I have a teenager!

Ok, so Ava has been acting like a straight up teenager lately!!

My Little Pumpkin

Ava is starting to understand the world around her...here are some interesting things she's been saying lately, in random order!

-Apple of my eye...I have an apple when I pick up Ava some days after school. She usually asks me if I have one for her now, which is really cute in itself. But the other day, I told her she could have one and told her she was the "apple of my eye". That really freaked her out! She said, "NO, Mommy, I don't want an apple in your eye!"

-Ava has wanted to be so many things for Halloween such as a lion, cat, and a princess. Within the past week she has been telling people she will a Kangaroo for Halloween. I told her "no" because we aren't going to buy a costume. So as she says with everything now: "Can Santa bring me a costume?" She is already excited about Santa bringing her gifts, so she expects him to bring her everything!

-Ava is a minority in her class and has been noticing colors of people lately. So recently she says, "My baby is going to be "brown", I will be "brown" when I grow up."

Her new favorite phrase now..."I need to talk to you" or "I need to tell you something!"

-Recently we went to Audrey Meguiars birthday and we got her tinker bell shoes so now, of course, Ava wants tinker bell shoes! Well, we keep saying that Santa will bring her the things she wants and after Santa comes, then Baby Alexandria will come! So, she started saying: "Santa will bring my tinkerbell shoes and then the doctor will come and cut my baby out with scissors!" Well, one night she is telling this to her dear cousin, Alana, who's 5, and Alana says, "No, Ava, she'll be cut out with a big knife!"

-Today, Ava tried to wear some weird shoes out of the house and said, "I need to wear them because they are so cute and precious!"

Needless to say, our little girl is cracking us up daily!!!

catch up!

I haven't blogged since January!!! SO, here's me catching up quickly...

BIG SNOW in January! We were trapped and didn't have school for days! It was great, but keeping Ava entertained was rough!




For the second time, I sent in my National Board Portfolio! I find out at the end of November if I got it!

Then I went to Idaho all by myself to visit my mom. It was the most impacting trip of my life. I learned so much about myself while there and gained great perspective! I even skiied and had a blast!


We had a huge flood in Nashville and we were trapped for a few days in our neighborhood. It rained and rained for two-three days straight. Again...keeping Ava entertained was rough...but she is so cute, isn't she?!
We went to Hilton Head as a family of 3 for the first time. We had a great time, although I was sick a lot because of the new addtion that will be coming soon-ALEXANDRIA FAITH!!

Ava, my dad, and I went to Michigan to visit family and hang out at the lake! We had a blast on the boat, swimming, and I loved just laying around while Aunt Laurie played all day with Ava! I love this picture because it shows one of Ava's favorite things to play now...putting her animals down for "nap".

Ava did a swim class this summer and this fall has started dance!

Ava rides her first horse at a fall festival that we went to a few weeks ago.

I want to start documenting funny Ava-isms now, so I knew it was important for me to catch this up! Thanks for reading it!

Christmas and 2010

We had a really nice Christmas this year...I have a ton of pictures, but I have "snapfish"ed all of them yet, so I only had a few to choose from. (I'm on my school computer, so I don't have all our family pics)

So, here are a few from our "Morel Family Christmas" with Paul's family. It was really nice and naturally, Ava and Alana had a great time together!

Grandpa and Mamaw got Ava her first car!!

This is Ava and Alana snuggling under Ava's "blankie". She has been sleeping with this and "kitty" since the first few weeks she was born. "Blankie" is from her Auntie Lori.

Janna and I got some awesome matching pj's. They were hotter than fire, though!! We thought we'd be funny and take pictures!

So, we had a great holiday season, but I'm not going to lie here in the blog world...it was a hard one for me. I don't know why it was harder than last year, but it was. Maybe it's because this was the first "official" Christmas with my parents divorced...I don't know why, but that made it harder for me. I cried a lot and mourned the loss of my childhood family. God is working on me, though...I am learning everyday about His neverending Love and GRACE! I am so thankful that God still loves me, even when I feel very mad at Him sometimes!

~2010~

So I graduated from high school 10 years ago!!! That is so crazy! I am working on ways to get out of my "phunk" of being sad about my family, so I have decided to live a little differently in the next decade...

My hope for the next decade is this...

To enjoy the little things, eat healthier, simplify!!, laugh more, love more, hope more, and have faith that God will take care of the big AND the little things!

Fall 2009

I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I'd share a few pictures and information from our past few months.

Fall: We had a great Fall! I started going to a nutritionist and planning meals and preparing food took up most of my time! I also starting selling Premier Designs Jewelry and had a busy fall season with many jewelry shows. They were a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying having a part-time that gives me a little girl time and helps me meet new people. I really get my energy from being with people, so it has been perfect for me!

Here a few pictures from various events in Fall 2009...

We went to Etowah with Paul's family for the weekend and saw many cousins! It was really fun. The girls that are 2nd or maybe 3rd cousins (not sure how that works!) played so much together. They even took a trip to the mayfield icecream plant!

Ava and Alana (John and Janna's daughter) always have a great time together! This is them at a a fall festival in Nashville with matching ladybugs painted on their faces!

Ava still loves Elmo, and is painting a picture here! She really loves to color and paint now.

We also had/have MANY fires during the cold nights. I am a fire addict and Paul is awesome because he makes fires about 3-4 times a week. We really enjoy it. Here's a funny picture of me with our first fire of the season!