Blondie is turning 5!!

I cannot believe that my Ava is turning 5 next week.  Anticipating her birthday has caused me to reflect on the last five years, and to think about how incredibly blessed I am.  Ava was born on May 20, 2005, and she captured our hearts and changed our lives forever!! She was a very happy girl from the beginning, and she made motherhood an easy task.  She has taught me SO much in the last 5 years.  She has taught me to open my eyes and really SEE the world.  She never misses a bug on the sidewalk and she sings her favorite songs at the top of her lungs.  She has taught me to slow down and appreciate every moment, every flower, every sweet milky baby kiss.  Most of all, she has taught me that being a mother is the most amazing and rewarding job on earth. Happy Birthday to my beautiful, creative, outspoken, incredibly smart, amazing daughter!! 

Spring Break!!

Our week started off on a sad note.  Our 11 year old lab, Sasha, died on Monday.  We are all very sad and miss our sweet girl!!  We are thankful for the time we had with her!
We had a great spring break!  We have been talking a lot about growing plants and making a garden.  We hit the library for some books about gardening.  We are also trying to grow a sweet potato vine.  (We placed 4 toothpicks around the middle of a sweet potato and rested the potato in a glass jar, with one end submerged in water.  We are supposed to see growth in 1-2 weeks!) We planted some marigold seeds in a small indoor greenhouse.  We are SO excited to see the results of our hard work! 
We braved the cold and headed downtown for the St. Patrick's Day parade on wednesday.  We met up with some friends and hade a great time dancing to the marching bands and cheering on the floats.  We ate a picnic lunch while sitting on the curb on Broadway!  So much fun!
Ava and I had a date this week,and we really enjoyed spending some quality time together.  I surprised her with tickets to Disney on Ice and Matt bought her a new Cinderella dress to wear.  She even wore a tiara on our date!  We started out with dinner at Winstead's (YUMMY!) and then headed down to the Sprint Center.  Before the show we were able to meet some Disney Princesses (Cinderella & Tiana) and see some princess gowns on display.  Ava was very impressed and was SURE that they were the REAL thing!  We really enjoyed the Disney on Ice show and decided that we would have date night more often!

We had a playdate on Friday morning with some new friends, and then the girls headed to Gramma & Grampa McCluer's house for a sleepover!  They had a blast, and were super excited that Gramma bought them "The Princess and The Frog" and some Easter crafts.  Matt and I enjoyed having a quiet evening!!
Matt and the girls are headed outside to play in the 9 inches of snow that mother nature dumped on us this weekend.  I have promised them hot cocoa on their return.  Let's hope this is the end of snowmen and hot cocoa for a long while.

March Madness

We are counting down the days 'til spring!  We cannot wait to start spending our days at Deanna Rose Farmstead and the park and pretty much anywhere but INSIDE!!   We visited the Kidscape exhibit at the JoCo Museum this week.  It's like a small town with a hospital, theatre, city hall, boutique and book store.  In the park you can play mini golf, go fishing or play wii sports.  In the hospital you can perform surgery or take care of the babies.  Ava & Sophia put on quite a show for me and Graham on the theatre stage! Each room is filled with activities that spark the imagination!  We also went to the carnival at Stanley Elementary this weekend.  Ava was very excited to see the school where she will attend Kindergarten in the fall!  Ava was quite talented at the games and amazed me with her superior skills!!  Sophia was LUCKY and won the Book Walk and the Sweet and Salty Stroll (both versions of a cake walk).  She also chose the marked sucker on the lollipop tree.  I am going to have her buy me a lottery ticket!!
Dan turned 30 on March 1st, and we had a BBQ party at Grammy & Papa's house.  It was tons of fun and good to see everyone.  Baby Danny is getting SO big!  He and Graham are just about the same size and doing many of the same things.  Those boys are gonna be tearing it up together very soon!
A BIG shout out to Aunt Meg for watching the kids Friday night!!  The girls were so excited and cannot stop talking about their new coloring books and playing Duck Duck Goose with Meg!  Matt and I met some friends for dinner at the Blue Moose and then hit the bowling alley.  We had a BLAST!  It was much needed adult time!
Finally, Graham got his first tooth this week!  My baby is growing up!

My Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day to our family and friends! We had such an amazing weekend! On Saturday we explored Crown Center and the kids had a GREAT time! We started out at Kaleidoscope, and really got our creative juices flowing. The girls loved the room with "glow in the dark" markers, and enjoyed making their very own puzzle. We had a fun lunch at the Crayola Cafe and then checked out the toy store and candy store. The girls each filled a little bag with all kinds of delicious candies. Finally, we visited the Fairytale exhibit at crown center. We rode in Cinderella's carriage, tried to climb Rapunzel's hair, and walked through the forest with Little Red Riding Hood. AWESOME!

Matt & I are so lucky to have eachother and to have 3 fabulous kids. We are continually amazed by all the blessing the last year has given us!!

Bugs, bugs, bugs . . .

BRRRRRR! We have spent the last week trying to stay warm and think of fun things to do INSIDE!! We had a great time studying bugs this week. We gathered several books from the library about ladybugs, butterflies, praying mantis and ants. We also found a video at the library about all the amazing creatures you can find in your back yard. We wanted to order some ladybug larvae and watch them become ladybugs . . . but the bug man said it was too cold and they would freeze en route. Bummer!! Did you know that the female praying mantis eats the male after they mate?? Yikes! The girls loved learning about these critters, and Ava especially loved watching the "jumping spiders" do their mating dance on the video. It WAS pretty awesome! :) We are also working on a little science experiment. Ava and Sophie are trying to grow an avocado tree from avocado pits. First they are soaking the pits, waiting for some roots to sprout!

Today we are having a family dinner to celebrate Papa's Birthday! Matt is making his famous homemade spaghetti and meatballs and I am going to attempt a blackberry pie. We are all looking forward to seeing everyone and playing with baby Danny! Our old lab, Sasha, is going downhill fast. She has a large mass on her side and can hardly get up by herself. I think we are going to have to say goodbye to her very soon. *sniff, sniff* It is hard to imagine losing such a faithful old girl!

Getting Started

I thought it would be fun to start a blog and post weekly happenings and pictures from the McCluer house. We have a pretty busy home with 3 great kids: Ava, Sophia & Graham. Ava (4 1/2) attends Lord of Life preschool 2 days a week and will start kindergarten in the fall. She loves dancing, crafts, playing on the computer and is starting to read. Sophia (2 1/2) attends the Day Out program at Presbyterian Church of Stanley one day a week. She loves dressing up (especially shoes!), baby dolls and anything "princess". Graham is 6 months old and has been an absolute joy. He is full of rolls and happiness! He is starting to sit up well and gets lots of love from his adoring big sisters. Matt and I could not be happier with our awesome family of five!!

This week Graham turned 6 months old. Ava, Sophia and I made him a 1/2 birthday cake!! We are enjoying the warmer weather and took a long walk yesterday. They all three loved the fresh air and the girls even had an impromptu soccer game with our friends down the street.