I LOVE Cari...

She just gave me a total scene by scene description of the show I love Lucy that she was watching. Cracking up the whole time. Love it. Little did she know...While she was setting the stage I was picturing her as Lucy---she would totally do the same crap! Wait...does that make me Ethel?(I seriously have no clue how to spell that one) She had memorized like all the jokes and told me with such enthusiasm. haha. Friends like that just can't be separated by 400 miles. Love ya bud. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU this weekend (for the 60 minutes I'll be in town--sad face)! Happy early birthday. Are you turning...like 50 now?

Lexi's First Pair of Heels!

This is such a funny picture. She would NOT smile for me.

I'm starting this Princess Young! Haha. Heath said to Lexi, "You look like mommy"...then we both laughed cause actually mommy only wears FLATS. I don't own any heels. haha. Heels and pajamas...that's the way to go. After her bath I put her in her pjs and she put on the heels then she went over to her vanity drawer and got out 3 necklaces to wear with the shoes. Love it. She's so cute.

Wedding Gifts

So I registered for these measuring spoons...got them as a wedding gift...then decided not to use them until I had a KitchenAid...I got that stinkin KitchenAid Mixer 2 years ago...these spoons 5 years ago...Why haven't I used them yet?! Stupid. TODAY...I pulled them out of storage and decided ITS TIME! Why 2 sets?...well of course...one for wet ingredients and one for dry...DUH! haha. When I'm having a SUPER baking day its easier to have 2 sets of measuring spoons and 2 sets of cups. All KitchenAid of course they have to be. haha.

I want red KitchenAid measuring cups...who had my name for Christmas?!

Halloween Cookie Party

Isn't that the cutest tablecloth ever! Love it. The party was at Tenille's house, my brother's wife. She's such a great hostess and the kids had tons of fun with all the toys and the trampoline!

I forgot to take pictures of the finished cookies..oops!

Jacob and Cousin Tate...getting them both to look is impossible!

Lexi LOVES Cody..she was just visiting with him.

Silly Faces

Hanging out with Lexi, Jacob, and Tate

Thanks Tenille for the great Cookie Making Party! Great idea!

D-U-D-E....!!!!

Laughter this morning during breakfast. Here's what the dealio was at the Avery Home...

Mom preparing breakfast---ham, cheese, apples, bananas, milk...jacob's request. But OH NO...mom's doing it all wrong. Let me just set the stage...Veggie Tales is in the VCR...this morning was the first time we've attempted to watch veggie tales...and it was a freaking joke. I was laughing so hard...the veggies were dancing and singing....I guess it was a Dance Video one. Love it. Lexi was jumping, dancing, and singing...Jacob was yelling to turn on Bob the Builder...I was peeling a banana. Then my boy yells...."WAIT MOM...don't put that on my plate...take off the DUDE!" What the stink? What's Dude? Jacob calls the stringy things on the banana DUDE. Seriously, that's crazy. "Take off the Dude mom, the Dude!!" I love mornings like this where my kiddos are hilarious before 9am. Laughing (for me) is necessary--I am a morning person--did you know that? I crave the comedy before starting my day...I also need a coke.

pj

Craziness...

I bought yet another popsicle maker tray...at a garage sale for $.50...this one has cute little stars for handles. Ok...so this is what my kiddos call it...

Jacob:

"My present star poscable" (sound that one out....Pos-Ca-Ble..yup...totally botched that one)

Lexi:

Her first attempt at popsicle...she yelled it over and over cause she wanted one. It was so stinkin funny.

"Pobsicle"

She says it better than jacob. Love it.

This week's popsicles...apple juice mixed with tap water. Love it. A great addition to any lunch.

A True 30-minute Meal

So yesterday was cray and I didn't start dinner until 5:45, heath was due to be home at 6 and needed to be fed by 6:15. 30 minutes to make and eat dinner. 2 grumpy hungry kiddos and a messy kitchen. Nope...dishes weren't done. Shame on me. So, since I won't cook in a messy kitchen, didn't have the time to clean it...I used the microwave...Crazy. The meal was yummy. I microwaved frozen lasagna, steam microwaved frozen broccoli, and decided I needed a little more...so I used the one burner on the stove that I could get to...to saute mushrooms. (background...dinner the previous night was a full blown fiesta: Mexican rice, beans, , shredded chicken tacos, veggies...the works. So I literally used my entire kitchen to make the mess...exhausted from the cooking and eating...left the mess. Yup...I julie avery left a huge mess in my kitchen. Surprised?...don't be...heath isn't. I like to do my dishes in the morning. So the lasagna meal...delisous...I even tried to hide that it was a micro meal by dumping it into a casserole dish. haha. I love 30-minute meals.

Interesting Evening

Last night was sorta weird and ANNOYING!

Our AC broke on Saturday...currently waiting for the repairs...hopefully today. fingers crossed. Last night Jacob came into our bed at 1:30 am, said he couldn't sleep. I think his room was too hot? Dunno. I left around 3 to sleep in his room. 5 Lexi woke up and the two of us slept on the queen in her room. Then she almost fell off the bed...so we migrated to the couch in the living room. Cuddled there. 6:12 woke up for making sandwiches and breakfast. Interesting evening. 3 beds and a couch in one evening. Loving it. Let me tell you!!

