Food Fight

I have mostly given up convincing my children they must eat food to stay alive.
They are determined more than ever not to EAT! ANYTHING! EVER!

That is why when they ask for something food related.
I let them have it.

I know I am encouraging poor eating habits.

I just have lost the energy to fight this food fight anymore.

Which is why when Kate asks to eat ice cream out of the carton for a morning snack I open the freezer and hand her a spoon.


p.s. I don't just take these pictures of my children eating all the time just to blog. I am just planning on making a collage of family photos for the dinning room of my kids looking cute and eating.

Convo with Kate

Today at dinner.

Me - " Did you get those pretty eyes from your Dad?"
Kate -"yes, but Jesus gave me my eyes so I could see."
Me - "oh"
Kate -" Jesus glued on my arms right here too.
(pointing at her elbow)
There is glue in there
that is why is is squishy."

I'm glad she has everything all figure out.

Then there was Lunch

I was being a decent parent today.
We had watched hot air balloons, blown bubbles, drawn with sidewalk chalk and eaten pancakes and harvested veggies from the garden all before 8:00 this morning.

But this day is taking forever.

So when the kids wanted to split an entire package or pepperoni for lunch.
Well.... shamefully, I let them.

And the two of them ate the entire package of pepperoni in about four minutes and were very happy about it.

I didn't even make them eat one grape or bite of yogurt.... you know something more appropriate for a toddlers lunch.

We prayed and blessed the food though.

This guy has caught on and even mumbles something like a prayer sounds now.

I think this partially redeems me as a parent despite the completely processed, under nutritious and down right disgusting lunch.



I promise I snapped these after the prayer was over not during.

Reasons for Having a Dog

So what if she sneaks in the kitchen whenever I open the back door...
She was just used as a riding horse for the last 30 minutes and thought it was fun.

Eight Years and a Few Days

This week marks the 8th anniversary of Jake and my 1st date.
Though we are not together to celebrate- and not that we usually remember anyway...
I thought I would share these memories here.

We had been class friends only for a few months.
The kind of class friends that aren't sure of one anothers names but flirt excessively anyways.
I claim that I only flirted with him because the only other boy in a Spring Psych class of 20 people was dating a friend of mine. It was obvious Jake thought I was cute and can still tell you what I was wearing and how my hair was the 1st day this class met and we were introduced.
I was sure he was going to ask me out by the way he acted around me.
I was usually right about that sort of thing.
But he didn't.
The class ended. I didn't think much of it except that I was surprised I was wrong.

A week or so later I got a phone call. I was visiting my parents.
We made plans to go out the following Thursday.
It was not until a year or more later I found out it had not been him calling, but a friend of his wanting him to get a date to double with him doing his best Jake impersonation. It fooled me. Jake didn't want to call me because I was not his 1st choice... can you even believe that.
No doubt we would have ended up on a date together eventually had he called or not because we coincidentally both moved that summer to apartments just around the corner from one another and would run into one another all the time this following year-even during our "broken up" times.

Jake took me on "the never ending 1st date" on the first day of summer.
Dinner, meeting up with friends, lawn bowling, frozen yogurt and a midnight showing of " a Beautiful Mind".
I don't think he had planned to keep me in his company for what was like nine hours.
I think he just thought it was going well and didn't want me to leave because he thought I was so great.
Lucky for him I liked him more at the end of the 9 hours. I had never met someone who was so good and seemed to have everything going for him but was still a little shy.
So when we called a few days later I agreed to a 2nd date.
And thus we began our on again off again 13 month courtship that ended on July 25, 2003 in wedded bliss.

Want to see some pictures of little us back then...
the longest my hair has ever been I think. Fall 2002
something is so hilarious about playing yahzee in Jake's basement apartment. To him at least.
The amazing tennis player Jake is- he was convinced he could teach me to play great too so we could play doubles. He forgot that I don't like him telling me what to do. I still can't play well.
At my apartment. Fall 2002
At Jake's apartment headed to church Spring 2003

Celebrating Jake's graduation with his Bachelor's April 2002. This was also the 1st time I spent more than 20 minutes will his family because they came into to town to celebrate graduation with him. I quickly came to love them.
I promise I am 20-21 in these pictures and Jake is 23-24, not 12 like we look.
At Amy and Jeff's wedding May 2003.
We are engaged at this point and planning our own wedding for later that summer.

Somehow we were so happy together despite the fact we were poor, overworked tired college students. Because we wanted to spend time together and both had full time jobs and full time school we sacrificed our sleep and ran on 4 hours of sleep a night. Jake worked a grave shift and would be up for 36 hours straight at least once a week. Jake was always planning silly things for us to do, a lot of hikes, playing guitar, things with friends, or we would just sit together studying at his spot in the library. I'm not sure how we both pulled off 3.7 GPA's these two semesters since we hardly slept and study time was hardly that. It is true that I literally only purchased groceries three times this entire year because I was always eating on the go or at Jake's house or out with him somewhere. We both had great roommates who are still some of our best friends today- who were kind enough to put up with us making out in their living rooms all the time.

Sadly these are almost all the picture I have because neither of us owned a digital camera in 2002.


Ahh.... memories....

Chalk it up To (Two)

Remember this little post.

Well let me let you in on a little secret.
After I found my fence covered in symmetrical chalk art- I washed it off with the hose.

But today.
I found this again.



This time in pink and a little more unruly.

And this time it span more like 3/4 the fence.


I'm begining to think it may not be my strange kids.

But some kinds of suburb mom crop circles.

It let you know more as I investigate....

Father's Day 2010

I know I say it a lot but...
my children look so much like their father.
I love it.
I just hope they grow up to be as smart, patient, determined, kind, and funny as he is too.
Though I am not sure how I would handle an entire house of jokesters.

