It’s raining. Scott and the girls are on a worm rescue. Here I am with some unexpected time on my hands. Mount Clothesmore is piled high on the couch staring me down, but I don’t care.

It’s hard to get behind on blogging. I feel all that has happened in the last 4 months is just as important as what is happening today. So I am sorry to our readers for going back in time, but this is my kids baby book, therefore, it’s necessary to fill in the gaps.

Ava just recently turned 5. five! can you believe it? I can’t.

just like when she was a baby, she still sleeps with her arms up

It feels unreal to me that we have already submitted her kindergarten registration forms. yikes!

Ava~ we love you so much! Daddy and I always wonder, of all the little girls in whole world, how did we get the best ones? It has been awesome watching you grow up. You have a vocabulary that exceeds Mommy’s by a long shot, you love snakes, sharks, and lots of other animals, you love to dance and sing, you are so good to your friends, and you are the best big sister to Annalise.

We no longer hear Annalise calling for “Ova”. As of January, Annalise says Ava and she gets a kick out of copying her sister.

dressing up like sis:

laying on the couch like Ava:

Some of Annalise’s cutest/funniest sayings are:
– Mommy, wait!
– Bye Daddy…daaay (translation: Bye, daddy. Have a good day.)
– No way!
– Oh man!
– I don’t know
– ta-daa!

Annalise is a little singer. We shouldn’t be so surprised since we’ve been listening to the same music since Lise was in my tummy. But it still is a little surprising when she sings the right words at the right time. not even just copying. it’s super cute. I’ve tried to catch it on video, but she always stops what she’s doing and says, “cheese”, whenever the camera comes out.

We’ve also welcomed 2 new members to our family in January:

Meet Skidders and Ratsie. Ava’s early birthday present. She really wanted a pet snake but we talked her into rats instead.

Ava spends hours with them. she enjoys building obstacle courses for them:

Rats are really great pets for kids. They can be trained, they never bite, and who can resist those cute little faces? Lisey loves them too. we all do!

Scott and I turned 32 in february. thirty-two. can you believe that one? I can’t either. I don’t even think 32 is THAT old. But I sure wear it like its old. I am hoping my tired face and wrinkly hands get rejuvenated once I get some sleep and no longer wash my hands 75 times a day. wouldn’t that be great? I’ll look better when I’m 40 than I did at 32!

Scott looks just as handsome as ever. He’s still brewing, still flying, and still saving worms at 8am with his daughters!