A Poem of Peanut Butter

Downstairs in the kitchen there arose such a clatter,
so I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter,
Away to the kitchen I flew in a flash,
ran down the steps and tripped over the trash.


When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature Ava, as she grinned from ear to ear.
And a spoon in her hand and a Skippy Jar in the other,
Gave visions of a childhood of her Aunt and her Mother.

inspiration

It's no secret that the waves have been a little rough on our beach lately. I have been venting out the frustration as to avoid keeping it bottled up. It's been wave after wave of rough surf and the struggle to stay afloat is exhausting! But I have faith that good will come out of it. It's hard to think postive when you're overwhelmed {especially when you zone out the first free moment you have to think!}

Yes, I'm verrrrrry tired from all of going-ons lately. But this week I had 2 separate blessing arrive via e-mail {yes I said e-mail} that helped to focus my fuzzy foggy head.

This article was included in an e-mail from my local NJ chapter of the March of Dimes. It helped remind me of the struggle we went through when Ava was a 35-weeker with complications from both being premature and a c-section baby. More importantly, it also reminded me of the great things that came of that struggle{sometimes I need a reminder, I am only human}

Then

This morning I recieved an Etsy convo from another seller/mom/blogger/amazingly inspirational woman. She wants to feature my shop on her blog and my fundraising efforts on Etsy for the March of Dimes. She picked the month of November for the feature {which is perfect as it is Prematurity Awareness Month}. I am so gracious and thankful I have the opportunity to help showcase and give back to an amazing cause. But as much as it is amazing positive news, the positive came more from the seller/mom/blogger/amazingly inspirational woman herself.

Her name is Meredith.

She is a mom who also has a story. It's Lily's story.

Her heartbreaking story had a different ending than Ava's. One would offer numerous negative words to describe it. But Meredith never did. Her words remained positive and thankful and hopeful. Even after her loss she looked only at what she had gained and smiled.

She reminds me to be thankful for what I have and what I have to give. I have only two hands and though it may not seem enough at times, it's more than enough.  No matter how hard the waves are crashing today there's always a calm beauty after the storm when the sun peeks out from behind the clouds and the birds take to the skies again.

It's October

Where did September go? Honestly, I'm baffled. I feel like we just bid farewell to summer.

Maybe it was the fact that Labor Day fell late this year. Maybe it was our jam-packed schedule. Maybe it was Ava letting go of my hip and heading off to school. All I am certain of is that it's October. Wow.

I hate to admit that September left me completely exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally {exhausted}. A lot of changes occured, more frequent outings took place as we tried to squeeze  as much as we could out of the last bits of summer weather we had. And my seasonal allergies have completely taken over me with the onset of fall. It was a long month that ended with Ava catching a virus that led to an ear infection that led to an allergic reaction to pennicillin {way to drag out her misery there!} Don't worry, she's okay. But I am a little sad how quickly September vanished through it all.

I'm welcoming October with open arms and much more optimism than I had last month. October is my favorite month out of the year with the rich hues in the trees, the smell of the leaves {even though they make me sneeze}, the bountiful Harvest Festivals, and of course the pumpkin picking {and pumpkin pies - yum}

Cheers to fall!

Mud Friends

Ava woke up early to a huge Saturday surprise. Uncle Geoff {having just returned from 6 long months away at Army boot camp & IT training} snuck into her room to wake her up. He couldn't wait any longer to squeeze her and see how big she had grown.

Ava is so happy to have "Uncle" home. She had morning conversations with him over breakfast as we got ourselves ready to head to McGuire Air Force base to watch her other Uncle run in the 10K Mud Run.

We spent the rest of the morning with Uncle Andy watching him tear up the course at the race. We saw his team's bright green shirts come running around the last corner and toward us at the finish and we were so excited for him! As Andy's five-man team crossed the finish {in first place!} visibly drenched in mud and water Ava refused to give Andy a congratulatory hug as she commanded that he go take a shower. Lucky for him there were plenty of showers available for rinsing off. {Afterward, he finally got that kiss}

 Congratulations to Andy's team taking 1st place again for the 2nd year in a row! Andrew is such an inspiration and always has been growing up. He is always so determined to master everything that he does. I am in awe over the mere fact that he even finds time to acomplish all that he does in his life. {me, I need a few more hours in a day!} When Ava is old enough to understand she will be so proud of both her Uncles for how determined and accomplished they both are! Congrats Andy for First Place! And Congrats to Geoff for graduating with Honors and standing up to serve your country!

yesterday...

Before we headed out to Frank's for our weekly Wednesday dinner Ava was looking and acting quite adorable.
{So I grabbed the camera, of course.}

As soon as she saw it she went into kooky mode.

I wanted to take about 20 minutes to snap some new photos of Ava.
{She wanted to take those 20 minutes to go through a range of about 20 emotions.}

I still managed to snap a few adorable ones in between the kookiness and just before the volcano of a meltdown that erupted 30 minutes later.

Apple Day

I had never been to Terhune Orchards but had been wanting to go for quite a while. I pass their Farmer's Market along the way to meet Frank for lunch at work and unfortunately never have the time to stop. So we chose Apple Day for our first trip and invited my brother Andrew and my Uncle Dave & Aunt Cindy. {And of course Frank.}

The weather was GORGEOUS.

Cloudless skies and 70 degrees. It could not have been any better.

The crowd was thick, the pig was roasting and the music definitely reminded us that we were down on the farm.

