Overheard

Mom: "It's too early for chocolate." (What?!)


Brad: "Shooooessss!" (He knows it means going outside.)


Miranda: "Mom, do you have blue nail polish?"
Mom: "No, I don't."
Miranda: "We'll have to go to Walmart and buy some blue polish."


Miranda: {In the car} "Why did you let the fly out the window?"
Dad: "Because it's gooey.... It landed on a bowl of soup and got gooey." (Always the teaser.)
Miranda: "No! It's not gooey!"
Mom: "So it could go find it's family."
Miranda: "Oh." (Satisfied)
(I think we've just begun a long phase of answering questions that I would never think to ask, let alone consider the answers to...)

Sunshine

Lately we've been missing some of this and this. It's been so rainy and drizzly lately, that whenever we get a patch of sunshine, we take every opportunity to go here. To pick dandelions and just hang out--soaking up the sunshine.Hope there's lots of sunshine in your week ahead!

Update from past Two Weeks

I keep waiting for life to slow down, and it doesn't! The week of Miranda's party I used all my free time to work on her birthday.

Then I worked full time for two weeks (in addition to taking care of the kids) for the Spring Conference that I help coordinate as the Executive Assistant for the Utah Physical Therapy Association. I love my new job, but those weeks were long...It's usually just a 5 hour/week job from home!

I didn't work at all last week in order to try and catch up with life, but Jeremy and I got assigned to speak in Sacrament Meeting. So in addition to getting loads and loads of laundry caught up, cleaning the house, trying to spend some time with the kids, and getting Mother's Day gifts/plans ready, we had our talks to worry about, too.

Everything went well, though, and I'm hoping nothing unexpected pops up for at least a week...Here's a few pictures:

At our old house, we had a pond in the front yard. I loved the waterfall and watching the fish from the front porch in the summer evenings, but hated worrying about kids falling in. So our compromise for this house was an indoor fish tank. It's been fun! We decided to put lots of little fish in it, rather than a few big ones (which can gross me out a little). Everyone loves watching the fish swim around...
Second, we've been doing a lot of yard work. I love our new yard! Jeremy planted peas, carrots, and radishes a few weeks ago and they are doing well! I can't wait for the peas...
Jeremy also just finished one of his summer project ideas: a sand table for the kids. We debated between a sand box and a table and liked the idea of a table to move around where we want (even indoors during winter??) and hoped it wouldn't ruin the grass or the kid's clothes as much. They both LOOOVE it.
Finally, Mother's Day. Jeremy and I made it the second annual Buy and Plant Flowers for the Mothers Event. We did last year--bought a few flats of flowers for each woman and then showed up with them to plant them for them. This is what occupied all our evenings last week, but it was so fun to see everyone and to help serve them. We had five houses/women to give to, and still have a couple left, but I think it's worth chasing Brad all over everyone's yards to do it!

For Jeremy's family, his dad is a landscaper and gets his own flowers, so I made these silhouettes instead. Idea came from here. They are small--2.5 x 3.5 frames--and I think they will look so sweet in her bedroom. I bought some frames for me, too, but still need to do the silhouettes for them. Cross your fingers it will happen this week!

Spring in the Front Yard

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything--William ShakespeareThe day the Lord created hope was probably the same day He created Spring --Bern WilliamsEvery spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment. --Ellis Peters

Gone Country

For Miranda's birthday, we had a "Farm Theme" party. After it was over, I just kept thinking, "that was so much fun." I think all the kids really loved it, too...I posted a ton of pictures because I had two fabulous photograhpers (Jeremy's aunt Dede and my cousin Corie) share their pictures with me and they all turned out so great. I have been planning on doing the farm party theme (how could I resist with Mark and Merilynn's beautiful setting and pet chickens and goats?) for about six months so it gave me plenty of time to look for ideas and snatch up farm-related items whenever I saw a good deal.

