July

This "July" post basically comprises the middle two weeks of July since we were in Mesa for the first week and will be in Flagstaff for the last week!

Weston still had preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but other than that, we were free birds.

Summer is nice in that there are no schedules. Summer is mind numbing in that the kids are together more than ever and tend to FIGHT like mortal enemies. Add on the constant snack wanting, begging for friends to come over, complaining that there's nothing to do, and general whininess, I did a lot of deep breathing these two weeks. Yay-summer. :)

 

Lest I paint a horrible picture we have been loving the monsoon season with it's cool afternoons and evening showers. Playing with friends and going to the park. Walks in the neighborhood and endless hours with the hose on in the backyard.

Here is one such afternoon with friends. ..

Steel had just stomped on Collin's stomach in this picture and I love Collin for just laughing like it was the funniest joke ever.

Warning: only a mother could be obsessed with their kids hair like I found myself one afternoon. Don't judge. I know you've been there. We were on a walk and I couldn't get over the striations of a million colors in Collin's hair. It gets more auburn in the summer, and on this particular day I swear the sun was bringing out tones and highlights like I'd never seen in his hair before. It was just so rich and beautiful. ;)  I was kinda mesmerized. ;)

The 18th was another free Saturday. Well, Josie and Brighton had driven in the night before so we were looking for something we could all do together. (Turns out, last minute they didn't come with us though) We settled on the Ice Caves! It's a little over an hour from us. We drove through Grants and stopped in at Kendelben's BBQ for lunch. Our friend's brother owns it and we'd been meaning to give it a try. Then, another 20 minutes of driving got us to New Mexico's Land of Fire and Ice! Haha. There's an old fashioned trading post where you pay (it's privately owned), then you choose which of the two trails to start with. One leads to the ice caves. The other leads to an old volcano.

We started with the volcano. We hiked at a pretty steady incline for about 20 minutes. The weather was warm, but we had brought jackets for the ice cave. Yeahhh, you don't need a jacket. We had a pamphlet that described different lava formations and tree facts along the way. I know how nerdy and boring that sounds but I actually eat that stuff up. And the boys did too! They were excited to find each number marker and ask me what it meant. Education and exercise?! Pfff! We were killing all sorts of birds with this stone. ;)

 

Here's an example of one of the "stops". It's an example of where trapped air under the lava, burst up and then cooled that way. 

The final destination! I guess it's called Bandera Volcano and it erupted 10,000 years ago. The boys were really concerned about all the people that probably fell in and got burned up in the lava. Not graphic at all.

 Hangin' out by the bathroom in-between hikes. Poor Collin got Mommy's stomach. :(

 

After we walked back down the mountain to where we started we got going on the other trail. This one was much shorter and not at an incline. I think it took us all of 10min to get to the ice caves. You can feel the temperature drop as you descend the stairs, finally getting to a cool 31 degrees. 



At the turn of the century, they had a trading post and dance hall here and it said they kept their beer cold on the ice. ;) It goes 20 feet deep!

That night, the boys went to Red Rock Park for a Motorcross tournament. I need to get some pictures. Jos and I stayed home and put Olive to bed, ate sushi, watched FRIENDS and got some talking in. 

Jos and Bright stayed until Monday morning. Brighton was always so good to play with the kids and they absolutely loved him for it. Blanket tie-up was a real hit.

There are many perks to being friends with Brinn, but one is that she's always finding things to do where you wouldn't think there was any. There is a sidewalk loop of about 1/4 a mile around an old train and some other "attractions" near our home. :) We killed several hours here letting the kids ride bikes and skitters and pretend to be conductors on the train. 

Just another visit to the zoo... I mean Daddy's office.

The heads have come in. Sooo wonderful.

 There was a primary activity day scheduled for the day we were leaving. Perfect timing! They got to pull "handcarts" and sing pioneer songs for a few hours while I packed! How cute are they?!

 Then, later that afternoon, Weston got invited over to the Jenning's house for some swimming. Such cute, happy boys!

Birthday! Birthday! Coming to earth day!

What the heck. I had the best birthday. As if turning 32 should be exciting. Well, it absolutely was!

And all thanks to this handsome fella here and this other amazing lady named Megan.

