Ava Turns 4!

Our sweet little girl is growing up!


I've heard before that kids grow the most during the Spring. It seems like Ava shot up in height, especially lately. She is no longer the pint-sized, Chipmunk-voiced toddler, but instead is now a smiley, dimple-cheeked, sweet, adorable little girl.

She had such an amazing birthday. We celebrated with her friends in the backyard, bubbles and balloons galore. She seemed to bask in the glow of her birthday that day. It was fun to watch!

I love to watch Ava play with other kids. She is very respectful of them, sometimes a ring-leader (in a good way..."Come on, guys! Let's go this way!") and takes care of the littlest ones so well. It's interesting... she will sometimes say "I'm going to be a little shy" when we go somewhere where she knows she will be playing with other kids (like McDonald's Playplace). I'm not sure where this came from. Of course as soon as she is "shy" and merges into a crowd of kids, she has an absolute blast; the shyness disappears.

Ava plays hard. She runs so fast! It amazes me how fast she is. I would consider her quite athletic. I really do need to get her enrolled in a gymnastics course of some sort. She is a gamer. She loves to play games like "Chutes and Ladders." She loves to dance to music, and likes hearing "Tonight's gonna be a good night!" ("I've Got a Feelin'") by the Black-Eyed Peas. She can sing in tune and LOVES to sing in the car.

Her world revolves around all things princessy and crafty. She loves to sit at the kitchen table for hours and do "crafts". Just give her some paper mache-like paper, tape, foam stickers and some crayons, and she's good to go. She always has a gift for someone in mind, and wants to make a craft to give to them. One day she asked for a few supplies. I looked over and she had put four princesses each on a separate page, taped one of her bracelets to each page to match the princess's dress, and added another girly item to each page. She color-coordinated all of these pages and wanted to give them to her friends. Quite thoughtful.

She likes to write her name. Up until a few months ago, she was writing "A's" as if they were circles with a horizontal line through them with two little legs sticking out. I didn't push the issue, her day care class started working on drawing letters and her "A's" now look like a standard "A". :-) At church a few Sundays back, our friend Melanie helped teach Little League. She mentioned that Ava wrote "Elise" on her paper, after the teacher had written Ava. Ava mentioned that her name was "Elise". Melanie knew her name was Ava, so she thought Ava was pretending to be "Elise" that day, until Ava mentioned that Elise was her last name. It was at that point that Melanie said "Oh! Elise is your middle name!" :-) There is another Ava in Ava's class at church (Ava Timberlake), so I'm sure Ava was probably trying to differentiate herself from Ava T....

She is learning to sound out words, and recognizes some of them when we read books. In the past she knew words by their shape. She is learning now to read words by putting the sound of the letters together. She knows how to spell Liam's name, as well, and is quick to write her name and Liam's on things.

Ava's favorite color: pink, purple and red
Ava's favorite food: wide egg noodles with parmesan cheese
Ava's favorite movie: Barbie Mermaid Tale (I'm guessing)
Ava's favorite thing to do: play outside / do crafts (actibalees, as she calls them)
Ava's favorite place to go: Monkey Joe's (an inflatable jump kids' place)
Ava's favorite word: Actually (we hear her say this a lot)

She likes to help around the house. She especially likes to clean the windows and dust. She has a little envelope with a few dollars in it that she has earned. She wants to save up for a pair of Sketcher shoes that she saw recently, so I told her she can do more chores, if she would like. She seems anxious at the thought of opportunity and doesn't seem to begrudge it.

The kids have been in day care since April 12. I think they're really enjoying it. Ava hasn't gone into the next classroom (Mrs. Barb's classroom) with the other kids her age, since she's been back. She talks about a boy named Owen and in talking with Ava, it sounded like she might be scared of him. When I talked with Ava's teachers about it, they just laughed. They said that Owen is a nice boy and that he really likes Ava. Go figure. Ava does seem intimidated by bigger kids. I told Ava that kids will probably learn to read sooner in Mrs. Barb's classroom. I mentioned that maybe we can make cupcakes or bring a treat into Ms. Ashley's classroom (her current classroom) on Friday and then bring them into Mrs. Barb's classroom (Owen's classroom) on Monday. She thought it was a great idea. I told her that she could just let us know when she wants to go into Mrs. Barb's classroom. I didn't want to push her, but do want her to be learning things with other kids her age. What happened the next day? She asked the teachers if she could go into Mrs. Barb's classroom. Go figure. So we will be making cupcakes tonight, to take to Ms. Ashley's classroom tomorrow. :-)

