Ava Turns 4

Ava turned 4 on September 30th.



She helped make her own cake. White cake with strawberry jam between layers and pink frosting.




You can always tell the favorite gift by whether or not they sleep with it. This was a Playskool digital camera -- virtually indestructible -- from Grandaddy.



Grandma and Grandpa Scheurich came over the weekend to celebrate again and brought this beautiful cake.


Much loved by her sibs...

A Roundoff from Sam, and A Dive from Chase

We bought a new Canon digital camera that also shoots high-definition video, which is ideal for occasions like Sammie's final day of gymnastics camp. Of course, a camera is only good if the battery is charged. On this day, unfortunately it wasn't, but I didn't realize it until it was too late. I missed her demonstration, but was able to get this post-show roundoff thanks to my handy Droid...

A week or so later, while Dad was staying with us for a while, Kristin took the kids to Bryan Park pool on a weekday. The kids had taken swim lessons earlier in the summer, and Sam and Chase were ready to swim on their own...in the deep end. They wanted to go down the slide, and jump off the diving board, but they needed to pass the lifeguard's swim test first. They both passed with flying colors. Here's what happened next. Thank the Lord that Dad's new smartphone doubles as video camera, too. Listen to Kristin's commentary. Priceless.

"It's A Small World" by Sam, Chase & Ava

Here's an impromptu performance by the kids as we drove to town yesterday to run some errands.

Tubing at Lake Monroe

Some good friends of ours invited us to go to the lake the day after the 4th of July. Here are a few pictures and videos of the kids tubing for the first time in their lives. What a day...

Original American Girls

To celebrate our sweet niece's birthday and the special friendship that Samantha and Lilly share, my sister-in-law Kate and I set out on an adventure to the American Girl Doll Store in Chicago.




















One of the many reasons for this adventure was to show Sam Chicago. To show her you can serve yogurt and granola in something other than paper bowls! Dream big, baby! And, yes, by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, I rode the giant ferris wheel. We all were challenged in our own ways!




See the photo of Sam next to a poster of Lanie? She really wanted that doll! Now, look at the photo below of Sam with her own "Just Like You" doll (in the hand-made dress from Shipshewana -- thanks Grandma!) I told her we were not going to spend $100 on a doll that looked just like the one she already has.















































After we made all the necessary purchases, we had lunch at the AG Cafe. Since Samantha's doll had an appointment at the salon to have her hair done, she was able to borrow Felicity to join us for lunch. We thought the desserts were precious -- butterfly cookies and dirt cups with daisies.

You'll notice that Sammie wanted her hair done like her doll's. Thank God for Aunt Kate -- because dear Mommy couldn't figure it out! The girls were so excited about the fancy bathroom that their heads were literally spinning!

Kidspeak Continued

Kristin wrote a great post on September 2008 called Kidspeak. It's Sunday night, and I'm tired and lazy. So, I'm viewing this as a addendum to her post...

It probably has something to do with the fact that they've watched quite a few of the Star Wars episodes of late, but the kids, especially Sam and Chase, love to sword fight. As they were battling last week, we overheard Sam say to Chase, "Do you want a piece out of me?" (Instead, of course, of, "Do you want a piece of me?")

All of the kids love to jump off of the furniture. As she jumped off the bed recently, you could hear Ava bellow, "Blast over!" (Instead of "blast off.")

Ava sneezes and then says aloud, "Bless me." (Instead of "Bless you" -- which her Mom says, so I'm not sure it counts as a misquote.)

This may not fit exactly with the angle of this post, but it was recent and very funny...

The kids typically meet me at the end of the driveway each day as I come home from work. Chase and Sam like to help me drive, and Ava typically prefers to sit in the back seat (although, of late, she's been wanting to help me drive, too). On Friday, it was Chase's turn to drive. We were pulling into the garage as Kristin came out to greet me with, "Hey handsome." Before I even a chance to process her remark, Chase had already responded with, "Hey."

I'm just scratching the surface here. It seems like there are 2 - 3 publishable misquotes per day in the Arnold casa. We can't capture them all! Boy, I wish we could -- with HD video. Does anyone else have any funny misquotes from their kiddos?

Art

When we first moved back to Bloomington, I took Grandaddy on a driving tour of Indiana University's campus. I showed him the library and Sample Gates and other buildings where I spent a lot of my time in grad school.

We passed the Musical Arts Center and I told him about my job there in the ticket office and my dear friends I met in that tiny little room behind the windows. When he saw the stabile in front of the building he said, "What's that?"

I said, "Art."

We rounded the block and drove past the Union where I confessed to buying a no-bake cookie almost every day I walked through the doors. On down the street, we drove in front of the IU Art Museum and another orange structure made him ask, "What's that?"

I said again, "Art."

As we drove closer to the IU Auditorium and he spied Showalter Fountain, a statue with a naked lady splashing around with fish between her legs, he said...

..."Now THAT'S art."