funnies

i think his first word will be grampa.

seriously, he goes nuts when he sees him on facetime.

its been a funny few days. the kids are all kinds of crazy, the weather can't make up its mind, my mother turned into maria from the sound of music, (seriously. seven kids, severe thunderstorms, all piled together before bed.... what else could that remind you of?) and the house is being completely disassembled and gone through piece by piece as my the fam gets ready to move. all while we try and do some projects and celebrate sarah graduating. and all the "lasts".

the flights here was less than smooth... besides having a lot of rough air i kept getting motion sick, claire did NOT like sitting in her seat, the dvd player died before getting a chance to watch a movie, and icy wings delaying us an hour (on the plane). and claire did not want to behave. of course. i considered shoving her in the overhead bin at the end of our second flight, it would have been safer because i physically could not get her to stay in her seat or my lap, and the poor lady next to us, well we had already bothered her enough. she sat on the floor on the descent.... worse things in life, right?

the best part of the flight? the flight attendant at the beginning of the flight advising us that while pressing the button with a light bulb on it will turn on a light, the button with a flight attendant on it will not turn a flight attendant on, so don't try. gotta love southwest!

gotta keep moving on.... its been an adventure here so far for sure. claire slept through most of church yesterday, loves talking to all the birds outside, and keeping her grammy on her toes. :)mom and i went on a crazy 13 bike ride. mind you, its been quite a while since the last time i rode a bike. so, biking through the mud uphill was interesting! different trail next time for sure.

now off to help plan and execute a couple parties- one tomorrow and one thursday। should be grand. our best bites is of course, the main source for recipes! happy week!

Blogger is flipping out on me. Please ignore that last post. It wouldn't let me post in English and I can't figure out why. Ugh.

fixed.

all better.

at the airport. too bad this didn't last very long.

a little break

too much to do, not nearly enough time. i'm taking off with the kiddos in two days to go for 'one last visit' to my parent's home in st. louis before they take off next month for houston. so many 'one more time' things to do there! like

bobby's frozen custard (my mom owes me.... i told we have to go six times!)

the peel

lots of bike rides and runs on the trails

hair cut with the only hair dresser i trust (i seriously don't know what to do. i have been trying for years to find someone i like who will do it how i like it! i might have to fly back every six months. i am serious. she has been cutting my hair since junior year in high school. no one does it like her!)

church at my parent's ward (this is always an adventure! in a good way)

and i am sure much more.

PLUS my baby sister is getting all grown and graduating. we are throwing a UGE party, which i am sure will be amazing. and by UGE, well, you will find out.

but before i do all that, i must clean house and pack, grocery store/costco/wally world/everywhere, finish laundry, get some YW stuff done, and babysit... yikes.

PLUS i am dying slowly inside. friday morning brought on a lot of sorrow- our newish computer had its hard drive crash. we think its a complete goner, and i am heartbroken, because about six months worth of pictures were sitting on there, which i was actually getting ready to move somewhere safer. probably all gone now. it might not be, but there is not time for that now. UGH. not cool. i was just setting it down on the counter, and bam. blue screen, tests started running, and it gives the same error message over and over. like i said, i am dying.

did i mention I am the one taking off with both kids? i know many braver women who have done it with WAY more on much longer trips, but this is my first time flying with both kiddos alone. just pray no one has a blow out on me, okay? for whatever reason, planes always seem to do funky things to their bowels, and i really don't need to deal with it.

so i'm off. off the computer to get it all done and figure out how to do this all.

being a mom means

(or being the closest aunt means)

taking your kid to jump in the puddles

yes, claire is 2 1/2 and this would be her first official time bring allowed to jump in the puddles.

not that she hasn't jumped in puddles, but this time she was encouraged. i just hate being wet.

so after driving home from playing with lindsay, i couldn't help but put the bubba down for bed, and put some real boots on claire and let her go to town. go HERE to see the jumping. don't mind the undies.... her pants were already soaking, and i don't know about you but one of the worst feelings in the world is having the bottom of the pants be wet. (after plain being wet, or having wet hair. i can't stand to have wet hair!)

thanks for the fun linds! (and the "eggs" and popcorn)

babies are like dogs.

or are dogs like babies?

think about it.

