Tuesday, June 28, 2011

It’s not like me to go this long without posting a list.

Me, Brynlee and Kate during the intermission of Annie on Thrusday night.
·         Brynlee, Katie and I went and watched the play Annie last Thursday.  We had such a great time and I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried like a heartbroken teenager when the cute little orphans sang “It’s a Hard Knock Life.”  I really am such a sap.  The evening was perfect though.  I’m so glad Katie joined us and I am so glad that my Little Miss Sidekick loves watching plays just as much as her mama does.  She can sit through about 10 minutes of a movie before she get bored silly, but a two hour play keeps her entertained for its entirety.  Makes me happy.
·         My kids hate tags on their clothes.  Like passionately hate.  You know, like the tag sewn into the back of a shirt that says the size, and fabric material, and little love notes like if you dare dry this sweater in your hoity toity drying machine it will turn to a size small enough to fit your lapdog.  Yeah, the kids hate those things.  Neither of them will wear any clothes until all the tags have been removed from the vicinity of their body.  It drives me batty.  I never know the size of their clothes, it’s hard to tell front from back, and it’s a pain in the keester to be on the tag removal crew at any beck and call.
·         Celebrating summer has become our full-time job.  No kidding.  We’ve been spending our every second basking in all that summer has to offer.  And it’s just as I like it. 
·         Speaking of celebrating summer we spent the weekend camping with Spence’s big sister, Sarah, and brother, Matt, and their families.  We didn’t go camping at all last summer and this trip reminded me how much I love camping.  Here’s to more summer 2011 camping trips. {clink, clink}
·         And also to cooking more dinner’s dutch oven style.  Every time we join Sarah & Brett for dutch oven chicken and potatoes I’m motivated to make it part of my summertime cooking routine.  And then I forget.  Actually, I don’t forget . . . it’s the follow through that I struggle with.  But this summer I’ll triumph.  Maybe.
·         I’ll be posting pictures from our camping trip in the next day or two.  Because it’s what I do.
·         Completely unrelated:  you know the self flushing toilets that are in most public places?  You stand up, and without any warning – no pulling on the flushin’ handle, no nod of the head or wave of the hand – they flush.  I hate them!!  I mean, sure they are convenient and arguable more sanitary for full grown adults, but for the miniature potty users they’re crap {no pun intended}.  My kids are too small to set them into automatic flushy mode.  Which isn’t a big deal if there is a handy toilet flushing button to push, but not all models are equip with The Button.  So instead I’m left waving my arms, and shaking my booty in hopes that my killer moves will trigger the automatic flushy feature.  Just sit down on the potty and stand back up, Brynlee will advise me.  Your behind is bigger, it will make it flush.  So I do the half squat, still no flushing.  So I shake my butt in front of the sensor, still nothing.  And just as I’m about to give up, to admit defeat, I turn my back to the toilet to walk away and ta-da dumb thing flushes.  Just to mock me, I think. 
·         And with that I’m off to bed.  And I believe it’s high time.  Don’t you?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

I used to occasionally write about stuff.

Me and my kiddos at the circus this afternoon.
The weather has been perfect, our schedule has been full and we’ve been celebrating summertime.  And some nights I really want to blog.  You know, to remember.  But I decide to watch five episodes of Scrubs instead.  And I promise myself that I will blog tomorrow night.  And then its tomorrow night and no matter how hard I try I can’t get my mind to form complete sentences, so I skip blogging and Spence and I watch Scrubs then we go to bed.  But not before I promise myself that tomorrow night, tomorrow night I’ll blog.  And then it’s tomorrow night, and just to appease my addiction {it’s real, you guys} I publish 100 pictures and consider myself caught up on my journaling, then I watch Scrubs, then I go to bed. 
Start this post over and read it again.  And then again.  And then again.
And then, somehow, June is almost over and as I scroll down through my last posts I realize that I’ve written nothing down that I wanted to.  No stories about how I managed to destroyed a perfectly good learning experience with my children by confusing a camel with a donkey.  No post about how we accidently left Baby Luke all alone in the middle of Cougareat (on BYU campus) because we were suddenly distracted by the smell of ice-cream.  No post about the bagel that made my mom and Jami laugh out loud and caused me to spray milk out my nose.  Instead all of my last blog posts have turned into collages of a million billion pictures.
Not that it’s a bad thing.  Honestly, pictures are worth 1,000 words – so I’ve all but written a book.
Anyway, today’s post: a million, billion more pictures of what we’ve been up to.  Because apparently, that's how I blog.  Then I’m going to watch Scrubs.  Then go to bed. 


