a bunch of pictures from Todd's phone

The other day, I got a bunch of pictures off of Todd's phone that I'd never seen.  

It was like Christmas! I forget that he takes pictures sometimes too.

Look how cute and sweet and precious and little my baby was.  They grow too darn fast.

Feeding time at the zoo...

Small town parade.  We miss living close to Nate and Erin.

I loved this "float".

Todd took the boys to the shooting range for a "man"date. 

They made their own targets...

Packing to move.  "Don't forget me!"

Our last night in Loa.  This one makes me teary.

The first night at our new house.  The kids made themselves at home.

Brayden and Dillon went with Todd to the air show to watch the Blue Angels.  Todd had to be there for work.

(Caleb, Justin and I got to go to the pinewood derby)

Justin giving one of our kitties a ride in his dump truck.  

(BTW, we finally gave away the last kitten...hallelujah!)

  Big shoes to fill...

Two!

On August 9th, Justin turned two.

I'm finally getting around to blogging about it.

I was waiting 'til Todd and I finished his present, but who knows when that will happen.  

Thankfully,when you're two, you have no idea that the Color Wonder coloring book isn't the only present you're getting from your parents. 

(He's getting a play kitchen.  I found it at DI but it needed an oven door and a new sink. We're still working on it, but  I'll post pics when it's finished.)

It's times like these that I really wish I were a better photographer.  On Justin's first birthday, I took a picture of him next to his newborn photo.  I had an 8x10 printed so I could take his picture with it again. I hope to do this until he starts kindergarten.

 Justin LOVES Elmo (what two year old doesn't?) so we went with an Elmo theme. I made Elmo Oreo pops with the red candy melts that I've had sitting in the pantry.  They were really easy and kind of fun to make, but I sure didn't want to eat any!  I made a 9" round cake that was frosted and covered in chocolate chips to look like a giant cookie and stuck Justin's toy cookie monster on top.

 Todd bought a goldfish on his way home from work, so Justin could have his own "Dorothy" fish.  Unfortunately, Dorothy killed over about four hours later.  The pet store offered a 30 day money back guarantee, so the next day we took a water sample and our beloved dead fish back for a replacement.  It turns out you can't put goldfish in soft water.  Oops.

Dorothy II was with us for a whopping 18 hours before she began the eternal backfloat.  I didn't have time to run to the pet store again, so I stuck her in the freezer.  A few days later, when I was running errands, I took the fish with good intentions, but never made it to the pet store.  After sitting in the hot car in 107 degree's all day, she wasn't lookin' pretty.  I stuck her in the freezer again, but when Todd found her tonight while looking for the frozen peppers for our pizza, he *hinted* that it was time to "throw the damn fish away".   I guess our pet goldfish days are over.

The best part of the day was when we took the boys to a park with a lazy river, and splash pad.  Justin was in heaven, and cried when it was time to leave after only two hours.

 The birthday boy eating the frosting off his cupcake and drinkin' his juice box.

I can't wait to surprise him with his play kitchen...he's gonna love it. 

Betcha didn't know

Todd has a couple of hidden talents that not too many people know about.

A long, long time ago, he used to be a manager at Little Caesars.  

I call him the "Pizza Jedi Master".

 You may be thinking, "Wait! Little Caesar's doesn't offer hand-tossed crust." And well, you're right.  But sometimes when nobody is looking, teenage boys will try their hand at tossing the crust anyway.  And they may even get pretty good at it. And their future wife and kids will be really glad they did.

 One of his other hidden talents cannot be shown in a picture, but Todd has a great voice.  I love listening to him sing along with Josh Turner, because he can totally hit those low notes.  He can also whistle along with any song and stay on pitch.  Betcha didn't know...

The beach

I don't usually go back and catch up on blog posts if I get behind, but I wanted to finish off our California vacation, since I hope to make a book someday and I know I'll go back to my blog for reference.

On our last day in CA we went to Crystal Cove (Newport Beach, I think). 

My brother and his family met up with us, so I had to get a picture...farmer tan and all.

 It had been awhile since he'd gotten a haircut, and I wanted to see who had the longest ponytail.  (I think HE won).

Todd and his siblings, aspiring to be like their mom. (I got the beach towel for free at Motherhood Maternity while I was pregnant).  My sis-in-law told me that the background scene here is painted on the walls in the Newport Beach temple.

My brothers wife tried to teach me and my sis-in-law, Becky, how to body surf.  Becky did pretty well, but I'm afraid if someone had been taping this, I'd be viral on youtube right now.  I did have fun trying, though!

I got "shat" upon.  Todd had the same thing happen to him at SeaWorld, not long after he told the boys he'd give them $10 if they got pooped on by a seagull.  I told him he didn't qualify for the $10, but changed my mind as soon as I joined the ranks :o)

Eight months later...

