Happy Birthday, Ava (2021)

 

Happy happy birthday to my sweet and sensitive and adorable Ava Chantal!  I can't believe you turned 9 (and are very quickly approaching 10! since I'm so slow in writing these posts-haha). 

You have a smile like a ray of bright sunshine!

You are shy and prefer time to warm up in situations rather than jump right in.  You love to hide behind me until you feel more sure of yourself and I am honored that I can be that safe place for you to hide until you are ready to fly.  Take your time, my darling, I never want you to feel rushed.  You are brave and courageous. 

I didn't have you at my house for your birthday, but you begged and begged Daddy to take you to watch Mommy coach volleyball (the high school team I coach had a home game that night) and it was so sweet.  You are my cheerleader and encourager, and I was so touched that you wanted to support me and cheer our team on on YOUR birthday.  

The volleyball team heard it was your big day and gathered round to sing to you.  That made your tender and tentative little self smile shyly as you dipped your head to hide the happy grin forming at being noticed and celebrated. 

After coaching, I got to come over to your Daddy's house and sing to you again and enjoy a slice of ice cream cake with you for your special day.  Your smile was ear to ear.  It made me so happy to be a part of it all. 

Ava, you are so tender, and the weight of the world is so heavy on you at times that you give way to intense anger and frustration.  You yell and fuss and cry and whine.  It all just pours out of you like a rushing waterfall.  I know how that feels, baby girl.  

I am proud of you for letting it out so we can help you sort through it. Your tender, loving heart is worth all the pain of feeling all those very heavy emotions.  You are lovely and your heart is precious.  Thank you for sharing it all with me, the pain and the intense joy.  You are such a blessing. 

You are goofy and make me laugh.  I am goofy and make you laugh.  And together we are silly gigglers that remind each other not to take life too seriously because there's often something to laugh about if you look hard enough or if you just make a funny face at someone. 

To celebrate your birthday in the neighborhood, we picked up a container to decorate your own unicorn cookies. It was fun to watch you and your siblings and friends make colorful, edible creations. 

Beautiful, dahhhling.  

What a fun and creative activity with wonderful friends.  You are a kind friend.  You are friendly and willing to let others go first.  But with your friends, you can also be bold and daring.  I love that once you have found your comfort zone, you really soar. 

I may have mentioned, but we sure like to be silly and laugh together.  You have such a great laugh. 

I love love love these pictures because you picked out this dress because it "matched" mine.  They are shades of pink, both have long sleeves, and textures.  You wanted to find a dress in your closet that resembled mine and you did and were SO excited to be my little "twin".  

What a compliment for your mommy that you want to be just like her.  It made my heart so happy.  Thank you for loving me so well. 

Ava, you are an avid reader, a great problem solver, and a strong competitor.  When you play a game or sport, you really give it your all and want to win.  Sometimes that means we have to take deep breaths and have some chats about good sportsmanship, but it also means I get to see you challenge yourself to grow and get stronger, smarter, faster, and more virtuous.  

Yep, we are weird, and I love it.  Thank you for your smiles and silly faces and giggles.  You are such a precious child of God and I am so lucky He gave me you for a daughter.  You are beautiful and beloved. 

Ava, never forget how much Jesus loves you and your beautiful, kind heart.  You are WONDERFUL.  Keep making us all smile with your hugs and your amazing self.  YOU are such a priceless treasure. 

Happy birthday, beautiful.  

Happy 8th Birthday, Ava!

 

Dear sweet Ava Chantal, 

You are precious.  You are loved.  

And in this picture you were turning 8.  

I'm so far behind blogging that in a few months you'll be 9.  

Wow.  How fast a year has gone.  

You smile, your heart, your tender kindness....

It is so, so beautiful.  

YOU are a beautiful reflection of Christ.  

Ava, you have grown so much from year 7 to when you turned 8 last October.  

You started school at a classical school and were so brave.  

Our shy, little Ava, had the courage by the end of her first year at school in a classroom to present to her class about St. Kateri.  You are amazing and brave, and you're an evangelist too!  You shared the gospel when you shared about St. Kateri who loved Christ and made her life about Him.  

You run around with our neighborhood posse, and it is glorious to watch your face light up with joy playing with your friends.  You guys are always making up imaginative games, playing "family", climbing trees, and riding bikes and scooters up, down, and around the cul-de-sac.  

Ava, you are competitive and have a hard time losing, but you are working hard at being a good sport and controlling your temper.  You love to win, but you truly do love your friends and family more, and it is a proud moment for every parent to watch their kiddos conquer weaknesses and begin to choose more and more to choose kindness and sportsmanship and love.  I am proud of you.  

You have a silliness that we all love.  You LOVE to laugh, you love to smile, you love to make us all laugh with you.  Love you, Aves B!

Thank you for your bucket-loads of love and kindness.  You are such a good helper, such a kind friend, such a great teammate, and such a joyful and loving daughter.  

