2% Other

At our house we eat a lot of hot dogs. I mean, who doesn't like a good wiener, right? They're quick and easy to make, there is a wide variety of toppings you can put on them (sauerkraut is my favorite), you can eat them with one hand, and my picky, younger kids love them. We've always got a freezer full of them. Anyways, Avery just HAD to inform me that the FDA only requires hot dog makers to use 98% beef, pork, or chicken (whatever the hot dog is made out of) in their hot dogs, and that the other 2% can pretty much be whatever else falls into the mix. i.e. insects, rodent droppings, rodents themselves etc. I had always heard that hot dogs were made out of "lips and bumholes", or just the leftover parts of the animals, and that never stopped me from eating them, so I doubt this will either, but at least now I know that if I bite into something crunchy, it might just be a cockroach leg, or a mouse turd. Mmmmmm, protein!

"Most Horriblest Mother!"

This past Sunday I was taking a little afternoon nap, which I NEVER get to do, when Aidan woke me up asking me if I would "get him on the computer." Half asleep, and annoyed that he awoke me from my precious slumber, I replied something like, "not right now" or "have Avery do it", to which his reply was, "You're the most horriblest mother!" I've been called a lot of things, but I can't say that I've exactly heard that one before. So, now I hold the title of "Most Horriblest Mother!" Shouldn't I at least get a sash or tiara?

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

Yesterday we celebrated David's thirty-second birthday! Yep, the big 3-2! He doesn't look a day over twenty-five! I can't say enough great things about this guy, and if you know him very well, I don't have to. His face in this picture says it all. David is the first one to drop whatever he's doing to help you out, and does so HAPPILY! He works harder than anyone I know. He plays harder too. He is a big kid and is so funny and laid back. He has the best personality! He can be sooo inappropriate sometimes and I love it! I usually act like he is embarrassing me, but really, I think he's hilarious and I "egg" him on most of the time. It is so hard to stay mad at him - all he has to do is give me THAT look and my heart melts! I can't wait for him to come home from work every day just so I can snuggle him. He has big, strong arms, and his shoulders... seriously - you should watch him swim! The Summer I met him, when I was just sixteen years old, we went swimming together and after that, I was HAD! He is so confident, yet so humble at the same time. I just love him so much, I can't STAND it! I have loved learning and growing right along side him for almost half of his life. He is my best friend, and I'm so happy he was born! Happy birthday David Burk!

Alien Flower in my Backyard!

Have you ever seen anything like this? I feel like I'm in the sequel to "Little Shop of Horrors"! My backyard neighbors have this flowering vine that is growing over the wall, and THIS is what grows on it! I've never seen anything like it! It's so cool! It looks like something from outer space! The yellow things sprouting out of the middle look like they're going to reach out and GRAB you! Then there are the little soft, fuzzy, feather-like petals? If anyone knows what it's called, let me know. I guess I could look it up. I'll just call it Audrey II for now. If I wind up missing, you know where to look!

Okay, so I easily found it on the internet! It is the Passion Flower! It accompanies the passion fruit! I think I'll try to harvest some seeds from it and grow them myself.

Back to school 2009

Avery and Ethan went back to school on Wednesday! They're happy to have somewhere to go and to be back with their friends - old and new, although they still complain about how much they HATE it.

Avery is in 7th grade this year. Yes, JR. HIGH!!! We went to her orientation on Monday. We walked around the campus and found all of her classes. We also found her locker which happened to be on the TOP row. She is miniature, and she could hardly reach it. Seriously, she could barely see the numbers on the dial to do the combination. I had to go with her on the first day of school to get it changed. She really is tiny! I saw a bigger girl (I'm assuming she was in 9th grade) pointing at Avery and commenting to her friends something along the lines of, "Oh my gosh, look at the little seventh grader! How cute!" At first she acted all embarrassed to have her mom with her on the first day of Jr. High, but when it came time for me to leave, she wanted me to walk her to her first class. Spread your wings little birdie and FLY! She only got lost once, and ended up having a great first day!

Ethan is in fifth grade this year. We happened to miss his "meet the teacher", so he didn't know where his classroom was. He was pretty nervous, so I walked him to school and helped him find his classroom. As soon as he saw some of his friends from last year, he was good to go. He had a good first couple of days as well, and he's already asking to play the french horn. Where does the time go? You want your kids to grow and learn and become independent, but it always feels so good to know that they DO still need their mommy sometimes. I can't wait to see what this new school year has in store for these two. I'm sure it will be FABULOUS because these kids are AMAZING!!!

Camp Lomia here she comes!

Avery was able to go to Young Womens camp this year because she just turned TWELVE!!! She had such a great time and was really able to bond with the other girls in our ward. She has sort of had a hard time with this last move, and has really tried to hold on to her friends out in Queen Creek and hadn't really given the girls out here a chance, so it was so great for her to go up to camp and get to know everyone better. I was also able to go up for three days, and it was a FABULOUS experience if I do say so myself! The theme this year was "In Tune". We learned that the spirit speaks to us all differently and how to recognize and be "in tune" with how he speaks to us individually. Going along with the theme, each ward chose a musical to plan their activities around. Our ward chose Mary Poppins! Our YW President, Cindy Allen, was Mary and the girls were all chimney sweeps. They did the "Step In Time" dance for the skit. They were so cute! They all got along so well, and there was absolutely NO girl drama! They were all so excited and involved. They had great attitudes which made their camp experience so wonderful! The ward and stake leaders put SO MUCH WORK into camp! Everything was AWESOME! I am so grateful Avery's first year at camp was such a great one! I am so grateful that she has such AMAZING women for her leaders, and I am so blessed to be able to work with them. She was able to come into Young Womens this last Sunday for the first time, and now we'll be able to go to Mutual on Wednesday nights together. How FUN and EXCITING!! She really is an AMAZING YOUNG WOMAN! I can't believe how quickly she's growing up!

Chim-chimminey, chim-chimminey, chim chim cheree, a sweep is as lucky, as lucky can be. Chim-chimminey, chim-chimminey, chim chim cheroo, good luck will rub off when I shakes hands with you. Well blow me a kiss, and that's lucky too!

Harris 1st ward - First year girls - Avery, Kater, Elena, Chelsea(YCL), Teghan, and Sunni

Flower the skunk - Instead of running away from the skunks, these girls chased after them, coaxing them with blackberries!

Avery and Elena - "Practically Perfect in Every Way!"

Our Playbill - someone in the stake painted these beautiful Playbills for each ward.


Avery and Kater - two spoonfuls of sugar!