Cookbooks

After not much thought...I've decided to start collecting vintage cookbooks. Yay! I have 3. Not very exciting yet...but its a start right?! Currently I have 2 Betty Crocker 1st edition (1st print and 2nd print) and 1 Pillsbury 1st Edition. Yay! Total investment cost: $4

Love it. Have a book to donate? Pass it along cause I WOULD LOVE IT! Anything older than 1985 (my birth year...).

Thanks!

PJ

New words this week - Princess Lexi

"I poop"

"Go Away!"

"Hey!"

Beautiful...

My Princess Lexi grabbed my liquid eyeshadow and "painted" her doll, brought it to me and said, "Pretty!" I smiled, agreed, and washed them both.

That's one of those moments when I stop and think...maybe she wanted her doll to be pretty like her mommy or just like her...NO WAY could I ever get mad at such a sweet thing. She's such a girly girl! This Christmas will be full of pretend makeup, dolls, barbies, and her own Blue Bear. I swear she thinks Jacob's bear is hers. haha.

Thanks mom for giving her a totally cute doll today...PERFECT Timing! I think she may have ruined her other one with the makeup today...awww.

pj

Dinner and a Show...

When Jacob is asleep...

There's about an hour that Lexi is awake before Jacob is...so this is what lexi does...gets an ice water...sits by the TV...and enjoys the quiet....just like her mom...NOT...I'm cleaning while she's GLUED to the TV. Is the TV a babysitter at my house? Maybe....but I'm ok with getting a sitter an hour or 2 a day. :)

Totally my girl...

This is what her face is saying:

"Ha! Mom...I stole your soda from the kitchen counter, climbed into the pantry all by myself...and now I'm enjoying my wheat thins and diet coke. "

"What do you think about that mommy?"

I'll tell ya - I laughed - then thought - quick - where's my camera this face is priceless. lol. While Jacob is napping...my girl is a crack up.

When Satan goes to sleep at night, he checks under his bed for Jeffrey R. Holland
-not sure the author---but I saw it on my brother's facebook...

I really enjoyed his talk at conference and felt the strength that the Book of Mormon can bring to those that believe in its word.

Dinner

I'm attempting a weird dinner tonight. Here's the inspiration:

I found ham steak on manager special for CHEAP, I have green apples from bountiful baskets that I need to use (so far they've only been used to dip in chocolate...I need another use for them...:), I have carrots, salad, and lots of rice from a great sale at honeyville grain.

So this is on the Menu:

Ham Steak with honey-apple glaze

White Rice

Carrots (maybe brown sugar carrots, but that might be too much..you think?)

Salad

So I couldn't believe it...when I typed in Green Apples and Ham Steak Recipes in my google search...low and behold...I found a recipe inspiration. (I say recipe inspiration because the recipe I found was a little too weird for me so I changed it...lets hope its still edible. :D

Wish me luck.

J

Conference Weekend..pics of kiddos

Princess Lexi was very "helpful" while I was loading the dishwasher! :D
Jacob and heath were making a wooden train in front of the TV...whatever works...right?! Look how please he is with his work!

Great Thought...

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff -- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

Thanks to my super christian friend Cari for forwarding this to me. :D

Video of silly Lexi

This video is of Lexi eating Mac & Cheese. It cracked me up cause at the end I asked her to kiss me---as usual she turned to the side for a cheek kiss---but this time she pulled the camera towards her and had the camera kiss her. Lol. She's such a cutie.

Crooked Teeth...

Doesn't this corn look like it has crooked teeth? Haha. This last week I cooked, cut, and froze 96 ears of corn----had to entertain myself somehow. Paul, this one is for you---he was on the phone when I spotted this funny corn cob. Thanks for chatting with me---it helped the last 2 hours go by quickly!

Chef Heath!

So, for Heath's birthday we were going to make Taco Stacks...or some variation of that----and this was HIS creation. He's such a food artist. You may not think it looks good---but my mouth is watering just looking at it. I love my heath's cooking. :D I made all the ingredients and he put it all together. Corn tortillas, egg, cheese, black beans, enchilada sauce, ground turkey, and cilantro. It was delicious. Good job heath!

Turtle Fun!

So we have a Sulcata Tortoise that Jacob got as a b-day gift from my sisters at 12 months. The turtle was so super small when we first got it...Its grown so big! He just graduated to a big boy turtle box. Yay! The turtle LOVES it. I'm so glad. But I worry about him every time it gets windy, too hot, rainy...its stressing me out to have him outside. Oh well. He's a tortoise---he belongs outside right?! The kiddos usually leave him along---but when I'm "watering" the box they like to help. My kids LOVE to get dirty.

Backyard Family Fun BBQ!

Jacob said this is mommy. Awww. How cute.

Practicing circles.

That's a door. The kids just started a new obsession with Monster's Inc. So now he likes to draw doors. Its cute - and creepy.

Train tracks---he says.

Jacob and Lexi had fun with chalk while Heath grilled chicken. It was so fun to hang in the backyard as a family. Its FINALLY cooling down! Yay! Still over 80 degrees...but I'll take it!