Tea Time is New For Me

Hot Dogs and Smores

2011-10-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

We had a fire in the back yard the other night. We cooked hot dogs and smores. It was yummy and relaxing. Fall is the perfect time for bonfires!

This is what she did when I told her to smile...

Gregg was talking to Ava about the stars. She was loving time with daddy.

A lot like her daddy...

2011-10-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

These are a few pictures of Gregg as a child. I definitely see a lot of him in Ava.

A snapshot of our day...

2011-10-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ava absolutely loves to draw and color.

She spent a lot of her time this morning sitting in the corner of her room with her animals coloring.

Later when I was putting my makeup on, I turned my back for a second and she got a hold of my makeup pallet. This was the result.

This afternoon I decided to make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Yum!

Later we are going to cook hot dogs over a fire in the backyard. It has been a good day with Gregg only working a half day. He officially has off now for 11 days. We leave Wednesday for Bath. We are very excited. Well that's it for today. I will post more pictures in the next couple of days as well as some of our trip to Bath.
P.S. As I am writing this, I hear Ava saying, "WEEEEE" as she slides down a big box that she has made into a slide. Oh goodness...

Speculoos

2011-10-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness Gregg brought back a wonderful treasure from France. He found this wonderful spread that resembles crunchy peanut butter but is really completely different...pure wonderfulness. As you can see in the picture, the crunchy bits in the spread are cookie.

It is not an overwhelming sweet cookie taste either. I had it on a piece of toast earlier and it was amazing! I have yet to check the British grocery stores to see if I can get this stuff here. YUM!

I love Fall!

2011-10-05T04:47:00.001-07:00

Our family is back together again. Gregg has been deployed and Ava and I have been in the States visiting my family. Time passed quickly and thanks to God, we are all safely back together again. Here are a few random pictures of Ava, fall decorations and what we've been up to these last few days (Hint: Dora).

This picture was taken at my parents house. We miss you guys! Thank you for everything!

I told Gregg I cant wait until he tells me that Dora songs play through his head, even at work. THAT will be funny! It will happen. I not only sing along, but sometimes I also dance! Ava is learning to count in Spanish and she says, "Arriba" when she wants up.

We are going to the pumpkin patch this weekend. I will post pictures of the pumpkin patch as well as my decorated pumpkins! Yay fall!

Cambridge

2011-07-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

We went to Cambridge today for a day of shopping. It was a lot of fun! Here are a few pictures my friend Rachael took of Ava and me.

Fun in the Sun

2011-06-27T01:34:00.000-07:00

We went to a friend's house for a cookout and the kids played in the pool. There was also a bouncy castle. She loved everything! We didn't leave until close to 9:00 P.M. When we made Ava get out of the pool and stop jumping in the bouncy castle, she had a breakdown. Needless to say, she slept wonderfully!
P.S. I feel it necessary to say that the hat she is wearing is indeed a boy hat. My friend let me borrow her son's hat. Normally her hat would be PINK!

My Little Baby

2011-06-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Ava likes to climb into her baby's stroller. I push her around and she loves it!

Ava

2011-06-18T12:45:00.001-07:00

Happy 24th Birthday Gregg!!!

2011-05-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

Trouble

2011-05-27T01:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when its an icky, rainy day like today, I let Ava go through my wallet. She takes everything out and puts it all back in. Its a good thing I saw her as she was stuffing the last of my cards and ids in the couch. I never would have found them!

Looking cute on a rainy day...

2011-05-26T10:17:00.001-07:00

Finally!

2011-05-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the cabinet I ordered five months ago. There is a British store on base where you can buy and order furniture. Its all hand painted and it is all really great quality. I love my new cabinet! Also, this is our newly painted table. It took forever because Gregg sanded it down to bare wood and then we primed and painted it as well as applied several coats of enamel. That stuff is hard to work with! Anyways, here is a little glimpse of my house in England!

A New Hairdo

2011-05-09T01:08:00.000-07:00

Ava looks pretty upset about this new hairdo. This look reminds me of a most traumatizing event of my childhood. My dad was in charge of getting all of the kids ready one day. He told me he was going to put a horse tail in my hair. It is actually called a pony tail but he is a guy so he didn't know that. I cried forever after he did my hair. I also didn't want to go out in public. I didn't want people seeing my horse tail. Haha kids!

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!!

2011-05-09T00:53:00.001-07:00

The ice cream man comes by our house every day around 5. We keep spare pounds around for times like this when we all run out like excited small children getting an ice cream treat.

Busy Girl

2011-04-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

By 10:00 AM this morning, Ava had accomplished much. I built her a fort to play in

and then while I was preparing dinner in the crockpot, I gave her a couple of things to play with.

She lines everything up on that bottom stair. She will do great things...