Weston had preschool that morning and Megan took Collin and Olive for the whole morning!! What a freakin' amazing gift in and of itself. I was so exhausted from late nights with Josie over the weekend that I took a nap. I had dreams of being productive, but that nap was priceless. And then I had a whole hour to myself to shower and get ready for my lunch date with Travis. No interruptions. No fighting, whining or crying. Just an entire shower without anyone needing their bum wiped or telling me someone was bleeding. Nirvana.

Travis arranged for a babysitter, took an extra hour off for lunch and whisked me away to my favorite... and well, only decent.... restaurant in town. I have a love affair with their Lisa D's salad. I've been eating healthier but I indulged and ate my breadstick. I know. Hold me back.

Oh, and notice my smashing, new, floral shirt?! Courtesy of theeee Rachel Shaw. She knows exactly what I love.

When Travis got home from work that night, he told the kids it was time to give Mom their presents. He totally got the death stare. I thought we had an understanding!! I've been needing a new watch and Nordstrom just started their big, annual sale so I got a fancy Kate Spade. Total indulgence. If it wasn't for the rash I get from cheap metals, it would have been a Target special.

So anyway, here comes Weston with a small, wrapped box. I cautiously open it and then erupt in a huge smile. An otoscope!! Yes!!!!!!!!! I've been wanting one of those!!!!! You know, that little instrument that the doctor uses to check your kids ears. Whenever a kid is sick, I always wonder if they have an ear infection, but don't want to take them to the doctor to find out it's not. Obviously, I don't know how to use it yet, but how hard could it be?! And, turns out, it's not that expensive. OK, he got away with that one. Totally awesome surprise. Buuuuut, then I remembered he said giftS.. plural. And all of sudden, out he comes from around the corner with a ginormous box. A box that says BOB on the front. I think I started convulsing. And fell off the couch. Whaaaatttt???? NOT expecting that AT ALL. I've been looking on Craigslist for one for a long time. But I could never bring myself to shell out the bucks. My jaw was totally detached. How spoiled am I??! I can't even believe this kid!! Then, I wondered if he bought the right one. I scanned the box... yup a double. Yup, a revolution. In black. How did he know?! I felt guilty being stoked. I always feel so bad when he buys me nice things! I didn't buy him anything for his birthday! I kinda thought we weren't doing gifts anymore. Such a booger. A thoughtful, too generous, spoils me rotten, love him to death booger.

Of course, we needed a maiden voyage! All the kids have determined their legs are broken.

That night, Travis would normally be at the church. But President said I was more important. Honestly, it made me feel so grateful. Then Megan and Brinn put on a barbeque for our families and refused to let me lift a finger. It was so fun to kick back and enjoy the summer evening eating yummy food with good friends.

Miss Rubi pays extra attention to Olive and she loves it.

Knowing I haven't been eating sugar, Megan made me the cutest little watermelon cake decorated with raspberries. Honestly, she is the best.

OK, THEN, as if she hadn't done enough, she spent the next hour or so doing my finger and toenails in gel for my upcoming trips! She had just gotten the light and supplies and did an awesome job! I wish I had taken a picture. Barbie pink with one gold glitter nail on each hand. I felt so pampered!! What a fun treat! Trav had taken the boys home by then because it was late, so she gave me a ride home. Right before I got out, she handed me two gifts. I didn't even think I could open them! She had already done so much. I didn't need gifts!!! With so much trepidation, I opened the first one. The most adorable, chain necklace with a little, gold bow on the front. It's a Kate Spade so it actually felt like a legit, quality chain. I swear all my jewelry is from Charlotte Russe or Forever 21.... as in cheap. So this was SO nice! Ahhhh! I can't even! And I still had one more to open. I couldn't imagine what it was. Well, out emerged a HOBO wallet. Oh. my. HECK!!! Ok, so I JUST found out what these wallets even were like two weeks ago. Cara Shumway was showing me hers in my mom's Relief Society. I remember looking at it and thinking, oh yeah, that actually does look like the perfect wallet. But then she told me the price and I completely shut off. No way I'd spend that much on a wallet! And she had even gotten hers on sale at Nordstrom Rack. Welp, Megan got me one. Seriously!!! I don't know what she was thinking! I am the luckiest human ever. And it's the cutest color. She is amazingly thoughtful and knew I had been looking for a good wallet this past year. She thinks of my birthday gift for the whole year!!!! Honestly!! This girl. I don't even know what to say. I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I do NOT need such nice things. She spent her whole day making sure I had a great birthday and it absolutely was. I have the best husband. Best friends. Best life. I am SO incredibly thankful for how loved I am and how kind everyone was to me!! I don't deserve a fraction of it. I think I would be happy turning 32 over and over and over again. :) 

"Fun Day"

One evening, when I was putting the boys to bed, I got a huge guilt trip for not playing with them that day. Collin had been begging me all morning and I just never made it happen. And they cried and wanted to know why. I felt like my kids were asking me why I don't care about them. And it felt horrible. So I vowed to change. And kick it off with an extra special day of FUN.

