance's face? That is is "super happy" look. I love that look. I adore how much Chance loves animals. The trainers warned us before the show began that the audience needed to be quiet when the sea lions were out so they would not break their concentration. At one point, Chance thought the kids around us were being too loud, and he politely warned them that they needed to tone it down. I love his protective nature. No one ever has to worry about Chance hurting an animal. Not ever. :)

~Crystal

How is it Possible...

2011-08-10T11:44:00.001-07:00

...that my kids are this old now? I snapped these pics of them the other night at dinner.

Here is Ava, my little first grader. I can't believe she is going to be gone from me ALL DAY for the first time EVER!

And Chance...UGH! This one. I don't even know if I can talk about the fact that he is going to be in the FOURTH GRADE! Lots of changes this year: "big kid" hall, changing classes, etc. This is making me emotional. Whatever am I going to do when he goes to junior high??

High school??

College??

Stop! I can't even begin to think about it. I will probably never survive if just the mere mention of fourth grade is tough on me. I know it's crazy, but it's true. ;)

I'm so blessed to be their mom. I just wanted to share these little snapshots from my little corner of the universe. While you enjoy these, I'm going to try to find out a way to slow time down. Way down.

~ Crystal

Canoin' on the River

2011-08-10T11:41:00.001-07:00

Hello, blog world. Sorry for my slacking. To say I've been crazy busy lately is an understatement. Nothing like a (well-deserved) video game night for the hubby (no tv for me!) to get me back on track.

This will probably border on the most uninspiring post ever, but I had saved this as a draft some time ago and thought I might as well finish it. I have to go in order. Always. It's a disease.

I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a float trip down the Illinois River with my hubby and some great people from the college. (Work trip for him...fun for me!) It's been years since I've been on such a trip and I must say, it was great!

If you use your imagination, you can see the river in the distance in the above pic. Sorry for the pure lack of exciting photography. On this particular trip, I was busy having fun and snapped a couple of pics on my way to get in the van on our way home.

Our cabin. Home of the most uncomfortable beds known to man and a swarm of killer bees.

In a nutshell...

Highlights:

~ Getting to meet (and hang out with) an amazing group of college students. I loved getting to know all of them better. As I've said before, it's been a long time since I've gotten to bond with a group of people on in a trip setting and I've really missed this.

~ some R&R. We had been REALLY busy with the responsibilities of the looming school year, Ava's birthday, and just the general day to day. It was nice to get away for a bit.

~ Of course, hanging out with Brian is always a highlight. We got to share a canoe for our 12 miles down the river. It was great quality time. Always a plus. This should probably count as another entry, but we did not tip our canoe once. Yeah, that's right...we have awesome teamwork. (Perhaps we could compete in Amazing Race together after all!?!)

~The beautiful scenery. This was when I most wanted my camera...however, that would have been a terrible idea because the only camera I have right now is my phone, and I assure you that my phone should NOT be floating down the river. I forgot how breathtaking it all can be. I really enjoyed those little moments when it was just Brian and I in the middle of the river and it was so quiet. We would just quit paddling for a few minutes and sit in silence and take it all in. We saw a TON of fish.

~ I was also quite pleased that we didn't have to carry our canoe for miles at a time due to NO water. This has been the case with every other canoe trip I have been on (one of which I was 4 months pregnant...LOTS of fun!) There were only a couple of times we got stuck, and it was quite brief. All in all...a success!

Lowlights:

~ Did I mention those killer bees? Yeah, well one of them stung me. That's right. I haven't been stung by anything for a good 25 years and I'm not in a big hurry to have that happen again. In case you were wondering, it hurts. Super bad.

~ The beds were terrible...And the air conditioning worked. (I know the second seems like it should be in the "plus" column, but it was about 50 degrees in our room and I was on the top bunk (also interesting), so I was freezing and quite uncomfortable all night. The bed also made a terrible sound every time I moved and I was certain that it was going to break and I was going to plummet on top of the poor soul sleeping beneath me. Yeah. Not a good night at all.

~ At one point, I completely lost my husband because he went to help a "drunk guy find his cabin". There ended up being a lot more to this story and Brian ended up being very helpful to this man in need, but for awhile, I didn't know what was going on. Where did he go?!?

All in all, it was a great trip and I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to tag along. Thanks, guys!

~Crystal

Birthday Celebration #1

2011-08-10T11:39:00.001-07:00

We decided to split up the family and friend birthday celebration for Ava this year. She desperately wants to have her school friends come (which I still don't know parents), so we have to wait for school to start for that one. We couldn't have her family celebration on her actual birthday because that is the start of move in time on campus and one of Brian's craziest weeks of the year.

We didn't think all this out when Ava was born, we should have really asked her to be born another week....lol.

We decided to have her family party a week early. This works out great for Ava, anyway. It means she gets to have a family party one week, we will still do something for her actual birthday with just us the next week, and she has her friend party the following week. Not too shabby, actually.

Here are some of the shots I got from her family party. In attendance were:

~The Ryans: Aunt Keli, Uncle Chris, Haleigh and Fiona

~The Hix: Aunt Sessy and Parker

~Mema and Papa

~Grandma and Grandpa

~Bryan and Amanda

~Nevan

~of course: US!

She had cake batter rice krispie treats (recipe from pinterest), drinks, and lots of presents that included about a thousand squinkies, pandas, and more. Needless to say, she was a very happy girl. Here are a few of the pictures I took that day:

Happy birthday, Ava...with more celebrations to come...

~Crystal

...And the Crazy Day Got Worse

2011-08-10T11:35:00.001-07:00

You have already heard about Ava's crazy hair story...

Well, when we got home and I was trying to find a way to make her look presentable, I got my flat iron out for reinforcement. In the process, Alice (resident wienie dog) started running everywhere like the crazy puppy she is... I didn't want her to get burned, so I asked Chance to put her outside for a minute.

In the process of all the commotion with Ava's hair and me running around getting ready for my hot date, I accidentally left her outside for thirty minutes. During this time, she did not have water (which I know sounds TERRIBLE...I would like to make a disclaimer that I do NOT leave my dog outside without food and water EVER. The reason she didn't have her food and water outside with her in the first place is because I have been keeping her inside because it's been so flippin' hot...I just wanted all of you animal lovers out there to know that I do not endorse that kind of behavior...not at all.)

In the midst of all the chaos, (Alice was already in by this time), the pound showed up at my door! What?!? I can assure everyone, THAT has never happened before. Alice shot out of the house when I opened the door forcing me to bolt out and catch her. In the process, I almost knocked the animal control man over...Whoops! He said that he had received a call saying that I had my dog outside with no food, water or shelter...(what?!? again) I explained that I had accidentally left her out for 30 minutes, but otherwise, she had been in the entire day and more often than not for the last two weeks. He laughed and said she looked perfectly healthy. He explained that they have to check the validity of all calls. That's great and all, but as someone who prides themselves on being a rule-abiding citizen, I was absolutely mortified.

Furthermore, am I the only one who finds it a little insane that animal control has a far better response time than DHS or anyone else who deals on the human side of things? Seriously, these people should take a cue from the animal lovers of the world. My dog can't even go out to the bathroom without a formal investigation.

Now, the people-pleasing side of me who doesn't feel like anyone should ever be unhappy enough with me to take any kind of formal action is completely obsessed with needing to know who the heck called the pound??? At first, I thought it may be the people behind me. They have a ton of dogs and are really the only ones who know where we keep Alice's water and that it was missing. There is one other option, a busy-body neighbor who walks her dog around our street everyday and is always stopping to make little comments every time we are outside. (sometimes nice, sometimes not so much).

I made her angry the other day when she came by to borrow a Walmart sack because HER dog pooped in MY yard and I didn't have one because I had accidentally thrown them all away. Vendetta, perhaps?!? I don't know, but I'm watching her. Lesson learned: I'm going to start keeping a GIANT bowl of water on my back porch at all times.

We made this little sign for Alice to commemorate our run in with the law:

We do love our dog and would never put her in harm's way on purpose. Thank you to all concerned neighbors.

~Crystal

Haircut Debacle

2011-08-10T11:34:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been quite a busy week at the Marlett house, hence the silence lately. Brian's parents have been in all week, we had an early birthday party for Ava, I went on a float trip with Brian and some people from the college (his work trip)...did I mention one last trip to the pool, school supply shopping, and haircuts?!? Oh haircuts...right...the point of this post.

Well, I took Chance to get his haircut a couple weeks ago, pretty uneventful. (Besides the fact that you can now see his face, which is always super awesome!) Let's just say that Ava's haircut did not follow the same pattern.

ohmygosh

It all started when my normal hairdresser called to say that she had a last minute emergency and would not be able to cut Ava's hair. She asked if someone else in her shop could take her place. Well, of course! I am by no means picky about who cuts Ava's hair. They are all trained professionals, right?!? WRONG! This was her before picture. (I was actually beginning to like her hair and had almost talked myself out of cutting it in the first place...all I wanted to do was to make her bangs that she was growing out be even with the rest of her hair....sigh).

Well, my friends, this is where the whole thing starts to get a little shady. Her "new" hairdresser seemed very nice, but things started to go a little south when she started cutting. I was struck by the fact that she didn't really brush her hair out (or even wet it?!?), there was no cutting in sections, or whatever everyone else usually does. She simply took her scissors and started cutting it ALL AT ONCE. What?!? I tried not to freak out at the beginning, after all I mentioned that part about her being a TRAINED PROFESSIONAL.

Well, it started becoming really uneven, so she started at the same side and began "making it even" which meant another inch came off Ava's hair. I was really starting to worry at this point, but thought to myself that everyone has a different way of doing things, just be chill. However, I began to panic when the hairdresser started to look flustered and told me I didn't have to pay. Never really what you want to hear.

It was the most jagged, crazy hair I have ever seen...and the real kicker?!? By the time we left, the side with the bangs was still a good inch shorter than the rest of her hair. (Did I mention that the ENTIRE reason we went in for a cut was to make it even?) She offered to keep trying to fix it, but Ava's hair was getting shorter by the second, so I figured we should cut our losses.

I thought I could take her home and work some magic with the flat iron and all would be better...right?? Wrong again! It just kept looking worse the more I tried to fix it. UGH! I wish this picture could actually show the atrocity of this haircut, but it really doesn't... (my personal favorite is the little chunk on the right that is completely longer than the rest of her hair.) It's very probable that I could have done a better job if I would have had the scissors myself...EEK!

Well, we all know that the idea of me with a pair of scissors is a very bad idea, so I finally admitted defeat and called my hairdresser and asked for help.

Please let me emphasize, I did not want to get the other lady in any kind of trouble. (Okay, there was a small part of me that wanted to shake her and ask her what the heck she was thinking...) But seriously, it was clear that she was a little flustered and having a bad day, I really wasn't trying to make it worse for her...I just wanted Ava to have presentable hair. Did I mention that school and her birthday are both this week??

Melissa (the normal hairdresser) came to the rescue. She was quite apologetic and worked her magic and I am happy to say that it looks MUCH better. Relief! Lesson learned...when it comes to hair, stick to normal. From now on, I will wait! :)

~Crystal

Happiness

2011-08-03T10:49:00.001-07:00

Hello all. You're going to have to bear with me on this one, but today I would like to talk about one of my simple, happy things in life: cleaning supplies. I love the days when I peer into my cabinet and realize that I am out of everything at about the same time...that means that I get to go shopping and try out some new products! I'm always on the search for something that has a better smell than the one before. For instance, I was so happy when windex came out with the rain scent instead of just boring, old windex...stuff like that.

Even better, a BRAND NEW TARGET recently opened up by our house. That's right, LESS THAN 5 MILES AWAY!! *Side note: this has the potential to be quite dangerous for me. (Back to the story)... I was actually going to Target to pick up some new sheets for Ava today (when I was changing hers this morning, I realized that they had a giant hole in them), they were super on sale, by the way (**BONUS**). While I was there, I remembered that I needed laundry and dish detergent. While I was looking for that, I also remembered that I was out of most everything else as well. Oh happy day to remember this while I was at Target instead of Walmart because I have always wanted to try their METHOD brand. There is something about it: I'm not sure if it is the sleek look or all of the fabulous smells, but it always makes me happy. I actually can't believe that I haven't tried it until now. Rest assured, if it works well, it is what I will be using from now on... with a Target this close to my house, there is no reason to not use it.

So there you go, I choose to be happy by the simple things in life, and today that is my brand new cleaning supplies.

If you must know, there are also things I am not so happy about...like trying to use my brand new cleaning supplies with a house full of kids (mine, plus two others) and a wienie dog (because it is hotter than the sun's very core today). So, let's just say that the cleaning is not going quite as smoothly as usual, but I am quite enjoying all of my new scents. :)

~Crystal

Seriously Cute

2011-08-01T13:05:00.001-07:00

This is what I found the other day when I walked by Ava's room. She always has all of her little friends on her bed...this is nothing new...what I loved here was how she had them all grouped together. All of her dolls and animals had a doll or animal of their own. I have always appreciated her ability to make her own bed (and quite well, I might add) at a very young age, but she just gets more creative with it as she goes along.

My other favorite thing Ava does is dress all of her animals. You would think she would love build-a-bear with her affinity for animal clothes, but she really prefers to find random clothes from around her room that used to belong to dolls, etc. She has recently added bows to her animal's ears (which I also think is adorable.) She usually spends more time figuring what bows will look best for her bears than she does with her own hair. They are very well-loved.

