Andrea's Shower

I love my family! Yesterday we had a shower for my cousin Andrea who got married in July back East. Her and her new hubby are living in Provo going to school so we wanted to get her anything else she needed for their new life together. She is the nicest girl ever and didn't like to be in the spotlight, but handled it really well! We got to hear how they met, how he proposed,(I love hearing those stories!) and their future plans. We also got to meet my cousin Julie's new boyfriend which was fun. He was pretty brave to come into a room full of women! He seems great, and I am really glad that he makes her so happy. Love was in the air!

The Stephenson girls
Jason and Andrea-aren't they so cute? I miss the newlywed days...doesn't he look like Chris O' Donnell? I kept telling him that, but he doesn't know who that is. I must be getting old.

Gratitude

A few things I am grateful for this week--

*Redbox movies-can't beat a dollar/free with code!

*Discovery Park

*my new job starting Monday

*My sister-in-law Bethany for watching my kids while I work

*Valley Center Playhouse-(please read singletonliving.blogspot.com for further details)

*more zucchini than I know what to do with

*Good books including Stargirl and Tuesdays with Morrie

*diapers

*the weather-it stills deserves a shout out

*old friends

*people I can be real with

*snuggling with Carter

*cafe rio

*reading books with Preston today

*fresh fruit

*my hard working husband
*50 cent cans of cream of chicken soup(go to Albertsons)

*a nice 3 mile run outside this morning

Today was a good day. Nothing exciting happened, just got to be with my family. Life is good.

chef James is back

After a long absence chefjamescookingpot.blogspot.com is back up and running. I have been busy in the kitchen trying new things and concocting some great dishes which have been tested on friends and family. Check it out I will have a lot to share in the next little while.

James

Blog Love

I got tagged by Adhis because she loves to read my blog (I love to read her's too, it is so funny and well written). Thanks Adhis! I am so flattered. The rules are that I have to tag 7 other people and tell them how much I love to read their blogs. I have so many that I love, but I can only choose 7. Sorry! So if you are one of those 7 , feel free to post this on your blog and give some other bloggers some love.

1. My cute sister Melanie- carlmelwhiting.blogspot.com

2. My hilarious single friend Katie-really people, if you haven't read her blog you need to, it will make you laugh for days! -singletonliving.blogspot.com

3. The girliest blog on the net- cupcakechowder.blogspot.com

4. The biggest twilight lover I know- annban10.blogspot.com

5. My neighbor with great stories of junior high- werewinginit.blogspot.com

6. A funny mom and great chef trying to survive in Australia- benatriley.blogspot.com

7. Adventures of a single mom while her husband is in Iraq-gardnerhawaii.blogspot.com

Girls Trip 2008

It was that time again for our annual Stephenson family girls trip (My mom's side of the family.) Although we were smaller in numbers this year since my cousin Jacque's father-in-law passed away suddenly so her family attended funeral services, we still had such a great time (but missed them too!) We went Thurs.-Sat. up to Park City and stayed in a nice condo right in Red Stone Plaza right next to a lot of shopping and restaurants, it was awesome. Here are the girls minus Aunt Sharon and Bethany:

Back: Mom, Melanie, Aunt Mary, Shauna

Front: Me, Shannon, Sarah

So the first night we looked through the dining books and decided on this place called "Good Thymes since it had a variety of food that hopefully everyone would like. Wrong. It was disgusting! I ordered a Philly Cheesesteak and got it with American cheese. Does anyone else think that is just wrong! Provolone people, hello! Shannon and Melanie ordered a quarter chicken and got a huge piece of a bloody chicken leg served to them, nasty. And the most annoying thing was the lady wouldn't split our checks up! Needless to say, they got the thumbs down from me. Of course I was the only one brave/stupid enough to get up on the wall in front of the restaurant and make such an ugly face! The next night we ended up going to Red Rock and it was amazing!! Chicken Parmesan to die for. I was bummed I forgot to take a picture with a thumbs up in front of it. Oh well ,there's always next year.

