Spring Break Part 1

***So excited to finally post! Josh is snoozing away our first evening in Washington DC so I'm blogging. If tomorrow night is this thrilling I might catch up on all my posting.***

Here is my sweet sunshine girl. I have such fond memories of my papa playing his guitar and singing 'You Are My Sunshine' to me. This song has made its way into our nightly routine. When I saw this precious shirt at Target I knew we just had to have it. I think I'm going to fashion it into some kind of pillow for Ava once she outgrows it.

My darling friend, Stacy, and I love our Saturday morning Williams-Sonoma cooking classes. (Seriously y'all, if there's a WS in your area you need to try these classes. First of all they are absolutely free. You'll enjoy lots of delicious recipes, informative chefs, and 10% off anything in the store, though Josh still won't let me order this, rude.)

Stacy and I decided to show off our fancy steakhouse appetizers lesson with:
Craftsteak Onion Rings
Stuffed Cremini Mushrooms
Wedge Salad
Bison Steak
and Perfect Margaritas

The boys were very, very happy.

We were so excited to kick of Spring Break with a quick visit from Uncle Nate. Ava challenged him to many games of chase,

and Guess Who.

In one game she beat Nate in one question!
They were playing the animal side of the card and she asked him, "Does your animal have green feathers?" He had, in fact, selected the only bird on the card. Amazing.

Nate helped us select some plants to spruce up Xanadu for spring.

Such a patient shopper

Helpful planters

Brave Priss touching a worm. Ick, this mommy is TERRIFIED of those boogers.

With Ava on worm duty, I actually helped plant a little. I'm sure this is a major shocker to my parents. Nathan and I had a great laugh remembering the many weekends of family yard work I spent curled up on the couch with a book. As Elphaba crooned, "I'm not that girl."

After telling me how important the worms were to the plants, Ava watched them dig back into the dirt. Sometimes I wonder who the real teacher is in our little life together.

Checking out the new flowers

Playing a Disney Junior game and working on homework

A little Saturday morning TV together

Later that weekend the Broaddus family ventured north to see us. Of course we whisked them straight to Sara Sara Cupcake.

Their sweet Ethan and Ava J were fast friends. Maybe more someday? Who can really tell. It's not like we've discussed dowry or how we'll divvy up Christmas...

The boys just before the sugar rush.

A bedtime story

Making fresh pasta for our friends

Helping Courtney feed Ethan

In the fancy courtroom at the law school
We were so glad to finally show off our new hometown to the Broadduses.

My favorite spot

Later in the week we headed to Texas to see family. We spent a lot of time at Baba and Pops (almost finished) new house.

We all got in some Nolan love.

Playing a little baseball with Pops

Cutest. Stance. Ever.

Josh and I headed to a late lunch with friends. A few minutes after we left, Josh remembered something he'd left behind. When we returned to the house we saw this. Evidently, the second we walked out the door Ava sweetly asked, "Baba, can I have a cookie even though it's before lunch?" Of course Baba gave the answer any loving grandparent would give and this was the picture-perfect moment that followed.

Auntie M this one is just for you.
Do you remember the very similar shot of me holding your tiny baby Cory? Gotta' love cousins.

You can tell these two kiddos never get any attention or love, ha.

Most of the family eating a lovely lunch, missed you Nate and Hannah.

Enjoying her 'playhouse' top bunk at the new house

Swinging the days away

It was hard to talk her into leaving the swing

I think Uncle Nate summed this photo up perfectly, "These two doing what they do best"

It was Mr. Chill's first nap al fresco.

Ava was thrilled to help Pops level the dirt for a sidewalk on a real tractor.

With their own baby sleeping, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Brandon played a little baseball with the Bave.

So hot after an afternoon outside, the cousins stripped to the bare minimum - a diaper and Hello Kitty panties. I just had to snap this sweet shot of the two of them. Since Josh and I are both the oldest in our families, I always worried that Ava wouldn't have cousins close to her own age. We can already see such a sweet love developing between these two. I can't wait to watch it grow...not that I'm anxious for either or them to grow up. We could pause here forever as far as I'm concerned.

Coming soon to 3 Locketts blog:
Spring Break Part 2
&
Mr. Lockett Goes to Washington

Chapter Development

I intentionally delayed Ava's 4-year checkup. Her birthday falls smack dab in the middle of flu season, and we have (knock on wood) been so healthy. It didn't make sense to take her in and risk catching something, so we waited until March 1.

4-year-old stats:
Height - 42 inches (90th percentile)
Weight - 40 pounds (70th percentile)

She also soared through the vision and hearing tests with flying colors.

We are so lucky to have our wonderful church friend, Dr. Stephanie Parker, as our primary physician. When we had to leave our beloved pediatrician in Texas we were sad. When we found out that Josh's student insurance required us to use the on-campus medical center we were nervous. However, our experience at Goddard has been wonderful. I feel like we get extra special treatment for Ms. Ava. All the nurses and doctors are thrilled to be treating a kiddo, and make sure she leaves with at least three stickers after each visit.

Ava kept herself busy decorating the paper covering the bed.

She described these doodles to me very specifically, "This is my pasta making machine. The blue part at the bottom mixes the flour and wet stuff, then it travels up to this part and squishes flat. These parts twirl it into swirly pasta and this ocean makes it salty and warms it up. Then it goes into the cooker and it is all done."

After sitting through three stinging shots like a champ, no tears or complaints, I rewarded Ava with a trip to Toys R Us.

We walked through every aisle as she considered what toy she wanted to take home.

Another dollhouse?

A Disney princess baby doll?

A remote-controled puppy?

Finally she decided on an Olivia play set.
We are so thankful for our healthy, brave, imaginative girl.

Ava and I make Josh's lunch for school Monday through Wednesday. To make sure he remembers to grab it from the refrigerator the next morning, we leave his keys and other necessities on top of a gentle reminder.

He's a brave man to carry an Aggie lunchbox on campus at OU.

A thankful morning note, since Ava and I are usually (okay, always) still asleep when he leaves.

Playing outside on a chilly evening

Dozens of robins have started congregating on the roof, so Ava decided to build them a leaf mountain to rest on if they get tired.

Loving her skinny jeans and sparkly Target shoes.

Later that same night Ava watched Bambi for the first time and we enjoyed some popcorn. She thoroughly enjoyed the movie. She fell out of her seat laughing when Bambi learned to walk on the icy pond.

HLS was offered a very prestigious summer internship, so we headed to OKC for sushi and cupcakes.

Is there really any other way to celebrate?

Such a young lady now. I cannot get over how grown up she is becoming.

We ended our night's celebration with a Lockett Family Sing-Along. Ava wrangled up an audience. They were completely captivated by our talents.

A few of the songs featured:

I See the Light from Tangled
several David Crowder songs
Toxic
We are gonna' be friends
'Forget' you
Wheels on the Bus
various Rufus Wainwright songs

I am thrilled to announce that Ava and I are reading her VERY FIRST CHAPTER BOOK! We checked out the first Junie B. Jones book, just to see how she liked it. Junie B. only has pictures on some of the pages. Josh and I showed her that the books we're reading have chapters and no pictures, but we use our imaginations to make pictures in our minds while we read. As we read the first chapter of Junie B. I stopped at several points to ask Ava what she was picturing. By the time we started reading the second and third chapters she was stopping me to tell me what she 'saw'. I could not be more ecstatic about her enthusiasm for reading.