you've got to ask yourself one question ...

well, do ya, punk?

side note: I've never even seen the movie that this quote comes from. Ry and I just thought it would be funny.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

amusing

So it's been a while. And for all of you who are on the edge of your seat wondering what we've been up to this past month (I know the anticipation has been awful, hasn't it?), I promise we are alive and well. Our lives have been pretty standard, ordinary, predictable, and thus un-eventful as of late.

For example: I took a few pictures yesterday and wanted to upload them to our computer. In the process I realized that the only photographic documentation I have of our lives from February 18th (the day of the pictures from the last post) till March 14th is this sole picture:

An entire month, and this is all I've got.

Why would I take this picture you ask? Because this was a monumental day in our home. L ate a cookie. Not kidding. This kid will not eat cake, cookies, chocolate, brownies, even ice cream! And if you remember my fettish with ice cream, you'll understand how heart breaking this is! The only sweets he will eat are skittles and M&Ms. I'm not really complaining (okay, maybe I am) because I have the worst sweet tooth ever, and I'm happy that my child is at least not following my footsteps in that direction (at least not yet). I know there are many of you out there who wish your child would stop wanting those sweets, and who are probably yelling at your computer right now trying to help me understand what a blessing it is that L doesn't do so. 

But on this particular day, which was March 1st, L actually ate an entire snickerdoodle cookie. And I could not be more proud. Hence the picture. 

Since that day he has still refused sweets in any form - including additional snickerdoodles. Is this amusing to anyone else? Probably not. But at least it was reason enough to pull out the camera, and for that I am grateful.  

some fun

We explored the recreation outlet out here in C-bus and really had a fun time! Completely wore the kids out (and us too!). I think L liked the trampoline the most, because I had to get on the tramp every time to get him off! and mind you, there's a rule about only one jumper at a time, so there's half a dozen moms with their kids waiting in line watching me wrestle with him and awkwardly step out of the netted-in trampoline onto those tiny little slides they use to help the kids in and out. A little embarrassing, but worth it.

lots of lovin'

It's so fun to have family near, because you have a silly excuse to go all out for a holiday that you might not have otherwise. Tara and I thought of a Red/Pink dinner menu, complete with lots of food coloring and it was so fun! I still laugh at how weird pink rice looks with red chicken! She had a table all decorated pretty-like, and part of my half of the night was doing the cupcakes. I tried a few new techniques in decorating and I had so much fun! Thanks guys - it was a great time! 

Enjoy the love!

I am SO grateful for Ry and L. They make love a real, tangible thing for me every day and I learn a lot from them about who it is that I'm trying to be. I have the best valentines in the world. 

questions

I asked myself a lot of questions this morning ... it went something like this:

"I haven't seen L in a while. Where is he?"
{hearing L throw a few things down the stairs ... this is common, and therefore didn't deserve a second thought ... hearing L come down the stairs}

"Why is it so quiet in the living room?"
{a few minutes later}

"I'm glad he's playing by himself for a little bit, but what is L laughing about so much?"
{a few more minutes}

"I wish he could just talk more instead of yelling 'Mmaaa' over and over again. Does he really need me right now?"
{continued giggling and yelling for Mmaaa, so I eventually go see what he is up to}

What a cutie!! I almost had an urge to play in it with him, and then just smiled and went to work cleaning it up. I was breathing in baby powder for quite some time - but it was worth it. Cleans up easy, and it created a very cute, happy little boy.

Maybe this is a step in the right direction: playing with white, powdery stuff. Baby power today, snow tomorrow! We will see!!

friends

It is really nice to live walking distance to friends! I know L is grateful for it too ... it seems he is getting bored of me lately during the long days of staying inside.

I LOVE this picture of these two boys. They are a riot together!
Thank goodness for friends!! 

say it ain't so

This was our experience with the crazy snow storm that hit this past weekend. By far the best storm we've had all year, all things considered: amount of snow, level of snow-clearing in the roads, and the beautiful blue sky the next day. It didn't even feel like we were in Ohio anymore! 

I wanted cute family snow pictures, so R took a break from studying and we got all bundled up. L threw tantrum after tantrum while trying to put snow pants, coat, hat, gloves, and boots on; but we kept saying, "we're going outside and you're going to like it!"  

This is THE only normal looking picture I have to L the entire time. 

This is him not wanting to touch any snow - even with his boots.

He LOVES watching Daddy shovel, so I thought it would make him happy ... didn't really work.

Still didn't work.

Life is miserable!

We tried all sorts of things - especially playing in the snow ourselves - to try to warm him up to the idea. At one point R laid down and started making a snow angel ... 