Ava has been spooked by the movie "Wizard of Oz" recently. Please note that I am not tormenting her with this movie. I bought it, considering it a classic, thinking we would pull it out a few years from now. Ava was RELENTLESS in asking if she could watch it. Seriously. I told her I thought it would be pretty scary. She said she would just snuggle with me if she got scared. SEVEN requests-to-watch-the-movie later, I gave in. The witch scared her. She seemed fine when we watched it, but now we have a witch in our house somewhere. Ugh. This has caused sleepless nights for Doug and myself, as Ava comes downstairs and wants to sleep in our bed. Our queen-sized not-big-enough-for-three bed. We've since decided we get better sleep (all of us) if Ava sleeps on a blanket on the floor next to our bed (if she wakes up, that is). Hopefully she grows out of this phase soon. (I remember being spooked by some Saturday Shocker movie when I was younger, too). I brought Ava's scare up to the doc at her four-year appointment. The doctor mentioned that we can get some magical spray that gets rid of anything bad in the room. :-) So, last night, for the first time, we used some spray. Somehow I think it called more attention to what Ava shouldn't have been thinking about (she ended up in our room), so we'll see how we move forward in using the spray.

Last night when I tucked Ava in, it was one of those nights I wish I could've caught on tape. Every second. She was so sweet. Every night, when I lay with her (lately because of the "scare" factor), I wait until she is asleep and quietly fall (you moms know what I'm talking about) one appendage at a time (while my head remains on the pillow), out of her bed. Before doing so, I tell her that I hope she can do and be whatever she wants when she grows up, because she is so smart, beautiful, sweet and loved. Last night, I told her this when she was still awake. She said that when she grows up, she wants to be a mommy like me and cook things like me when she grows up. (My heart melted when she said this!) She also mentioned that she wants to be tall. I told her that she is just the right size for her age, and that the doctor told us that at her appointment, too. I said that she will grow. She said that it's taking a long time. I told her that she will grow until she is around 18 and then won't grow much after that (like Mommy and Daddy). She asked if I am still growing. I told her I wasn't and that Daddy was done growing, too. She then mentioned something about being scared in bed. I told her that Liam was there right near her and that I used to share a room with Aunt Sherry when we were little. She asked if Aunt Sherry was done growing. I told her yes. Ava said "But Daymian and Jordan aren't done growing, are they?" I told her that they were still growing. We went on to talk about fields of pink flowers with ponies that had rainbow hair. We said we were going to run through the fields of flowers together giggling, in dreams.

She is very opinionated about her wardrobe. She doesn't really like long-sleeved outfits or sweaters. She chooses dresses over pants / shorts and doesn't seem to like jeans as much. She does dress according to the weather. We watch the news / weather forecast and let her know if it is going to be hot or cold. If it's warm, she will decide on shorts or a dress. She does dress herself every day. She wears size 4T, for the most part and size 10 shoes. She is a princess. She likes wearing her hair in a pony-tail most days, I think because my hair always ends up in a pony-tail. (She's mentioned before that she wants a pony-tail just like Mommy's). When she comes out of the bathroom, after her hair is done, Doug always tells her "You look like a million bucks!" and she will smile.

She hasn't had an accident (potty-wise) this year, as far as I can remember. We no longer wake her up at night for her to go to the bathroom before we go to bed. She sleeps from 9 p.m.ish to 7 a.m.ish. She's normally our early riser.

Lately the things she eats have been somewhat limited. Since Spring started, though, she is eating more of a variety as I think she's more hungry from playing so hard outside. She will eat her veggies if we tell her she should, but sometimes she will fight our food choices (meats, in particular). In the past I really was adamant that she had to eat what we gave her. Now, I realize sometimes it isn't worth the fight, and that she will eventually eat it if she is hungry enough. I realize it is harder for both kids to eat their "good food" if a treat follows after dinner, if one blows through dinner and the other one is slower in eating dinner. Par for the course, I guess.

She and Liam do play very well together. I love to hear them giggling together (my favorite sound). The other night Liam would run to her and say "huck, huck!" and give Ava a big hug while she sat in a chair. Adorable. They giggled. They will often fight over the same toy (amongst the million toys in our house). She likes to ride her scooter outside with Matthew and play in the creek with him, which surprised me. She likes to draw on the sidewalk with chalk outside with her buddies, making pathways on which she walks. She did hit every wall in the living room with a pencil in January, I think. She kept asking me for paper but I think I was attending to Liam's needs. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean magic erasers.

