belated 4th

we had a belated 4th of july this year. we had our fireworks and everything, but my hunk of a husband went and hurt his back at the gym just hours before we were going to head out for the planned festivities. utah changed its fireworks laws so people have been setting off fireworks late into the night for the past month. we joined them a couple nights ago and finally set off ours.

can you believe that my boys have never seen sparklers before?? jackson was all over them, but i couldn't get payton to hold one. he was convinced it would light him on fire. hopefully i can convince him next year that he won't combust from holding a sparkler.

happy mr. p

i took these photos of mr. p months ago then promptly forgot about them. it was a nice little surprise coming across them again yesterday. to me, the general feeling in each one of these pictures is "happy".

this happy little moment caught on camera instantly makes me happy as well.

{a baby quilt}

In case you're wondering, Maximilien is my newest little nephew.

He's almost 6 months old but I just met him and his beautiful hair for the first time this month. Benoit, Maria & Max live in Paris so we'll probably only get to see him once a year.

Since Max won't get regular hugs from his Auntie I wanted to make sure I gave him something warm to cuddle up in that will stay with him for years to come.

I actually made two quilts for this little man. Although the first one was beautiful, it just didn't seem like the right quilt for him, so days before they got to the US I started on another quilt that I thought would be more fitting for Prince Maximilien.

devil woman

i haven't been around much lately. 

and that's a good thing.

because if you'd been around me lately you'd have seen my grumpy alter ego that doesn't like people and doesn't care about people.

i think it was just the culmination of a million things at once. i'm pretty sure it started when my air conditioner went out. am i the only one who turns into a beast when it's too hot??? my personality literally changes when it's too hot. 

i think the other thing is something only a military wife can understand. maybe not though. my husband was gone for almost two years. that's a long time. i didn't realize until he got home how comfortable i was with him being gone. not in a bad way. i'm not saying i'm not happy having him home. i'm incredibly happy to have him back. it's just become very apparent how independent i got and how important MY schedule became to my general attitude. i got used to sleeping alone. so did he. it's weird sharing a bed again.

it's been a time of a lot of adjustments for our little family. and i wasn't prepared for it so i found myself getting angry at everything. my kids were probably thinking "who's this devil woman who's taken over my mom's body". okay, i haven't been that bad. but still, i haven't been my happy cheery self either and kids are sensitive to that. 

but it's funny how the small things get you out of your funk. i always expect this grand amazing event or epiphany but it's always the little things. i was sitting by the pool for the boys morning swimming lessons and jackson was just sitting on the grass playing quietly with his toys. he was alternating between playing with his batman toys and looking up at the clouds daydreaming. he was just so sweet sitting there and having that opportunity to observe him brought that sense of pride and amazement. he's mine. i made him. what else in life could possibly bring me more happiness than those two little boys who drive me so crazy sometimes?

birthday

i asked these two turds for something very important for my birthday.

i wanted quiet.

i knew that was a lot to ask of these guys. so instead of telling them to be quiet all day long i just asked them not to fight. i also asked them to speak kindly to each other and keep a smile on their face all day long. 

guess what they did....

they found a way to fight, with smiles on their faces, and with kind voices.

don't let these pictures fool you. they are legitimately fighting.

and i was legitimately pissed.

guy stuff

going to the park with dad isn't just about fun play time. he enforces his strict physical fitness requirements making sure the boys use good form on the monkey bars, push him on the swings to strengthen their core, push-ups for arm strength and a few laps across the field to build up their endurance. 

he even had them call him "drill sergeant"..................

just kidding!!!! he doesn't have strict physical guidelines for the boys :) they just really like doing man stuff now that dad is home. today at the store jackson actually told me that i need to figure out how to have a little girl so that i can hang out with her so they can do more guy stuff.