Just Ava

One month until Ava's 6th birthday. She told me she wants a pink computer. I guess I'll be working some overtime to cover that one.

Tiffany

The Mari Chronicles

I never really did Amari's 2 year photos. So here is Amari from today, she is 28 months old. 39 lbs and 38 inches tall. Today she not only pooped in the potty chair (TMI?) but she also proved to me she knows how to spell her name. Not bad for the girl who wasn't talking a month ago. The only clothing she will keep on are her dance clothes. She even took a nap in them today :-)

I also had to throw in a picture of Maddie Mae. She was the only one who held still during the "shoot".

Little Miss Trouble

Amari has been going through a phase where she sometimes (alot of times) refuses to take an afternoon nap. This means no quiet time during the day for Tiffany which results in no happy time with Tiffany for the rest of the family. This also means that there are times during the day when Amari is left unattended for very short periods of time such as when Tiffany has to take a shower. If you leave her for 10 minutes, she will do something bad. Yesterday it was bread crumbs for breakfast. Luckily, Tiffany got to her before she got the milk out. She likes going through the cupboards and refrigerator. Last week she ate a couple bananas......not such a bad thing, and a frozen brownie out of the freezer. A couple weeks ago she poured a whole container of liquid coffee creamer on the carpet. Now it smells like vanilla caramel. When we got our new couches last summer, on Day 5 she wrote all over the cushions with a pen, and the cushions have been flipped since. Lately, she has been playing in the toilet. Now I'm not sure what it is like to have a little boy, but I'm guessing they cant be any worse......and I dont want to find out. Who knows what she will do tomorrow.

Just some photos

No pants? Never!

Clean babies!

Maybe you should take a NAP!

Sometimes I guess she takes a nap...

Papa's visit

Tiffanys dad (Greg....ie Papa) was in town last week for some semi-annual training related to his pilots license. He is always kind enough to take us to dinner. Our usual favorite (Texas Roadhouse) had a long wait so we went to Wheatfields instead. They have so many good desserts there!! Ava and Amari inhaled their petifores. Greg brought gifts for the girls for Valentines Day. This picture was taken shortly before we went to eat so we didnt let Amari eat that chocolate bunny she is holding. She threw a fit and turned on the waterworks. Sometimes she is so persistent. But we didnt cave. I'm pretty sure the bunny is still in the cupboard.

Ava is seen with some of her Valentines Day candy from school. She tries to hide it in her room from Amari but Amari smells it out when Ava is at school. And to think, Easter is only about 6 weeks away and that means.....more candy!

Its another Friday night and Tiff is working. Me and the girls already got our workout done so that means an evening of sitting around. Can you say back-to-back-to back episodes of icarly!! They love that show. It seems like so long ago when Friday nights meant meeting friends for drinks and tomfoolery and then sleeping in the next day. Is this what it has come to......in bed by 10:30 and up at 7:00!!! Oh well, tomorrow we are heading to the annual Home & Garden Expo at the Qwest Center. I figured that we could see some neat outdoor ideas and maybe even some greenery. I need something to get me thinking about warmer days ahead.

Chocolate and more!

Valentines day is over.....thank goodness, and its on to the all important Presidents Day. Being a State employee means that today is a holiday for me. We spent the day dropping the CR-V off to have several hundred dollars worth of repairs done (I love unforeseen expenses), having a home warranty meeting, and then decorating the valentines day cookies that we made yesterday. Tiffany is getting ready to go to work and the girls and I are about ready to start a workout.

Tiffany received a package in the mail last week for Valentines Day from The Chocolate Season. As I mentioned before, it was not some huge gift but definitely more than I normally do. She received a new apron, sugar cookies, lemon bars, truffles, caramels, cheesecake brownies, and oreo mudballs. She was excited when she received it and texted me to tell me so. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of an inspection in Norfolk, NE. If you don't know what The Chocolate Season is.....you should check out their website. You can order goodies and have them shipped to you. Erika and Bradley Jensen recently moved from Omaha to Algona, Iowa and she opened a neat little shop there. They are the neatest couple. She is a talented chocolatier and he is a talented photographer. They are two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Tiffany and Bradley had photo classes together at Metro CC several years ago. You may remember a Cat-in-the-hat cake last year for Ava's birthday. Erika made that too. Tiffany and I stuffed our faces with all of the different sweets and every single thing tasted truly amazing.

Its freezing cold and windy today and I am really really done with winter. I think we are all going a little stir crazy being cooped up in the house all the time. The only time we can get Amari to sit still is during certain cartoons that hold her interest. Otherwise, if you turn your back she is getting into something. She has been doing really well with the potty training though. She pretty much can go in there and do it all by herself. We just have to help wash hands. Not so bad. She is very possessive with everything and when we try to teach her to share, it turns into a meltdown. Oh well, she is 2 years and 4 months old so that is to be expected. We just forget sometimes. Ava has been pretty good putting up with Amari but sometimes I sneak up on them and listen to their conversation. Usually Ava tries to distract her by telling her to go get a cookie or snack or something from daddy. Pretty smart because Amari instantly forgets what she originally wanted and then comes to me for a cookie.