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Photo Album: Cousin Retreat

A few years ago my mom, my sisters and myself {and probably a kid or two} went on a mini vacation.  Girls Week, we called it.  And I think every year since then we’ve ventured on some sort of “Girls Week”.  This year as we activity jumped from Children’s museums, to kid friendly restaurants, to swimming pools to parks and as we refereed pint-size disagreements, pushed strollers and buckled seatbelts for the umpteenth time I realized something – This is so not a girls week.  This is a cousin retreat.  We aren’t here to relax; we’re only here to chauffeur, supervise and pay the final tab!

Some day we will reclaim Girls Week, I hope.  I envision getting pedicures, eating at nice restaurants and sleeping in hotel beds without a foot in your gut and three heads on your pillow, but for now we are content being camp counselors at a weeklong Cousins Retreat.  Mainly because it makes the kids happy, and their little cousin friendships are worth the investment.
Jessica had a conference in Provo, Utah so we went up a day early – crammed in as many activities that were possible - and spent the remainder of the week park hopping, hanging out at the hotel pool and eating ice-cream at BYU’s Creamery.  Mom, a BYU alumni, took us on a mini BYU tour to see her old apartments and stomping ground and we also squeezed in an Ikea trip. 
I have the best family in the world!  I wish Kate could have joined us and that Jaelynn could have stayed longer, but as a whole I think this year’s Cousins Retreat was a smashing success.
Warning:  I’m posting close to a million pictures.  My apologies.  I tend to be excessive.  But you already knew that about me, right?

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

12 on the 12th [The June Chapter]


01.Windshield View. Driving home from my Sunday morning Young Women’s Meeting.  On the agenda: Girl’s Camp.  I can’t believe it’s already that time again.
02. Feet.  I wore heels to church - a very rare occurrence.  I tend to favor flats because they’re cuter, because they’re more comfortable, because I hate to be taller than my husband!
03. Lunch.  Made cheese snacks for a before church snack.  Jace’s suggestion.  Spence added leftover meatloaf to his.  Cheese, salsa & sour cream for me.  And just plain cheese for the kids.
04. Bridge.  Raced home from church to go on a Sunday hike.  Our summer goal is to hike a new Greenway trail every Sunday.  This one led to an old bridge.
05. Stairs to nowhere.  There is nothing cooler than random stairs that climb a mountain side.
06. Butterfly.  While Jace and Spencer spent an hour throwing sticks in the water, Brynlee and I ran off to discover.  There were tons of forts that I suppose served as protection during a paintball war, wildflowers, birds and this beauty of a butterfly.  I love where I live. 
07. My boys.  I told Jace to flex his muscles – this is what I got.  That little guy makes me smile.
08. Me.  In case you’re wondering, taking a picture of your shadow while you jump in the air isn’t easy.  It may take more than one attempt.  Which may cause your five-year-old to laugh at your expense.
09. Art.  Coloring a birthday sign for Grandma’s {Spence’s moms} birthday book. 
10. Gardener.  Planting the pit from her peach in hopes of a peach tree in my flower garden.
11. Batman.  Wall decor that Spence and I have been creating for Jace’s bedroom.
12. Clothes.  Packing for a get-a-way with my mom, sisters and their kiddos.  Oh happy day.

12 on the 12th inspired by her.
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