... and this was L's reaction.

At one point we very firmly planted him on the snow sitting down and proceeded to lightly throw snow on his pants (once again, telling him, "you're going to have fun and you're going to like it!"), and he was just crying the entire time. Talking with a friend a few hours later, she commented on how she saw us playing with L in the snow and how cute we all looked throwing snow on him! I told him how miserable he was and that he was screaming bloody murder through it all, and she was so surprised! Just looking through the window she said it looked like we were having fun! It's amazing how the snow can muffle his screams ... 

In the end it was an exhausting excursion for R and I. Way too much work for what we got out of it. The last, futile attempt to entice L was for R to do a running dive into the snow in our back patio. Do you see the clearance he made? No tracks around him at all! Nevertheless, L continued to scream. 

I took him inside and off came all his clothes. Then he watched Daddy shovel a path to our garbage can, and laughed while watching him. Ooooohhhh it made me mad. 

L may have won this battle, but we will win the war. This kid is going to enjoy snow whether he wants to or not! It just may take a few more tries ... 

one of my comforts

The delicious taste of hot cocoa on a cold day. I could drink this every day. In fact, I practically do. One of those small indulgences that allows me a chance to breathe deep and smooth over any rough spots in my day. I love it. 

play days

A little bit of our lives lately ...

Building forts and playing with trains ...

Trying to go to midweek activities for a chance to see other moms and friends - this one was a tour of the Anthony Thomas Candy Factory. Very cool! 

A few of the friends who enjoyed the tour with us. All kids were out of the strollers by the end of it, and before we all left to go home we got 25 cent suckers. I'll pay that amount any  day to have L sit still like that again! That was amazing!

And being creative with our current toys. L loves to find new, daring, adventurous ways to play. He is ALL boy and loves to be a little reckless. I'll try to get a video of him jumping onto the beanbag ... it's pretty cute. 

pictures

I've been organizing pictures lately, and deleting all the multiple copies we have in various locations (desktop, laptop, external hard drives, etc.). I LOVE Picasa by google - it's free and so easy! I have them categorized by year, month, and main theme if there is one. They are all neat and tidy.

This very minute EVERY single digital (and scanned) picture we have in our possession is on my own personal external hard drive. It was a Christmas gift and I LOVE it. Our pictures take up 35+ GB of storage space, and yet I still have hundreds of extra GBs to work with. Ahh the joy of extra room!

That being said, we have over 15,000 pictures. At this rate, taking into account a new member of the family requiring their fair share of camera time and the proportional increase of pictures taken per year, we will come close to having 50,000 pictures by the time we've been married for 10 years.

Okay, that may be exaggerating a bit. But my point is: what on earth do you do with that many pictures?! I worry what this amount of digital stuff will do to me in the years to come!

I have my own ideas of how to document baby's first year, subsequent years and whatnot, and even am making an attempt at family albums. But I would love to hear your ideas and ways to make these memories accessible over the years; plus your own method of madness to keep these pictures contained without taking over your life. Any thoughts?

five years ago ...

... was the day that I spent three and a half hours peeling, coring, and slicing apples by hand for a dessert to take on a group date where I hardly knew anyone. I had met the guy the week before while doing laundry in Glenwood apartments in Provo, and he asked me out.

It was a group date, and we would be doing a potluck dinner, and could I make a dessert to share with everyone? Sure! Not a second later I knew I would make apple crisp - my family recipe and by far my favorite.

The date commenced by shopping at DI for smocks, or rather large shirts we could use. The reason to me was still yet. My main memory of shopping there is how nice my date was to the people we encountered - and you encounter some weird ones at DI.

The date continued by driving up to a bishopric member's home (during which time the juice from the apple crisp leaked out of the pan all onto my jeans ... nice touch on the first date) and having a potluck dinner with 6+ couples. I knew maybe three people there in the beginning - including my date. We played games for a while and ate the yummy food everyone brought (including the main dish which my date grilled - oh yeah). By the time the dessert came around, a new friend, by the name of Jake, announced to my date that he definitely needed to keep me around because it was the best dessert he'd ever had. (score one point for me)

Dinner was done, and three couples continued the date by going to a pottery studio where we threw our own pots. This smaller group consisted of my date and his two roommates with their dates. It was quite entertaining to watch one another try to mold and sculpt clay into anything functional, and we had a good time. My favorite part: a guaranteed second date was required to go and pick up the bowls after they were fired in the kiln one week later.

That was the end of the date. One week later? Went on a date again, but to a concert in SLC. We actually never went back to pick up the bowls.