We stayed up talking until about 2 am and it was so nice to wake up at 10 and not even feel bad about it! We got ready and hit the outlets. Here are the Tenney girls ready for a good day of shopping.
And shop we did! I got a lot of fun things for me like 2 hats, earrings, and a new purse. Here we are with all of our bags (well almost we still had some in the car from before.) Bethany met us up there and we talked her into spending way more money than she wanted! Everything she tried on just looked so cute on her she had to buy all of it! That is the fun in shopping together, you get everyone's opinion.
My mom got a purse last year and I took a picture of it, so in keeping with tradition, since I got a purse this year too, we took one together. After shopping is the funnest part because we do "Show and Tell" and show everything that we bought and lay it all out. We also add up all of our receipts and see who spent the most. This year since Jacque was not here (she always wins!) Melanie took top prize for most money spent. Although I do have to say most of it was for her kids' school clothes, so that doesn't really count right? :)
My mom is also a personal stylist for my aunt Mary and dyes and cuts her hair. She has actually been stopped by people and asked who does her hair because it is so cute. The funniest part is that my mom doesn't have a license but she still does a great job! I kept telling my aunt she looked like she had white dreadlocks. I am sure she will love me for putting this picture on here!
I love being with my family and I think this getaway is so necessary to keep connected and for my sanity!! I had a ton of junk food, no sleep, a hurt stomach from laughing so hard, and memories that will last a lifetime. Thanks for the fun girls!

Perfect Weather

Since I am one of the biggest complainers about the weather, I decided to do a post about how wonderful the weather has been in Utah the past few days. I have turned off the air conditioning and just had my windows open all day, it's the best! Being in the high 70's and soon to be low 80's is the greatest. Thank you Mother Nature for being kind to me. You deserved a shout out.

First Day of Preschool

It finally arrived! Carter has been talking about this for a long time and was so excited to go. I take him to a girl that lives in my sister Melanie's neighborhood. She was a kindergarten teacher for about 10 years and just had her 4th baby and decided to stay home with her, so she started a preschool. She seems great and I know Carter needs the structure of school, and to mix things up twice a week! He mostly was excited about his new spiderman backpack which is about as big as he is, and to wear his orange helicopter shirt which he picked out himself. When we got there I said bye and he didn't even acknowledge that I was there. He went right in and did his thing. That is definitely his personality! He has never been afraid of anything new, he just dives right in. When I picked him up after it was over he told me that he played with dinosaurs, described each of them, and that was about all the details I got. He pretty much just said yes or no to everything else. Kids are so funny. I just need to figure out what I am going to do for the 2 hours that he is gone. It is not exactly close to my house so I don't want to go all the way home and come right back. Today me and Preston went to my brothers pizza place and chatted with him for awhile and then went to Ross and looked around. I may start going to the gym and putting Preston in the daycare there so it will force me to work out. Any other suggestions? All in all, it turned out to be a good day.

Big Boy Bed

Since Carter is now 3 1/2 and a week away from starting preschool, I figured it was about time to put the crib away! He loved his crib and knew how to climb out, but still would wait for me to get him every morning. I wasn't about to mess up naptime and bedtime with a normal bed that he could get out of easily! We decided to try him out in a normal bed for a few nights in our guest room and he loved it. He still would call for me to come get him in the morning so I thought that this wouldn't be too hard of a transition for him or me. We headed over to Ikea to scout out a new bed for him. We decided on this one because we want him and Preston to share a room when we have another baby (don't get any ideas, that won't be for awile :) and thought this was perfect. It is a reversible single or bunk bed you just flip it over and can make space for a bunk bed by putting a mattress on the ground. Pretty ingenius I thought. Carter also spotted the canopy on top and had to have it! Since Ikea is so cheap, we sprung for it and the fun duvet cover to match. James had a "fun" time putting it together last night while the kids were in bed and put the last screw in tonight just in time for bedtime. Carter was so excited. It made me a little sad to see him so grown up! Time keeps flying by...

Ode to my Husband

Let's just face it, my husband is awesome. I know some of you hate the "bragging blogs" but too bad, James totally deserves it! Today he finished his first OLYMPIC triathlon and did a great job. He has done some sprint tris in the past and really wanted to push himself so has been training for this for the past four or five months. Many of you may have seen him running or biking around the neighborhood making loop after loop trying to get the allotted time in he needed to train for that day! He finished in about 3 hours (his watch broke) and said it was the hardest thing ever. They had to swim in the Jordanelle Reservoir for 1 mile, bike 25 miles, and run a 10k (6.2 miles). I am so proud of him and that he was able to accomplish this! We also had our 7 year anniversary on the 10th, so here are 7 things that I love about James:

1. His accent---I thought it was adorable when we met and still find it totally adorable now. Although it has definitely gotten more American sounding, I still smile every time he says Heather, garage, trousers, little turtle, dirty dancing, rooty tooty fresh and fruity(from the IHOP menu),water(which every waitress never understands), ponce, bloody, the list could go on and on!

