Bear Lake

The other day I realized that summer was almost over and we hadn't made it to Bear Lake yet. So we planned  spur of the moment day trip to go play at the beach. We packed a beach bag with towels, swim suits, and sandcastle supplies and a cooler with all the picnic food you could ever eat and we headed for the beach.
When we got to Bear Lake we realized that the cooler was still sitting in the kitchen and we didn't have a picnic so we got snow cones and some sandwiches at the local grocery store. While we were eating lunch we were right by the KOA bike rental shop and decided it would be fun to rent a little family bike and go for a ride. We had fun but overestimated our biking energy and after a half an hour ride we were ready to go relax on the beach. Tyson thought the bike was pretty cool especially since he didn't have to peddle.
We headed for the beach and found a nice spot on the sand to build and smash sand castles and dig holes. Garrick would build and Tyson would promptly smash each little castle as soon as it was finished. We were all dirty and sandy and decided to go wash off in the water. The water was perfect and warm. Tyson LOVED the water and the waves and we all played in the water for quite a while. We finally decided we had gotten as much of the sand off as we could and it was probably time to head home so we packed up the car and headed back to Logan. Tyson must have worn himself out because he was asleep before we even left the parking lot. It was a great day and mini vacation as the summer was all too quickly coming to an end.

Surgery for Tyson!

Earlier this month Tyson had surgery to remove his Tonsills and Adenoids. This was a bit scary for me and led to a tough couple of days but he was a fantastic patient. Watching your kids hurt or sick is SO hard but he is such a sweet happy kid even when he wasn't feeling great he was awesome. After his surgery Grandmie and Grandpa and the Stamps aunts and uncles stopped by to keep him company and share some fun movies with him while recovering. Plus Maggie and Grandpa stopped by later that evening and played with rocket baloons which was very exciting.
All the extra attention, popcicles, and italian ice made tyson very happy! After about a week he was fully recovered and we are very glad he had it done now. He is sleeping through the night most every night (for about 11-12 hours straight!!!) And he doesn't gag and throw up his food randomly. So overall we are all very happy.

Happy Birthday Garrick

Last month was Garrick's 27th birthday and I fully meant to get this posted a month ago, but I'm behind and didn't get it taken care of as soon as I should have. In honor of his birthday I though I would share a quick highlight of a couple things about Garrick which you may or may not already know-

1- He is an amazingly hard worker- Sometimes I give him a hard time about this, but I love this about him. Its wonderful to be married to a man who really knows the value of hard work, it has been such a blessing to our family.
2- He is an even more amazing dad- even with the 12 hour days at work and endless lists of people and things pulling at his attention, Garrick always devotes his best time and attention for his son. Tyson LOVES his daddy and its not hard to see why.
3- He likes golfing. Unfortunately with the demanding work schedule in the summer he doesn't get to go very often but given a chance to just go do something fun just for him, golfing is usually his pick.
4- He is a bit picky about desert. Cookies, cakes, even icecream and brownies are rarely a temptation for him. His weakness is Marie callendar's Chocolate Silk Pie and "Dirt Cups".
5- He lOVES candy! His willpower and disinterest in deserts and baked goods is very well compensated for by his love of candy. Almost any kind of candy will get eaten, he loves fruity things, starbursts, jelly beans, sweedish fish, etc. and he really likes Peanut butter Twix and Peanut butter M&M's.
6- He loves watching TV. This is his go to relaxation activity (which is pretty understandable after the long days he has.) Its kind of funny to me because TV hasn't ever been that interesting to me but Garrick will watch just about anything that is on and loves to have this as his "winding down" time each night.
7- He is a great housekeeper. This has been a lifesaver for me. He does dishes, mops floors, does laundry, empties garbages, he even cleans bathrooms! And he does this stuff on a regular basis. I am one very lucky wife!
8- He is an awesome "Handy man" he can fix just about anything from a broken car window to a clogged sink. This definately has saved us a fortune over the past couple years and will save us even more when we own our own home!
9- He goes along with my silly birthday traditions just because he knows I like them. Last night he made sure he left exactly 1 of his 27 candles lit after blowing all the rest of them out in one breath. (Our family always said that the number of candles you have left after your first blow is how many boy/girlfriends you had.)
10- He is an awesome husband. He is so kind and caring and as if the list above wasn't enough to make me the luckiest girl on earth he goes above and beyond just this stuff. He makes me treats when my sweet tooth is acting up, he runs to the grocery store when I forget to pick something up for dinner, he washes and rubs my feet when they are tired and swollen, he gets up off the couch to bring me a drink even when he is all settled in and comfortably watching a show.Even on his birthday when he was supposed to be the one relaxing and having a night off, he put Tyson to bed because by the end of the day I was just too worn out, and he did it without me even asking!

