Abc's...

I don't want to be one of those annoying people that posts pictures of their kids and all they can talk about is their kids. Unfortunately, I think I am becoming one of those people.  Whenever proud mothers send me a photo of their child saying their ABC's or jumping in a puddle or putting on sunglasses and I feel forced into saying, "Oh, that is sooo cute," (with the drawn out soooo for emphasis).  When secretly I think, "Hello. Your kid put on big sunglasses. Why is that so funny? It's not. Everyone knows their ABC's so I don't understand why you felt the need to record it."

Well. I looked on my phone and realized yesterday that I have multiple pics of Liv and Grace in sunglasses and I sent Liv saying her ABC's to at least 10 people.  As soon as I looked at it I thought, "What have I done? I have become what I have mocked for years."   We went to the park the other day that was crawling with children. I thought, "Sheesh am I glad that the two most darling children here are mine. Someone seriously needs to wipe that little boy's nose and why is that annoying girl screaming so loud?"  Then I realized that everyone feels about their kids the way I feel about mine. It's called parent vision. It's like motherhood lasik where you see you kids completely different than any other and when they say their ABC's, it's like the first time you've ever heard the letter W said so cute and you are convinced that they are going to Harvard on a scholarship.  I promised myself I would never get motherhood lasik and be completely objective about my children but I can't. My girls are the cutest companions I could ever want to hang out with all day. If you don't believe me, I'll send you a trillion photos and video clips to prove it...

Welcome to India...

The Denver zoo is expensive. So Liv and I improvise and spend a lot of time going to PetCo.  I mean sure they don't have bengal tigers and exotic animals but they do have a pretty sweet rodent and fish collection.  We have spent hours watching ferrets, mice and hamsters run on their wheels and Liv never gets sick of it.

I realized lately that the hamsters and I have something in common...our daily routines.  Hamsters exert a lot of effort and burn a lot of calories on that silly wheel that never changes.  I feel like I have never worked harder in my life and yet it feels very "wheel like" considering it is the same thing over and over each day. One of the most mundane cycles that is a mothering chief cornerstone is dinner production. Seriously a pointless endeavor.  First you have to plan it, then you have to venture into the public eye and buy the ingredients, then prepare the meal, set out all the necessary tools to consume it, all for a glorious 10 minutes when it is then over and you are left with clean up... only to have to repeat the cycle not even 24 hours later.  Can we say hamster wheel syndrome?

 

The problem is that I feel like I make the same 10 things over and over and over and over and you get the idea.  There's always the classics (tacos, spaghetti, hamburgers, etc.) followed by a variety of cream of crap casserole like dishes that are basically goulash with cream of something cooked at 350 and are always welcome when the ward brings you dinner. The third category of my gourmet cooking is the unknown variable pinterest dream.  Meaning, I pin a lot of virtual meals that always look far better on the computer screen than they do on the plate and few make it into the regular routine after their creation and fall.  I decided that for conference we needed to venture out of the normal hamster wheel cooking boundaries and try something new and exotic.  Thus, Liv and I (Liv is my newest cooking assistant) decided that Indian food was in order. 

I

I felt slightly confident since I was using "our best bites" which rarely fails me.  Here we are making naan even though I generally stop reading if any recipe says the word "yeast."  Unfortunately, I did not inherit my mother's pioneer bread making genes and talent.

The results were not impressive but not repulsive.  We had grilled chicken tandoori (I feel fancy just saying that word), curry rice, garlic naan and asparagus (the asparagus was not Indian, it was just about to go bad in our American fridge so it had to be consumed).

When you make exotic new foods, I feel it is necessary to be fully invested in the meal. Luckily, everyone was willing to participate.

Even though some people didn't know they were participating.

I love cooking with Liv.  I enjoyed our cultural hamster wheel variation of Indian food although it will not be a frequent usual dish (mostly because it used more than 5 ingredients).  There are some perks to the motherhood hamster wheel...if you mess up dinner, don't worry because you will get another chance the next day, and the next, and the next....

Conference. The other New Years.

 I love New Years but to be honest, I can't even remember what resolutions I made a month later so it's a pretty pointless holiday as far as my personal progress goes. I always feel so motivated after general conference. A heck of lot more motivated than I do after gaining post Christmas glutton weight from all the neighborhood treat drop offs and sitting around.  Thus, I have decided that conference is now the new new years.  A time to make some goals and actually do something different. 

 I am not scrapbook inclined. However, I am starting a conference binder for our fam and we are going to make it a big deal for two reasons:
1. I love conference
2. I love big deals
Thus, conference is a big deal.  So I want it to be something fun and that everyone looks forward to.   Liv had a positive conference experience because she got to go to the park in between sessions.  As we pulled up in her stroller it was like she had completely forgotten parks exist because at the first sight she started screaming so loud with pure joy and memories of germy twisty slides and swings and pea gravel in your shoes came flooding back and she was in playground heaven.  She also loved building marble towers with dad during the talks.  Grace wins the award for paying the best attention:
 
When I was little I remember feeling like general conference was the longest TV show ever invented. It seems like I couldn't tell one old man in a suit from the next and I would get very restless filling in my conference Bingo board. Now I feel like it goes so fast and over the noise of marble playing, diaper changing, and child chasing I miss the days when my mom would make us watch while eating homemade cinnamon rolls and trying to fill in my bingo board faster than Mike.
I don't care how tired you are or how many times you got up in the night to nurse, you do not feel tired when listening to Elder Holland. In case you missed it, do yourself a favor and enjoy a little spiritual dessert:
http://youtu.be/2nPY22FoDpY?t=7s
I love Conference. I love that news years comes twice a year with enough instruction and motivation to last me the next 900 years if I exercised and actually lived that long.