In case you were wondering, this is not only a morning routine, she has a strict night-time routine as well. Even if it's just a matter of shuffling everyone's clothes around, (ie- one bear gets the elephant's shirt, etc.) all of her beloved animals must change clothes at LEAST twice a day. (Sometimes more if there is a special occasion.)

I just wanted to share these pictures with you. I thought they were too cute. :)

~Crystal

My Newest Addiction

2011-08-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

I know I'm probably super late to the game. Let's face it, I'm rarely cutting edge. In case there is anyone out there that is like me, I wanted to introduce to you it, too. What is it, you ask?!? Pinterest. Basically, it is a website where you can take any image you find on the web and "pin" the image to a peg board on your personal page. It doesn't sound like much when you say it like that, but I assure you that it is completely addictive. My own personal black hole. Even worse, there is an app for my phone. AAAHHH. I should have never discovered this website!

For those such as myself who don't consider themselves to be proficient web surfers, every time someone "pins" something, it goes to a main page that you can scroll through and you can "repin" other's images. Even better, it it's a do-it-yourself project or a recipe, it takes you directly to the website so you can see how to make it yourself. Brilliant. I can't even tell you how many great ideas I've gotten in the last few days. (Which I suppose is a good thing considering that I haven't gotten much else done since I've discovered it...lol).

Things I've tried in the last week...a new hairstyle for Ava, glitter toenail polish, blue jello in a fishbowl with gummy fish (the kids LOVED this one)...I've also gotten lots of inspiration for my house. Still aren't sold? Look at this very cute lunch idea I plan on making for my kids very soon...

Source: google.com via Crystal on Pinterest

I mean, come on, how cute is that? Ava is very excited about eating this little friend for lunch... (and I'm excited about THAT because the girl only eats peanut butter and jelly)! If you haven't given this a try yet, hop on over. Just do it when you have some free time on your hands, because next thing you know, two hours of your life will have passed and your children may be buried under a pile of laundry somewhere. (What?? No! That has NOT happened to me!) If you want to check out my boards, you can do that here.

*Side note: For those of you who discovered this months ago, please don't laugh at me. :)

~Crystal

Ava Conquers Her Fear

2011-07-29T14:31:00.001-07:00

Ugh! I've been trying to pull myself away from pinterest for the last hour(more on that later) to work on my blog post. I've got entirely too many things to distract myself on the computer lately (including this blog). Okay...moving on to distraction #2...

I realize that there have been way too many pool posts lately, but I guess that's just to be expected when one has a season pass to the pool. I swore that I would not post anymore about the pool this season (I mean, seriously, haven't we ALL heard enough?), but then, silly Ava had to go off and do something cool and now I have to blog about it. More pool. So sorry. Feel free to skip it, but if you do, you're going to miss out on hearing all about Ava jumping off the HIGH DIVE! That's right, can you believe it?!? I mean, come on, the kid is only five years old. I think she is kind of a rock star. :)

Of course, it wasn't necessarily all that easy. I would never even encourage her to do this. What mother really wants to watch her child dangling perilously 20 feet in the air crying that she made a mistake and then have to tell small child that it's too late...she HAS to jump? I wasn't really looking forward to that little scenario, so I've been begging Ava NOT to jump for two weeks now, but it's like she just had this little magnet attached to her...pulling her towards the high dive, and we were all powerless to stop it. I pretty much captured how the whole thing went down in a series (don't be scared) of about four videos, so, I'm just going to let those speak for me.

Video #1...Bear with me, this is the longest (don't worry, that's just a little over a minute). I would like a couple things to be noted here: I encouraged her NOT to go and she was WARNED it was going to be high... At this point, I still think we have dodged the bullet and she will talk herself out of it completely

Video #2...I know I'm in trouble when she is sizing up the ladder as Chance does his dive. Hmmm..I think she is really going to do it. Note her little sigh as she walks by me. That cracks me up every time.

Video #3...Yep, she's gonna do it. My worst fear is coming true. She is going to be that kid that gets to the top of the diving board and has to be forced to jump. Ugh! I realized as all of this was going through my head, I should probably stop taping because that makes me look like an even WORSE mother. I'm "making" my kid jump, she's crying AND I'm taping it.

Oh, how I really wish you could have seen what happened AFTER this video. I turned it off when she was crying up the ladder (just helping you remember). She continued to cry as she walked across the board and stood on the edge of the board and cried some more. (I was quite thankful there were only five people at the pool at the time or else I would have felt like an EVEN WORSE mother.) Then, a calm came over her and a strange look of determination and it was then that I knew everything would be okay. She jumped...and when she came up, she was laughing hysterically. I guess it was a success?!? ;) I just wish I would have ignored the crying and continued filming the whole process. It was hilarious.

Video #4...I wanted to include another video of her jumping and having fun so that there is documentation that she really DOES like it now. Yay, Ava! I'm so proud of you for knowing what you want and GOING FOR IT!

~Crystal

They Wanna Do What??

2011-07-28T07:46:00.001-07:00

Well, it's official. I must be boring because when the kids found out Brian was going to work this morning, (what?!? He doesn't do that everyday?!?) they practically fell over trying to get out the door to go with him. Yeah right, I didn't really figure THAT was going to happen today, anyway...so imagine my surprise when Brian said he was up for it.

I can definitely go for a little of that action, because I have all of my extra kids today, which means I won't be leaving the house entirely too much anyway...and let's face it, that makes us ALL a little crazy. The way I see it, it's a win-win: the kids get out of the house via a far-away trip to the student center and THIS mommy gets a little R&R when visiting kids ONE and TWO go down for their afternoon nap. (We won't talk about how the plan will go a little south when MY kids decide they are bored and want to come home right in the middle of said nap time.)

One of the visiting kids was down for his nap for an entire hour before the second little visitor arrived, so I even got a bonus hour to myself this morning. *Just a tasty little preview of my life when school starts when BOTH of my kids will be in school all say for the first time EVER and I am down to watching only ONE kid three days a week. I have two entirely free days TWO WHOLE DAYS A WEEK. DO YOU HEAR ME?!?! It's gonna be incredible!! (*sorry, my post got a little off track, can you tell I'm excited?)

Well, I'm off to Sonic...I'm pretty sure a vanilla diet coke is calling my name (and while I'm at it, I should probably put on something that's not my pajamas...it's almost noon! SHEESH!)

~Crystal

High Dive Video

2011-07-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to get my video on you tube. Turns out, I was using the wrong user name. I have the same user name for most things, but apparently I got creative with my you tube account. Good to know, especially when I haven't even looked at it in over a year. How am I even supposed to have a fighting chance?? Oh well, it's better now.

The other problem I discovered, is that I didn't film in landscape mode, so I have giant black boxes on either side of the video. I'll have to fix that in the future, but it will have to work for now.

The first video is one I took without Chance knowing I was filming. The let out a little scream on the way down, and when he found out was on video, he told me I had to erase it and do another "non-screaming" video. I told him, of course I would. Okay, how about a compromise? I put BOTH videos up instead?? Yeah, that sounds better. Sorry, Chance. :)

And here is the "Chance-approved" video:

Now, if I can just remember to film things the right way...

~Crystal

Flashback to Memorial Day...

2011-07-23T13:16:00.001-07:00

This is completely random...pictures from the beginning of summer, but I couldn't help but put them on here. A friend of mine took them at a cookout and just gave them to me the other day. I thought they were so good. Enjoy.

~Crystal

Free Friday

2011-07-23T13:13:00.001-07:00

Fridays are special at the Marlett house this summer because it is the only day I don't have extra kids around so the kids and I have fun on Fridays. I have been trying to take them to the pool, but we have to be sure to go when it opens because buses and buses of daycare children start rolling between 12:30 and 1.

This Friday, it was just Chance and I because Ava has swimmer's ear (poor baby) and can't swim until she is finished with her meds. Never fear, she spent the day with Daddy at the office. She LOVES being up there with her Daddy...and Chance loved that he got to swim even though I didn't think we were going to be able to go because of Ava.

I know everyone is probably getting tired of all of my pictures from the pool, but I just can't help myself. Here are some more:

Nevan met us at the pool because she had a couple hours off at work. After the pool, we got some pizza at a somewhat questionable pizza joint. By "somewhat questionable", I mean that the pizza was downright disgusting. Sad, but true. I will say that the cinnamon rolls were amazing, though. Is that enough to make me ever go back?? No. That's okay, it was an adventure.

I thought I should put a picture of Ava in here to document what she was doing on Free Friday. When I walked into Brian's office, she was rolling across the room in an office chair. Only Ava. Needless to say, she was having fun. She would also like everyone to take time out of their day to see Captain America. (or maybe that's Brian, but either way...)

*side note: I have a really great video of Chance going off the high dive that I would really like to put on here, but I am having trouble loading it onto youtube. Check back for it later. I'm sure it will be stuck between a couple random posts that have nothing to do with the pool, but I WILL figure it out...eventually.

~Crystal

I Have a Problem

2011-07-23T13:10:00.001-07:00

I would like all of my blog readers to know that I have a problem.

There, I said it.

They say admitting you have a problem is half the battle, right??

Here's to hoping...

My problem: cupcakes. Not just any cupcake, mind you. No, unfortunately, I am addicted to the new cupcake place that is just a mere mile and a half from my house. See my problem? This does not bode well for my weight loss. Perhaps I should quit being their "friend" on facebook so I am not bombarded by all of their delicious, new flavors every single day. Although, I think I can quit my search...I have found my favorite: chocolate mint. ("mint to be"...sigh). It's a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing (have I mentioned the icing is to DIE for??) with andes mints crumbled and sprinkled on top. Delicious. I think I can quit my search for the best flavor because I definitely found it. Now, I just wish I could quit eating it. That's where the "I have a problem" part comes in to play.

I used to justify my little trips once every couple weeks because I happen to know the owner and just wanted to be "supportive". However, my one trip every couple of weeks has turned in to two trips every week. Yeah, like I said, I have a problem.

So, for those of you that are in the Oklahoma City/Moore area and haven't tried them out, why don't you head on over to The Cupcake Lounge and check it out for yourself. No one likes to sin alone. ;) You won't be sorry, they're delicious.

Anyone else out there have any "problems"?? ;)

~Crystal

Haircut Day

2011-07-23T13:09:00.001-07:00

Friday was a long awaited, much anticipated day in the Marlett house: HAIRCUT DAY!! Why is haircut day so amazingly exciting, you ask?? Well, when you have strangers remarking that your son has crazy hair, it puts a little motivation behind the action. ;) You be the judge:

I told you...it's a bit scary. I have a son that desperately wants long hair. I, on the other hand, am a control-freak mommy that would just as soon give him a buzz cut to keep things neat and tidy.

I think I have exercised super great skills here in letting go of my control-freakiness in hopes of giving my son what he wants. He is nine, after all, I know I should let him make some of the smaller decisions in life. I'm sure that his hair is one of them. However, in this quest to let him to what he wants with his hair, I think I have just had to make myself turn a blind eye to it completely so I can resist the urge to cut it the second it even LOOKS like it is going to get in his eyes. (Just so you know, that's exactly where he wants it.) My blind eye lets his hair go completely wild at times.

That is...until strangers mention it.

That is not fun.

Then, you can guess what happens....

HAIRCUT DAY!

And, doesn't it look so much better. Mommy can rest now. At least for a week or two. ;)

This is a random side note that has nothing whatsoever to do with haircut day (except that it happened to be on the same day)...

My Shutterfly photo book came in the mail today. I am so excited. One thing off my list and a little bit closer to getting my photo goals accomplished. Granted, this is the 2006 book and we are in 2011, but it still IS progress. Actually, I think my kids enjoy looking at them even more when they are from years ago because they have forgotten (or don't even remember) what was going on in the first place. They looked at my book for HOURS. It even resulted in getting all my scrapbooks down for them to look at as well. (I still stand by the fact that my scrapbooks are MUCH better, but who has time for that anymore??)

Anyway, all that to say, I snapped this picture while they were looking at my book after it came in the mail. I thought it was precious and had to share. :)

~Crystal

Fill in the Blanks

2011-07-20T09:38:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Since I was on a blog hiatus from January to May, I thought I would add some of the pictures I would have put on my blog during this time. It's not perfect, but it will have to do. ;)

~Crystal

Unexpected Family Fun

2011-07-19T19:50:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures I took from the park the other night. We took the kids to see Winnie the Pooh and then we took them to play at their elementary school playground. It was a really good evening. I think the best part was that we weren't expecting to do anything. Brian just came home from work and said that we should go to the movie. The movie was super short and we still had daylight hours after it was over, so we took the kids to play. I think they are both really ready for school to start, so they liked the idea of visiting their playground. It was fun to have them lead us around and tell us stories about things they do when they play out there at school. I got some really cute pictures that night...here are a few of them.

~Crystal

A Trip Down Memory Lane

2011-07-19T14:10:00.001-07:00

I've noticed every time we go to Mississippi, Brian takes the kids around to see different things we did as a kid: his school, playground, places where he used to work, etc. This made me think... I don't really do that with the things I used to do. I just kind of take those things for granted. I think that happens more when the kids grow up in the same state as you. We're not going on any sort of vacation, it's just always there.

I have already mentioned that I've been a little nostalgic lately. That, coupled with the thinking I've been doing when we go to Mississippi has led me to exposing the kids to more of the things I experienced when I was growing up. The more I show them, the more interested they seem to be. I've showed them parks, my library, (we currently have a season pass to the pool I went to, and so on...).

