Wednesday, September 30, 2015

September

For FHE, I gave a lesson on how we can stay safe spiritually and physically. At the end, we blindfolded each of them and tried to direct them verbally to a piece of licorice hidden around the room. (Ya know, following the Spirit.)
When Collin got to his, the victory dance ensued.

Olive was not to be left out and actually did a pretty good job following directions.
Until she didn't. And hit her face on the entertainment center. I just KNEW if I let them have more than one turn there would be drama and crying. It's just inevitable. 
The night I came home late from the wedding, I left Travis's car in shambles, planning on cleaning it out the next day. Well, he tried to help a girl out and dropped my lap top in the process. I don't even think we'd had it a year. I wasn't super heartbroken (except for the $$) because we bought it online and when it came I couldn't believe how monstrous it was. RIP ya hunk of metal.
My obsession are these pigtails in Nike shorts. Seriously, I want to eat her.

Brinn told us about a new program for Storytime at the library. It was pretty good! The lady actually knew some nursery rhymes and could carry a tune. Plus, who doesn't love scarf throwing?! ;)


Learning to hold a pencil...
You know good intentions??
Yeah, I've had those regarding preschool for a loooong time.
Finally, put together some learning fun about the letter "T"!
We gathered twigs outside and glued them to a paper to form a T.
We used toothbrushes to paint a tooth.
Read Albert's Impossible Toothache.
Made tissue paper trees.
Glued torn construction paper to make stop lights. Then played Red Light, Green Light with our Cozy Coupe.
Had a Tea party with trail mix and toast.
And finished it off with a Twix bar.
It was Terrific. ;)







So Megan had this recipe for liege waffles. You know the kind you get from the Waffle Luv Truck? (Which, I have to add, was a tad disappointing when I finally tried them.) She had the special waffle maker and the fancy, pearl sugar. And I had the fresh, Utah peaches. We made a morning of it and it was LIFE CHANGING. I'm not kidding folks, I will never be the same. Like it made Top 5 favorite meals of my life. But that's just what happens when Megan bakes for you.



With full bellies, we raced off to Collin's soccer game.
Watch the clip and see if you can tell what Collin's favorite thing about soccer is.
(Yes, sliding for every.single.kick.)


It was an eventful Saturday, because after the game we met the Shaheens up at McGaffey for some pizza eating, gun shooting, kid playing, adult visiting fun.
That night, Trav and I got a babysitter and went on a date to Badlands. It's one of our favorites in Gallup. There was a guitarist serenading that night, which usually makes me uncomfortable, but his songs were well known which got us singing along a couple times, so it was fun. We finished up with double scoops of Baskin Robbins and goofy selfies. Sometimes you can't pinpoint what makes a night so perfect. But this was one of them. I love the way I feel around Travis. Completely myself and so happy. I think we laughed for a good portion of the night. If I could be more in love with him, I don't know how.



Do you ever get your daughter ready for the day and marvel at her cuteness?! I can't even handle it sometimes. And come on, rompers?! The epitome of toddler adorableness.
I love how she covers her mouth when something "bad" happens.


Sporadic jumping!








I can finally do Olive's hair in braids!! Growing up, I spent hours braiding my doll's hair, waiting for the day I'd have my own dollie to fix up. I can't really say time flies, but at least it's here!!!
(Don't worry, they completely fall out during her nap, but with enough water and hairspray, they last through the morning. :)


 My closet is always strewn with shoes because it is Olive's daily activity to pull them down and try them on. Well, one day I found that she added a pair to the group. Melt my heart.
The last two weeks of September were dedicated to packing.. let's not forget. But because of the way things went, I didn't know if I should really be hard core be packing, just to have the business deal fall through and have to unpack everything. So I started with some major purging/de-cluttering of all spaces. The first was our filing boxes. I've been an avid filer our whole marriage, but due to the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up book, that was about to change. I found old pay stubs, 9 year old utility bills, college ID cards and the first grocery receipt after we got married. I filled 2 big garbage bags with papers. It took two days and felt goooood.
My children could only be ignored for so long, however. So I made it a point to either have a friend over or take them on an outing each day. This day, they got both. How sweet is their hand holding chain? Lucky for us, the streets were free from any fights as we walked back to our car after story time at the library. This was not the case the other two times that month. (My favorite was one Native warned me of the fight before I crossed the street by pointing with his lips at where the fight was. I had always heard they pointed with their lips but that was my first eye witness!) There is a little café called Camille's across the street that we liked to meet Travis at for lunch after story time. It was a fun tradition of 3 weeks. ;)


Thursday, September 17, 2015

Collin's First Grade School Picture

Collin
Age 6
First Grade
Red Rock Elementary
Gallup, NM

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Labor Day Weekend- Blessing Scarlett

Yes, I had just returned from Mesa 5 days earlier, but who can resist a 3 day weekend with family?! Plus, Marcie and Austin were blessing Scarlett!
 
