Friday Thoughts

There are garbage cans all over my house.  Almost in every room of my house.  And yet.  Garbage.  Garbage everywhere.  Of every kind.  Food.  Used to be Food.  Broken Toy Parts.  Paper.  Chewed on unidentifiable Objects.  String.  Wrappers.  Wrappers.  Wrappers.  Why is this happening?  How can I stop this?

I like the idea of Polka Dots.  I can't seem to make them work for me.  Not on clothing or even decorations.  They look good on other people.  Hmmm.

I bought a black dry erase board.  I can't get any markers to show up on it.  Who thought of this dumb idea and why did I fall for it?  Also, dry erase crayons are a scam.  They are just crayons.  

Starburst candy corn is gross.  You want your starburst flavor chewy, not grainy.  Starburst jellybeans are yummy and acceptable.  Just enough chewy.

My son getting braces makes me feel like a real parent.  Like up until now I have just been babysitting.  Paying for orthodontia is a reality punch in the face. 

Oh Mama!!

 Look what I grew! So delicious!  It was so heavy I barely made it in the house.  Awesome. 

We had some discussions about September 11th today.  I was glad to hear they each learned about it at school too.  We remember.

Boom Chicka See Ya!

 

My youngest headed off to preschool.  He cried.  The teacher kept trying to reassure me he would be just fine.  I kept trying to reassure her that I was fine.  At least I hope she heard me as I yelled that out the window and screeched away.  Waaaahoooo!!!

6 more days...

Stick a fork in me this Mama is done with summer.  In fact, we are getting overcooked here.  At the beginning of the summer my children were so happy to be home.  They were happy to do whatever they wanted and wander the house and backyard.  If I came up with one or two activities during the week, it was a win for everybody.  Slowly they started requesting more and more activities.  Then we went on a couple of vacations that were filled with constant fun.  More fun that any kid could want.  Since we have been back the kids have lost control.  They are requesting me to entertain them every 10 minutes.  They want to go on rides, eat candy, play games with cousins, lets have people over, more people over, lets have amazing treats, tell me what to do with this minute and the next minute.  Oh my goodness.  GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!  Was that too strong?  I mean, have a great day at school!  You will love it!

Happy 4th of July!

Zoo Day

How is your summer going?  Ours is just dandy.  Today we headed to the Boise zoo.  Not a great zoo, but I have gotten used to it over the years and am happy to have a zoo in our fine city.  I told the boys to wear good shoes for the zoo.  This is what I got.  The flip-flop brigade.  Whatever, I guess they are not having foot pain like their Mom and they can wear non-sensible shoes.  Look at their arms.  They all walk the same!

 The zoo added a dinosaur exhibit.  Fake animals at a zoo are really funny to me.  We don't come to the zoo to see fake animals!  Anyway, the boys did like all the new dinosaurs.  They were also quite loud throughout the zoo.  I kept wondering if the animals were traumatized by these new sounds.  I was. 

 More fakeys.  I actually liked these better than the real ones.  Much more playful.

 Here they are, some real animals.  I think the giraffes are quite the highlight of the Boise zoo.  They are always out and ready to be seen.  Even if they are sleeping they are standing there so nicely for you.

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Fake safari jeep.  My kids love this thing.  Kids start driving at 14 in Idaho.  What?  That's right.  So, Spencer was showing me my future.

Happiest Wedding Day

7th Heaven

Twelve

 Spencer had his party last night.  He joined the world of cell phones.  He got his first phone call while opening presents.  He was very excited!  I am very excited!

3 More Weeks!!!

My sister Stacey is getting married.  We are so happy and excited for her!  Jason is a great guy and I am so happy he will be a part of our family. They are so cute together!!

Easter Photos

 Sometimes even a balloon and your toothbrush that you must hold at all times can't help.

My Boss

My three year old is the most demanding boss I have ever had.  He keeps track of what I am doing every minute of the day.  He tells me to stop doing that.  He tells me I am doing it wrong.  I have to get his permission to run errands.  I find myself begging him to be able to stop at the post office or bank.  Sometimes he says yes.  Potty training this one was like presenting your boss with a whole new system for running the business.  No way.  He is the boss. 