My parents were doing some work at my old house the other day (I haven't been there in YEARS) and I asked the kids if they would like to see the house where I grew up. I figured that wouldn't be THAT big of a deal, but they seemed really excited about it. I threw them (plus an extra baby) in the car and took them to Del City.

When my mom got remarried and we moved to Moore, she didn't need a lot of her old furniture. Her friend ended up renting our house and said she could use it, so quite a few things from my childhood are still there. The kids loved looking at the house. Ava was quite impressed when I told her my old room used to have panda wallpaper on one wall. (Don't get any ideas, Ava...I like your room just the way it is.) They spent quite a bit of time going through the rooms while I told them stories of things that happened when I was a kid. It was a neat experience to have them there and get to share my stories with them.

I told Chance he should be thankful that he and Ava don't have to share a room like my sister and I did growing up. He told me he wouldn't mind if it was a baby brother. Yeah, right. That would be over in about a week. ;)

Even though it was about 105 degrees outside, they wanted to play in the yard for awhile. It was fun to watch them run around in the exact same places I did as a child. My Mom played track ball with Chance. He's been dying to have someone (that's not Ava...she doesn't throw the ball high enough) play with him.

I know this may seem somewhat weird that it is so exciting for me to involve my kids in my "growing up" memories as much as I do. I admit, our house now is much bigger and I love Moore. It's far nicer (and arguably more safe) than Del City. I think the real issue here stems from missing my Dad and I feel like when I show the kids these things, he's maybe just a little bit closer, even if it's just for a few minutes. I mean, where else can they sit on the exact couch that my dad used to lay on? Twenty five years have passed and there is not too much that is the same. That's why I enjoy it so much. I'm glad they humor me (and really even seem to have fun) on our little outings. It's been a fun little gift for us to enjoy together.

~Crystal

Cruise Facts

2011-07-19T12:30:00.001-07:00

I meant to write this earlier to go along with all my cruise pictures, but I got a little overwhelmed with trying to get the rest of my blog caught up. Everything is a little wacky and out of order, anyway. ;) I wanted to do a top 10 of some of our favorite cruise moments. I thought it would be a fun way of recording some memories, but not too wordy to bore everyone with the details. As I started working on my list, it became a little longer (thanks, Brian). So, I changed it from a top ten, to a list of random cruise facts (in no particular order). If you're looking for actual pictures from the cruise, keep scrolling...they're down there somewhere.

So, here you go, random cruise facts from the 2011 Marlett Family Vacation:

Cruise Fact ~ If Ava is anywhere near chocolate milk, she can and will get it all over her entire outfit. (Nothing like ruining her entire summer wardrobe before it actually even starts).

Cruise Fact ~ Every time we introduce our kids to a new beach city, Chance announces that it will be where he lives when he "grows up". (Since Cozumel was our last stop, that is his current city of choice).

Cruise Fact ~ 6-10 ice cream cones a day is perfectly acceptable.

Cruise Fact ~ With unlimited food options to dazzle the taste buds, Peanut butter & Jelly and potato chips was Chance's dinner request EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! (and you should have seen how his eyes lit up every time they brought it to him.)

Cruise Fact ~ Nothing is quite as exciting for the kids as little white towels folded into animals. It was Chance and Ava's nightly highlight to see what little creature was waiting in their room to bid them goodnight.

Cruise Fact ~ Even though stingrays should be safe because they have been "de-barbed", don't be fooled by the "safety" of a ravenous stingray. Ava's giant stingray hickey on her leg (5 minutes into our excursion) proved that they are, in fact, bad news and not to be messed with.

Cruise Fact ~ Luchador masks are a matter of ship security and are not to be worn on-board at any time. (Just ask Chance who was given a strict warning by ship security).

Cruise Fact ~ Why spend good money on an excursion to the beach if there is a perfectly good kiddie pool nearby? The kids are easily entertained with creature comforts. Oceans are perfectly great to look at, but not to swim in.

Cruise Fact ~ All cruise cabin doors must be unlocked twice to gain entry. At least, that's what Chance and Ava thought as both of them ALWAYS had to place their key in the door before we could enter the room.

Cruise Fact~ Even if you warn the kids that the street entertainer pretending to be a statue is going to try to scare them, it still scares them every time.

Cruise Fact ~ A dollar flute may seem like a cheap souvenir, but it is really just the street vendors way of playing an evil joke on you for the long drive home.

Cruise Fact ~ When you are in port, and certain bars are "closed" the attendants don't even have to acknowledge your presence, much less serve you a coke. No matter how long you stand there and wait. In case you're wondering, they also don't feel compelled to tell you that the bar is closed in the first place.

Cruise Fact ~ Comedians on the ship are not funny. They are just placed there for "entertainment" because you are in the middle of a giant ocean and out of options. Give Ava 45 minutes and a microphone, and I assure you, she will be far more funny.

Cruise Fact~ When your wife tells you to stay somewhere, she will be right back, that does not mean wonder off in search of drinks. She will not think the following 45 minutes of looking up to see you on the 10th floor of the floor of the ship (while she is on the 2nd) is a very fun game. Word to the wise. ;)

And finally,

Cruise Fact ~ Even though there are times that parents will think family cruising is exhausting and secretly wish for the days of their solo cruises and long for uninterrupted hours of reading, the family time and memories are awesome and irreplaceable. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

~Crystal

4th of July

2011-07-18T21:41:00.001-07:00

We had an amazing Fourth of July this year. Brian and I were talking about it later and both agreed that while this particular holiday is always fun, this had to go on the books as one of the most enjoyable EVER. The day before the 4th, we went to the carnival at our local park. It's funny that I have lived in the same town all of my life and never went once. It was way too hot to stay for long, but it was fun while it lasted. We got the kids wristbands for unlimited use of the inflatables.

July Fourth was crammed full of activities. We took the kids swimming with Nevan in the morning (right after a stop by Dunkin' Donuts). This was followed by some resting and cooking at home. That evening, we went to our friend's house for some 4th of July fun. We started this tradition last year. Their house is right by our local park where the fireworks happen, and let me tell you, there is not a better seat in the house! Before last year, I didn't think it mattered what distance you saw the fireworks from as long as they could be seen. This was far from the truth! Having fireworks go off right above your head makes them about a million times better. I was like a little kid in a candy store.

I got a little ahead of myself there. BEFORE the fireworks, we had time to hang out with our awesome friends. They set up the waterslide and sprinkler in the yard, so there was plenty for the kids to do. Combine this with delicious food and some bocce ball and we had a super awesome evening. All of this followed by fireworks, which I'm sure you've already guessed was my favorite part of the evening. It was a great day!

~Crystal

RAIN...Finally!!!

2011-07-18T21:37:00.001-07:00

After a brutally hot summer, we finally got some relief the other day. I had no idea that rain was even in the forecast, so imagine my surprise when the kids came in from playing outside to inform me that it was raining. What?!? It was so awesome! It went from super hot and sunny to an absolute downpour in less than 20 minutes. I love a good summer storm.

There was no lightning, so I told the kids they could play outside for awhile. If was funny, they were actually a little hesitant at first, but it didn't take them long to get in the spirit of things. They played outside (and had so much fun!) until it started raining so hard that it began to hurt. Needless to say, that cut playtime short and they were done with the rain. It was a great day and wonderful reprieve from the constant 100 plus degree weather we have been having ALL SUMMER!

It stayed cool even after the rain moved out, it stayed cooler all day. At one point, it was even in the 70's. Oh, how I wish it could have stayed!

~Crystal

Bonding with the Cousins

2011-07-18T21:33:00.001-07:00

I mentioned that Stef watched Ava for us on Friday...well, on Saturday, it was our turn to watch Parker. What did we do? Go to the pool, of course. The kids have been dying to have Daddy go to the pool with them, and our pass gets in a +1, so it was the perfect. We even let cousin Alex tag along, too. I thought it may be a little crazy having so many people to keep up with at the pool, but there were no problems aside from the fact that it was a little crowded. Everyone had a great time. We didn't stay more than a couple hours, though because the kids were so exhausted from all of their fun the night before.

What's the kids' least favorite thing about the pool? Adult swim. Twice a day, they make all the kids get out of the pool for fifteen minutes. You would think it was an eternity. Unfortunately, that was what was happening when we arrived at the pool. It passed quickly, though and there was much cousin fun to be had after that.

What did we do after the pool? Get snow cones, of course. The kids love snow cones. It was the perfect ending to a hot day at the pool.

Unfortunately, Parker didn't end up spending the night with us on Saturday. He got sick and went home early. Don't worry, we still owe you one, Stef. ;)

~Crystal

Date Night

2011-07-18T21:31:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned before that Brian and I place a high priority of spending quality time together. We try to have date nights at least a couple times a month (when finances and babysitters allow). Well, we had a fabulous date the other night. Brian took me to Mama Rojas on Lake Hefner. I always tell Brian that I think that it's strange that with my fascination with all bodies of water that we don't spend more time at Lake Hefner. Well, he decided to remedy that on Friday. I must say, that we will definitely be back (especially when it's not 110 degrees outside!) I loved the restaurant. Delicious. Bonus: We had a fabulous view overlooking the lake. After dinner, we attempted to walk around outside for a bit, but it was so stinkin' hot that we only lasted about 30 minutes. It was so beautiful, though.

Sometimes, on our dates, we are a little rushed to make a movie or get back so we don't keep the sitter too long, but Friday was so relaxed. Chance spent the night at a friend's house for a birthday party and my sister watched Ava, so we had the night all to ourselves. It was great. After dinner and a walk we did a little shopping and went back home for awhile. We did end up catching a movie later on, but we definitely didn't have to rush for it. There may have even been a little ice cream after our movie got out at midnight. Totally healthy, I know. Great date and we're ready for another.

~Crystal

Wedding Weekend

2011-07-18T21:23:00.001-07:00

Brian had a wedding to do a couple of weekends ago and the kids and I decided to tag along. Although, I do know this couple, I do not know them well and usually don't go to these type of weddings (although there isn't much I won't do for wedding cake!), but I decided to go because I haven't seen Brian much lately and SOME time together is better than NO time together. His part usually doesn't take very long, but the time there and back and just hanging around takes longer and we can spend time together. Needless to say, the kids weren't crazy about having to hang out in the heat. However, overall, I don't think it was TOO bad for them. Ava even made a couple of friends. (Which isn't hard to do in Ava World.)

Ava was so ready to get up from the table at the reception, but I made her stay with me. This was hard for her to understand since we were outside. She can have a lot of energy at times and I didn't want for her to (*GASP) knock the cake over or anything. By the time dancing rolled around, she was about to burst, so I told her she could dance. She had so much fun. Some of the older girls even taught her a few moves. I loved watching her.

A parting shot. I LOVE this picture of Ava and Chance. There were times during the rehearsal and wedding that they were really wearing me out. This little scene when we arrived home reminded me to keep everything in perspective. They really ARE good kids and I am lucky to have them.

~Crystal

Pool News

2011-07-18T21:16:00.001-07:00

This year, we did something we've never done before: we got a season pass to the pool. I meant to do this at the beginning of the summer, but between our cruise and a trip to Mississippi, I didn't actually get the pass until late June. We have been taking full advantage of the pool since then.

When I was a kid, going to the pool was the highlight of my summer. I actually judged how well my summer went by how many times I got to go swimming. I have been trying to be intentional about doing "fun" stuff with my kids this summer because our actual "free time" is limited this year because of all the babysitting I do. Anytime we have a couple extra hours on our hands, we make a beeline for the pool.

I have been so proud of the progress that my kids have made this year. Chance made great strides in swimming last year, but this year he's gotten even better. I really don't have to worry about him in the water anymore. The big story with Chance is that this is his first year EVER to jump off the high dive. We were at the pool the first day, having a snack, and I jokingly asked him if he was going to try it. He didn't even bat an eye, just announced that he was going to try it as soon as he got back in the pool. I made sure that he knew that I wasn't trying to pressure him. I also warned him that it looked much more menacing from the top. He said he could do it, and he DID. There was not even a moment's hesitation. As soon as he reached the top of the ladder, he walked right to the edge and jumped right off. It was a very proud moment for me. Heck, I'm still scared of the high dive. ;) Once he did it the first time, there was no stopping him. He has been enjoying the high dive all summer.

Ava has made great progress in the pool as well. Last year, she could do about anything she wanted as long as she had her life jacket on. She would even swim for a few seconds at a time without it. This year, she had to be motivated in a hurry because the pool rules state that you cannot do the water slide or the diving boards with a life jacket. After swimming around the pool for awhile, she insisted that she could do it without her "safety net". It made me a little nervous, but I let her try (yes, I was standing at the edge of the pool waiting to jump in). She was awesome! She is quite the little fish now. She can even do a mean cannonball of the diving board. Even the lifeguards were remarking about how cute she was.

I'm very proud of all the progress my kids have made at the pool this year. These have been some fun memories for sure.

Splash Pad

2011-07-18T12:51:00.001-07:00

I have been watching kids this summer, so I have been trying to find some alternative fun for my kids that doesn't involve outright swimming. It is quite a chore to take multiple kids swimming by myself. This led me to the splash pad. It is still fun and wet, just not quite as labor intensive. They like to go, but never want to stay as long as they do at the pool. This works out well, anyway, with the extra kids I tote with me.

I snapped these pictures with my phone the last time I went and thought I would share them. I was really struck by how old Chance looked, especially in that first picture. I can't believe I am the mother of a fourth grader this year. Time is really flying. Notice the rainbow beside Ava in the last picture. I really liked that, too. I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful summer. I know we have been enjoying it.

