3, three

Our sweet little girl turned 3 this past week! & we made the big announcement that she would also be a big sister to baby sparks #3. Her birthday theme was a cow/farm thing. We had a cow train, picture area with hay & fake barn doors, a red wagon w/ hay & a bounce house to keep the kids entertained. Of course we served burgers (& hot dogs) for lunch. Then we had everyone come inside for a video before cupcake time. We showed Ava over the past 3 years of various vacations, playdates, etc. Then the end we said something like "& speaking of 3", where we showed a video clip of me explaining to Ava that she is going to be a big sister (& that's what her shirt said). & that when her dad got home, she would tell him she would be a big sister. It took a couple of people a little longer to "get it" then I thought (my mom), but in the end everyone's excitement is what I really wanted to see. It's wonderful to share such special news with people that have been on our "journey" with us.

So, here's to threes!

Love is... CHRISTmas

Christmas brings alot of different emotions. Excitement, caring, giving, loving, sharing. But sometimes I catch myself being negative... with the hectic schedule, attempting "fairness", spending too much money. Priorities and prospective I'm reminded of.
Bottomline, it's a time of year that I get to spend the most time with my family. And that, is love.
We went to Chattanooga with the Summers/Pounders/Carroll families the weekend before Christmas. We had a wonderful lodge overlooking downtown. Brian, Ava & I had the "basement" level... I affectionately named the "basement bungalow". We spent a day downtown at their riverfront carousel & dinner at Sticky Fingers. We also went on a train ride, which was a big hit. We have Christmas tradition where my brother-in-law reads the Christmas story & my dad says the Christmas prayer. My sister makes this amazing breakfast, her homemade biscuits included! Then we let all the kids open their gifts first, they get to play while the adults open their gifts. It seems to work out great for all.
Christmas day we stay at our home & Brian's mom is there for the morning festivities. Big breakfast where chocolate gravy is a tradition. Ava took a bit of time to get excited that morning, but once she started opening gifts, she loved it. We are all about "less is more". Her "big" gift was an art easel.
New Years around the corner, we are up in the mountains of Gatlinburg with friends. I love vacations and am so thankful that we are blessed to be able to "go and go". I joke that Ava has seen more of God's country in her 2 years, then I did before being an adult. It's nice to be able to enjoy all these firsts with her.
Happy 2010 to all!!

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...

I am thrilled (after two previously failed attempts)... I have some great photos of Ava at 2 (well, 2 1/2). I met a neighbor (last week), thru a neighbor and she is so talented, but says she's still "learning", so she offered to practice photography on Ava. Heck yeah! I'll let her. Anytime, anyplace. One of my fav is of Ava holding her lovey... she loves her lovey & sleeps with it (has 2 others) every night. The super special side note, is this one was Maddux'. Hence the title of this blog :) The photographer is anetteball.blogspot.com

The past couple of months have brought lots of time with family & friends! I love the social life and think it's a blessing to be surrounded by so many wonderful people! Brian & I celebrated our 8th anniversary this month. Woohoo! And our gift, is decorating our living room wall. Ha! I've been trying to figure out what to do with this massive wall we have in our two-story living room. A friend and I went browsing and brainstorming last week and I think we have our "gameplan". Yeah! Speaking of games, ROLL TIDE!! Loving that Alabama football (and SEC football and NFL football) is back in full force. Enjoyed watching the game with our neighbors, eating good ole BBQ and the icing on the cake... Bama won (of course)!

Ava has accomplished alot these past couple of months. She is fully potty trained! "potty dance, potty dance". It took about two weeks of alot of consistency and reminders. I kept her on the hardwood floors in a camping chair those two weekends when at home and even though "accidents" happened, it seemed to scare her and she wanted to do everything she could to get to the potty. I did everything to encourage too... have her sit on the potty for several minutes, offer gum/candy rewards; and when she went #2, she would get a poo-poo puzzle prize (TMI)! Speaking of puzzles, she's learned how to do all of her puzzles (she has ~6) and loves to "race" with one of us to see who can complete the fastest. And she's been learning how to count things, the main "trick" was I have her touch things as she counts them; just looking or pointing didn't do the trick. Brian is now trying to teach her subtraction. Goodness!

