Conference

The kids were so excited to watch General Conference. I had a swelling of my heart that they were so excited to listen to the prophet & apostles until I realized it was because they knew we'd have a lot of candy to eat!!
I enjoyed listening to conference, the kids sat through a few talks trying to get their conference bingo filled up. To try and slow the intake of candy, we told them they could eat one piece of candy every time there was a new speaker. So they only paid attention to the amens and when someone new was up.
In between sessions Hayes & I finished up our three-day-long Risk game. I felt a little guilty winning but you gotta learn how to lose somehow, right? ;) plus I knew if I let him make a comeback we could be playing for weeks. I was impressed he played by the rules, none of this making up new rules mid-game to make sure he wins like his father...
Kade (Bracken's brother) & Katie & their kids came down tonight. I'm glad they stopped by, it was fun seeing them! Kade & Bracken went to the priesthood session. Katie & I took the kids to the park. I wasn't feeling good, Hayes got a fat lip and Kamri ended up puking because all she had was candy in her belly...and a starburst wrapper as evidenced in her throw up (TMI?). I took Kamri home and gave her a bath. We weren't the best company but still happy they came!
We had pizza when the guys got home. I'm looking forward to another relaxing, spiritual day tomorrow. Hopefully no more puking involved.

My FLT: Hayes asking his 8-year-old cousin, Carver, if Carver would vote for him when he ran for President of the United States. Just making sure he'll have the whole family behind him I guess!

Lunchtime

After I picked Hayes up from school we went home to eat lunch.  Hayes wanted to finish playing the game of Risk we started yesterday, while we were eating.  Lyla and Kamri were starving. Kamri asked if she could have a Capri Sun with lunch, I told her yes. I started heating up Lyla's food, Kamri came down the hallway crying because her Capri Sun spilled a little while she was trying to open it. I stuck the straw in for her and started making her lunch.   Hayes asks if we are ever going to get to play Risk.  Lyla is crying so I feed her a bite of food. Kamri continues crying because she can't get over the fact she won't get to drink ALL of her Capri Sun since a tiny bit to me, but enormous amount to her, spilled.  She is so worked up she is hysterical and has gone to get her blankie to try and calm herself down. Sure sign she is tired. Hayes asks me if I have his lunch yet. I grab his lunch off the counter and give it to him.  I give Lyla some finger foods to eat then take Kamri into my room to rock her in the rocking chair to calm her down. . Then Lyla finishes the finger food and Kamri is not quite asleep so I lay her in my bed. As I'm walking back to the kitchen I realize there is a trail of Capri Sun drips. Hayes asks if we can FINALLY play risk. I grab the mop and mop down the hallway as I tell Hayes after I clean this up so the whole floor doesn't get sticky. Get that mopped up and start feeding Lyla her food  after warming it up again. Hayes asks again and I try to patiently inform him to be patient and that I have to get my lunch first. I get in the fridge to get my food and as I grab a container it knocks over Kamri's cup of leftover milk. Of course it is in the top shelf, above a drawer. Of course it leaks. All over in the drawer that is full and down to the bottom shelf.

UGH!

I start emptying the shelf while Hayes is complaining that it is taking long for me to get my food.  I almost snapped because YES it is taking me long to get my lunch!!  Explain to Hayes why I have taken a sudden interest in cleaning out the fridge.  Empty the drawer and shelf. Rinse out and scrub. Kamri comes walking in, calmed down, asking for her lunch.  I get her lunch back out and give it to her. Hayes decides he wants to help with the fridge so he dries while I give Lyla some more bites.  Bracken texts me to remind me of something I need to do. I asked him in the morning to remind me sometime during the day but I just starting laughing at the bad timing of it all.  I get the fridge put back together.  Lyla is tired of the high chair so I get here out and clean her off.  I get my lunch out, which I can't even remember now what it was?! Lyla has a stinky diaper. I change her into a new one. Hayes asks again if we can play risk.  I finally sit down to my lunch and we play risk which is a task in patience itself, although not as much as monopoloy....

I felt like that short amount of time was just CHAOS and I wasn't quite sure if I was going to instantaneously start laughing or go cry on the couch.  The rest of the day was good though. Now I can laugh. Ha!  The End.

Pictures from Today & Yesterday

I taught Kamri's co-op preschool today.  The theme was transportation. Today we packed up a bag for our vacation with one thing for every letter for the alphabet and then took a ride on the train the "U" train. We were learning about the letter U so they had to make the U sound to make it go.

 Lyla is starting to pull up to everything. She has the bruises on her forehead to prove that she hasn't quite figured out how to get down.  Today she started going into the splits and then bent her knees so her legs went underneath her. It did not look comfortable but she made it to the floor without bumping anything.

