Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

Lately I've been having that feeling. That how to get it all done, my mind continuously plotting, planning and organizing to try manage my time to squeeze it all in feeling. I feel like in that frenzied state, the things that start get cut to "get it all in" are actually the very things I hold most dear like peaceful time with family, quiet time in bible study, real preparation time for the children's bible class I am teaching at church, those unplanned but looked forward to long talks with a friend... I also notice I get snippier and more irritable . I don't feel like over-extending myself helps me in anyway become who I want to be. So upon reflecting on this I've decided to simplify, simplify, simplify. I say this as we are in a stressful but special time of hopefully buying a home and its our busy time at work. For those very reasons its a prime time to get started. So I said "no" a few times last week, re-arranged some things at work and am more thoughtfully considering what to fill my schedule and time with. We enjoyed a slower paced Sunday and Ava and I had a quiet but fun day together today. The slower pace is already extending a calmness that I have missed. I look forward to hanging onto to this and continuing to be more purposeful with my time and energy. 

I thought these pictures from this weekend went well with this theme. Ava fell asleep on a run, reminds me how children of this age are in that blessed place of not planning, plotting or organizing, they are just present in each moment. Relaxed enough when things are calm and quiet to easily drift to sleep...is there anything more calming than watching your child sleep?

I keep telling her a pager is really not as fun as it looks:

Do you find yourself over extended? I feel like as women in this culture its an easy trap to fall into. What are ways you avoid this trap?

Soap not Dope

Well it happened again, I left him home alone, someone came to the door selling something and he bought it. It will surprise most of you that know my fiscally minded husband that this is a recurring phenomenon at our house. Just the other day a lady came to the door who is part of a soap not dope program. At one point in the sales presentation she told Ryan she was pregnant but also took a smoke break later? (He didn't find it odd till after she left that those things shouldn't go together) Ryan says she was an excellent sales person, the right amount of persuasive but not pushy. I have to say I don't really mind. While we have some differing views of giving, Ryan says he prefers to give people money who are trying to do a job rather than those just standing at the street corner. So when someone seemingly down on their luck comes by to sale something he feels compelled to buy it. I have to say this is challenging to many of us who do the opposite (give money when we have it on hand to those asking but hide in our houses when someone rings the door bell). So I think there's room for both these ideas on giving and as usual Ryan challenges me to think about this in a different light. 

Here's the quick shot I got of Ryan (who did not want his picture taken) when I got home and said oh I will be blogging about this and held the bottle up for the appropriate blog worthy photo:

Here's our 40 dollar of purple cleaning magic, suppose to last us a year, we've used it on everything, so far pretty impressed with its versatile cleaning abilities. Supposedly its no toxic, she licked up a bit of it during the presentation to prove it:

Pumpkin Patch

My work had a little party at a local pumpkin patch Friday Night, all kinds of firsts for Ava, she liked some better than others. The weather was awesome and the farm wasn't very crowded since its so early in the season.  

Ava' first pony ride! She got confident enough to even wave at me towards the end. 

We ended the night with a hay ride, close to her bed time. She wasn't so into the ride ended up snuggle up with her head on Ryan's shoulder towards the end. 

17 months!

Due to change of seasons colds around here this post is late. But better late than never, right?. Ava is now 17 months old! Here's some of her highlights this month...

• Everyday it seems like she is saying a new word! She is starting to put some words together. "Hi Rory" "Bye Baby".
• She finally graduated from her infant carrier to a toddler/convertible car seat. 
• She still takes two naps and enjoys her paci, probably should start limiting its use to bed and car but I don't really care too much just yet. Maybe next month.
• She loves to play outside, its hard to say now when she says outside and then starts signing please to say no. Luckily the weather's been great!
• She still wears 12 month clothes mostly.
• She went on her first fair trip as you saw in the previous post.
• Her hair is long enough for pig tails which we've worn quite a bit.

This box has been a big hit around here this month.

Also this month I won my first ever blog giveaway, why both bloggers that teamed up for this giveaway are good friends of mine I can assure you it was a randomize drawing, thanks Life to her years and Urban Owl Knittery for our lovely owl hat, we love it! Here's Ava when we just got it out of the mail!

 

First Fair!

Ava enjoyed her first fair trip with her buddy Isabella on Friday. It was rainy and cold but we did not let that hinder this momentous occasion. Izzy is a pretty special friend, she spends Mondays with us at our house and Wednesdays with her at her house. Izzy is so special to us she has made into some Ava's very first words, The names she knows and says consistently now are momma, daddy, Rory, (aunt) Amy and now Izzy! 

"Where did these people come from..."

Ava got to see and pet baby chicks

**Also her cute hair flower is by Shannon, I have her blog linked on my blog list below if you want to check out her amazing knitted creations!**

She enjoyed the best food the fair had to offer, she and I shared:

a corn dog

an amazing chocolate chip cookie

and last but certainly not least, Wisconsin fried cheese!

She loved the horses, kept pointing and telling us about them...

I may or may not have saved our fair ticket stub for her baby book...

Our labor day!

We celebrated Sunday night with a cookout with friends! Ava loves sweet potatoe fries and we've found a great recipe for making these at home. It involves olive oil, paprika, cinnamon, and salt, coated by shaking them up in a baggie then bake in the oven...

Ava had her very first Oreo of the mint Oreo variety! She loved them:

The morning of labor day we went to play and jog at the lake, it was a gorgeous day perfect for some down time outside with the family, I am running again, on week 5 of couch to 5-k and enjoying the cooler weather: 

In the evening we meet up with Chloe and Allie and family to celebrate Chloe's 12th birthday! She choose Buffalo Wild Wings and then we went next door to marble slab for dessert.

This pic wasn't on Labor Day but it was too sweet to not post, I just can't get enough of watching her love on her babies. 

Our Last Summer Saturday

We celebrated the last Summer Saturday with a busy family day together! 

After our pancake breakfast we knocked out some chores. Ava helping daddy with her laundry:

After we went and looked at some flooring for the living room we then headed down town for some fun! We picked up some Hoagies and took them up to Ryan's office where we ate in style and enjoyed the panoramic city views.

You can see as far as the top of the capital:

Then we took Ava down to the fountain in brick town to splash around:

We wrapped up our downtown fun with a trip The Candy Co. for some Gelatto:

The rest of the day was the just right Saturday combination of relaxing and getting some things accomplished a great last summer Saturday!

Some back story on the day: I went to this great training at work on Friday on a new therapy model we will be using. I loved the part of the model about helping clients be truly present in each moment. Most of the time we are consumed with the past or stuck in what will happen next thinking. It's actually really hard to sit for any amount of time in the current moment. (Try it for a few minutes and just observe around you, you can't go long till you start planning something or thinking about something that already happened.) We let so many hurts in our past or worries about the future ruin what is now. This theory also teaches us that a therapist cannot truly impart the skills of this model without living them themselves. So I was very "mindful" (one of key components of this model) of staying present in each moment today. I was so much more aware today of times I was tempted to not stay present in the moment, for example instead of giving myself fully to the joyful experience of watching Ava play in the fountain, I started to think about the hot walk to the Gelatto shop were going to next and how close nap time was coming and wondering would she get cranky. I think this is such a spiritual struggle we all have. But today I was so aware of what I was doing and shut that thinking down to return myself to being fully present with that moment. It really made a great day even sweeter, fuller and richer.