Archive for the ‘Ava’ Category

A very important date

We hosted 45 of our friends and family at our house for Ava’s fourth birthday party this weekend. We selected an Alice in Wonderland theme, which my friend Lori incorporated into the invitations we sent out several weeks ago.

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Thanks to the help of many, many people (photographic evidence coming soon), we had a great time. Even Alice approved. Laura took this photo–and many others–that she’s posted over on the The House On Hudson.  Doug will also have photos up on his site as well.

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I’ll post more photos of the party preparation and the party itself in the coming days. Thanks, everyone!

Party prep

We’re in the midst of preparations for Ava’s fourth birthday party. The kid has more friends than I do, plus our family will be in attendance–it’s going to be quite the bash.

She selected an Alice in Wonderland theme, so we’re in the process of devising games, decorations and treat bags with that in mind. We decided to focus on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, so we’re planning tiny little cucumber sandwiches, strawberries with lime curd and other tea time favorites for lunch.

I’m going to try a fondant cake for the first time–I expect this will be good blog fodder. I’m using the Mad Hatter design, which has three very uneven layers and looks like it just finished a rousing spin on a merry-go-round. The nice thing about fondant is you can make the cake a couple of days in advance and it keeps it very fresh. The only downside is that it tastes like a pencil eraser. Thankfully my mom is making an angel food cake, too.

Photos coming soon!

A retro Ava fix

My mom just sent this photo she took the day we moved into our house in Kansas. Ava was the same age then that Olivia is now. She’s holding her first doll, “Pink Baby,” a gift from her grandparents on what was a pretty big day for all of us.

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I knew those pigtails looked familar!

Corrective measures

I took Ava in to our stylist Jen to have her hair cut after her own foray into the world of cosmotology. Jen echoed everyone else’s thoughts on the situation, explaining that assignments like this were a pretty regular occurance. She shortened Ava’s bob and cut asymetrical pixie bangs, declaring her right on trend.

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Olivia Fix

Courtesy of her big sister!

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In like a lion…

The nice thing about Kansas is that by the time you get around to posting photos of the weekend snowfall, it’s already melted.

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Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa Smith came for a visit last week, driving down on Wednesday in advance of a concert Bryan and I had planned to attend. The concert was canceled, but we went out anyway that night (and the night after that, and the night after that) knowing full well the children were in good hands.

When it came time to say goodbye on Saturday morning, Ava wanted to take the traditional parting photo with her own camera:

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I cajoled her in joining the group herself, wherein she proceeded to handle the impending departure with her usual grace and charm.

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Sorry, Bangs, but they’ll be back before you know it.

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A rare sight

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Ava Fix

Ava recently made a music instrument out of a sushi mat, ribbon and two spoons. Up next, satellite radio from a juice box and Hello Kitty pen.

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Shear Excellent Parenting

Bryan here.  I’m home alone tonight with both girls.  I assured Bec that everything would be okay leaving the girls with me.  After all, I have almost 4 years of experience in responsible parenting.  However, within just 30 minutes of arriving home with both girls tonight, I went to check on Ava who was playing quietly while I was making dinner and tending to Livie (who was hungry and grouchy).  Guess what Ava was doing and how much trouble Daddy will be in when Mommy returns?   Here’s a hint:

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In my defense, those are safety scissors, but I think I’ll probably still be in trouble:

 

 

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