 When Hayes was dropped off from school there was a moth above the door so I lifted him up so he could catch it.  The moth left some moth-y junk on his hand....Gross!

 Lyla's Smoothie-stache. We love smoothies in this house! Lyla used to make funny faces with every bite because of the cold and then beg for more once it warmed up in her mouth.  Now she's use to the cold and always wants more.

Yesterday we went down to campus to eat lunch with Bracken.  Hayes & Kamri love riding their bikes from the parking garage to the law school.

 Totally normal to see a helmet wearing five-year-old chasing pigeons on a college campus, right?

 Kamri's no hands trick.  Also, modeling off her layering skills. Leggings under her shorts AND her gymnastic leotard underneath her shirt....can never be too prepared!

Lyla enjoying the stroller ride.

I should have gotten a picture of Bracken, the REAL reason we go down there! We eat at the picnic tables in front of the law school. I get to have a good conversation with Bracken over lunch while the kids ride their bikes, chase after pigeons, and play hide & seek in the bushes.  It's entertaining watching them and other's reactions to them.  

 It's one of the things I love about law school....

Growth

I had various opportunities today to visit with women who I think are amazing but have had to go through some tough times recently. Life is hard and sometimes we have trials that are VERY hard but the strength of these women help me remember that life is also good. We have a Heavenly Father that loves and blesses us. Life gives us a great opportunity for growth but sometimes I wish I could take the pain of that growth away. Then I realized that is where Jesus Christ and the atonement comes in, our pains can be lessened if we cast our burdens on his shoulders and pray that we can be willing to follow the will of our Father. After we've been through our trials and stayed true to our values and the commandments, then comes the blessings. Typing that is so much easier than living it....I've had a lot on my mind but grateful for the wonderful friends and family that are great examples to me.

First Swimming Pool Swim

Pictures from Saturday when we went swimming with my family in Cedar.  The lens on my camera was being weird so I didn't get very many close up photos, none of Hayes--he was all over the place, but I did document Lyla's first swim in a swimming pool.  Last summer she just hung out in her car seat with ice packs (so she wouldn't roast in the Vegas heat) while the rest of us swam, this summer she'll be able to join in on the fun! She loved trying to swim/crawl up a little hill they had in the kiddie pool.  This is such a fun age to watch them explore new things!

and one of Kamri--she looks so old to me lately!

Testimony

Hayes has been telling us for a month that he was going to fast on fast Sunday. So he fasted yesterday. I did give him a snack and a drink about halfway through because he is already skin and bones, I'm afraid he'd blow away without some food!
He also wanted to bear his testimony during sacrament meeting.  There was a lot of people getting up so they were sitting on the chairs on the stand waiting their turn. I tried to convince Hayes to wait until next month but once Hayes has his mind set, it's hard to change. I went up with him so he wasn't sitting on the stand for a long time alone.  When it was his turn he stood right up and bore his testimony.  He said, I know the temple is true, I know the church is true, and he said a few other things he knows are true and then closed in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  He was so cute and very serious and reverent.  Since I was up there on the stand it forced me to go up too.
I bore my testimony about being grateful for the children Heavenly Father has blessed me with.  They have taught me the importance of a childlike faith.  Hayes & Kamri say prayers over the smallest things, for example a ladybug they caught had a broken wing so they prayed it would be fixed.  They remind me that I need to have a childlike, simple yet powerful, faith. That as Hayes says "Prayer always works." and I should pray always, even over simple or small things. Heavenly Father takes the time to listen to a child's prayer over bugs, he will certainly listen to our prayers, even if we feel our problems are not as large or important as others.

What constitutes an emergency in this household...according to Kamri

Playing Legos and risk after church.

My FLT: Kamri -"What if all our dishes were dirty, it would be an emergency and we'd have to call 9-9-1!!"

Had a fun time going swimming with my side of the family, then we ate and then the kids and I traveled home. The kids did well traveling home until a half hour out of Vegas. Lyla started screaming hysterically and the only thing that made her stop was when Hayes sang Jingle Bells. Unfortunately he only sang it once. Lyla also decided she wouldn't go to anyone but me this weekend. It was a fun weekend but I'm glad to be home with Bracken. I'm also extremely grateful that Lyla was happy to go to Bracken when we got home. I hope the clingy phase doesn't last long. Although, her shy smile to people is pretty darn cute.

