The Over Welcomed Houseguest....Winter.

(Icicles on our house)

                It is now May, and we are still wearing sweats and slippers. This Winter madness must end! I like the cold and all, but not in May. It snowed on May 1st, but I think that was the end of it. At least I hope. I miss my shorts, tanks tops, and flip flops. I never thought I'd say this but, "Come on Summer!"

I know it's been a couple of months since I last posted, so I will back up a bit to January. We rang in the new year in a very exciting way. We sat on the couch, watched TV, and were asleep by 11:00. That's just how we roll nowadays. Kyle celebrated his 37th birthday on the 4th. His co-workers took him to a happy hour party at Buffalo Wild Wings. I met up later with Ava to have some dinner and drive Kyle home. He had  a good time. As I recall, the rest of January was spent recuperating from the holidays.

               February brought Valentine's Day and Ava's friend Auti's birthday. The weekend after Valentine's Day, Cousin Debbie and Beau babysat Ava, so Kyle and I could go on a date. A much needed and overdue date. We ate at Texas Roadhouse for lunch, then headed to see the movie Identity Thief. It was a funny movie, but I probably wouldn't watch it again. 

The 25th was Auti's birthday. We were supposed to go to her party the day before, but a nasty snow storm kept us from leaving the house. The snow melted enough the next day to meet up at Little Monkey Business (an indoor playground), and to have some lunch at Red Robin. Ava and Auti really enjoyed themselves. They are such good friends! 

(Ava and me Valentine's weekend)

(Ava and Auti playing at Little Monkey Business)

                It was a somewhat busy March for us. It started off quiet, but by mid-month, all sorts of fun was happening. We took Ava to her first parade on St. Paddy's Day in downtown Colorado Springs. It was super cold that day, and we didn't dress appropriately, so we shivered through the whole thing. Ava loved it though. An hour and a half into it, I finally said, "I'm done! Let's go!" The parade was still going on, and there was no end in sight. I can only handle numbness in my fingers and toes for so long! So we headed to lunch at Old Chicago.

 The following Tuesday, Ava woke up really sick. I thought it was the 24 hour kind, but when she continued to throw up the next day with no sign of getting better, I took her to the doctor. To make things worse, Kyle called me as I was leaving to tell me that he wasn't feeling well either. Uh oh! I got her back home, where Kyle was already lying down. I knew at that point that I was going to be next. I just didn't know when. 

I made it to the next day just before dinner. We were all sick for the next 5 days. I think Ava started feeling better by Sunday, but wasn't 100%. It was a really miserable time for us. Kyle and I couldn't recall the last time either of us were that sick. Ever! I would not wish that on my worst enemy. 

Easter weekend followed. Our friends Matt, Tami, and Auti came over to have Easter dinner, and to have an egg hunt for the girls. They really got into it. 

March was also a busy month with birthdays. My niece Bridget turned thirteen on the 15th, my step father Pat was the following weekend on the 20th, and Cousin Debbie was on the 30th. 

Minus the horrible sickness we had, it was a great month. 

(Ava playing at the park in early March)

(Ava at the parade)

(Lunch at Old Chicago)

(Ava and Auti hunting Easter eggs)

                  

                  April was an important month. Ava turned three on the 8th, and my sister came for a visit on the 11th. On the 4th I had to go to the dentist. I had to return on the 17th for a deep clean and root scaling.  That's what I get for waiting so long to go. And not flossing. I got the difficult part out of the way, but I have to return at the end of May and early June for some fillings. I think that will be a cake walk compared to the root scaling. 

To celebrate Ava's birthday, I took her to Little Monkey Business for a play date with Auti. We then picked Kyle up from work and took Ava to her favorite eating place, Chic-Fil-A (or Chick il Ay as she used to call it.). 

My sister, Karen arrived on Thursday in the early evening. After two delays, she finally made it! Had a quick dinner at Chili's, then headed straight to the house where everybody pretty much prepared for bed and called it a day. Ava's birthday party was on Saturday (which is also my friend Robin's birthday). We had a Barbie themed party. We were supposed to have a Barbie cake, but the store ended up making it a Disney Princess cake. We just dismissed it and took it anyway. After getting it half off though. I think that made the cake taste even better after that! 

Karen departed early Sunday morning. It was a short visit, but it was really nice to see family. 