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Happy late Easter! Its a little late because I wasn't able to post the pictures yesterday. Anyways, here are some pictures of sweet little Ava. She got a fun little play kitchen set and a cute Cath Kidston rucksack (British) filled with goodies.

She had a blast with the Easter egg hunt as well. We went over to a friend's house and Ava and her son hunted for eggs. It was a fun day!

Daily Walk

2011-04-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

(Mom, this is a path, not a road)

So far, the days have been pretty enough that we have been able to go on a walk every day. Ava is loving it!

Smarty Pants!

2011-04-19T00:53:00.000-07:00

Ava surprised me today. Okay, first I have to start by telling you that yesterday Gregg taught her the Biblical account of the tower of Babel. To make a long story short (Which I stink at), he used our coffee table as the base for the tower and piled pillows on top of it. He started by banging on the coffee table like he was hammering. Ava of course joined in and had tons of fun with it. A couple of times when he was telling her about the account, he told her it was found in Genesis 11. This morning I asked Ava what we learned about in Genesis chapter 11 and she immediately went to the coffee table and started hammering. I was so extremely proud of her! I know every parent thinks their child is the greatest but I thought that was pretty smart:) It just shows you that your young child is listening to what you say!

Ava

2011-04-16T01:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, where do I start with Ava? She is talking so much. She is able to copy most everything we tell her to say. The other day I told her to say "Paci" and she sat there for a second before saying, "pa pa pa pa papi". ALMOST! Haha! The other day we were at some friends of ours house and I was holding Ava while we were looking at and petting their dog. I was telling the dog to sit. Ava decided to trying telling him to sit. The "s" sound she made sounds more like the "sh" sound. Not good. She now will randomly say, "sit" in her own special little way. I am quite embarrassed when we are grocery shopping and I tell her to sit down. She immediately copies what I said and I have every parent in the grocery store looking at me as if I am teaching swear words to my child. She also has been saying "He" lately which sounds like "help" without the "lp" sound. She says it when her pants are falling down, when her stroller is stuck and she needs me to turn it around and she even asks for help in doing something I just told her not to do. Ava is also my little helper. If I give her a paper towel or a wipe, she immediately starts scrubbing the floor. Good girl! I have taught her right. She loves to clean up because one of her favorite things to do is to take things out of a basket and put them all back in. I tell her to clean up and she does but then she starts disassembling all of our hard work. She also loves when I read her books. She brings me a book when i am sitting on the floor, say," boo" and backs into my lap while handing me the book. As I write this post, she is sitting on the floor flipping through one of my magazines. Ava, how old are you? She will look through several of them. When she is done with one, she goes to my magazine holder and gets another. She looks for all of the food and animals. To the food, she says, "num num". Anyways, I just got lost writing but now that I have finished my novel about Ava, here are some pictures!
This is a picture taken yesterday while Ava lounged on the couch.

Ava has been interested in keys lately. She finds every little hole or crevice she can, and sticks the key in trying to unlock it. She can spend all day doing this, and it doesn't get boring. As you can see, she takes it very seriously.

After I finish doing dishes, Ava wants to put my gloves on and hold the sponge. She says "thank you" until I hand her my gloves and the sponge.

Ewe! This is one of Ava's favorite new things to say. Gregg takes her on walks after he gets home from work and he taught her to say that when she sees trash on the ground. She also has learned to say it when she sees a thread on the ground or when one of her toys has a rip in it. When I gave her my sponge, she squeezed bubbles out of it. She picked some of the bubbles up and stuffed them into her mouth. She made a face and then said, EWE".

That's all for now!

Daddy's Little Helper

2011-04-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Ready for Summer!

2011-04-12T03:13:00.000-07:00

This is the swimsuit we bought Ava. Oh my word. I love it. Her friend Dakota is having a pool party for his first birthday and I thought this would be perfect attire. Don't you think?

Dimples

2011-04-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

I love her dimples. I love them. I love her.

Family Day

2011-04-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

Gregg has been working like crazy lately so it was nice to get away to Bury the other day and see Rango as a family. The movie was good and we had a fun time.

Inside the cinema, there is a candy store and since the candy containers are right at Ava's level, you can guess what happened. Gregg turned around for a second to get candy and the next thing he knew, Ava had reached into the candy and grabbed a few handfuls. Oh Ava!

We all enjoyed spending the day together:)

A Date with Daddy

2011-04-12T02:43:00.000-07:00

Gregg took Ava on the first of many dates with daddy the other day. He took her to get Burger King and then they played in the outdoor area of the BX.

There are play houses, swing sets and a little roller coaster at the BX. She apparently loved going into all the little houses.

She wasn't crazy about the roller coaster.

She came home with a stuffed doggy that daddy bought her. She loved her date with daddy:)

Her favorite place to be...