Stay close to Jesus.  He is everything.  

We love you, Ava Chantal. 

Christmas Dance Showcase (2019)

 

I found a bunch of dance videos from the girls' little mini showcase at Christmastime. 

Sophie took a class that was a ballet, tap, and jazz (plus a little tumbling) combo intro class.  She totally loved it (until Covid and we had to start doing Zoom dance which she was less thrilled about).  

           

           

           

           

These next couple are Elise and Ava's tap class.  Ava is wearing the black leotard with a skirt on the left at the beginning of the video and Elise is pony tail, black leotard no skirt on the far right.  Sadly our seats weren't so great for seeing Elise as much, but she's in there so watch for her too even though we had a better camera angle for Ava.  

           

            

Kayla took both ballet and tap last year, so she has two dances.  

In both it should be fairly obvious which one she is especially the second where I start the video focused right on her.  In the first, if you have trouble, she's the one with the black leggings under her pink skirt.  

            

            

Hope you enjoyed the show!  More Christmas in August just before August turns into September.  

Happy 7th Birthday, Ava Chantal!

Happy 7th Birthday, sweet Ava!  You are full of smiles and hugs and goodness!

 

You are such a sensitive, shy little soul until one gets to know you more deeply, and then they see you are also bubbly, full of ideas, friendly, and fun-loving.  

You can be so helpful and you are always ready to help me make or bake something in the kitchen.  You love pouring in the ingredients, mixing it all up, and of course licking the bowl when we are done making a sweet treat.  

 You are sometimes hesitant, but often quite adventurous.  You backpacked for the first time with Daddy this year and rocked it.  You are strong and determined when you want to be, yet you often stop to notice little things as well like the wildflowers or an interesting bird.  

You started school this year at a school outside our home.  It was a bit of an adjustment for shy little you.  You like to get to know people slowly and on your own timeline.  At school, you meet so many people very quickly and jump right in.  You quietly remain in the background and have slowly (with the help of your sweet big sister) made a few friends that you enjoy playing all sorts of games with.  Your smile when you come home from school on blue (EXCELLENT behavior) is the sweetest testament to the love in your heart and your desire to serve others and make them smile.  

 

You adore babies.  You loved holding your lovely little cousin, Mary, this summer.  Every chance you got (and there weren't as many as you wanted because there were so many aunts, uncles, and cousins vying for a chance to hold her) you held her and your smile was radiant.  You were just so thrilled to love on a sweet, tiny baby! 

We had two little celebrations for your birthday this year because your actual birthday was a "dance night" which means we had very little time to celebrate wonderful you.  We did manage a quick candle blowing out experience and ice cream sundaes before we rushed you off to your tap class.  

 

You love to explore the world around you.  Whether it's observing animals at the zoo, using your hands to explore and create at the Children's Museum, or making Mommy nervous by insisting on a picture of yourself on a mountain cliff, you are full of adventure and curiosity.  

 

Later, we were able to celebrate your big day with a little more time and pizzazz.  Daddy made your requested ice cream cake and it was delicious.  You were excited to get the roller skates that your little heart has been wanting so you can join your sister and friends rolling around the neighborhood. 

 

You are full of sunshine and flowers and beauty.  We are so blessed to be your parents.  Thank you for shining your beautiful light into our hearts.  You are a precious child of God and we feel so honored to be able to guide you and love you and teach you about the Father's love.  You are beautiful, kind, and filled with sweet tenderness.  

We love you, darling girl.  

The Glass Slipper- Dance Recital 2019

These 3 girls were so sweet and lovely in their dance recital this past spring, THE GLASS SLIPPER.  It was a clever depiction of the Cinderella story that also showed the power of Christ's love for each of us and the way His love pursues us and they did a wonderfully creative job of fitting in each of the different kinds of dance classes offered at the dance studio. 

Kayla was an older school girl with her tap dancing class. 

Elise was young Cinderella and Ava was a young schoolgirl with their ballet class. 

Kayla was also a party maid at the palace with her ballet class.  

(I just adore that picture of Ava's excited grin at dress rehearsal on the right).  

This year we got a sitter for Kolbe so we could enjoy the show with no interruptions.  Sophie delighted in being able to go with us to pick out flowers and arrange three bouquets for the girls and then heading to the show--just her, Mom, and Dad.  

Audience selfie before the performance began.  

 

Elise was so serious in the pictures with her flowers and I didn't catch Ava's full excitement either, but it was the sweetest thing giving these girls their flowers and seeing their faces just light up with joy at being praised and acknowledged in such a special way from Mom and Dad.  

Kayla and a few friends with her teacher who was one of the evil stepsisters.  

Sweeeeet!

A couple shots of some of the older cast members in main roles. 

and that's a wrap on spring recital 2019.  We helped out with rehearsals and other performances and the girls danced their hearts out.  It was a very fun time for all.