20 Apr

Down on the farm

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Family, Olivia.

Believe it or not, there’s a 12 acre farm in the middle of Kansas City—and it’s amazing. Katie’s here visiting this weekend, and the three of us took the girls to check out the livestock and other country attractions. By the way—3:2 is the perfect adult:child ratio for an outing like this . . . I hope she never leaves!

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Olivia LOVED the animals–especially the cows. “Cows” just happens to be her new favorite word, in fact. Check out this video of her experience with a calf:

Speaking of cows, Ava picked up a new trade.

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She wisely decided to keep her distance from this guy.

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Katie bottle fed a few overzealous goats. The whole thing was a bit much for Ava, though, who fled the pen halfway through the feeding frenzy. The goats, in turn, ran from Olivia, who chased after them saying, “Nice, nice…”

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horse

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20 Apr

Olivia Ann Smith! Fix

Posted by Rebecca in Olivia.

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17 Apr

Kitchen bouquet

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen.

Thanks to Grandma Smith, who was willing to keep my children busy for a couple of hours last weekend, I found a bit of time to use the new cupcake pans and tree my mom gave me for my birthday. As I noted over on the THOH, Laura’s photos more than do them justice.

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17 Apr

Possession is 9/10ths of the law

Posted by Rebecca in Ava.

I have been looking for my makeup compact for days. This morning, I asked Ava if she borrowed it, and she said, no, the only one she has, has her name on it. (Several months ago, I gave her an old one and painted the letter A on it so we’d know it belonged to her.)

Today, I found my compact among her things, and she had used marker to scrawl “Ava” across it.

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I don’t know if I should be pleased or annoyed.

14 Apr

Overheard

Posted by Rebecca in Overheard.

Ava, as we left Gramma Great’s house on Sunday: “Mom, I don’t feel well.”

Rebecca: “You’re not going to throw up, are you?!”

Ava: “No, it’s not my stomach. It’s my heart. It hurts because I will miss everyone so much.”

14 Apr

A slippery slope

Posted by Rebecca in Olivia.

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13 Apr

Little Leo

Posted by Rebecca in Family.

I finally figured out why it’s so great to be an aunt: You never have to say no. In fact, you can say yes to just about everything. So, when I hear sweet little Leo saying, “Auntie, let’s go for a walk,” my only response is “Where to?”

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13 Apr

Easter Round-Up

Posted by Rebecca in Family.

We took the girls to Nebraska for a whirlwind trip this weekend. We started out at Dad and Rose’s Saturday morning. Grandpa joined us for brunch, and Ava and Rose spent the morning working on a few craft projects.

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Then, we headed over to Bryan’s parents’ house for the afternoon and overnight. Grandma Smith set up an elaborate egg dying station for Leo and Ava, and Wyatt got in on the action for a bit, too.

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Josh and Laura arranged an Easter egg hunt for Ava, Olivia, Leo and Wyatt, allowing us an opportunity to spent part of the gorgeous afternoon outside.

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The next morning, the Easter Bunny managed to find both Ava and Olivia, though they had to search a bit for the spoils.

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We said goodbye to the Smiths, then headed over to my grandparent’s house. We were joined by the Tooleys and Mom and Dave, which made for a very fun afternoon. Gramma Great hid several eggs (many, many times) for Toby, Ava and Olivia to find.

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Grampa Great treated us to perfectly cooked rotisserie chicken…

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And Gramma made this adorable bunny cake.

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We didn’t start home until after 6 pm, leaving us a bit tired for today, but it was completely worth it. Thanks, everyone!

10 Apr

Overheard

Posted by Rebecca in Overheard.

Rebecca, upon answering what turned out to be a relatively important call while transporting the girls around town: “Hello, this is Momm—er, Rebecca.”

10 Apr

Ava Fix

Posted by Rebecca in Ava.

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