September 2018- Ava's half birthday

Ava's half-birthday was September 1, and we decided to "celebrate" it by going to the coast. Really it was a Saturday and we didn't have plans. Ava took her half-birthday so seriously. She was having breakdowns if we weren't mentioning it about every 30 minutes or letting her choose everything. At one point she shouted "You're not making my half-birthday special!" As we were hiking up to the lighthouse, she said, "I just keep forgetting it's my half-birthday! It feels like all the other days!"

 It was a little chilly at the coast but the kids had fun playing in the sand.

By kids, I mean Brent, most especially had fun ;) He created this island in the river that feeds into the ocean. You can't see well, but that's little half-naked Coen sitting on the island, covered in sand.

 Snuggling up in the towel to keep warm.

 We hiked up to the lighthouse and the view of the beach was just gorgeous.

After we got home, I made Ava cupcakes for her half-birthday and perhaps satisfied her. When she asked if they were going to sing to her in Primary, we tried to explain that half-birthdays aren't really a thing, and we just do a little celebration in our family.

On Monday we had the Wilsons over for FHE. These two are the best of friends.

Ava requested it be a PJ night.

First day of school! Coen has Mrs. Heather for preschool, with only 3 other kids in his class.

Coen was very nervous for his first day. He cried when we left but then they said he calmed down quickly and had fun... Until lunch time, they said he cried because he didn't want to eat the food.

Here's his classroom.

Ava had a great day at kindergarten and had no fear going in. Our school district has a "smart start" where the kids go for one day and rotate to all three kindergarten teachers. The teachers all meet that evening and divide up the kids into the classrooms based on academic skills, behaviors, etc so as to make the classes even. We got a call that Ava will have Mrs. Whitten for kindergarten.

Brent started the huge project of tearing up our carpet to put in vinyl flooring.

Just a selfie with the kids.

A friend came over to help Brent lay the vinyl on a Saturday. It took from about 9am to 5pm. After, Brent finished by himself with the transitions from our tile to the vinyl.

I took the kids on errands and to the farm while the men worked on the floor.

It looks nice!

(A "before" picture, just for reference).

Ta-da!

Here is a video of Ava sounding like her dad. She started talking like this at dinner and cracking me up.

I bought a box of tomatoes at the farm and made some batches of marina sauce.

On Monday, it was Ava's real first day of school with her teacher and class.

I made a back to school dinner for the kids and Ava chose lasagna. I got them a few school supplies and balloons at the dollar store and they were so excited.

Ava's school provides free breakfast every morning. She goes to get it most mornings.

Coen goes to preschool Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. On Wednesdays he has some "daddy time" while I work and Brent watches him.

We went to the park to meet up with some of Ava's preschool friends. She was excited to play with them! We took a cute picture and you can see Coen in the background running up, feeling a little left out.

He came and posed and cracked us all up.

By Thursday afternoons Coen is tuckered out after a full week.

We went to an outdoor movie that Ava's school hosted.

Since I typically only take pictures of our family when we're doing something fun or people are in happy moods, it doesn't fully reflect our actual lives where the majority of the time we are working, and quite often Ava has some really difficult moods. She was being so dramatic, screaming, and sliding down the stairs, frustrated at something, I had to take a picture so I could remember how she is a fair amount of the time.

I felt like she needs more one-on-one attention and love, so we started Wednesday night "mommy time" where she and I read books together, do her homework, etc. Brent and Coen have boy time downstairs, and the kids really look forward to their individual time. Sad to say, it wasn't a magic fix for Ava's tantrums though, so we're still looking for things to help her. 

Ava taught Coen a game of hiding something under one of two cups and having the other person guess which cup. Coen was making me laugh, trying to do the game for me. 

We went to Red Robin because they had their hamburgers on sale and the kids were so excited to eat out.

Driving down the road, I saw this truck advertising that they sell these coffins for $69 each. The coffin is standing upright in the bed of the truck. So weird.

We went to a welcome BBQ for Brent's school at his professor's house. Ava had fun climbing a tree with other girls.

We had friends over for dinner and a movie (to say thank you for helping us do our floor).

We babysat the Wilsons while they went on a date one Saturday. Coen wanted to have a turn holding the baby.

Brent told Coen he couldn't have a cookie until he finished his noodles. Coen asked for the cookie to be on his tray. I thought it was torturous for a two-year-old, but Coen just looked at his cookie while he ate his noodles one by one. Finally when he was almost done, he took the tiniest nibble of the cookie because he couldn't help himself, but then he put it back and kept going on his noodles dutifully.

Coen found a hat and was excited to "be like daddy."

I curled Ava's hair for our Primary program and she looked so cute! I took lots of pictures of her and couldn't decide which was my favorite.

During the program I sat on the stand and helped all the kids with their lines. I had written the program before summer break and luckily it all came together really nicely and was timed just right. Brent helped me put on a little movie for the kids afterward during sharing time, and then he ran to teach Elder's Quorum. It was a busy stressful day since I had been up early for ward council before church too. We came home from church and just sat on the couch like this for about 30 minutes, until we had to go to a BBQ for Brent's school.

We went to a consignment sale and I got these Disney puzzles because I remember having similar ones as a kid. I felt like they were a little expensive, but man have we gotten our money's worth! Coen has spent 30-45 minutes every day doing these puzzles, he's obsessed.

I flew to Utah for an audit training. I stayed with my parents and the training was at Little America. It's times like these that I'm reminded what a great firm I work for. In this picture, we're playing a minute to win it game, where people are wearing pantyhose on their head, with a tennis ball at the end of the pantyhose, and they're trying to knock over water bottles with said tennis balls. Haha, it was pretty funny.

It took a lot of coordination and a lot of friends helping us out to watch the kids while Brent was at school and I was in Utah. Different people picked up the kids from their schools and watched them until Brent could get them. Here's a picture my friend sent to me of Ava at her house.

Brent was so busy with his first week of school but still managed to take both kids to each of their back to school nights the week I was gone.

I promise we worked on serious accounting stuff at my training, but here's a couple pics from a photo scavenger hunt we did.

Another friend took Ava to dance class with her daughter.

I went to the Cowleys for dinner and got to see everyone. The girls were sad I didn't have Ava with me, so I sat at the table with them :)

On Friday I went to aqua zumba, then shopping and out to lunch with my mom. That evening Cher came over and we watched I Feel Pretty and had fun. It was a nice little break for me!

When Brent and the kids picked me up from the airport, the first thing I saw as the car drove up was Coen's huge smile.

At church, Ava looking so cute, I had to take a picture.

Hugs! They sometimes get along.