April

A month behind, again!! I'm blaming this one on the birthday book I worked on all month. :) 

OK, here's what April looked like...

I found the best ice cream flavor!! I randomly picked up this Dreyer's French Silk, but on the first bite I could taste a coffee flavor. I LOVE coffee flavored ice cream! But I always feel guilty buying it, so I never have it. (#overlystrictMormongirlproblems) I hesitated to check the ingredient list because I didn't want my bubble burst. Well, wonder of wonders, there's not one coffee/mocha/espresso ingredient! Not even extract. I have no idea how they get it to taste like coffee, but I am one happy Word of Wisdom follower. Joking! (I'm really not trying to say coffee ice cream is against the Word of Wisdom! I really don't think it is anyway. Grey area?? Personal choice?? Spirit of the law? But if you love coffee ice cream too, no judgement coming from me! ;)

Here's an antidote about Collin I'll want to remember....

In the middle of getting a scolding, Collin quietly interrupts, "Mom, can I tell you something?" With an almost  exasperated sigh, I pause and look at him with raised eyebrows. His eyes glance shyly downward as he genuinely comments, "Mom, you look so beautiful right now." 

Oh man, he's good! Learning young, I tell ya! How can you be mad after that?!

Grandma sent some belated birthday presents for the boys that made their day. Oh SkyMall, how Sharon Lindblom loves you! :)

Thanks, Mom! 

I got a flyer from Collin's preschool at the beginning of the week stating they were to dress up as royalty... kings, queens, knights, etc. for a Royal Ball on Friday. What the?! So I'm just supposed to find a costume when Halloween is no where near?! That means I'm going to have to make something! I'm not really that Mom. But as I drove past his preschool in the morning, I saw parents walking children in with full on, elaborate costumes. There was a big castle outside the door and now a burden on my shoulders. This was one of those moments that I was grateful I keep all sorts of scraps of material and fabric in my crafting box. Just a little bit of sewing and tinfoil and whaa laa! Here is my knight with what we had laying around the house. 

In the weeks following, he thought it was really fun to use it to play dress up with.

I have gotten so tired of Collin's swim lessons! We have been going twice a week now for 6 MONTHS and he still can't swim. Not even close. Their curriculum is SO SLOW. They don't push the kids at all. So we've finally started taking the boys to the aquatics center during open swim hours and having Travis teach them. Not many people know that he taught swim lessons in college for years. I think they've each had about 5 lessons now and it's made a world of difference! After just two lessons, Collin could make it across the pool on his own. Weston just floated on his back for at least 15 seconds on Monday, unassisted. I can't wait until they are pool safe! It's such a scary feeling to know your kids aren't safe in water. 

This picture was taken after their first lesson, sipping on hot chocolate. The pool is heated, but still not terribly warm. Weston was blue and they both were shaking and chattering. Some warmer weather would be nice!

We have traditionally gotten donuts on the last day of lessons each month. Here's our last Dunkin' run! No more useless Red Cross lessons again!

A couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be fun to get McDonald's ice cream cones after FHE for a treat. That's something I remember doing with my family all the time. We would go to the Mcdonalds on Gilbert and Baseline and after pulling out of the drive through line, whomever was driving would pretend like the car had gone out of control and do tight circles around a parking lot light post until we were all dizzy. My mom or dad would feign panic and cry, "Oh no, the car is out of controlllll! What are we going to do?!!!" Us kids would giggle and laugh and fall to one side of the car, thinking our parents were hysterical. I told Travis this memory as we drove to get our cones. Our McDonalds is also in a big a parking lot by a Wal-Mart so after we got our ice cream, Trav drove out to a lone light post and spun circles around it crying that the car had lost control. I thought it was just as funny as I did a child. The boys were cracking up. I married a good one. 

Check me out!!! Woot woot! This family won't live on crumbs alone when the second coming happens. :) I know it's really a very small start, but hey, it's a start. We had ZERO food storage before this. I tried to go to the cannery to can our food one night, but it was closed! Then I was told you could go on Tuesday mornings and just buy the food. Well, why didn't someone tell me that in the first place?! I thought you had to can your own! I'm starting to realize though, that it would be really nice to settle down in a house that I know we're going to stay in for a while. The more food storage you have, the more you have to move every time you change houses!

This was one of those containers you can buy at Sam's Club. Now if only we had hundreds of dollars to spend on food storage, this might not be so hard!

April was a big month for this 2 year old! He decided he was done with naps. Sad day for me. :( More and more often I was noticing it was taking him an hour to fall asleep at nap time. Then, we wasn't tired at 8pm. We'd let him stay up til 9pm, and then still hear him in his crib up to an hour after we put him down for the night! Well, one day at nap time, it was 1 1/2 hrs. after I had put him down and I could still hear him. I finally went in to go get him and stood in shock at the door for a couple of seconds. He was stark naked. I didn't even know he could take his own clothes off! I'm so glad he didn't poop!! And after all that, he was only crying for his blanket. I think he would have gone to sleep naked after that, if only he'd had his blanket. 

So he's been about 2 weeks now without an afternoon nap and it hasn't phased him. The first couple of days he was pretty cranky by bedtime, but now it's old hat. At least he's back to sleeping at 8pm and doesn't get up til 8am!