The best part of the whole evening? The date ended up being the first of many which led to our wedding day in August. Thanks for being my favorite first date Ryan!

Note to readers:

The previously mentioned apple crisp recipe is not a hard recipe. What took me 3 1/2 hours the first time now takes me about 20 minutes to complete. Thank goodness, or else that might have been the only time we would have had one!

christmas in colorado

1. Working together

Preparing for an open house hosted by my amazing in-laws. Hanging out with family is wonderful, but working with the family seems to be so much more meaningful and enjoyable. It's nice to have goals to work towards, and family to help you get there!

{this is just a sampling - there was more food there than I can remember! Many, many more beautiful plates not captured by camera. }

2. Variable weather

Colorado Springs always has different weather - one day it'll snow and the next it's warm enough to only wear a sweater! So we took advantage of that and tried to get the kids outside. Garden of the Gods is BEAUTIFUL, and gave us all a nice walk together!

3. If One is good, Four is better!

There were times when it got crazy with so many kids close to the same age, but it was even a little bit easier at times. If you're doing a bath, throw 'em all in! If you're making dinner, feed 'em all! If you're changing a diaper, change 'em all!

4. Christmas Eve

Santa came! TM (baby cousin) didn't seem to have an opinion, SL was scared and cried, L sat cautiously (and occasionally said "ho, ho, ho"), and CJ kept announcing that it was Papa, not Santa. What a funny crowd!

Being parents has it's advantages - like setting up for Christmas morning! I've never been on that side of the line, and I LOVED it. It made me giddy! And it was even funnier watching the three adult brothers put together a marble tower - does the box really say for ages three and up?

5. The Broadmoor Hotel

We walked around this beautiful hotel, and it was a lot of fun being with family, drinking hot cocoa, and being all bundled up!

6. Snow Days

L cried every time ANYone rode the sleds. It was pretty traumatic! But we were all bundled up, and we were going to have fun, dang it!

7. Taking pictures!

This is a must every time we get together, and we try to make it work with all the kids! I think it was a success!! Love you guys!

8. Playing with cousins

We don't get to see family as much as we'd like, so we had to pack it all in over this vacation! It was fun to have play dates every day!

9. Helping in the kitchen

Nonnie was so kind to always let the grandkids help her in the kitchen! Definitely slows the progress down, but the kids love it and love playing with her!

10. Roasting Marshmallows

We had to test out the new roasting sticks we gave R's dad for Christmas. They were a success! L still does not like to eat plain chocolate, but he loved the graham!

"Smalls, do you wanna s'more?"

"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"

11. Play Gym

The kids LOVED it and so did we. Such a blast!

12. Taking a break

My favorite part of all was just being with Ry and L together. There were days apart, and I can safely say that the best time for me was when we were all together again!

exploring the outside

Last week (maybe longer?) it snowed a lot, and for people who live in Columbus, that usually means we stay indoors. The temperatures were awful and freezing and way to cold to be outside enjoying the snow! But a few days after, L and I just couldn't take it anymore! We went out for a walk, and after a good half hour Lfinally understood that he could walk on the snow. Geez ... this kid was a slow learner! Good thing we're teaching him young ... because those ski trips are coming up soon!

greatest date ever

Skiing is definitely a favorite in our family - and since we didn't go while out in Colorado (so close, and yet so far away ...), last Saturday Ry and I decided completely last minute to try out Mad River Mountain, a mere 45 minutes away from our house!

This is us on the way - we still couldn't believe there were mountains close enough to ski on!! Can you tell we're excited?!

This was our view as we get off the main road, and our GPS tells us we are exactly 3 minutes away. Are you kidding me? But believe it or not, there really was a mountain (errr ... hill?) 1,460 feet high with a 300 vertical foot drop. Lift tickets were 50% off that day with college ID's, and we were good to go!

To give you an idea, we started out on the black diamonds, and pretty much stayed there all afternoon. I'm not trying to brag at all - I'm trying to give you a reference point: if I am doing black diamonds, then they're really not that hard. I am not a beginner, but definitely not comfortable in any of the blacks I ever even tried out in Utah. Easy blues are typically my favorite. And I was cruising on blacks in Ohio! haha ...

It felt so good to ski again with Ryan!

He's by far my favorite person and the best skiing buddy ever. I can't wait for him to teach our kids!

Thanks for the best date ever Ry!!

resemblance

do you think they look similar?

In case not, try imagining these faces on L, and think again.

Maybe Calvin should have been his middle name?

And the picture of L was taken after three hours of being awake already - and he still had that crazy hair. I love it!