2. What a wonderful father he is to my boys. They absolutely adore him and he is definitely the fun one of the two of us. He takes them to the Dinosaur Museum, Cabelas, and the pool without me all the time. He also lets Carter get a pink cookie every time after they go swimming which he thinks is the greatest thing ever!

3. He always puts my needs before his. That is how it has always been. He always knows when I have had a bad day and need a break and is happy to let me get out and do my thing. Girls nights, bunco, hanging out with family, he will always stay home with the boys for me to have fun. He also really encourages me to run and makes sure I get my long runs in no matter what.

4. He still is romantic after 7 years. He is one of the most thoughtful, fun, original guys I know. He always has something cool planned for big days throughout the year. He makes a huge deal about my birthday and throws me a party with all my family and friends. On my race day he presented me with a certificate to get a massage at 1pm after the race. Breakfast in bed, flowers, picking me up a yummy treat he thought I would like, making t-shirts, watching chick flicks, project runway, the hills, and other girly shows with me, making me countless gourmet dinners, I love it all.

5. He makes me laugh. Although technically I am the funny one in our relationship(he still tries to disagree with me on this one), he still is pretty funny. :)We can sit and laugh our heads off at his one liners. For instance today I was crying from laughing so hard about his description of his race..."Getting kicked in the face about 100 times was fun, followed by veering off course only to find myself totally away from everyone else at the edge of the lake, and running to the finish with the lady with the megaphone asking me what my name was and where I was from, as I can barely breath let alone chat with her." Okay maybe you had to be there, but I was laughing pretty hard. He makes me laugh, enough said.

6. His politeness and manners--This comes with the territory of being British, but I still love it. He still asks me if he can eat things at our house, will always let me get my dinner first, and if there is only a little bit of food left he always asks if I want the rest. My family is anything but polite, especially when it comes to dinnertime and he learned this first hand when we were dating. We do it buffet style and get in line and you better hurry or you might not get any. James didn't want to be rude and waited for everyone to get some. Sadly, my brothers are pigs and there was nothing left when he finally found the courage to take his turn. He learned the ropes pretty quick after that but still would never take the last piece of meat or potato in fear that someone else might not get some. I love him!

7. He is a great listener. He will just let me talk if I need to vent and at least acts like he is interested and cares. He also remembers things I say I want or like even if I am just saying it in a nonchalant way, and will surprise me with them later. That means a lot. He gets me. When you get married you think you know who you are marrying, which you sortof do, but there are some things you just can't know until you live with someone and see them in different situations. James has been 100 times better than I could have ever imagined. He is everything I ever wanted and way more. Cheesy I know, but true. He is just a deep down good person with an amazing heart. I love you babe, here's to a lot more!

Half Marathon #2 Completed!!

This race turned out to be a lot different than what I had in mind. I have learned quite a few things from this race as compared to the last. One being to try to train on the course you are running BEFORE you run it on race day. I had been training on a flat surface and this race was downhill which I thought would be easier. It was in some ways but it killed my knees and made me get blisters on my toes, both of those things I hadn't experienced before the race. I also ended up having to go #2 halfway through (sorry if that was too much info!) and found out I had a stomach bug that lasted the rest of the day. It was pretty brutal. I have a lot to learn!

Here is some of us carb-loading the night before at the best place ever, Brick Oven.

Here are my number one supporters on race day- James even made the cutest shirts for the boys to wear. They were a hit!
It said "My Mummy ran the Provo half marathon and all I got was this t-shirt." So funny!
Here are the four of us at the finish line Bethany, Melanie, me, and Brooke
Here is us running toward the finish. Brooke finished about 30 minutes before us and decided to run back and find us and cheer us on the rest of the way. She kept me going when I wanted to stop and told me to just pick up my knees and finish! Thanks Brooke, I needed your encouragement. By mile 10 I pretty much crumbled and was finished. I had to walk a lot and I appreciated Melanie and Bethany for staying with me the whole way so that we could all finish together. I killed their chance of getting a good time, but it was nice to go through the finish holding hands and knowing that we had done it all together. I love these girls! I was so proud of them and they were doing so awesome. Bethany said she could have gone for 5 more miles! Thats the hard thing about running, you have great days and then you have bad days, I guess it was one of my bad days. I am still proud that I finished, and I actually did beat my time from last year, but feel a little disappointed knowing that I could have done better on a different day. Life goes on! I guess this will push me to do another one and keep improving. Well maybe tomorrow after my body doesn't feel like I'm 90 years old...

