The "Skidgoager" & Fingerpaints....

Ava sitting in her baby bed in her closet- one of her favorite spots Watching Daddy & the "Skidgoager"

Fingerpaints

Dancing with Daddy

Playing house

Ava and I were alone last weekend as Brad went on a fishing trip to South Dakota. Ava and I kept busy while he was away, but she often asked where daddy was. Of course, I trained her to say "Daddy fishin" which she still says each day when he's gone ;) We also played with the fingerpaints which seem to be a hit, although sometimes she wants to color the counter more than the paper!

Now the "skidgoager" is the highlight of our house. With so much snow removal, the skidloader has been running often and Ava never misses a minute. Ava was thrilled to have Daddy back on Sunday so he could clear the driveway of our newest several inches of snow. She had no problem sitting in front of the window for nearly an hour.

Ava has also become quite the storyteller. She has a story right now that she tells about the elephant that goes bye bye car to the Pizza Ranch (her favorite destination!). Quite the imagination! She also really likes books and will get as many off her shelf in her room as she can for you to read. She has names for all her books (not necessarily the correct title) and can recite most of them by heart. I thoroughly enjoy walking quietly in her room when she is "reading" her books to herself. It is amazing how much of the books she remembers.

Highlights of January 2010...

It's all about accessories...

Cousin Tammy & Ava

The new trampoline

I'm not sure where the month of January went, but it is gone already! Between the blizzards that destroyed plans and then finding time to make things up, it didn't seem like we had much spare time this month. We even had house guests because of the wonderful weather. Brad's cousin Tammy spent the night with us this week as the interstate was closed yet again! It was fun to have her, and Ava certainly took a liking to her and her cell phone!

I had wanted to get Ava a little trampoline for Christmas, but the one I wanted was sold out on every website I could find in December. So, it finally was available and I ordered it after the first of the year. I have to admit that I'm not very fussy about getting Christmas gifts on time right now because Ava doesn't really know the difference, but some day this may become a problem. Ava loved it just as much as we thought she would. She literally giggled hysterically the first 15 minutes she was jumping on it. I chose this model because it plays songs to the beat of the jumping. She loves the music and has already selected her favorite song which she plays over and over! I have to admit, I'm kind of wishing I had gotten one without music!

Aunt Sandy Comes to Visit...

Playing ball with Sandy

Ava & Aunt Sandy

My sister Sandy came home from Tucson for Grandma's funeral. Ava finally seemed to warm up to her on this visit, much more so than in the past. Ava seems to recognize people from pictures and she knows who Sandy and her family are in pictures. They had fun playing together. Hopefully, when Sandy comes back this summer, it won't be a difficult transition.

We Say Goodbye to a Special Grandma...

Easter 2009 Mom & Dad's 40th Anniversary Party July 2008 Ava's 1st Christmas 2007

Ava, Grandma Flo, & Toby December 2007

My Grandma Floretta was a very sweet lady and I have been close to her my whole life. I have many fond memories of her house growing up. She made a point of making her famous chocolate chip cookies every time I came to visit because she knew how much I loved to help her bake, even if she already had plenty of cookies in the freezer. She always made up a bed on her loveseat in the living room when I stayed even though she had a guestroom because she knew I loved to sleep there. My sisters and I played smurfs and got to go to the swimming pool when we'd stay with her which we thought was the greatest thing ever. We took many trips with Grandpa and Grandma to the A&W in Sheldon to eat broasted chicken. On summer afternoons, we'd walk down to the drive in to have coffee with Grandma's friends and she'd always buy me an ice cream cone. After Grandpa passed away and I was driving, I'd stop by and she always be there with a welcome smile. It wouldn't be long and she'd be grabbing her purse so we could go shopping or out to eat. I will miss our talks and trips to the local cafe together. Ava will probably not remember much of her which makes me sad, but I want her to remember how much she loved rocking her when she was a baby, and she always was able to get her to fall asleep. On January 14, 2010, God decided her time here with us on earth was over and called her home where she would no longer be in any pain. She will be missed more than I can say.

Cousins from Texas: Julia & Jocelyn

" Ring Around the Rosy" Jocelyn is really getting into this game!

When it's time to go...they are finally warming up to each other!

Stairs: such a hit!

Lunch time

Brad's cousins from Texas (Tim and his wife Melanie) were here to visit for Christmas and they have beautiful twin girls that will be two years old in February named Julia and Jocelyn. We went over to visit them for a "play date". We hadn't seen them since they were 12 weeks old, so it was exciting to get all the girls together again when they actually realized that the others existed. Ava was her usual shy self at first, but gradually warmed up to them. They all seemed to like the doll toys and played together pretty nicely. Ava struggles in the sharing department, but Julia and Jocelyn were pretty patient with her. It was amazing that the twins were nearly the same size as Ava. They actually looked like cousins with similar coloring and features. It was a very fun time for Ava and myself and so fun to visit with Tim and Melanie, sharing our toddler horror stories ;) Ava still is asking "where's Julia?" and "where's Jocelyn?". I'm sure this will go on for a while as she really enjoyed playing with little girls her age. Hopefully, we will get to see them again soon.

The VanMeeteren Christmas at the Farm...

Addison opening gifts

Sam opening gifts

Addie-3, Ava-2, Sam- 4 1/2

Aunt Shelly & Ava

Grandma Chris & Ava

We finally got to have Christmas with some extended family on December 27th. With the aid of 4-wheel drive, we made it to and from Mom & Dad's house safely. Mom made some wonderful chicken noodle soup and sandwiches and then we opened gifts. Ava was much more into gift opening than she was at our house on Christmas eve. I'm not sure if it was that Sam and Addie were so excited or the fact that she had just done it a couple days prior, but she was all about tearing the paper and checking out the gifts. Ava got a new overnight bag which she called her purse, and carried it around for quite a while. She also liked her little tikes pet shop with all the animals. Overall, the gift opening gets to be more eventful each year as all the kids get older and more animated. There is never a dull moment!

Day 3 of the Blizzard...

Daddy & Ava

The snow pile gets bigger!

After three days of being snowed in, Brad was digging us out once again. Each day he would go out to try to keep the snow depth to a minimum on the driveway. He thought if he waited until the blizzard was over, it would be too deep for the skidloader to go through (also he was bored stiff and had cabin fever!). We were never so thrilled to go somewhere after all the time stuck in the house!