fun afternoon project

While Joshua and Jonathan took their afternoon naps, Jackson and I made buttercream frosting---so yummy! (I never really liked buttercream frosting, but that's because it wasn't homemade---how come everything tastes so much better when homemade?!) We then had fun decorating cupcakes, and of course enjoying them for dessert! We had a fun afternoon!!

Jackson's decorated cupcake---pretty good!! :)
Hmmm! Delicious cupcake! Joshua loves the frosting!
How many bites will it take me to finish this cupcake? Yummy!!

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This is my first Not Me Monday post! Enjoy reading about all the things I did not do this past week!

I did not pretend to be asleep when Jonathan cried in the middle of the night, forcing my husband to have to get up instead. And then I most certainly did not feel guilty about it when he had to leave for work only a few hours later.

I did not set up Jackson and Joshua with the Wall-E movie while Jonathan took his afternoon nap last week, just so I could have a few quiet minutes to myself and maybe even lay down for a bit. Nope, not me! I would never use the TV as a babysitter!

I did not crop myself out of all our vacation pictures just so no one would see me in a bathing suit. Nope, not me! I would never be that self-conscious!

I did not just finish the last if the ice cream (creme brulee ice cream!! yum!!) and announce to the boys we needed to make a grocery run after naptime, just so I could get some more! Nope, that wasn't me!

What have you not done this week?? Do share!!

Jonathan's First Cereal

Jonathan had his first rice cereal this evening! It's such an exciting step!! (When I found out we were pregnant with our third baby, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to love them all the same or be able to go through all the stages with as much excitement, but that is so not the case!!) Jonathan (like his brothers before him) did great with the rice cereal, even making the same funny faces and gagging motions! We're so glad he is joining us at the table and eating with us! (We need a bigger table, btw!!)

Not sure he knows what's coming!


Happy guy!!!


Perhaps my fingers taste better than the rice cereal!


Look at that face!


A look back.....

This is Jackson with his first rice cereal!



This is Joshua the first time he had rice cereal!



Jackson wanted to be the first to feed Jonathan! YUM!! Rice cereal! :)

More Dells pics

Click here to see more pictures from trip to the Dells!

First Family Vacation!!

Hooray for family vacations!! We have sadly realized that we don't take vacations...very often at all. We went to Africa for our honeymoon (thank you, Allen & Janelle) but since then every other trip we have taken was to be with family, which is great, but not the same as a vacation. So, this week we took our first family vacation!! We went to Wisconsin Dells for two nights and had a really good time! We stayed at the Wilderness, which had two indoor parks, and we enjoyed them very much! The boys loved the water (most of the time) and it was nice to just be together and not worry about housework or bills or errands or other daily life stuff.

Hanging out on our deck--it was a chilly morning, but the boys loved being out there!

Jonathan looking super cute doing tummy time on the bed.

We checked in Monday and headed straight to the pool (the boys were sooooo excited)! They couldn't get to the pool fast enough!!

We spent most of our time at the pool, with Daddy and the boys in the lazy river.

I hung out with Jonathan the whole time and we didn't go in the water much (he didn't seem to like it much, but did get used to it toward the end).

The only bad part of the trip was that AW got sick Tuesday morning from his migraine headache and he spent the first 5 hours of the day in the bathroom and sleeping in bed. After the medicine kicked in, we were good to go and ready to spend the day in the water!

Jackson and Joshua were so tired at the end of the day! Swimming wore them out!!

After three days, we were ready to head home---the boys were certainly ready to be home! We had a great time and hopefully we'll make famil vacations a yearly thing, if not more often!! :)

The Avery Five at the Wilderness Resort---we'll be back!!

Two cute videos!!

Jonathan has been rolling over for almost two weeks, but this is the first time I've gotten it on camera! He's so cute!!

Jackson is growing up to be such a sweet, independent young man! He was hungry last week and made his own graham cracker-honey sandwich! He did a really great job! We're so proud of our little man!!

Kids!

Yesterday we were having (all-natural, no added-sugar) popsicles for snack. Jackson had already finished his and was trying to get Joshua to share his. Getting nowhere with the sharing, Jackson asked for another popsicle. I said no, to which he responded, "Stop saying I can't have any, it makes me want to have more!" I started laughing pretty hard, so he said, "You should put that in the mommy journal!!" Kids!! Pretty funny!

Today is Joshua's 2nd birthday! We had a nice pancake breakfast and Josh blew out his candles. We are leaving in a bit for the children's museum and then out to lunch! Happy Birthday, sweet Joshua! We love you!!

Riding the new bike he got for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa!

Bouncing around at gymnastics

Staying home with three boys is wonderful--I truly love it!! However, I am always on the lookout for new and fun activities to keep us entertained, hopefully cheap or free activities! For the past two weeks we have gone to open gym at Excel gymnastics and we all love it!! The boys love running around, bouncing, going inside the tunnels, jumping into the foam pit, going on the balance beam, and countless other activities! I love it because it tires them out and they get great exercise!

Jackson loves bouncing (and falling down) on the giant trampoline

Jackson getting ready to swing and kick the foam blocks down.

Boom!! There go the blocks!!

Joshua is pretty good at walking on the balance beam

Jackson's turn to be on the balance beam

Bouncing on the trampoline together (OOPS! that's against the rules--only one person at a time!)

Joshua loves, loves, loves running down the running track trampoline!!

Both boys inside the big square foam pit! So much fun!!

Joshua's turn to jump on the trampoline--he loves to sit down, as well!

Landing in the foam pit after swinging on the bar--yay, Jackson!! (He wouldn't go up on the bar our first week there. Today he said he was brave and then of course, loved it!!)

A trip to the zoo

The boys and I enjoyed a fun trip to the zoo. Cosley Zoo in Wheaton is a great kid-friendly place that makes a fabulous field trip on a sunny morning like today! The boys had a great time!!

Enjoy the slide show! Click here!

Joshua's 2nd Birthday Party

I can't believe we just celebrated Joshua's 2nd birthday!! We were blessed to have family and friends around us to share in the festivities! Happy Birthday, Joshua!! We love you so much and are so proud of you!! You are a sweet, funny, wild little man--just fabulous!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow