Ava's List of Things to do Before Noon Today

1. Eat breakfast
2. Break Abby's ceramic music box
3. Walk Abby to school
4. Cut a hole in my shirt
5. Spread Abby's money all over the office floor
6. Get in the car
7. Pour a bottle of 5-hour energy in the driver's seat
8. Go to the gym with mommy and Will
9. Lock mommy out of the bathroom stall at the gym
10. Go to Target with mommy and Will
11. Refuse to sit in the cart, instead choosing to be carried alternately with walking on my own and knocking things off the shelf left and right
12. Pretaste Cocoa's dog treat
13. Bite the tip off a marker
14. Eat lunch
15. Refuse to go down for my nap without a fight
16. Make my list for this afternoon--mommy can't wait!

Already Five

Since his birthday, Will has asked almost every morning if he gets to go to kindergarten yet. I've tried to explain that it only starts in August, so we have to wait for next year. Most of his responses go something like this:

"But, I'm ALREADY five. I'm not a pre-k-er any more. I don't want to wait. I want to go to kindergarten now!"

I try to remind him about the fun and friends at his current school, but that doesn't work. He really wants to be in school with the bigs kids. Guess we shouldn't have been saying all along "You go to kindergarten when you're five." That's hard for a fall birthday guy!

Here's to another 10 months!

Will's World

Today, my little guy turns five! Where has the time gone??? He's had a busy 5th year. We haven't seen too much of Joshua around because Will has been so busy! Last fall, he played soccer. Then, in the spring, he gave t-ball a shot. He really enjoyed it and dad loved getting to help him field the ball!

Of course, by the fall, he wanted to try yet another sport. After seeing The Karate Kid, you can guess what it was! But, before we could even register him, he turned to basketball. By the time I figured out that the basketball season doesn't start until January, we'd missed the soccer and t-ball deadlines for the fall! So, we're not playing anything this season. I can't say that I miss the time commitment of practices and games! 

Ever the athlete, he was not deterred. He's been taking weekly swim lessons. He started the summer with a float ring permanently affixed to his waist. Now, he can backstroke 20 yards across the pool! We are so proud of him. He'll definitely be ready for the swim team next summer!

He's also become quite the biker. He and Abby both got new bikes in March (since Abby was riding her bike from when she turned 4--just a FEW inches ago!). By May, Will's training wheels were off. Of course, he couldn't really start and stop by himself, which made him nervous, so they ended up going back on until August, when they came off for good. He was proud of being the only 4 year-old he knew without training wheels. Now, he's practicing one-handed riding and popping wheelies! Our next-door neighbor invited him to go to a kids' bike race in a couple weeks. Will and Brad are looking forward to that!

Over the summer, we went on a family vacation to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and Will got his first fishing rod from my parents. The guys took Will and Phillip fishing and they both managed to "catch" the same fish. (Well, actually a nice fisherman from upstream secretly hooked a fish on Will's and then Phillip's line. They thought it was amazing that their two fish looked so much alike!!) Now, he's itching to go back!

This fall, he started his LAST year of preschool and welcomed Ava to his school. It's already been a busy fall, learning about tarantulas and dinosaurs, making apple pie, and working more on his handwriting. He is so big. He'll definitely be ready for Pond Springs next year! Happy birthday buddy!

Where to begin??

So, I think I have now officially lapped myself. I'm just about exactly a year off in my posts of any significance. And it's not because nothing significant has been happening around here. Perhaps it is because we have so much going on that I barely get a moment to myself, much less time to blog? That's my story and I'm sticking to it. The surprising thing is Ava is almost 2 and I'm sure things are bound to slow down soon, right??? Sure they are. I may have to do some creative "then" and "now" comparisons to make year-old stories relevant and interesting! We'll see how that turns out.

Will's World

Will has been so interested in running and playing ball his whole life that he has shown very little interest in letters or reading. Until now. This spring, I mentioned to a friend that I didn't think he knew how to write his name. The very next week, he walked up to our easel and wrote his name without prompting. Oops. I guess I should pay more attention!

So now, I'm trying to work on letters with him. He recognizes about half or so. His first spelling word, of course, was his name. Although sometimes he spells his name "W I L L L L L . . ." His second? C A N D Y. Yes, his favorite thing that Brad and I (and now Abby) have been spelling since he was old enough to eat it. Now, he can spell it too!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Will: Mommy, why do ninjas wear masks?
Emily: So people don't know who they are.
Will: Well, they could just not tell people their names!