Park Day

Had to get a picture of Lyla and her cousin Allie in the swings. Reminiscing of a picture of their sisters, Kamri and Rachel in swings at about the same age. The kids had fun playing with their cousins. Later, I got to watch my sister Heather on the cello, my sister in law Christine playing piano and Heathers friend Chelsea singing a rendition of Katy Perry's Fireworks at a talent show. It was dang awesome. Too bad for you I didn't get a video. You should tell them to go on tour.

Cedar

 

We drove up to Cedar after Hayes & Kamri's school. My dad received a distinguished service award from SUU so we went up so I could attend the award dinner.  All the grandkids stayed at my parents house and played with baby sitters while we went to the dinner.  Can we say Chaos?!? (but so much fun!) 

Hi, I am a lame post. Nice to meet you.

I'm exhausted, Ben and Jerry's ice cream is delicious and that is what I'm going to go eat in bed instead of blogging. Any questions?

Progress

Went running this morning with my friend, Heidi.  The only time I have run with someone was my two week stint with Track in high school.  There was a reason it was only for two weeks....
Since then I haven't run a whole mile.  I always feel horrible and end up walking some and running some. Today helped me realize my problem. I was sprinting when I am not in shape for that. Heidi paced me and I was able to run almost all three miles. I walked for a short time in the middle because I had a side ache but it went away quick. Bracken told me when I got home that side aches are caused by not getting enough air and walking can make it worse. Next time I'll just breathe deeper.
I called my sister-in-law, Christine, a week or so ago and she gave me a few tips as well. I was feeling like I was going to puke every time I ran and she told me to breathe in for four steps and out for four steps. Which was really helpful because I was breathing way too much.  I'm used to swimming where you breathe whenever your mouth hits air. That doesn't work so well with running.  She also told me to keep your arms low and your hands like you are loosely holding a potato chip between your index & thumb (not in a fist) and to lengthen your stride.  Her tips helped me to not feel so sick afterwards!!

With three people's input, I can finally run jog 3 miles straight  Now just to be able to do that after swimming and biking!

Making progress....one step at a time. I know, that was cheesy. Humor me.

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FLT: "Hayes, when is this milk gonna die?!"  -Kamri referring to the expiration date on the milk. He informs us what it is every night at dinner time.

Happiness

Kamri's enthusiasm is contagious.

Dinner

Sometimes things go perfectly as....unplanned.

Dinner tonight was sticky chicken, rice, edamame, egg drop (egg flower?) soup & pineapple. I dished up a little of each on Hayes & Kamri's plate, following along with our dinner rules. (Kamri has to follow the rule now as well.)  They both gobbled up their pineapple and Kamri asked for more. We told her she could have as much as she wanted, after she had one bite of everything else. She had already eaten her rice and edamame and with a little hesitation ate a bite of chicken and a spoonful of soup.  I handed her the bowl of pineapple and she started eating straight from it.

Hayes then asked for more pineapple and got the same response.  He was being slow about trying his chicken and soup.. He was informed that he could start eating pineapple too as soon as he tried a bite of his chicken and soup. He did not like that. Kamri proceeded to start eating quicker, which caused Hayes to protest, which she responded-in the most mother-like tone she could muster-- eat your food and then you can have more pineapple and then proceeded to shove another pineapple in her mouth. He hurriedly ate the chicken but the soup took a little more courage. He could see that the pineapple was dwindling so he was begging me to get out more. Nope that's all that is for dinner.  He shoved the soup in his mouth and then started digging into the pineapple. In an effort to make up for lost time he was jamming his mouth as full as he could.  We had to stop him from choking himself after he had stuffed four huge pieces in his mouth, to which he responded, I'm just putting this one on my fork!! uhuh, suurrrrre.

If pineapple (and a little sibling competition) is going to get them to try new foods that quick, I need to serve it more often!

My FLT (favorite line today) was from Kamri. I was at our ward's baptism preview (meeting for all the kids turning eight this year) I was sitting up front because I was going to give a talk. Kamri had begged to come with me and she was sitting on my lap.  Halfway through she was squirming off my lap and I whispered reminding her that she promised she would be reverent if she was able to come with me. She then rather loudly said, "But I'm trying to fix my wedgie!!" I don't know if the audience heard her but  the bishop and his counselor sitting next to me must have.


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Thought  for Sunday

"The man who willeth to do well, we should extol his virtues and speak not of his faults behind his back."

-Joseph Smith

Favorite Moments

My favorite moments of the past few days

The dental hygienists laughing at Hayes' enthusiasm about being at the dentist. He loves the water and vacuum and after he was all done and Kamri was done he asked if he could get up in the chair and do it again.

Kamri scared of getting X rays and then the dentist looking at her teeth and saying she didn't need them. Saved us $$.

