Ava was absent from the Halloween party. We didn't think she would enjoy the party because the kids would have "shoo'd" her away and she would have gotten very upset (rightfully so). She got to spend the night over at Grandmom's house instead. The next morning, Ava found remnants from the party and even tried out some of the props.
If we would have had two of the same wigs, we could have had another costume set for Ava and Daddy. Dr. Suess has these characters in his story called Thing One and Thing Two. They are basically twins and have become quite popular with parents who have twin children or young children close in age. Ava could have been the "mini me" version of her Daddy ;-)
How do you eat with these things?
This was taken Monday morning at the daycare. I didn't realize Ava had confiscated something from the Halloween stash until we walked into the classroom. I started to take her coat off and her hands wouldn't come out of the sleeves because her hands were bunched up in little fists. I asked her to show me what she had and this is what she produced.
The Halloween Party Greeter...Commander Codi (aka our son) Guest arrivals
Pin the tail on the cat (p.s. our black and white cat, Marley did not want to participate in this game)
The Popcorn Exchange game (transfer popcorn from one bowl to another)
The aftermath of the Popcorn relay game
Freeze Dance game (dancing to Thriller and The Monster Mash) Guess what it is. (we filled five pumpkins with gooey, icky stuff and the kids had to guess what it was) The most popular game of the evening was Apple Bobbing. Towards the end of the evening, the girls wanted to do the Apple Bobbing game 4-5 times and the boys went down to the basement to play Guitar Hero.
Michael and I spent Friday night putting up Halloween decorations and most of Saturday preparing for Sebastian's first Halloween party on Saturday night. He invited ten kids from his class. Six RSPD'd and two just showed up. When the parents would call to RSVP, they asked us if it was a birthday party and we told them no, it was just a party. The parents responded by saying we were very brave. :-)
Believe it or not, the hardest part of the preparations was making the cupcakes. I am not a very good baker. I can cook boxed cakes, brownies, cookies and cupcakes but don't ask me to make anything from scratch. I love to flip through cookboook and magazine pages but when I look at the baking creations from books/magazines or people's blog sites, I get soo intimidated. The only creativity I have is only in my head.
The only reason the first plate of cupcakes look "festive" and yummy is because I had the sprinkle toppings and the Halloween creature decals to place on top of the cupcakes. ;-)
My sad attempt to make "pumpkin" cupcakes. I even had the pumpkin cupcake pan molds. They came out of the cupcake pan okay but when I applied the icing and drew pumpkin faces, that's when my designs went a little haywire. You could barely tell they were pumpkins after the icing was applied. They looked more like ghost blobs. They tasted good anyway ;-)
Ava decided she wanted to ride inside the grocery cart instead of sitting in the front seat. She saw the fruit cups in the cart and wanted to sample them. So not only was she pulling everything from the shelves and putting them in the cart, she was trying to open them as well! Let's just say I was exhausted because I would have to backtrack to put stuff back on the shelves AFTER I realized they didn't belong in the cart. By the way, why do other grocery store patrons think it's cute and funny to hear some Mom say "No, No....put that back, we don't need that!" at least a hundred times? I certainly did not find it amusing ;-)
On Sunday my Mom's best friend went back to Texas after a three week visit. Ava and I went over to say goodbye and my Mom showed me a picture that her friend had brought with her. It was a picture of the three of us taken in 1985 when her friend came to visit us in Cairo, Egypt. We were living in Egypt because of my Dad's job and I think I was in either 11th or 12th grade. We got a good chuckle from the picture because you can tell by the hairstyles that it was from the "80's". My brother suggested that we take another picture of the three of us for a "before" and "after" picture (as a souvenir). So take a look at 24 years of memories!
This was taken a few weeks back when the weather was warmer and we could ride in the car with the window down. Some afternoons when I pick up Ava, she is in a singing mood and will provide me with entertainment all the way home. I love how she looks in the back seat, singing and smiling through her crooked sunglasses.
Ava learned how to put on her jacket at the daycare a few weeks ago. I didn't catch it on video until weeks after the fact. But it was something new to Mommy and Daddy ;-)
A few weeks ago Michael was eyeing this Epiphone electric guitar he saw during a blues band concert. Well he didn't have to drop major hints to me because he did his research for two weeks, went around to music stores and shopped on the internet and finally found his guitar. He even sold one of his old guitars as a "trade-in". He was going to wait until Santa brought it but I told him that Santa would have probably picked the wrong guitar!
