Survival Technique

February 22, 2013
These two have more determination, more attitude, and more sass than anyone I know.

I swear, they gonna send me to the nut house someday!

But man are they cute. It's a survival technique I'm sure of it.

Dinner Rush

February 21, 2013
It was a chaotic run from work to a birthday party. I knew there wasn't anytime to come home and actually cook something so I made an executive decision to eat out. Plus, every once in awhile it's nice to hear "YEAH!!!" instead of "I don't like ____ (fill in the blank with all meals I cook)" from my kids.

Walk on the Moon

February 20, 2013
Lately I haven't wanted to take my dog on a walk. It's a long, sad, woe is me kind of reason. Summarized as this.... Blu still pulls on the leash and despite almost daily walks of 3-5 miles I'm still fat. And it gets old walking in the dark and cold and risking my life with the ice and snow.

The only thing that sparked a smile on tonight's walk was finding huge snowdrifts, dirty from melting and then freezing again. It looked like we were walking on the moon.

Christmas can't come soon enough

February 19, 2013
Ever since I've known Jeff, he has never bought me flowers on Valentine's Day. Basically it comes down to not celebrating Valentine's Day because #1 it's not a real holiday unless we get the day off of work and #2 everyone should know flowers are way cheaper the day after Valentine's Day.

So instead, he usually buys me flowers on Presidents' Day. For the reasons listed above.

But not this year.

Oh don't worry. Our marriage isn't falling apart. I sort of bought my own Presidents' Day gift this year. Four new Christmas stockings from Pottery Barn Kids. I've coveted them for the last three years and every time they go on sale after the holidays, I miss the sale and they're sold out. So when I happened to stumble across them on sale, I ordered them.

They are beautiful. Even if the one I really wanted was sold out... guess I get the "love birds" stocking. And they are HUGE! Santa might have to put the presents in them instead of under the tree!

Christmas can't come soon enough.

Bird Dog

February 18, 2013
I think Blu's birding instincts may be kicking in. She just scared away the flock of geese I wanted a picture of and tried to chase down a bunch of cute, fat little song birds.

Grocery Store Helper

February 17, 2013
My favorite place to buy groceries recently packed up and closed shop. And since I'm far too lazy to drive very far to enjoy my quiet, no one is ever there and I know where everything is store, I decided to try out Smith's... at the urging of Jeff who gets a discount for gas if we shop there.

I hate it. Well, with the exception of their bakery and produce departments.

I can't find anything and the place is absolutely nuts! If I'm lucky to find a place to park, then I get to deal with just about everyone living within a 100 mile radius of my home.

And these.

Kid-sized carts.

Some minutes I praise whoever in Smith's management decided to put a few of these in the store. But then my little helper decides to take matters into his own hands. After all, he does have his own grocery cart. And all the snacks, sugary cereals, crackers, and candy are eye-level for an all-too eager helper.

It makes grocery shopping take twice as long. And twice as expensive.

If I live to 90

February 16, 2013
I don't care that I am not a dancer. If I live to 90, I am joining Jean's Golden Girls and dancing at the Spectrum during halftime.

Even if Jeff is still horrified by the sight of a 90+ year old woman doing the splits.

{Just to be clear. I can't do the splits.}

Curse You Target

February 15, 2013
A loaf of bread.

A single loaf of bread.

That's it. That's the only thing I went to the store for.

So how on earth did I wind up walking out with $70 worth of stuff?

I'll tell you why. I have no self control when I see the Target dollar section. Or when they have their entire selection of Valentine's Day goodies 50% off. I'm sure Jeff will be thrilled with my $12 (total) heart pillows!

The Valentine's Day Fairy

February 14, 2013
I seriously work with the best ladies around! When I walked into my office, I saw all these little "love notes" from the Valentine's Day Fairy! And a cupcake. And a ring pop 'cause "every girl deserves jewerly on Valentine's Day."

It made my whole day.

All About Me Poster

February 13, 2013
Pearl had three pink dots on her face when I picked her up from school.

And a homework assignment that we'd all forgotten about.

Thanks heavens this project went smoother this year than last time around!

Lucky Penny

February 12, 2013
Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you have good luck.

Too bad I found this with only two hours left in the day.

Frost

February 11, 2013
It's gotten really cold again.

Uh. Winter is never going to end.

On the bright side though, the mornings bring a thick, white frost on everything. I think it's actually frozen air pollution since we've had the highest PM2.5 levels in the country lately, but it sure makes everything pretty. The trees are gorgeous and remind me of those flocked Christmas trees you see.

Puppy Hungry

February 10, 2013
Now I remember why we got a dog.

Do you think we could just keep trading in Blu for an actual puppy? Not some mammoth, slobbery, bear who eats all living plants (especially roses) in the backyard, sleeps all day and then expects to be walked and played with until midnight, costs more than the kids, and sheds everywhere?