4 Generational Girls Getaway...

So this one time my mom, my sister, my 84 year grandma and my two daughters were all together at my house. It's true. It happened. It was like an unpruned family female tree gone wild and I loved every second. We were very sad that Eliza couldn't join to complete the bonding. Since Gar was in and out working, Cole was the only patriarchal male influence in the home.  This is one of those posts that is really not exciting to anyone, and I could look at each of these pics and have a brain smile for hours.  

I loved waking up to the sight of these women in their pajamas...

 Cole and Grace had their first (of many) cousin bonding time.  It's going to be much easier on both of them if they choose to be friends because they are going to be forced to hang out for more hours in their future than they could possibly realize with their developing brains...

Of course we had a spa night. Girls have to do girl things and what is more girl-ish than spa time, whether you are wearing a training bra and braces or 84 with wrinkles. It's what girls do.

Easter Sunday with the self timer...

 Sunday Watercolor class. Unfortunately, my mothers artistic talent was not passed on to her oldest daughter. The purple bleeding blob on a green stick was my best work. It's supposed to be a spring flower. Don't judge.

 Soaking up some Colorado sun on a Spillway stroll...

 Em and I sent mom, Gram and Gar on an Easter Egg hunt that ended in the playset.  My grandma and mom's reaction can be clearly seen in this photo.   Gar was calm as a summers morn (as usual).

 May the ever classic "robin egg lipstick" tradition never die.

 Games galore included scrabble, masterpiece, and rack-o.  We were no match for Grams superior intellect.  It was a total sweep.

 One of my favorite sights every night...

 Don't even act like you don't wish Em was your aunt.

 Even though he was severely outnumbered, I was so happy that dream baby was there, also known as Cole Orton.  I'm not a baby lover but I am a Cole lover. To the max.

There are few things that are a better use of time and money than garage sales.  We introduced my grandma to this way of shopping which she was not accustomed to. After the third sale she asked very perplexed, "Well I just can't find the prices and how do you even know what to shop for?"  She's the best. 

 Liv couldn't get enough of her idol, my mother.

 There is no way I could have a more fun mom or grandma.  It is essentially the same personality running through all our veins and I am so glad.

Some memories you just want to soak in formaldehyde and preserve every detail so you never forget any moments.  This last weekend was one of them.  I loved being with some of the most important women in my life all together. I need them in my world no matter how old I get or how many children I have.  I watched a special on elephant herds that showed how female elephants naturally form a small group of other females during the day to associate with and that they need that connection to thrive.  I feel the same.  I'm so grateful to be part of such a fun female family tree. 

Thought to kick off the week...

 We are in post church nap zone right now but sometimes I sacrifice the nap because I love to just have everything quiet and still instead of feeling like I am on a motherhood ant hill in constant motion. I feel so excited for this week.  My mom, sister, and grandma are all going to be in my house this week. Don't even try to imagine how thrilled I am about this upcoming event. I read this quote a few days ago and loved it:

"Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul." 

  -Marjorie Pay Hinckley

 I think that's a good theme.  The photo below demonstrates how we should embrace the week with our heart and soul (and our double chin)...

 Grace is learning to be very patient with Liv's love.

 For some reason Liv thinks I do not bathe Grace enough because she is constantly licking her like a mother cat.  I will continue to try to help her get over this odd habit.

 Grace is not crying tears of happiness. This is usually the end result of Liv loving her. It's a very intense love that sometimes involves belly flops and full body squeezing. We are working on the soft and gentle concept.

Everything I have to do this week will involve these two girls. They are my world. Welcome new week. Fresh. Ready. New. I love this week already. 

Ode to Kim Cherry...

 I have someone in my life that all people need to meet.  Her name is Kim Cherry. She is one of those people that from the beginning I was friends with in my brain for a long time before we starting actually talking.  At first I was intimidated because she dresses like she works as a fashion model but really she works putting her 3 year old in time out and magnifying her homemakerhood like me.  Let's play a guessing game so you can start to see why I appreciate this woman in my life:

 Last week Gar asked me to make cinnamon rolls for his presentation he had to give at work.  Every time I have ever attempted any sort of bread product it turns out like hard frisbee.  I didn't stress this time, I just called Kim Cherry who spent the entire day helping her baking handicapped friend make a million cinnamon rolls.

 Then there was that one time I was in labor (I try to think about that as little as possible, it does not make me feel warm thrilled feelings) and Gar was at work. Who did I call? Duh. Kim Cherry.

Who brought me my favorite dessert in the hospital? If you guessed Kim Cherry you are correct.

A few weeks ago she called just to say that she had made hot fresh homemade french bread and wondered if I wanted some...

 

 And let us not forget that Kim Cherry is married to a professional chef who is extremely funny and showed up last week wearing a shirt that said, "I'm naked under this shirt", and brought us the most divine Asian Salad.  Game nights with them make your stomach hurt.

 Then there was this morning when we had a little hang out with our friend Jillian Michaels while she attempted to shred us...

Ashton didn't have weights so he improvised with a fake corn and boggle game spinner.  It was a good time indeed followed by green smoothies.

 Some people just come into your life and you know you are supposed to know them.  I don't know if we ate lunch a few times together in premortality or what but I am always so grateful to re-meet those people that make your life so much better. Kim Cherry is definitely one of those people.

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."  -C.S. Lewis