1. babies, and dogs, are growing teeth, and will teethe anything and everything they can get in their mouth. my foot, the couch, paper, etc.

2. dogs, and babies, have to be potty trained. hands down, worst mommy/doggy- mommy job. who in their right mind likes potty training?

3. babies, and dogs, crawl, to their hearts content. so maybe with dogs they are on all fours, but really, sometimes babies are too, so its the same thing.

4. dogs, and babies, have to be sleep trained to sleep in their own bed. (even if it means sleeping on a mattress in the kitchen to keep the doggy downstairs, or sleeping on the floor of a bedroom til baby goes to sleep so they know you are close.)

5. my baby, and dogs, will crawl over and chew on your leg if they are hungry, and won't stop til they get something.

6. dogs, and babies, are encouraged to learn tricks, like rolling over and sitting, and are rewarded with praise and love if they can do the tricks.

and for so many other reasons. maybe i feel this way because our family dog was so much a part of us that she kind of acted like one of the children, but either way i think its funny. i don't care to think about the reasoning, i just have to sometimes remind myself that bubba is in fact NOT a dog, i shouldn't call to him, whistle at him, or give commands, and patting his head and throwing treats his way may not be the most human thing to do.

a special treat

my little (bigger) brother is in brazil serving a mission, and since today was mother's day he got to make a phone call home. even better, he got to use skype for his phone call! we managed to get a five-way call to everyone in the family, and we were able to talk for an hour. definitely the highlight of the day for everyone!

this guy is such a stud, and we can't wait for him to come home in just four months. the best was his accent- for some reason he was sounding a little indian, and instead of asking how old caleb is, he asked how many months he has. a good sign he is completely immersed in the language. also funny, peanut butter is the "currency" among the missionaries to get pretty much whatever they want. so funny since marshall has always been a peanut butter lover.

its been a great day, which started with breakfast in bed, and joe doing all the work :) and seeing him talk about the mothers in his life at church. that was pretty great too. and the cookbook. so pretty amazing! so here's a happy mother's day to all.

can't... get.... enough...

www.ourbestbites.com

do it. do it now.

my friend and i randomly found these ladies at the same time, and our dinners have changed for the better.

i thought i liked pioneer woman. still do. i think shes pretty great. but i had joe get the best bites cookbook instead of PW's for mother's day.

i can't stop eating their creamy chicken (cilantro and lime) taquitos. i dream about it. with the cilantro lime rice and cilantro lime vinaigrette. and strawberry sauce on limeade. joe doesn't like the same thing twice in a row, if he did we would have had this five times. but i did have it three times. which is probably why i have literally gained five pounds in two weeks. it wouldn't be so bad if i had some self control.... but i don't. i am scared because i keep reading about some cream cheese stuffed strawberries, in the cookbook, and we all know how i feel about cream cheese.....

it just makes life better.

anyways. just do it.

am i obsessed with my kids?

probably.

ps- i heart costco in orem, utah. i see more people there that i know than anywhere else. this particular trip found us three different families, who are also in our ward. and no, it was definitely not planned. we chatted over the chips and guac though. yum!

practically perfect sunday

woke up to a perfectly sunny morning yesterday, and decided it was perfect. 

church was fantastic, claire used the big potty, we didn't have any meltdowns. 

kids both took naps, at the same time.

yummy dinner

just some time with the hubs

and bubba found the camera. yes, the littlest guy found it

and then a quick walk. it got a little chilly later on, so it was just around the block, but the kids loved it.

watched one of my all-time favorite movies ("a little princess")

family wrestling match before bed

love sundays like that. hope they happen more.