On the 20th, we took Ava to see Disney on Ice. She loved it! Her favorite character is Goofy. Just like her mama.
The rest of April was potty training time. I failed miserably on my first attempt. I reassessed, and started over a couple of days later so that Kyle could help over the weekend. By the end of the weekend she was about 80% trained. It was really nice to get that out of the way. It was also nice to go to the grocery store and pass up the diaper aisle! We are still working on it, but for the most part, she's got it down. 

(It's my party, and I'll pout if I want to)

(Ok, I'm better now)

      

           Hoping for some warm weather soon. May will be another busy one for us. Dentist appointments, Mother's Day (also my birthday), and an upcoming visit from Grandma Jones. Can't wait!

Falling into Winter

(Ava "Minnie Mouse")

               With Summer behind us, we started preparing for the Fall and all the festivities that it brought with it. In October we went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for "Boo at the Zoo" to trick or treat. This was Ava's first year to trick or treat, and we had a blast! She really took to it when she figured out that she got a treat just for asking for it. She got to do it all over again when we went to Manitou on Halloween night. Downtown Manitou is walking distance from our house, and every year, the people at all the shops sit outside and hand out candy to all the little ones. It is really fun. Ava enjoyed it. The only candy she will eat is Smarties, so mom and dad got to eat all the other candy for her. Ah, the perks of parenthood! 

                On November 16th, Kyle and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We made plans to go to dinner at a nice restaurant called Peppertree. About a week before the big day, Kyle somehow tore his ACL in his knee. He didn't know that at the time, he just woke up one morning with knee pain. After a couple of days, he saw a doctor. He was prescribed some meds, which made him loopy, so we decided to cancel dinner all together. I made dinner and we watched TV on our anniversary. It was a bit disappointing for both of us. Ten years is a big deal, but we'll make it up double next year. To top it off, we had to put a new alternator in the car, so the timing just couldn't have been more perfect. Sarcasm. It get's you through the day! 

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at Cousin Debbie's house. Then we hit the shopping scene for Black Friday. The crowds here are so tame compared to Houston crowds. We were able to walk into a store, find things we needed, and quickly get out. It was great! All in all it was a good November.

(Debbie's Thanksgiving table)

                     In December we did the usual. Put up the tree and decorations, shopped, watched the same ole Christmas movies we do every year. Around mid month, we met up with friends Matt, Tami, and Auti at The North Pole. It's about a 10 minute drive from our house. It's a Christmas themed amusement park. They are open year round. Unfortunately we picked one of the worst weekends to go. It was soooo cold and windy that day. We braved it anyway. It was the only weekend we could go. Once we got in, we headed straight to "Santa's House". Kyle and I were trying to pump Ava up to sit on Santa's lap, but when it came time, Ava absolutely refused! She held onto Kyle and would not let go. Needless to say, we didn't get a Santa picture this year. Maybe next year. Poor Ava. We did have a good time though.

(Ava, Auti, Kyle, and Matt at North Pole)

                 The following weekend, Kyle's parents and sister Suzi came to town to spend Christmas with us. We were very excited to see family. Ava had such a good time with everybody. She loves visitors! On Christmas Eve we went downtown to see Santa ride in on the firetruck. Since we knew Ava was not going to sit on his lap, we just took some pictures and hung out a bit with the crowd. It was bitterly cold and it was snowing, so we headed back to the house and had dinner. Christmas morning, everybody came up to the house for gifts. All I have to say is our daughter is really loved! I thought the tree was going to explode with presents! It was also my first white Christmas! It made the morning so perfect.  We ended up at Debbie's for dinner that evening. Sadly it was the family's last night in town, so we stayed as late as we possibly could before having to take Ava home to put her to bed. It was not easy seeing Grandma cry when she had to let Ava go during our goodbye's. We had such a great time with them, and we cherish every moment that we have with our family. Skype is great, but it just isn't the same. 

(Take 5. At least)

(Downtown Manitou Springs. Suzi, photographer)

(View from our street. Our house on left of pic)

(Family picture)

(Barb, Suzi, Mike, Kyle, Ava, myself, and Cousin Debbie)

                      We have a lot to remember in 2012. Some good, some bad. We saw a job loss, a second birthday, a surprise visit from family, a wildfire and evacuation, a two thousand mile road trip, the meeting of new friends, a first trick or treating experience, a milestone wedding anniversary, lots of car repairs, and more family visits! I hope that 2013 will be as good as 2012. Maybe even better! We really do have a lot to be thankful for.