Train Pictures from the Mills

Look how happy Avery is!

Wrestling Grandpa Dave

Derek and Jen and the kids left early Monday morning. It was sad to see them go because we had such a fun time.

After the rest of us got ready we went to the zoo. Avery loved the penguins of course. We got to see a ton of elephants, even the 2-year old one. And the grizzly bears were out in fine form.

We came home to relax and take naps. When Avery woke up she found grandpa Dave dozing on the family room floor. She quickly jumped on him and started a wrestling match. Grandpa Dave was really nice to let Avery climb on him. I don't think he minded too much though :)

Terrible Two's?

This story is really long and so I am going to try to condense it down. So...while the other kids were taking naps on Saturday Avery had another agenda. Al put her to bed in the pack 'n' play in our room. She had been in there for a while when Al started to hear noises. He went in our room and found Avery covered in magic markers. When he surveyed the rest of the room he saw marker on our doors, my shoes, the sheets on our bed, our quilt, my books and all over Avery's clothes. Al said that Avery's hands were completely black with marker.

Us girls got home at about the time Al had finished giving Avery her bath. Al was so mad he couldn't even form words to explain what had happened. Meanwhile Avery sat there looking pretty angelic.

After the initial shock wore off we went and grabbed all of the art supplies and put them on top of the cabinet in our closet. Now, I know you are probably wondering why we had the art supplies where they were in the first place. They used to be in Avery's room, in a drawer that she couldn't open, but I had recently moved all of the things out of that drawer to make room for the baby...and then hadn't wanted to/thought to put them back in the drawer. I admit that I should have had the art supplies in a better place, but it was too late now :(

Al put Avery back down for a nap since she appeared to be exhausted and because neither one of us were too thrilled to be around her at that time. About fifteen minutes had passed and Al asked me to go and check on her again. I crept in and looked in the crib, and Avery was gone!! I couldn't breath for just a second and then looked around the corner and saw Avery sitting in our closet. Covered in green poster paint. Not only was she covered, but our carpet was saturated, the paint was smeared all over the cabinet, and Avery's hair was bright green. I just froze for a few seconds while Avery told me happily that the carpet was "geen!!" How did this happen??

I ran and grabbed my mom and brought her into the room. She gasped and then started to chuckle. I didn't think it was funny, but I guess if it's a grandchild than it becomes funny. My mom went and got Jen and she had the same reaction. Al came running in and was absolutely flabbergasted.

We didn't even know that Avery could crawl out of that crib until that day. Then the markers...then the paint that was on top of the 6 ft. cabinet! Jen opened the doors to the cabinet and we saw green paint up all of the shelves. All of the other art supplies were still intact on the top. So we knew that Avery couldn't have shaken the paint off. The only way she could have gotten it was to climb up all of the shelves. This freaked me out. It's not a very quality piece of furniture and I immediately thought that I was so glad the whole thing hadn't come crashing down on her.

I put Avery in the tub again and my dad came up to supervise her. She had so much paint on her that the water in the tub had turned completely green. Jen and Al, my mom and I, went to work scrubbing the carpet. Then my mom and I left to get more cleaning supplies. By the time we got back the carpet looked a ton better. Al and Jen had gotten most of the paint out so that now it only has a minty tinge to it.

I still have some cleaning to do to get it back to as close to normal as we can. The good news is that most of the marker came out.

I don't have any pictures of the event because I was too mad to consider it. But Jen took a few with her camera, so if I get them I will post them so you guys can see Avery's hard work.

April Birthdays

Allison and Derek both have April birthdays and so we decided to throw them a mini birthday party while they were here.

Saturday the kids and girls went shopping at the Mills. My mom took all of the grandkids, except Ethan, and let them ride the little train a few times. Avery was in absolute heaven. She has recently developed a train obsession. My dad and Derek played tennis while we shopped. Al was at work :(

After that we all met up Olive Garden and my dad took us out to a late lunch. Then we split up and the girls went back for more shopping while the guys went home to watch movies and let the kids nap. Well...Avery didn't nap. She was busy doing something else...I'll post about that next.

When we got back from shopping we had a quick dinner and then we had a cake, ice cream, and presents for Derek and Allison. They were pretty excited, especially Allison. Al, Avery and I gave her some Junie B. Jones books. I think they were a hit. Jen accidentally bought the trick candles and it took us a little while to catch on...I think we were all wondering why Allison wasn't trying harder to blow out the candles. When we made the discovery we got a good laugh and then we let Al put them out.

We put the kids to bed and then we played a couple of rounds of Ticket to Ride and Loaded Questions.

Look at that hair!

I love Avery's sweet face in this picture. She looks like such a little doll. Avery was so excited to see my mom. It was really cute to see them together. She wanted to show 'Nette' her whale jammies. She really loves these. Whenever my mom would leave the room Avery would panic and start whimpering, "Nette...Nette!" So cute.

Butterfly House

By Friday morning my mom, dad, brother and his family were all at our little townhouse. My dad took everybody to the butterfly house. I think it was a big hit. There is a little gift shop where you first walk in and Allison said, "Oh, it looks like there is some good shopping here!" We all chuckled. I think it must be genetic...

I think everybody was surprised at how many butterflies there actually are that fly around in there. They are everywhere. The kids (and adults) got pretty excited. We got some really cute pictures of the kids and my parents. It is the first time that my parents have ever had all of their four grandkids together at once.

One of the rules about the butterfly house is that you are not allowed to touch any of the butterflies. This wasn't a problem at all until we were getting ready to leave and a butterfly landed on my brother's head. Since we weren't allowed to touch them he just had to leave it there. It stayed there for at least five minutes while my brother walked around. Pretty funny.

After we finished looking at the butterflies we took the kids to the carousel. Avery and Allison really enjoyed it...Dylan...not so much :) I'm not sure if we've ever mentioned it before...but Missouri isn't really known for their customer service/people skills. The lady at the carousel was no exception. It's no wonder that Dylan got freaked out. My dad got in trouble once and I got reprimanded twice...all before the carousel even started. Dylan started off on a really tall horse but got a little scared because it was so high off of the ground. He wanted to sit on that little bench they had. My dad went with him. As the carousel went around the corner we watched my dad grab Dylan and put him on top of a horse. But it wasn't a horse that went up and down, just one that stayed still. The carousel came around again and as my dad and Dylan disappeared around the corner we watched my dad grab Dylan again and put him on top of one of the moving horses. We were laughing so hard as we watched from the sidelines. I am surprised that my dad did not get caught and that we didn't get banned from the butterfly house carousel.

After that we stopped and got some lunch at the Steak 'n' Shake. It was a pretty fun day.

Last Cooking Class

Last Wednesday Avery had her 4th and final cooking class for our session.

We started by making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

After that we made little pizza cups. There was a big plate of pepperoni out and Avery kept shouting, "Pepperoni! Pepperoni!" Then she started sneaking them off the plate while the teacher explained what we were supposed to be doing. She was putting on a show for the other moms and the teacher. I think by the time we got down to making the pizza cups Avery had already eaten 5 or 6.

We made the pizza cups and when everybody was done there was one pepperoni left on the plate. The teacher picked up the plate and said, "Does anybody want this last pepperoni?" and put the plate right in front of Avery. Avery was kind of staring off into space so the teacher repeated again, "Does anybody want this last pepperoni?" She put the plate right in front of Avery's eyes and Avery smiled and grabbed the last pepperoni.

For dessert the kids made dirt cups. The all got to take turns mixing up the pudding. Then we crushed the oreos and put it on top of the pudding. The kids got to pick out 4 gummy bugs to put in their "dirt." Avery was all over the pink and purple bugs.

The class was a lot of fun and as you can see from the pictures Avery really enjoyed the food, especially the dirt cup.

Al's New Car

I guess it has been a busy week, but I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Al and his new car! Al LOVES his car. The fact that it has air conditioning makes it a ton better than his old car already. Now if it would warm up here he could actually use the air conditioning.

Al's car is a KIA Optima. It is quite a bit roomier than his old car and has a lot bigger trunk. It gets great gas mileage, which he needs since he drives downtown every day. We got really lucky with Al's car and found one in Missouri that had never been smoked in. And it hardly had any miles on it!