Kamri being brave and letting the dentist clean her teeth instead of screaming bloody murder like previous visits.

Two cavities for Hayes instead of the usual 5+ (we're making progress.....or all his teeth are already filled so there are no room for cavities, I'm trying to stay positive.)

Hayes expressing his disappointment about missing school because we were going camping and then...

Hayes running around the campsite asking question after question because his body couldn't contain his excitement that we were camping!

Lyla examining the dirt in her hand as she grabs a fist full and lets it slip through her fingers.

Kamri telling us she didn't want to hike, but then hiking the whole way, without complaint. She loves it.

Hayes & Kamri asking to go to bed at 8 p.m. when we were camping.

Staring into the campfire, cuddling with my man, Bracken, the kids all sound asleep in the tent.

Our family being the impromptu audience for a man climbing a mountain wall.

Lyla sleeping against my chest in the baby sling for the entire hike.

Hayes yelling "Ahhh, SNAP!" whenever he saw a lizard because he didn't catch it.

Getting a good nights rest in a comfortable bed after a bad night of sleep camping.

Hayes asking Bracken: "Dad, will you vote for me when I run for president?" Bracken responding "Of course I will, unless you're running against me." Then asking if I would and if we thought his grandparents, aunts & uncles would (listing them one by one).  Politicking already.


Kamri listing off all the reasons she's not a baby when Bracken teased her that she was (because she was whining), I have hair, I can walk, I can cut hair (?!), I don't wear diapers, etc.

Going on a date with Bracken to "The Bodies: The Exhibition". The human body is amazing and the exhibit was a testament to me of us being created by God.

Getting home to a clean house, Briton our babysitter had picked up. Love that.

Going to women's conference and receiving an answer to my prayer, that was a 'duh, Skye' moment.

Listening to the good and bad moments of everyone's day during family dinner.

Lyla excitingly swimming and splashing in the tub. She was scooting around on her belly while kicking her legs.  First time in the big tub, I had still been using the baby tub because it was easier....long overdue switch to the normal tub.

When we went camping I packed the camera and the battery died after one picture. Bracken's phone battery died, my phone battery died. True camping, but no pictures :( Not my favorite moment, but sometimes it is nice to just enjoy the moments instead of trying to capture them.

Home again

Another short post. It's my bedtime and although I have things I want to blog about my bed is calling my name. After the little sleep I got camping, I'm looking forward to my comfy bed tonight.

Almost forgot to post before we get out of service. Going camping! Hayes was sad he is missing school but I think he'll forgive us when we go on a hike tomorrow during his school time!

Wrote a post about how toys were EVERYWHERE and then deleted it.  I need to not whine so much, just get a chore system for the kids so our house doesn't turn into a place where it looks like a toy bomb exploded.
and I have a headache. (not whining, just stating a fact) so I'm going to bed. Not my best mothering day. Good thing kids are forgiving and  I get a second chance all over again tomorrow!

Hayes has a friend over today that is in his kindergarten class but almost a year older than him. She has a two year old younger sister so I guess she's comfortable carrying kids around.  She picked up Lyla and carted her around to every room to play alongside all the kids. It was great. Lyla was happy and I got stuff done.  When I saw her first hold Lyla I was about to stop her and then I realized she was holding her like a pro.  When Hayes holds Lyla it looks like he's trying to hold a slippery watermelon but his friend had the whole hip carry thing down.  It must be a girl thing, or maybe just that Hayes has no hips.  Either way, I need to have him practice more so I have less work to do. (Just kidding....sort of)

Kamri went with me to a Pampered Chef party tonight.  It was fun listening to her chatter about the ages of all her friends, what she did at preschool, recite our address and tell me how she never makes bad choices. Today she seemed so grown up to me.

Bracken brought home a magazine about triathlons from a guy in our ward that has done a bazillion of them.  Looking at the magazine was making me feel really unprepared...gear & workout-wise.  I was suppose to be planning my sharing time tonight. I have a lot of things in my head of things I need to do, want to do, etc. and now it's 10:30. So instead of stressing I'm going to go to sleep.  It'll all seem less crazy after a night of sleep, right?

Thanks ladies for the comments on the last post, it's nice to read your thoughts and know I'm not putting my thoughts out there to no one. : ) You each deserve a response, but for now...Thank you.

