the boy who couldn't boil a noodle

do you teach your kids to cook? 

i had a boy babysit the boys for me last year. he was 13 so i just assumed he could do basic cooking. i had leftover spaghetti sauce so i said for dinner he could just boil some spaghetti and microwave the sauce. 

but he didn't know how to boil spaghetti. 

so i got out some hot dogs and said he could microwave them for dinner. and i had the popcorn popper out so they could have popcorn while they watched a movie.

i came home to find out that he had no idea how to use an air-popper, and they ate cold hot dogs for dinner. 

and they almost started a fire trying to figure out how to use the air-popper.

i thought back to my childhood and couldn't remember a time when i wasn't cooking things for myself. i was 4 when my brother started paying me a quarter to make him popcorn. i believe i was 7 when i started baking all my siblings birthday cakes. by 6 i could at least make noodles, grilled cheese sandwiches and fry, poach & scramble eggs, and make a killer chocolate chip cookie.

after that incident i realized having the boys in the kitchen with me was more than just a fun activity. i'm determined to raise boys that know how to cook everything that i can cook. 

i can't tell you how nice it is to sleep in on saturdays and not have to worry about breakfast because jackson is in the kitchen happily making toast and scrambled eggs.

teach your boys to cook!

(i was in the kitchen on mothers day happily baking some brownies, when payton came in wanting to share the load so i could enjoy my day.)

a day with payton

is it corny to say that payton's birthday was "dreamy"? 

well, corny or not it was dreamy.

i'd had one of the worst days ever the day before his birthday. waking up in the morning finding out that someone has stolen your debit card number and gone on a shopping spree sucks balls. big time. but the god's of fraudulent charges were smiling down on me and i was able to take care of everything that day. 

when it comes to birthdays for my boys i like to keep them small. now that i'm an adult and all "self aware" i realize how much big gatherings stress me out. when they're older they can have big birthday parties with friends, but while they're small i want to soak up all the memories that i can. 

after payton had cake and opened his presents jackson went to his cousins house for a sleepover. so payton and i set up his hot wheels tracks and put together his various lego sets. we played, laughed, he told funny stories, then he told me "all i wanted for my birthday was to spend time with you".

seriously, best.thing.ever.

then i laid down on his bed and fell asleep listening to the cute sounds and things he would say while playing with his legos. 

it was dreamy.

tradition

i hope your easter was a wonderful as ours. 

when it comes to holidays and traditions i'm pretty low key. there a few things that i try to do with each holiday, but there is little fanfare. i get stressed out when there are plans and parties and expectations. i like my holidays to be easy and flexible. 

i had planned a few things for easter. we woke up in the morning and did easter baskets. then we got ready for the day and went to church. when we came out of the chapel three hours later it was warm and bright and all the trees were blooming. 

i stood under a tree and look a picture of those blossoms and thought "there's no way we're staying inside today." 

is my time better spent in the kitchen fixing a big holiday meal, or outside enjoying the day with my family? 

we put tradition to the side and enjoyed the beautiful day together. outside. as a family.

greatest hits

sometimes i miss those days when you HAD to develop photos in order to see them. granted, half of those developed photos ended up looking like shiz, but at least they were there. they existed in a physical form that you could touch and carry with you.

too many wonderful photos live on my computer and have been forgotten. though with my new mac they seem much more accessible. i've been going through all of our photos and brightening them up. therein lies the beauty of digital photography. those photos that would've turned out dark and lackluster after being developed can now be given new life through the magic of photoshop.

now i just need to commit to developing those photos that have been given a new lease on life.

here are some of my faves, many of which have been seen on here before...

downtown adventure

in all the years i've spent living in utah i think i've been downtime no more than 5 times. i was searching for a yarn shop and found one downtown so payton and i decided to make an adventure out of it. we walked through temple square, rode trax, ate lunch.

i might go back there one day.

they were power rangers

life lately: iphone edition

we had a spectacular weekend.

one of my oldest and dearest friends was sealed in the temple and i had the privilege of being there.

we spent the weekend in idaho at my grandma's and i got to see two siblings and their families. i rarely see them so it was a treat.

we also got lots of quality time in with my grandma. she stayed up with us until about 11:30 one night while we asked her all kinds of questions about her life. we looked at the most amazing collection of photos and learned so much about her that we didn't know.

it was definitely my favorite weekend of the entire summer :)

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.

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?

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.

buffalo

generally when there's a traffic jam in yellowstone it's because people see a herd of elk or buffalo off in the distance so they're eagerly finding a place to pull over so they can take lots of pictures.

we got stuck in quite a traffic jam on saturday. we were just creeping along for at least an hour. traffic was backed up for miles and i got a real kick out of it when we found the reason. three buffalo were just casually making their way down the road.

i think they were headed to old faithful.

yellowstone

we took a day trip to yellowstone. that place is a-may-zing. one day just doesn't do it justice. next time i want to camp out for a week. i couldn't pick just a few of the random pictures that i took, so prepare for "operation yellowstone picture overload"

most of the pictures are small so feel free to click on them to get a better look if you so desire :)

for real

now that dad is home we're having fun again!!

the return

OH MY GOODNESS

there is no way i could possibly describe how happy we are to have nate home. 

it seemed like this day would never come. but come it did and it was glorious!