We drove out to Quincy, Illinois last Saturday to pick up both mine and Al's cars. We called each other back and forth on our cell phones comparing our new rides. We couldn't believe how smooth and quiet they were compared to our old cars...no vibrating...no smoke...no deafening exploding noises. We had to really watch our spedometers because we were used to relying on the shakiness/loudness of our cars to tell us how fast we were going.

I almost think that Al was glad that his car broke down in the ghetto so that he could get this car which he is thrilled with. Almost. I saw how stressed out and sad Al was in the last few weeks to know that this wasn't true. But we are all glad that he has a lot more reliable transportation to get him in and out of the city and home safely to us.

2nd Cooking Class

Wednesday Avery had her second cooking class. We couldn't make it the week before, with everything going on, so I was glad that we were able to go this week. Avery was a little shy when we got there and kept hugging my legs, but she warmed up after a few minutes. She even answered a few questions that the teacher asked!

This time we made ham and cheese rolled up in cresecent rolls. Then the teacher baked them so that the cheese was all melted. While they baked the kids decorated sugar cookies. Avery's were loaded with the sprinkles. But when I looked around I saw that hers were pretty tamed compared to some of the other kids!

After the cookies the kids sat at a long table and strung fruit loops on a piece of yarn to make a fruit loop necklace. Avery's necklace wasn't very full...for every one piece she put on the yarn she ate 3 or 4 others. She likes the green fruit loops the best, even though they all taste the same. The other moms found this to be very amusing. They watched as Avery would scout out all of the green ones and eat them.

This coming week is our last class. I am sad that it will be over. I think Avery has really enjoyed it.

It doesn't get any cuter than this...

Sunday Best

Avery absolutely loved her Easter dress this year. She kept twirling around and making the skirt of the dress flair around her. Al and I think she is looking so grown up.

It snowed on Easter Sunday, so after we took these pictures we bundled Avery up in her white cardigan and then her big red dress coat. It was funny to see all of the other little girls come into church with their pretty summer dresses underneath their big heavy coats.

The Easter Bunny came!!

Yesterday morning Avery woke up and found her Easter basket waiting for her on the couch. She was so excited! The Easter Bunny left her some Little Einstein figures and some other fun little toys and treats.

Harold the Helicopter has been bumped out of bed to make room for Annie and June.

Avery was very happy to see that the Easter Bunny also left her some Starburst jelly beans, one of her new favorite treats. Avery wanted to eat them for breakfast today. She loves her jelly beans.

Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday morning we had a little Easter egg hunt for Avery.

I hid 8 little plastic eggs around our familiy room for Avery to find.
She did a really good job on her own this year! Last year I remember directing her from egg to egg, but she seemed to get the concept this year and found the first 3 or 4 without being prompted.

The difference this year being that as soon as she found an egg she wanted to open it immediately and scarf down the chocolates before moving on to the next one. We let her do this a few times but then moved her along to find the other eggs so that she wouldn't get too sick!

I keep thinking that one of these years we will be able to have a little egg hunt outside, but it was in the low 40's yesterday.

As you can tell from the pictures, Avery really enjoyed the hunt.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Avery loved coloring the Easter eggs last night. We got her the Disney princess pack, which is why she's wearing the crown in the top picture.

We had spoons in all of the glasses, but Avery liked the hand approach better.

I really love her facial expressions. She is so entertaining and is full of personality.

We tried to explain to Avery that she needed to be gentle with the eggs, but we're still working on that concept. I would hand Avery an egg to put in the dye and she would toss it in, sending little waves of dye out of the glasses. I'm glad the table was covered. It was fun to watch her enjoy herself so much. A couple of the eggs suffered some cracks. I think Avery got a little over excited and squeezed them just a little too hard.

Al and I were a little worried about the dye coming off of her hands. As you can see in the last picture they were pretty covered. But it actually came off pretty well. I was trying to imagine how Avery would look on Easter Sunday in her pastel dress with bright blue and orange dye up and down her arms.

In the last picture Avery is showing off her dyed hands and kind of doing "touchdown." We thought it was appropriate since she was wearing her Beetdigger shirt.

