that time natalie and i took our kids downtown on a friday night to take pictures of jackson for his baptism announcements in front of grafitti

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.)

water and chalk

the best thing about spring so far has been playing with sidewalk chalk and the hose. that is really all you need to entertain a group on kids on a beautiful sunny day.

the one where they have big muscles

nate has been doing a lot of soul searching lately to figure out what he wants to do with his life. he's almost done with school and he has a lot of really cool career options available to him.

i think destiny came knocking this evening and showed us a clear path for not only him, but our boys as well. We could build a legacy and pass it on to generations of Boden's.

my kids are still littles and they helped their friend and his mom move out of their apartment. they weren't just sitting around playing either. see all that stuff by the truck? They hauled all the stuff up a flight of stairs. no joke here. they were born to move. born to be heavy lifters.

i can see it now.

"BODEN & SONS MOVING COMPANY"

future.

raising boys

kntting club

i was catching up with one of my oldest friends last week. she filled me in on how she'd had another baby and didn't tell me. and how she was having heart problems during her pregnancy and didn't tell me (thanks Patty..). then she asked me what i'd been up to.

and my cool response was, "well, i just got done with my knitting club."

all i heard from her was laughter. crazy maniacal laughter. 

okay, she didn't laugh like a maniac. but she had the same reaction that most people do when i say the words "knitting club." total laughter and a few granny jokes at my expense.

nate has long told me that i'll make the best grandma ever. i already have all the hobbies of wonderful grandma's everywhere. and guess what dudes..i'm proud of it.

anywho.

since all the kids are on spring break we took our group to the park so the kids could play while the moms do what we do (mostly talk. knit a little bit).

they spent most of their time on the tire swing.

then they realized that the tire swing creates just as much pain as fun.

jackson smacked his head on somebody's head and payton thought he was going to throw up.

i didn't get much knitting done but the main reason we get together to knit was enjoyed. we talked, enjoyed the weather, and the kids played their hearts out.

and go ahead and call me granny. i'm cool with it.

downtown

to celebrate the first day of spring break we rode trax downtown and had a little mini adventure. 

maybe i've said this before...but i don't really like living in utah. 

maybe that's because i never go outside my comfort zone and see what all utah has to offer. so this little journey helped me feel a little bit better about being here.

but seriously, i've been back here for almost 3 years. you'd think i'd be okay with being here by now. 

what a loser.

easter photo shoot

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...

flying

isn't it great when jumping off of an electrical box provides an hour of solid fun for your boys? if only they'd had their capes on, maybe they would've flown..

they were power rangers

self-portraits

i have 1,030 pictures on my iphone.

572 of those photos are some variation of this......

they are like little phantoms. i never know when they have the phone, i just find millions of self-portraits.

whatever makes 'em happy :)

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 :)