We had tractor rides, horse rides, gathered eggs from the chickens, fed the goats/chickens, 4-wheeler rides, face painting, presents and a game for the kids, lunch/cupcakes/ice-cream, and stick horse races. Although I had been planning this for a long time, you would think I would have had it all ready well in advance--but I was still up late and (very late) some nights last week getting it all ready. The biggest problem is the cake, which mostly has to be done the day before, but also the stick horses. I didn't discover a tutorial for them until the week before the party. They are made out of a sock, yarn, buttons, felt, and a large dowel. I instantly fell in love with them, and I'm so glad I sacrificed sleep for them--they were so cute and such a fun party favor. There were a few times I didn't think I would have time, but thanks to Holli and my mom, I was able to finish them the day before the party!

The only bad part of the party was when Miranda got thrown off the horse (it got startled). She landed on her elbows/back, but was okay. Jeremy even talked her into getting back on, and she was so brave, she did! Here is a picture after she was thrown off. She only had a scrape on one elbow and a light bruise. We're really lucky--next time we'll be sure to get helmets!
I should probably label all the pictures below, but I really need to get some work done tonight. So I'll just end with a good 'ol "Yee-Haw"!

Birthday Countdown

For the past month, Miranda has been so excited that her birthday is "next", so every day, she would ask if it was her birthday yet. So, I decided to make a paper chain with her to help give her some perspective. She loves tearing off a link each night but she's super excited for the three at the top that are after her birthday, counting down three days until her party!
She's having a farm theme party this year. I thought it would be fun for her to let her cousins share a little of the excitement of gathering eggs at her Grandparent's house. Miranda gets to feed the chickens and goats and gather the chicken eggs every week when we go to there. Anyway, in preparation for the party, I bought some little plastic farm animals for the kids but wanted to make them "more fun". So, I cut out some green, brown, and blue pieces of felt for grass, gardens, a pond, and some good old mud. I've made little 'troughs' for the animals to eat and drink from, too. But the best are the red barns. Merilynn designed them and helped me sew them--she is SO talented and they turned out far better than I had imagined. Here's a sneak peak:

This is after they're sewn, but before paint.

Waiting for the paint to dry. Merilynn also had some farm print flannel she was going to make Bradley some pajamas with, but when Miranda saw it, she fell in love with it. So, Merilynn and I spent a chunk of the weekend designing (and her sewing) a nightgown that wouldn't look too masculine or pioneer-ish despite the brown colors and tractors. It turned out cute, but most importantly she feels beautiful in it and loves it. I'm glad she doesn't need pink tutus and bows to feel like a princess! Lastly, for Miranda's actual birthday (not her party) she wanted a cake of course. Knowing I had a lot to do for her party and my work this week, I carefully to her, "yes, I'll make cupcakes" to which she quickly responded, "No! I don't want muffins! I want CAAAKE!" Luckily for my time schedule, I had a perfect 9" round cake in the freezer already with a crumb coat on it. After thawing and tinting store-bought frosting (cream cheese flavor of course) a pretty pink--ta da! A pink cake she was so excited about eating that she started to 'bless it' while I was trying to take pictures of her and the cake! I love that girl! Happy birthday, sweetie!

A Shy Pair

I made a dozen of these for our Ward Activity--a dance--last weekend. It was my first time using fondant on sugar cookies and I love the look, but was not happy with how fast they dried out, so they were a little on the crunchy side versus soft and chewy like I like! I need to experiment with a different sugar cookie recipe maybe...

We're excited for Easter! We'll be dying eggs tonight and planning a family egg hunt for this weekend. Some fun goodies have been purchased for the kid's baskets and Jeremy and I are really looking forward to Conference.

Along with that, Miranda's birthday is next week, and so I'm busy working on a fun party for her and some family. I also got a job a couple weeks ago--5 to 10 hours/week from home including every other month meetings and a Spring and a Fall Conference. It's with the UPTA, the Utah Chapter of the Physical Therapy Association. It's been fun so far, but definitely takes more multi-tasking with kids at home. Jeremy has been traveling a lot and having lots of success at work, so that's more good news.