Harold the Helicopter

I took this picture a while ago but am just getting around to posting it. Avery loves Thomas the Train and knows the names of most of the other trains in her books and on the shows.

Her new favorite is Harold the Helicopter. My mom gave him to Avery for part of her Easter present. We kind of gave it to her early just because she's been a real trooper this last week.

As you can see, she was thrilled with her new addition. She wanted him to sleep in her bed every night. I was surprised to go in and see her a couple of hours later, still holding onto Harold.

She's also wearing her "fuzzies." That is what she calls her fleece jammies. She has a purple pair too, which she highly prefers over the pink ones, but they were in the wash. Avery will pull them out of her laundry basket and beg me to put them on her. I have to admit that I've indulged her a few times.

Our first cooking class

Yesterday was Avery's first Little Chef class. Avery's tumbling class got pushed to April and so they bumped her Little Chef class up to March. We were the first ones there and Avery walked into the big kitchen pretty timidly. We walked around exploring for a while and then more little kids showed up. There were 3 other little girls and one little boy. Avery was one of the youngest ones there.

The first thing the teacher had the class do was wash their hands. Then they got to work. There was a huge butcher table and the teacher had set chairs up so the kids could stand at the table. Each child had a bowl of dough and a bowl of cheese. There was also a communal bowl of green pepper slices. Avery was pretty heavily tempted by that cheese and kept touching it. At one point she got a mouthful almost to her mouth but I told her we had to wait until we heard what the teacher wanted us to do.

We made pizza caterpillars! Avery and I divided the dough into little segments and then rounded them and flattened them out (Avery loved this). Then we got to put little mushroom pieces in for legs. After that they had to bake for a little bit. While they baked we got to make peanut butter play-dough. The teacher passed out samples before we got started so the kids could taste what they were going to make. It was really easy and all of the kids loved it. The teacher told the kids they weren't allowed to lick the spoon until they were done mixing their own bowl. Avery was really glad when we were done mixing. She took a huge bite of the dough off of her spoon. The teacher had the little kids throw away their spoons and bowls so we could get back to work on the pizzas. The kids really seemed to like lining up and throwing things into the trash.

As we finished the peanut butter play-dough the timer for the pizzas went off. The teacher passed out the caterpillars to the kids. When Avery got hers back she lowered her head to the caterpillar and took a big bite out. Everybody thought that was funny. The teacher passed out little bowls of sauce and pepperoni. Avery helped me put the sauce on but when it came to the pepperoni she just kept shoving them into her mouth instead of on the caterpillar. While she chewed up her mouth full of pepperoni I put some on the caterpillar. Then I helped stick in the green pepper antennae. Avery finally got to put the cheese on--she dumped the whole bowl on top before I had time to show her how to sprinkle it on, but we were able to make it work.
While the pizzas baked again the kids got to sit at a table and color pictures. When the pizzas were done the teacher passed them out again and the kids each got a napkin and a cup of apple juice. Then they got to eat their little caterpillars. Avery picked all of the pepperoni off and ate them. She was pretty happy with her work.

After we were done we cleared our spot and got cleaned up so we could go. Avery went in and said and waved bye-bye to her teacher. She also said thank-you. It was so cute!! On the way home Avery kept saying, "Bye-bye to the teacher! Bye-bye to the teacher!" I think she will be really excited when we go back next week.

Taking a Nap

Yesterday I put Avery down for a nap. She had been acting tired all morning and then fell asleep at 12:30 on the way back from Target. I carefully carried her to her bed but she woke up (not happy) when I lay her down. She wanted her ba-ba and so I went down to the kitchen to get her some milk.

I brought it back up and everything seemed fine. Her eyes were already falling closed. I went downstairs and Al called me on his way to a clinic out in O'Fallon. As I was talking to him I could hear little bumps and thuds above my head. After I hung up I went upstairs and listened at Avery's door. There were definitely noises coming from inside.

I opened the door and found this: Avery standing in her shirt and princess moon boots. She had moved all of her stuffed animals to her little table and was playing with her little bunnies, making them "hop hop hop!"

That was the end of yesterday's nap.