Happy Birthday Avonlea!

Today was Avonlea's birthday party and it was definately a hit. The kids had fun, the adults were happy campers after watching the Bucs game (we won!) and we had no major catastrophies (with the exception of the cake!). Avonlea received so many thoughtful hugs, kisses and gifts. We are such a blessed family to have such great family and friends. You are loved and appreciated!!! Here are some pictures of today...

Rocket cake...I attempted the fondant, but needless to say, it was a royal disaster. It would've worked out just fine on a flat cake, but Rocket had too many curves and it just didn't work right. Hence, I resorted to frosting. It did taste yummy!!

One, happy birthday girl!

Grace and Avonlea making conductor's batons.

Quincy, Rocket and June appeared at Avy's party today (thanks to Kinko's!)

So did Annie

...and Leo!

All of the kids :)

Avonlea and I opening gifts

My brother Nathan with Lincoln

Jeremy, Aunt Patty, Uncle Ted, Stephanie, Grandma "Gi-gi" and Nikki

Avonlea Turns 3!

Avonlea turned three today (actually this morning at 12:46 a.m.). I can't believe another year has gone by and my firstborn baby is a little girl. This morning started out with some "oohs" and "ahhs" as she woke up and saw her room decorated with balloons and crepe paper hanging from her bedroom door. She received a special birthday Skype call from Grandma (in China) and while we were visiting, she opened her presents from Mommy and Daddy. Then, we got dressed and headed out for a birthday breakfast. Avonlea loves donuts (which is a special treat in our house) so we headed out to Dunkin Dounuts. On the way there, we realized that there was no where to sit at our local Dunkin Donuts, so we steered toward I HOP hoping she'd resort to a breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes instead. Didn't work! She had her mind set on the donuts we promised her earlier. We were sitting down at I HOP and Rob went next door to get her two chocolate donuts. We stuck a candle in it, lit it and sang "Happy Birthday" to a smiling, little girl. It was a fun morning. :) After our breakfast, we came home to clean house and decorate for her party tomorrow. She's having a Little Einsteins (on Disney channel) party and is quite thrilled. I'm just hoping that between church, running last minute errands, cooking the food and decorating the cake (using fondant for the first time...yikes!!!) I'll maintain my sanity and remember the real reason for all the hard work...remembering the day I gave birth to my daughter. I thank the Lord for her everyday and can't even explain how much I love her. Happy Birthday Avonlea Charlotte!
(Stay tuned later this week for party pics.)


Make a wish!


Me and my birthday girl


Gotta love I HOP

New Look!

Okay, so a shout out to Hilary who created our blog. I finally broke down and paid the $20.00 for a professional. :) She did a fantastic job and didn't stop until I was satisfied with the new look. Thanks Hilary! Check her out at...
http://scrapblogdesignsbyhilary.blogspot.com/

Hampster Hotel

The Price kids and my kids were playing in Avonlea's room today and I heard squealing and excitement. So, of coarse I had to get up and see what all the fuss was about and this is what I found! Our pet hampster "Monster" had his very own hotel complete the the finest of dollhouse furniture. Needless to say, Monster wasn't able to keep his luxurious furniture (he'd eat it).

Bowling with the Kiddies

Rob and I were looking for something different to do with the kids this weekend so on Friday night, we went down the street to a bowling place. I thought it might be a disaster with Lincoln getting into everything. I could just see myself saying, "I'm sorry my son ruined your bowl" as I wisk him away from other people's lanes. Surprisingly, he did very well and most of the time, he just sat down and watched. I was impressed. Here's some footage... Linkster keeping score. Rob bowling with Lincoln on hip. Now that's talent!!

BBQ

This weekend, we went to a local park that has an annual BBQ/garage sale and it's loads of fun. There's live music (glad to see some Christian praise bands there this year), AMAZING BBQ, boucy houses/slides, a giant garage sale all over the park lawn, balloon clowns, face painting and we even took our dog, Riley this year. Here are a few pictures of the event...

Halloween Costume Fashion Show

I was in Target the other day and couldn't believe how many Halloween costumes were already gone! We've always made costume buying a family thing, so I told Rob at dinner last night that it might not be a bad idea to get the kids' costumes ASAP before all the cute ones are gone. So, we headed out to Target and here's what happened...




*Avonlea wound up choosing the Cinderella costume (big shocker since she's not into any princess things) and Lincoln (cute as he was in Yoda!) wound up with a puppy costume. Lincoln is teething so that's the reason for his crying during our little fashion show. Poor, little guy!

Bucs Game!

Rob and I had a great time at the Buccaneer/Atlanta game this past Sunday. Rob won tickets through his work and he knew he had to take his woman. :) It was GREAT weather. Rainy, but just enough to keep us from sweating and we were well misted throughout the game. We won 24 to 9 and let's just say that "Warrick Dunn isn't dunn (done)". I saw some cute signs that had that saying on it. He scored the touchdown in the video I took. What a great time and thanks to Gram and Pa-pa Kmet for watching the kiddos!

A Day at the Museum

Rob, the kids and I headed out to a local museum this morning (Sat.), one that we hadn't been to since we were young kids. There were lots of things to see and explore. Here are some pictures...

They had a beautiful butterfly garden



Can you see the hummingbird in this picture?



Watching how clouds are made



Dinosaur bones



Me doing the tug-of-war



The kids got a kick out of milking a cow, a pretend one that is.

Lincoln is 15 Months Old

I can't believe my baby boy is already 15 months old (as of the 11th). He's growing so much and here are a few things he's been up to...

* He loves to brush his teeth (thank goodness!) with his big sister. They do fight over the stool in the bathroom.
* We went to the pediatrician's this week for his 15-month checkup and he's off the charts for his height (no wonder people think he's two!) and he's in the 97th percentile for his weight. Big boy!
* He tans amazingly well.
* He can say the following words: ball, hi, night-night, bye-bye, ma-ma, da-da, addie (for Avy), vroom-vroom, please (he can sign this), cheese, no, yes, up, aw duh (all done)- he signs this word as well, he has a word that he says for outside, but I can't figure out how to write it. He mostly just babbles like he's having a conversation with you. It's cute.
* He LOVES being outside and getting dirty. He'd live outside if he could.
* He loves to play with blocks, trucks, play the piano with Daddy, pretend cooking, answer the phone, play with any kind of ball, bang on pots and pans, eating yogurt and riding the vacuum cleaner (see videos below).
* He's just now sitting still to read books. Avonlea would sit for 30 minutes on her own to read books. Lincoln is a different story, but at least he'll sit for a bit now.
* He's not a fan of loud noises. He also doesn't like it when Rob and I wrestle around if he thinks one of us is hurt. He's such a little protector. :)
* He loves animals.
* He's FAST! He's been walking since he was 12 months and really has to be watched if he's not contained...like in our front yard. He'll dart towards the street. Yikes!
* He's a cuddler and a wrestler. He loves being hugged, kissed and wrestled around with. Rob was ranked 7th in the state in high school for wrestling so who knows, we might have a future wrestler on our hands!

Contentment

*Never allow yourself to complain about anything - not even the weather.
*Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
*Never compare your lot with another's.
*Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
*Never dwell on tomorrow - remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.

These are wise words from a book I'm reading called, Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. If only I could put these words into practice every minute of my life! :) God is SO good to have kept me in check of this today.

Summer is Coming to an End

I don't know if anyone else has noticed how it hasn't exactly been scorching hot outside the past few days. I'm sure it has to do with the hurricanes out there (?), but it's nice to think that fall is slowly on its way. It's my favorite time of the year, not because it's my birthday in October, but because of all the festivities to come. The cooler, crisper weather is also something I look forward to. Even though we've had some hot winters the past few year, I'm hoping that the Farmer's Almanac is right when they say that we're supposed to get some cooler weather this year. We shall see right?! We drained the pool today and will store it in our shed tomorrow. There were good times in that pool this summer. The kids loved it. I've also been admiring the fall holiday decoration storage bins in our garage and can't wait to get them down and decorate, but I'll give it a few more weeks.

After visiting my parents' house last weekend, I got inspired to get our garden going again. It sits and grows weeds all summer because it's too hot to grow anything and it's hard to get motivated to get fall's garden going, but we did. Hooray! We pulled all the weeds, turned compost and got that layed ontop of the garden soil (there are so many nutrients in it!), potted up about 50-60 small pots for our seeds. I don't plant seeds right into the garden because we have an overabundance of squirrels in our yard and they eat our seeds. Therefore, our little seeds will spend the next few weeks in our screened in butterfly house (currently vacant) where they'll get sun and water until they are big enough to be transplanted into the big garden. This year, we planted tomatoes (large and cherry), lettuce (a few different types), cucumbers, beans, spearamint (this is new for me), carrots, peppers and I know I'm forgetting a few. We also kept our 6 strawberry plants from last year and hopefully they'll produce this February. We also have a bunch of Rosemary, a pineapple plant (which won't produce for another year or so) and a few other herbs. I'll try to keep pictures updated.

The kids helped me pull weeds, fill pots with dirt, plant and water seeds. It was dirty, but a blast!