Beauty & Worth

This topic has been on my mind a lot the last few months.  Maybe I'm going through a quarter-life crisis realizing that my 25-year-old body that has carried and delivered four children is just never going to look like it once did as a 17-year-old body that worked out 2 1/2 hours a day.  Maybe it is because I now reside in a city that teaches blatantly and subtly that beauty is only obtained when you are object of desire and able to bare all your skin to the world. I am mature enough to realize I can't compete with those billboards that are of women who workout hours per day, are make-uped and photoshopped into something they're not, but I cannot deny that I am not affected by them or any of the images I see at the grocery store, on TV, and the Internet that are teaching the world that a woman's worth is based on her appearance. I have struggled lately with anger over a world that has slowly but surely taught the world that women are worth only their looks and are a commodity for anyone to peruse at will. I've felt sadness over women who feel that their sexual liberation is to have it all out on the table in front of men who don't care for them at all.

For the past few months I have felt so much anger when I would see a billboard or hear a radio commercial that is pushing this garbage.  I'm not one to anger easily;  frustrated or annoyed, yes, but I can only think of a couple of times I have felt truly angry. Bracken and I have had a lot of discussions about women, men and relationships and it has really helped me.  I have come to realize there is nothing I can do to change the world's view as a whole, but I can be an example to my children. I want my daughters to realize that worth is much more than outward beauty and I want my sons to know that women should be respected and not be seen as a sexual plaything. I want my children to know that men and women are equals, but equality does not mean being the same, and that we can celebrate our differences while respecting each other for who we are. My marriage has taught me that.  We are not perfect, but I feel like Bracken and I complete and complement each other. His strengths help pull me through my weaknesses and my strengths help him through his weaknesses. We may not be able to change the world's views, but we can be an example of good to our children and raise them with an absolute moral conviction, with a knowledge of their self worth. That is much stronger than being able to convince a complete stranger that their behavior is hurting them or get a company to change their billboard because I find it offensive.

I have thought and prayed about how to overcome my feelings of anger and wished I could just forget about it and go back to ignoring what the media is pushing in my face everyday. My prayer was answered in two small ways.  First,  at a Relief Society activity they showed this clip:



I have so many examples of deep beauty in my life. My mom, my mother-in-law, all my sisters-in-law and my grandmas to name a few.  But I really want to focus on my two Grandmothers. Thinking about my Grandmothers made me realize how fleeting superficial beauty is and how powerful deep beauty can be.  My Grandma Dorothy was a shining example to me of a positive attitude. I never saw her down or say a negative thing about anyone or anything. Even when I went to see her as she was dying she seemed so positive and full of light. My Grandma Anne is another great example. I know I can't speak for all her grandchildren but I would bet that Every. Single. One. of them KNOWS that she loves them unconditionally and cares about them individually.  She has, if I counted right, 38 grandchildren (and I don't even want to count how many great-grandchildren); how powerful that so many know her unconditional love.  That is something that no plastic surgery, no botox, or no amount of workout sessions could ever replicate. She also raised six boys into successful adults, is an amazing writer, and is famous in the family for her "Skye Rice" (but of course that part might only matter to me).  Both of my grandmothers are an example of strength and true beauty to me.

Another answer to my prayer was a talk, also by Sister Dalton, called 'Love Her Mother'. (the whole talk is great and you can read it here).  It is written to men about "how to raise a happy well-adjusted daughter in today's toxic world." This quote stuck out to me:

"By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion, and devotion. She will learn from your example what to expect from young men and what qualities to seek in a future spouse. You can show your daughter by the way you love and honor your wife that she should never settle for less. Your example will teach your daughter to value womanhood. You are showing her that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father, who loves her."

What does this have to do with beauty and worth? I was taught a lot about my own worth by the examples of my parents.  The daily interactions my parents had in front of me helped me to realize how healthy relationships should be and that I didn't need to take crap from any boy.  My dad helped me realize my worth.  In addition to telling me I was beautiful, he helped me discover my love of working with wood when we built a bookcase together, he was my biggest cheerleader at my water polo games (much to my embarrassment at times), and he pushed me to become better in my studies by showing me his papers from high school and the slow progress he had made as a writer. My worth was not tied to my looks, or even to my accomplishments, but rather I had infinite worth to him because I was his daughter.  My mother was also a huge influence, doing my hair for every school dance, pushing me to finish my college degree after having Hayes, working hard in my home when I couldn't, and helping me feel like a good mother regardless, to name a few. But Sister Dalton's talk stuck out to me again of the importance of having both a father and a mother in a child's life, regardless of gender.

