All Dressed Up

When we first moved to Norman, Ava was not interested in playing dress-up. Once we had dinner with friends and when their daughter asked Ava which princess gown she'd like to try she replied, "But I'm already dressed." Practical, huh?

Well, the combination of me nannying for a 7-year old girly girl and a few months of many Disney princess movies has converted Ava into a dress-up kind of girl.

Here she is as Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

She also dresses up for dance in darling tutus with her friend Grace.

Playing on the playground:
Ava, Gabby, and Noah, respectively

Outside the tunnel, time for hydration

Dressed for a rainy day

This weekend a Medieval Fair set up at the park across the street from our 'castle'. I am usually not a fan of circus/carnival/fair types of things, I had a creepy run-in with a carnie when I was in middle school. However, some of our good friends were going to take their kiddos so Ava and I tagged along. Ava was thrilled to ride this little horse.

Daddy even walked across the street from the law school and enjoyed a turkey leg with us. We didn't stay long, and made sure to scrub the sketchiness off when we returned home.

On Saturday evening Josh and I headed to the law prom.

Beautiful floating-rose centerpieces

Geoff and Josh (who are going to kill me for posting this) getting their groove on

So fun to let loose with such normally serious folk.
I kept thinking that I could be dancing beside the next governor, or that the guy who splashed his champagne on me could be a future supreme court justice. Prom is one of those things that is SO MUCH better as an adult. No silly self-conscious teenage drama, just fun with friends.
We had the best time!

From OK to TX and Back Again

These pictures capture just a few of the fun things we did over Spring Break. I get very camera lazy when I'm on vacation.

Ava wanted to make cupcakes before we left for Texas.

Mommy was too lazy to go to the grocery store, so we pieced together three recipes with things we could scrounge in the pantry.

The finished product was a success that Daddy deemed 'the best cupcake' he's ever eaten.

A sweet, brilliant, blossoming photographer, Amanda, agreed to a session with Ava on a sunny afternoon. My mom was gracious enough to snap a few of her own while I attempted to corral Ava and chase away The Scary Smile that often creeps up in pictures nowadays.

Happy girl

Lovey-dovey with Mommy

Dancing
(I swear that's hip and not preggo baby belly...yikes.)

Deep in thought while pretty in pink

Hunting for dandelions

Off into the sunset

Ava and I were ecstatic to meet up with Patrick and Courtney for breakfast and shopping.

Later we had a playdate with Jack and Leah. What fun!

Coffee talk with Uncle Nate and Hannah.

A four generation picture
Baba, Ava, me, and Nana

We arrived back in Norman just in time for a Spring Break Snowfall Extravaganza. Coach and Mimi, who rode back with us to see Josh, were delighted with our crazy weather.

Coach, Ava, and Daddy

The 3 Locketts - happy to be reunited after almost a week apart.

I feel refreshed after a week with family and friends, but I'm so glad to be home. After a few days of un-grandparenting Ava and un-batcheloring Josh life will be back to normal. I can't wait to post a few of the remaining pictures on my Spring Break roll, hmmm...I wonder what the future will hold?

New Blog!

My sweet sister, Sarah, and I have started a new blog. Check us out at Una Día Sisters.

Get thee behind me Chaos!

It was getting a little ridiculous.
One teeny tiny toy mesh boxish thing that I bought when Ava was very small was simply not doing the job of containing her treasures. Keeping her room tidy was near impossible. I also knew that it was time to rearrange her room. Although moving furniture in our Castle is kind of like shaking up a box of Cracker Jacks, she always appreciates the effort.

I have been watching a toy container system at Target for months now, just waiting for it to go on sale. (For those of you who have iPhones, Target has a great free app that allows you to see their sale ads for your area. It's great.) The shelf of containers was marked down from $70 to $37, so I pounced.

Since Josh is still swamped with work, Ava and I tag-teamed the job of assembling.

She said, "Mommy look, I made a 'v'."

Securing the poles that hold the containers

Ava entertained me while I secured the screws.

Ta-da!

After some love from Mommy the room ended up looking like this:

doll stroller, chalk board, play sink, dollhouse, and chair

dresser (with games beneath), flower stool, and crib

new fabulous shelf system, play oven, scooter (yes, I have to move the scooter to open the closet...remember the Cracker Jack box shake?)

baby doll supplies and baby doll crib

cute flower coat hook, family tree, Pooh calendar

The dollhouse is now at an angle.

Her cozy new nook to sleep

Ava begged me to let her stay up and play in her room, but I assured her that she'd have time tomorrow. I love how easy changes delight my sweet girl.

Speaking of delight, I found these darling Easter decorations at Hobbly Lobby for 40% off.

One more week until Spring Break! The Lockett girls will be traveling to Texas to visit family and friends, while HLS will be cramming and growing more brilliant at the Castle. At least he'll have a very functional princess room to play in if he needs a study break.

A shirt, a skirt, and a pillow

It all started with an acorn.
No, I don't mean an oak tree. I'm talking about the birthday pillow I just finished for JK's 7th birthday tomorrow. You see, when my grandmother kept Ava they were always going on nature walks. On these walks Ava would stuff things in her tiny pockets. One time I forgot to check her pockets and an acorn was washed and dried with a load of laundry. The acorn dust turned to a nasty stain all over the arm of my shirt. After several washes and even a second opinion by the Queen of Stain Removal (Judy) it was decided that the shirt was a lost cause. Instead of throwing the shirt away I stuck it in my scrap fabric bag for later.

Recently my sister and I dug around in my grandmother's sewing room for treasures. We ran across fabric remnants from our favorite outfits, quilts, pillows and so much more. We left with bags and bags of things for future sewing adventures. I claimed this old skirt because of the sweet flower cut-outs. I stuck it in my scrap fabric bag for later.

Welcome to later.

I cut out these three darling birds from some fabric that I found on a fabric hunt with Robyn in Brenham. Then I cut out the J and K and pinned everything onto the shirt fabric.

Next I cut a section from the skirt, and lined it with some soft purple fabric. The purple fabric was leftover from my favorite quilt that my grandmother made for me in middle school.

After finishing the needlework on the front of the pillow I sewed the fabrics together. Ava helped me stuff it.

Then I stitched up the opening.
(This picture isn't super flattering of me, but Ava took it so I had to put it on here.)

The back of the finished pillow

The front

I can't wait to give it to her in the morning.

Happy birthday sweet JK!