Where the wind comes sweeping down the...mountains??

This week Ava and I went to visit Sarah and Manny in Oklahoma.
We had been talking about visiting them for a while now, and this was the best week for us to get away for a mini vacation.
Ava and Manny had SUCH a blast playing together. He would grin from ear to ear and giggle so sweet when she would talk to him or laugh with him. Manny is definitely into the older girls already!

Ava made herself at home and LOVED being at Sarah's house. Every morning she woke me up saying "Good Morning mommy! I go play with Sae-wuh now."

 We didn't do too much besides relax and enjoy each other's company. Which is exactly what I needed! I thoroughly enjoyed the girl time and getting away from my work for a few days. And Sarah was such a great hostess. I'm sure she and I saved lots of minutes on our cell phone this week since we talk to each other basically all day, everyday. She seriously has become such a dear friend and we are so much alike it's crazy! I call her my "step sister". Haha!

 Get a load of the view from her back yard! Ava was running toward the downhill slope right here and I about had a heart attack. The girl is totally fearless. I gave her a talk about she would fall down and get hurt and mommy would cry. Do you think she cared? Not at all!

One day we headed to Fayettville, Arkansas to do a little shopping and meet up with some blogger friends/twitter buddies/sweet customers. Ha! We decided to make it a kid friendly lunch as I was dying to meet the kids just as much as the mommies, and met at Chic Fil A.

In random order...

Sarah and "Mariel" (Ava called him this all week)

Ava and Brody playing hard!

All the moms and kids. Missing in this picture is Jennifer's sister, Jill. She stopped by to say hi too, and I was so glad as I was wanting to meet her. She always cracks me up as I think we both have a similar sense of humor.

Jillian Francis. Could this baby BE any more precious?!?! I love that she was holding my face. SO smoochy!

Sweet Melissa and baby Grayson. I have been DYING to meet both of them. Melissa is so genuinely sweet and Grayson just makes you melt upon laying eyes on him. ADORABLE BABY!

(I took these pics from Jennifer's blog because I didn't take any of my own this day)

It's such a neat experience to meet people you feel like you have known forever through either reading their blog or chatting with them on twitter. It never gets old and I SO enjoy the visits! These girls were so easy to talk to and we would have talked all day had the kids not been in need of naps:)

We did some light shopping since the kids were ready to get home. By the end of the car ride both Ava and Manny were crying in the back and I was trying to destress by taking silly pics of myself in Sarah's huge glasses...

It didn't help in case you were wondering!

The day before we headed back to Texas we met up with one last twitter buddy, Whitney, at Target/Starbucks. I am such a goof and didn't get a picture of her. The best I got was of these two cuties riding in the shopping cart. Whitney was so sweet and we wanted to take her home to nanny our kids. She was so good with them! haha!

On our way back home after a great little getaway!



I took this picture on my way out this morning. Another beautiful view from the front of Sarah's house. I had NO IDEA Oklahoma had such big hills. I kept referring to them as mountains but Sarah says they aren't so. What do you think?!

Sarah, thanks for being such a great friend, for putting up with us for four days, and for all of the laughs! Can't wait to do it again in a few months!! Hope we are still invited...

Super Bowl? Super Snow!

This week has been a bit off for DFW. In fact, I'm not really convinced I'm in Texas anymore.
On Tuesday morning we got sleet and ice.
A TON OF IT! Ava had fun walking around the back yard discovering the white stuff on the grass.

Do you like her outfit? I'm fairly certain Aaron and I have had enough dressup this week to last 4 lifetimes.
The temps were in the single digits all week and so the ice never melted. The roads were HORRID.
We managed to make it to the grocery store on Thursday as we were completely out of groceries. Have you ever pushed a shopping cart full of groceries on ice? Ha! It should be a sport.

It was so cold that our pipes froze up and we had no cold water for two days. I'm praising God that we didn't have any busted pipes and they thawed out today!

She resembles Bret Michaels just a tad, doesn't she?
The weather resulted in school closures all week, which means we were all home, nice and verycozy every day. Sun up. Sun down. I just told Aaron that this week was a little taste of what retirement will be like, but harder since we had to be couped up with a demanding, busy toddler! We actually had a lot of fun just spending time with eachother. Or maybe we bonded because it was us against the child? HAHA!

Getting out Thursday helped the cabin fever subside. And it was also great that we got the groceries. Late Thurdsday night came round two. But this time it was about 6-8 inches of snow!
I know many people hate snow. Especially if you see it every day for months. But for us southern folks, it is magical! And oh my goodness, how beautiful?! Winter is so ugly and brown here, so I loved the new white blanket covering the ugly brown dead stuff.
We went out this morning and made some snow angels.
Aaron had to show Ava how it was done.

She looks like she is mad or crying but really the sun was just blinding her. Haha!

Next up was building our snowman. I was building and singing "Frosty the Snowman" until Aaron demanded that I stop the tune. He said I could sing "Johnny the Snowman" but Frosty was only for Christmas time. He is such a nerd.

Ava was interested in the building for all of 4 seconds. Then it was off to her own little world doing her own thing.
Oh well, we had fun making Johnny on our own.
Here is the finished Johnny.

Yes, Johnny is very in touch with his feminine side. But he is wearing his Dallas Cowboys cap to support the Jerry Jones family in their time of grief over the excessive loss of revenue during what was supposed to be the biggest week ever with the hosting of the Super Bowl and all.
Poor Jerry. Karma stinks sometimes.
And look! I learned how to use the self timer on my camera today!!

Perhaps tomorrow I will learn how to dress better...









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Yee haw for the stock show!

Saturday we went to the Ft. Worth Stock Show and had such a fun little family day!! The weather was unseasonably warm and it was nice to be out in the warm sunshine. I am SO not a fan of winter, especially January. It's so gloomy and ugly out, and I just really get depressed every year at this time. For no real reason. I am 95% convinced I have seasonal depression. Especially when days like this one come around and I am as happy as a lark and could dance in the sunshine all day long!
Ava saw lots of animals, which have always been a favorite for her. She loved seeing them up close and petting the big ol things.

We hit up the midway in the later blazing January heat (blazing for layered clothing and boots & jeans).
We rode the bears, where I got told by a 5 year old I was "too fat" to ride the bears. Kids these days. Haha! I know she meant I was too big.
I actually thought it was hilarious. But you better believe I did tattle tell on her. She needs to be taught the difference, ya know?

Daddy and Ava riding the helicopters.

Ava begged to ride this roller coaster. It was for the littles but still, a rolloer coaster is a roller coaster, right?
Have I ever mentioned how FEARLESS this child is? How since the age of 6 months I knew I had given birth to an adrenaline junkie? Wait! At the age of 6 seconds I should have know she was an adrenaline junkie. She tried to hold her breath for as long as possible and needed help breathing right outside of my womb.
Anyway, that child LIVES for this. Already.

I'm not even sure I have seen her so giddy. When it was over she was cheering so loudly you would have thought the Cowboys just won the Super Bowl (and we know that isn't happening anytime soon).

Last, we rode the teacups. Ava chose this as her "last ride" and of course she wanted the blue one! She loves blue just like her daddy.

She told me to go really fast and make her dizzy. So, her wish was granted and we had so much fun giggling and getting all dizzy. Nothing beats moments like those.