Here is Michael practicing on his new toy ;-)
....and here is Sebastian and Ava showing their talents. (sorry for the loud cat scratching singing, I was trying to keep up)
After I downloaded the videos from last night's bubble bath extravaganza, I figured out who Professor Wilson was. Apparently Prof. Wilson is a science teacher and I wasn't sure if Ava was happy to see the professor or a little skeptical. I thought the professor looked more like Colonel Sanders myself. You be the judge.
No matter how hectic our days become or how stressful life is, at the end of the day, I LOVE witnessing moments like this one below. My heart just flows over because I know my two children do actually love each other. I feel I'm doing my part as a parent to grow and nurture my kids into wonderful, loving little human beings.
Etiquette? There is no such thing as ice cream etiquette when it comes to two year olds.
"Yeah, I LOVE ice cream" "Got any questions?"
*Doesn't she look like she's "drunk" of ice cream? She was actually two hours over due for a nap and her eyes were so droopy. But that didn't stop her from polishing off lunch and dessert at Friendly's. ;-)
Speaking of expressions, Sebastian's eyes are very animated even behind a cascade of bubbles. He was making Ava giggle and scream with delight with his "Professor Wilson" imitation. I don't know who Wilson is but he was pretending that class was in session and Ava was the pupil. He really should join theater....
I love Ava's animated expressions. We were just looking around in the Ann Taylor store and I saw this hat. The hat looked ridiculous on me but looked fantastic on Ava. Especially when she makes those faces ;-)
My friend June sent me two pictures she took in 2007 at our house. It was a pleasant surprise to get the pictures since I don't look at Ava's early pictures very often. All her pictures are on my back up hard drive and not on my laptop. I learned my lesson when my laptop crashed and burned last year.
I think Ava was about nine months old in this picture. Sebastian (age 6) and Miss Mary (age 2)
This weekend we took the big plunge and committed a few hours for "potty training". Ava got to wear her big girl underwear and we made her sit on the potty every 10 minutes. After a few hours, she started getting the idea and would tell us when she wanted to sit on the potty. We still have to beat the other potty training but that will be another weekend. She is also practicing at the daycare during the week. She has now graduated to pull up pants ;-) Daddy sat on the kitchen chair and blocked Ava from the sitting on the family room couches.
Uh....a little privacy pleeeaase.
This is what Ava thought of the whole potty training idea.
The whole family took part in the potty training afternoon. We sat around and did puzzles, colored, etc. We know your'e a princess Ava but I don't think Princes Leia wore toilet paper rolls on her head.
Ava's hair is getting so long now that I can braid her hair without pulling them up in piggy tails first. I had to laugh though because when she wears her coat, her braids point upwards like Pipi Long Stocking.
This is what she looks like when her braids are straightened :-P
Every morning when I drop off Ava at the daycare, she has to see me off at the door. After I put her lunchbox away and her breakfast on the table, she will walk over to the door, open it, give me a couple hugs and kisses goodbye, close the door and blow kisses through the window. Some days, we will go through this routine 2-3 times until I'm sure she won't come out of the room any more ;-)
Ava making sure I'm leaving. Since she can't look out the little window, she will open the door to take a peek. I see you Mommy! I love you.....mmmmmmwaaaaaaah!
The name of my blog page represents the journey of Mother, Son and Daughter. I have "Come Full Circle" as an orphan in Vietnam and as a parent of two Vietnamese children. I have returned to my homeland and I am starting a new chapter with my family. This is a story of hope and dreams. It is a new beginning for all of us.
How do you eat with these things?
This was taken Monday morning at the daycare. I didn't realize Ava had confiscated something from the Halloween stash until we walked into the classroom. I started to take her coat off and her hands wouldn't come out of the sleeves because her hands were bunched up in little fists. I asked her to show me what she had and this is what she produced.
Rubber spiders!
Believe it or not, the hardest part of the preparations was making the cupcakes. I am not a very good baker. I can cook boxed cakes, brownies, cookies and cupcakes but don't ask me to make anything from scratch. I love to flip through cookboook and magazine pages but when I look at the baking creations from books/magazines or people's blog sites, I get soo intimidated. The only creativity I have is only in my head. 