MIne, all Mine

 Somehow we ended up with four belts on and kind of matching outfits AND a few minutes early for church.  I grabbed the camera.  My boys are great at taking photos showing their true personalities. Love these boys!

Love

This was my view as I relaxed by the pool in Phoenix yesterday afternoon.  My sweetheart whisked me away for a 24 hour trip to the sunshine.  Desperately needed.  I feel like I can make it through this winter now.  Wonderful, wonderful Valentine gift.  I hope you all are getting spoiled today!

Happy January

Happy New Year

I love starting our years now with a birthday.  It is so fun!  We had a wonderful holiday break, and it was great to be home the whole time.  It has been snowing the last few days, kind of lovely. I am excited about my resolutions this year.  One of them is to paint my laundry room.  I am going orange.  Not peach, think tangerine and creamsicle.  I am also very excited for some fun trips we have planned this year thanks to family and my brother coming home from his mission! Oh, and not excited about the resolution to potty train.  This will be our third attempt, and I am not going back this time.  This time we are plowing through the tantrums and outrage that I am attempting to change his life. 

Speedy Delivery

 Nathan has been having so much fun playing with the presents under the tree.  He organizes them and pretends to hand them out to people. Then he loads them in his truck and delivers them.  This has been such a fun game, I wish I would have just wrapped up some empty boxes a long time ago!  But he knows you can't open them until Christmas.  He will hand it to you and then say, no, no, not until Christmas.  Delightful.

7 Layer Rainbow Jello

My mother in law gave me this recipe years ago, and it is a family favorite now.  Just so you know, I have never made mine look this cute before, but I would like to!  I always do mine in a 9x13 glass dish and then you have to try and cut perfect little squares.  It is still a hit every time!  There are tons of these recipes floating around, and I have tried a couple of others, but it never turns out quite right.  So, if you want a for sure hit, stick with this one.  All of the jello flavors are just suggestions, use whatever you want.  You can change it up for 4th of July or any holiday. 

7 layer jello

#1 Black Cherry

#2 Cherry

#3 Lime

#4 Lemon

#5 Orange

#6 Strawberry

#7 Grape

Mix one layer at a time in a bowl and then pour into serving dish. Make sure you mix in the hot water really well and then add the cold water. Set at least 40 minutes, then do another layer on top.  Continue until you have all 7 layers.

Mix jello #1, 3, 5, 7 with 3/4 cup hot water and 3/4 cup cold water.

Mix jello #2, 4, 6 with 1/2 cup hot water, 1/2 cup cold water, 1/2 cup carnation milk.

Top with cool whip or whipped cream.

Happy Halloween!

Mario's Father, Cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, Moon Knight (a lesser known super hero who works with Spiderman)

Family Carving

 Pumpkin carving is one of my favorite family activities.  The boys all love to participate and do their own pumpkins.  We had fun with my sister's cute family this year. 

Just a little project

All day long

My 2 year old screamed at me for a very long time because he wanted this "cereal". My days begin and end with my fourth child screaming and crying at me.  Apparently I am doing everything wrong.  When I finally do figure out what he is trying to communicate to me, he then changes his mind and there is more screaming and crying.  You know that saying, You get what you get and you don't throw a fit?  My child has changed it to, You throw a fit until you get what you get, and then you change your mind.  Good thing he is so cute or I wouldn't survive. 

It's Both

The first few bites were delicious!  It really tasted just like bacon.  Yum.  Then I started to get disgusted by the smell and greasy film on the roof of my mouth.  Yuck. 

The Best Present

We celebrated Jeremy's b-day.  I am now married to a very old man, and couldn't be happier!  So, to make his day extra special I found this popcorn. I really thought this would be the crowning glory present, you know the one he just couldn't believe I found, and would be so amazed at my ability to find spectacular and unique presents.  I thought it looked so yummy,  Jeremy not so much.  He is very apprehensive about trying this, he thinks it might be gross.  What do you think?  Delicious or Disgusting?