Now, let me be clear, I'm not at all concerned about making their days packed with "fun". I realize that having fun should not be top priority all of the time. BUT, I do know spending time with my kids- paying attention to them- and playing with them is important. Too often I feel like I slough them off so I can do more "important/necessary" things. I know they value play time with me as an expression of love and I'm not always very good about it. I try to do an activity or two a day but beyond that, they hear a lot of "Go outside and play" or "watch a show"  or the ever popular, "Please leave me alone! I have to get this done! This is why you have a brother!!"

Anyway, I've heard of Moms doing "fun day" with their kids before and I decided the next day was as good a day as any.

Sooo, I announced in the morning that today I would not be doing any chores, laundry, cleaning or errands. Today would be all about THEM. We sat down and made a big list of all the things we could possibly do. And we maybe got to half.

First, we started with some science experiments. We checked out a book from the library full of kid's science experiments and they LOVE it.

For this one, we mixed vinegar and baking soda in a bottle and put a balloon over the top to see it inflate.

We also prepped another one with chicken bones soaking in vinegar to see what happens to the bones in a few days.

Then, we baked blueberry muffins. I was pretty proud of myself for letting them help with every step.

Next, we were off to the baseball fields! I spent a good amount of time pitching balls while they practiced batting and running the bases. Olive wasn't super thrilled with this activity and was kind of a mess. There was also a, ummm situation with Collin that wasn't the best. A mom can only be yelled at to JUST PITCH IT OVERHAND so many times. Arrgh. I swear I'm bossed around more as a Mom than I was as a kid. Needless to say, even a whole day of fun is rife with fighting, yelling and arguing. I just can't win.
*shaking it off*
At least it all started with this adorable picture.

They were hungry bears when we got home but just eating muffins didn't quite cut it. Now, eating muffins at a tea party??? THAT, they can get on board with.

 

Fun day wouldn't be complete without a dress-up DaNcE PaRtY!

(No fun day of MINE anyway. :)

I forgot to take a picture of the fort on the day we made it, but after the dancing, Olive took a nap and we made a super awesome fort! And played board games and ate lunch inside of it.

(The big ketchup stain on the white carpet tells the story.)



Once she woke up, it was swimmin' time!

Aka, dance on the picnic table time!

These kids never had it so good... I even tied a bunch of water balloons for them. My nemesis. I can't believe I haven't bought those self tying water balloons on the infomercials yet!

The following string of pictures perfectly depicts pool time.

Competition.

Wrestling.

Fun.

And not pictured...

Getting hurt.

Crying.

Repeat.

It's a vicious cycle.



I sure do love these rascals of mine. They keep me going, drive me crazy, fill my heart and fry my nerves all at once. I hope someday they realize their mama did her best, but struggled the entire time. It's just an exhausting, demanding job. And sometimes I feel like we struggle 80% of the time and have it together only 20%. Like it's this constant, uphill battle. The very next night, I lost it on Collin. Like, bat crazy lost my marbles. He honestly tests every boundary and pushes me to the very edge. At the end of that fiasco, I prayed, crying for forgiveness. Feeling completely broken. And wondered why on earth Heavenly Father let me be a mother. It's just so hard. Sometimes it's more overwhelming than I think I can handle. And I'm constantly aware of my weaknesses and feel painfully inadequate. Then, I fall asleep and get up the next day. And that day brings kids who seem to have completely forgotten the events of the night before and are ready to do it again. So I do it again. And maybe get something right. And then every once in a while.... a sweet moment comes along. So sweet that it makes everything else fade into the background. And I know what my purpose on this earth is. To be a mother.  And then I'm grateful, so very humbled and grateful, that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to make them mine. Even if for just a little bit.