She is very social, but not around strangers. She likes to help me plant things in the garden and cook or bake. When she helps me bake, she can turn on the hand-mixer and mix something in a bowl all by herself. She seems to do this very naturally. She is a thinker. She will come up with a question about something out of the blue, about how something works. When I ask her what she thinks about it, she will eventually come up with the answer on her own. She goes between being Daddy's girl and Mommy's girl. Which is quite alright with me. :-)

Peace, love and sweet dreams,
Shelly, Doug, Ava (still growing) and Liam (still growing)

Going Underground

Hello all!

I've decided to take the blog "underground" and only allow invited readers to view posts of our family's happenings. I tried to invite those who I know might read the blog. If I didn't send you an invitation and you're a friend, please be sure to let me know: dscarey@bellsouth.net.

Thanks!

Peace, love, blue skies and sunshine,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Small group kiddos

Here are a few pictures of the kidlings in our small group, while playing one sunda night.

Kylyn Fletcher, Mekhi Hoffman, Ava Carey, Alana Baillairge and Ryan Ashton Fletcher. Not pictured in the first picture: Ashley Baillairge, Liam Carey, Wyatt Stryker.


As you can see, the Baillairges' sandbox is a favorite! :-)

Looks like Liam's presence was captured in the last two... They're all so busy!

Peace, love and grit,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Rwanda: Central Africa School of Excellence

Doug has been working TIRELESSLY on a project recently.

A few months back, we were in class on a Sunday morning at church. During a series discussing family finances, a few extended families (Scobeys and Chamblees) came in to discuss finances as it related to their upbringing. After class, we spoke with Gary Chamblee (an elder at North Atlanta) and learned that he grew up in Roseville, Michigan. His Mom actually goes to church with my Uncle Danny and Aunt Linda. Small world! During the conversation, Doug casually mentioned that he was currently unemployed. Gary mentioned that he might have some work for Doug to do. Fast-forward a few months...

Gary called Doug. They then met together with Ken Schumard (also an elder at North Atlanta) in late March to discuss Doug's involvement with an effort in Kigali, Rwanda. Gary and Ken are rallying the troops to fund the building of a boarding school in Rwanda, which will house 2,000 students. For now, the school is called CASE (Central African School of Excellence). The school is a partnership between GAC (Greater... Atlanta Christian School in Norcross, GA) and Oklahoma Christian University. They wanted Doug to draw plans for the school / campus! Richard Kohl, also an elder at North Atlanta (who owns his own architectural firm) drew the first set of plans, but the specific land had not yet been confirmed. His plan included a lake in the middle of the plan. The land finally agreed upon doesn't include a lake. So, Gary and Ken wanted Doug to do a more detailed plan that would be more specific to the chosen land.

The kids have have been out of day care since the beginning of the year, because we couldn't justify the expense of day care when Doug was available at home. Ken and Gary said they would do whatever was necessary for Doug to work on this project, which included fronting some money for the kids to be placed in day care full-time (a portion of the full payment for Doug's work). Prayer answered!

Doug didn't have much to go on, but drew up the plans with the limited information he had. Last Monday, April 19, Doug took a tour of Greater Atlanta Christian School with the facilities coordinator. While there, Gary e-mailed him and mentioned that he should see the President of GAC, to show him the plans. Fortunately for Doug, the President had quite a few things he wanted included in the plan. (He learned that the land will actually include TWO schools). Yikes! So, Doug had to scrap his first round plans.

He worked very well with the President (David Fincher) to ensure the plans included everything GAC wanted. From April 19th until this past Monday, Doug has worked LONG hours to ensure this happened. He finished it up last Monday. It looks great!

Doug received a very "presidential" looking electronic invitation to today's luncheon (I will see if I can attach that, as well). The invitation advised that there would be a luncheon held with "His Excellency, President Paul Kagame..." :-) Approximately 80 people will be attending this luncheon. Doug's campus drawings will be presented to President Kagame today! The drawings will be projected onto numerous screens as President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame tour GAC today. (GAC will be the school after which the CASE school will most likely be modeled). Gary presented the drawings to the GAC students yesterday, telling them they were the first to see the plans. Doug is extremely excited, as am I! State of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is expected to be there, as well.

Some history: Most of the teachers in Rwanda were killed (or left the country) during the genocide in the 90's, so the school will be a K-12 boarding school (one part of the campus), as well as a school that will "teach teachers" (the seond school on campus). The teacher / student ratio in Rwanda right now is 1:125+, so it would definitely benefit Rwanda to have more teachers at the ready. The top 10 students in the country of Rwanda are given a scholarship to OC yearly. This year, the first of those students are expected to graduate. President Kagame is expected to deliver this year's OC commencement address on 04/30.

