Porsche Ride to School

Today was my Friday off. Last time I had Friday off Hayden asked me to take him to school. Okay, so admitting this doesn't make me very happy, but I told him no. I was being just that lazy. So, when he asked me if I'd take him to school this time, I couldn't resist and wanted to make up for last time too.

Jeff made the suggestion of taking him in the Porsche. That decision was the best one yet. Oh, how happy that made Hayden. He had a smile ear to ear the whole time. He couldn't wipe it off his face.

He had to wave at EVERYONE!!  He yelled and yelled at some of his friends that he saw walking. They didn't see him. But Mrs. Nelson was out front when we pulled up and he ran to tell her about being brought in the Porsche today. She was so cute she stood and waived with great excitement to see me pull away. I think that made his morning!!

I know it made mine Ü

Cinnamon Toaster Strudel with Brown Sugar and Cinnabon Cinnamon

Okay so this morning instead of making a healthy breakfast choice I chose a Toaster Strudel Cinnamon Roll with Brown Sugar and Cinnabon Cinnamon.

Oh My!! Oh My!!  These little pastries are delightful!!! So yummy!!  So naughty, but so good!!  Love them.

I will be making that choice again in the near future. It made me very happy in this moment and I don't care who knows!! Hahaha Ü

It's Apple Day

Today I was very thankful for Jeffrey as I sat and listened to him talk with his Grandma. That man of mine is continually teaching me how to be thoughtful. Do you know that's a real super power to me. Thoughtfulness - that's Jeff's super power - what's yours?

He helped pick apples at her house today. Then he chatted and chatted and chatted with her and gpa too. JEff remembered to bring them some salsa. Which gma very politely called back to let him know that she LOVED it!!  He is so thoughtful and I'm so thankful for him.

These were the apples they picked. We have one of these at home too. I'm excited for some apple cider and apple sauce. Just not sure if I'm ready for the work yet Ü

Monday Melons

Today we had a special gift brought to the office. Melons!! How nice of Kam. He is our insurance guy and he used to do a lot of embroidery for us too. He is one of those people that the instant he walks in the room you feel happy. I want to have that super power :)

So he brought us watermelons. (which I just found out now that you only spell with one "l."  Really? how embarrassing I thought it was two watermellon - doesn't that look better?). He also brought cantaloupe. (which I also learned how to spell - that it was cantelope - lol). Oh the things you learn at the strangest times.

Anywho, After we gobbled up the cantaloupe someone shared with me how scary it was to be eating cantaloupe right now. I had no idea. There is a listeria outbreak. . . who knew? The thing is they traced it to a farm in Colorado something about the pesticide they were using. So. . . I think we're safe. Because we know these cantaloupes came from Kam's farm (1000 acres btw - WOW!!) Whew!!

Thanks Kam - the melons are delightful.

Sunday Race

Today the boys asked if they could put together the racing track. I thought that would be a great sunday morning activity. So I said yes and helped them get it down. As they began to put it all together they couldn't find the power cord. Suddenly, their excitement turned to frustration and extreme sadness. 

I could remember putting it away with them. I thought for sure it was in there, but I was hungry and breakfast was ready. I made them come up and eat. Oh you should have seen the gloomy guss faces that were sitting at my table, made the whole "eating breakfast together" so joyful!! I said that with as much sarcasm as I could!! 

Well, admittedly I forgot about what we were doing before breakfast as I cleaned it all up. When suddenly, Josh came bounding upstairs and with as much joy as he could muster he declared, we found it! we found it!

It made them so happy. Couldn’t resist taking a picture of them.  So fun. Not sure how many more times I’m going to have like this. I've seen what their future teenage selves may become and I tell you, there isn't room for enjoying a race track there. For now, I'm enjoying the moment.

Oogie Boogie!!

Oogie Boogie!!

Emalee announced that she had a really, really great idea for a Halloween costume this year and needed some help. She asked her mom and Jeffrey if they would please help her. The day was set and the work  began. Paula helped with the design and style of the costume. She sewed up the body and put binding around the neck to make it more comfortable to wear. Jeffrey helped with the design too and he was also in charge of all the stitching. Amazing!! I think it turned out awesome!! Don’t you think so?

