Babies

Friday night we rented the documentary Babies, and although I was a little skeptical at first it turned out to be really good. Usually I like to watch movies to escape whatever reality I'm currently living in and I was worried that spending two hours watching a movie about babies would sort of erase any free time I was experiencing without my own. But it was funny and fascinating to see the similarities and differences between how babies are raised around the world. I'm not sure if I entirely buy into the premise that they aren't trying to make any sort of statement with the film but I guess with any good art you can kind of do your own interpreting. I would highly recommend the film. As does our cat Stormy.

He has honestly never watched a movie or tv in the two years we've had him but he watched for nearly two whole hours. Maybe it was the numerous cats in the movie or maybe he was terrified that we'd suddenly added to our brood. I'm not sure but I think he breathed a sigh of relief when we turned it off and they all disappeared. I mean he's a patient kitty but there's a limit people!

Male Bonding

It is just too cute to see how much Ian loves his grampa. He lights up when he walks in the room and does his little inchworm to get over to him. It's a good thing the feeling is mutual. :)

Wenzel Farm

Yesterday we took advantage of this GORGEOUS fall weather and went to a "farm" that has a spooky halloween trail. It was probably overkill for our little ones, do you really need the ghost to have a bloody knife?, but once all the gang was together they seemed fine braving it. I'm not really a fan of halloween except for harvesty type things and Ava already has enough trouble going to sleep with her fear of monsters. But it was nice to take a walk on a beautiful sunny day and they had a "pumpkin patch" for a cute photo op. The kids also loved the pirate ship maze and bouncy bridge. Although I think they need to revisit their "great for all ages" advertising.

All the kiddos and a headless Matt:)

Birthday invitation

Ava's Turning 4!

Saturday November 6

sleeping beauty

Ok, I should probably post something about how my daughter has been a perfect angel for over a week now but I'm afraid to jinx it. She is all sweetness with a cherry on top and I'm loving it. I can't even count how many times she's said, "you are the best mommy ever!" I'm a little scared that I'm going to let my guard down and then the she beast will rear it's ugly head but I can't help but do a little gushing over my big girl. We've been dancing in the kitchen and telling extra long stories at night. There have been butterfly kisses and role playing of a certain super Ava who rescues Ian from the evil stormy cat (adorned in bunny ears.) If there were photos of any of these events you would probably say that I made the whole tantrum up. Alas, I have reinstated her birthday celebration (I will post her adorable invitation soon.) and gave her a good spoiling this weekend.

The day started with a trip to Lavender Bleu. This place could not be any cuter if there were bunnies in baskets and butterflies fluttering about. You walk in to the most adorable gift shop and suddenly have the urge to complete your entire Christmas list. Then you wind your way through a garden and into a little tea cottage in the back. There are little tables set up with cute tea inspired decor. Ava received oohs and ahhs from every table and she used her best manners as we ordered our lunch. And she would be having the hot chocolate with extra whipped cream please.

Cleansing her pallet with mango sorbet

Quiche, tomato basil bisque, and herb scone

The ladies

Gummy bears, candy corn, and heart shaped sandwiches...doesn't get much better

Sweet

Silly

It was the best tea I've ever had (and that includes the Ritz and the Penninsula hotel) and I cannot wait to go back again.

After lunch we headed downtown to take Ava to the sleeping beauty ballet. I saw the flyer months ago but wasn't sure she could sit through a 3 hour performance. Then my mom saw an ad for the one hour, one time only, children's performance and we jumped on it. Luckily I got the last three of the $12 tickets and couldn't believe how good the seats were! She loved the whole thing, except probably would have enjoyed a little more of the action scenes as they cut a ton of the show.

But there was a very exciting moment when the evil fairy vanished in a red fire ball and a cloud of smoke. The music was all very familiar and it was so fun to see her face as she watched. After the show the two main dancers even came out and answered questions. When we got home Ava practiced the moves and told Ben all the details of the show. She is extra excited to tell her ballet teacher about her big day. When I was in the waiting room at her ballet class this week I was talking to one of the grandmothers there with her grandaughter and she said that Keith is an amazing instructor and her daughter trained with him. She said she now dances for the Oregon Ballet Theater and is in the sleeping beauty show. So who knows? Maybe Ava will become a ballerina someday and we'll get to see her perform opening night at the Nutcracker. Right now it's just good to have my sweet girl back and dreaming a future for her that does not involve the criminal justice system. :)

We've been Boo'd

Our neighborhood has a fun tradition of sending out their little ghosts to Boo their neighbors. Basically, your doorbell rings and when you answer it there's a bag of halloween treats, a poem, and a big Boo sign on your doorstep. Then you are supposed to make your own Boo sign and do the same thing to your neighbors. And on halloween night you can see all the boo signs in the windows as you trick or treat. It's pretty cute and Ava was more than thrilled to have this happen to her. She slept with her bag of goodies and talks about it every day. We went out on our covert operation last night and I thought she was going to pee her pants with excitement. Life in the suburbs can get pretty exciting, let me tell you. :)

Photo Shoot

We got our family photos back today and I'm so happy with how they turned out! We had really wanted to do them outside but it rained so we relocated to the studio. Our friend from church took them and she's only been doing this for a couple years. I think she's amazing and we only spent about $100 for everything. So hopefully we can get them done again outside in the spring. Here are a few of my favorites.