Why didn't ninjas and superheros think of that?? :)

Abbyism of the Week

This one is worthy of resurrecting my favorite title of years' gone by (above).

We were driving in the car the other day and one of my favorite Cyndi Lauper songs came on, so I turned up the radio to indoctrinate the kids with some classic 80s music. Abby was sitting in the back, listening intently to the radio and to me. Then she asked, "Is she singing 'Ogres just want to have fun'?"

Um, that would be "O girls." We've got a long way to go!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Emily: Uh oh, Ava's got Boba Fett (action figure).
Will: It's okay, she can play with it.
Abby: Do you want her to suck his face off?
Will: It's okay. Ava IS the Sarlacc.

I must admit, half of Will's hilarious comments come in his delivery. He says them so matter-of-factly. Of course, a 4 year-old knowing about a Sarlacc AND using it in the right context is pretty funny too. It makes his father proud!

6-6-6

Brad helps out a lot with folding the laundry (props to him!). We give him a hard time because seldom does a week go by when some of the kids' clothes (and sometimes mine!) don't end up in the wrong pile. We've had all combinations of kid pile crossovers. One of the funniest was when Abby got Will's jeans and didn't know it. She put them on and thought she had a new pair of capris! Luckily, I made the observation BEFORE we left for school that she was wearing her brother's pants. She promptly removed them.  Imagine the fun (and confusion) we had last summer when all the ladies in our household wore size 6 clothing. I'll give him credit--I didn't end up with any of Ava's clothes!

Will's World

I know, I know--summer is SO 6 months ago but, alas, here we go again. . .

Will endured Abby's swim team practices and meets by finding what we affectionately call a "swim team girlfriend." Her big sisters were on the team too, so she needed a playmate. Enter Will. Will and Lindsey ran all over the playground together almost daily, letting mommy tend to baby Ava while chatting with other moms. It was a sad, long week of practices when Lindsey's family went on vacation!

Will & Lindsey

I have to distinguish her as his "swim team girlfriend" because he's got a "school girlfriend" (a different one every year), a "cul-de-sac girlfriend," and others just about everywhere he goes. And they are preschoolers and grown women alike. What can he say? He's a ladies' man. Guess that's what comes with having two sisters!

Ready to paint!

One day in August, he decided he wanted to wear his 2 year-old lion Halloween costume. Then, almost immediately he wanted to paint, but IN costume. So we put on an old t-shirt and he did just that. Outside in the heat. Did I mention it was August?? Too funny.

He has become a real Lego Maniac. His favorites? Star Wars. Hands down. We have minifigures and ultra-small pieces hiding in every nook and cranny in the house.

That is, of course, when they're not in Ava's mouth. Ahem.

New Star Wars backpack for school

He gets hand-me-down Lego magazines from the teenager next door and we read them nightly as "bedtime stories." Such propaganda! He's constantly telling us which "new"sets he needs. Keep in mind, some of these magazines are as old as he is and the sets are no longer available unless you want to pay a premium for a "collector's item" on eBay! They've got it all figured out. He's now also quite decent at Lego Star Wars for the Wii. One guess where he got that!

Will's good friend Joshua is still a frequent companion. He is everything Will wishes for himself. He ranges in age from 5 to adult and has lived in Australia, Alaska, and Canada in the last 3 months. He has been a firefighter and he has served in the army. He sometimes has a little sister and other times has 25 brothers. He's even got a few kids of his own. Unfortunately, his mom is dead. I hope that's not a reflection on me! We love hearing about Will's adventures when he goes to Joshua's house!

In the fall, Will played on his first soccer team and he really loved it. He went after the ball and met some fun friends too! This spring, he is going to give T-ball a try. Look out!

Will on the Tornados Soccer Team

He turned 4 in October. Of course, he received the requisite Star Wars legos and action figures as gifts, but he also got an ultra-cool bomber jacket from his retired Navy grandfather, Coach. He's been the talk of the town all winter long!

Birthday suit

Kids Say The Darndest Things

Brad's on a business trip this week. The kids were sad for him to go, but they've done great. Will just can't wait for daddy to get back from "Cinciattio."

If I didn't know better, I'd think he could read Cincinnati, OH!

Where Do I Begin?

Now, I will attempt BRIEF updates so as not to bore anyone or belabor the details of our lives!

Ready for Hurricane Swim Team Practice

First, Abby, of course. This summer, she joined the neighborhood swim team, which meant daily practices and EARLY meets on Saturdays (swimmers had to check in at 6 a.m.). The meets required some juggling because parents had to volunteer for so many shifts throughout the season and, oh yeah, we had 2 other small children to manage. It seemed to be fun and rewarding for Abby and she knocked more than 20 seconds off her original freestyle time by the end. Now, she's quite the fish.