Crazy Stephenie Meyer Fans!

I love the Twilight books don't get me wrong, but people are crazy! I went to the midnight release of the Breaking Dawn book at Walmart with my cousin Megan and it was insane (see my review of the book below). We went to the Walmart in American Fork only to find 2 registers open and about 1000 people wrapped around the store. We then decided to go to the Lindon one thinking it might be a little less crowded. This is what we found:

Another big line but it was moving faster so we decided to stay. As we waited in the back of the line, a car drove by saying that there were copies over at Smiths and that they didn't have many left so we better hurry. Alli and I booked it to Megan's car and were in hot pursuit of Smiths. As I was running I thought to myself "Am I seriously running to get a book? This is ridiculous!" , but all the fun of being there was totally worth it. We were one of the last people to get a book there so I am glad that we ran! I immediately went to bed when I got home so why I got it at midnight is pointless, but still so hilarious to see all of the crazies waiting to get their hands on a copy. Thanks for a fun night girls!! I loved it!
L to R Me, Kaylynn, Megan, Sarah, Alli

Breaking Dawn Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD* IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE ENTIRE BOOK DON'T READ MY REVIEW!!

I just finished the book and let me just say, I have definitely mixed feelings about it. I loved the beginning and was so happy to be back in the world of Edward and Bella again. The wedding and honeymoon were great too and then the tables turned a little bit. I thought the whole pregnancy was weird. I kept picturing this alien child with bright green scary eyes and it just disturbed me! I have actually been a big fan of Jacob throughout all the books (I love Edward more) but in this book he really irritated me. The whole book from his perspective was not my favorite. Bella REALLY was getting on my nerves during the pregnancy. It was as if she had no respect for the Cullens and if they lived or died didn't matter because she was going to have this baby no matter what. I just hated how it was all about her and if she wanted to snuggle with Jacob in front of Edward that was cool .Whatever! She is married!! The weirdest part was how Edward was totally cool with Jacob and her having a baby together. That was so not necessary! I also was annoyed with Rosalie and Bella's friendship all of a sudden. What happened to Alice, is she chopped liver? I thought the delivery of the baby was WAY graphic. I don't think I will ever read that part again. Okay, all my rants are over and we can start with the good stuff.

I loved how she wrapped it all up. Although the imprinting was definitely weird with Jacob and Renesmee, it made it more believable that he could be over Bella but that they could still be friends. I loved how Bella transformed and discovered all of the abilites she had as a vampire that she didn't human. I loved the vampires coming from all over the world to help Carlisle. I really liked the Garrett character and would like to see if she will do any more on him and Kate. Anyone else agree? I am glad that she is still able to keep contact with Charlie and that he was finally able to find someone to be with that makes him happy. My favorite part was the last pages of Edward being able to read her mind and her going through all of her memories. It made it all come together into a great ending. I'm sad it's over but atleast I can get back to normal life again! Thank you Stephenie Meyer for this wonderful series. It has gotten me into reading again.

*Please share your thoughts/opinions on the book with me. I would love to hear your insight!

Itty Bitty Soccer

I signed Carter up for Itty Bitty Soccer for 3-4 years olds at the Legacy Center. It is for two weeks and our last day (thankfully) is Friday. It has been another one of those things that I envisioned in my mind totally differently. The first day he cried almost the whole time. The second day he did much better after being bribed with a toy that he could get afterward. The last few times has been kindof a mixed bag with him sometimes wanting to play, but most of the time just running around aimlessly. It has been pretty humorous to say the least. My friend Brooke has her son Teagan in it too so we just sit and laugh at how ridiculous our kids are and always question if we will go the next day. Here are some out of focus shots of the action:

Here they are "stretching" at the beginning of the class
Carter has wanted his own soccer ball the whole time and doesn't like it if they all have to share one ball. Notice how he clings to his ball tightly! (he is in the yellow shirt)
His favorite part of the entire day is at the end they all get to run to the wall and back before they get their candy. He thinks he is so fast and loves to race. Note to self: Preston won't start until he is atleast 5. I guess the oldest always ruins it for the younger ones. haha

p.s. James came back with no cavities again in case any of you were wondering. The dentist said he had some of the strongest teeth he had ever seen. SO unfair!

