Advent Conspiracy

This Christmas for $200 you can educate underprivileged children, start a movement of church planting, care for homeless young people, feed the hungry, provide clean water for Rwanda, save thousands of lives, help end social injustice, and care for aids orphans around the globe.

The CRUX in Indianapolis is hoping to give Christmas back to Jesus this Holiday Season. We are asking 2,000 people to give $200 of their Christmas budgets to support various causes locally and abroad.

Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshiping Jesus through compassion, not consumption. We have selected 7 charities that are committed to helping people in need. From building a church to supporting orphans of aids communities, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!

The support will be raised in 4 tiers. The first two tiers of support are for specific needs in the Indianapolis area. We have established a link for those of you outside the Indianapolis area that will allow you to donate to our global causes only. Please visit the site and check out all of our
organizations. You can click on make a donation and set up small weekly payments from now until the end of the year. Or, make a larger one-time donation. All donations are tax deductible!

So this Christmas, GIVE LIFE

http://www.adventconspiracyindy.com/

Or buy an iPOD

http://store.apple.com/

Happenings

I could try to finally walk you through Ava's first Halloween as a trick-or-treater, but there really wasn't that much to comment about. She was more interested in picking up rocks and leaves and throwing people's mulch on their sidewalks than in carrying her bucket and getting candy. She did however give a pretty good attempt at saying "Trick-or-Treat". It came out more like "Tweet", but at least she said it at the right times!

Always a ham for the camera, she's also started saying "Cheese!" when we get out the camera. We went to a baby shower for Ava's Aunt Koleen a few weeks ago and she wouldn't stop saying it. She would bend over at the hip, hold her arms straight out and lifted above her back, and strain her head up with a massive smile while saying "Cheeeeeesssee!". She was a hit at the party.

Today she started to try to say her name. However, when she says it, it comes out as "A-a" instead of Ava. Seriously guys, she gets cuter every day.

Grandma Nancy let us take home a Little Tykes car when we went up to visit last weekend. She had two because of the daycare she runs out of her home and let Ava have one because she liked it so much. Since then, her interest has turned into an obsession. After figuring out that there is a door only on one side of the car, she's been getting in and out at will. She takes things from around the house and puts them in the trunk area. She watches The Backyardigans through the imaginary windshield. When Sassy is up for it I'll chase her pushing Ava in the car. You heard it here first. If Ava ever runs down innocent lost puppies its my fault.

Tonight we played a game before Ava went to bed where she would get a running start and throw herself on top of my chest. I'd sit up, stand her up a few feet away from me, and prepare for the next full-body press. When Ava finds something she likes she doesn't drop it. She has the endurance of a camel in the desert. Usually this involves me throwing her into the air, dragging her around the living room in the laundry basket, or something else that I can't maintain for too long. This, however, was something I could keep up. All I had to do was keep her from falling on my face and other sensitive parts and I was good to go. We played like this for probably a solid half-hour. Time after time after time she would throw herself on me and squeal with joy. Mom didn't miss out either as Ava soon took to body-slamming her too.

Halloween

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Things have been CRAZY here lately as we're trying to sell our house and are in the process of looking for another. Ava's Halloween pictures will look smaller than usual. Click on them if you want to see them bigger. I also uploaded some other pictures of her to her flickr site. If I find time later I'll write about how Ava's first Halloween as a trick-or-treater went down.


Strollin' to the front door
Originally uploaded by Ava's Antics


Trick or Treat!
Originally uploaded by Ava's Antics


Ava and one of the twins
Originally uploaded by Ava's Antics