~Crystal

(One) of our Favorite Things

2011-07-17T12:49:00.001-07:00

The kids and I LOVE Orange Leaf. The kids love it because, let's face it, they love anything that even remotely resembles ice cream. I love it because it is (somewhat) better for me than ice cream. All this to say, we go quite often. By the way, I'm pretty sure Orange Leaf should ask Ava to do a commercial for them. What do you think?!? :)

I really enjoy this little outing with them. They always ask to sit outside, no matter how hot the weather. I think one of their favorite things about sitting outside is that it is right next to a small pond. Every time we finish our yogurt, they always ask if they can go over to the pond. It's becoming quite the little ritual. I have probably taken countless pictures of them by the pond this summer, but the ones below are some of my favorites. I thought I would share them with you. I have enjoyed these particular little moments with my kids this summer.

~Crystal

A Rediscovery

2011-07-17T12:38:00.001-07:00

I've been feeling a little nostalgic lately. This has led to me revisiting some of my favorite things from my childhood. One of the things I used to love was something that could be found at almost any of the parks I used to visit as a child: the very awesome, giant ROCKETSHIP (complete with a slide stragegically placed the the middle.) This used to be one of my very FAVORITE things, but is almost non-exsitent now because someone decided that playground toys should be safe (what?!?) for our children. Of course, I'm kidding. I also want safe playground toys, but I was super excited to see that one, lone rocketship still stands at the playground in my hometown.

I had been talking to my kids at length about how awesome the rocketship was when I was growing up. Perhaps, I over-talked it a bit, because I think they were a little underwhelmed by my discovery. (Looking back, I'm not sure if it was that, or they were just terrified that it may fall over and kill them.) At any rate, they were not as excited about this blast from my past. However, rocketship aside, the kids loved the rest of the park. It is full of new places for them to discover and has TONS of very tall trees and picnic benches...even a dog park. We have made it one of our new places to go. Always fun to have new places to explore. :)

~Crystal

Mississippi Trip

2011-07-17T10:45:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

We went to Mississippi this summer for our annual trip to visit Brian's parents. It was a good trip filled with lots of food, shopping, outdoor fun, a visit to the Children's Museum, and even a small visit to the Marlett family reunion. Most importantly, it was quite relaxing and Brian and I were able to catch up on some MUCH needed rest. Enjoy the pictures!

Testing

2011-07-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

I think I may have figured out how to blog from my phone. If you are reading this, I am one happy girl!! Here is a pic I took last night...
Happy summer, everyone. I'm off to the pool. :)
~Crystal

Family Cruise

2011-07-14T20:09:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

WOW!

2011-07-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hello, all. Ummm...I guess we can just say that it's been FOREVER! Once again, I am trying to get my picture/documenting life in some sort of order. I really miss my blog. I feel like it was definitely a step in the right direction and I am in the process of reclaiming it. This has not been the only area that has been lacking. Every picture displayed in my house is from at least 3 years ago and we won't even begin to talk about my "scrapbooking". Let's just say that I finished 2006 yesterday.

I have decided that I am going to use the rest of the summer to get everything back on track.

ACTION STEPS:

1. I have loaded ALL my pictures (FINALLY) on my computer.

2. My camera recently broke and I hastily bought another one that I was completely unhappy with. I took said camera back to Walmart and used the money to upgrade my iphone instead. I will use this as my camera until I can afford to get the camera I really want. I can now directly upload all of my pictures to Shutterfly no matter where I am. Awesomeness.

3. As I mentioned before, I am getting caught up on my digital scrapbooking. I hope to have all my books finished in the next couple of months. With 2006 finished, I am only FIVE years behind now. Progress.

4. Finally, I am getting this blog back in working order. (Interesting note, my spell check on my blog just said that blog is not a word...that's irony for you!) I noticed when I was working on my photo book yesterday that I have plenty of pictures, but really wish I had the STORIES to go along with the pictures. I hope to use this blog as a reference to make even better books for the future that actually have substance.

Here's to steps in the right direction. For all of you that used to read faithfully (and have probably all but given up on me)...I hope I'm back for good and better than ever. :)

~Crystal

Nevan's First Tree

2010-12-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Nevan just got her own place and we when we were talking the other day, she told me that she wanted to get a real Christmas tree this year. In light of my 25 days of Christmas activities, this worked out great for me. You see, I would love for my kids to have the experience of a real tree, but no mess for me (crazy childhood experience on my part, but that's an entirely different story). There is a Christmas Tree farm in Tuttle that I had heard of which entails cutting down your own tree and other Christmas fun (hot cocoa, etc.). I thought that would be the perfect place to go and suggested that we go with her. Sadly enough, when the day came, I called the farm to see how late they were open and they informed me that they closed at five. The Christmas Tree farm was not going to happen...

It was okay, though, because we just decided to get a tree from a Christmas Tree LOT (take that, tree farm!) We actually went to not one, but TWO different lots and bought our own hot chocolate. The first lot we went to was a boy scout lot down the street and then, just to comparison shop, we went to another lot in Moore. Oddly enough, after all of our lot shopping, we ended up getting a tree at Walmart. However, we still got the experience of walking through all the trees and the kids had a really good time. We finished up the night with some shopping at Hobby Lobby (they had all Christmas decor 50% off!) and we even helped Nev put it all together. I was happy to be able to spread my Christmas cheer to others. :) This was a really great night.

Children's Play and Christmas Dinner

2010-12-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

This was a BIG day in the Marlett house. This was the day that our very shy son had his first speaking part in a play at church. Not only did he have a part, but he VOLUNTEERED for the part. Imagine our surprise when he informed us of his decision a couple months ago. It went a little something like this:

(I get in car after church. My family is already there.)

Brian: "Chance has something he wants to tell you."

Me: "What, Chance?"

Chance: "I'm going to be one of the hosts in the Christmas play."

Me: "WHAT?!?" (but at the same time trying to sound very positive and casual...) "That's so awesome buddy. I love it!" quietly to Brian, "UMMM...does he realize that he is going to have to do this in front to the entire church??"

Brian: "yes, yes he does. They told him if he's the narrator he doesn't have to sing."

Me: (this is making more sense to me now, but I'm still scared and have my doubts) "okay, very good!"

Secretly, I was terrified that it would sound like a good idea to him all through the practices and up to the very day...that is, until he saw all the PEOPLE and realized they would all be looking at him. Don't get me wrong, he was definitely nervous on Sunday and he wasn't crazy about the whole scenario, but he had a quiet resignation about him and that's when I knew that everything would be okay. Perhaps he would not go screaming from the church minutes before the play started. It was going to all be okay...and it was! He said he was really nervous, but I couldn't tell at all. He did all of his lines without a hitch. The program was very cute. Ava was in the choir and she did an amazing job with all her songs. When I asked Chance if this was the beginning of many more speaking parts in various plays, he insisted this was the one and only, but we'll see. :)

That evening, after the play, we had the annual church holiday dinner. I thought these centerpieces made by the kids in the after school program were absolutely adorable.

Chance isn't such a fan of church dinners. He would rather have pb&j. I think he was also still exhausted from his trying morning. :)

Don't ask...I'm not quite sure what's going on here...

Christmas Party

2010-12-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

What says Christmas fun like yummy food, dirty santa, and LOTS of Christmas movies? Well, that's exactly what we did on Saturday night. We had some of our extended family and friends from the college over to our house for some Marlett Christmas fun. A good time was had by all, especially the kids, because, unlike our annual Halloween scary movie event, they could attend all of THESE festivities. They ate with us, watched fun Christmas movies and were our official helpers during the dirty santa game. They were great and I think they had a really good time.
This is the kids' official eating spot so they don't spill anything on the rug but can still watch t.v.

Bryan and Amanda brought over a basket of Christmas "happies" for us. One of the things they brought for the kids was washcloths compressed into shapes that expanded in water...the kids and Amanda were trying them out.

Chance and Ava were the present-passer-outers.

They were waiting for the next number to be called...

Guess what I won? A Sonic gift card. How appropriate! Someone loves me...

Ethel the mouse...a thrift store find. Look for it at another dirty santa game near you coming soon! :)

Also funny: a used bigmouth bass. Sometimes it sang the way it was supposed to and other times it made a horrible sound which made the whole thing even funnier.

Amanda was also a lucky winner of the night. She got a Starbucks card. woohoo

A Christmas Favorite

2010-12-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

I got the idea for the Christmas candy countdown from a friend last year and the kids LOVED it, so, of course, I had to do it again! I used to do a Christmas chain with them every year, which they did like, but the one with candy is even better (and cheaper than an advent calendar).

All you do is pick out your candy of choice (the kids like Hershey Kisses, Daddy likes Reece's Peanut Butter Cups). Then you cut a long piece of plastic wrap and line the candy in a row according to how many days you need. Wrap the candy in a line and separate each piece with curling ribbon. Then every night before bed, cut off the bottom piece and enjoy! :)

The kids cut the ribbon and line them up for me, but always want me to to the tying. They get too tired and their hands hurt. We drink hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music, too, so there is even more Christmas fun to be had. I was really proud of myself for finding an awesome hot chocolate sampler at Sam's. It had tons of flavors and will definitely last throughout the season. Unfortunately, I guess it was too fancy because the kids have been unimpressed to far. Back to the basics for them. They want just plain jane hot cocoa. Alas, it is going to be up to Mommy and Daddy to finish off the entire box. (At the rate I'm going, I could probably finish it myself. It is quite yummy!)

Well, there you have it. Christmas fun day #4! :)

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

I usually don't have little trees for the kids' rooms, but when I saw these very cute, tiny trees at Hobby Lobby for 50% off, I couldn't resist! It took me quite awhile to figure out which of the numerous mini accessories to get, but I finally decided and hence: Christmas fun day #3.

The kids were very excited to have their very own trees this year. I think their very favorite part is that I actually got them lights to put on, too (a nice touch on my part!). They keep them on all the time and the little trees provide a nice Christmas glow when they sleep. Both insist that they no longer need the bathroom light for a night light anymore...we'll see about that. It THAT were true, these trees may be a double bonus (and perhaps we'll just keep them in their bedrooms year round!) :)

Hanging of the Greens

2010-12-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

For our second day of Christmas fun, we went with Daddy to Hanging of the Greens at Mid-America. This is a fun time of snacks and crafts (ornaments, gingerbread houses, hot chocolate, fried donuts, pictures with Santa, etc.). This is also a nostalgic event for Brian and I, something that stems back all of the way to our dating days! The kids (especially Ava) like to go every year, so we make it a priority even though it is kind of late for them to be out. They both made ornaments and Ava spent a good chunk of her evening making a gingerbread house that turned out really cute! One of the highlights for me was spending some quality time with Chance who was done with his crafts after, ohhh...about 5 minutes! Sometimes he's not crazy about being around crowds of people, so we just sat on the floor and talked for quite awhile. He really seemed to open up that night and told me about all kinds of things that he usually keeps to himself. It was very nice to spend that time with my son. I love it when he lets me peek into his life. He is getting older all the time, and I am acutely aware that he is not my "little" boy anymore. I am very proud of the person he is becoming.

Just a side note, Justin (Brian's brother) was also in town this particular evening for a business trip. This was a really big deal because he hasn't been to Oklahoma since Brian and I got married. Unfortunately, it was a really quick, busy trip for him, so there wasn't a lot of time, but we did go to dinner before the stuff at the college and he got to come to our house for about 5 minutes. It was great to see him and I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures. It was a good evening all around. :)

And So It Begins...

2010-12-02T14:09:00.001-08:00

I began a tradition with the kids last year of doing something "Christmas-y" every day in December until Christmas day. We had so much fun with it last year that we are doing it again! Tradition states that the first day of our 25 days of Christmas is a pajama present. The original goal was to give them Christmas pajamas, but I ended up finding regular p.j.'s that I liked better, so I went with those. Here are some pics of their pajamas they opened. We are ready to get our Christmas festivities started! :)

Ava's 1st Girl Scout Ceremony

2010-12-02T13:56:00.001-08:00

Ava had her Girl Scout Investiture Ceremony a couple days ago. It was her first special event with the Girl Scouts and she was pretty excited about it. All of the different divisions (Daisys, Brownies, and Juniors) all had a special ceremony. It included a song from each group, and everyone got their pin and a certificate...and of course, COOKIES! A good time was had by all. I even recorded Ava's little song, but I'm feeling too lazy to put it on here right now, so coming soon.....

So, I'm Gonna Cheat a Little....Okay, a Lot...

2010-11-30T13:41:00.001-08:00

I'm sure all two of my readers out there have noticed that I've been a little absent lately. I just can't seem to get my act together following my computer mishaps. All of the problems I had with the computer got me out of the blogging habit and it has been nearly impossible for me to get my rhythm back. With that being said, Christmas is upon us. I did the 25 days of Christmas with my kids last year and I had a wonderful time talking about it and I need to begin soon. However, I have discussed before that I cannot blog about current events when I am missing the rest of the sequence. So, here you go. I am cheating. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last few months. Yes, I am still taking pictures, I am just not doing anything with them.

For those of you who actually want NEWS...the school year is going great so far. Chance is loving 3rd grade and recently started taekwondo. Can I just say, I know I'm his mom and I have to say nice things (lol), but this kid can do an awesome push up! I am also really proud of how well he is doing in school. He loves to read. We are very happy to have an avid reader since Brian and I are also no strangers to reading.