2011-04-04T03:38:00.000-07:00

Ava's absolute favorite place to be is outside. She finds pine cones, rocks and sticks.

They bring as much joy as a stuffed toy from the store...only they are free!

Her favorite thing to say is "Thank you". She says "Chan chu". When she picks up a rock or when I hand her a stick, she says, "Chan chu".

She is so easy to please. She is such a blessing!

Vintage tea cups...British tea or coffee...and biscuits!

2011-04-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

I will be opening an Etsy shop within the next couple of days. I will be selling gift sets containing a teacup of your choice, British tea or coffee and biscuits to accompany your tea or coffee. These are the tea cups I have acquired so far. I will also be adding more teacups as I find them.

Here are your choices for tea and coffee. I chose my favorite brand of tea and for coffee I chose a medium roast. It just so happens the packaging is cute on both of your choices...how convenient.

Here are your biscuit choices. Both are really good but I am partial when it comes to Crunchies. They make me happy.

Also, since I will be opening in time for Mother's Day, for a small extra charge I can pick up a card for your mum. Wouldn't your mum love to receive a gift like this in the mail? I know mine would!

Homemade Bread

2011-04-01T15:19:00.001-07:00

Homemade bread. Yum. I made two loaves today and I froze one. My mom gave me the idea of making two a week and freezing one each time. She also gave me a really awesome bread recipe. Oh my goodness it is the most soft and scrumptious bread I have ever tasted. Gregg said...and I quote..."This is the best bread I have ever had in my entire life". Here is my mom's recipe.

No Knead Bread
6 1/2 cups flour ( 3 1/2 at first then 3 later )
2 packets instant yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons shortening
butter

In your kitchen aid mixer combine 3 1/2 cups flour
yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix well using regular mixer hookie thing.
Add warm water ( 125 or so ,microwave for 1 minute and feel i, then microwave 30 seconds longer if needed.. put your finger in,it should feel like a very warm shower would but not burn at all)
Add shortening at same time as warm water.
Blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed . Now put your dough hook on.
Add additional flour 1 cup at at time until you have added all 3. I added a little more probably another 1/2 cup.
Now mix until all is well blended.
Remove bowl from mixer. Place on your stove and put a towel over it.
In about 30 minutes it should have risen as tall as the bowl. Beat it down with your fist and using dough hook again mix for about 1 minute.
Now spray your 2 bread pans with Pam or cooking spray.
Take half the bread mixture and put it in each pan. It will be sitcky just pry it from your hands.
Preheat your oven to 375 and put your pans on top covered with towel.
When bread has risen to the height of the pans, bake at 375 for approx. 30 - 35 minutes until it is golden brown.
Remove from pans and brush with butter.
Allow to cool on a rack if you have one.
Wait until about 15 minutes to slice. Allow to cool for a couple of hours before you put one in freezer. Place one in gallon baggie and freeze it. Yummy for your tummy.You will never look at bread the same again.

Pretty Flowers

2011-04-01T14:36:00.001-07:00

Some good friends came over tonight for dinner and these were my gift to my friend. I thought the arrangement was pretty so I wanted to post the picture.

Picture Update

2011-03-27T11:18:00.001-07:00

Ava got a play tea set today and she has been playing with it all afternoon. Six dollars has brought much joy into this little girl's life:)

So disappointing...

Ava playing with her palm pilot. Gregg and I don't really have a use for it and since we got it for FREE, Ava has acquired it. She is a busy girl so an organizer is necessary.

Ava LOVES dogs

2011-03-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Ava can now CLEARLY say "doggy". She says it alllll the time. She gets really excited when there is actually a dog to point at! We went over to my friend Rachael's house today and we got to see Dakota (Ava's love) and their dog Dotty. Ava chased Dotty around the yard squeezing her fists open and shut and saying "dogeeeee". Here are some pictures.

Ava Playing Outside

2011-03-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

Fishy Face

2011-03-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

When I make a fishy face, I move my lips up and down at the same time. She is trying to copy me. Funny girl!

Pray

2011-03-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight after Gregg got home from work (weekend duty), we were sitting on the couch talking to Ava when she pushed Gregg's hands together and said "pay". We didn't understand what she was talking about so we asked her a couple of times. Finally she folded her hands and said a prayer. That's when we understood. She is such a precious little girl and we thank God for her every day.

The most wonderfulest bread in the whole wide world

2011-03-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. Wow. This bread is awesome. We had sandwiches for dinner tonight and they were amazing. They were amazing because of the cook of course and well mostly because they were made with the softest bread to ever graced my tongue with it's presence. I think I said that right. Anyway, a friend of ours from church brought them today because she knows they are my favsies. They are from Gregg's bakery (not my Gregg) and they are pure deliciousness. I am sure there are loads of spelling errors in this paragraph so I won't even bother to check. Also for dessert I made white chocolate and Frito popcorn. My mom actually found it on www.yourhomebasedmom.com. I will have to let you know how it is. Bye for now!

