I am like a star

Ava is our little American Idol. She absolutely loves to sing and is always making up new and silly songs and loves to learn any new songs. I am like a star is one song we sing a lot at bedtime so when she broke into it today in the kitchen, I was not surprised. That is, until the end. I'm pretty sure I never used that ending. Here is her variation of the classic primary song:

I am like a star shining brightly
Shining for the whole world to see
I can do and say, happy things each day
For I know Heavenly Father loooooooooooooooovvvveeees my puppy! (note the puppy in her arms in the above pic)

Father of the Year

Rob has reached what he probably considers his greatest achievement as a father. Tonight after picking up our fast food (momma don't cook on Friday nights), we sat down on the couch and Rob reached for the remote. Then the following words came unprompted out of Ava's mouth:

"I wanna watch football daddy."

It's been about an hour and I still can't wipe the smile off his face. And I thought he was wrapped around her finger before.

Some recent Ava-isms

One of the best thing about 2 year olds is the way they talk and the things they say. Ava talks quite a bit for her age, in fact sometimes I forget she's only two. I remember reading once that when we learn new information, our brain tries to tie it to something we already know as a way to retain it. Here are some examples of what I interpret as Ava's brain doing just that. Either that or she's just two and says funny things:

"We saw shampoo the whale. I love shampoo the whale." (After seeing Shamu at SeaWorld this weekend)

"I wanna push the button for the aligator" (Standing outside the elevator)

"Let's sing Book of Morning stories" (When asked what song she wanted for Family Home Evening)

I am sure there are a thousand more that I am forgetting as she cracks me up a million times a day these days with all the funny things she says and the way she says them. And since I'm posting this today, here's a little Happy Birthday shout out to Rob! Happy Birthday babe!

Potty Training Spiders

Today Ava and I were in the bathroom and I saw a spider running across the floor. I grabbed the closest thing to me and gave it a whack. Then I told Ava to grab me some toilet paper, which she did. I picked the spider up in the toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. Ava, after watching all of this, looked up at me and said "Mommy, is that spider going potty?" Ummmm yeah, something like that. LOL.

Busy summer days

I've been absent for awhile, mostly because we've been having too much summer fun with friends. I've also been holding off posting because I wanted to get Ava's birthday pics and our 4th of July pics up but have yet to download them. But this week is the week that we get to spend with my family up in the mountains in Idaho at our cabin. I look forward to this week all year and feel like it's worth noting on here. This is the first time that Rob has been able to come for the majority. He has spent the last few days hiking the Tetons with some old law school buddies but should be arriving here tonight. Just pulling up here and looking up at the sky takes my breath away. I can't remember the last time I saw so many stars. And the weather here is my favorite, hot summer days and cool summer nights. Today I rode on the jet ski with my sister and as I looked around and breathed a sigh of relief, I realized that just as people have comfort foods, this is one of my very favorite comfort places. I immediately relax and know its time to sit back and enjoy myself, it takes me back to all the summers spent here as a child with my family. Today as I watched Ava play in the sand with her cousins, I found myself remembering images of myself and my cousins playing in the same sand when we were her age and throughout our youth. I am glad that she will grow up with equally fond memories. The week has just begun and already it's flying by. Before I know it, it will be back to real life. But I'll prop my feet up and enjoy it while it lasts.