Happy Wishes

Oatmeal Chocolate Memories

When I was growing up my mom made a homemade cake called "Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake". I absolutely loved it. I have the best memories of my mom making this cake and just the yummy goodness of eating it. Shortly after I got married I was craving it one night and decided to make it myself, promising Darrin it's the best thing you've ever had. While I enjoyed each and every bite Darrin did not share the same passion, what was the difference? He had no good memories attached to the cake like I did. Too be honest it kind of took the wind out of my sails for that recipe. That is until the other afternoon. I had my kids coming home from school early and I thought, it's time I pass on the Oatmeal Chocolate memories...it was well received.

Playdates

It's not very often that I feel like your child finds the perfect playmate. Sometimes the combination of some children will create fighting, mess making, mischievousness and other sorts of combinations that make me cringe when playdates are concerned. These two though are different. Eden made a friend Lilly in our old town and they play perfectly, they are such a joy too be around. Plus when we have Lilly over I actually get so much accomplished because they play so well. Although with our move the playdates have slowed down a bit, we still continue to have Lilly over when we can. I am so grateful to have good friends in our lives.

Panic vs. Peace

Eden has been an especially funny child on her days off from preschool. She has been going through this thing where if I am not in the same room as her she will yell "mom" at the top of her lungs, if I do not respond immediately, and I mean immediately she will go into a full fledged panic attack, screaming, running, yelling my name over and over again until she finds me. It's just plain ridiculous, I will be in the next room or even around the corner when this panic can ensue.

So the other day, it was our typical afternoon, except it was quiet. I realized I hadn't heard my name called for a while and so I went to investigate, this is what I found. Eden had crawled into Kale's crib and had snuggled up and fallen asleep, it was so sweet it just about made up for all the panic attack outbursts, almost!

Breckenridge Friends Trip

The Dunns (Erik & Stephanie) planned our every other year college friends trip to Breckenridge Colorado. We had such a great time, lots of laughter, food, shopping and more.

Sarah gave me a much needed makeover, and gave me a pair of tweezers because I had been without for about 3 months (YIKES)

The guys did some golfing, while the ladies did some shopping...

Hydrogen Peroxide DOES NOT GO IN THE EYE, or else it will do this...

I must defend myself, by telling the whole story. I have a contact solution that works with a specific contact case. The solution is mainly hydrogen peroxide but when put in the case it will neutralize over the period of 6 hours, everything is typically fine. Now I also have a hybrid contact lens that require you put SALINE in it prior to putting it in your eye. Well this particular morning I was moving quickly and put the hydrogen solution in my contact instead of the saline and stuck it in my eye. As you can imagine it instantly burned, but not wanting to rip the expensive lens by ripping it out of my eye I had to remain calm and gently get it out, which took awhile because of how bad my eye was burning. By the time I removed the lens I started flushing my eye with water, and the white part of my eye ball had actually started swelling over my iris. The white part had been burned so badly it actually blanched the eyeball and left coagulated parts of my eye which looked like scrambled egg whites in my eyeball. It was torture, it hurt to open it or close it, and for the rest of the day I kept it shut. It was hard not to ruin the trip but actually having friends around probably helped.

Here is my eye the next day. It didn't look normal for over a week.

The whole group, last day, what a great trip. It really was, even with my previous eye story!

Spunky Seven

Dear Baylie,
I can't believe I am writing to you as a 7 year old. It's amazing how the time has passed so quickly. You are such a vital member of our family. This year your dad and I have been amazed at what a great caretaker you have become. We have given you the new responsibility of putting pajamas on Kale each night before bed, and not only do you do that, but you will usually surprise us by changing his diaper too! You are like a mini mom. You quickly do most tasks we ask you with a cheerful attitude.
You have fun outlook on life and are typically cheerful and find humor in most situations. You have been doing so well in 1st grade, your reading is AMAZING, your old teacher Mrs Suchar was so impressed, she said you were reading much higher then 1st grade level, she was very sad to see you move schools. Speaking of new schools you have done so well. We had one rocky week (the first one) every morning you would complain of some ailment (sore throat, stomach ache, head ache) and when I picked you up from school you told me you had a bad day, when I asked why you said "because I had no one to play with at recess so I hid under the slide and cried the whole time." It broke my heart to hear you say that, but that next Sunday Jaya fasted that you would find a friend. The next day you came home and when I asked how school was you said "good, I made a new BFF", the following week you had another BFF. This story is such an example of how loved by Heavenly Father you are, he sent you not only 1 friend but 2!
Some things you love...dancing, music, singing, your little brother Kale, your sisters Jaya and Eden, swimming, playing with my phone by taking pictures and videos, you love to laugh, eat candy, eating lunch with mom at school and your favorite food is Frito Pie.
Some things you dislike...many foods (your probably my pickiest eater), hanging up your coat, going to school early, having your hair brushed, taking showers.
My focus with you as your mother this year is to help you feel more confident, you are bright, fun and funny yet you don't always put yourself out there. People love to be around you and I want to show you that, some how. We are also reading the Book of Mormon with you this year because you will be baptized at the beginning of next year, so far you are doing amazing and have no problem reading all by yourself.
Baylie, you are so much fun to be with, I love your upbeat personality and inquisitive questions.
Thank you so much for picking me to be your mom.

Love,
Mom

family photos 2011

The very talented Lisa McKnight was kind enough to take our family photos this year, and I love so many of them. I had a large 26 picture collage planned for our blank wall in our new house but Darrin seems to think it may turn out more of a shrine to us...still not buying it, what can I say I LOVE photographs. I have postponed the "shrine" for now, and decided to share them. There are A LOT, like I said I like photos!
As a side note, I really wanted to have more a family outing then a photo shoot, so we decided to roast marshmallows as the event. It turned out so much fun, and the kids were a lot more relaxed. I wish more of my clients would do this same thing, it's such a blast.