Great News

I finally scheduled a dentist appointment after having not gone to one in almost 5 years. So shameful, I know. I hate the dentist and have in previous visits had tons of work done. So I was having anxiety all night last night about how much all of my dental bills were going to cost and how much all of it was going to hurt, the root canals they would have to do, and the scary drill noise. Yikes. I was even nervous about the cleaning since last time I left in tears-am I just a HUGE wuss? My appointment along with the two little ones was this morning at 8am so I could just get it overwith. Turns out the whole experience was almost pleasant! The hygenist was super nice and didn't hurt me in the slightest (I don't know what the last girls deal was) and after taking all the x-rays I have ZERO cavities!! I don't think that has ever happened to me in the history of me going to the dentist. Carter also had no cavities and got a little award and his picture taken to put up on the wall. He was so excited about his new toothbrush and plastic caterpillar he earned as a prize. The funniest part was for having no cavities he got a certificate for a free ice cream at Arctic Circle. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose? He'll eat it for sure but I am just glad I got the okay from the dentist! Preston just had a "friendly"visit and basically was just running around the office the whole time. James goes in about an hour. He has never had a cavity so we will see if this tradition continues or if he has run out of luck. To be continued...

Happy Days

Oh, the summer has been flying by! Today as I was driving home with two boys asleep in the backseat, I had some quiet time to think about all of the blessings I have in my life. I have had quite a few lunch/dinner dates with friends and family lately and have felt so lucky to have such good people to learn from and be with. I don't have pictures of all of the lunch dates but here are a few and some other things that have made me happy lately-

This is my cousin Josh who turned 18 on the 18th. I can't believe he is that old. His mom (my mom's sister) died when he was 7 so he came to live with us my senior year of highschool. We have always had a special bond ever since and I try to keep in touch with him as much as possible. This picture was our third attempt since one of us either had our eyes closed, or looked like we had three chins (yes that would be me!)

Today we went to my sister's sister-in-law Stephani's house (did I lose a few of you on the relation?) She was also my manager when I worked at the Anniversary Inn in Logan (my favorite job ever.) She is one of my favorite people in the whole world and I haven't seen her or her house for a long time! She was so great to get my boys anything they needed--including hosing Carter's bare bum after playing in the sandbox and getting it stuck all over! She also got in her attic to get this fun little ramp for cars to go down for Preston and all the boys had a great time with it. I told Carter we were taking this picture and he said "Blake! Hurry and hold my hand!" How cute is that? We had so much fun I wish I could hang out with her every day!!

L to R Melanie, Stephani, Mel's mother-in-law Cathy, and me

It was also fun to have Cathy there with us. Most of you don't know her but those who do know that she is famous for the hugs she gives. That was another thing that brightened my day today. She gives the kind of hugs that are really tight and she doesn't let go right away. She means it when she hugs you. I love that about her.

I love it right after I have gone grocery shopping. My pantry, fridge, and freezer are full and is just gives me a good, secure feeling. Is that weird? I came home and saw all of these yummy fruit/veggies sitting on my counter and it just made me excited for all the good food I get to eat soon! By the way, those zucchinis(or courgettes to you British folk) are fresh from our garden. We have eaten 2 already with dinner and nothing tastes better than fresh! I didn't think I could tell a difference in zucchini from the grocery store, but I can definitely tell!

Finally, I am thankful for bubbles and these awesome bubble blowers that have already provided atleast 2 hours of enjoyment for my boys. Mel told me that they were on clearance at Target for 5 bucks so we got two on our next visit. What a hit! They used all of the bubbles it came with pretty fast. I went to Walmart yesterday I searched high and low for more and of course spent 20 minutes looking in every department with no luck. James stopped on his way home from work today and found some at Target which was the last bottle! I have a great husband that is so thoughtful about little things like this. There is so much more I could write about but I think the post is already long enough, so I will end. Just thank you to all of you great people in my life for making me laugh, cry(in a good way), listen, learn and give me so much happiness.

8 years

As I was writing a check out to my friend Callie for dinner last night (she just paid for all of us) I was trying to figure out what the date was. July 17th. Hmmm...why does that date sound familiar? I then realized that it has been 8 years ago today that James and I "officially" started dating. Crazy! 8 years ago we were at Camp Echo at "Monday movie night" watching "Cool Runnings" and chatting the night away. He had me at his first little British hello. Awww, memories. This picture has nothing to do with anything, just us kissing a stingray in Grand Cayman and a side shot of our guide Vernon. I figured we needed a picture for the post. Enjoy.

Garden Update

Our strawberry plants are producing this year! Last year I didn't really read the instructions and was so bummed when we didn't get any fruit. Well by this year the plants have tripled in size and we go out every morning and check to see how many are ripe and we eat them right of the plant. This is Carter's favorite time of day. This photo is of today's "take". I love having a little garden and seeing your efforts being rewarded with yummy fruits and vegetables. We also have tomatoes and zucchini planted and they are getting bigger by the day. Who knew I would enjoy this whole gardening thing this much?! Tomorrow some serious weeding needs to take place, that's the part I don't enjoy so much.

4th of July Celebration

We had quite a busy 4th of July this year. I woke up and had to be ready by 6:30 to run the Sandy 10k with my sister in law Bethany. We hadn't signed up because we couldn't figure out the website, so we just decided to be cheap and run the course anyway! We both had our ipods on when the lady was giving instructions so we ended up running with the 5k runners instead of the 10k runners who would be starting 15 minutes later. Whoops. The race didn't start until 7 and by that time it was already starting to get hot. So by the end of the 5k, I was spent. I felt like such a wuss but I was so overheated! So we left only running half of what was supposed to be our long run for the week. I have figured out that I can't run when I it's hot outside. We ended up running 7 miles on Saturday but started at 6 which made it so much better-- Just in case any of you cared! Anyway, we got home, went swimming around lunch time at Bethany's sister Stacia's pool which is now our tradition for the past 3 years. We love her pool and Carter enjoyed getting out every toy he could find to put in the water. He did really well swimming with his lifejacket and is becoming quite the little fish. Preston fell asleep in the car so we put him down for a nap but it was cut short by little boys running in and out of the room. He was cranky the rest of the day, which was not fun. Then we came home, got showered, and headed up to Heber to have a barbeque and fireworks at my aunt's house. We have been going up there since I can remember, so it is fun to carry on the tradition with my kids. This was the only place I remembered my camera so enjoy the photos:

L to R Mom, Aunt Taffy,Aunt Elaine, Grandma, Karen, Sean, and Dad

Sean and Karen are getting married in August. We are so excited to have Karen joining our family. She is such a cool girl and it was fun to sit and get to know her better. My cousin Sean just got done with chemotherapy after a bout of testicular cancer and is going in for surgery in a few weeks to remove another tumor in his abdomen. He amazes me with his strength and positive attitude about the whole thing. What a thing to go through right before you get married! All I can say is that I am grateful for my health, you never know what is around the corner.

LtoR Mike, Elaine, Jeff, Megan, Stephanie, Lowell, and Jared chatting the night away
Don't mess with the Tenney girls!
L to R Shauna, me, Jeanette, Erin, Ann, Alana, Megan, Amanda, Cathy, and Stephanie

Everyone wore pink that day--what happened to red, white, and blue??

My dad's 3 sisters--Elaine, Carolyn, Taffy(her real name is Kathleen), plus my mom and Grandma

It was fun to see so much family that I don't see very often and eat some yummy food. James of course cooked some mean barbeque while I tended to our screaming children. And yes, they were really screaming. I went a little crazy at the beginning, but after getting them fed things ran a little smoother. We also enjoyed my uncle's awesome fireworks and watching my brother in law trying to blow his hand off by throwing about 10 fireworks in a box and seeing what it would do. He is worse than the kids, it's hilarious! All in all a great day.

Movie Review

Carter has been playing the computer lately and has loved to watch the Wall-E trailer over and over again on Playhouse Disney's website. He was so excited when we told him we were going to see it last night. I was a little nervous about taking Preston too, but figured with enough popcorn, treats, and drinks we might make it through. Little did I know that I would be the one needing the treats! I thought the movie was so BORING! Basically you just hear little robot noises and follow him around picking up stuff for about an hour. Then the story starts to somewhat pick up but not much. If I never hear another robot noise again, I will be a happy girl. I have loved all the other Pixar movies, but this one I just couldn't get into it. I think I laughed maybe once, and the rest of the time just was waiting for something to happen. They had a little movie short called "Presto" before Wall-E started and I enjoyed that way more! My boys did pretty good, but even Carter by the end wanted to go home. I give it two thumbs down! Don't waste the 20 bucks to take your family, just watch paint dry, it might be more interesting!