I am now a proud owner of an iphone! Even though I "blossomed" late with this piece of technology, I feel I have caught up mighty fast! I love it. I love that I can be productive on the go. As a mommy, a full time working woman and a wife with a social life... it's the best "tool" in my toolbox :) I need to see if there's a good blogging app... ha!

This month I enjoyed a week off from work (not planned by me, but it came with the "bad economy territory"). I used it as my "get er done" week and worked really hard to clean up a few things in the house, enjoyed some me time, hosted a neighborhood playgroup and spent lots of time with my little mini-me. It was a blessing in disguise.

Hope this finds you all well! We're blessed and happy, that's for sure! Keep in touch!

Sparks Sparkler

So... our 4th of July was full of festivities this year, thanks to our 'hood :) I can't say enough about the great neighborhood we have now called home for ~10 months. They had their annual 4th of July parade that the event lover in me, had to participate in. You decorate strollers, wagons, bikes or even golf carts (someday that will be me)... & parade thru the neighborhood... firetruck leading the way. As you can tell from the pic I had fun decorating Ava's stroller (the jogging stroller I found on craigslist for $20, woohoo!). Her sign said "Sparks Sparkler" and we threw out bags of red hots that said "sparks are hot... red hot... happy 4th of july". We ended at the park where a bounce house, pool, firetruck tours & sweet stop sweets were ready & waiting. I hope you all enjoyed your time with family as much as we did.

Now, I'm sad because it's already August & the summer is trying to end on us!

Happy summer, summer time!!

Beach Bums

It was so nice going to the beach with family for almost a week. We usually do those long weekends, but we stayed 5 nights this time. I haven't been to Gulf Shores in 5 years. We are usually Destin beach bums. But I must say, Gulf Shores is recovering well! We loved eating/playing at the Hangout (foosball tables, live band, sand pit for the kids, open air shopping), LuLus (sand, sand everywhere!, ate on the deck outside, watched dolphins, yummy food) & then to the Wharf where we road their famous ferris wheel, did a little souvenir shopping and dinner at Guy Harvey's on the deck overlooking the marina (my dream boat was out there).

I love the summer and really enjoy taking a day here and there to spend it with Ava. I get so sad thinking about the hours she's at "school", but I am thankful that God has blessed me with a job that has semi-flexible hours and tons of time off (even though one week includes a furlough week - no pay - that was just announced).

Before we left for the beach, Brian's sweet Grandmother passed away, she was 92. Pretty amazing, huh? Her name was Callie... which is who we named Ava after and I'm so glad we did. She's the last of our grandparents here on earth. It reminded me how much I miss my grandparents, and how thankful we all should be to have any that are still in our lives. Their legacy is just something we should be honored to have some part of.

Hope you all are having a great summer! We sure are :)

2 on 2/22

Our little girl is growing up so fast. We had a fun Princess/Castle themed party. We had a "character" princess come dressed up for pictures w/ the little ones, we had a castle cake and castle bounce house. Birthday parties these days are just over the top... but the party planner in me can't simmer it down... :)

Enjoy the pic of our sweet little girl beside the inflatable cake we hope to take her picture in front of every year until she's 22... well maybe not 22... but at least 10 or so...

Fa La La La La.... & Facebook

Thought I needed to post a picture of Ava at Christmas. Although we explained over and over the true meaning of Christmas... at her age she knew that every manger scene in the house had "baby Jesus" and that we would sing "Happy Birthday Jesus"... there's only so much a 22 month old could comprehend. Toys are easily comprehended :)

After 4 months we are settling into the new house, but as my decorator thumb keeps popping up... I keep telling myself, "one room at a time, one room at a time". We absolutely love our new location, central to everything.

Finally, I have now become a "facebook-er"... so as much as I hate to say it, I probably won't write more than quarterly here. But I'll keep it up. I love the name of my blog (sparks R flying)and wouldn't dare give it up! So if you haven't joined FB, please do! I have lots of pics out there. It does kind of freak me out how that even though only friends see my page there, I feel like I've given up any privacy I once had... good ole technology.

Happy 2009!