I Know What Jackson Will Want When He's Older

Today Davy took Jack on a ride on his new motorcycle... He freaking loved it.   Just look at the smile on that kids face.  

How To Know If Your Kid Thinks Your Ugly

Tonight Parker was showing me all the scrapes on his legs that he thought needed band-aids.  I showed him one on my arm that was noticeably worse than his pin-head sized scabs and said "Look this doesn't even need one."  Then being funny Rob pointed to his own face (with nothing wrong with it) and said "Look I don't even have a band-aid on this!"  Parker just looked at him and in his most sympathetic voice said "Ouch.  That has to hurt."  We had a pretty good chuckle... 

Hallelujah!!!

I am EXTREMELY happy! Today I was getting ready to go and just turned my camera on and it actually turned on... and worked! So, no more flash back blogging for me for a bit.

Then we went to Kelly's house and went slip n' sliding. Watching Parker try to slip n' slide will put a smile on anyone's face. This is one of the less painful attempts.

Usually he looked like a plane crash about 5 feet before he got to the slide. I finally had to just lay him down on his belly and push him down the slide. But check out this cute kid...
Plus, while I was there Kelly told me how to make this chicken, which will be my very first food blog... which is fitting, because it's my very first grown up meal to make as well...

Stuffed Chicken

First, pick ANYTHING you have to stuff it with. I happen to have broccoli and cheese...


Pound the meat until nice and big and flat (sorry, I guess I didn't take a pic of that.) Put stuffing's and seasonings (I just used salt & pepper) on top...



Roll up and tie or use tooth pic's. (I've heard you pliers might be involved if you use tooth pic's, so we just tied them.)

Brown them on the stove and then pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes.... Walla. Stuffed Chicken.

Freaking good stuff. Even the boys ate it. Next time I might try pineapple and ham.

Thanks Kelly for the adult meal... Rob even said thanks for cooking out loud.

The Final Act

This is the final broadcast I recovered from that fateful day when my camera was pushed into a coma, way before it's time to go. This is the last thing it saw before it became incapacitated.

No, I'm not crying... just grieving.

Ode to Rob

Well, since I won't have any new photos until I can get my camera fixed... and it will be a while, I figured it might be a good time to catch up on the stuff I haven't done.  So, if you don't want a trip down memory lane and curious thoughts with me, you might want to tune out for a month or so.  

So, it's not Rob's birthday or anything, but I don't think I tell him enough how lucky I am to have him.  He's better than Edward.  (That's a REALLY good thing, Rob.)  He is really good at what he does too.  I never really thought of Rob as the creative type before, but this is evidence that I had just not seen him in his element before.  After all, he made this

from this, even better, these rocks weren't really there before either, so really he made it from a big pile of dirt.  I have to say I'm impressed.

Not to mention how sexy he is... and willing to humiliate himself on my behalf.  I love you.

The Post That Got Skipped

So, before my camera was so rudely broken I was going to post this.   It took a while for me to calm down enough to even down load my last set of photo's.  At least I have them.

A Month of Reunion's

This month has been a great month for dinners with long lost friends.   Sunday we had dinner with Matt & Nichole and their little girl Maddison.   She's so cute, see...

I haven't really seen Cole forever.  It was really nice to talk.  If there is one thing I want to change about myself it is that I don't want to go through life wishing I spent more time with the people I love.  It's one of those things that you don't really know how much you miss it until it's gone.  Having all of these get together's has really shown me how much I'm missing in my life when I don't make the time to be with the people I love.   Sometimes I feel like it's more trouble than it's worth to load up the kids and make an event of something.  I am always rewarded more than my effort, but I am so quick to forget. I can't wait until Rob is done with school and I don't have that excuse anymore.  Anyway, we really had fun and it was the best hamburger I've had in a long time.  I don't know what Matt put in it, but good job Matt.  

Rob was totally smitten by this tree.  It's half varigated and half not.  Pretty cool huh?

AAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

I am sick to my stomach right now.  Riley asked to use my camera and I told him no.  (He wanted to pretend it was a news camera.)  He snuck it anyway and when he put it down Jackson brought it in to me.  I asked Jackson to give it to me and he freaked out and threw it onto the tile floor.  Now when I try to turn it on it just says 'lens error'.   I really want to hurt someone.

Little Miracles...

So, today was Parker's birthday.  Since Rob had to go straight to school from work we let Parker open almost all of his presents at breakfast.  It was nice for him to be able to play with them all day while Riley was at school... hard to get Riley to go to school though.  His favorite present was his 'Indiana Jones Sound Effects Whip'.  And that is exactly what he calls it every time he talks about it.  It reminds me of A Christmas Story.  So cute and so dramatic. 

We weren't planning any kind of birthday stuff tonight because tomorrow we are going to the Mayan to celebrate.  However, last night as he was going to sleep he told me he was dreaming of his cake.  It was an Army cake.  How could I deny him that?  So here it is.  Or at least this is how it started... 

The plain camo looked pretty cool, but I just couldn't leave it at that.  So I had to set up a fight scene.  And add dirt.

I didn't count on the camo being quite so good at hiding the army guys from the top view, but I guess that's kind of what it does.

When I turned around I found Jackson eating out of the frosting bowl with the bridge from Indiana Jones Life as his spoon.  I wish I had taken a photo of him in action, but I sacrificed the photo op for the game so this is all I got.

The boys were really wound up after cake and playing all afternoon, so I tried something a little different.  I think I hypnotized them.  I told them they were on the plane with Indy in Temple of Doom and Indy had just put the hat over his face and fallen to sleep and so they did the same.  While they were asleep they went digging with Indy and he started to bury them with sand, starting with their toes and working his way up.  By the time I got to the belly button Riley said 'Mom, I really can't move my legs.' Which is when I had to tell them that if he didn't close his mouth Indy might put sand in it so he wouldn't talk... it kind of killed the mood from all the giggling, but it was worth it.  The were still asleep within 5 minutes and I don't think they have moved a muscle in the past 3 hours.  It was a fun day with the boys.  My favorite gift that Parker got today was actually from Riley.  It's not the Lego Indiana Jones Set either.  Riley did this one all on his own with NO parental prompting involved.  He trated him like a great big brother should... he opened doors for him, let him go first, he didn't fight with him at all and he shared like a champ.  He even showed him how to strap the whip onto Parker's pants instead of his own.  I hope Riley saw how much love was in Parkers face today for him.  He looks up to him so much and I'm glad that today Riley gave him a reason to.  Today, he was the best big brother you could ask for.  I hope Riley understood how proud I was of him today when I told him.  I guess some things really are priceless.

If You're Interested...

I started the blog for the bakery last night.  Give it a look and let me know what you think... Suggestions would be very helpful.  It was pretty late/early when I put it together...  Check it out here.  When we figure out when were opening downtown I will put in a countdown clock or something off that nature as well.  Anything else?  You have all been blogging longer than me, so you should have some suggestions for me.

Sorry If I Gave It To You!

Well, I went to the doc today and was told I have strep.  No big surprise to me, I could feel it something bad.  Last night (3 am) I got up because it hurt so bad.  I was contemplating performing my own tonsilectomy with dental floss, but didn't because what if my tonsils were to drop down my throat and choke me.   My tonsils were so swollen I was having trouble breathing and I was coughing up blood.  So I bit the not having insurance bullet and went in anyway.  They fixed me right up, gave me some steroids and antibiotic and I'm already able to swallow again, not totally pain free, but able.  So that just leaves one question... What did they do before drugs?  Oh, sorry, two questions... since I have no voice today why does that make my kids whisper too?