Ever done this to your Sunday dinner? It was baked chicken, covered in cheese and stuffing. I grabbed the hot pan with one hand and as I was carrying it, it just slipped right out and was on the floor before I even knew what had happened. I felt so bad for ruining our dinner! My shoulders slumped and I just stared at it for a few seconds while Travis laughed and took a picture. All we had left was salad and some rolls. I was so disappointed! :(

Sometimes there are dinner success stories though. I don't know why I take a picture of my dinners every once in a while, except that sometimes I just get so excited to eat it, I think I better take a picture to document what makes me so happy. I swear my life revolves around food. 

I never thought to just make nachos for dinner before. These were steak nachos and we most definitely ate the entire pan. 

I tried my hand at Huevos Rancheros one night. Why not?! I had my doubts, but it was actually pretty good! The finished product swelled my pride a bit. Looks like a picture off of Filiburtos drive through menu, haha!

Collin's nightly fish lips still make me smile. I'd like to know who he's kissing in his dreams every night!

Two weeks ago, Weston got pink eye in both eyes. Poor kid! 

It started on Friday afternoon, so we couldn't get to the doctor until Monday to start the drops. He had to miss church and was SO SAD about it! Collin and I went to the first two hours and Trav went to the last hour to teach his class. While we were gone, I guess he kept saying, "Church. Church" in a sad, wishful voice. When Travis reminded him his eyes were sick, he'd proclaim, "No, all better! All better!" When I was home with him during the last hour, I realized he's pulled up a chair to the end table and opened up The Friend. He was looking so intently at the pages, it was about the sweetest thing I'd ever seen!

That same weekend, Travis had to be gone Thursday night for a meeting in Texas. He didn't get back until Friday night at 11pm, but I wasn't too sad to take a night off of cooking. :) After the boys were in bed I started a chick flick movie "marathon" with What to Expect When You're Expecting, then Something Borrowed. That first one was hysterical! It probably helped that I'm pregnant right now, but they really hit some things on the head. Every time she said she peed herself a little, I had to laugh. Being pregnant is so glamorous!

That Saturday we had a family day of fun! We took the boys to see The Croods in the theater, then went on a little shopping trip to Sam's and grabbed lunch. I'm so entertained in that store. Add an ICEE and I could browse for hours. It was nice enough to take the boys to the park, then shop a little more for a grill. 

We ended with dinner at Mikasa. I love that place. Mmmmm, their sushi is so dang good! The boys had fun using the trainer chopsticks. If I wasn't so embarrassed, I would have asked for a pair for me! I still can't use regular ones! They aren't the biggest sushi fans, but Collin was pretty happy with Goldfish crackers instead.

The happiest and saddest part of the month was May 1. Davy Love got home from his misson! It's so weird that his 2 years is up. He's been such a good missionary in Honduras. I've looked forward to his emails each Monday. His attitude through it all was incredible. Even with hard companions, bad areas, or poor conditions, he never let it get to him. He's been a great example to me. 

Christopher and I both viewed the airport scene via modern technology. Yay for Skype and Facetime. It was fun to see him walk down for the first time and get hugs and take pictures. I'm really sad I couldn't see him getting released though. I talked with him for just a few minutes two days later and can already see the missionary transformation in him. He has such a happy demeanor and mature disposition. Our Davey is all growned up! :)

I'm so excited I get to hear his homecoming talk in church this Sunday!

I was big and pregnant when I last saw him, and once again, I'm big and pregnant! Haha!

Now for the scariest part of my month. Last Friday, I was laying on my bed later in the afternoon and could hear Weston playing around with the various junk that fills our room. Then I heard our dresser drawers being pulled open. I've always felt nervous about our dresser. It's a tall one and when the two, largest drawers on the bottom are pulled out, it's extremely off balance, and tips forward easily. I've always thought we needed to figure out a way to secure it to the wall, but never actually attempted it. Bad Mom! Well, the second I heard those drawers being pulled out, I rolled off the bed and had just made my way around the bed when I saw the dresser start to tip forward. I was about 5 or 6 feet away and Weston was directly underneath it. In a split second I had to decide whether I could jump under it to stop it from falling on him or it would be better to push Weston out of the way. I lunged forward to stop it, but the drawers continued to fall out, knocking Weston down.  I remember screaming and thinking that he had been seriously hurt, despite what I had done. With the weight of the dresser on me and Weston screaming on the ground, I slowly let it lower to rest on our cedar chest, then fell next to Weston, trying to comfort him, but not wanting to move him in case he was hurt. When I could tell that he was OK, I picked him and realized I was bleeding and shaking. Travis walked in the door 2 min. later to find me cradling a crying Weston and nearly in tears myself. Luckily, my hand was just a flesh wound. :) And I can't describe how relieved and elated I was to watch Weston get over his scare and be walking around fine just minutes later. Tender mercy! It makes me sick to think what could have happened if I wasn't right there. 

The dresser is currently laying on its side with all our drawers scattered about on the ground. I don't think I can use that thing again unless it's bolted to a wall. Which probably won't be happening until we move. :( Our ghetto room just got more classy.