On second thought. It did suck to have a newborn that could eat through your house and pee on your carpet. I guess we'll keep her.

{Don't worry. We aren't getting another dog. This litter - 13 of them - are Blu's half-siblings and our nephew is getting a black lab so we went to meet them. They are only two weeks old and just barely starting to open their eyes.}

Remind Me

February 9, 2013
Remind me to wear snow boots the next time I decide to take Blu on a walk.

A Real Man

February 8, 2013
It takes a real man to wear your sister's bathrobe.

And like it.

Oh Blu

February 7, 2013
Oh Blu.....

Let's pretend

February 6, 2013
Let's just pretend I took the dog for a walk in a misty fog instead of this toxic sludge inversion that I'm sure is ruining my lungs.

And that it's not 10:45 at night.

2nd tooth

February 5, 2013
I picked Pearl up from school today with one less tooth than when I dropped her off. I think every kid secretly dreams of losing a tooth at school. You know. For bragging rights with your friends.

Pearl and I decided to play a little trick on Jeff when we got home. We decided to not say anything about her tooth or the little envelope that had her tooth inside of it to see if he'd notice. I'm pretty sure he'd have gone at least a few days before noticing anything was different had it not been for Pearl's excitement about the whole ordeal. After a few eager, "Dad, we have a surprise for you!" he figured things out.

My Name is Juanito Man-dito

February 4, 2013
Mustaches are all the rage right now.

And for good reason. His name?

Jaunito Bandito.

Now if you have no clue who I'm talking about, you are living under a rock and sorely missing out. Juanito Bandito is the meanest, baddest, and funniest bad guy around. You can see him at Pickleville Playhouse... do it!

But back to the mustache.

Pearl came running over to me this morning with a big grin on her face. "Mom! I'm Juanito Man-dito!"

It was too funny to not take a picture. And then send to Juanito himself. Pearl waited all morning for Juanito's response... "much cuter than Juanito Bandito."

Awesome.

My Man

February 3, 2013
Of all the pictures I took today of our fun, this is my favorite.

Jeff was humoring me as I tried to get my camera settings figured out before our attempt at a picture together

This is how I love Jeff. Casual. Laughing. Smiling. And facial hair outlining his jawline.

Hair Fight

February 2, 2013
You would not believe the fight that seven, rainbow elastics caused in our household today.

U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E.

More than an hour of whining, and crying, and screaming, and hair pulling, and pleading, and wondering how in the world we were both going to get through this.

I will try and refrain from rubbing it in that my version of Pearl's "rainbow pony tails like this... not like that Mom!" must have been a hit because she refused to let me comb her hair again for two days.

Dinners

February 1, 2013
Even though I yell at my kids (and give Jeff the glare of death) every night during dinner that I'm not THAT bad of a cook, I still cringe at the thought of taking someone else a meal.

But it's Mormon culture that when someone has a new baby, or health problems, or whatever hardships have come into their lives that we Mormon women feed them. And since I do try to be more service oriented and friendly, when two of my friends in the neighborhood needed help this week, I decided a meal from even me had to be better than fretting about one more thing in their lives.

So on Monday we took chili to our friends who had their second baby.

And today, I insisted on taking meatballs and rice to a girl I visit teach who also just had her first baby and had to have emergency surgery yesterday.

I hope it helps both of them know I've been thinking about them and hoping all goes well.

Heavenly Skies

January 31, 2013
It's a rare occurrence lately that one, we get home before it's dark. And two, we are greeted with this. A beautiful, inversion-free sunset.

Oh spring, please tell me you are just around the corner!

B for D

January 30, 2013
I hate cooking.

I hate grocery shopping.

I hate meal planning.

But for some reason my family expects dinner every single night. Sheesh! And while I still don't enjoy cooking, grocery shopping, or meal planning, I am getting better at it. Every week I sit down and flip through my Our Best Bites cookbooks and previous meal lists hoping for some inspiration. Lately, I've given Jeff the task of picking one meal during the week. That way I only have six meals to figure out instead of seven.

This week's pick. French toast, eggs, OJ, and strawberries. Or as Jeff calls it "B" for "D" (aka breakfast for dinner).

The kids FREAKED out. And not the good kind of freaking out. The whining, "I hate French toast," this is gross kind of freak out.

Until we basically threatened their lives to try some. Then magically, "I love French toast! Can we have it tomorrow?"

Except for Fern. He preferred to eat eggs only.

New Snow

January 29, 2013
I'll take walking the dog at 10 o'clock at night in two feet of beautiful, fresh snow over subzero temperatures and yucky inversion any day.

Big Paws

January 28, 2013
Those are some big puppy paw prints.

Sigh.