The boys got these shaving kits for Christmas. Ohhh boy, were they a good buy! They LOVE them. They think they're so big and grown up. They ask every night before their bath if they can shave. :)
Just a regular day around these parts. I feel very safe with all my super heroes around to protect me!
Now, how many animal prints do you see?!!
I was doing dishes and the kids were upstairs playing when I heard a crash and mad crying. Turns out, they were playing "spy babies" ?? whatever that means, and Collin had gotten on the dresser WITH Olive. Then decided to jump. Probably trying to jump to the window sill that has a bench, because that's what both their faces smacked on. They both have deep, bruises running along their right cheeks. I wonder if they didn't fracture something! You have to hit HARD to bruise you cheek!
If it's the weekend, and the boys get to pick where we're eatin', you better believe it's Cracker Barrel. We're high class.
Welcome to another edition of "I Can't Choose!!" Enjoy my yummy Olive.
The last day of Christmas break (a Monday... so dumb), I finally took them to the Children's Library. They had been begging for weeks. It was closed. Offf course! So they played "ice skate on the cement" instead. And yes they slipped, and yes they cried.
BE STILL MY HEART!!!
This was seconds after finishing her morning bottle and sliding off my lap. She turned to look at me and I about died!! That swooshy hair, those rosy cheeks, doe eyes and pouty lips!!! It was like she had turned into a porcelain doll for a few minutes. I was so glad I had my phone handy! I wish this was what my bed head looked like!
Still lovin' on that cat!
While the Shaws were here, I got the stuff for Rach and I to make wreaths. I'm realizing I have a bit of an obsession with these things. I have one for almost every holiday plus a couple more for good measure. I also seem to have a knack for picking the most ANNOYING crafts ever for Rach and I to do!! Wrapping this thing with yarn was worse than teaching Sunbeams! If you ever plan on making one, just get a movie handy, cuz you'll be there a while. At least it turned out cute!
So I made this goal last year to make a quilt. I've always wanted to learn. The most I did was spend an outrageous amount of money on cute, quilting fabric and batting. Now here we are starting a new year and I'm in my first ever, beginner's quilting class! A friend told me about it. It's just 3 classes, once per month, at this little sewing shop, downtown. The first class was a bit tedious, but I learned some new things and made a pin cushion. Home Ec 101, right?! Then I got to cut out 64 squares from that stellar fabric you see there. The quilt pattern is very Aztec-y and not my fav. But I decided to embrace it and buy fabric to match. It's gonna be my "Gallup Quilt"! ;)
We brought home bags of citrus from Trav's parents yard, over Christmas. Weston was my right hand man, juicing all morning. Glad to get that done!
Because, when you have kinky hair from the cutest pig tails, you just need a bath picture!
When the weather is nice, we take advantage and walk down to the school to pick up Collin. We had Everett with us this day and he kept one hand glued to the stroller. I wonder if that's what his mom makes him do. Anyway, Olive didn't mind and reached out to him and he took her hand and just kept walking. This is a moving picture, people! It made me laugh and melted my heart all at the same time. So sweet!
The doll, torture chamber. I'm not sure if the super heros are saving them or being tortured too.
Let me tell you one of my FAVORITE things in this whole wide world.
A date with this guy.
Even in Gallup. Even when all we ever do is go out to dinner and see a movie.
This time we decided to try the famous, Hotel El Rancho. Apparently, really old movie stars used to stay here when the Route 66 was cool and movies were made in Gallup. The only one we recognized was Ronald Reagan. (Had NO idea he was a movie star before he was President!). I think Travis's Dad would eat this stuff up, but we were a little less impressed. Maybe if Taylor Swift came by, it'd catch our attention. ;) And the food was yucky and overpriced. Oh well! Chalk that one up to experiences. At least the movie we saw afterward was good. I read the book, Unbroken, so it was interesting to see it made into a movie. Have no idea how that man made it. I'd have died the second day on the raft!
Sooo, I may have gained some weight over the holidays. And I may hate dieting. But I decided to give some healthier recipes a whirl. The stir fry wasn't so bad, but the we could have done with some less crunchy, brown rice.
The wheat crust was OK, but I do prefer white.
And this stuff was just gross. It was my first attempt at homemade ravioli. Whole wheat ravioli... no thank you. The butternut squash filling was pretty yummy though. And the sautéed sage on top was tastier than I expected. Still a thumbs down.
My two, little chefs helping me make whole wheat waffles. Definitely made good use of my wheat grinder this month! And we have the gas to prove it!
This chica has had some incredible meltdowns this month. One in particular during a sacrament meeting that Trav was gone for. Back arching, teeth gnashing, hair pulling, screaming at the top of her lungs, melt down. I couldn't even be in the hallway, she was that loud. I set her down on the ground in between the outside sets of doors. Where she pitched herself backward, nearly knocking herself out on the glass, and landed, bent in half. There was nothing I could do. I calmly looked outside as though my child hadn't just become possessed of a devil. If I picked her up, she'd try to viciously scratch at my face. Seriously. She was wild. This went on for 10-15 minutes. By the time she'd calmed down enough to walk back inside, she was ready for another one. We ended up listening to sacrament meeting in the Relief Society room. Then I subbed in nursery for the next two hours. Worse church with kids to date. It's a miracle I didn't just go home, because it definitely crossed my mind. She just wants to do everything herself. And if she wants it, she better get it or it's grand mal tantrum time. I've been beyond exasperation. She had one meltdown at home when I was trying to feed her Malt-o-meal made me genuinely wonder if something was wrong with her!! Shortly after, we found two molars peeking through and I really hope it is that, combined with age that turned my sweet girl into a monster. Come back, Olive, come back!!!
