A New Year: Inspired
Here we are starting a new year. As it happens, tomorrow is this blog’s one year anniversary. Couldn’t start a new blogging year without a new post!
2010 will be a year of creativity for this family as we learn lots of new things and take on new challenges. Here’s a little glance at what we’re going to be up to….
~Ava is continuing to grow in leaps and bounds and has most recently taken on the challenge of potty learning. She’s doing a fantastic job (lots of stamps on the potty chart!) and somehow manages to squeeze in some book reading and imaginary play with all the trips to the bathroom.
~After so much success with Ava’s kitchen and easel (a glance at the finished kitchen project below), Matt has decided to leave his car’s side of the garage set up as a woodshop. Several projects are already in the queue for the coming year. A bed and dresser for Ava, and a wine cork case for me are among the items on the list. He’s also got several digital media projects planned as we’ve found that we take quite a lot of photos and video. 
Matt’s set an ambitious visitation schedule to nearby national parks for the family, so we’ll all be busy on weekends too!
Matt’s set an ambitious visitation schedule to nearby national parks for the family, so we’ll all be busy on weekends too!
~I’m heading into my final semester of my masters program and am excited to begin working on my final project. Work should prove to be interesting, as well, as we look toward the exciting launch of our new center.
As we look forward, 2010 looks to be a year of opportunity, challenge, and creativity in so many areas of our lives. We’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves…
…and, clearly, we’re not afraid to get messy in the process.
Here’s to a new year and the many adventures that will fill it!
Christmas 2009
This Christmas was awesome. We had so much fun with lots of visits from good friends and tons of yummy food. It was sort of a two-day, marathon adventure. Of course, that’s not to mention the hours and hours of preparation in stores, the kitchen, and, of course, the woodshop.
We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner celebration with the Hoffmans and Brooke. We enjoyed a steak & twice-baked potato dinner, yummy apple pie and lots of great conversation with friends. It was a wonderful way to prepare for Christmas festivities the next day.
The big gift for Ava this year was a play kitchen. Matt built it all of his own design (but I picked out the faucet!) and it turned out absolutely beautifully. Of course, it was a down-to-the-wire creation, so it was still being constructed at about 2315 Christmas Eve. Regardless, here’s a few shots of Santa’s elf in his workshop.
As I said, Christmas this year was amazing…mostly because our little girl sort of undersood what was happening. Ava loved opening her presents (although all she wanted to do when she woke up was watch Clifford dog) and we were delighted to watch her have so much fun. We got to enjoy that fun for several hours as it took four hours to work through the mountain of gifts under the tree. We never seem to learn to stop opening each toy as it’s unwrapped. We played with everything for a while before we moved onto the next present. Guess that’s good for extending the merriment!
The kitchen Matt made for her was a total hit and well worth the many hours (and couple of late nights) in the garage to get it done on time. Thanks to all our friends and family for the many wonderful gifts…knowing and loving you is indeed the best present!
We took almost 300 pictures on Christmas, so here’s a little collage to sum up the big day. Present opening videos will arrive in another post.
Wishing you all the merriment of the season and lots of joy as we look forward to ringing in the new year!
Potty Training Begins
We’re passing another major milestone in this house. Ava’s been going on the potty for several months, but she’s finally advanced to wearing panties and going consistently. In reality, she was ready a long time ago, but Mommy & Daddy needed the time at home to be able to support the endeavor.
She’s doing so great! Every time she goes pee in the potty, she gets a stamp. And, oh boy, is she proud of those stamps.
Way to “go,” Ava!!
TPS 07B Mini Reunion
The Jungquists drove to town on Saturday to catch a flight for a family Christmas get-together. We met up for dinner that night at the Hoffmans and had a great time. We got a call from Grabber at about 8:30 on the night they were to depart looking for some room in the inn. Due to the major storms all over the eastern part of the country, their flight was cancelled and they were delayed until Tuesday. So, we got a mini MOTO/Bond girl reunion fun for a few days. (Dave decided it was a worthy occasion to crack open some MOTO graduation wine.)
With four kiddos in this house, we stayed very busy. We went on an afternoon picnic.
We watched Christmas movies.
We tormented the dog, made lots of very loud noise, and played super-silly games.
We made and sugared Christmas cookies.
We nursed babies and then dressed them up like silly Christmas elves.
Then, the babies spit up everywhere.
So much fun! Thanks for visiting guys!
A Visit with Santa
We took Ava to visit Santa Claus the weekend before Christmas, fully expecting the same terrified toddler we had last year. Instead, she snuggled right in and we got a boatload of adorable pictures.
We even got one of the whole family! Thanks Santa!