The video and talk helped me feel at peace with all my thoughts.  I was feeling anxiety over how to raise our kids to respect those of the other sex, to respect themselves and to know of their worth, that they are children of God, regardless of what others might tell them.  Our example is the most powerful tool we can offer them and I hope our example will speak much louder to them then outside influences.  The examples of Paul & Denise, and Dane & Ruth spoke much louder for Bracken and me then the media and peer influences around us growing up, so hopefully it will hold true for our children.
I don't mean that I am never going to care about my looks;  I'm still going to go out and try to find some new make up and I'm still in search of a dress that I feel beautiful in, but this journey has also reminded me that in a couple months I probably won't like that eye shadow and in a couple years that dress will be bought and discarded, but the other things I have done with my life are what will really matter. The way I help those around me, what knowledge I choose to gain, how I raise my children, to face trials with optimism & faith, etc.  I hope for my children, Bracken, and for MYSELF that I can grow to be more deeply beautiful in time.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley said it well:

“I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.” 

P.S.  I didn't write this with the purpose of fishing for compliments on my looks. I wrote this as a way to gather my thoughts on the subject and want to share it for anyone who may have struggled with the same feelings. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

City Campfire & Business Plans

 Making S'mores last night in our city campfire...  Bracken used it to heat up coals for the dutch oven and then it turned into our S'more making fire.  Hayes made a sign that said "Play with Matches" not sure what Bracken was teaching them but he swears it was suppose to have a "Dont" in there.

 Lyla coming outside for a photo-op before she went to bed.

Checking the Peach Cobbler. Wouldn't mind if he made this a regular thing, it was delicious!

Last night we got started late on dinner, making the peach cobbler and doing the fire. The kids wanted to help with everything and Bracken and I both were tired and a little short on patience but wanted it to be a fun night for the kids. It turns kind of humorous when both parents are telling the kids that they don't have much patience tonight so the kids need to be patient with them...  Luckily no one lost their patience and we had a really good night. Two desserts, you can't beat that!

Tonight Bracken made chicken wings, I love when he decides to experiment in the kitchen, especially when it means he makes dinner!  They turned out really good but while he was eating them he was analyzing what was wrong with them.  Our roles reversed because I usually do that with whatever I make, trying to figure out how to do it better next time. He always tells me to stop and that it tastes great. So now I got to be the one to tell him to "Shut up and eat"  Ok I didn't use words but you get the idea.

We have a rule that the person that makes dinner doesn't have to do the dishes.  I HATE doing dishes but since Bracken made dinner it was my turn.  We had a lot of big dishes to do from our campout last night so I loaded the dishwasher and decided to hand wash all the big stuff with Hayes. (Kamri fell asleep early)  It made a huge mess of water all over the counter and floor but Hayes was having fun.  He then scrubbed the sink and decided he was going to make money scrubbing people's sinks.  He then started daydreaming about people paying him $100 to clean their whole house. He is so much like Bracken it's crazy. Bracken is always coming up with business plans (although none of them have to do with cleaning....)  Now if I can just tap all this excitement about cleaning and get him to do a little more around the house!  And if anyone wants their sinks scrubbed....I know just the boy!

Had a fun night with the family. Bracken made a "campfire" in the backyard and also made Dutch oven peach cobbler. The kids loved it but were Sooo tired after dinner. Pictures later.

One Step Closer...

Bracken mailed in his bar exam application today. One step closer to being done with law school and starting work as a lawyer!! Yippee! It could have been an application to get into heaven...I swear he had to write down EVERYTHING about himself and his past.

While he was "enjoying" the process of finding everything for his application, I went on a bike ride, took the kids to check out the new WINCO store that just opened. My friend invited me to come along with her and her kids. It was a bit chaotic but the kids were good. Then we went on a hike with the Burrs before they left town. Lyla pulled herself up to her feet holding onto the ottoman, she's gotten up on her knees before but this was a first for her feet. She's growing up too fast!

Kamri fell asleep as I was making dinner and Bracken & Hayes were playing Star Wars on the Nintendo 64. (yes we are behind the times when it comes to game consoles) Lyla went down right after dinner and then Hayes read a few pages from a Magic Tree House book to me and Bracken.

Good but tiring day.

Our friends, the Burr family, were in town from Cache Valley.  We went down to the Silverton to see the aquarium with them and then they came over for dinner. Hayes was so excited to see all the boys and wrestle with them, he has wanted someone to tackle with and the Burr boys fit the bill perfectly. Kamri was a bit tired so she mostly just hung out on the couches while the boys ran wild.  It was so fun seeing old friends and their kids have gotten so big! We used to get together often and play games or watch our kids ride bikes together. It was fun to catch up.