Summertime and other random thoughts and stories

I just love summertime. I am so much happier in the summer. I love to have my kids outside all day playing in the water, sandbox, mud, sprinkler, tramp...you name it and then putting them to bed exhausted. We have been gone for the past two days having so much fun with the cousins and just really enjoying the sunshine. Today we had so much fun playing at my sister-in-law Bethany's house and then going over to my mom's house later. Carter turned on the water outside which completely flooded her flower bed and made a huge mud pit. Preston was in that within a matter of seconds and was covered in mud from head to toe. At first I tried to get him out of it but then I could see there was no hope in keeping him clean so I just let him enjoy himself. It looked like so much fun! He kept slipping and would get mud in his eye then would try to wipe his muddy hands on his eyes to get it out. So you can imagine what he looked like by the end of it! We took pictures with my mom's camera that I will have to get later. We also got out the hose and Carter stripped down to his birthday suit and ran under the rainbow of water and let Grammy hose him down quite a few times. The kids loved it! I have so many memories of growing up playing with the hose in the backyard for hours. Summer is the best.
I also actually biked to Bethany's house from my house today which is about 3 1/2 miles with the two kids in a bike trailer on the back. I seriously was dying from the heat and I definitely need to ride a bike more because the hills killed me! I have never really been into biking and James has been bugging me for atleast 2 years to get a bike so we could ride together. I kept putting him off saying that I don't want to spend the money on it if I don't like to do it that much. So on Sunday we get the paper and they had an add for a bike for a WAY good deal at Sports Authority. It got me thinking how much fun it would be to get a bike trailer and go on family bike rides around the neighborhood and such. So I caved and we bought me a bike and the boys a bike trailer (both were a great deal I might add). We also got Carter an orange helmet that should fit a 5 year old which is almost too small but the 8 year old helmet was too big on the sides! I got a sweet pink one to wear, I'm stoked. So as we are going to buy the bike, Carter sees a kids bike with training wheels that he just had to have. It was 90 bucks, no way was he getting it. Of course he freaked out and he left the store with James holding him kicking and screaming. He screamed all the way home and didn't want a ride in the bike trailer because he wanted to ride his "own" bike! He is definitely my challenge right now. I feel like I am getting mad at him for something all the time! He is VERY stubborn and strong willed and also very dramatic. Bad combination. There are times that he can be the cutest, sweetest, most thoughtful boy and then two seconds later he is screaming and kicking me. It is very frustrating! Any suggestions on what to do with a 3 year old? I don't want to be mad at him all the time and I try to let the little things go, but he definitely can push my buttons. My sister made a good point today saying that some kids just have to have more sleep than others. Carter has to have a nap or he is super sensitive and emotional and you can't reason with him at all. The last two days he has skipped his nap and I know that has made a difference. Anyway, sorry this is probably boring to you all it's just nice to get your frustrations out sometimes! Being a mom is hard work and very challenging sometimes. I love it too and am grateful for all that my boys have taught me about myself and how I need to improve everyday. Kids tend to humble you pretty fast, especially when you carry them out of a store with people staring at you wondering what you did to the kid to get them to that point. Hopefully some of you have had an experience or two like my Sports Authority one that you would like to share...

Happy Birthday Melanie

I know you were all expecting a Father's day post, since it is Father's day, but it is also my awesome sister Melanie's birthday too. Since she got the bad end of the deal having her birthday on Sunday and a holiday I figured she deserved her own post! She turns 32 today so here are 32 things that I love/memories about her. (you know you are special if you get one of these posts!)

1. Her strong loyalty to family

2. What a great mom she is-Her kids are all so well behaved and just genuinely good kids-which shows what kind of mom she is!

3. What a great aunt she is to my boys-I know I have mentioned this in the past, but she truly loves them which make them love her right back. Her and Carter have a little connection where if he is totally upset, (probably with me) she can make him feel better in no time. It's magic!

4. Me being her slave until I was about 8 or 9. Maybe longer. She could always bribe me to get her a drink or whatever she needed.

5. Sharing a room together growing up-I was the messy one, she was the clean one

6. Singing Hark hear the bells in bed and laughing our guts out

7. How she can convince you to do almost anything. About 95% of the time you thank her later for talking you into it!

8. She is the glue that keeps our family together. She is the one that heads up gatherings, getting things done, I love that about her. She gets annoyed that she is the one that has to always do it, but we love her for it.