Tyson and I are so grateful to have such an awesome husband and dad in our lives.

For his birthday dinner Paul took us out to Sizzler to celebrate, then we had Brad & Janelle, Mazey, and Pual over for cake and icecream. It only took me 5 years but I finally found a cake that garrick actually liked! We cheated and purchased it from coldstone but it was well worth it. Icecream cake rocks!

Broken

Tyson recently caught a little stomach bug. Seriously, kids with the flu is so gross! Deffinately NOT my favorite part of parenting, but I can be greatful that even when he isn't feeling very well my little man is the happiest, sweetest, most easy going child you've ever seen. The only thing that changes when he doesn't feel well is that he wants to be hugged, kissed, and cuddled a little more than usual, and that is never a bad thing.
Well this week as his little body has been getting back to "normal" he's had a bit more gas than usual. He is quite proud that he knows the difference between "tooting" and "pooping" and always announces to us which one is happening. Last night he let off a little string of toots causing mom and grandma to giggle at him and his cute expression while he did it. Due to the added attention he decided to try to toot again. Unfortunately it didn't work. So he looked back at us, pointed to his bottom, and said "Broken..." :-(
I just about fell over laughing, it was so cute and so funny.
I know most of you don't care that much about my childs gas or the discussion surrounding it, but someday I'm going to miss those moments and I want to remember at least some of the funny things he did, so I decided to post it just incase I forget about it. This way if I ever need something to smile or giggle about I'll be able to look back at this and remember his cute concerned face as he informed me his tooter was broken. :-)

Summer Time Fun!

Well this blog has been neglected for the past little while (as I expected would happen)

So just a quick update on what we’ve been up to for the past month:

We have enjoyed several dinners with Uncle Paul. Tyson absolutely loves having him over (almost) every Thursday night.

6/16/12 We went to the Treehouse museum in Ogden with Meagan and Amy. It was lots of fun but we didn’t get as much time there as we would have liked.

6/17/12 We celebrated father’s day- nothing terribly exciting happened. Dad got a couple movies he had been hoping for and we had Maggie & Grandpa Everton (and Mazey) over for dinner.

6/22-23/12 Garrick and I went on an overnight stay in Salt Lake City. We went to the City Creek mall then met Bethany & Stetson at the National History Museum. It was great to spend the afternoon with them and it was a very cool (and big) museum. Tyson had a super fun sleep over with Grammie & Grandpa Stamps and all of his fun Aunts and Uncles.

6/25-28/12 We had a fantastic week visiting with the Austins and the Stamps at Grammie and Grandpa C. house. We went to the park and played for hours most evenings. Tyson loved having so many kids around to play with and follow around.

6/27/12 We went to the Splash Pad with the Austins and the Stamps. Tyson loves water and had lots of fun getting sprayed. In the future I will have to remember to wear clothes I can get wet in too because Tyson thinks the best part of the splash pad is dragging everyone else in with him. After that we had a yummy spaghetti dinner at Grammie & Grandpa C’s house.

6/29/12 We stopped by a wedding reception for Ben (Garrick’s cousin). There were lots of yummy gluten free cookies available and Tyson learned all too quickly where to find them.

6/30/12 We went to a BIG family reunion with Grammie C & her extended family. There was a fun little creek that Tyson was fascinated with and lots of footballs to chase & try to play with the older boys.

6/30/12 We went to another post family reunion party with fewer people but still lots of fun cousins and aunts and uncles and grandmas to play with and love. Tyson had SOOO much fun participating in the big kids water fight and couldn’t hardly stop to eat yummy pizza for dinner.

6/30/12 Bethany and Stetson stayed over night with us. Dad and Stetson tore into the car door but successfully fixed the window that had gotten stuck down.

7/1/12 We had the opportunity to see Joseph ordained a Deacon. Then we had a lovely family dinner at the Stamps house with the Austins, Olsens, Coburns, Will (robinson), Jensons, Jannsens, and Womacks. It was the same huge crowd from the day before and it was lots of fun.

7/2/12 Garrick and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. We headed to Sennora Grill in Ogden after work for a delicious dinner. Tyson hung out with Maggie and Grandpa  and even got to go play games at Uncle Paul’s house.

7/3/12 We went up to the Everton’s to watch the fireworks from their backyard. It is a great view so much family Tyson didn’t hardly even notice the fireworks he was so excited about the people. The Anderson’s were there with their cute girls, the Stamps and all the aunts and uncles showed up, Grammie & Grandpa C. came with Will, Brad and Janelle showed up and even Sarah & Nate Ruben (tyson’s babysitter) were there. And obviously Maggie and Grandpa were there too. It was a late night but lots of fun and Tyson slept great when we finally got home.

7/4/12 Tyson went to work with dad for an hour or so in the morning while dad tried to fix some sprinklers. I had the day off work so later in the afternoon Tyson and I went to the pool with Maggie and Mazey. It was a HOT day but it was perfect pool weather. Tyson had so much fun playing in the water. That night we did a tiny fireworks show in our driveway. Tyson thought some of the fireworks were cool but his absolute favorite was the pop-its.  He loved throwing them and listening to them pop.

7/7/12 We went to Milee Anderson’s baptism. It was a great to be part of her special day and Tyson had a great time being with all sort’s of family again.

7/8-12/12 We had an informal family reunion with the Everton’s since Beckett & Alex were in town all week. Every night Tyson would ask to go see Maggie and Beckett. He loves his littlest cousin so much. Its so fun to see him interact with him.

7/11/12 Tyson went to see Dr. Blotter about his Tonsils and Adenoids to see what we could do to help him breathe a little better. He is a very healthy kid and rarely gets colds, or sore throats but his tonsils and adenoids are just so big and in the way. Dr. Blotter suggested that we schedule surgery to remove his tonsils & adenoids. I am still freaking out a bit at the thought of my baby having surgery of any kind (even though this is a simple procedure) but it will be good if it means Tyson will sleep better and breathe easier in the future. Surgery is scheduled for August 2^nd and seems almost too close.

7/12/12 The Everton’s and Paul joined us for a little BBQ at our house.  Tyson was so excited to have everyone there to play with him.

7/13/12 Jake, Alex, Mazey, Garrick & I went out for dinner as the Kick-off to the slightly more official reunion. Then we went and got Aggie Ice Cream after. Yummy food and good company, and it was fun to have a night out without the kids plus Maggie & Grandpa got extra time with their two Grandson’s.

7/14/12 We bought an elliptical and Garrick and Brad spent the morning picking it up and getting it in the house. Turtle moved into Tyson’s room to make room for the new exercise equipment front and center in our living room to make sure it gets as much use as possible.

7/14/12 We went to dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe and went Rock Climbing at the Rock Haus with the whole Everton group. Everyone had lots of fun climbing and Tyson even tried it out. He also made friends with a menacing looking wolf dog that was thankfully mellow and great with kids.

7/15/12 We went to church with the Everton’s to Dan’s new ward where he was just called as the Bishop of a YSA ward. We experienced just how quiet a YSA ward actually is and we were frequently embarrassed by our darling son who was very well behaved but very noisy compared to the absolute silence of the YSA wards. When grandpa got up to speak Tyson was thrilled to see his grandpa standing up there and repeatedly yelled Gampa! Gampa! while pointing up at the stand. After church we went back to the Everton’s for tinfoil dinners.

And that brings us to today. WOW! It has been a crazy couple weeks. We have had lots of fun seeing so much family but I think it might be nice to just have a quiet week at home getting caught up on all the housework that got neglected the past little while.

 P.S. I’ll add pictures of some of the events listed above when I get them loaded on my computer. I still don’t take nearly enough pictures but I’ll work on it.

Comedy vs. Tragedy

SPOILER ALLERT: If you are anxiously awaiting the release of “A Little Bit of Heaven” and do not want me to ruin the end do not read this post. I however do not know anyone who feels this way about this particular show and actually don’t know many people who will ever watch this show so I feel relatively safe posting the following.

This post is a bit off topic from my usual rambling about my kid. This post is a public service announcement in hopes of educating the greater population. Apparently the difference between a Comedy and a Tragedy is not as well understood as it ought to be so I felt it my responsibility to inform everyone that in order for a movie to qualify as a "Comedy" it needs to be funny! A comedy would also imply no tragic deaths of the main characters. A "Tragedy" on the other hand does not have to be funny and a tragic death of most of the main characters is required. The only circumstance where this rule can be broke was by Shakespeare because apparently some of his tragedies were quite comical. Until we have another playwright like Shakespeare this rule cannot and should not be broke. I think we all know the writers of EVERY chick flick out there do not hold up to the standard of writing of Shakespeare and are not talented enough to pull up a comical tragedy or a tragic comedy so they should not try.

Please feel free to pass this information on to your friends and family that might be confused and particularly if you know the folks responsibly for categorizing movies so they don’t make this awful mistake again.

In case you’re wondering I realized the need for this information to be shared this weekend when we rented “A Little Bit of Heaven”. Brianna I know you are probably cringing knowing that I watched yet another dumb chick flick, and I'm sorry (sort of). The bottom line for me though is provided it is mildly entertaining, not disgusting or offensive I’ll watch it. I don’t really care if it is award winning material. I don’t really care if the script is that well written or if the actors are fantastic. I like a legitimately good movie just as much as the next guy but I don’t have such high standards that I can enjoy the mediocre entertainment. Its an excuse to eat popcorn and relax on the couch without feeling too guilty. I don’t know what it is about relaxing on the couch doing absolutely nothing but when I’m doing that my mind instantly wanders to my endless to-do list and I feel guilty. If I’m otherwise occupied I can easily avoid that lovely to-do list and the associated guilt (hence the dumb chick flicks.)

Well, we checked out Redbox online and it described the show as: Comedy, Drama, Romance. Two of the three descriptive words indicate ROMANTIC COMEDY and a little added drama to give the movie some depth beyond your average chick flick sounded like a good idea. WRONG! This movie should have come with a disclaimer “WARNING: MAIN CHARACTER DIES!”

I can handle a movie where the main character dies on occasion; I might even chose one of those touchy feely tragic ending shows on purpose from time to time. But it is very important that one of those shows is not misrepresented as a romantic comedy. A hormonal pregnant woman who sobs during most TV series season finales should not be stuck watching a tragedy disguised or mislabeled as a comedy. Luckily I was far to annoyed about the whole situation to sob through the whole film but that is beside the point.  If you would like to go watch a show where the main character dies an untimely, relatively unexpected death after living a sad unfulfilling life please do go rent this movie. Otherwise I would strongly recommend relaxing on the couch doing absolutely nothing until your guilt about the unfinished to-do list eats away at you enough to drive you off the couch into productivity.

News worthy events a the Everton's

We are now entering a new phase with Tyson. Or maybe I'm just finally noticing it today, I'm not really sure. I know kids have their own thoughts opinions and desires from a very early age and so much of our developing relationship with our children is learning how to communicate with them to help them express those feelings. We are far from perfect at this communication process at our house but I always get so excited when Tyson and I reach a new point of understanding and communication, and yesterday was one of those moments. So I decided to document it even though to most it is far from note-worthy these are the moments I want to remember that I know will quickly fade.  So with that amazing introduction yesterday's life changing event was...  Today as we were playing in the living room, Tyson saw his coloring book on the shelf and decided he wanted to color. So he said "color, please". So we did!  I know this is a terribly remarkable eventand I'm sure you're wondering why it wasn't on the evening news, I guess they missed it which is why I'm letting the world know today.  Up until now he frequently had his own opinion of what he wanted to do,  but it was usually a guessing game. He would point or pull or whine or ramble and I would guess. "Do you want a drink? Do you want a snack? Do you want to play blocks?  Do you want to read a book?" Eventually I'd get to the right thing and he would vigorously nod his head, relieved that mom finally figured it out. But today, he knew what he wanted to do and he knew how to ask. It was great!  Plus to top it off a little while later he walked into the kitchen and said "dinner?" and pulled his chair out.  I asked him "Do you want to eat dinner now?" he smiled and nodded and was so excited that he could call the shots and I could understand him. So I put in his chair and got him some dinner. It was great that he could tell me he was hungry and ready for dinner without any whining or guessing or miscommunication.  He is growing up so much lately. It is amazing all the changes that are happening. For a while he would repeat everything that we said but he has now started to really remember LOTS of words. Every time I hear him say a new word I didn't realize he knew I get another moment of excitement. Needless to say my day is filled with excitement lately. 