I'm so proud of Avonlea. Lately, we've really been concentrating on independance and doing things by herself. She has a chart that she earns stickers on by doing things all by herself and when she fills all the empty boxes with stickers, she gets a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. She only have 7 more boxes to fill and she's very excited about filling them. She can now undress and dress herself (shirts have always been a struggle), brush her teeth by herself (although, I usually follow up), brush her hair, put on her shoes, get herself a drink of water from the door of the fridge and many more things. It's very exciting because Rob and I have always said we want our kids to learn independance at an early age. Yes, that means learning the basics of cooking (while under an adult's supervision), doing laundry, setting the table (Avonlea has mastered this already), feeding pets (check), cleaning up after you make a mess, etc. Last night was a first. I asked her to go clean up her room all by herself and about 8 minutes later, she came running out saying, "Mommy, come see!" I went in her room and it was spotless!!! She even put things where they belonged and not just stuffed things anywhere. I was proud. :) She got 5 stickers for this last night. We're on our way to Chuck E. Cheese!!!


The kids at the park on Friday morning. It was so nice out!

Golfing, Family Visits and Sickness

Dad and Lincoln playing around.
This week has flown by...not really sure why, but it has. Over Labor Day, Gram and Papa (my parents) were so awesome to watch the kiddos for Rob and I so we could get a few things done around the house. When you have a two-year-old and a one-year-old, they get into EVERYTHING, so larger projects have to be saved for when we have a babysitter or the kiddos are sleeping. Thus, our attempt to clean out the garage lately has been cut short and we just needed a day to get it done. It hasn't had a good clean out since the construction, and still, it needed another GOOD clean out and a trip or two to Goodwill to pass on the stuff we don't use anylonger.

On another note, Rob and I squeezed in a little golf on Monday before heading home to clean the garage and do some other much-needed around-the-house projects. We only played 9 holes because it was stinkin' hot out!! You'd think that since I was born and raised here in Florida, I'd be used to the heat. Not the case my friends! :)
Rob taking a swing.


Later that night (Monday), we drove back up to mom and dad's and grilled out some burgers and corn, and mom made a wicked cheesecake (yummy mom!). Nate and Grace were sick, so while Gracey was up watching tv and eating dinner in bed, Avonlea decided to keep her company (and her germs!).

Both Lincoln and Avy now have a double ear infections and colds (yucko!), so we're steering clear of friends and family for a few days. The kids have of coarse passed it on to me so we're all a little on the grumpy side today.
Here are the kids at the doctor's today.


It's been a good week, despite our sickness and we have Sooooo much to be thankful for. Amen? Amen.

Explaining Myself a Little Better...

Due to my last blog entry, I felt that I needed to explain myself better so here goes…


I am not against Obama, in fact, I think he's got some interesting ideas regarding balancing the budget and if he can follow through with these plans, great. If not, there are going to be a whole bunch of unhappy Americans. I'm glad Obama wants to take initiative to go "line by line" and dissect our Government’s budget. I think it’s about time someone did! I'm just frustrated because it seems all Obama and Biden can say is “Change”… change what??? Change how we treat unborn children? Change how we keep pushing God out of our schools and yet stare at the TV screen in unbelief when there is another school shooting? As a believer in Christ, I think these are just a few of the “Changes” America needs. I would gladly tell Mr. Obama he could keep the tax break he’s going to give me & my family if he can make these changes a reality. Please check out this website regarding abortion statstics:

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/ab-unitedstates.html

I started reading the statistics at the top, but by the time I scrolled down to the bottom, I got sick to my stomach and began crying. I do believe that God created us and knew us from the beginning of conception.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:13-16).
People (women especially) need to take responsibility for their sexual actions (there's so much free birth control out there, yet they fail to take advantage of it!!!). Only 1% of the population that undergoes abortion is due to rape or incest. See information here:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=950DE1DC1039F930A25753C1A96F948260

Also, I'm rather concerned with Obama's former pastor of 20+ years (Jeremiah Wright). I don’t question his enthusiasm or passion and there is no doubt that America has made mistakes in the past (slavery, treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII, etc.) but last time I checked "God Damn America" was not in the Bible as Pastor Wright proclaimed in a sermon to his congregation. The bombings of Nagasaki & Hiroshima were terrible… but they ended the War. Did Pastor Right forget that America did not enter WWII until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor? I am also tired of hearing about how America has become such a terrible place these past 8 years. This is not highschool… no one is running for prom queen… it’s not a popularity contest.

I can’t imagine the stress Michelle Obama must be feeling during this campaign, but to say “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country? If it was a slip of the tounge… ok, admit you got caught up in the moment and set the record straight. But what if that’s really true??? Was she not proud to see the fireman raise the American flag from the rubble a few hours after 911?

See more info. here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331288,00.html

Our American history is FULL of amazing stories of courage and bravery, strength and fearless acts by our own soldiers. I think A LOT of Americans took offence at this, including myself.

My biggest question for Obama is his relationship with former terrorist William Ayers. Why hasn’t the media questioned this relationship? As a civilian, I shouldn’t have to worry that the President of the United States might have connections with a terrorist! You can check out that information here:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/obamas_weatherman_connection.html

I hope I didn’t offend any readers, but I just wanted to explain myself a little better. :)