In the picture, Doug is holding a pen that he made for President Kagame (hopefully he will be able to give it to him, given security measures...). Doug's trademark, since he's been doing freelance work, is to make a pen (turn on a lathe) for those who ask him to complete projects / architectural work. He attached his business card to the pen. Ironically, the name of the kit for this pen is called "Majestic". ;-) I am hoping that Doug will have pictures he can share of the luncheon. If he does, I will be sure to post them.

Interesting to note: Doug asked Gary Chamblee why they chose him (Doug) for this project. Gary said "Well, you were in class that Sunday morning, mentioned you were currently without work. I saw your portfolio which included some educational buildings. I believe God puts people in our lives at specific times for a reason." Wow. This is definitely a God-thing. What a story to tell. From unemployed to meeting with a President... God definitely works in mysterious ways!

Like Doug's Dad has said, "win, lose or draw" this experience will be a good one. Please pray that the school happens. Praying that this project is a "go" (the President / Rwanda will have to sign-off on this idea), and that something is "sticky" about this project! But for today, we'll just celebrate lunch! ;-)

Peace, love and presidential elbow-rubbing,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Chick Fil-A Hero Night: April 19

We love our local Chick Fil-A for family nights! Frequently on Monday nights, they have a fun craft or theme night for the kids. This past Monday night was "Hero night". A local policeman and fireman came out and showed the kids their vehicles, tools, etc.

At the front of the firetruck

Fearless Firefighter Ava

Liam has a serious infatuation with trucks, cars and balls. He LOVES firetrucks. We have one especially obnoxious toy firetruck that screams and honks VERY loudly. He LOVES it. I guess you could say we aren't as appreciative of it... :-)

The fireman was running late, so the policeman had the complete attention of all the kids. It was interesting to hear him say that they always carry two guns, one concealed. He showed us his stun gun, bullet-proof vest, and let the kids climb around in his car. The kids enjoyed hanging-out in the parking lot, just waiting for the firetruck to arrive. The kids briefly got to climb through the truck.

When Liam saw the firetruck arriving, he laughed and pointed. It's pretty funny to see him get excited about something... He laughs, but he has what most would consider to be a "pained look" on his face. He really isn't in pain, but is actually super happy. Some people have asked, when he is in the middle of laughing, if he is crying. It's hilarious.... See the pictures below for the sequence of pained / excited looks on his face. :-)

Here are some pictures from our excursion, and meeting our local heroes!

Peace, love and sirens,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Doug and Liam riding shotgun

The policeman telling us about his job



Kids checking out the patrol car


Mr. Cow :-)


Liam meeting Mr. Cow


Ava checking out the cruiser


Liam sees the firetruck pulling into the parking lot


Picture # 2 of happiness :-)

Too excited!

Liam couldn't help himself... he had to see what the hedge felt like...

Ava doing the "happy dance", seeing that the firetruck was almost there...

Liam looks super short in this picture, but he is actually pretty tall for his age. He thought he was a big boy, able to step up on the curb and jump down from it.

Ava was trying to wrangle the troops for a photo op

In the firetruck

Oil in the jar

Update on Doug's job loss / projects gained

On May 1st, Doug will have been without a corporate job for a year. During this year, God has blessed us in so many ways! We're so fortunate to have a roof over our heads, food on the table and so many other immeasurable blessings. We worked hard to pay-off our mini-van and have one last pesky debt to pay off, before we REALLY tackle the mortgage, Dave Ramsey-style. (We would actually be able to pay off this pesky debt, if we knew Doug's job situation were more certain, but are holding off for now... we do mean business! :-) . I tell people that I liken our finances to the story in the Bible about the widow with the jar of oil (1 Kings 17). God is good.

Truthfully, I thought Doug losing his job would be the worst thing that could ever happen to our family. I'm not sure why I thought that, but I did. (I have since changed my mind on that...) It turns out that the months leading up to Doug losing his job were more nerve-wracking than the months afterward. The "absolute" nature of Doug losing his job allowed us to almost breathe a sigh of relief. We always wondered when it would happen to him. It seemed like the hatchet was coming down at the end of 2008. We buckled down and prepared... Ironically, he found out on April Fools' Day 2009. His last day worked was May 1, 2009.

In the past, when I heard of people without jobs for a year or so, my jaw would drop. I couldn't fathom how anyone could survive financially for that amount of time. Now I do. And we're fine. In fact, we're better than fine.

Within the year of Doug's unemployment, he has found various side projects to keep him busy and create income. It has been challenging; we took the kids out of day care as we couldn't justify the expense with Doug being at home and available. The day care was kind enough to let the kids attend, 1-2 days a week, free of charge, on a scholarship through the end of 2009. An answered prayer! This freed up Doug to concentrate on searching for a job without the kids underfoot. With the scholarship "running out" after Christmas, Doug started watching them full-time. It was a long three (plus) months. :-) It isn't coincidence that blog entries were far fewer from January 2010 until now...

We had lots of family time, but it was more challenging for me to work from home. Doug also wasn't able to work on income-producing projects until the kids went to bed at night, when (as he will admit) he isn't at his sharpest. This due to the physical nature of watching kids all day. So, his official "work shift" was often from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Doug says he actually looks forward to working a full-time job, because he thinks he will have less work to do. I think I would have to agree with this statement! He has balanced side projects, watching the kids when I'm working, and the lawn-mowing / house-upkeep activities better than anyone could. From January through April 9, his day consisted of numerous job applications, resume rewrites, some job interviews, lots of phone calls, spaghettios, dirty diapers, wiping up kid messes and playing referee. He works tirelessly to make sure we're taken care of, even though he's not working in an office setting. He has definitely rolled with the punches. We have all adjusted.

I'm also thankful for all of the years I hustled at my job. Compounded raises from the earlier years (before the economy tanked) have helped us to a spot where we could practically live on my salary alone. I say that thankfully, and knowing only God could've purposed this to happen.

During Doug's corporate work hiatus, Doug and the kids have really bonded. I saw Liam grow so close to Doug. Ava seemed to seek out my attention, as she knew I was home, but couldn't spend time with her (as I was working). I'm sure the "working-from-home" concept is a hard one for a then three-year old to understand. It was tough to be able to balance giving the kids the attention they needed, as well as attending to my job duties. We had some special times where I was able to spend nights out with Ava, just doing Mommy and daughter stuff (dollar movies, McDonald's play place, etc). I cherish those moments. I think she did, too.

As of April 12th, the kids are back in day care. Doug has a project he is working on that requires his full attention. We can now justify the cost associated with day care. It's been a nice change for everyone, I think. Routine is good. I pray that this is able to continue. Ava enjoys the social aspects of her school friends and learning. Liam gets to play with other kids and new toys. Bonus! I do think they enjoy it. The day care has been like family to us, so it is nice for the kids to see everyone there again.

In the meantime, Doug is working VERY hard on this project. (I will expound upon it in a later blog post.) I am able to work on "work" uninterrupted. When we do spend our time together, we're fresh and really enjoy our family time.

Doug's side projects, to date
John and Christy Craig's house - "the fort"
Debbie Bolt's addition plans
Nancy Holman's tile
David Strickland's basement plans
Parker and Macy Babb's new house plans
Gary and Becky McNabb / Indian Hills couple's home in North Georgia
Kimmel Residence / Buckhead bathroom remodel (Ray)
Buckhead house remodel (upcoming)

Thank you, God, for carrying us during this past year. I pray that other people can see how much God has blessed us, during a time that could've otherwise been traumatic. He works in mysterious ways. (When we decided to refinish our bathroom and ordered the countertop, the owner of the countertop store was looking for an architect. He then threw a referral Doug's way). God sheltered us, and I firmly believe protected and "cushioned" us during this time. He led our decisions and thoughts. I pray we continue to seek his guidance and rely on Him for sustenance.

Doug, I love you eternally. I am so proud to be your wife! You've got grit and have shown it, especially during the past year. I know you will be rewarded for your efforts! You have never waivered and have more patience than anyone I know. I'm so thankful to have you by my side and have such a loving family. We are immensely blessed.

All, know we are well and happy and enjoying everything Spring has to offer right now (sunshine, digging in dirt, playing with flowers, taking allergy meds!). Now, to catch up on four months of missing blog posts! :-)

Peace, love and catching up!
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Where to start?

FOUR MONTHS LATER! I do intend on keeping up with the blog, fear not. I hope to catch up on more Christmas posts and other festivities soon. Stay tuned!

Peace, love and procrastination,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Easter at Grandma Dolly and Grandpa Dean's

We had fun hunting for eggs over at Grandpa Dean and Grandma Dolly's.  Liam had a little help.  ;-)

Peace, love and baskets full 'o eggs,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam