in case you were wondering

right now i have a double ear infection. it hurts so bad i want to cry. now i understand why kids have such a hard time when they get an ear infection (and they can't call up the doctor and make an appointment like i did. all they can do is cry and hope we catch on). my antibiotics aren't kicking in fast enough.

last month for about 10 days straight we had HUGE thunderstorms. they were the kind that shook our house and lit up the sky with amazing lightning shows. i looked forward to them every day. i have always loved thunder and lightning storms. when i was in high school i would pop out the screen of my bedroom window and sit on the roof in the rain and watch the lightning (don't judge my obvious stupidity). for my 16th birthday i got a thunderstorm cd from my hometeacher because he knew how much i loved them. some nights i would turn on my thunderstorm cd, light a rain scented candle and lay on my bed in the dark. it almost felt real. maybe a little silly, although it sounds really nice now. so if these storms don't come back (like i keep hoping they will), maybe i'll find that cd and relive my memory from high school!

i think 3 simple things instantly make a house look cleaner (without even picking anything up): making the bed, closing closet doors and shutting drawers.

i used to think making chocolate chip cookies from scratch took a long time. in fact, it's super quick. it probably wasn't the best realization for me to make because now i make them a lot more. as a side note, i always use milk chocolate chips when i bake. i'm not a fan of semi sweet chocolate chips. with that said, i won't turn down cookies made with semi sweet (i will just never make them myself).

i hate how cluttered my kitchen table gets. it seems to be the dumping ground for everything and it drives me crazy, but i can't seem to keep it clean. 

i hate deciding what to make for dinner and don't particularly like looking for new recipes. but i like to try new things and prefer for someone to just send me a recipe they know is good. luckily my friend megan loves to find new recipes (she has some crazy number of recipe blogs on her reader) and she sends her yummy finds on to me. i feel like it is a win win!

the closet door in my bedroom has to be closed before i can go to bed (and it's been that way for as long as i can remember). dave has gotten used to it and will often close it as we're getting ready for bed. and now it has expanded to include my kids' rooms. as we put logan and emma down i make sure their closet doors are closed too!

confession. sometimes i want to make my blog private just so i can get more comments (since you actually have to go to the blog rather than read it on reader). sad but true. but i won't actually do it because i'm personally not a fan of private blogs (but i love a lot of people that have private blogs so i still read them). plus that's a lame reason to go private!

it always seems to be 11:00 pm. i swear one moment i look at the clock and it is 9:30 pm and then suddenly it's 11:00 pm. similarly, when i play super mario brothers i always seem to have only one life left. one moment i have five and in an instant i'm down to one. always just one. 

my hot, hot house makes me question if i really like summer. i do, but i am definitely ready for it to cool down. i'm so ready for fall (this is why i have to live in a place with seasons. eventually i'm always ready for the next one).

i am in desperate need of a vacation. it has been far too long and i am far too antsy for a getaway. wanderlust is in full force.

i have recommitted to flossing my teeth everyday. it could have something to do with the dentist appointment that i have coming up. they actually just moved it up a month, which means i am "cramming" for my dentist appointment like a slacker student does for finals. 

i love the power of music. i love how it speaks to my soul and can take me back to a moment in time and i almost feel like i'm there again.

i've been having a problem with blogger and i really wish i could talk to someone. i don't want to email, i just want to speak with someone and tell them my problem!

i love finding new blogs that inspire me. a couple of months ago i found enjoying the small things and it is my favorite. it is the one that i save to read last because i want to savor it and i don't want it to be "done" for the day. i'm so inspired every time i read it to be better, to enjoy the small things a little more, to live life more fully, to live in the moment more and soak up every second with my family. i'm so inspired by kelle. i love the insights she has about everyday occurrences. plus she posts the most beautiful pictures of her kids. what blogs inspire you? i want to know about them.

that was probably a lot more than you were wondering! ;)

memories

a couple of weeks ago i was able to get together with some of my oldest friends for breakfast (brunch?! that sounds fancier although we're not really fancy people). ashley was in town from milwaukee and while the rest of us live here, it was just the push we needed to actually get together (the desire to get together is always there but making it happen as often as we'd like seems a little more complicated). no matter how long its been since we've seen each other last (or talked) there's no awkwardness and we pick right back up as if no time has passed. aren't those kind of friendships the best?! we talked for hours (much to the chagrin of our waitress i think) about anything and everything. we talked about the good things in our lives, the hard things, memories, family, motherhood, money, real estate, church and the gospel of jesus christ. i love these girls!

maegan and ashley. we were lucky enough to be together on maegan's birthday...the big 30!

too bad i didn't take this picture a few minutes later when ashley was nursing too!

our babies, ranging in age from 3-9 months (jack and emma were born just 4 days apart). we caused quite a stir in the restaurant.
people couldn't get enough of all these babies. we laughed because 5 of our kids were missing (maegan's other 2 were there, just not pictured).

after i left i was thinking about all the memories i've had with these girls. we literally grew up together. i think i "met" megan and ashley when i was just 2 years old and we moved to colorado (that's logan's age which boggles my mind). we became friends with maegan when she moved into our ward in 2nd grade. earlier this year ashley's husband made a book of notes and photos for her 30th birthday. i went to my parent's house and dug through boxes looking for photos of us through the years to include in the book. get ready to be wow'd! i'm embarrassed by a lot of these pictures of me (awkward). i think we've all improved with age ;)  

lewis ames elementary field day, 1992

girl's camp, 1995

 i think this was at a bridal shower for ashley or maegan, 2001

 rexburg idaho, 2000

 my birthday, 1995

the pioneer trek, 1997 (why we took a picture in front of the bathrooms i'm not sure. maybe we were just happy to have bathrooms!)

i am a child of god

 

tonight we watched the video below at least 10 times and that is no exaggeration. every time it ended logan wanted to watch it again. and so we watched it. over and over again. i sat with emma on my lap and logan snuggled in next to me (for only one of the ten times. he's too busy to sit still too long) and i cried as the sweet message of the song seeped into my heart. it's true! and i thought about my children and what i hope for them and all i need to teach them. and the spirit whispered to me that of all the things i need to teach my kids, one of the most important (if not the most important) is that they are children of god. that he knows them, loves them and is their heavenly father and that they can turn to him for help and guidance. knowing that, and not only knowing but believing that, makes all the difference in the world. it changes the way we see and treat ourselves, the way we see and treat others, our confidence, the peace we feel, how we face challenges and it affects the choices we make each day. i hope i can teach my kids to seek their heavenly father and their savior and that they can build their own relationship with them. and that as they grow older they will not only know the words to the song (i love how logan sings along), but that the words will become real and will be written in their hearts and they will know, believe and feel that they are children of god.

yo ho ho ya landlubbers!

to celebrate logan's birthday we had a family party. all of my siblings and their families were in town which dramatically increased our numbers, chaos and fun (we've actually been lucky enough to have them here for logan's birth, first and second birthdays)! a couple of months ago we checked out "here come the pirates" from the library (we've actually checked it out twice) and logan fell in love with it. we read it a lot. because of his new found love of pirates i decided to go with a pirate theme for his party.

 

this invite was made by my friend mindy. isn't it so cute?! she also made the invite for his first birthday party. i think she may have a job for years to come!

i tried to keep things pretty simple. we just had cupcakes, ice cream and a few other "pirate" treats.

i decided to make a cupcake stand that i saw on this blog. the ribbon i bought was too wide, so thanks to the creativity of my sister in law, lynda (who should be a party stylist by the way) we made a few changes and it turned out really cute (she also ended up doing most of the work)! although if you do make one, i recommend using mini cupcakes like the original person did.

our pirate birthday boy! isn't he soo cute?!

unlike his first birthday, he loved having happy birthday sung to him. at his request we sang it a second time (and he actually requested for us to sing it a third time)!
he sat there and grinned and even sang along. doesn't he look so cute in his pirate get up?!

playing with a few of his new toys (he's very into "cars")

backyard fun

my parents have a fun inflatable water slide that is a hit with the grandkids. logan tried it out this summer and couldn't decide if he liked it or not. he cried to go on it and then cried when i put him on it. maybe next year...

i can't remember if the picture below is of cade or carter, but he was cracking me up, just laying out and chilling on his towel.

logan's a total water baby though and had so much fun running around the backyard playing in the hose with his cousins.

cousins

my sister suzi had a little girl, kate, 18 days before emma was born. it was so fun to finally get the girls together. my mom bought these cute matching dresses and of course we had to take some pictures (i wish i was a better photographer because these pictures just don't capture how cute they are).

they have totally different coloring and don't look alike, but it was fun to see how their movements were the same since they are the same age.

 the picture on the left shows how kate is always stretched out and emma keeps her legs tucked in when she's on the floor.

there were a few mishaps during our little shoot

sometimes they got a little too close for comfort

 so we gave them some space

i can't wait to watch these girls grow up together (although we eventually need to live in the same state. hint, hint matt...in 4 years)

pirate outtakes

more pirate fun to follow