9. Making fun of her braces

10. Bunco group and making fun of some of the gifts people bought-shameless!

11. How she is not a collector and throws things away like me. I guess we get that from my mom!

12. People are just drawn to her and want to be her friend

13. She has the cutest little dainty nose

14. How Kate looks just like her...and acts like her too!

15. How I know she will always be the first person to my defense if I need her

16. She is one of the first people I want to call to tell good or bad news to.

17. Her generosity with everything. We went out to eat last night for her birthday dinner and at the end of the meal she told everyone that she picked up the bill.

18. Finally getting to go on a cruise with her this year! It was a blast!

19. Her lice mullet- I guess I am not one to talk, I had a mullet too and didn't even have lice! thanks mom!

20. Her blue geo metro

21. I loved to wear her clothes and thought I was so cool in them even though they were way huge on me! In fact we were just talking the other day about how ugly that style was in the 90's with the HUGE shirts tucked in. What were we thinking?!

22. She loves James' cooking and is always so complimentary, he loves the attention.

23. She is a doer. If she gets something in her mind that she wants to accomplish, she gets it done no questions asked.

24. Her decorating style, we are both obsessed with Rod Works!

25. Her bangs in 7th grade. I really need to find that picture, it's amazing.

26. She made me put the stickers on her countdown chart for Carl to get home from his mission. I kept it up in my room and when she would come home from college she would love to check on the progress.

27.Visiting her when she lived in California-I miss San Francisco!

28. How she is always so spontaneous. We make plans in about 1 minute and are off for the day!

29. Being her babysitting buddy

30. Going up to stay with her at Utah State-she made me get the love for Logan and go to school there myself!

31. Getting a car wash in her old Acura-trying to get the window rolled up in time and getting soaked, then hitting a bump on the way out and having water dump down from the sunroof. I really honestly don't think I have ever laughed that hard!

32. Just being the best big sister a girl could ask for. She does it all-gives great advice, comfort, love, everything a sister should be.

I love you Mel, I hope you have the best birthday ever!!

Old Habits Die Hard

Yesterday while getting the boys ready to get in the car, I couldn't find Preston's shoes for about the millionth time. I remembered that I had Carter's cowboy boots that would now fit Preston up in his closet. I got them out and tried to put them on but Preston was having none of it. Meanwhile, Carter sees his precious old cowboy boots and is crying wondering why he doesn't have any to wear. This goes back to two summers ago when he became OBSESSED with them. What 18 month old loves wearing cowboy boots? In the summer no less! He wore those things until he just couldn't squeeze into them anymore. I knew he wasn't going to stop bothering me about getting new ones. Where would I even find cowboys boots that little? I was actually given the old ones by my sister because she got them as a baby gift and her boys never wore them. We decided to go with the trusty Walmart first. We scoured the aisled looking and thought all hope was lost. Then suddenly out of the corner of James' eye there they were. Black cowboy boots. Just in Carter's size. I really don't think I have seen Carter that excited in a long time. He waited until we paid for them and then they were straight on his feet with the stretchy string still attached between both boots. It was funny to watch him try to hike up stairs! He woke up this morning with one thing on his mind. So he ran downstairs grabbed the cowboy boots and posed for picture. YEEHAW!!

Toilet Troubles

Remember that cute, sweet, adorable face from the post below of Preston? I think I need to keep looking at it because he is not on my good list right now! I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to fish my cell phone out of the toilet. Not only was it in the toilet, it was in the hole at the bottom and got stuck. So disgusting. The silver lining is that we are getting new phones anyway in about a week so until then, call me on my home phone if you need to get a hold of me. I hope he gets over this throwing everything in the toilet phase soon because it is getting really old really fast!!

Alone time with Preston

Could there be a cuter face? This afternoon while Carter was taking a nap I was of course checking blogs while Preston was in his room playing. I was reading my neighbor Marie's blog and thought what a good mom she is, so I decided right then to get off the computer and go play with Preston and have some one on one time. I am so glad I did! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. While feeding him lunch he kept looking up at me and giving me this cheeser smile that he used to do all the time about six months ago, but just resurfaced again about a week ago. I love it! I had to get out the camera and take a picture of it and then he kept doing it so I kept taking pictures!! We read books, snuggled, laughed, and exchanged lots of kisses.

I love when he tilts his head back to cheese it for me!!

He thought he was so funny that after he would smile he would do this really low fake laugh. So hilarious.

Another game that he and Carter love to play is me or James pretending like we are asleep by making a snoring noise and then they come and growl to wake us up. Today Preston wanted to be the one to pretend sleep so here he is laying down on his pillow "snoring" with his eyes open. It's little moments like these that make me love being a mom so much.