Newborn’s

I thought about titling this post “Babies” but as I was thinking “babies” and “newborns” really are two completely different categories. Newborns are really their own special category. They only stay at that tiny newborn stage for a moment and then it’s gone. The next stage is equally wonderful and the next one after that, but the newborn stage is pretty amazing.
We were lucky enough to be reminded of how fabulous the newborns stage is this weekend. Alex (Garrick’s sister) had her sweet baby boy on Wednesday and unfortunately due to work schedules we had to wait until Saturday to see him. He was perfect and soooo tiny! His tiny cry and darling facial expression as he checked out the world he was just welcomed into were so fun. I’ve always loved babies and particularly newborns but this experience had a new highlight for me. This was the first time Tyson has had the chance to really see a newborn baby, and he LOVED it. He could not stop talking about baby Beckett all weekend. It was so cute to see the amazement on his face as he admired Beckett’s tiny features and he loved Beckett from the first moment he set eyes on him.
I was a bit nervous of how Tyson would react to a new tiny person entering his life. We are expecting a little brother for him in a couple months and I’ve been anxiously anticipating how he will react to the whole situation. Tyson was the first Grandchild and the first child so he has been spoiled with attention from the minute he was born. He has never really had to share Mommy with anyone besides Dad and usually that was fine but there have been moments when Tyson clearly let Dad know that it was HIS turn with Mommy. Seeing Tyson interact with Beckett put all those worries to rest for me. He loved having Beckett nearby, he didn’t seem jealous to see me holding him and he was very helpful. He wanted to give Beckett his pacifier and made sure that he got his mitten back when it fell off. It was so fun to see him try to take care of the newest baby.
The funniest part was seeing how confused Tyson was at why there wasn’t a baby in the car seat. He kept peaking in the car seat trying to figure out where the baby went. Eventually he figured out there was definitely no baby in the car seat so he decided to check out what that baby car seat was all about and climbed in. I missed the picture because he climbed out right as I got my camera and refused to get back in when it was our idea instead of his.
Overall it was a lovely holiday weekend and we loved all the extra time we got to spend with baby Beckett. Now more than ever I’m really looking forward to having a baby brother for Tyson to dote on and take care of.

P.S I'll add some pictures when I get a chance.

Mario Kart

Have any of you ever played Mario Kart? We play it on occasion at our house and unfortunately I am awful at the whole game. They have this cute little trail they want you to follow so you press whatever button it is that makes you go and you take off full speed ahead. The problem is this lovely little game expects you to steer while you speed down the path, which is impossible (for me). As I attempt to steer I always over correct and swerve back and forth across random grass hills & into trees or cows or whatever is around the track. In the other races that aren’t so kind to give you nice grassy hills to drive around in there are horrible cliffs everywhere you look and if you can’t stay on the path you plummet off the cliff (repeatedly). The game kindly provides a service that picks you up after plummeting and puts you back in your place on the track. This was a genius move by the makers of this game because who would want to play if they drove off a cliff, plummeting to their death and the game was over. The invincible feeling that video games gives you must be one of the main attractions to them. 
In my attempt to drive around the track I frequently get cornered by a wall or something and no matter how hard I push the go button I don’t go anywhere. I eventually figure out how to turn around and then I start charging full speed ahead again (after all, I’ve had a lovely scenic trip that most others have missed but I’m officially in last place and more than likely lapped by most people.) While charging full speed ahead this annoying little arrow thing pops up on the screen repeatedly flashing at me, but as you know I’m in last place and have ground to cover so I politely ignore it. After a few minutes of driving things start to look vaguely familiar and I get excited thinking I’ve finally finish my first lap. To add to my excitement I start to see other cars. The excited feeling only lasts for a moment when I finally realize I’m going the wrong direction and the cars are barreling towards me and I’m inevitably going to get hit. Luckily there are several positive aspects of this situation. 1- When you get hit there is a good possibility it might help you turn the darn car around. 2- When the other super fast cars hit you they will also be slowing down and loosing ground in this hopeless race.
As you head around the track they also give you these box prize things to try to hit as you go. I personally feel this is a bit rude of them, I mean its hard enough to just stay going in a straight line and going the direction  you’re supposed to be going without worrying about collecting prizes. Regardless of how I feel about it, I am still compelled to try to hit the prizes, (which often leads to either getting stuck in a wall or plummeting off a cliff but so does everything else). Eventually you make it all the way around the track and back to where you started and what do you do? You start again on lap 2 repeating the whole messy spectacle of trying to navigate the track.
So you’re probably wondering why I’m going into such great detail about a silly video game that we play a couple times a year at the most. I’ll explain. Recently we’ve starting going on walks again since the lovely spring weather has returned and we’ve started letting Tyson walk instead of ride in the stroller during these evening walks. I figure he can use the exercise and maybe if he burns off enough energy he will willingly come inside when we get home and be tired enough to go to be at bedtime. We have a cute little path leading from our house around an oddly shaped block and back home (which reminds me of a Mario Kart trail.) Walking with Tyson is fascinating, slow, and a bit like the Mario Kart experience described above.
Tyson never walks, he RUNS, full speed ahead, arms flapping, legs kicking, and giggling the whole way. He loves the freedom of being able to run around the block with mom and dad in tow without having to be confined to a stroller. With the charging full speed ahead he doesn’t go for a straight line or even attempt to stay on the sidewalk. He wanders off into literally every yard and driveway we pass by. Sometimes he goes and looks at the cars or the light poles. Sometimes he finds rocks to pick up and sometimes he stops to talk to the dogs in the yards. The best though is when he finds nothing particularly exciting in the yard so he looks up and realizes (as if it is the very first time he has ever seen it) that there is SKY! Its amazing and blue and beautiful! He keeps pointing, staring in awe and saying “Wow…” At first when he did this I kept looking around expecting to see something, a bird, an airplane, heck by as amazed as he was I was half excepting to see a UFO. As I stared up to the empty sky above and saw nothing but endless blue with an occasional wispy cloud I realized that was what was so amazing. It wasn’t something in the sky it was just the sky, and it was phenomenal.
As also happens in Mario Kart occasionally Tyson will run off the path into the road (or off the side of a cliff if you’re in Mario Kart) and Dad or in yesterday’s case Uncle Brad will kindly pick him back up and put him back on the path he should be on (just like the magical little thing does for you in Mario Kart!) Unfortunately, unlike in Mario Kart we are not invincible and roads are dangerous so we try to avoid them as much as possible. Luckily Tyson is pretty good about not going out in the road most of the time unless he decides that the perfect rock is out in the road and he feels that he MUST go get it. The rocks on these walks are like the prizes on Mario Kart. He loves them, he can’t get enough of them and he is compelled to stop whatever he is doing, even slow down the running to pick up the perfect rocks. This is often the part where Tyson gets turned around and takes off full speed ahead the wrong direction, luckily with some gentle coaxing he turns around and comes with us.
Equally as fascinating as the sky above are the bugs below. Spotting a bug or searching for a bug is kind of like the part of Mario Kart where you get stuck in a wall and can’t move. Everything stops while you are looking at the bugs. You can’t just squat down and look at them from a reasonable distance; you have to lie down all the way on the ground with your face less than an inch away from the cement to truly observe the bug. These dramatic pit stops are not saved only for rare and spectacular bugs, in fact this is the enthusiasm with which Tyson greets every single ant he sees crawling across the sidewalk.
Slowly but surely we make the full loop while exploring fire hydrants, cars, fences, chains, bugs, rocks, sticks, sky, and many other things. Incase you haven’t been on a walk with a toddler lately, all of these things are truly amazing and deserve the excited exploration they receive, just ask Tyson. We wave at anyone driving or walking by and Tyson stops and talks to anyone out in their yard as we walk past. (He must have gotten this from his Grandpa because he sure didn’t get that part from me.)
We finally finish our loop. We have swerved off in every direction except the one the path expects us to follow, we have been saved from plummeting (or the road) and gently placed back on the path, we have gotten road blocked by ants, we have ran half the race the wrong direction, and we have collected LOTS of rock prizes. So what does Tyson want to do now? That’s right; he wants to go for another lap.