Ava is also enjoying kindergarten. Her teacher's main comment about Ava is that she is HYSTERICAL. She has a story about Ava on almost a daily basis. I should really be keeping some sort of journal. Her extra-curricular activity of choice is Girl Scouts. As you can see, we really are keeping quite busy...it's no wonder I haven't had time to blog...haha.

Brian and I went to Eureka Springs over fall break and it was wonderful to get away for a few days. He also recently spoke at the Mississippi State Youth Convention....AND I got to go with him. It was great to hear him speak. I rarely get to do that anymore. :) Perhaps the biggest news of all is that he graduates with his masters in a few, short weeks!! His last Thursday night class is actually this week. I am SO proud of him.

Well, there you go...a brief update. Now enjoy the pictures from the last couple of months. Hopefully, I'm back on track now...fingers crossed, but don't hold your breath~!

Happy 5th to My Lil' Ladybug

2010-09-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

Ava wanted to have a ladybug birthday party this year. (She has only been talking about it since the day after her 4th birthday!). We decided to keep it simple and have it at our house. I love it that her birthday is in the summer because we can move the party outdoors. Our house may be on the small side, but we have lots of room in our yard. The only issue we have to battle is that her birthday is in August and the heat is extreme. We decided to have a water party this year and make it as late in the afternoon as possible. Don't get me wrong, it was very hot, but it was not TOO unbearable. We had a wonderful turnout for her party and I think everyone had a blast.

Our awesome friends, Davis and Shanon, were nice enough to let us borrow their water slide...it was a hit! The kids loved it. Add in water balloons, pizza, cake, ice cream, and a pinata...and we had a considerable amount of happy children. The only sad thing is that I can't believe my baby is 5 now! Where does the time go?!?

And...last, but not least...here's a little video of the pinata. Don't let people try to tell you to go the safe way and not use a bat....just pull a ribbon. Um...yeah, right. That didn't really work as planned. However, all the kids still got candy, so I suppose they are happy. :)

40th Anniversary Celebration

2010-09-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I am back. I know we've all heard this before, but my computer has still been giving me serious issues. I will not bore you with all the details. I am sorry to my two readers for my absence...lol. Needless to say, as usual, I have some catching up to do.

I skip way back to the end of July when our church celebrated our 40th anniversary. It was a weekend long celebration that consisted of softball antics, ice cream, snow cones, fun at the park, a few dinners, and a look back at our church's history. There are many things our church has done right, and equally as many that haven't turned out as they should. I am very thankful to everything my church has meant to me. It has given me life-long friendships and family. Some I don't see as much as I would like, but they will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Many will tell you that I am not sentimental about things in the least, but I am quite sentimental about people and places. It was good to have this weekend to look back and reflect. It was nice to have my kids there to participate in the activities. Chance actually played in the softball game (which was more of a crazy fun alternative to softball). I was excited to see him jump in because he is usually much more content to watch from the sidelines. The softball/ice cream event was my favorite event because it was a simple, relaxing evening that included everyone from the small kids to the senior adults. Everyone worked together and had lots of fun.

I included some pics of the kids at the bottom. Enjoy. :)

The Missed Marlett Family Happenings

2010-08-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, needless to say, much has happened while my computer has been on its little hiatus. Instead of doing countless blogs for the next million days, I thought I would just put a few of my favorite pictures in one extended post. Buckle your seat belts! :)This summer, I got a couple new pieces of furniture for some of the blank spots in the living room. Ava "helped" Brian put together a book shelf.

After we tackled the living room, I decided that the patio could use some updating and also got some patio furniture. This was the pile before...
...and one of the chairs after. The complete set has two of the above chairs, a love seat, and a table. Just add some throw pillows, and there you have it. I really love the set. Too bad it has been molten lava hot and we haven't used them too much yet. Rest assured, in the fall, they are going to get some good use. I'm counting on it! :)

What's summer fun without LOTS of swimming?!? I am very proud of both of my kids and their new swimming accomplishments this year. Chance is very comfortable with swimming now, and Ava has recently discovered that she can swim without her life jacket (limited, but coming along nicely!)Ava spent some time hanging out with her cousin this summer, which she thought was fantastic because she loves to go to people's houses.
We went to a couple birthday parties this summer. This one happens to be at the splash pad in Norman. The kids really love that place.
Probably the most exciting news of the summer...Nevan came home from the peace corps. It was very unexpected. The kids thought they wouldn't see her for a couple years and they were very excited to find out they were wrong. We all went to pick her up from the airport.

Here she is!!!
Since Nevan has been home, we've spent a lot of time hanging out with her. In this pic, we were at our favorite frozen yogurt place.

Chance decided to show us how he could jump over the shrubs. Quite talented. lol

One night, we helped clean up the church sanctuary for the 40th anniversary celebration. Chance is holding a large stack of communion cups. Apparently, no one actually throws those away...I really liked this picture of Chance and Brian. I don't know what it is about a full moon that instantly makes me want to take lots of pictures. Reason #365 why I need a better camera. Then, perhaps, the pictures may actually look as good as it does in real life. I can never quite capture the moment.
Surprise~ We swam some more!

Brian and I went to see Howie Mandel at a local casino. He was so funny. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Very fun evening.

An awesome man at our church volunteered to teach some kids to golf. Chance hesitantly decided to take him up on it. I must say that Chance may have some hidden golf skills in there somewhere. George said he had some real potential. I'm interested to see what he can do with a few more lessons under his belt!

Chance is also wanting to perfect skateboarding. Now that it has gotten a little cooler, we have gone out in the evenings to let him practice.
He skateboards and we all watch! :) No skateboarding for the rest of us. That could be quite dangerous.
Last, but not least, Brian and I had an amazing night out with some of our closest friends to celebrate our friend, Shanon's, last round of chemo. She has been battling breast cancer since January and she has been amazing! We are all so glad she is done with chemo and can put that phase behind her. It was great to hang out with my friends and have a nice, relaxing evening.

Well, there you have it. Those are a few of the things we have been up to the last month and a half or so while my computer as been absent. There is a lot more to come. Stay tuned... :)

Hello All

2010-08-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

Just to inform everyone...I have not dropped off the face of the earth. I have been having MAJOR computer drama. I am not going to give you the long version because I am tired of reliving it, but very long story short, a series of events occurred that caused us to have to wipe our entire computer and then when we got it back, it still hasn't been right. For awhile, we couldn't get the Internet to connect, then the computer crashed again, then the Internet wouldn't connect AGAIN. Now that everything is in working order, I have to hold my breath and hope that I can reinstall all of my camera software so I can upload pictures. UGH! Let's hope this all goes smoothly because we all know that I am computer challenged. Let's also hope it happens rather quickly because my memory card is filling up at a rapid pace. GASP. Did I mention that all of the computer craziness has been happening during the busiest part of our year?? Between Ava's birthday, all of Brian's back to school activities at the college, and our own kid's back to school stuff, I kind of feel like I'm loosing my mind. Hopefully, everything is close to returning to normal. I say this as poor Chance is laying sick in my bed on the FIFTH day of school. Yeah, it's gonna be one of THOSE years. Last year he had perfect attendance...this year, not so much. Look for a substantial amount of updates soon...if I don't loose my mind first! :)

4th of July...OR Sould I Say 5th?!?

2010-07-26T13:02:00.001-07:00

I was really disappointed that it rained on the 4th of July AGAIN this year. That is one of my favorite holidays. I remained optimistic for the better part of the day, but when it was still raining at 6:00, I knew that my plans were not gonna be happening. So, what did I do instead?? Went to the grocery store...BLAH! (On the plus side, no one was at the store and I love empty aisles!) I will say that the 5th of July was MUCH better. We have friends that live right by the city park where Moore shoots off their fireworks and they invited us to come over and watch with them. Can I just say, THAT was amazing! I have never been that close to the fireworks before...we always watch them from quite a distance. They were right over our heads...beautiful! I should say that we had quite a good time even before the fireworks began just hanging out with our wonderful friends and eating snacks in their backyard...we even shot off some fireworks of our own. It was a fabulous evening. It more than made up for the sad day before. Should we really let Brian play with fire?!? I don't know... :)

Celebration is in Order!!

2010-07-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

Hello, blogger friends! I missed the date in my absent-ness lately, but I wanted everyone to know that this blog is now officially a year (well, technically OVER a year) old! YAY! When I started this, I prayed that it would not be a fad because I loved the idea, but sometimes good intentions are just not enough. However, I'm proud to say that I did it! This is not a perfect blog by any means, but I overcame the first obstacle and just got it out there. I can be a perfectionist at times, and the perfection can be crippling because it hinders me from starting MANY projects. My thought usually is that if it won't be exactly what I want it to be, then I just won't start it in the first place. Well, I am glad to say that I made myself blog somewhat consistently over the past year. There are times that it is just a couple pictures and a sentence or two...or sometimes, I even bore myself, BUT there are times that I have actually made myself laugh or just captured a really good moment. Regardless of the post, good or bad, I have managed to get some pictures out there and at least somewhat record a memory or two. I'm sure as the kids get older, I will look back at this with appreciation. I hope to get better about this as I go along. I would love to take time to make myself be the writer I know I can be. Perhaps even add a little more emotion and thoughts into the mix? Maybe even talk about even more than just my family?!? Who knows? I just wanted to let everyone know that it has been a year. I feel it's been a success and at this point, I think it's gonna stick. I'm looking forward to recording the next year AND improving my blog! :)

Duda/Ethridge/Marlett Zoo Day

2010-07-25T22:08:00.001-07:00

I mentioned that my friend, Jamie was in town a couple weeks ago...well, not just Jamie, her entire family. They were only in town for a week, so we took advantage of all the time we could get with them...pretty much a different activity every day. This so happens to be a day that I remembered my camera. Well, let's face it, I generally have my camera in tow when we go to the zoo. It may well just be the place the Marlett's are photographed the most (only excluding our house...haha).
It was a really great day for the zoo. It was mildly hot (it was July), but honestly, not THAT bad. It also wasn't too crowded, which was also a bonus. Me and crowded zoos do NOT get along. Enjoy all the pics...we all had a great day!

Best Night Ever!

2010-07-25T21:50:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get to see the midnight opening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. It was an absolutely amazing night for about a hundred reasons.

#1~ It was my dear friend, Amy's, birthday...a reason to celebrate.
#2~ Our friend, Jamie, was in town...which was completely AWESOME!
#3~ We got to eat at the Melting Pot...all FOUR courses!
#4~ We had balcony tickets for the event, which means that while everyone else spent half their day waiting in line so they wouldn't have to sit in the front row, we had reserved seating in the best seats in the house.
#5~ This goes without saying...We are a bunch of crazy Twilight fans...and we were getting to see the movie we had been anticipating for months....this was a crazy good night!!! :)

I would just like to point out the obvious and say that I know it's ridiculous that a bunch of 30 somethings would love these books/movies so much, but don't knock it until you try it, because we are not alone, my friends. :) I absolutely LOVED this entire night from start to finish, the only thing that made me sad was that it ended. We had all looked forward to this evening for MONTHS! This was, by far, my favorite movie of the series to date. I loved the emotion...I must say that by now, I have seen it far more than once (that's all you're getting) and it makes me tear up every time. I think it may even get worse the more I see it. Thanks to Amy for letting me be a part of this wonderful evening. I love my friends! Sorry for the lack of pictures. I was having too much fun to think about my camera too much. I did take a couple, so I threw them in here because I know that it is very odd for me to have a post with no pics.

Amber and Jamie in the balcony anxiously waiting for the movie to start.
A very small fraction of my Melting Pot friends...sorry to the heads I cut off and the ones I missed altogether!

Swim Party

2010-07-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Shortly after we returned from Mississippi (I told you I was behind!), we went to a really awesome birthday party for our friend. It was his 40th birthday bash...and it was so much fun. It was the perfect combination of fun for the kids and the adults. As you can see, there were LOTS of kids and plenty of people for us as well. It was easy to be able to keep a close eye on the kids and still be able to carry on conversations with everyone else. The evening included swimming, great food, frozen drinks, lots of awesome friends, birthday cake...and even limbo! A good time was had by all.
If you look closely in the picture above, you can spot Chance and Ava in there somewhere...I promise. It's like Where's Waldo!
Token pic of me...they make the cut occasionally.

Brian is back there somewhere talking to someone. :)

Chance was very brave...He slid down the slide even though it was in the deep end. He was swimming like crazy by the time the evening was over.
Here's a couple pictures of Ava with her buddies.
Chance found a frog...his favorite. There were a couple frogs found before the evening was over...there may of even been a frog race or two. (See below...)
Ava loves LIMBO!
This was a happy picture of Ava jumping on the trampoline seconds before she jumped right off the side because she was trying to look at her picture. She got tangled up in the springs and ended up on her head. No pictures of that. We're glad she's okay!

One final shot of Ava in the water... night swimming is the best.

Here is a short video of Chance showing off his sliding skills...

Ava's video had to be broken into 2 parts because seconds before she slid down, she got squirted in the eye with a water gun (amazing accuracy!)...I thought we were going to have to abort the video, but she recovered, so I kept shooting...

Here is the rest of the video. She cracked me up because she thought I was taking a picture instead of video, so she would not slide because she was looking for the flash. I had to convince her that I knew what I was doing.

A Glimpse Into the Future??

2010-07-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

The other day, Ava came out of her room with her pretend glasses on and I just had to take a couple of pictures. I thought she looked so cute. Perhaps a tad intellectual?? She looks like a little big person to me in this pic. I feel like I'm seeing her a few years down the road. lol

By the way, I think the house shoes are a nice touch!
Later that same day, Chance came out with his ninja gear...He always tells us he wants to be a ninja when he grows up. I guess he's practicing??

Blah Blah Blah

2010-07-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends. I just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't dropped off the planet. I feel like I've been a slacker blogger lately. I have been super busy this summer (but still taking lots of pictures!) I hate that I have been saving them all up and then do about 20 posts and then no one hears from me again for a month. I'm going to try to do better. I've been doing some stuff around the house and hanging out with the kids and I am way behind! Don't give up on me, I hope to get back to a regular blogging schedule soon! Until then, in a couple days, you can expect another 15 posts or so...the pictures are building up! :)

Mississippi

2010-07-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

We recently went to Mississippi for the Marlett Family Reunion. We had a good time while we were there (it's always nice to get away for awhile). Brian had been gone a considerable bit before we left, so I was definitely looking forward to getting away from work and all of our busy schedules so we could spend some time together. Although we had a small wreck on the way (not our fault), it could have been much worse and we were still able to enjoy our trip. Here is a top ten list of pictures/events that happened while we were there, and if you want the unabridged version, I included a larger picture slide show at the bottom. :)

#10~ We spent LOTS of time playing outside...roaming around in the garden, spider hunting, playing in the water...there was tons of outdoor fun.
#9~ The kids have always wanted to jump on those crazy trampoline things in the middle of the mall...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! #8~ Rest assured, there was tons of eating...this is Ava trying frog legs...she was completely obsessed with trying frog legs on this trip. I have absolutely no idea where she got this from!#7~ More eating! (I told you there was lots of eating.) This was a very cute little bakery on the square. They had some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten. Another thing I love about this bakery, all of the proceeds help children. I love that! :)#6~ We took a little tour of the square. This pic is of the kids at the visitor's center.#5~ We went to the park. I included a little merry-go-round video at the bottom.
#4~ Brian's awesome cousin taught a painting class at the family reunion. It was so much fun and I think it was so great of her to bring supplies for all of us. I honestly could have painted all day.#3~ Chance played frisbee in the water...#2~ Chance played frisbee OUT of the water... (did I mention that this kid LOVES frisbee?!?) The bottom pic was a frisbee golf course at the campground. It was a lot of fun, but the majority of the course was covered in poison ivy. It's a wonder none of us got it!
#1~ Brian and I got to go on quite a few dates while we were in Mississippi. On our way to P.F. Chang's one night, we saw this awesome rainbow in the field. I thought it was so pretty. Brian had to find a place to pull over so I could take some pictures. :)
As promised, here are MORE pictures from our trip...

Here is a video of Brian retrieving his frisbee that fell in a spider-infested creek bed...it's kinda long, but it's funny.

Last, but not least, here is a video of Ava and Chance on the merry-go-round...lots of fun!

Thanks for listening to me ramble about our trip!

Eva/Ava Playdate

2010-07-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

I think one of the curses of being the youngest child is that they always feel entitled to have the same privileges of the older child. This is definitely the case with Ava. She sees all the "fun" stuff Chance gets to do and wonders why she doesn't get to participate in ALL of his activities. This is especially the case when he goes to his friend's house to play. She thinks she should always be able to tag along with him and when I tell her "no", I am a BAD Mom. She doesn't remember Chance being four and doesn't realize that he wasn't going around the neighborhood by himself, either. In fact, I would say that Ava probably does a lot more at her age than he did. This, of course, doesn't change the fact that she feels wronged.
I say all of that to explain that she was quite happy when I watched one of her friends from church the other day. She was FINALLY the one who got to have a friend over (and Chance didn't!) They had such a good time playing together. They were actually pretty quiet and played in Ava's room the majority of the day. When they DID come out, I just had to take these pictures. I thought they were so cute. :) I'm glad Ava finally had some fun time of her own.

Horses!

2010-07-02T12:49:00.001-07:00

We were supposed to go swimming with my sister the other day (we've been doing LOTS of swimming, can you tell?) However, when we got up that morning it was pretty chilly and looked like it could rain. I decided not to get everyone all geared up for swimming because I knew they would be sad if we got rained out. We decided to go to her house anyway and hang out for awhile. While we were there, Stef got the pony out for them to play with. They thought that was pretty cool. Ava even rode the pony for half a second. I think Chance even wanted to get in on the action, but we thinking he may be slightly too big. Sorry Chance!

Ponies weren't the only thing Ava rode that day...this hat cracks me up!

Chance really wanted to ride this horse...unfortunately, it wasn't ours to ride. :(

It's That Time Again...

2010-07-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

The kids LOVE to go swimming at the Earlywine Pool. They have been begging to go all summer, but we have been sooo busy that it hasn't worked out til the other day. We finally had some free time (and no extra babies for me!), so I figured that we better take advantage. The kids had a great time at the pool, (although they were a little sad that we didn't invite anyone else to go along). I promised Chance that the next time we went we would make sure to take some friends with is. The kids still had a good time with each other, though. They went down the yellow slide at least a hundred times...which turned out to be a good thing because apparently there now some new slide regulations and Ava can't ride the slide anymore until she is a few inches taller. This trip to the pool was the farewell tour for the slide til next year....let's hope she grows fast. Enjoy the pics.

Ava is getting pretty good at swimming underwater. She showed me her new found skills.

I think the snack break is secretly their favorite part of going to the pool...haha.

Here is a little video of them swimming...it would have worked much better in deeper water, but this is where they wanted to be...

Water Slide!

2010-06-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

The other day, after small group, instead of going to our usual hang out (Mazzio's), we went over to the Lanthripe's house for a cook-out. It was a great idea because they have an AWESOME water slide that the kids loved and the adults could talk without worrying about what the kids were doing. Everyone had a great time. The kids went down that slide for about two hours straight. They were pretty tired that night! Enjoy the pics...I also put a little video at the bottom.

My Little Cleaning Queen

2010-06-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

Ava has been quite helpful lately. She has been on quite a bed making kick...think she is trying to tell me something? Just Kidding...I ALWAYS make the kids beds and have never suggested that they try to make their own (primarily because I'm somewhat of a control freak and like them to be just right). It has occurred to me that, perhaps, I should encourage them to do this themselves (after all, Chance will be in 3RD GRADE!) However, I haven't even talked to them about it yet, but Ava has beaten me to the punch. The other day (when I had been slow about getting around to making the beds), Ava ran into the living room and told me that she had a surprise. I came into her room to find that she had not only made her bed...

but mine as well!
I thought that was so sweet...I also thought that she did a pretty amazing job considering that she has never made a bed in her little life. What a big helper. Now, every time I make my bed, she wants to come in and help me with the pillows (she says that's HER job). She has also been really helpful about cleaning up all her toys. Here is another pic of her cleaning off her dresser. I guess we'll keep her around, huh? haha

Happy Birthday Times Two!

2010-06-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

It was Uncle Chris AND Aunt Keli's birthday last week, so to celebrate, they invited the family to Red Robbin. We love that place and haven't been there in FOREVER. I took this pic of Ava and Haleigh...I thought it was cute. They have been loving each other lately. Ava is just dying to have some friends that can hang out with her, so it's good when they get together. Ironically, I don't have any pics of the birthday couple...but rest assured, they were there and having lots of fun on their birthday! :) I also threw in this one of me and Brian... :)

Fun Friday

2010-06-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we all went out to get frozen yogurt and then decided to stop by and play at the park on the way home. (What's funny is I think that Brian and the kids played at a different park before I came home, but you know my family...they can never have too much time at the park!) It was very pleasant by the time we got to the park, the sun was almost completely behind the houses...not too hot or chilly. I loved it! Ava has really been going through a posing phase lately...I don't know if you've noticed! ;)

I like this one I took of her playing on the monkey bars...she's getting really good at those!

Even Chance has been smiling for me lately! In-action monkey bars shot.
Brian and Ava were both very brown on Friday. lol
Ava took this one for us. :)
My little monkey...She hung there for awhile.

Another monkey.

Chance and Ava swung back and forth on this thing FOREVER. They did it so many times, it made MY arms sore. I was afraid that they were going to have blisters on their hands, but I think they're okay. I took a couple little videos of them doing this...(below). Take those videos times a MILLION... They loved it!

Puffy Puppy

2010-06-08T07:27:00.001-07:00

The other day, I was minding my own business, getting ready to go to zumba...all of a sudden, Chance says, "Um...Mom? What's wrong with Alice's nose?!?" I look down to see Alice staring at me with these sad, puffy eyes and a nose that is at least five times it's normal size. She had just gotten some vaccinations a couple hours before that and clearly, there was a problem! Of course, her vet was already closed for the day (Just my luck!), so we had to make a trip to the emergency vet. I would like to point out that in the entire 10+ years that we had Rusty, we had to make no such trip. Just one of the many reasons that Alice is turning into a somewhat high-maintenance puppy! I loaded the kids and Alice in the van (and missed zumba!) and took her to the vet. She had to stay a couple hours for observation and they gave her some injections to calm the swelling down. (Just a side note...did you know that dogs take people benadryl?? Crazy!) The next time Alice gets her rabies shot, we will have to give her benadryl before she goes and hope that none of this happens again! I wish the pictures would do this justice. You really can't tell how big her nose was or how pathetic she looked. I felt kind of bad taking pictures of her at the vet...I figured that they were thinking I was heartless for taking pictures of my poor, sick dog. (But this just had to be documented!) *It should also be noted that Ava got quite a kick out of this whole thing. She kept calling Alice fat cheeks and wanted to know if she could stay that was forever because she thought she was cute.
After our vet ordeal, the kids and I played outside for awhile. I figured all of us could us some decompression time. :) Glad to report that all is well again...at least until the nest round of shots!

(I don't know what was going on with Chance's hair in this pic, but it was cracking me up!)

Flip Flop Fiasco

2010-06-08T07:17:00.001-07:00

I took the kids to the library the other day (we do a lot of that in the summer). As we were getting out of the car, I looked down at Chance's feet and realized that he had on two different flip-flops. One was black...the other navy. Not only were they different colors, but also different sizes. He's so funny. He was completely oblivious about the whole thing. Even when I so kindly pointed it out to him, it still took him awhile to figure out what I was talking about. (What is even funnier is that he's done it once since then!) Chance was a trooper, though, he just rocked his different flip-flops the entire time we were at the library and never said a word about it. I must say, it gave me countless laughs every time I looked down at his feet! Just thought I would share my happy little story with you and give you a laugh as well. (When we were leaving the library, Ava found some pine cones and wanted me to take a picture of those...I think she was feeling left out. Ha!)

Galveston Videos

2010-06-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of the videos I took on our vacation. One is of the stingrays, and the other was our dolphin watching adventure. I tried to put it on the bottom of my vacation post, but I was having technical difficulties...big surprise! In case you missed it, my Galveston post was supposed to be right before this one, but for some reason it posted at the bottom of all my other new posts, so it kind of got lost in the shuffle. Just letting you know that it's there...somewhere...

Another Year Older...

2010-06-03T09:41:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Brian's birthday a little early this year since we were going to be on vacation on his actual birthday. This year, we got him some new swim trunks, a book, a gift certificate to Vintage Stock, and a one hour massage. We also got him a pie from Rusty's Frozen Custard. Bryan and Amanda came over to help us eat it. :) It was lots of fun... kinda a weird birthday situation this year, though. We're not used to being out of town on his birthday. We had a really fun day in Galveston on his real birthday...and we didn't even have to drive as much of the day as we thought we would since we got a head start the night before. :) Thinking ahead! Happy Birthday, Babe! I'm glad have another year with you.

Parachute Play

2010-06-03T09:31:00.001-07:00

Brian and I (mostly Brian) did Preschool Church a couple Sundays ago and he had the idea to bring his Dad's old parachute for the kids to play with. It started out with needing it for a game to illustrate the story, but the next thing you know, it turned into all out parachute fun. The kids LOVED it. I must say, it probably didn't come a moment too soon. The natives were getting restless. Brian and I always say that our speciality is NOT preschool -- give us youth any day of the week and twice on Sunday! :) Thanks to the parachute, we made it! Our preschool duty is filled for another three or four months. Yay!

One of the Many Reason's I Love Him...

2010-06-03T09:13:00.001-07:00

Chance and Ava wanted to play kickball so badly the other day and they begged Brian to go out and play with them. Usually that wouldn't be a big deal at all, but Brian just got a new video game, and he had just sat down to play it. For those of you who are video gamers out there, it was Red Dead Redemption and Brian is absolutely CRAZY about this game. I have not seen him play video games like this in a long time -- maybe EVER. If I know him, I'm sure he had been counting down the seconds until he got off work so he could come home and play. That's why it was such a big deal when he immediately (okay, so maybe there was a SLIGHT pause) turned off his game so he could go play outside with the kids. He is such a good dad...one that rarely takes much time for himself. I know the kids really enjoyed playing with him that day (even if Chance does have a slight meltdown if he feels like he's being "beaten" in kickball -- did I say that he got the sportsmanship award?!? lol) It was a fun evening. I'm very appreciative that I have a husband that is always willing to go the extra mile for his family...even if his video game is calling his name. (I've tried to go the extra mile and be extra patient as he plays his game at night after the kids go to bed!) :)

Chance's Awards

2010-06-03T08:55:00.001-07:00

Can you believe that I forgot to take my camera to Chance's awards ceremony?? UGH! I had it plugged into my computer to download some pictures the night before and I forgot to put it back in my purse. I didn't realize it until I went to take it out of my purse approximately two minutes before it started. Seriously! I had my phone with me, so I took some pictures with that, but we all know about my lack of computer knowledge and I can't figure out how to get them on here. I improvised and took some pictures of Chance just a minute ago (these are hot off the presses...lol). He does happen to be wearing the exact same clothes he wore that day. :)

I was really proud of Chance this year. I think second grade is a really tough transition year. It's the first year that letter grades are actually recorded and there is a LOT more homework. He did super this year. The only B he made the first semester was in math and he made straight A's the second semester. As for his awards, he was on the Principal's honor roll, he received a sportsmanship award for P.E., the got the Terrific Kid of the Month award for May, and he got the top grade in Social Studies in the ENTIRE CLASS! (He got a medal for that one!) He also met his reading goal all four nine weeks -- another medal for that. Chance was amazingly healthy this year and got perfect attendance, too. I am so proud of him...he has worked really hard this year and I can't wait to see what he does next year.