Don't be fooled by this cute smile. I wanted to toss her out the car window Friday night. You would think we'd have the best traveling kids in the world. Well, it may as well have been Olive's first road trip. (Or maybe she's just as sick of them as we all are.) I don't know, but she must have screamed, cried or whined "Mom, Mama, Mommy-mom" 5 BILLION times. Then she'd pleasure us with the intermittent, high pitch SCREAMS. There was nothing we could do. All the normal tricks failed. I honestly had to go to my "happy place". Or kill her. Those were my two options.
Happy day, we finally pulled into Mesa that night and crashed at the Evans.
The next morning I went to my other happy place.. Nekter.
Peanut butter acai bowl, pretty please.
We spent the morning/afternoon, swimming at my mom's house. Shelley met us there with her kids and pretty soon, the whole Lindblom clan was over and diving in. I think it's a must for Grandma's to have a pool. It's what brings us all together. ;)
 
That night, we went on a big, group date with my siblings to Top Golf. Apparently, it's all the rage, but we'd never been. (Serious thanks to my in-laws for having our kids. I felt so bad asking them. They have to be so tired of us!!)
 
Lookin' at your latest VIP members. (Everyone is) ;)
I have no idea why holding the card with his middle finger sounded like a good idea. We aren't that kinda people.


We played about 2 hours worth and ordered food while we played. It was nice having the end pod and couches too. And don't ask me why, but I got a little cray-sie at the end. Normally I'd blame it on the sugar/soda, but I didn't have any of that, sooooo I guess I'll chalk it up to fun siblings and dance music! Inhibitions OUT the window! It's a good thing these people claim me.
Much to the boys' chagrin, we got fancy pants gelato afterward. That hazelnut. Ohh man. It's like cold Nutella in a cup! 

Sunday morning, we got to see Scarlett blessed! But right before, I snuck over to their house to take some pictures of her in her dress. I was really nervous about it. I'm still learning and don't want to mess up important things. So I was giddy that these turned out so cute! Marcie had the picture perfect bed to do it on too.

 These first two are my favorites!!


It's like she knows she's about to get a name and a blessing!! Haha!















How gorgeous is this Mama?! 





 
I think someone is loved!

 


I think every time these girls are together we turn it into a photo op.

K, but how precious is this?!! I love Olive's face.
 
♫Sister, Sis-Ter!"♫
That afternoon, Marcie and Austin had an awesome Gecko Grill spread for a big luncheon. It was divine. Especially on a fast Sunday. It's always fun to bring two families together.
 
The guys all went golfing together Monday morning, so us ladies decided we should go to breakfast! Once again, it was my in-laws to the rescue to watch the boys. There is a new place in downtown Gilbert called Snooze that everyone is talking up. It wasn't a hard decision!
 
I pulled up to pick up my Mom and she was sitting outside on a lawn chair waiting for me! I had to laugh. This is exactly what she always drilled into us growing up. When a carpool is coming to get you, you better be ready!! And even waiting outside if possible. It's rude to make people wait when they're giving you a ride. She lives her own advice. ;)
Well, it was a 65 minute wait, but luckily it was overcast outside and the little girls did pretty OK.
The food was worth it though. I had heard the stuffed French toast was amazing so I ordered that aaand maybe some eggs benedict. I can't resist a poached egg and hollandaise. Good thing I did, because the toast was yummy, but light and Olive pretty much ate most of it. I think next time, I'm following after Shelley with the pancake assortment! Just don't invite Lindi to a blueberry breakfast and wear white! Shelley learned. ;)
 
 



After that, I ran about 3 hours of errands and was most happy to walk away with that green shirt you see Marcie wearing above (not hers.. a new one ;) and many pounds of fresh peaches. (I was hoping to dehydrate some. Nope. We ate them all.)
All the Evans had come over to swim and BBQ. I couldn't help myself and jumped in the chilly water. Last swim of the season, right?! We packed up and got out of there around 5:30pm. Not too shabby. But then the best happened. Travis told me that Rosas had taken over the old Tia Rosas that shut down. Wha??!!! In the words of Pheobe, "This is brand new information!" We promptly ordered bean burritos all around paired with some fish and beef tacos. All doused in a generous amount of green salsa. I was. SO. HAPPY. The kids mostly slept. I listened to Amy Poeler. And we got Blizzards in Heber. The drive home definitely beat the drive there. But nothing beat the 3 days in between. Sometimes I think I have the best life.