My case for reality TV

I can't stand reality TV.  I don't care if they're surviving, birthing, dancing, singing, yelling, divorcing or marrying.  I just don't like any of it!

However, Avery gave me a moment at bedtime that made we wish we were a reality TV family.  You see, when you're life is being filmed, 24 hours a day, you'll be able to get every one of those adorable kid moments on camera.  Of course, you'll get all of those "not so great mommy-of-the-year" moments as well.  Maybe I don't want cameras 24 hours a day.  But, I do want to try to remember as many of those great moments as I can, and forgive and forget the not so great moments.

Avery after saying her prayers, "Mom, can you call Jesus and ask him to come to my house tomorrow for a playdate?" 
I can still hear her sweet voice as she innocently asks for the man she loves, and whom she knows loves her so much, to come play with her.  I hope she always feels His presence so powerfully and lovingly in her life!

Of course, that sweet question led to the ever-recurring discussion of Cookie (Boppa's beloved dog that passed away a year ago) and why she's still in heaven and maybe Jesus could bring her back soon.  And when can we go to heaven and so on and so forth.  So, as I said, remember the great.... : )

Avery's 3 1/2 birthday celebration!

This year has been full of milestones for our family.

Probably the biggest one was baby Avery becoming

Little Girl Avery.

No more crib, no more diapers, no more stroller!

Avery has grown, loudly and boldly, into a

wonderful little girl.

So smart, so sweet, so sassy!

As I say at every birthday:

Thank you God for giving me something that

I never knew I needed so much!

Avery keeps our house happy, moving and loud!

Happy 1/2 birthday sweet Aves!

The sparkler candle was really cool!

To celebrate her 1/2 birthday, we had a small

family celebration. 

I baked a strawberry, heart-shaped cake,

(just a little crispy on the edges!)

Her wonderful big sisters gave her homemade

gifts.  A collection of their own stuff she always

wants, and usually takes!

She was so excited and I don't think she was any

less happy than she was at her "real" 3rd bday party!

Claire wrote Aves card in

"mathmatical terms"

She used fraction circles to write 3 and half.

Gotta love my math whiz!

Avery is never shy in expressing her feelings.

I guess this wasn't at the top of her list!

But she loved the collection of erasers and silly bands!

Happy Birthday sweet baby!

Tradition, tradition!

I hope you all sang the title of this blog in your head, as I do.

Traditiooonnnn, Tradition!

You know how I love my Fiddler on the Roof!

As is our St. Paddy's Day tradition, the Liskey and Rouse

girls loaded up and headed downtown for the parade!

This year was especially nice with the beautiful and

much warmer weather than last year.

While the weather was nicer, the parade was about the same.

Lots of beads, beer and PG-13 views!

But, we all had a great time irregardless! : )

The crew all lined up and ready for to start, really, seriously,

when is it going to start.......

Avery was so excited!  Candy was on her mind!

 She was not as excited about the loud trucks

as she was about the candy ~

What a beautiful group of girls ~

A nice shot before the street became flooded and crazy!

Our girls held their ground fairly well.

We still ended up with pounds of Tootsie Rolls!

As with all Traditions, it's the friends that make them so great.

We love you Liskeys!

Spring Break Fun!

What a week!  What a blessing!

The girls are all tucked in their beds.

Dreaming of the fun they had, as they prepare to head back to school tomorrow.

We had such a great spring break!

No traveling for us this year.  Just stay at home fun.

And fun was definitely had!

We kicked the weekend off with a show at the Civic Center.

Avery enjoyed her first live performance, Madagascar.

The big girls enjoyed it as well and especially enjoyed

their little souvenirs!

We were very blessed with incredibly beautiful weather.

Sunny, warm, beautiful.

We spent many hours each day enjoy that forgotten backyard.

And of course, with nice weather comes the tree climbing!

We also found some fun ways to enjoy the indoors too!

Like getting together with our friends to watch Megamind

at the Clive library. The girls had a ton of fun eating popcorn

and watching the movie.

Avery wasn't sure what to think of a movie at the library,

but she quickly got over it and loved the movie!

Between all of special outings, Zoo trip with Dad, movies at the

library and the theater, we found time to just chill out and

play around too!

These last few months Dave and I have been very deliberate with

our time.  We have been very conscience of our priorities in life

and living them to the fullest.

We are all too aware of how short life can be.

We don't want to miss it!  We don't want to let another spring break

or even a boring old Tuesday, go by without breathing in the moment.

Watching the girls play.  Listening to Avery laugh.  Catching Ella

and Claire reading together and giggling. 

Thank you God for the gift of life, family and friends.

Please help us to continue to savor the moments you give us

and help us to be grateful for it each and every one.

Avery's latest.....

As you know, I find Avery to be terribly funny.

I also know, I have a strange sense of humor!

Avery imitating Daddy's snoring, while at lunch

I try to burn into my memory some of Aves funniest moments.

I never want to forget this time in her life.

She is so funny.  So quick to please.

She loves making me laugh.  She loves making anyone laugh!

I'm the first to admit that she's a handful, there's no doubt about that.

But, I see right past that.  I see right to the smart, clever,

kind, funny, determined, incredible kid that she is becoming.

I pray that I never forget that laugh, that smile, that

twinkle in her eye when you know she's been up to no good.

I don't care what anyone says, I love it!

Here are a few of her latest Avery moments that I hope never to forget:

1. Stupid

2. Dude

These have become Avery's favorite action words.

Does she get in trouble every time, you bet.  But that's all part of the fun for Aves.

The other day she asked Dave, "Daddy, is stude a bad word?"

He asked, "is that stupid and dude mixed together?"

Aves replies, "yes." with a smile!

So Dave replies, "then yes, it's a bad word". 

Gotta love it!

Some of my other favorites:

When I won't do what she wants...

"Mom, I'm counting to 3, you give me that ______ right now!

No arguing. Right now!"

Avery has recently refused to eat vegetables.

When I tried to insist, she looked right at me and said,

"Rule #2. No peas!"

End of story!

While zipping up our coats to head out for the day ~

Rubbing her chest, "Mom, I don't have any elbows.

You have big elbows.  I need to get some elbows quick!"

She elbows me all of the time.  For no reason, just elbows me, hard!

Dave and I once counted, she said "mama" in the car 37 times.

Seriously, she never stops talking! Never!

'Boy' is what she calls Jack. She loves Jack.

She plays with him all day and always calls him Boy.

She's called Rico, the other dog.

I could go on and on, but I won't

I am going to try to be more deliberate with

capturing her little moments and sayings.

I know there will be a time when she's not nearly

 so cute! : )

Video updates

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted on here.

It's not like we haven't been busy having fun and playing around.

I'll try to get a few posts up to share how we have been

enjoying this last month.

First up: you know it's spring when the Rouse girls are in the tree!

(Notice the role reversal for Boppa and I.

He is the worried parent, I'm the amused grandparent!)

A glimpse of what's to come.....

We were blessed with some beautiful, warm weather in February this year,

so Aves and I ran to the Zoo to take advantage of it.

We had such a great time, just the two of us.

She may only be 3, but she's a lot of fun!

We laugh and play and just generally have a great time!

We enjoyed the sun, the animals, and as Avery says,

"a great adventure at the Zoo!"

Braving the swinging bridge

 Chasing the birds.  "I just want to be friends"

 Such a beauty!

 The lion and tigers were very active since it was so nice out

 Avery was very sad that she couldn't see the giraffes : (

My beautiful, beautiful baby