I feel....

Today I was browsing on Facebook and saw this lady posted a fill in the blank post saying “Today I feel ________” and invited her friends to fill in the blank. She shared a cute happy little statement about how she was feeling today filling in the blank with something positive (I don’t remember what exactly.) What I saw next was kind of sad. Every single person that replied to her post had a negative feeling: stressed, tired, sleep deprived, anxious, nervous, lousy, frustrated, overwhelmed etc. I thought to myself. Isn’t it horribly sad that so many people feel crummy?

I thought about what I would fill in the blank with. I could easily say I’m any of those negative things from avove, I think everyone feels most of those feelings a different points throughout the day, but do I really want those negative feelings defining my whole day? Couldn’t my day be just as easily defined by the feeling of excitement, happiness or love? I wonder and I hope that all those people who responded to the post on FB could also define their feelings as loving, excited, hopeful, inspired, happy, peaceful, relaxed, or joyful.
Obviously every second of every day isn’t going to be complete bliss, but wouldn’t you just feel better if you focused on the positive moments and feelings rather than the negative ones. So just incase you’re wondering; today I feel:

•  Loved- because my sweet little boy gave me endless hugs this morning before I dropped him off. He even climbed back up and gave me extra hugs when I dropped him off before he let me leave. (I was almost late to work but it was very worth it.)
• Relieved- because even though he was a little clingy and hugging he smiled and waved when I told him I had to go to work. It is so nice to leave knowing he is happy and calm not crying or sad.
• Happy- because I have that darling little boy in my life plus its spring, who isn’t happy with sunny weather?
• Blessed- because both my husband and I have good jobs and haven’t had to go a single day without work since we got married (amazing!)
• Calm- because I can feel my new little baby kick and squirm all day and I know he is healthy and growing strong.
•  Inspired- because I have the chance to learn so much from the people around me (especially Tyson who inspires me every day to be a better person.)
•  Excited- because we can probably go to the park this afternoon, and because this weekend is a holiday weekend and my husband will be HOME!

And probably lots of other things but those are the ones that stick out right now.

Spring Time!

It is officially spring (has been for a while) and we are loving the beautiful weather. Tyson cannot get enough of the outdoors right now. Most every day when I pick him up at the babysitter's he is outside playing. I love to see him squatting down searching for bugs (ewww I know!) or collecting rocks.  After work we often go to the park or on a walk. Yesterday's spring felt more like summer to me, (maybe its the pregnancy getting to me or something) I was hot and I assumed he had to be too but he desperately wanted to be outside so we filled up the little wading pool and he splashed and played all evening. Janelle came and visited while we waited for the boys to get off work and as always Tyson loved having her around. He was much more interested in scooping up and dumping out the water than actually climbing in it but either way it was lots of fun. He also realized that if he got his giant cup too close to me and the picnic blanket we were lounging on I would get panicked, desperately telling him to go put the water in the pool. He thought it was hilarious to scare me and tease me with the water. He played outside all night until it was time for dinner and he woke up this morning at 6:30 begging to go play outside more. I'm so glad we live in such a beautiful part of the world and can enjoy this lovely time of year.

P.S. for those of you without little boys spring time is monumentally more fun with little boys! Who knew!?!

 

Thanks Janelle for taking the pics!

Strawberry Jam

This weekend was our first attempt at homemade strawberry jam. I always loved my mom's strawberry jam and decided I could try my hand at a batch. I am not the most domestically talented of sorts but it was fun and Tyson loves helping in the kitchen. 

The Helper!

 

We washed the berries & loaded the blender

We put on the lid. Then...

We crushed the berries

We check the progress

We carefully measured

We added lemon juice & pectin

We poured in the sugar

We stirred and stirred.

 I'm not really sure how well the jam will turn out because the instructions said over and over again that you had to use the EXACT amount of fruit and the EXACT amount of sugar and well.... with a one year old helping measure and pour all the ingredients nothing is exact, but it was fun.Besides I figure there is no possible way strawberries and sugar can taste bad- Right?  Either way it was a steal of a deal on strawberries and we had lots of fun so it was worth it even if I end up having to throw the whole sticky mess away.


(PS sorry about the long line of pictures. I'm not sure how to format pictures in this thing. I'll learn.)