Really?

 Today, I was taking Aviana to the bathroom, while talking to my dad on the phone. I wasn't paying perfect attention to Aviana. Once I looked down at her, I had a hard time believing my eyes...she had fallen asleep!

I was laughing, snapping pictures and still talking to my dad, all at the same time. 

By the time I was done with the pictures, believe it or not, she started snoring.

Oh my gosh!

I guess there's a first for everything.

Enjoy.

Is there anything she does that isn't cute?

Pie

We are going to soon start a Two Girls and a Guy Pie blog. For those who are interested, I'll attach the link once we're finished. I will still post some pie pics here, but maybe not quite so much....that is ~ unless you want me to ; ) 

Can you believe, we are now averaging about five different pies a week. Now, we're not only fattening ourselves up, but the neighborhood too ; )

For now though, I wanted to share some pictures from this week.

That's me...ha!

Cookie crust, covered in chocolate, and sprinkled with chopped peanuts...oh my!

So as you can see, I'm having trouble departing from my other birds. I decided to take it slow, and found comfort in this set up : )

Aviana Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Some say this was our best yet!

Pie. It's what's for breakfast!

Mmmm...breakfast of champions!

We decided to try a Pear Cranberry Pie next.

Pretty!

The crumb topping was amazingly good...it had ground up walnuts and pecans in it ; )

This one tasted really good, but super earthy. We decided to call it,

The Hippie From Brickippsee Pie

This next one really intrigued me! I wanted to make it, even though I wasn't so sure we'd like it. It's called a Lemon Shaker Pie. I love the taste of lemon, but don't like meringue, so I thought this might work out well.

It was quite the process. The interesting thing about it is ~ you use the lemon rind. Yep, you heard that right. The rind! 

We cut the lemons into paper thin slices. We tried to use our mandoline, but that wasn't happening, so it was out with the knives! Dave was much better at slicing, than me. I almost lost a finger, or two!  We then added the zest of the lemon, salt and sugar and stirred it all up. 

Next, you cover and store at room temperature overnight.

Look who also wanted to be part of The Lemon Shaky.

Her Auntie Dinah and Uncle Sean went to Paris and London over the holidays. Look what they brought back...the sweetest little apron ; )

Did you know Rainey also doubles as a bird? When we are cooking/baking, she sometimes perches on the couch. At times, I even think she's going to attempt a jump!

Kama's brother Zander stayed with us all last week (which was often times unbearably difficult for me.)

He's saying, "Pie? Is it good? Okay, just one bite please?!?"

There you have it the...

Come on Shake, Shake it Pie!

Isn't it beautiful inside?

Oh my goodness, this slice is so neat looking.

It was really good, too!

The lemon filling was accompanied by one of our flakiest crusts yet.

I think I'm going to have to hit this one up again right now.

Bye ~ off to have another bite of ~ Pie!

Take that Cameo!!

The Power of Now

As I've said before, Aviana's Elves served as a springboard in launching me into a more positive direction. From there, I've gone even higher and higher. 

Thank goodness 

❤

I was feeling so good, that I wanted to do everything possible to make sure this happiness and contentment stuck. Towards the end of December, I decided to go back into the book vault and re-read one in particular.  I had a feeling this one was going to be the treasure I was looking for. 

I had previously read this book at a time when I didn't have any, what I like to call, real problems.  Life was moving along quite smoothly. I read this book in the fashion in which I used to read every book, fast. I understood the gist, but found it quite repetitive. I was impatient, so I remember thinking to myself, "okay already...I get it, I get it."

Once the next book, A New Earth, came out ~ I had minimal problems. I found that I liked it exactly in relation to how many more problems I was facing. Still, I was too inexperienced, or impatient in life to fully grasp the magnitude of what these books brought forth.

At the end of this past December, I was feeling good and decided it was time to kick it up a notch. I picked both books back up. I'm confident in saying ~ what I found within those pages will be carry me through the rest of my life. I read each book very slowly, so as not to let one concept or example pass me by. I applied every single word to my new life. I discovered how to use these techniques and apply them to, not only my everyday, but to my every minute. As I walk through each day, I have these various pages at the forefront of my mind.

A decision is made within every single difficult moment. These are definitely books I will revisit time and again. I catch myself falling into my old ways, and just like that...I have a choice to make. Majority of the time, I make the right one. By reacting in the right way, I am rewarded greatly. I've found that what's laid out for me is a beautiful life. A sucky situation has been guided, helped and aided by what lies between the front and back cover of each book!

Basically, it's about living in the Now. Yes. Easier said, than done...always. I've read them before, I've heard the concepts, I've tried, but these books really help you to best apply this way of thinking. These books have a way of dispelling all of the problems I had with being more successful before.

I highly recommend these books, for anyone. Anyone who is trying to find a better way to get through this thing called life! 

To me, they're a life saving, life altering, life giving, gift.

By the way, if you happen to be a Prime Member on Amazon, this book is part of the lending library : )

Love This Family

It's Potty Time

Yep, Rainey lays on her lap.

She provides moral support!

Dave's sister and husband stayed with us last weekend and we wore Aviana out. This was at sushi ; )

She did that, not us : )

Oh Nana ~ How I love thee...

Aviana is so relaxed with my Uncle Roger. He was talking to Ashton about his impending trip to Portugal, and Avi was out!

Our little family.

Her hair!

Why hello...

And Another...

Like I said, we start by eating.

MY GOSH this pie filling was over the moon! We decided to add vanilla paste (vanilla bean and extract perfectly concocted into a paste : ) instead of just plain vanilla extract. It was supremely good!

And Rainey too! 

Even the birds had to get in on this action.

This pie was made before the bird standoff.

I swear.

What lies beneath...

I don't know if you can see, but I said what the hell...and used the paste in place of the extract in the whip cream too. Once again...OH MY GOSH!! It was so good and so beautiful. The entire thing was flecked with vanilla bean!

Dave named this one, and I love it...

Banana Re-PIE-blic.

So beautiful.

So messy.

As hard as we tried, and as much as we researched, it oozed...bad ; (

Back to the books.

You too Avi ; )