We climbed out of the cold snap and are no longer in the single digits. My phone shows me the weather of locations that I have programmed into it and I saw how warm Texas was, is, and will continue to be and I felt like tossing my oh so flattering long underwear into the garbage.

We have been busy but for the life of me, as I sit here I cannot really recall what we did in the last few days. The only thing that comes to mind is picking up after Ava. It is like Tornado Alley around here. Last night I discovered that the cleanest room in the house was Ava's. How ironic.

For Thanksgiving we are going to drive up to Talkeetna. We are meeting friends there and will have Thanksgiving, family style, at The Roadhouse. It is a very quaint bakery/cafe and lodge. In the summer they cater to locals, tourists and moutaineers attempting to summit Mt. Mckinley and surrounding peaks. We are looking forward to skiing around X-Y Lakes (again) only this time Ava is a year older, a few pounds heavier, and a bit less passive. All in all a great way to work off all the food. Here is a link for the fun of it.... www.talkeetnaroadhouse.com/index.html

Later this coming weekend, Steve and I are looking forward to an evening of dining out and doing some Christmas shopping while my friend Maggie watches Ava. We hope her time with Maggie goes better than her visit to the nursery at church last Sunday. On that day we dropped Ava off before mass started. As Steve and I sat in the pew it occurred to me that it was the closest thing to a date we've had in a while. Unfortunately the woman running the nursery (on a volunteer basis. God bless her) was probably not feeling so at ease. It was my turn to check on her after Communion. As I approached the nursery a really persistent woman tried to get me to donate blood. I told her I was on my way to check on my child in the nursery. She replied "oh she's fine, just go donate". Quickly miffed by her approach I felt like telling her "sorry but I am fresh out of blood. My daughter has drained me dry of all essential fluids and I currently operate on extra-bold French Roast coffee". I continued on and peeked into the nursery. As I peered in, the provider saw me and her eyes got big and I thought "uh oh....run". She looked like "Ol Mother Hubbard" with Ava clinging to her like a monkey and a gaggle of other children running around the room. She explained that she contemplated coming to get us at one point. I could just picture it. Her looking for us and Steve and I slinking down loooooowwww in the pew. We are not really sure what's up. She does great on playdates with one other child but put her in a room with a bunch of other kids and all bets are off. This morning as we drove to the Gymnastics Center I was reading Steve an email I received from Tony about how to handle good and not so good behavior in children. We are thinking of arranging a nice little "meeting" with Buttercup and her Uncle Tony while we go out for a couple of drinks. Tony- we'll be in touch :)

Well before she wakes up I wanted to share some fun clips from this morning.

Steve had the day off today so he joined Ava and I at the Gymnastics Center. We met our friends Erika and Ross and their daughter Keena there. Enjoy!