Emalee will make a great oogie boogie this year! She'll be the talk of the neighborhood. This is getting me in the Halloween spirit. I love Halloween it's become one of my favorite holidays!!  Great work you two!! Happy spooking Emalee!! ;)

Salsa

I'm very happy that Jeffrey has the motivation to do some canning. Without him our shelves would only have store bought items on them and I love so much having homemade things in our food storage!!

Today when I came home for lunch, Jeff had everything set up ready to make salsa. Yum-O!!  I love Jeff's homemade salsa. He makes the best! He knows how to mix flavors and make it taste so good. He makes up his own recipes. I have no idea where the last one went, I'm even questioning whether or not he wrote it down. He did not make that mistake again. He wrote out all the ingredients he used to make this batch and I'm glad he did, it turned out FABULOSO!! I did have a little bit of  time to help a little bit during my lunch break. But I  was only able to cut up some onions and peel the garlic - wooohooo!! pathetic ;)

Thanks hon!! Having this on our shelves for food storage makes me very happy!!

Happiness Boost

Today my little happiness boost was provided by painting my toe nails. They are silly and cutesie and I love them. I’m surprised at how much of a happiness boost it gave me. Happy feet make me smile.

Mandy’s Visit

Mandy came for a visit and to celebrate with Emalee for her B-day. It’s exciting to think she can travel for free, almost, whenever she wants to or can. What a cool thing to be able to come for a fast visit like that. I’m so glad she can and so glad we got to see her. It was so fun to laugh out loud with her and to be silly. It was a good night.  Isaac was so good and slept through the whole event that I almost forgot about him. . . . . .

. . . . almost.

Eat Fo Free!

So today Michelle Willis called me at work to tell me the Salsa Leedos sign. She said that it said that if your name was Jeff or Cindy come in and eat for free.  I laughed right out loud and asked her if she was serious.  She said really it was true. I texted Jeff and told him we were going to lunch for free today at Salsa Leedo’s. He thought there had to be a catch, I told him that we were going to find out what that catch was.

We walked in and they asked if there were just the two of us. We said yes and you're not going to believe this but I'm Cindy and this is Jeff. He said, "Shut-up No way! Are you kidding me?" Not kidding, it's true.

On the way back to our table he says to another guy there, hey this is Cindy and Jeff. That guy was like, "Get outta here!! That's awesome!!"

So when our waiter came back he had to see our I.D.'s and then told us that they way they did it is anything $9 and under is free. So there's the BIG Catch!!  Jeff's lunch was just under $9 and mine was just under $8 so we got our meals "Fo Free!!"

You don't get to do that every day! There isn't much that you can get for free anymore. I think that is pretty  awesome!!  Thanks Michelle and thanks Salsa Leedos!!  You made our day :D

Cada Quién

Tonight dinner is cada quién.  My kids hear this phrase every now and again. Just like I did when I grew up. There is no other phrase that fits it better. My mom said the best way she knew how to describe this little phrase is it means "to each his own."  I never heard her use it in any other way then when describing what was going to be for dinner.


Once in a while, as we moms sometimes do, I just don't want to make dinner. So, it's cada quién. Each person fends for himself or each person gets an easy dinner that sounds good to them.  It could be cereal, something from a can, a sandwich or leftovers. You get the idea right, something quick and easy.


So. . . .last night, since I haven't done the grocery dinner shopping for the week yet, I declared it a cada quién night and this is what we came up with.

Hayden had a tuna fish sandwich, Zac had pepper bellies and I had Top Ramen noodles.

Dinner with Grandma

My kids love to hear that we are going over to Grandma's house for dinner. They get ready so quickly without any whining or grumping. It's just "okay mom."  I love it.

They also love to see their cousins.

So happy.

Picture Day!

Josh and Zac had picture day at school today. I love having their pictures taken. I love that they do that in school too because otherwise I don’t think I’d have any “professional” pictures of them after they turned five. I always make them “dress up” a bit too, which they don’t always love, but they do willingly.

