Aaaaahhhhh!

Imagine Eric's surprise when he was peeking under the crack in Avery's door to see how she was sleeping earlier this evening...

and he saw a little Avery eye at the door base staring right back at him! They both screamed and then laughed from both sides of the door.

Windows

This is why I must clean my windows...

and at the same time wonder, "Why bother?".

Tate burped.
Me: "Say 'excuse me'."
Tate: "No, that not 'xcuse me', that say 'oh my!'"

This and That

Me: "Tate, you are a silly dude."

Tate: "A siwy doo?"

Me again: "A silly dude."

T: "Oh, a city doo doo. Yes."

Me: "What sound does L make?"

Tate: "Kuh, kuh, letters."

____________________________________________

Tate kept pausing to smile at his reflection in the mirror across the room. Then, he put his finger in his mouth and removed a tiny fuzz. I said, "Did you have a fuzzy in your mouth?"
"No," he whispered, "a spider web."
____________________________________________

Tate: "What's that"

Me: "A praying mantis."

T: "I draw a peeing mantis!"

I enjoy locking myself in the bathroom each morning for a shower. I know it's a risk to leave the rugrats free to roam, but it's worth it. Last Thursday, I exited the bathroom and noticed a hard white mess in Tate's hair and freaked out thinking that they had somehow gotten into the paint!! Thank goodness it was only frosting =) I had to document Avery's fine frosting artwork left on the couch.

Avery likes to run behind this chair and assume a reading position when I tell her it's time to change her diaper. She thinks she's untouchable =)

Gratitude

Tonight, I feel like making a gratitude list here so I can remember a couple kindnesses that were shown.

1. I've been battling a staple gun for the past five days. A very nice old man who works at the Home Depot put my frustration to an end by picking out the right size staples and showing me how to put them in the gun. Thank you! I knew I just needed someone to "hold my hand" and do it for me =) Now I can enjoy that "picture frame with the magnetic mesh thing" (pfwtmmt for short) pictured above. It may not look like much to you, but I love it and it makes me happy.

2. My life and health. Visited Uncle Wally today and he's not expected to live much longer. It was really nice to meet his daughter Kristi. She's really pretty, especially at such a time.

3. This one has a little story, like #1. I went to pick-up dinner at Papa Murphy's tonight and Tate ran into the store before I could catch-up from getting Aves out of her seat. So, when I entered, he was already on all floors pretending to be a dog. Avery thought it was a good idea and joined him. Then, they switched it up to running in circles while squealing in delight. I caught Avery touch some lady's bum, but the woman didn't seem to notice. Anyway, there was a bit of mayhem, but by the time my order was paid for, all the other customers were gone. Then, one of the workers there OFFERED TO HELP ME OUT WITH OUR FOOD! It was fabulous. They've never done that before and it's one of my least favorite places to take the kids. So, anyway, I'm grateful for those nice teenagers working there today. The gal who helped me even said my kids were adorable =)

4. Had a playdate and got to chat with a friend I haven't seen in a while. She always makes me happy so that was fun.

Does this make you laugh??

Soo, Avery looks like a robot programmed to dance when she hears this. A SLAVE to the music (in the second video more).Poor thing.

Maybe one day her mother will learn how to hold a camera.

Sunday

Being an Avery-bear

can be positively

exhausting!

**This is how we found Avery asleep when we checked on her tonight. She has been in a toddler bed for a couple weeks-ever since we found her crying because she was high-centered over the railing of her crib (suspended in mid-air and couldn't reach her feet to the mattress, and thank goodness she didn't topple head first to the floor).**

Tate's prayer

Dear Heavenly Father... a mom and a dad... ( lots of mumbling I can't understand ) the sky is falling, amen!

(Someone was paying attention to Henny Penny =)

Cousins!

Such patience, Luna.

Cousin Riley was baptized last Saturday. It was very sweet and nice. The highlight for me was the awesome meal cooked by her mother, Lori. I hear she slaved away nearly two days on that meal and it was totally worth it. For me! But seriously, Riley is an awesome little girl and we're happy for her decision.

Marie and I had this genius plan to dress all the girl cousins alike and take pictures that weekend. We enjoyed choosing the dresses and seeing them all together. I forgot about how my daughter is very anti-posing-for-pictures. Oops. At least they had a cute kitten to keep her in the general area of the shoot. So, I'm just going to post a bunch here since there's not one that really stands out. I like to see the wanderings of Avery, Dewey's desire to jump in the pictures, and Luna, Riley, and Gabby all being so good and trying to help with the wandering toddler. Luna looks so much like her mother. Avery's mother should really untuck her dress from her diaper. Goodness.

Play Pals

Brooklyn and Tate enjoying a train viewing together.

We spent some time at "Jammom's" (as Tate calls gma) last week. Lucky for us, Brooklyn was also spending some time with her Grammy next door. They totally hit it off =) She's his "honey" and she refers to him as "my Tate". I think I see the appeal: He's about a year older, so he's got that going for him, the older boy thing. And she follows him around copying everything he says and does, so he enjoys the flattery. Aside from viewing trains, they enjoy walking across bridges, rolling down hills, pushing each other on the roller coaster toy, and throwing pine cones into the weeds. Oh, and of course, cartoons and jumping on the bed. And throwing pillows. Ahh, young love =)

Evening Snack

I got a kick out of seeing these three lined up at the counter with their cheese and yogurt before bed. Grandma-Great, Brooklyn, and Tate.

Avery was there, too.

This handsome boy isn't up for cheese and yogurt yet, but pretty soon, Lane!

Awesome face and neck Brooklyn =)

Messy Monster!!

e


In addition to the given title, I call this montage of photos:

"Gross Out My Little Sister" session.

These were taken after spending some time with Bre, who was disgusted by my children's eating habits. What can I say? We enjoy our food. As I look back at these pictures, they're not really that bad. What isn't showing is that she opened the little drawer by her (that's where the little wooden triangle thing came from) and was smearing yogurt in the contents of the drawer.

(My apologies for the partial nudity. Her pj's were bugging her.)