One Saturday, we had to go to Grants to help build a handcart. I guess our stake needs to build 10, so in February we'll have another activity with the youth and build 9 more. Hashtag: shoot me in the head. As you can see, the guys did everything and us girls gave moral support. Josie and Brighton were visiting us for the weekend and offered to watch our kids so we didn't have to take them. BLESS THEM!! Brighton even took all 3 to the park! That kid amazes me.
That night we found a sitter and took them to Zens! Small repayment.
We take advantage of our nice days!!
Another blissful Saturday that we didn't have much planned, we took the kids to the church parking lot to ride bikes, skitters, etc. There was a cold wind, but they didn't mind! Brooklyn, Kabren and Kreighton met us there to play too!
Trav tried teaching Weston to ride a real bike.
We had a couple of school delays due to snow.
The Explora Science Museum brought a few activities to Red Rock for an evening. Travis was at the church, so I wasn't real keen on taking all the 3 kids by myself, but I'm so glad I did. They LOVED it and ate up every activity! And it was nice to meet Megan there, who was also husbandless. :)
I need to look into how much a used microscope would cost because these kept the kids busy for forever!
I was all the way across the room, trying to capture these moments of Rubi and Weston, so it stinks they're blurry, but SO precious!!! I just love Rubi.
We had another trek fireside in Farmington on the 26th. For the last one, we just drove in on Sunday evening, went to the training and fireside with all our kids, then drove home. Worst 6 hours ever! So this time we decided to make it more worth our while. We drove out on Saturday morning and had some fun! First and foremost, we got Dolly washed. Oh was she dirty!!! Then it was the Children's Museum. Their favorite.
Then to Mikasa for lunch. OUR favorite. :)
These kids are too spoiled.
Doggie style!
I think this is the fullest Weston has ever been. He was diggin' on that egg drop soup!
Then it was shopping at Hobby Lobby, TJMaxx, and Target while Travis took the kids to the Bounce House. He should get a medal or something. We had dinner at Si Senor, of course. Then went swimming at the hotel pool. While the kids were going down, I jetted back to the mall really quick, then got us some Costa Vida for lunch the next day.
We lucked out, and 8th ward had 1pm church. So we chilled in the hotel all morning, then went to church. You know that FRIENDS episode where Ross teaches Chandler how to get his money back from the hotel by taking all the free amenities? Yeah, we do that in one simple step. Letting Collin eat the continental breakfast. The boy who is SO picky and hardly eats anything, downed a huge bowl of Fruit Loops, 2 hard boiled eggs, a chocolate muffin, a bowl of peaches, a sausage link, and glass of cranberry juice. He took the banana to go.
While at church, I finally got to meet this girl named, Remi, who just moved there from Mesa. She had been in my grandparent's ward and "knew" me through them. Seconds after meeting us, she invited us for dinner right after church. Can you get any more generous than that?! The Penningtons had also been invited so it was a fun time catching up with them and getting to know the Stonemans. Nicest people we've ever met! Then good ol' Jared offered to watch our boys while we went to our Ma and Pa training and the fireside. I normally don't let boys babysit, but I guess Jared is an exception. Olive is a handful but it was still nice only dealing with her. By the time we picked up the boys and got home it was after 10pm. Exhausting! The next night, the boys wanted to wear their library t-shirts, as Collin said, "To remember Jared!" Haha.
The day after we got home, we had Weston's birthday party (separate post), then spent the evening at the church, setting up for Pinewood Derby. We had 16 boys come, which was a great turnout! I wasn't as stressed as last year, but I also had a lot more help! I think the boys had fun and I had fun going to bed that night, knowing it was over. :)
That weekend, we had Shelley and Casey come visit! (Also a separate post), and while they were here, I got a special delivery!!! My blog books!! I've been blogging since 2008, and actually ordered 2008 while we were in dental school, but just didn't have the funds to order more. I also wasn't satisfied with my options to publish after getting that first book. I wanted it printed exactly like my blog, so the captions with the pictures flowed, and made sense. But the pictures were so tiny! Well, Blog2Print finally spruced up their options. And they were having a sale, so I finally did it. It cost $700, but it was soooo worth it. I can't even describe how it felt to finally order and get theses! Blogging is a bit of an obsession (well, journaling in general is), so I don't do it for comments or anyone else's benefit. I'm a documenter by nature. It's the one ball I don't let drop. I can't. And while 300+ pages of writing and pictures may seem excessive, it is what it is. Perhaps, someday, my kids will be interested in them or something I wrote will help them. OR, it will be my means of remembering my life when I have Alzheimers! ;)
