not much is new.....

Hello Friends-
Not much is new these days! We are still getting a new routine down at home with dinner, chores and homework! I love having Mira live with us full time, she a such a blessing to have in my life. Ava is still ounrey....today her and her friends broke her glasses at school....yet again! Jason and I are plugging away at out jobs and everything is going strong right now....we are soooo ready for some fall weather and to get out our sweaters and open the windows! Life is good at the Taliaferros. Hope all is well on your enmd as well! Halloween is upon us and Ava is either going to be a good lil witch or a leopard pricness.....who knows! Of course Mira is too old this year (her words)...awww..... this is the first year that Mira won't be dressing up adn going door to door.....ahhhh memories!

Lots of First's.................,

Well there are many pictures that I snap on my phone because my camera is not handy..... FINALLY I have figured out how to put them on my computer and get them uploaded to the blog! I hope you enjoy some pictures that have really made our summer enjoyable. There are mnay " firsts " and I will explain those as we get to them. Enjoy....

Ava's first bike helmet and big girl bike with training wheels!

The day we moved my classroom accross town.... yes it was POURING rain and my dad, the great dad that he is, did most of the work while I complained about all my supplies getting wet...thanks dad!

Oh these two pictures I will treasure forever. We recently lost our beloved puppy Porky the pug. He was our family pet for 8 years. We will miss him greatly and we loved him dearly. Rest in peace Porkchop!

This was the day Mira had friends over and Ava soooo wanted to be a big girl and play with them...it was so cute...yet so sad at the same time! That's Mira's door and Ava was "snooping" haaa, Awwww gotta love sisters :)

Our Family does love to use chopsticks in our home and at restaurants....however there comes a place and time when we all must try to use chopsticks for the first time with out the "cheater" rubberbands holding them together...yes this was Ava's first attempt at our new fav restaurant in Lawrence...Noodles and Co on Mass Street...YUMMY!

It seriously took us like an hour to finish !

Best time of day....nap time!

Ava the explorer.....She almost threw those binoculars out the window...lesson learned...

windows on mommy LOCK!

awwww...date night with my hubby! First "bar" we've been to in ages.....oh what happened to those party days.......(sigh)

Family day at the park....Coach (my dad) came to visit Ava's preschool!

day at the park with granddaughter...1 tank of gas,

cramming into the teeny tiny train seat.....25cents,

sitting on the EXACT same train seat 28 years earlier with his daughter....priceless!

Dad you don't age a bit!

yes, as you can see by the enthusiam on Mira's face....this was her FIRST day of 7th grade. For those of you that don't know, Mira now lives with us full time. She began Shawnee Heights Middle School 2 weeks ago and LOVES it! She is doing great and has made a few friends so far too! She is a wonderful daughter and sister :) I "made" her stand still for this picture....it was this or at the bus stop.....really!

my FIRST attempt at french braids! I love them, they are girly, cute and easy...I will get better with time. I LOVE all the little things I get to do with my girls :) xoxoxo

This is my dad's FIRST career change in 33 years. He has left the field of Education,(retired...LOL) being a Principal and he has taken on a different passion of his.....FOOTBALL. Dad is the General Manager of the Wichita Wild, an indoor arena football league. Were so PROUD of you Daddy!!

This pic will have many many more to come. We are attmepting our first try at a "major home renovation" We are remodeling our backyard. We are adding a big cement pation, we are dying and stamping the concrete....it's all new to us! Redoing our deck and landscaping....well by "we" I mean Jason and the contractors...I don't plan on actually getting dirty.... :)

Yes, as many of you remember I attempted to cut Ava's hair about a year ago...I WILL NEVER do that again! This is her FIRST official professional haircut: :) She did wonderfully! It was only a trim and "even out my mistakes" and a bang trim....but so cute :) Yes I did save her first "curl"

This is our official END OF SUMMER PICTURE.....Fall is near, I can smell it in the air! Enjoy the last of the 90 degrees and Bring on the 60's!

Love always!

end of summer has come and gone! BACK TO SCHOOL!!

Well...summer is definently over and it sure flew by. I have been a TERRRIBLE blogger lately! Here are a few pictures of how we ended our summer. I went to a Lady GaGa concert and it was AWESOME!!! She was the best performer I have EVER seen in concert! She put on a 3 1/2 hour show! We definently got our money's worth :)

Ava has been in ballet since June and has loved it. She will be starting at the Dance Factory taking ballet and tap class in September. I think she really loved it this summer. Here are a few pictures of her first experience dancing.

I sure hope all of you are having a more eventful summer then we are. Things are starting to slow down on the homefront. I will post pictures of my new classroom as soon as I can remember to take my camera to school wiht me. I am at a new elementary school this year. I am at Highland Park Central Elementary. This school is really been a good experience for me for the first week of school, it sure makes me come home and truly appreciate my kids and upbringing. This is a VERY low income school and these kiddos really have to go with out so many things in life. I am thankful that I can provide a smile and a safe place for my students during the day!

For those of you reading this that didnt already know.....Mira has moved to live with us permanently for school. We used to have her on the weekends and summers and she went to school in Tulsa with her mom, but things drastically changed this summer and I am so happy that she is with us almost full time now! She began a new school this year. Shawnee Heights Middle School. Yes....middle school! She is in 7th grade and LOVING it!!!

I will blog more soon......really too much hasnt been going on lately...and I am OK with that!!!!!

Love,

The Taliaferros!

Vacation!!! Omaha Nebraska

Well our summer vacation was a short 2 1/2 hour drive north to the great city of Omaha! We had a blast. As you will see from our pictures, Mira brought along her best friend Alyssa too. This is our 2nd summer vacation that Alyssa has joined us on! They are tooooo funny together! We left early Friday morning and first went to the Henry Doorly Zoo, it was great until about 3:00 when EVERYONE was cranky tired and HOT, by HOT I mean 102 degrees and 9 trillion degrees with humidity. We had a great time. The zoo was fun but we didnt get too many pictures because the camera was burried at the bottom of the stroller...I'm sure all you mommies understand! However the girls loved the penguin exhibit the best. I loved the aquarium and we ended it with a gondola ride across the park, Which is basically a ski lift that takes you on a 20 minute ride. Fun Fun Fun! Then we went out to eat at the AMAZING PIZZA MACHINE. This place was a HUGE (like the size of a wal-mart) arcade, bumper cars, black light golf, kiddie play land. It had so much to do. The next day we started our day at the Childrens Musuem. This place was A-Mazing as well. We will definently be going back. Then headed over to the Durham museum and let the "big girls" observe and look around the old train station and exhibits. We then headed to an indoor water park, CoCo key Resorts. This was so much fun, but again not many pics because of the nature of the visit :) ha ha That night we took it easy and went out to a great new york pizza place called Zio's Pizzaria, again; it might be the best pizza I have ever eaten! The last day we went through a drive throgh Safari out west of Omaha. This was so much fun. Ava got to sit up front with us, there were trails to hike on and see the wolves and black bears. Other then that the animals came RIGHT UP TO THE CAR. Huge animals liek Elk, Bison, Buffalo, Deer, Random birds etc...it was worth the money and very neat to see it up close and personal. 

Enjoy the pics of our annual 2010 summer vacation.......... 

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY TO MY TRUE LOVE!

yes, Ava actually fell asleep for a wee bit at the water park