Galveston

2010-06-03T08:40:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun in Galveston! It was a pretty historic vacation for us -- the first family vacation that we've all taken together that wasn't to Mississippi. Don't get me wrong, we all love Mississippi, but it was really fun for the kids to get to experience some new things. (and don't worry, we're going to Mississippi in a couple weeks for the family reunion... double vacation!)

We weren't going to leave until Tuesday morning (Brian's birthday), but we decided to leave on Monday night when Brian got off work to get a head start. It gave us some extra time and the kids got an extra night in a hotel which they were super excited about. The first night we stayed in Ennis, TX which isn't too terribly far away from Dallas. It seemed like a good place to stop because it was already 10:00 and the kids were ready. The LaQuinta (Brian's favorite) we found was brand new and really nice. It was a really good deal. I could have probably even stayed there an extra night, but we had places to go... :)

Tuesday was Brian's birthday. We got up that morning and had breakfast at the hotel and drove the rest of the way to Galveston. It was only about four more hours, so it wasn't a bad drive. When we got there, the kids wanted to swim right away --SURPRISE! -- so we did. We swam at the hotel, then we swam in the ocean. Ava had not seen the ocean before, so that was fun for her, although, I think Chance loved the ocean even more than Ava...she preferred the motel pool. (so funny, that one!) After all of our swimming, we took the kids to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. They really liked that place. After we ate, we spent some time looking around and took LOTS of pictures. I enjoyed seeing the kids in a new environment. I loved watching them take everything in...

Wednesday we went to Kemah to see the stingrays. This was really the inspiration for the trip because Brian and I had been there once before and I knew that Chance would LOVE it! We were definitely right about that. He spent close to three hours there. There were quite a few school on field trips that day, so we were worried that it would be a bad day to go, but it was quite the opposite. The kids would come in waves, but only stayed in there for a few minutes and would move on to other things. There were many times that we were the only ones in there. It was great! Ava was not as taken with the stingrays as Chance was, she was definitely ready to leave, but overall, she was patient. After we went to the aquarium, we ate lunch at Landry's (which made me and Brian happy). Then we went back to Galveston and did a little shopping at The Strand. We made sure to make a stop at the candy store for some salt water taffy. After the shopping, it was time to go swimming again, (Ava could barely take it that she had been gone from the pool so long!). We went back to the pool AND the beach. It was this day that Brian discovered that you could find hermit crabs if you looked closely as the tide moved back and forth. He has discovered his new passion in life. He did this for HOURS! The kids loved it, too. So funny.

Our last day, we went to the harbor side for awhile. I really wanted the kids to see the Carnival ships in port...I thought it would be fun for them. I also had hopes of seeing some dolphins, which Ava really wanted to do (it was about the only thing that could keep her away from the pool!) Sadly, I was wrong about the schedule, and no ships were in port while we were in Galveston. However, while we were walking around, Brian found a dolphin watching tour. It was a really good deal, so we figured, Why Not?? We ended up being the only ones on the boat and it was fabulous! After the cruise, we did more swimming. The next day, we went home. It was an awesome trip.

Pre-K Awards

2010-05-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago (it feels like forever) Ava had her pre-k awards at school. I began this blog when it happened, but I really wanted to put the video of her songs on her (so you can see why I cried), but I have been having a terrible time downloading video lately. As many of you know, I have no computer knowledge and when I encounter a glitch, I have no idea what to do. To this day, I have been unable to download the video straight to my blog which has created a lot of extra work for me because I had to make a You Tube account and post all video there first and then transfer to my blog. UGH! I need a really excellent blogger friend to come to my house and tell me what I'm doing wrong...any takers?!? lol Also, I've seen people make video slide shows from Myslide and Shutterfly and have been unsuccessful with that as well. If anyone can be helpful, let me know!

Back to the pre-k awards! They don't really do a lot of awards in pre-k...it's more of a celebration of everyone getting through the year in one piece. They all got completion awards and they sang a bunch of really cute songs. I don't know what it was about those songs, but they really got to me. They were so precious. I put a couple of them on the bottom, but I didn't put all of them. If you want to watch them all, I now have a You Tube account...you can find me under crysmarlett. I figure that if I'm going to do all that work, someone should probably check it out.

I keep getting sidetracked, but the awards were really fun...short, simple, but so cute. Her teacher even read this really precious letter to all of us talking about how much she is going to miss all of our kids. I think I've mentioned this before, but I absolutely LOVE Ava's pre-k teacher. She is the best teacher ever and I really wish I could just pack her up and take her to kindergarten with Ava. I hope you enjoy all the pics...and you definitely better enjoy the video because it has been on giant headache. Ha! (but totally worth it!)

Happy Anniversary to Us...Again!

2010-05-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well, wouldn't you know?? Brian and I got to have even MORE anniversary fun! The actual day of our anniversary, we thought Brian was going to be tied up with a wedding the entire day, but it turns out, the wedding was earlier than we thought (at 11!), so we had the entire evening free. We still didn't think that much about it, but when I picked up the kids from my mom's (she had watched them while we were at the wedding), she suggested that we go out for dinner that night. Well, who are we to turn down free babysitting so we can go out to dinner again?? Even though, we were somewhat hesitant because we were both pretty tired (with the staying up all night for Twilight tickets and all...), but we decided to make the most of it. It turned out to be a WONDERFUL evening...I think it made it even better that it was unexpected. We just went to Bricktown and ate at Zio's, but we parked far away (FREE parking) and we walked along the riverwalk to the restaurant. It was a beautiful day outside and I really enjoyed our walk. There was a wait at Zio's, so we sat outside by the river and listened to live music. It was very enjoyable. After dinner, we decided to work in a quick game of mini golf...(I'll let you guess by the pictures who won!) It was a wonderful evening...I wonder if we're going to celebrate our anniversary next weekend, too?!? You can never have too much celebrating!

Yeah, We're Crazy...

2010-05-18T11:26:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I really like the Twilight saga. Well, let's just say, I have friends that like it even more that I do...I know, it's crazy. :) One of said friends happens to be having a birthday when it comes out, and she got this insane notion that we should try to get balcony tickets at The Warren for ten of us for the midnight showing. This is insane because there are a LOT of people who want those tickets. However, it was for her birthday, and she is my friend (and let's face it...it would be really fun!), so I told her I would help with this little endeavor in any way possible. We knew we would not be able to get in the line in the morning and have any chance at the tickets, but the question was exactly what kind of commitment did we have to make? We had originally thought about 4 in the morning would be fine (tickets went on sale at 10). The more we thought about it, though, the more we wondered if that would be enough time?? There are, after all, people even crazier than us!
Brian had decided that he would check the line out for us on Thursday when he got out of class at 10 p.m. Would you believe there was already a line of at least 20 people?!? Crazy! Brian and one of the other husbands of our insane group of ladies waited in the cold, rainy line for us from 10 until 3:30...that's when Amy took their place, and I came shortly after. It was so very nice of those guys to help us out! I have the best husband ever...I don't know too many people that would volunteer to do that for a movie that they aren't even going to see!
It was one miserable night, too, let me tell ya! It was in the low 50's (felt like 40's) and raining ALL night. The good news is that we got the tickets...YAY! We will be seeing Eclipse at midnight in the balcony. The awesome thing about the balcony is that our seats are reserved, so we can get there five minutes before and have the best seats in the house! It's great because our friend, Jamie, that moved to Wyoming will also be in for a visit and she will be part of the fun. It's going to be a great night that I'm really looking forward to...even if we had to deal with a cold, rainy night to make it happen. :)

Camden and Ava's Dinosaur Adventures

2010-05-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ava was so excited to get to see her friend from Las Vegas the other day. (Camden also happens to be the daughter of one of my best friends, so it works out nicely!) They were really busy while they were in this time, but we were able to sneak away for a couple hours to the Sam Noble Museum. It was a really good day to be there...we missed all the school field trips by MINUTES, and we had the entire museum almost completely to ourselves. It was so fun...the kids could run and play and it was easy to have time to talk to Christina in the process. Good day!

Apparently, There is Something (almost) as Crazy as Tornadoes...

2010-05-18T10:53:00.001-07:00

May had a very quiet start in Oklahoma...we should have known THAT was too good to be true! Let's just say the last week has MORE than made up for it. In the past week, we have had not one, but TWO of the worst hail storms in quite some time (perhaps ever, I'm not sure). Thankfully, the second one missed us by a few miles, but the first one found us. This shouldn't be a surprise because severe weather always finds our neighborhood. People say that tornadoes (and the like) are random, but I beg to differ...they definitely have a magnetic attraction to our neighborhood...lucky us!
When I saw that the weather was getting bad, I told the kids to pack up a bag of their favorite things, I stuck Alice in her carrier, and we all headed over to my mom's...the weather stays away from her neighborhood. I'm really glad I decided to go over there, because when I got home and saw the size of the hail that struck our house, I knew that would have been traumatic for my kids (and who am I kidding...me too!) The damage could have been a lot worse...we didn't have any broken windows and our cars were spared, but it looks like we will be getting a new roof...AGAIN! Blah! I was feeling pretty sorry for myself about the roof situation because we just got a new one SEVEN MONTHS AGO, but then my poor friend Amber informed me they just had a new roof put on a week before the storm hit. So sad. So, needless to say, we will be dealing with roofers, and the like, very soon. Perhaps I should hold them off for a couple months until the storms go away for good. We can just keep the crazy tarp on our roof for awhile, right?!? lol We're supposed to be getting more storms in the next couple days, so fingers crossed that they stay away from us. Maybe it is a good thing the roofers haven't come yet...who knows??

Keep in mind that these pictures were taken at least an hour after the hail hit, so it had time to melt. Crazy! Definitely softball size at our house. After all the storm craziness, we decided to go to the library to relax for a bit. I took a couple of pics of Ava...she loves the computers. She's so funny! :)

Happy 11th Anniversary to Us!

2010-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

This year, we celebrated our 11th anniversary. We LOVE to get away for these occasions, but this year was a little complicated--Brian was in a wedding on our actual anniversary and we are planning a family vacation to Galveston at the end of the month. With all these events on the horizon...we thought it would be best to just stay around town for this one. It worked out anyway because I've been wanting to stay at the Colcord Hotel. It is a boutique style hotel and I thought it looked like it had lots of character. I heard about this hotel the last time we went to Tulsa....and unlike the Hard Rock Hotel debacle, it did not disappoint. It was absolutely beautiful. Our room was on the top floor and we had a great view (which always makes me happy). We also tried out a new Mexican restaurant, 1492. The food was great, the hotel was great, and the quality time was spectacular. I love when we have time together without a million other things going on...with two kids and a very busy life, it doesn't happen too often.
I feel very fortunate to have been married to an awesome husband (and father) for the last 11 years and I'm looking forward to all the many more years to come! Love ya, babe.

The Saddest Lil' Face You've Ever Seen

2010-05-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is Ava's feeble attempt at manipulation. She wants to swing, but no one will push her. Her solution: go sit in the swing with the saddest face possible and stare in the window at everyone in the house. Hopefully, the sad face will bring someone out to help. Sad to say, this works. We're suckers.

Beautiful Day!

2010-05-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

I have to take Alice outside constantly to go potty, so it makes me more aware of the weather. A few days ago, it was absolutely beautiful. It was one of those perfect days when the sun is pleasantly warm, but just when it starts to be too warm, a cool breeze blows through and makes you feel just perfect. I love spring days like this one. I really wanted to grab a blanket and just lay in the middle of the yard with a really good book, but alas, I had lots to do. I still got to enjoy it for a few minutes at a time when I took Alice out for her bathroom stroll. I suppose it's one of the benefits of having a high maintenance puppy.

A Tasty Little Treat

2010-05-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

I have been doing well with my weight loss, so the other day I decided to have a little frozen yogurt splurge. The kids were really excited because we used to go out quite a bit, but I've had the entire family on lock-down to keep me away from temptation. Everyone was happy, and hey, frozen yogurt isn't too bad, right?!? ;)

I'm Gonna Miss That Girl...

2010-04-29T08:28:00.001-07:00

Our dear friend, Nevan (who is really more like family...and I know you've heard lots about in my blog) just left this week for the peace corps. She will be located in Guatemala. We are really proud of her, but that doesn't mean that we're not also a tiny bit sad. I know that it will be an amazing experience, but we're used to seeing her on almost a daily basis. It's going to be quite an adjustment for our entire family.
We couldn't say goodbye without some sort of send-off, so the night before she left we took her to The Iguana Grill and Sara Sara Cupcakes for some quality time. Amanda and Bryan went with us, too (also like family). It was a really nice evening. I didn't want to get too sentimental because I've been trying to be stoic through this whole process. I am really going to miss her, though. We will continue to pray for Nevan through the next two years and will be quite excited to see her when they are over. Love ya, Nev!