She turned 7 (!) in July. We we went to the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science to celebrate. And then, she got her first REAL manicure and pedicure. Her birthday was rounded out with a roller skating party and a hand-me-down iPhone from her uncle (which dwarfed the MP3 player from mom and dad!).

Ooh La La!

She asked us all summer if we could go to The Alamo. We had no idea why, but that was a pretty easy request to indulge. So, in August, we loaded up and went. We also managed to fit in Sea World while we were in San Antonio. Just between us, I think she liked that one better! :)

First Trip to Sea World

Abby & Daddy at the Alamo

And now that I've come within 6 months of the present day, alas, Ava is awake and I must sign off! Tune in next time for details about back-to-school, Girl Scout camping and the holidays!

Kids Say The Darndest Things

This morning I was taking Will to school and he said from the back seat, "Hey, there's Chloe!" I looked up and saw a short, old, gray Asian woman walking across the street. Chloe, our 12 year-old neighbor, is tall, brunette and very white.

I said, "Really, you think that looks like Chloe?"
He looked again. "Yeah, yeah, it's her!"
"Are you sure? I think Chloe is taller than that." (It took everything in me not to give a full list of discrepancies here.)
After a closer look: "Well, maybe not, but it looks a lot like her."

If I didn't know he could see infinitesimal legos and lego instructions, I'd say he needed his eyes checked. I guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He WAS in the back seat.

Long Time Gone

So, how do I sum up our lives between Mother's Day and New Year's? One word. Ava. She's a busy little gal and she has dominated our (read: my) world for about 11 months now! She's gone through the typical Buchanan stages: crawling at 5 1/2 months, stairs and pulling up at 6 months, walking at 10 1/2, and teeth at 11 months. That's right--walking before teeth. She just barely has 2 little buds breaking through the gums, but she can walk laps around the house!

She has one word. Dog. Or daw daw (pant pant pant) as she says it. Brad thinks she says Dada too, but it's pretty hard to distinguish the two. So, since we basically have one word, that's all we say. We see a dog, we say it; we hear a dog, we say it; we see an animal on TV that might be a dog, we say it; we see mommy coming in after nap time, we say it; we see the big kids out riding bikes, we say it. You get the idea. Here's a sample conversation that happens about 476 times a day:

Ava: Daw daw (pant pant pant) Daw.

Emily: Yes, there's a dog. Cocoa is a dog.

Ava: Daw daw (pant pant pant)

Emily: Do you want to say hi to the doggie?

Ava: Daw daw (pant pant pant)

Emily: Good job! Cocoa is a sweet doggie. Are you hungry for some lunch? (Trying to change the subject)

Ava: Daw daw (pant pant pant) . . .

REPEAT

She gets so excited when she talks, you can just tell she's brimming over with possibilities for conversation. Now, she just has to learn more than one word! 

She's very much like Will at this age--constantly moving and destroying anything in her path. She especially loves paper--eating it. She gets it in her mouth as fast as she can and closes up like a clam so no one can fish it out. She knows she's not supposed to do it. You can tell by the impish look on her face. Lucky for her, it's pretty darn cute! She's starting to play more with the big kids too--it's so fun to watch them all interact. It won't be long before she's doing everything they do. Maybe even riding a plasma car . . . watch out world!

Mother's Day

(I realize that I'm about 3 months behind, but that's my life as a blogger!)

Mother's Day was especially meaningful this year as it was the day we chose for Ava's baptism. The service was very tender for us because it was performed by our long-time pastor just one month before his retirement after 16 years in our midst. He performed our wedding and our other kiddos' baptisms, so we were pleased that he could do Ava's before leaving. Here he is with her:

The Reverend John McMullen with Ava

The Buchanan Family

(It was only afterward that we realized all our family photos highlight the back of Ava's head!)

Plan B

We planned to go pick strawberries in April with my parents since we had so much fun two years ago. We had the weekend picked and everything. And then it rained all week leading up to our outing. And more rain was predicted. Instead of driving for an hour to play in the mud, we decided to find something closer to home.

All we could find was the Armed Forces celebration at Camp Mabry, but hey, they had horses, tanks, and helicopters. Something for everyone, right? And when the rain inevitably began to fall, we skipped out on the rest of the show and went to see How to Train Your Dragon. Not a bad plan B.

Easter 2010

Church Picnic

All Dressed Up