  After we went down to the Silverton we were going to go to the chocolate factory but I made a wrong turn and ended up on Frank Sinatra drive.  I think I'm going to start harboring ill feelings towards Frank Sinatra just because this road is named after him!  I am cursed to end up on this road everytime I go down to the strip, it is in between the freeway and the back of all the hotels so the whole street is full of employee parking garage entrances and delivery only driveways and you can't make U-turns.  The roads you can turn off of to get back to Las Vegas Blvd are always hard to find and I end up driving WAY out of the way and get so annoyed with myself that I ended up on that road AGAIN.   I never knew what the road was called but today I made sure I looked at the name.  So Frank Sinatra drive, I am going to avoid you at all costs!  I feel a bit silly posting that since people that live here probably think I'm lame for always getting stuck on that road...but yeah, I hate driving down by the strip, I always take a wrong turn at least once.

I had fun today taking some pictures of Lyla, she's getting another tooth on top left. She's also getting enough hair I can get some clips to stay in.  I used to think she looked a lot like Hayes, now she has changed and I don't think she looks like Kamri or Hayes but that's good, she's Lyla :)  She's 11 months now. Crazy how fast time goes. This time last year I was laying on the couch counting down the days til it would be safe for her to be born! She was sooooo worth it!

Here ya go

Feeling uninspired to blog tonight. It was a pretty uneventful day minus Kamri's nose starting to bleed during checkout at the grocery store.  Nothing a few baby wipes couldn't clean up though.

The things we say

Today I told Hayes:

 "We don't play with spiders on the table!"

Did I really just say that?  So wrong on so many levels, add that to the list of things I never thought I'd say.....kids!


I had some quality time with just Hayes tonight reading Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems.  I had heard Mo Willems was a good children's author but figured it was probably hyped up...but after reading his books with Hayes I'm a believer. Do I dare say, right up there with Dr. Seuss?  Elephant and Piggie series are early readers and I love how he tells a funny story with so few words, and Hayes has learned how to read with different inflections, like how you verbalize question marks, exclamation points, italics, etc. I'd highly reccomend the books to anyone who has a child learning to read. Tonight he read to me "Elephant's can't dance" & "We are in a Book"  I love listening to him giggle throughout the book and his  excitement to get to the end to see what happens.

and now some quality me time reading my newest book from the library "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana De Rosnay, with Bracken's intermittent comments about the Super Tuesday returns. I'm grateful I can keep up with current events just by listening to Bracken. He reads it all and then tells me the important and/or exciting stuff.  He's my news, political affairs, & current events Cliff Notes. (and so much more of course!)

Lyla and Monsters

Lyla is learning her independence, the past few days she has crawled away from me and into different rooms and then crawled back to me to check in, babbling as she goes.  Today she crawled into the kids room and shut the door behind her, she was laying next to the door screaming but I couldn't open it because she was sticking her fingers under the door. I yelled for Hayes to move her so I could open the door, thinking he was in there, and he came walking out of my room. She was in there alone.  It took some maneuvering to creep my arm around the door and move her away enough to be able to open the door.  She has started pulling books off of shelves and getting into the kitchen cupboards. She's getting to that age where nothing is safe! She's also eating a lot more solid food and so far has liked everything I've given her except black beans. She loves to feed herself peas, carrots and green beans. My favorite is to give her some smoothie. She makes the funniest face because it is cold but once it warms in her mouth she loves the taste and starts smiling and  whining for more.

Hayes has put holes in both pairs of jeans he has and his church pants. I don't want to go buy new jeans since in a few weeks it'll be warm enough he'll live in shorts until October.  I saw this idea to do monster patches  here, and Hayes was all excited to have a monster on his pants.  Best part was it didn't take long and didn't need to be perfect. My only worry si the won't hold up in the wash. Now I'll just have to get him new church pants...

Looking at these pictures I swear he sits and rubs his knee on the wall at school or something, they are in the exact same spot!

Good News and Bad News

When I got back from taking the babysitter home from our date Bracken told me he had Good News and Bad News.  Never the line you want to hear. (better than bad news and bad news I suppose...)

I chose Bad News first...who doesn't?

He told me to look at my wedding ring.  My heart jumped and I looked down.  There was my band but one IMPORTANT part was missing....the Diamond!

I looked up at him wondering how he knew it was missing and then it jumped to...hopefully...

he held the diamond up. It had fallen off his shirt when he had gone to change into his pajamas.

I had given him a hug and kiss when we came home from our date which I'm guessing it got caught on his shirt?
but how lucky it didn't fall out when I drove the babysitter home, or when I was walking outside.

how lucky he noticed something falling off his shirt when he took it off and looked down to see what it was.

 The diamond still had the prongs around it, just where it was connected to the band broke so I'm hoping it is fixable!

The good news made the bad news okay.  Feeling so lucky that Bracken found it...and before I even noticed it was missing!