Ava Prays

2011-03-17T04:10:00.001-07:00

This little light of mine...

2011-03-17T01:03:00.001-07:00

Can you tell Ava is teething?

2011-03-17T00:59:00.001-07:00

Happy Girl

2011-03-16T05:24:00.001-07:00

Grocery Shopping

2011-03-16T05:19:00.000-07:00

Here we are grocery shopping at the commissary. Ava loves to push the cart. I let her walk with me when I just have a few things to pick up but she loves sitting in the cart just the same.

The other day we were shopping and I was letting Ava walk beside me. I turned around for a second to grab something from the shelf and when I turned back she had a glas jar of peanut butter in her arms and a glass jar of baby food balancing on top. I hurried to her to take them from her arms but once I grabbed the top jar, she dropped the jar of peanut butter and it shattered. Fun stuff. Clean up on aisle 4!

Fast Asleep

2011-03-07T01:38:00.000-08:00

I had time this morning before Ava woke up to do a lot of the things I needed to get done. I also had time to have a nice relaxing cup of coffee before I snuck into her room and found her asleep like this.

It's Official!!

2011-02-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

Gregg as of today is officially a Staff Sergeant! We went to his promotion ceremony today. The last ceremony we got pictures of was actually just his graduation from Airman Leadership School. Today was the real deal. Ava and I went up and had to symbolically tack on his stripe by punching his shoulder. The picture is not professional. I made Ava punch Gregg's shoulder. There were professional pictures taken as well so I will post those when I get my hands on them. That's all for now!

P.S. I tried to take the red eye out but it wasn't wanting to work so just imagine my eyes not being scary;)

I love to bake goodies but...

2011-02-28T04:37:00.000-08:00

I have decided that I cant have baked goodies around the house all the time. They need to be a special treat. I love to make and eat them but that's just not healthy all the time! So I have decided Friday nights I am going to bake rather than buy treats. I found a recipe I am dying to try this Friday night. I found these Chocolate and Peanut butter sandwich cookies off of Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website. Here is the link.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/chocolate-and-peanut-butter-sandwich-cookies/
Don't they look scrumptious?!

Crazy Girl

2011-02-25T00:45:00.001-08:00

Gregg changed Ava into her pajamas and the next thing I know she is running into the kitchen with her tights on her head. Boys. She was acting so funny. It was like she knew she looked funny. She kept acting crazy and running all over spinning and making funny noises.

On the move...

2011-02-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

Gregg's Promotion Ceremony

2011-02-15T00:58:00.001-08:00

This is a picture I snapped of Gregg accepting his certificate for graduation. I didn't get a very good picture because I had to snap it fast. As it was, they held this pose so I could take a picture! Oh well... at least you can make out that it is indeed Gregg accepting the certificate!

A Date

2011-02-15T00:46:00.000-08:00

Gregg and I had dinner and a movie at home. I made rosemary roasted chicken and potatoes. It was delicious! We also had sparkling Apple Pomegranate juice. I cleaned up and then we had candy and watched Little House on the Prairie. We are kind of hooked. We rent the season from the library here and watch it. Ava runs to the TV when we ask her if she wants to watch it. We had a really good day. Gregg did very well with his present for me and his presentation of the present. My favorite thing he got me was of course the beautiful flowers! I love the flowers from the local grocery store called Sainsbury's. The flowers from there last forever! Anyways, that's all for today!

Ava

2011-02-15T00:27:00.000-08:00

This is Ava sitting on the sidewalk outside our house.

Ava loved her Valentine's Day basket. The only smiling picture I got was of her looking at the basket. She especially loved the big fat pig!

This is Ava reaching for something she shouldn't have.

She carried this pig around all day!

Ava's Work of Art

2011-02-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Oh Ava...

2011-01-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

Ava and daddy watching a really intense Little House on the Prairie.

Tea and Crumpets

2011-01-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

No actually its coffee and a Panera bagel. Yeah you heard me right. I bought 13 of the cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera and froze them before I left the states. They were thawed when I got them here to England but I stuck them right back in the freezer and they are wonderful with just 50 seconds in the microwave. I get a little taste of home every now and then.

Ava looking cute...

2011-01-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

Someone stole my car.

2011-01-18T04:58:00.001-08:00

We have been busy the last couple of days dealing with car stuff. Someone stole my car Saturday night and so Sunday morning we woke up to my car missing. Gregg must have dropped the keys when he came in Friday night. That was the last time we drove the car. I guess they found them Friday night and decided to wait until Saturday night to steal it. I am so thankful they didn't break into our house because my house key was on there as well. God was looking out for us. Now the locks are changed and better than ever. I am just so bummed because I loved my car. I treated it so good and it never had any problems. We will wait for the right car to come along and not get in a hurry. This whole ordeal has taught Gregg and I an important lesson. Protect your keys with your life. We are so careful now with our keys, so hopefully this will never happen again.

Little Piggy

2011-01-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

Eating cake for Ava was not a joking or laughing matter. She hardly smiled at all. She was overwhelmed by her freedom I think. She kept looking at us as if she were thinking, "Aren't you going to stop me"? It was hilarious. She just dug in!

Ava's 1st Birthday Party

2011-01-14T12:03:00.000-08:00

These are the cupcakes I made for Ava's party. Aren't they sweet?

Ava and her friends had tons of fun!

Ava is 1 year old!

2011-01-14T04:07:00.000-08:00

Oh what a blessing our little girl is. She is such a bright little sunshine in our lives. God has blessed us with Ava and we are so thankful for her. Here are a few pictures of her this morning with her new stroller and baby. She loves them! She is always stopping to kiss the baby and then she takes the baby's pacifier and puts it in her mouth. She was all smiles when we gave it to her. We are doing the rest of her presents and her birthday cake tonight when Gregg gets home. I will post more pictures tonight!

Ava is almost one...

2011-01-12T01:45:00.000-08:00

Twinkle Toes:)

Ava opening presents from Nanny and Papa:) Thanks mom and dad!

This one cracks me up! Look at that smile!

Zoom in and look at her crazy hair!

Here are a few pictures I have taken in the last couple of days. My goal is to post a new one every day so hopefully from here on out I am better about posting. Enjoy!

"No"

2011-01-06T02:02:00.000-08:00

OKay so Ava has learned how to say "no". I knew it would be coming soon. I took these pictures of her and her baby because she has been playing with it all morning long (Thanks Kristin for the doll:). She pulls it along with her everywhere.
She also has been telling the doll "no" all morning. She gets the baby right up close to her face and says,"no no no no no". She even used the doll to touch things that she is not supposed to touch and then told the doll no over and over. What a little rascal!

You would think from this that all she ever hears is "no" but you will notice that the last picture is of her giving the baby a kiss. She is so funny!

Why So Serious?

2011-01-05T12:03:00.001-08:00

Haha!!

2011-01-05T11:08:00.001-08:00

We pulled Ava's pants up high. She started laughing and walking to us. She is walking really well now. She still crawls some but she is walking better and better every day.

Ava

2011-01-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

Cutie

2010-12-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

We had a really good Christmas. It was fun watching Ava go through her stocking and open her presents. She got really upset when we took a toy away to have her open something else. She did not understand at all. Next year she will understand more. She also started walking on Christmas day!! It was all food motivated but hey! Anyways, here are some cute pictures I thought I would share.

Deep in Conversation

2010-12-20T13:39:00.001-08:00

Ava loves sitting in these chairs. She tries to stretch completely out on them and hold onto both arm rests.

Oh Ava...

2010-12-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

Sad

Sad

Happy after receiving some food as a bribe to cooperate for a picture.

More Ava

2010-12-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

Ava is 11 months old today!

2010-12-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

I cant believe Ava is 11 months old today. Time sure has gone by fast. We already have all of her birthday presents and I am excitedly planning her birthday. I want to have a replica of my first birthday cake made for her. That would be really neat. She is saying mama, dada, bye bye, good girl, tickle tickle, and she also says "go", as in dada go. Lol. When he leaves for work she says dada go and waves bye bye at him. We cant wait for Christmas to see her open her presents. All of the presents under the tree are for Ava. This is going to be the best Christmas of all. I will be better about posting and updating from here on out. Here are some pictures of sweet Ava.

AWWW!

2010-11-11T11:08:00.001-08:00

She just started turning her head to the side and smiling every time we say, "Awww". I think she is a bit dramatic. This pose gets her lots of laughs and attention.

The Many Faces of Ava

2010-11-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

Busy getting into things...

2010-11-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

The picture of me in the corner is actually me at 2 years old.

When I am doing dishes, Ava gets into all the drawers and cabinets. She takes EVERYTHING out of one drawer and then moves onto the next. What a busy little girl!

Cutie!

2010-11-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

My friend was very kind to take these adorable pictures of Ava. She got a little dirty but it was morthit!

One chair is complete...

2010-10-30T04:04:00.000-07:00

This is the finished chair. The other one will be done in a few days but we are definitely making progress. I am so excited with the result!!! Gregg did an awesome job making these chairs sturdy and pretty:)

The last few days with Ava...

2010-10-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

The picture isn't clear but Ava has two teeth in the front on the top and the bottom. I love seeing her cute little teeth when she smiles!

Ava waves at everything and everyone. First she started waving at things she knew she couldn't touch. Now she waves at everything. Here she is waving at the sun.

I dont know what she is doing here. I guess she is just being cute, silly little Ava.

My mom sent my birthday package and in it was this bucket. Ava loved it. She stole it when I opened the package. She lugged it around wherever she went for a while.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hello! Gregg, Ava and I went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. It was icky and rainy but it was the first chance we have gotten to go so we took it.

We got yummy donuts and hot chocolate!

Ava liked examining the pumpkins.

She said "OHHHHHHH" about everything she saw.

We had a lot of fun!

Ava and Brandon

2010-10-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

I watched my friend's son the other day. He is two weeks older than Ava is. They had a lot of fun. I went from one to two very quickly. I definitely am good with one baby right now!

Tea Time is New For Me

2010-10-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

Two ladies from church who introduced me to tea time, bought me some Yorkshire Tea and a teapot and a teacup. How sweet! I was so excited to get home and make a cup of tea. They taught me how to make a British cup of tea. In the states, I hated tea because it was weak and bland. Well here, I once mistook a cup of tea for a cup of coffee. They put milk and sugar in their tea. It makes a wonderful hot drink. I am so thankful for their sweet gift. I am also glad they introduced me to the teatime in England tradition.

Poor Man's Lemon Pie

2010-10-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness we have found the secret to a wonderful treat. I have no idea if they sell such a thing as All Butter Lemon Curd in the states but they do over here and its amazing! A friend of ours gave it to us and we have been hooked ever since. It is a lemon butter with just a light lemon taste perfect for toast. We spread it on a graham cracker and it seriously tastes like lemon pie with graham cracker crust. It is so yummy!

Where is Ava?

2010-10-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

A Beautiful Day in Mildenhall

2010-10-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

I edited myself out of this picture because I was talking in it. We couldn't get a good picture because Ava couldn't stop looking at the ducks and swans. This was taken the second she looked over.

It was so pretty today in Mildenhall. We decided to go for a walk down to the river that flows through Mildenhall. Ava had SO much fun. She loved the ducks and the swans. They came right up to us. We had a lot of fun.

Reaching With All Her Might

2010-10-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

I put her toys on top of the coffee table to give her something new and interesting to do. She loved it. She was determined to get them all.

More Cromer Pictures

2010-10-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

Ava Loves Teddy

2010-10-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

Every time Ava sees this teddy bear or any teddy bear for that matter, she smiles the biggest smile I have ever seen and smashes her face into it. She also carries it everywhere by its arm or ear. Lately she has been squinting her eyes completely shut and then smiling really big. Picture the first smile but with her eyes shut as well.

Chilly weather is upon us...

2010-09-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Today a friend of mine and I walked down to the market in Mildenhall. It was chilly and drizzling a little so I bundled Ava up pretty good. This coat is still big but I love it! Oh my goodness I took so many pictures. Cute!

I love to organize!

2010-09-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

I have been in an organizing mood lately...really ever since I was pregnant. It just stuck with me I guess. I am either extremely organized or terribly disorganized. Anyways, I found this organizational unit and I am going to get it for our upstairs hallway. It is going to be right next to the bathroom and it will contain our towels, washcloths, toilet paper etc. Isn't it so stinkin cute?!

I have an idea...

2010-09-23T03:01:00.000-07:00

Okay so lately Gregg and I have been project people. We cant stop ourselves from buying cheap furniture and fixing it up. Its fun! We are still waiting on the foam for the chairs but once that comes we will have them finished. They are going to look adorable. They will be so special too. Anyways, so I have been playing with the idea of buying furniture cheap, fixing it up and selling it. The other day I found an oak round pedestal dining room table with four chairs (all so cute) and I got it for 30 dollars! It is in great condition minus a pea sized hole on the table that Gregg is going to fill. I sanded the table yesterday and I am going to paint it a cream color that we already have. All in all, I will spend no more on it than the 30 dollars I bought it for. I looked a little on Ebay.co.uk and I can reasonably sell it for somewhere around $200. I also found out about a furniture auction that goes on in a town close to me every saturday at 9. Apparently you can get antique furniture for really cheap. One lady was raving about an antique wardrobe she bought for 10 pounds! That is like $15. Crazy! Anyways, I think Gregg and I are going to go in a couple of weeks after I finish the table. I think I finally have found a way to make money and still stay home with little Ava! What a blessing!

Oh Coo

2010-09-21T02:46:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I havent posted as frequently lately as I know I should. I am sorry. I will post some more pictures later of Ava's 8 month old pictures and the pictures we took the other day at the park when we went for a picnic. They are very cute. We held her hands and let her slide down the slide and she loved it! I really am not one of those parents who imagines their child is saying something they are not so I am pretty sure that lately Ava has been trying to say "cool". Whenever she examines something closely or gets excited about something she has, she stares at it intensely and says, "Ohhh coo". I say "cool" a lot so its my guess that is what she is trying to say. She says it all the time. The other day she was sitting in her Bumbo on the table while I was feeding her. She turned around and saw Gregg through the window grilling chicken. She got really excited and said, "ohhhhh coo". It was so cute! Tell me if I am crazy and thats impossible but I really think she is trying to say cool. Anyways, here are some pictures of Ava this morning. I love this skirt!!!!! Thank you Jenifer and Jason:)

Ava is 8 months old!

