Ava's Says - The Lord's Prayer Edition

This past Sunday Ava was in motor-mouth mode at church. Bradley had remarked before church that it was Communion Sunday and Ava got all excited about juice and crackers. She said, "Do we get to drink the juice out of the medicine cups, like Pepto Bismol?" Crack me up. But why are the communion cups so small?

I got her out of Children's Church early so she could take communion with us and as we waited she got even more excited; especially when they showed the bread up on the big screen. "I want that piece!" she said (even though we eat the little square crackers). So we took communion with no disasters of any kind.

That night Ava wanted to practice saying the prayer that "the preacher makes us all say out loud." The only part she was firm on was "give us this day our daily bread" because she really likes the bread.

So we started learning the Lord's Prayer and I started out with "Our Father, Who Art in Heaven." Ava interrupted and said, "He is not!" I asked what she meant and she said, "Our Daddy is sitting on the couch!" So I explained to her the meaning of Father and we practiced the Lord's prayer together.

Now I want to say this, our children have both been baptized into our church. I don't want this post to serve as a gripe session for those who have different beliefs. For our family we chose to let communion be a learning experience for Ava so she begins to understand the spiritual traditions and symbolism of Communion. As we got ready to go up, I talked with Ava about what communion really means and about Jesus living in your heart. Do I believe that Ava will have to one day make a proclamation of faith herself, yes I do. But for now, I chose to believe that she is a child and God has her covered. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Can children take communion?

In The United Methodist Church, children are welcome to take communion. It is up to the parents to decide when their child should begin receiving communion.The official document on baptism, By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism, says about communion, “Because the table at which we gather belongs to the Lord, it should be open to all who respond to Christ’s love, regardless of age or church membership.”
The United Methodist Book of Worship explains, “All who intend to lead a Christian life, together with their children, are invited to receive the bread and cup.”(From The United Methodist Book of Worship. Copyright © 1992 by The United Methodist Publishing House.)

The story of the Combo Pack

A few weeks ago I noticed Ava typing away furiously on the ipad. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm ordering a Disney World Combo Pack." I had her bring me the ipad so I could see what she was doing. We have an app downloaded that allows you to watch park videos and basically wants you to book a trip. Sure enough, she had clicked on the "Order a Planning DVD" and was working on filling out her information. It was so cute! So together, we ordered a Disney World Planning DVD and I ordered it in her name. Our confirmation told us that it would arrive in 2-3 weeks.

Every day she would talk about her Disney World Combo pack and wonder if it would arrive. It was so much fun talking to her about it. And everyday she would get excited to see if it would come. As it got closer to 2 weeks, she got more impatient. Then it started inching to 3 weeks and she was getting frustrated.

A couple of weeks ago when we were out for snow, we were sitting at the dining room table when Ava saw the mailman coming. He had his mail and a small box which Ava was so excited about because she thought it was her combo pack. However when I got the mail, it wasn't left at our house and there was no combo pack in sight. Ava declared that the mailman had "STOLEN HER COMBO PACK!" Hilarious! So much funny stuff coming out of this girl's mouth.

So last Friday, the mailman finally brought her her combo pack. It was addressed to her and she was tickled. We had to watch it that night and she flipped through the little pamphlet over and over again.

I guess what's she's telling us is that she is ready to go back to Disney! :) Me too, dear, me too! ;)

A Conversation with Ava

Conversations at bedtime always start like this.

Ava: What happens if I need you or Daddy?

Me: Then you just call for us.

Ava: What happens if there is an emergency?

Me: Then call us.

(This particular night continued on with the following conversation.)

Ava: What kinds of things are emergencies?

Me: Well, if you had to go potty or felt like you were going to throw up. Those would be emergencies.

Ava: What about a fire? Is that an emergency?

Me: Yes, a fire is an emergency.

Ava: What about a bad man in the house? Is that an emergency?

Me: Yes, but we have the doors locked so no bad people can get in.

Ava: What about a twisten (tornado)? Is that an emergency?

Me: Yes, but there are no storms tonight.

Ava: What about a meteor? Is that an emergency?

Me: (laughing uncontrollably) Yes, that would be an emergency, but it is definitely not happening. Now go to sleep and if you need me, call.

I love this sweet girl who always keeps me laughing and who is so unpredictable!

The Conversation with Ava

This particular conversation went a little something like this:



(Set the scene- Harrison had just spit up while I was holding him. Ava comes to the rescue...)



Ava: Momma, I just cleaned up all that spit up off the floor that Harrison did.



Momma: Ava, hold still while I get the camera.



Ava: Why?



Momma: Just because....


Ava: Momma, what are you taking pictures of?


Momma: (laughing uncontrollably and thinking that a freak out is coming)

Momma: I'm taking pictures of your hair....

Ava: Why?????

Ava: What is that?


Momma: Harrison spit up on your head too...

Ava: Get it off! Get it off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mommy..... (insert lots of crying here...)

and here...................

and anger here....

Ava: Mommy, why you make me do that?

Mommy: (just more laughing....)

Photo from Opening Night at McDonald's

For months Ava has talked about our new McDonald's that is about a mile away from our house. Bradley relented and took us on opening night. In true McDonald's fashion we had to pull up to wait for our order. We joked that we might get a free gift for going on opening night, and we did: two extra straws. lol

Anyway, here is a quote from Ava as we were waiting in the drive-thru:

We are in line at the opening of McDonald's in Newbern and Ava just said,"Wow, how did they do this?" The allure of McD's! (taken from my twitter above)

And here she is while we were waiting on our food. She is happy as a lark to be getting McDonald's! (picture taken with camera phone)

A Funny Conversation

Scene: Driving in the car after leaving the Dollar Tree where Ava wanted to buy 3 or 4 gross looking baby dolls. (Now the Dollar Tree has great stuff, but their baby dolls, not so much!) I told her maybe she would get a new baby for her birthday and then we left. Fast forward to in the car driving.

Ava: I want to buy some babies...

Bradley: Okay Madonna.

Me: laughing

Bradley: or Angelina

So while this little conversation played through my head and I was laughing, I saw this running through my mind. It is a scene from Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update making fun of Angelina and Madonna. You will prob have to view the commercial since this comes from NBC, but they have TONS of SNL cips including some older ones. Browsing fun!

Ava - 2 Recent Funny Conversations

This first conversation occurred a couple of weeks ago. Ava is becoming a little master of a particular brand of reverse psychology. During the conversation, she will trick you into suggesting something and then agree with whatever you suggested. It usually goes something like this:

Ava: Wanna go slide?

Mommy: Do you want to go slide?

Ava: Okay, let's go!

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So you see, she tricks you into asking whether you want to do it! Here is a conversation from a couple of weeks ago. To set the scene, Bradley was trying to distract Ava from a small fit she was brewing.

Daddy: Ava, Mommy has a baby in her belly.

Ava: Baby in Mommy's belly.

Mommy: Ava, what do you think we should name this baby?

Ava: Tom and Jerry

Mommy: Tom and Jerry?

Ava: Okay Mommy, let's watch!

So, she either knows we are having twins or she was trying to trick me into watching Tom and Jerry...

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The next conversation took place between Nana and Ava because Ava was standing on furniture and her potty.

Nana: Ava, get down off of the potty please.

Ava: (running around the couch and up to Nana) Say please princess!

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Ava definitely has it in her mind that she is a princess. So here are some pics of our princess and from our Labor Day Family Reunion at Reelfoot Lake.

View of the Mississippi River