Date: Take Two

Hayes started soccer today. The weather was perfect.  Bracken had to go to school to do homework. We rode our bikes to the park and I planned on going for a bit of a longer ride with them on the way home but a bulging back tire changed those plans. Hayes & I played a game of Monopoly. I did some stuff for my church calling. I was unproductive for most of the rest of the day and not in a good way because I wasn't really doing anything fun either....just being lazy.  Then we ate dinner and went on our date. When I handed Lyla over to the babysitter she recognized her from last night and started bawling since she knew that meant we were leaving...luckily Lyla was exhausted and fell asleep quick for the babysitter.   The roller derby was fun but I can see why it's not super popular.  As Bracken explained it " WWF in the geriatric ward and on roller-skates" We had a good time laughing at the mock fights though.

I used to delete most of the pictures that Bracken was just pulling a face, now I keep them because he does it for EVERY. picture.  I still love him though, even if our posterity will wonder if he was capable of a normal smile.

Koala Birthdays & Donuts

Kamri declared it was her stuffed Koala's birthday. He's either turning 2 or 6, I never finally got the consensus between Hayes & Kamri. They planned out the Koala's party complete with a handmade by Hayes party hat that had a picture of Luke Skywalker (a stick figure with a light saber) and R2D2.  They wanted to do a pinata and cake.  I convinced them it would take to long to make a pinata and we could make donuts instead of cake.  I was planning on making donuts with this easy recipe I found here.

We ended up making the donuts at the end of the day after grocery shopping and right before Bracken and I were leaving on our date so we didn't have time to put a candle in it and sing but they knew not to push it and were satisfied I let them spoil their dinner with donuts.

 Kamri and her Koala and Hayes with Baby Dane's teddy bear.

I'm no food blogger, but here is the end result.  They were yummy but anything fried and dipped in that much sugar better be!

A sweet moment today was it was pajama day for Hayes and his teacher told them they could bring a stuffed animal.  Hayes wanted to take the Koala and even got Kamri's permission but I nixed it since I didn't think his teacher would appreciate the noises it makes during class.  He then decided to take the teddy bear we have that came with Dane's casket.  It sits in the kids room and Hayes decided he wanted to take it since it would be like baby Dane coming with him to school.  Then when we were about to make the donuts he ran and got it again so it was like "we could pretend Dane was with us."  Hayes told me he told his teacher that the bear was for someone who died and his name was Baby Dane.  Wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation!

and since I wrote that we were going on a date tonight....We went to a Yassou greek grill cafe that was yummy and then went to fill up the car with gas before we headed to watch a roller derby.  Luckily as I was sitting in the car waiting for the car to fill I glanced at the tickets.  It is TOMORROW night.  Whoops!  I've looked at the tickets twice before that and didn't catch that. A blonde moment and I'm not even blonde anymore....  At least I looked before we drove across town. Since we had already gotten a babysitter we decided to go window shopping and hang out til she put the kids to bed and now have a date planned for tomorrow. Glad Bracken has a good sense of humor...

Hayes got his hair cut after school today.  The lady cutting his hair had a thick Russian accent, I think he couldn't understand her but she just pushed his head around how she wanted when he didn't respond and he got a lollipop at the end so it worked out.  I didn't get a picture, he can still spike it into a faux hawk so he was happy with it. Usually I just buzz his hair but he has liked being able to do it lately so I figured we could get a normal cut until summer. I tried last time and it was pretty bad, not bad enough to shave off but bad enough I didn't want to do it to him again.

My friend Starr is a massage therapist and needed people to do hot stone massages on to certify.  She let me be her guinea pig and it was so relaxing!!  I had a primary presidency meeting and then dropped the kids off at home for Bracken to watch while I got my massage. On the drive home from the meeting, Kamri started sobbing because she couldn't come with me and Lyla started screaming because Kamri was crying.   Twenty minutes later I was laying in a quiet room, on a warm bed getting a massage.  It was heaven!

Hayes's teacher called tonight to see if he was reading.  I'm so glad she did so I didn't have to feel bad about missing her call on Wednesday.  He was reading Go Dog Go and got to tell her about it.  Bracken said he was pretty excited about it.

and that's all folks.  I'm starting to feel like this blogging everyday is a bit mundane. I do have something exciting to announce though......



ok no I don't. sorry.

 Bracken and I are going on a date tomorrow that I'm pretty excited about though. If the event ends up being boring at least people-watching will be fun. How's that for adding a little suspense to my blog.....not that anyone is going to lose sleep over not knowing where we are going on our date but hey. I tried.