2010-09-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

I snapped this picture when I saw her peeking out at me from under my bed. She looks under EVERYTHING. She looks under the smallest spaces and then pulls things out I had no idea were under there!

Ava is 8 months old today. It kind of snuck up on me. I didn't even realize it was today until I looked at the date on the computer. I will take the usual picture of her in her crib tomorrow but for now here are a few I have taken recently. She is growing up so fast!

Cute Shoes for Kids

2010-09-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some shoes I love from www.next.co.uk.

Crooked Houses and Bits and Bobs

2010-09-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

Gregg and I want to go and visit England's finest medieval town called Levenham. Apparently this village was created by Henry III around 750 years ago when he granted Lavenham market status.
This started a prosperous period in Lavenham's history. I want to go and see this unique village only a few hours from where we live. I am especially excited about the fact that a lot of houses and buildings there are crooked.

They have been that way for hundreds of years. I have researched the town a little bit and I like what I see as far as SHOPS go. Oh yeah! I am so there. Crooked buildings. Cute shops. Medieval village. Whats better than history and shopping? I think London should take note of this. They need to throw some shops in with all the history. Too much history is boring. I found one store called "Vintage Pink". This is the description: Vintage Pink says it all! A delightful collection of ladies fashions, accessories, jewellery, bags, bits and bobs. Who doesn't want "bits and bobs". I want one!!! Anyways, so I have never been to Levenham but I feel a bit of a kinship with this strange place. I will have to go. I will blog about this adventure soon I hope!

Sheringham

2010-09-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun day in Sheringham. It was really good to get out and see some of God's wonderful creation in such a beautiful country. It was a little chilly but it was beautiful nonetheless. First of all, the ride there was so pretty. We saw a few castles that were still standing and we saw castle ruins as well. We also found a cute bed and breakfast at the crossroads where you choose whether you want to go to Sheringham or Cromer. We thought we could go and stay sometime and spend a day at each of those places. After we got there, we were starving! We needed something to eat like fast...American style. Well....that isn't how things work in England. You sit down and you wait...and you wait some more and just when you feel as if you might eat your own hand, they bring your food. We ate at this tea house.

I got a sandwich and crisps (chips) and Gregg got soup. We had someone take our picture.

We were luckily all looking in the general direction at the same time...kinda. When you ask someone to take your picture, you take what you get! After we ate, we went and took some pictures of the beautiful view that the restaurant overlooked.

I am glad that we got the picture of us at the restaurant because the camera ended up dying pretty early on and so we couldn't take any more pictures. We spent the afternoon walking through the shops in the town center. I got a really cute tea cup with a crown on it.

Very cute and unique. I also got Ava a couple ocean themed books.

I thought it would be appropriate. Gregg tried to look for a souvenir but the only thing he could find that he wanted was a bike. Yeah. Guys are expensive. I don't care what they say. Anyways, we ended up getting him some truffles from a chocolate shop.

Also, on the way home we stopped at a farm shop and got some really good all natural fruit drinks and some Raspberry Jam. We wanted to get some local honey but we ended up settling on Jam instead. We plan on going exploring again soon because there were some cute villages we passed on the way to Sheringham. I was almost crawling out the window as we were passing cute shops along the way. I hope you enjoyed Gregg, Ava and My little adventure! There will be more soon. I promise.

Treasures

2010-09-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

The other day I was driving home and I saw a pile of things in someones front yard with the sign, "free" posted. A small round, pedestal table (like what I have wanted) caught my eye. I went home and told Gregg about it and asked him if he would go and take a look. After all, he would be the one fixing it. He went and came home with multiple treasures. He brought the table home and said it was a really old, real wood table and that it would take almost no work to fix. He also found an old camera that looks almost brand new. It is a Canon Canonet. It was made in 1961! The case is even the original case and its in pretty good condition. He was really excited about this treasure. He is going to take it to a camera shop and get it cleaned up a bit. One person's trash can be another person's treasure.

