I have a new niece! She is one week old, and I can't believe how much I already love her.

Lana Rose

So that makes
nieces: 4
nephews: 0
Kael you are outnumbered my friend.

Thoughts of a 3 year old

Thank you for tuning into this week's afternoon session of "Ava Talk." Our first and only guest is Ava Trochez, herself.

As a boy from the disney movie Mars Needs Moms goes plummeting out of the sky and lands on huge piles of garbage and metal Ava stares at the tv and says, "Ooooooooooooooooooooooh snap."

We were in Harris Teeter in the produce section and I went over the vegetables and pointed out the kale and told the kids, "Guess what? This is Kale." Ava thought for a moment and then pointed to the carrots and said, "And this is Kurtis" then pointed the squash, "And this is Ava."


We were walking in a strip mall of stores and we walked by a pay phone. Ava picked up the phone and Andre said, "Come on Ava, let's keep walking." Ava held up one finger to indicate hold on and said, "Just a minute dad, I have to call someone."

And whenever we say prayer Ava always has to be the on to say it. Always. The other day she was praying and she said, "Bless mommy, and Kael, and Ava, and my stickers. Daddy is being naughty because he's not here, and bless Spot that he will obey. The end." I guess that's in lieu of "amen?"

And this isn't an Avaism this is an Audreyism that I still think is so cute. Audrey my niece was having a conversation with my brother Peter [her dad] and he asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up. She replied, "I don't know. What do you want to be when you get little?"

Hopefully this brought a little smile to your face!

Thanks pinterest!

i force myself off pinterest after a bit. otherwise i repin too many things that i know i'll never do. (ok, so maybe i've actually done a couple)





Snicker's popcorn:

and I made these little witches' hats for ava's halloween party at her school; they were the hit of the party!

How mean of a mom are you?

Do you have what it takes to be the "mean mom?"

I'm already told many times throughout the day how I am "So naughty!" And "you're mean!" when I don't let my kids have candy for breakfast, or tell them to apologize to each other for hurting one another. Anyway I love this little thing I came across not too long ago about being the mean mom.


"We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had
to have cereal & eggs, for lunch, we had to eat
sandwiches. And you can guess our mother
fixed us a dinner that was different from what
other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all
times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison.
She had to know who our friends were, and what
we were doing with them. She insisted that if we
said we would be gone for an hour, we would be
gone for exactly one hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the
nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making
us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the
beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do
laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel
jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking
of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the
time we were teenagers, she could read our
minds. Then, life was really tough! Mother
wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when
they drove up. They had to come up to the door
so she could meet them. While everyone else
dated at 12 or 14 we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of
things other kids experienced. None of us have
ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's
property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all
her fault. Now that we have left home, we are all
educated, honest adults. We are doing our best
to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms."


I am proud of being the "mean mom" once in a while, because that is just how much I love my kids!

Happy Halloween!

Citizens of Gotham, New York, and Star City,



Never fear, your heroes are here! They have made their official appearance and now you can sleep better at night. And unless you want a pounding, don't rob anyone (or short said heroes of candy).

Showing off major muscles

On Halloween night (it was freezing here!) They were both wearing many layers under their costumes

John's costume

I was so glad I was able to make Ava and John's costume. It was very fun for me. As for Kael, his spiderman would have been a disaster if I attempted to make that. He would seriously look like a sugar cookie gone wrong. Anyway they got way too much candy that will probably end up in their stockings at Christmas.


To sum up everything else very quickly Andre and I had great birthdays. We spent loads of time together as a family which is exactly what we wanted. In between the trunk or treat, random parties, neighborhood stuff, school parties, preschool festivals, etc, I am ready for a year long break until next Halloween. How convenient for me. Oh and Andre left Monday afternoon to live in SC for military stuff, and he leaves in January for Afghanistan.

Bring on the turkey.