Sunset

2010-04-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

I was driving along the other day, and was struck by how beautiful the sunset was. Of course, that made me want to take pictures. (Not that I take my camera out of my purse and take pictures while I'm driving. Not me. That would not be safe...oops. Maybe I did?!?) It was so pretty, though. I just had to capture it. It would have been much better if I had been somewhere scenic when I saw it...a beach, maybe...or even just a pretty meadow. I guess I had to take what I could get. It was still really nice and I enjoyed the moment. I wanted to share it with you.

Big Girl

2010-04-29T07:39:00.001-07:00

Ava got to do something this year that even I did not get to do...the Arts Festival. I really wanted to go, but ran out of time and also figured I shouldn't be tempted by all that fair-type food that I love. A couple of the girls from the college, Aly and Bri (who Ava loves) were going and asked if they could take Ava along for the ride. She was quite excited, to say the least. I'm pretty sure that Ava thought she was in college, too, if only for a moment. The girls were nice enough to take my camera since I couldn't go, and they got some great shots. I can't really tell you a lot about what they did, (all I know is Ava came back with a cat face and some cotton candy) but I know Ava had lots of fun...the pictures speak for themselves. Thanks, girls, for taking Ava with you. :)

Here's a little video they took of Ava rolling down the hill. I thought it was cute. It also occurred to me that I haven't posted a video in awhile...so enjoy! :)

Land Run

2010-04-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

Ava's Pre-K class had their land run the other day...complete with horses, stakes, blankets, and snacks. I was glad I was able to make it to watch. It was so cute. They claimed their area, ate a snack, and then it was recess as usual (wouldn't want to miss that!) All lined up and ready to go with their horses. She got her spot all picked out. I loved these little stakes...I thought that was a nice touch. Ava and her pal Maddie having a popsicle break.I loved this picture of her swinging. It is what she does every day at recess. She can do it all by herself...quite a feat for a Pre-K-er. :)

All packed up and ready to go.

Jump, Jump!

2010-04-27T08:09:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned that we go to the Allen's house every Tuesday to watch American Idol...and last Tuesday was no exception. It was a really nice day outside so the kids took advantage of some trampoline time. Chance and Ava LOVE trampolines and have been trying to talk us into getting one for quite some time. I'm just not sure that I'm ready for all the broken bones that go with it...lol. There was a lot of kids on that trampoline...they even let Chloe, the dog, get in on the action. I'm happy to report that no one was hurt...this time!

I Love Tulips!

2010-04-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

MACU had their annual Spring Banquet recently. Brian and I love the banquet...we go every year. This year, they asked if we would mind taking home one of the center pieces....tulips! I really love tulips, so I was very happy to help out. The only catch is that I have to make sure the vase gets back. I think I can manage, although I can be quite forgetful at times. I wish I could take credit for thinking to put fruit in the vase, but alas, that was not my idea. You can bet I will use it in the future,though. You could smell all that citrusy goodness from quite a distance...and it looked fabulous, too. They were so pretty, I wanted to take a picture to remember them. :)

Pre-K Zoo Day

2010-04-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

Ava's class was very fortunate to get a field trip this year. Younger grades don't usually get to participate in field trips, but Target sponsored a zoo day with a focus on reading. Her class (and all of the other area Pre-K's) got to go to the zoo and listen to a really cute children's book reading (by the author herself). Target even provided lunch, which I thought was great. The entire event was free. After lunch, the kids got to check out the new children's zoo. It was a fantastic day (even though, a week later, I may still be recovering from all the chaos!). Funny part is, I think Ava's favorite part of the entire day was the bus ride. Ha! :)

Belated Easter Fun

2010-04-27T07:14:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday, we went to my grandpa's house for his birthday party and some late Easter egg hunting. The kids had a blast. Ava hunted eggs and Chance was in charge of Alice...but ALL had chocolate! Enjoy the pics...

Will It Grow or Will It Die??

2010-04-26T08:24:00.001-07:00

We got a new tree for the front yard the other day. It's a Cherry Blossom. It's the first in a long line of yard improvements that I would like to accomplish this spring. The bad thing about me and things that grow in my yard is that, more than likely, they eventually die. Except weeds, that is...I can grow those like crazy! ;) Let's all hope that I'm turning over a new leaf (haha) and my yard will be beautiful...we'll see how that turns out. While Brian was working hard in the yard, Chance and Alice had lots of fun outside. Me? I took the pictures. I'm not entirely sure where Ava was, but the good news is that I still have her so I didn't loose her that day!

I Thought it Was Time...

2010-04-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've already mentioned that my dad has been on my mind lately. When we were in Holdenville, I thought that it was time to take my kids to the cemetery. I don't talk about it a lot with them because I don't want to confuse them, but they do know a little and I wanted them to see where he was so maybe they can understand a little better. We also had Stef and Parker with us, so the whole thing was kind of neat...all of his kids and grandkids were together. My kids love cemeteries anyway, so they liked that we went.

I rarely go to the cemetery. I honestly think that the last time I went is when I started dating Brian. I don't go that often, but I think that makes it mean more when I do go. I love the cemetery. It's right in the middle of where he grew up and I can almost see him off in the distance hunting or fishing. It was really nice to take the kids there. I desperately wish that he could have met them. He would have been an awesome grandpa. For a fleeting second, while we were there, it felt like we were all together. I told my mom that I'm sure kids should not crawl around on headstones, but I think Dad would have got a kick out of it anyway. It was just his grandkids wanting to say hi. :)

A Trip to Granny's

2010-04-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

We went to my Grandparent's house last week for my great aunt's surprise birthday party and Ava had a blast. She loves grandparents of all kinds because she knows she will get lots of attention. I snapped these pictures of her with this pool contraption on her head. She cracks me up. She didn't do it for the picture...I just looked up, and there was Ava, eating her lunch with this on her head. It didn't even occur to her that it was odd.

Easter

2010-04-12T08:27:00.001-07:00

Here are some random pictures from Easter. We had a really nice day at church, followed by a fun evening at my parent's house. We have all been really busy and haven't gotten together over there in quite some time, so we enjoyed that very much. Hope you like the pics! :)

Even More Park Pics

2010-04-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought you couldn't see any more pictures of the Marlett's at the park...there's more! I always have my camera with me, and I got a couple of cute ones, so I thought I'd throw them on here.

Huntin' Some Eggs

2010-04-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the annual Easter egg hunt at our church. We began the morning with breakfast at IHOP, then went to the church. Well, actually we went home to get Alice first because she was in her dog carrier for the first time and she was NOT happy. We didn't want to leave her in there any longer than absolutely necessary. AFTER we got Alice, we went to the church. Chance informed us on the way there that he did not really want to hunt eggs, so we didn't really push the issue. He was happy to help take care of the dog...and one of his friends was there, so he was content to just chill. Ava was ready to go. She was very excited about the eggs. I think I've already mentioned her affinity for CANDY! She got to see her cousins, play some games, jump on the moon bounce, hunt eggs, get candy, and blow some bubbles (which she spilled all over herself on the way home...a giant, sticky mess!) Nonetheless, I think we can call the egg hunt a success.

Welcome, Alice...The Vampire Puppy

2010-04-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

Some events occurred recently that caused Rusty, a ten year member of our family, to have to find another home. I don't want to go into great detail about it here, (I'm still sad and I want this to be a happy post), but Rusty was getting up in years and grumpy. He had been displaying some uncharacteristic behavior, and the rule in our house strictly states, if you show aggressive behavior, you're out.

We thought it was best for everyone involved to get another puppy. The kids have only known Rusty and we thought it would be fun for them to start from scratch. There was much debate over what the next dog would be. I have actually always wanted a big dog. We came very close to adopting a black lab, but quickly decided to stick with what we already knew. That is how Alice, a miniature miniature dachshund (teenie weenie) became part of our family.

We decided on the name "Alice" because I love Twilight, and I thought that would be a cute name for a small, cute dog. It has actually become quite fitting because Alice loves to bite. Yes, I know all puppies like to bite in some way or another, but she really has it down to a science. I joke that she is either sleeping or biting. Obedience school is in her future. It's cute in the puppy stage, but not so cute as she gets older. She will become a compliant dog (or we'll all die trying!)
The kids love Alice...especially Chance who has taken to her right away. He was very excited to find out that they have the same birthday and is already making joint birthday plans for the two of them next year. Alice even sleeps with him at night (she may be a little spoiled). She is really eating up all the attention and the kids enjoy giving it to her. It's been fun to see them all interact. Check back often for Alice stories because I have a feeling she's going to keep us all very busy and entertained! :)

Evidence

2010-04-06T14:24:00.001-07:00

I could probably just put this on here as a picture that speaks for itself, but in case you don't get it...well, let's just say...AVA. My precious daughter is extremely addicted to candy (different from her mother who is addicted to CHOCOLATE) and will do absolutely anything to get it. Even if that means sneaking into the kitchen when no one is looking and stuffing tootsie rolls in her mouth and hiding the trash behind the computer. The sad thing is, it took us over a month to find her little stash. She is so crafty. For those who are dying to know, the count was 15! I was wondering where all those tootsie rolls went. Not because I was going to eat them or anything... :)

Daddy/Daughter Date Night

2010-04-06T13:29:00.001-07:00

When we were at Chick-fil-a the other day, Brian saw a flier for an upcoming Daddy/Daughter night. He signed up on the e-mail for some more information. It ended up being a really cute event. They shut down part of the restaurant that was available by reservation only. When they got there, they were greeted with a rose for Brian to give to Ava. All of the tables had pretty white table cloths on them, the Chick-fil-a cows were there to give all the daughters their own little stuffed cow and a balloon, and they even got free brownies and ice cream. After dinner, all the dads and daughters got to go for a little ride around town in a party bus. Ava loves quality time, so I think this was right up her alley. Although, she did warn Brian before they left on their "date" that she would not be kissing him...so funny! He assured her that it would definitely not be that kind of date and she seemed okay after that.

Easy Breezy

2010-04-06T13:21:00.001-07:00

The other day, the weather was so nice that I walked to get Ava from school. She was elated. She has been begging me to walk for weeks (even when it's 40 degrees outside). I know she is as ready for nice weather as I am. When we got home, it was all she could do to scarf down her lunch so she could spend some more time outside. She spent at least two hours out there all by herself. (I couldn't go with her because I was taking care of Jackson.) I figured because of that, she would be ready to come in in under five minutes, but she just soaked it all up. When I looked out she was sitting in the foot rest of my swing with the biggest smile on her face. I had to take a quick pic...it was so sweet. In case you were wondering, this is exactly what she did for the next five days as well. Hello springtime, we are all so glad you're here!

3-D Anyone??

2010-04-06T09:00:00.001-07:00

I took the kids to see How to Train Your Dragon the other day. At first, they thought they just wanted to see the regular 2-D movie, but they changed their minds at the last minute. I can never resist taking a picture of them with those glasses...it makes me laugh. It's the little things, right?!? Ava was really encouraging everyone to put their glasses on at least 20 minutes before the movie even began. As you can tell, she did not convince Chance who will never put his glasses on until the movie tells him to do so. I thought the movie was adorable. Probably one of the cutest kid movies I've seen in awhile. Ava has already informed me that she wants to be Astrid for Halloween. She was entranced with her the second she came out in her "spiky skirt". I'm glad she's thinking ahead...it will be a time-saver when Halloween actually gets here! :)

Medieval Fair and One Love

2010-04-06T07:52:00.001-07:00

The Medieval Fair made its annual appearance in Norman a couple weeks ago, so Brian decided to take the kids. I was really sad I couldn't go, but I had a girl's night already scheduled. Not to mention, my favorite part of this particular event is the food, and I have a feeling that is NOT what I am supposed to be eating. Brian took my camera (I believe I have mentioned that he is turning in to quite the photographer), so I got to live vicariously through the pictures. Ava was happy to ride the camel. Both kids wanted to ride the elephant, but Chance was warned that he would have to hold on to Ava really tight and I think he caved under the pressure. He really is a good big brother. He wanted to make sure his little sis didn't get hurt. After the animal rides, they got to watch some jousting and sword fights. I think they had lots of fun and enjoyed the time with their Daddy.

They had a really busy day. After the fair, they went to the college with Brian for an event that he was supposed to attend. The kids (Ava especially) really like to go to Daddy's work. There are always lots of fun college students who are ready to give them lots of attention. There were snacks and lots of things to draw and color. I think they all had a good night.

Pokemon Trainer

2010-04-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Chance recently got a new Pokemon game ~SURPRISE~ and it has a new an exciting element. It comes with a pedometer that is linked to the game. The steps you take during the day can level up your Pokemon. Now, for those of you who are reading this who now know more than they ever wanted to know about Pokemon...I'm right there with you (and I'm sorry about the info). All of that just to say, Chance is now very excited about going for walks. Brian suggested that we all go for a walk the other day because it was "nice" outside...LIAR--it was cold! Anyway, none of us knew any better at the time, so we all went. In typical Crystal fashion, I had my camera, so I snapped a few pictures. In case you were wondering, I believe Chance got in close to 3,000 steps on our walk. He was happy with his results. :)