Ava loved it. {And I'm pretty sure Aunt Cindy & Uncle David loved it just as much!}
She was even able to milk a cow! {A wooden one. With water.}

She played in a REALLY BIG rustic wagon that was "Mommy sized." She even posed.

She scribbled hop scotch in the dirt with Aunt Cindy and used the stones she collected along the way. {She didn't care much for the ponies or farm animals this time}

The pumpkin patch was full of ripe pumpkins ready for picking! There were even some that were {green like a turtle.}

Ava went in search of a perfect pumpkin for Aunt Cindy. When she found it, she took Uncle Dave on an {adventure}

Her favorite was the corn maze. It was Andy's turn to go on a corn filled {adventure}

We finally made our way to the {pick your own} orchard. Most of the apples had already been picked. But we found some great Red Delicious apples for Frank.

Ava found a perfect little baby apple that {looks like a cherry}

She really wanted a {HUGE} pumpkin, but we are saving that for October!

Yummy & Moist Banana Muffins & Bread

After I picked Ava up from school we headed strait to the kitchen to put those mushy bananas to good use. We have a lot of whole wheat flour leftover from our pizza that I also wanted to use before it expires. I couldn't find a recipe that had everything I wanted so I modified the one I liked most. I added spices, applesauce and substituted the flour for 100% whole grain wheat flour. It was YUMMY.

Her Favorite part was MASHING. {mash MASH MASH}



We made a loaf and one tray of mini muffins. {Correction: cupcakes, as Ava calls them.}
They were so moist, yummy, and HEALTHY. My Favorite.
Here's the recipe we are sure to use again:

Ava's Whole Wheat Bannana Muffins

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
3/4 Cup All Natural Brown Sugar {or 1/3 Cup of Splenda Brown Sugar}
2 Eggs Beaten
2 1/2 Cups Mashed Bananas {aprx 4-5 overripe Bananas}
Optional:
1 1/2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 Cup All Natural or Organic Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Cup Dark Chocolate Morsels

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (170 C). Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture. {Be careful not to stir too much; stir just to moisten.} Stir in Chocolate Morsels. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Place on the center rack in oven and bake for 60 - 65 minutes {30-35 minutes for muffins} until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let bread {or muffins} cool for 10 minutes in pan then turn out bread onto wire rack.


They were so {YUMMY}
They also made a great snack for her lunchbox! {Sadly she did not share with Bunny}

Septemberfest Fun!

Bigger than I have ever remembered, the Septemberfest was so much fun and we lucked out with great weather.  Our first task of the day was to find the booth for Ava's Pre-school so she could visit her teachers and show off her school shirt for a special treat!

Behind them was the petting zoo which Ava enjoyed. She wanted to look, not touch.

She also went fishing for pumpkins and snagged one on her first try!

We later found the pony rides which Ava LOVED. She rode one of the biggest ones there. His name is Hercules.

After the ponies we strolled up the looooooong path lined with vendors and crafters. At the very end of the row we found a tent where a few Native American were selling the most adorable hand knit sweaters I have ever seen! {It's a good thing I didn't have more cash on me or I would have went crazy}. I bought Ava a sweater of course, although I would have liked 2.

Ava also picked out a handcarved flute made out of dried reed {pink, of course}. It was nice to show her a Native American instrument as she had just seen them at the museum a day earlier. Of course, she didn't put the flute down for the rest of the day! {I think we just might have to dig out Disney's Pocahontas for her to watch really soon to tie it all together!}

Peculiar things at the Museum

We took a trip to the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton on Saturday with Frank for the grand re-opening of the Planetarium. Unfortunately, since the days shows were free, we didn't manage to snag any tickets as they went FAST. So instead we strolled through the many exhibits in the museum.

The New Jersey Native American exhibit really caught Ava's eye. She really liked their necklaces whose beads were made from shells. When we came accross a pair of mocassins, Ava's only response was, "That's awfully peculiar." She had never seen a pair of shoes that looked anything like them.

Checking out the longhouses.

We made our way up to the third floor gallery where Ava swooned over the Lennox vases and tea cups. "Is that real tea for their tea party?" she questioned.

Past the Lennox was the Gallery which to my surprise was hosting the many works of a widely known professor from my former college.  "Artist As Curator" featuring many of Mel Leipzig's colorful and contemporary works pleased both mine and Ava's eyes. While purusing the walls I came accross a portrait of my former Student Advisor and Professor, Ross Davies, who had succumbed to his cancer in 2004. It was a little comforting to his face again out of the blue. Since school is still new for her it was also nice to show Ava one of my teachers and that I went to school just like her!

We later found a wall of watercolors which Ava thoroughly enjoyed as she described the colors and what she thought each abstract represented.

Downstairs on the main floor was my favorite exhibit, "Rising Tide: Climate Change & New Jersey." The museum did a fabulous job making this a very interactive and engaging exhibit for visitors of ALL ages. It was very informative and impactful as some parts literally showed the damage we are doing to our world and the speed in which it is happening.

We are sure to head back for another weekend to check out the "One World, One Sky" show at the Planetarium. With Big Bird and Elmo narrating the trip into outer space, I'm sure Ava will go nuts!

Conversations with a Cloud

"I left the clouds home from school today because they were crying," Ava said. It was in fact raining. Very hard actually.
"When I got home I told the clouds all about school...I told them it was AWESOME!" she exclaimed.

Before school she asked for a Butterfly sandwich to pack for lunch.

And she gave morning smiles.