There’s something else about getting their pictures back that just amazes me. I can always see how much they’ve grown up. I don’t see it as drastically until I get that picture. I guess it happens too gradually day by day, to notice it as strongly. But when I have that picture in my hand I see how much older they look. It never ceases to amaze me.

A Surprise Present for Me :)

We realized last night that we didn’t buy enough towel hooks. We needed one for a hand towel by the sink. So today Jeff finished putting up all the towel hooks and went back to the store to get one for the hand towel by the sink.

When we were trying to pick out hooks for the bathroom, we would go through and I would say how about that one? Jeff would either say maybe or I don’t like it. Well we couldn’t agree on any of them at Home Depot so we decided to see what Lowe’s had. We found some cutesie ones in the hardware isle. One of them had little clear door knob like things on the top of the hook. One had a dragonfly - I really like the dragon fly. We also found the hooks that are now in our bathroom.

When I got home from lunch I had to come and see how the finished look, looked. Guess what he bought? He bought the dragon fly hook we had seen!! Awwww that was such a surprise and it’s so cute!! It just made my day.

♡ it!  ♡ it! ☺

Towel Hooks. . . . Check!

So day number two of finishing up the bathroom. We bought hooks for the towels. They are cute and they were inexpensive compared to others we've found. Good job Lowes - love em!!

Jeffrey hung up three tonight - they are so cute. Now all we need to do (I say we like I'm going to be helping but really it's Jeff) is reset the toilet and calk the joints in the shower.

Wahoo!! So cute!

A Shower Curtain ~ duh!!

Okay so it's been about 9 months since we finished the bathroom. We really wanted a glass door but they are so darned expensive. Without the door, the shower can't be used. Well, we realized that we can put up a shower curtain  ~  duh!!  So, Jeff and I picked out a new one tonight and he put it up. It's looking good I must say. It also gives me a great deal of happiness to think how close we are to having the boys use this bathroom to get ready in now. Wahoo!! I really think it will be great to be able to sleep in for that extra 20 min!  hehehe :)

Nectarines Going Fast!!

I left the nectarines in bags overnight and they were all sweaty the next day - any place that was bruised is now soggy and going moldy. Boo :(  and oopsies!!  Had to dig through the bags and salvage the good ones and chuck the bad ones.

I really need to learn how to put these up. Maybe I’m going to have to get a vacuum sealer so I can freeze them. Maybe it would make good fruit leather - never done that before. For now I’m just going to give them away which makes me happy to share :)

New Tooth

Josh came into my room today and stood patiently by my bed while Jeff and I were talking. I finally looked at him during a break in the convo and asked, “What’s up Josh?” He proceeded to wiggle his back  tooth with his tongue. I said, “are you ready for dad to see if that tooth is ready to pull out?” He said, “yep” while he twisted side to side and lifted his foot up a couple of times and sorta stomped it on the ground.

He said he could be braver in the bathroom. So Jeff went into the bathroom with him and within a few seconds I heard Josh say, “And it’s out . .  huh.” Jeffrey said yep. And just like that, Josh got a new tooth. There is already a full on tooth in his mouth where that loose tooth use to be. Funny kid.

Piña Colada Cobbler

Jeffrey wanted to try pineapple cobbler for dessert tonight. I wasn’t so sure about that. I was a little bit worried it wouldn’t turn out very good. Then we started coming up with ways to let me know it would be good. We talked about how it might be fun to make it into a pineapple upside down type by putting in brown sugar and maraschino cherries. Then I thought of turning into a piña colada cobbler.  Mmmmmm that was sounding good. I wanted him to put coconut pudding in the flour. But he wanted to put it on top. He won, and it was delicioso!!

Surprise Party ~ Flour Fight

Zac was invited to come to a surprise party for a friend of his. They had a fun night. It turned out that they ended up having a flour fight too. They had flour in nylon stockings and they through them at each other like water balloons. It’s too bad you can’t see how white his hair looked.  He was COVERED in flour from head to toe. I thought it sounded sort of fun but CRAZY!!