Back to the Silliness

I happily returned home yesterday to two toddlers cheering waiting for me the minute they heard the garage door open. It was a happy little reunion. Before last weeks trip to girls camp the longest I had ever been away from them was about 8 hours. It was a long week. Fun and exhausting. Really. I think the last time I was that tired would have been after giving birth to Kate. But it was worth it.
The kids were happy to see me home though it sounds like their Dad time was pretty great.
When Jake comes home from scout camp every year he has prizes for us. Little carvings of wood or some silly boy scout craft. I made sure to show him up by letting the kids have some extra treats and play with all the skit props I had brought.
Kate wanted me to play "pretend" with her all night.


I left letters for the kids with a personalized picture and note. From what I hear Kate loved her little mermaid letter and Sam loved his tiger note.
It is so nice to be home all together.
Next week I will hold down the fort while Jake does his tour of youth camping duty.
Then we will be ready for the "summer of fun"
A term we have been using to refer to this the first summer I will not be pregnant or caring for a three month old baby in four years.
Camping, mini trips and lots of bike riding are expected.

Girls Camp Then and Now

11 years ago was the last time I went to Young Woman's Camp.
I was 16 years old and had the time of my life with life long friends.

I'm headed back tomorrow, as a leader this time.
I'm hoping my girls will have this much fun.

Coincidentally I am dressed as a super hero above for the sake of because very silly at girls camp
and the stake wide theme is super heros
based on the Joshua 1:9 scripture "be strong and of good courage: be not afraid neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

I did not pick this theme.
But obviously had I been in charge of doing so it is likely me my other 5 leaders and the 22 girls coming with us would be dressed as a super hero for a good portion of the week for one reason or another.

It will be the first time I have left either one of my kids for more than 8 hours. And it will be a whole week. Jake is in charge and promises to return them to me at the end of the week safe and having had more fun with him each day than they have with me. I hope it is true.

I keep telling myself I will make up for all the missing by letting them snuggle in bed with me all night long when I come home.

Wish me luck with my girls.
And if you happen to come by the house you will understand it is because I am gone that there are yesterday's cereal bowls still on the table.
And if you see my family in the store you will understand why Kate is wearing a snow hat... it is to cover up the fact that Jake has no idea how to do her hair.
And if you see my family eating at McDonald's for the third time this week, it is because Jake is trying to get some work done this week and doesn't have time to make them all food.
And I guess you'll understand why I won't be blogging this week at all.

See you on Friday.

UPDATED:

Girl's camp was fun and exhausting.
Since posting this I have discovered that several of my old friends from 1999 attended camp the same week with their own wards... even including some from the picture at the top. I guess what goes around comes around and now we are the ones suffering/ laughing out loud/ at karaoke dance-a-thons at all hours of the night in our cabins.

Funniest lines from camp
"I am practically a pioneer here"
" That is not a caterpillar in your hand... it is a maggot!"

Summer Baths

Playing in the mud has become traditional afternoon play at our house. There is no mud in the yard, but the kids have figured out how to make dirt into mud. They fill their buckets with my gardening water then take it to their garden and mix with their whole bodies.
Then cover themselves in it.
They shovel it into their mouths.
There is no way they are going to come in the house like that.

There is only one way to take care of all that mud.
Strip off their clothes and put them in a swimming pool.
Yup- my kids are skinny dippers.

Having Fun

Life has been crazy busy lately.
Work, kids, yard work...
I'm in charge of young women's camp Monday through Friday of next week.
Jake is in charge of Scout Camp the following Monday through Saturday.
That is taking its fair share of time to organize.

Plus we can't seem to say no to a social event or friendly dinner. I think we have been out 4 of the last 5 nights until almost 9:00... usually with very tired kids.

Today we are just having fun.
No errands,
no play dates.
no projects,
no dinners, (out I mean, I WILL feed my family dinner)




Sam's activity of choice. Playing in Mud. ( He had literally been out of a tub 3o minutes when these pictures were taken)
Kate's activity of choice. Cooking with Mom.



I have decided to wear sweatpants all day too.

Hail in June

Everybody posts about how the snow is ridiculous in Spring. Living here for 7 years or more, I know to expect late storms and cold weather. Snow in April, even occasionally in May doesn't surprise me, or get me down.
It is the price we pay to live in a beautiful valley where we don't even have to have air conditioning in our homes.
It is the price we pay to have the best skiing in the country 15 minutes away.
Weather did surprise me yesterday however.
Last night we had just got the kids to bed, when the loudest, brightest, most painful storm I have seen in some time began. When we peeked outside we found marble sized hail coming down.
It is JUNE

We ran outside to cover my garden in whatever bowls and pots we could collect from the kitchen.
We were outside for maybe three minutes but were soaking wet and somewhat injured from the fast falling ice from the sky.

Summer is a matter of opinion here in Heber.

Nerd Update

In case you were wondering......


the raising of the nerds is going well.
Usually if I get on the computer for 5 minutes I well rarely make it 5 minutes because I am interrupted by them screaming, taking one anothers toys and pushing the other person down. They don't really know how to play well together most of the time.
This morning however I came back into the living room to find this.

I was so pleased.

we are also still battling the unknown rash.
For your information too,
even if your pediatrician refers you to a dermatologist, or five dermatologists
because your pediatrician is a complete idiot who can't seem to come up with any kind of diagnosis or solution that seems remotely a possibility to you.
they won't see your child until August.
AUGUST.
Even when you cry on the phone with the uncaring receptionists
Which I did.
I could literally claim my 15 month old baby has measles
Which I almost did
They still won't see us.