In January I posted pictures of our bathroom after getting it unpacked, and mentioned that 

I'd give 10 points to anyone who could guess the "theme" I had in mind. 

Unfortunately, nobody guessed it so...no points for you! 

(read it like the soup nazi would say it)

It has actually been decorated for months, but this morning as I was trying to get rid of the pee smell (again), I remembered I had never posted the finished room.  Many of you have been here to visit so you've already seen it. For the rest of you, come on in and take a look while it's clean.  The boys will be home in a couple hours so we don't have long...

My sister tried to figure out what I was thinking by looking through my pins on Pinterest.  It didn't work since nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever decorated their bathroom with an "Are You My Mother" theme.  I was on my own for this one.

Before we moved, I was reading the book to Justin and noticed, for the first time, how cute the pictures were.  My mom read this story to my siblings and I as kids so I have always loved it, but somehow missed the greatness of the illustrations.  Maybe it's because the pictures are mostly yellow and brown.  Anyhoo, I decided that wherever we moved, I wanted to decorate with pictures from the book.

The mother bird in the story wears a red and white polka dot bandana on her head, and I used that for my inspiration...as well as the yellow and brown illustrations.  I "shopped" around my house and in my stash of "doo-dahs and fluff" in the garage and was pleasantly surprised with what I came up with!  The only things I bought specifically for this bathroom were the ceramic bird on the tray (50% off at Michaels), 2 brown towels*  (which we needed anyway--14 years have done a number on our wedding towels), and the floor rug (shown in the January pics).

I made the "Subway Art" print myself, using phrases from the book, and scanned the others from the book.  I used Photoshop to change the yellow a bit, and had them printed at Costco.  It's hard to see, but there is a framed picture of the "Snort" on the shelf above the toilet.  That was always my favorite part of the book, so I had to include it somewhere.

The wreath came from DI.  I love DI.  One of these days I will do a post on some of my favorite DI finds, but since it has nothing to do with this post whatsoever, I will move on.

I have some red and white polka-dot ribbon (somewhere) and I will eventually sew a horizontal stripe of ribbon onto the white towel.  Perhaps I'll get around to it in another eight months.

* Surprisingly, I have found that the Walmart towels (Mainstay brand, I think) are the BEST out there for the price.  They are less expensive than all the other stores, but they feel like they are higher quality, and have remained soft and fluffy through LOTS of washings.  They are the only towels I will buy now. 

toddler for sale

I guess I'll bake bread again tomorrow.

First day of school 2012

Today was the first day of school for our kiddos, and it came not a minute too soon.  The fridge is empty, the house is a mess, the wii needs a day off, the temperature outside is still well over 100 degrees (no playing outside) and I am...tired.

I spent yesterday selling million school t-shirts with the PTA, attending two back-to-school nights, helping Brayden find his classes, teaching him to open a combination lock and how to use deodorant, figuring out the bus schedule, reading and signing a bazillion class disclosures, making a list of all the additional school supplies we needed, and eventually sent Todd for pizza so we could have dinner before 9:00. 

I never did get around to buying new clothes for school (other than the nine pairs of jeans I ordered online, and new shoes for Brayden since he already outgrew the ones he just got in April). My boys didn't even mention it.  They didn't care in the least that they didn't have new clothes.  Sometimes I really love having all boys :o)  Dillon's shirt was a hand-me-down from Caleb, and Brayden and Caleb's shirts came from the DI this summer...so I guess they're "new to them" shirts...

 Brayden started 6th grade today.  I swear he just started kindergarten yesterday.  He's grown up a lot this summer.  He's been practicing getting up at 6:00 since June. He still only hears his alarm 1 out of 4 days, but at least he's trying.  He started reading the Book of Mormon when school got out, and he is currently in Ether. And he knows what he's read. He'll finish it before he is ordained a deacon in October, and I'm so proud of him for that. I didn't even know he was doing it until he caught up to the family (we're still in Alma...after three years).

The bus stop is in our driveway, and I was SO tempted to get into costume like this guy but I restrained myself...for now.

There goes my baby boy.  (He's looking over my shoulder right now saying, "Mo-om").  This is the first time we've had to catch a bus for school.  He has to ride a little over a mile.  When I was a kid, I rode the bus for an hour both ways!

Caleb and Dillon leave an hour and a half later. Talk about dragging out the morning! Dillon has grown taller this summer, but Caleb...not so much.  He's in 5th grade this year, and Dillon is in 2nd.  Caleb is still my helper.  Whenever I need something I call for him, because I know I can count on him.  Dillon still has sunshine coming out of his eyes, and I am relishing every minute I have with him before he loses more teeth and leaves his "puppy phase".

See the big 'ol cat butt in the picture?  We gave him away today.  We're finally down to one kitten. We need to get momma cat fixed, but Todd's truck broke down on his way home from work and that'll have to come first.  Sigh.  Just another day in paradise...