We Couldn't Have Been Luckier

Rob, we couldn't have been luckier.  You're the best.  I don't know another man that would put up with all the crap around here.  Literally.  Not to mention all my crying.   You are the hardest working guy I know and I know my own dad would probably take you over me.  Besides, look at the cute kids you make... so what if they're all boys, as long as they all turn out like you.  We love you.  Thanks for being such a great dad. 

Happy Father's Day Grandpa!

                                        Dad, what can I say about you being my dad.  I guess it's a good thing you were my dad, because someone else might not have been so patient with me.  Someone else might have killed me when I 'borrowed' their car... when I was 13.   I've missed being at the bakery when it's just us on Saturday mornings.  It was nice to have you all to myself.  You are a good man and a great dad.  I don't think the boys could have asked for a better grandpa.  We sure love you.  Happy Father's Day.  Of course, here a few pictures of you and your favorite kid.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Last night Ian had a sleep over with us and the boys really wanted to do something for grandma's birthday, so we are taking her to the bakery for breakfast and made her this little birthday greeting.  (I'm not sure what the 'life savors' are doing in the movie, but they wouldn't do it without them.)  Mom, we love you and are so happy you are our mom/grandma/lego starwars buddy/friend/advisor/whatever I need you to be at that precise moment.  You have always been there for me when I really needed you.  Sorry for all the grief and sleepless nights through the years.  So, happy birthday from all of us.   I love  you and hope you have a great day.

Can't Stand The Thought Of Being Without This Face...

I had a horrible dream last night about Jackson drowning.  I awoke with the most sickening feeling... I've been crying all morning.  I just can't stand the thought of not walking into his room in the mornings and poking my head in and hearing him say MAMA! Or hearing him Baaghhhh at dogs.  He brought me the remote this morning and said 'bru cru?' (translation: will you put blues clues on the tv for me mom?)He is so cute and I can't imagine my life or our family without him.  I have to keep squeezing him today.  It's not even 9am and I think I've kissed him 50 times today.  (He is edible, isn't he?) I guess nightmares can be good if they help you not take things for granted. (it did make me a little soft though, I let him have a popsicle and pizza for breakfast... I just can't say no to this face today.) I love you Jack.

Good Times & Good Friends

Saturday was of course my birthday.  What better present could I ask for than to get up at 3am and go to the bakery for my dad.  I only had to stay until about 8:30 though and then it got good.  We took the Riley and Parker to Indiana Jones which they loved.  They were only scared about the ants, of course Parker was freaked about giant ants that carry you off, but Riley, that was something new.  Riley, (he has really wanting to go on another vacation) leaned over to me and said "Mom, I've decided I just want to stay home."  Not sure what he meant I probed for more info and he said, "what if we go on a trip and we go somewhere where they are?"  If was a bit much in the computer graphics and sci-fi, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. (Twilight isn't out yet, duh.) It made the boys sooooo happy.  Then we took the boys to play with Grandma Riley and went to Sampan with Clint & Laura... adults only.  While we were waiting I even got to run over to the Deseret Book and read the first chapter in Breaking Dawn, which was released today. (What a great present!)  Afterwards, we went over to their house and had desert and played games.  Totally yummy!  We really don't see enough of these guys.  

To top the weekend off, Sunday we had a BBQ with Kelly and Kelly, whom we haven't seen for years... and I hope it's not that long until we see them again.  They have 3 boys who are so funny and almost the exact same age as our boys.  Not to mention that dinner was delish!!!  We had chicken with Famous Daves BBQ sauce and curried couscous and frozen key lime pie... I totally recommend them all.  Kelly of course blogged about it already which you can check out here.  I love the picture of Jack she took.  She is so good. 

 Then we watched the Twilight scene preview on the MTV music awards and played Rock Band.  It kicks Guitar Hero's butt.  It was definitely a good time.  Can't wait to see them again.  Riley and Parker told me they wished they lived there.  All I could say was "yeah, me too."  It was fun.