Family time, tree shopping, putting up lights, and potty training (again) ....

Hello, hello hello...... These are for some reason in a very random order!!! We had a great and joyus Thanksgiving holiday celebrated up in Iowa. There are some family picstures of my family, my sister in law and my brother. Then here are a few pictures of Ava showing off her "big girl" panties!!! YAY, on our second time around we finally have masted the pottying thing! SO proud of Ava  (and mommy and daddy) for surviving potty training!
  Mira an Jason put up our christmas lights this weekend and I might add that they look beautiful! We decided to go all LED this year, hopefully they will last for 25 years like the pacakage guarantees...HA.
 Lastly, we finally picked out our tree this year! After 6 different stops we finally found one that was under $100.oo NO joke! Every year since my husband and I were kiddos our families have always cut down our trees, our family has always gone to the White Pine chirstmas tree farm in Southwest Topeka..... but no longer...The man that ran that farm finally decided to retire and so this year we went on a hunt for the perfect tree to cut down! No luck.... the only place we found in Topeka was closed...so long story short we ended up at Lowe's. We had a great time browsing through all the trees and we finally found one. It was fun, but a little part of me wishes that tree farm was still open...awww memories! Well pictures of the decorated house and tree are to follow, stay tuned :) Happy decorating to all my family and friends!
Love, Amber

Fall is in Full Swing!!!!

smile! Life is GOOD!!!

apparently...this is what we need to get used to seeing! family day at the park..oh and text messaging has become MUCH more important than swinging with her sister....ohhhh (sigh)

swinging at the pumpkin patch.

daddy and his girls...they looked thrilled! (the hay rack ride was starting!!)

the simple joys to make her giggle..

love this picture!

Ava's BFF... Maddy

daddy getting Ava ready for Halloween at Ava's school

She was so excited that she could reach the branches!!

yes, of course there was a leaf fight.... no worries, Mira won this one!

I'm a Big kid now....

Momma and Ava in the leaves

Awww...

Have agreat day !

Happy Fall !!!

Finally an update and some new pictures!!!!

Well....I am finally updating the blog!! I know it has been a very long time since I "really" updated with pictures and everything!!! Life has taken over for a couple of months. Everyone is keeping busy and the kids are growing so fast. Mira turned 12 this week and I can hardly believe the changes that are happening. She is turning into such a beautiful smart young lady. Ava is as ounrey as ever. Of course she is only 2 1/2 and I am learning a new heightend sense of patience every day. I have been embarassed in public more times with a screaming fit throwing two year old than I care to remember. I know it is a phase but I can only imagine what "phase" is next :) ha ha actually all kidding aside I am enjoying every day and every minute of it. Jason and I are trying to take in every day that seems to be flying by. Every year it amazes me how fast October comes and goes. Anyway we had a great october and here are some pics to show you what we have been up to.... enjoy this is a charactiure of Mira when we went to the maple leaf festival.

Halloween---- miss cheerleader!!! too cute :)

Grandma and Ava trying to choose which candy she can have and which candy she has to give to daddy.....

We went to a trunk or treat this year, great idea for little kid leggs....we'll do it again next year thats for sure :)

Ava got to go to her first live concert with her Grandma Ruth. Sesame Street Live!!! She had so much fun...oh and so did Ava !! ha ha

Ava looks tired, full of cotton candy and worn out.....push up those glasses missy! must have been a great concert!

ABC's of Amber

(yes I stole this from a good friend's blog..... :) Great Idea.....

**A - Age: 29...ahhhhh



**B - Bed size: King




**C - Chore you hate: LAUNDRY




**D - Dog's name: Porky




**E - Essential start your day item: cOfFeE




**F - Favorite color: Fuschia




**G - Gold or Silver: Silver




**H - Height: 5'7"




**I - Instruments you play: I played the clarinet when I was younger




**J - Job title: Child of God,Wife, Mom, Daughter, Sister, Friend, Teacher-- YES in that order




**K - Kid(s): Mira (12) Ava (2.5)




**L - Living arrangements: hmmm.....married with children, 2 story house kids upstairs parents downstairs, family room that has too many laughs to even remember, kitchen that is always a gathering place and 2 beautiful girls bedrooms. And yes, Porky has his own little home too :)




**M - Mom's name: Kathy, Joan and Ruth




**N - Nicknames: Sis




**O - Overnight hospital: Postpartum Recovery




**P - Pet Peeve(s): caughing and not covering mouth, overdue haircuts, and whining




**Q - Quote from a movie: "You have a baby.....in a bar?"




**R - Right or left handed: Right




**S - Sibling(s): Aj- best brother ever!




**T - Time you wake up: 5:15 like clock work




**U - Underwear: seriously...yes I wear them




**V - Vegetable you dislike: turnips, okra, sprouts and beets




**W - Workout style: Doing workouts that are unintentional.....no really




**X - X-rays you've had: Dental and my hip




**Y - Yesterday's best moments: hearing the giggling of a child...definently the best sound EVER




**Z - Zoo favorite: Monkeys and Apes

WOW! Life has been BUSY.....

No, I haven't forgotten about the family blog......I can see how one might ave thought that though :) Well life has really gotten away from us this past month! I don't think I have taken even 1 lonely picture lately...... I really dont have much to blog about except that so far we are all healthy and surviving this cold fall that were having! I am wondering where the "fall" went because if you ask me this is WINTER!!! BRRRRRR......anyway school for me is off and running and the kids are great this year. My college classes are pretty much kicking my toosh! Jason has been keeping busy working lately, which is great given this economy lately...... Ava is growing like a week and we have indeed entered the "REPEAT" stage of life.....basically she remembers everything she has heard and then waits until the most Prime time to use it......I think you get my drift. She is one smart cookie, sings her whole alphabet, counts to 20--most of the time, sings twinkle twinkle, 1-2 buckle my shoe, row row row your boat, and ring around the rosie pertty much every day every hour and every minute....FUN FUN FUN!!! We will be headed out to the annual pumpkin patch this next week or so and I'm sure pictures will follow :) Stay warm and take care and hopefully I wioll blog again this next week or so with fun pics of the fam. Happy blogging! Happy Fall!

Sweet Autumn Clematis...mommy's favorite pic!

Every year I take pictures of my sweet Ava in the most beautiful vine of sweet autumn clematis on Grandma and Grandpa Taliaferro's porch. I look foward to these pictures every September.....here a few from the photos I took this week. The first time I took these pictures Ava was 4 months old, then 1 year and 4 months old, and now she is 2 years 4 months old. I will continue this tradition as long as the vine comes back....hopefully for many years to come! Enjoy!

thanks for viewing our family blog! have a blessed day, and don't forget to stop and smell the roses today!

september.....going going going....gone!

Here are a few shots of what we have been doing in September. We are back in full swing with our "school schedule" again. Ava's at school everyday and learning tons of fun stuff!! She knows her alphabet, and can count up to ten pretty well! She knows tons and tons of colors. IT is so much fun watching her explore and learn! Mira loves 6th grade and seems to be off to a great start at school too. Jason and I are just glad to be back to a form of
normalacy" again. Life is happening so fast right now and we are trying to enjoy everyday. Last weekend was Huff n Puff in Topeka, and since we moved out to the lake, we have front row seats to it now. 25 Hot air baloons took off at 7 am last saturday morning and it was beautiful watching them rise up and float off into the sunrise.

Ok.....so..... Everyday I drive by these beautiful sunflowers on the side of the road, well YES I finally stopped to "smell the flowers" I had to take a few pics of the girls....love it!

Enjoy your day! Love Amber