Has it really been 6 days since I last posted?? I'm already falling behind on my twice per week resolution. Its hard work writing in blog and keeping the masses happy. Lets see, what should I write about tonight?

Well Valentines Day is this weekend so how about some kind notes about my wonderful wife. She is definitely not your typical housewife.

Can you guess the right answer regarding Tiffany:

a.) She has a full time job.

b.) She is a stay at home mom.

c.) She has a part time job.

d.) She has to put up with Amari every day for 8 hours all by herself = 2 ft jobs.

e.) All of the above

Correct answer is: (e) all of the above.

Thats right - she can do it all. Alot of wifes/mothers could barely do just one of those things. She is an amazing woman in alot of ways.

Now Tiffany and I typically wont buy eachother gifts for Valentines Day. Sometimes, maybe we will give something very very small or just a card with some loving thoughts. We (or maybe its just me) dont like the idea of a holiday out there telling me that I have to buy my wife a gift or tell her I love her. I tell her I love her every single day and buy flowers several times a year for no particular reason. I find the holiday somewhat silly. So here we are 4 days before Valentines day and for whatever reason I decided last week that I was going to get her something. Its not that much but definitely more than I normally do. I think she will really like it. You will have to tune in next week to see if my technologically challenged mind can post a picture of what she gets.

If Valentines Day is a big deal for you....I hope you get what you really want. As for me, I already have what I want.

and oh yeah.....I LOVE U sweetie!!!!!! (your not getting that Tiffany & Co. ring)

Pioneer Woman aint got nothin on me!

Theres this lady (pioneer woman) who writes this blog. I have never read her blog but my wife follows her....and proceeds to tell me about her. Apparently she is amazing in every way and lives a perfect life that many women envy. I believe she lives on some big ranch in Oklahoma with lots of animals and is married to someone she calls The Marlboro Man. Sometimes she posts recipes. A few months ago she posted a recipe for "crispy yogurt chicken" that Tiffany passed along to me. Its basically chicken tenders that are dipped in a mixture of yogurt, parsley, lemon juice, garlic and s&p. They are then coated with bread crumbs and baked in the oven for 1 hr & 15 min. Sounds good huh. I made this two months ago and it was so-so. I gave it a second try tonight and Amari wouldnt eat it and Ava ate about half of it. I wasnt thrilled with it either. Two strikes and your out.

I have researched and tried out about 25 "healthy" meals in the past 2 months and this one falls about at the bottom. Some of our favorites so far are baked crab cakes, fish tacos, chicken pitas and panko crusted tilapia. Next experiment is something called "smokin shrimp". I saw it on the Food Network.....which I find myself watching more and more - not sure if that is because of the recipe ideas or for the attractive ladies (giada, sandra lee, paula dean!!hah) Ava & Amari wake me up on saturday mornings and we let mommy sleep in. We inevitably end up watching some food shows between Handy Manny and Dora the Explorer and the new show "mexican made easy" at 8:30AM might be worth my time.....and the food doesnt look bad either. I told Tiffany that they really need to come out with a "Women of the Food Network" calendar. I am ingenius!!! So if you have any recipes that are relatively healthy that you love, please send them my way. I am looking for more ideas.

Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the Super Bowl!!

FEBRUARY IS HERE.

Its February 1st and time to turn over a new leaf. This is Donnie writing in the blog......for the first time, but not the last. Going to try to post something at least twice a week. We got at least 4 people worldwide following this blog!! Our goal is to double that amount by 2011! Ambitious I know. Now I know that there are people wanting to know what those crazy Zachs are up to. Now you will know. I mean seriously, something exciting happens every day in this house with Amari. She really could have her own blog.

Amari - We are kind of in the middle of potty training. Which means at least 25 times a day of taking on and off the diaper/pull-up so she can sit on the toilet. Shes pretty smart and tells us when she has to go #1 but obviously not every time and were still waiting for that ever so exciting time when she #2's for the first time in the toilet....oh j0y!

Ava - Shes been busy at kindergarten and seems to really like it so far. Were "thinking" about changing schools next year with the new "learning community" rules in Omaha. Thanks to Aunt Mary, we have a pretty good idea what some of the best pre-schools are in Papillion. Now we need to check them out for ourselves and decide how far we are willing to drive to drop her off and pick her up.

Stay tuned for more frequent exciting news. I know your on the edge of your seat to find out what else might be happening.

Donnie