Ava's First Word

2010-09-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

AVA'S FIRST WORD WAS MOMMA!!! Do you believe me? Yeah well I am joking. Her first stinkin word was dadda. She woke up this morning and wouldnt stop saying it. She has said it before today but it was always really random. Today she would look right at him and say it. Also when I ask her where he is, she looks at him amd says dadda. I tried to prevent it. I really did. I tried to tell her that I was the one who had morning sickness for the first 4 and a half months. I tried to mention the fact that I had to birth her. She didnt pay any attention apparently. Instead of calling Gregg, "daddy", I called him "daddy-opolis" because I wanted the name to be harder and more confusing so she wouldnt say it first. That didnt work. Anyways, it is really cute to hear her talking. She says dadda ALL day long. I will have to take a video and post it:)

More pictures of our day in Cromer...

2010-09-03T04:06:00.001-07:00

Sheringham

2010-09-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hello! A friend of mine told me about a place called Sheringham which is actually really close to Cromer. I think Gregg and I are going to go on Monday. Here are some pictures of Sheringham.

Our Day in Cromer

2010-09-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

I love England. Oh my goodness I have a new found appreciation for the beauty around me. I had so much fun yesterday! We took lots and lots of pictures. One of my friends is a really good photographer so she took like 350 pictures while we were there. She only sent me a few last night but once I receive the others, I will post a few.

Picture the cutest seaside town you could ever imagine and that is where we were. I cant describe the beauty. I don't even think pictures could completely capture how pretty it was. There was a big beautiful cathedral opposite the view of the waves splashing up on the beach. Awesome. I went down to the water with Ava and my friend took lots of pictures. I rolled up my jeans, what a I thought would be enough but when the tide came in, I realized it was not enough. The legs of my jeans were completely soaked! I tried bending down and having her get some pictures of Ava putting her feet in the water but Ava was extremely scared of the water. I think its because when I first walked into the water, the water drenched me and I screamed. After that she wouldn't stop staring at the water and when it got close she would cry. I think we got some good pictures anyway. I also picked up some cool rocks and brought them home as a free souvenir.

For lunch we ate at this little sandwich shop where the bread was made fresh daily. I kept it pretty simple and got a turkey and ham sandwich but it was surprisingly good. You never can quite tell what you are actually going to get. We walked through the little shops for a while and I saw a bed and breakfast that I could see wanting to stay at. We also saw TONS of ice cream shops. There were so many of them. When we were leaving, we were in a hurry so we just stopped at one on our way back to the car. I got a milkshake and it was pretty good. I knew that if I stopped at a ice cream shop we had seen earlier, it would have been better. Anyways, Gregg and I definitely want to go together sometime. He has off Monday so I think we are going to pack lunches, rent a GPS for $12 on base and go somewhere fun. This place is great!

I started to feel last night like we don't have enough time over here to fully appreciate everything! We definitely are going to start traveling more. Well I am off to the gym now but I will post the really awesome pictures of Ava and I by and in the water when I get those. Bye!

My Favorite Fashion for Kids

2010-08-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few kids clothing stores that I love:
NEXT Fashion for kids: www.next.co.uk

Monsoon Children's Clothing: http://www.monsoon.co.uk/page/childrenhome

I will post more soon. Gotta go to bed! Good night...or good afternoon to those of you who are in the States!

My Favorite Store in England...so far!

2010-08-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

My absolute favorite store over here is Accesorize. The name says it all. They have the cutest accessories EVER. These pictures do not even come close to showing you all they carry. I feel so overwhelmed when I walk in. CUTENESS is everywhere. Here are some pictures of some things I love.

A Day by the Seaside

2010-08-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello, I am going to go to the seaside with friends on Wednesday. We are deciding on whether we should go to Cromer or Hunstanton. What do you think?

Here are a few pictures I googled of Cromer:

And here are a few of Hunstanton:

I think its a tough choice! Comment and let me know what you would decide.

Another Project

2010-08-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hello...I am in a posting mood. Anyways, here is a project we have been working on. I think it is lovely:) I have wanted an armoire/entertainment center forever! My sister Kristin's entertainment center was my inspiration and so for the past few months I have been looking. I finally found what I was looking for and I am so excited!
P.S. If you zoom in enough you can see the hinges are not yet painted. Or rather they have paint on them. We have not taken a picture of the completely finished project yet.

Project

2010-08-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

We have painted a lot lately and have taken on several projects over the last few weeks. We are in a decorating mood I guess. I bought these chairs from a lady over here who lives a few hours away. I went all by myself to get them and got lost only briefly. I was proud when I came home. I went and I conquered. These chairs are currently in the process of being made over. Think Leopard chenille. I got both of the for $36 dollars. They needed a lot of work when we got them. Gregg took them apart and put them back together way better and way more sturdy. We also tore out the foam and once I get the foam in the mail along with the leopard chenille fabric, we will be in business. I am also painting them. Gregg has them completely sanded so all I have to do is get to work! I will post pictures when they are complete. I am picturing them in the lonely nook in our living room with a round pedestal table in between them...perhaps chocolate brown. Sounds yummy!

Sweet Girl

2010-08-25T04:10:00.001-07:00