We can't find our camera cord since we moved, so my camera is dead and therefore don't have many pictures to show. Hope we find that soon. And our printer cord. And some sharpies. And my address book. Don't ever move--it complicates daily life for a while. :)

It's the 10th

We made it. It's been close to two weeks, but we finally got internet yesterday! I can't believe how much I rely on internet for so many things and let's be honest--although my "smart phone" is nice and so convenient, it's a far cry from an actual computer.

So, today I spent most of the naptime delving into headlines and news, getting a good look at some of the Oscar dresses, catching up on all the wonderful blogs I have missed, Face Booking, and sending a few e-mails from a computer screen that seems ginormous--all while my Media Player serenaded me from the latest Lady Antebellum CD my sister gave me. Oh yeah, and during breakfast AND lunch, I let the kids watch Dora and YouTube videos of Elmo. They've missed it, too. BTW, this is my favorite Elmo video right now--Elmo with Jason Mraz--although you should also check out the songs with Adam Sandler and Andrea Bocelli.

I was going to do a new post with some real content to it, some work on Word, find a recipe for this week, put the laundry away (which my mom is SO kindly washing and folding for us since our washer/dryer are sitting in our garage still), but lets get real. It will happen later...Not tonight. I still have a dozen blogs waiting to be poured over tonight after the kids are in bed. Let's hope Jeremy shares the computer with me :)

New House

There is no better way to do "Spring Cleaning" than to move! I have been sorting and sorting and for about two weeks that's what I'll be doing during naptime! Anyway, it's coming together, and I love being in our new house. On Monday the kitchen went from this: To this (after about 5 hours): The sink is full of dirty dishes, and it's still not all organized how I would like, but it's functional. Here are some more pictures--love these "After" pictures!

Bradley's Room: I still want to add crown molding to the top of the bookshelves, some curtains, and a cushion for the bench. Front Room Master Bedroom (before furniture)

This is a "During" picture of what will be our office. I think this is going to be my favorite room. I love the windows and the new French Door. My parents were going to get rid of it so we inherited it from them--good timing! We'll have two big desks and a nice built-in bookshelf next to the fireplace. More pictures to come on that as progress is made!
And in the meantime, we've been LOVING our yard and the Spring-like weather. I still can't believe I have these huge trees in my backyard--so much fun! Thanks everyone for all your help with the move!

I'm Makin' Waffles!

My house has mostly empty closets and bare walls. Everything left to pack fits into five categories:
1. Not fun to pack (translate: won't easily fit into boxes).
2. Categorized as 'essential' items until their status expires in two days and 80% of the 'essentials' will become fair game 'non-essentials'.
3. Kitchen--pantry, cupboards, small appliances--and laundry room. I can't believe all the random things that collect in the laundry room.
4. Kid's rooms/some toys.
5. Furniture that waiting for strong, willing men on Saturday.

Today I plan to tackle the kids rooms and the pantry. I know, sounds fun, right? So when I woke up to fussing baby at 6:30 am, I brought baby out to kitchen and told him, "Baby, we're starting our day off on a good note--with Belgian waffles!" (For the full effect, imagine that in a voice that sounds like Donkey from Shrek.)

Then my heart sank as I realized that the waffle maker probably fit into the 'non-essential' category and had already been moved to our new house. Not wanting to see the truth, I peeked with squinted eyes into the cupboard....and it was still there! Jeremy must know my heart :)

Baby wanted held the whole time I made them, but no matter. He soon enjoyed the first one in his highchair and even shared a few bites with the begging dog. The blueberries that were on sale this week fit deliciously into each little waffle square on mine, topped off with light whipped cream. Mmmm, it just lifts the spirits.


By the way, I'm not sure where my camera is...hope to resolve that before moving day....The photo is from Flickr by HeatherMG.