He said it was a blast! They had to get blown off with the leaf blower. Pretty funny!

Fall Soccer in Swing

I had to snag this picture of Hayden sorta taking a nap here at soccer practice. He just wasn't into it today. We had been there about 5 minutes and he told me he had to pee. Oh great! This park doesn't have a restroom. He then proceeded to tell me that he was hungry. Then, with all the pleading this boy could muster, he said, "Mom, I just wanna go home."  So, this mom, with all she could muster, explained to him that he was the one that told me (over and over again, I might add) that yes, he did want to play soccer again this year. That even though he complained he really likes soccer and he assured me that he wanted to do it again. So, even though he didn't feel like it today, I knew deep down he really likes it and knew that he could make it for another half an hour at this practice.

That's all it took. I didn't hear one more plea from him. Somehow, even though he had to go to the bathroom and was starving, he persevered and made it through the rest of his practice. He even got to play soccer with another team there, which he seemed THRILLED about.

Hayden teaches me how to be happy all the time. LO♥E this little guy so much! I'm his biggest fan!!

Power Outage . . . Fun?

Everyone hates it when the power goes out, right? Not so, my kids thought it was kind of fun. The power went out today around 6:20 pm and everything was quiet and getting a little boring. I went out grocery shopping thinking it would surely be back on when I was done. Texted my boys to see, not on still. So I picked up Chic-Fil-A before heading home.

The kids had been hanging out with friends and when I got home they were all a chatter about how the power was still out and it was getting dark inside. We had to get out candles just to sit down and eat. We got out the flashlights and Jeffrey got out his lantern. The kids were having a great time eating by candlelight and walking around the house with their flashlights. It was super fun having the power out, that is until I told them it was time to get ready for bed.

Then the questions began. How will we wake up in the morning without their alarms? What if the power didn't come back on in the morning? Do you think the power is out at school? We answered all their questions and made them feel secure and safe. I put this low burning candle in Hayden's room on his dresser as a "night light" so he could go to bed without any fears. Josh said he'd just take his flashlight. Zac was fine (of course he was he's so big and tough). So, once again, all was good.

Then, just when they'd all been in bed for about 5 minutes, the power came back on!! Oh the kids were so relieved and very happy. Each of them had to come and tell me that the power came back on. We all cheered a bit and then got them back in bed. Luckily, it was on long enough for them to fall asleep and long enough for us to check our Facebook accounts and our email and slam, about 10:00 pm it was out again. I decided that was it, I was giving in and going to bed too. Just as I finished getting ready, boom, on again. I still left my cell phone alarm on just in case it decided to go back out again and went to bed.

New Schedule, New Routine

Herriman City decided to give us a “more flexible work schedule” which allows us to have every other Friday off. Yay ~ I likee!! Thought it was definitely worth giving it a try. With that, however, comes extended work hours. Our hours at work now are 7:30a - 5:30p. So each of us will work 9 hours for 9 days. Nine 9's. AND we  have every other Friday OFF. Oh ya, we get a long weekend EVERY OTHER weekend!!

Today was my first trial run. This morning didn't run as smoothly as planned. Most days the boys are up around 6:00a they get dressed and have breakfast right off the bat and they are usually done around 6:40 ish. We generally leave the house around 7:05 - 7:10a. I take them to school and come back home to finish up with whatever else Hayden needs and finish getting ready myself.

I thought I'd just wake up about a half an hour earlier, get myself ready first, then get Hayden out of bed about 10 min. earlier than normal to get him dressed and eating before I left with the boys for school. Then I'd go straight to work. PERFECT!! Right?

Wrong!  The boys were up late, and by the time I was dressed, I came out to check on them and Josh was curled up on the couch with his blanket. Wha? Oh dear, now the rush was on. Zac was already dressed and eating breakfast, Whew!! When I went to get Hayden his alarm had already gone off. (which meant I was running behind with my brilliant plan). No worries I still had 10 minutes before I had to take the boys to school. I could do it. Hayden usually takes a while to wake up all the way. He often wakes up a but ornery. This morning was no exception. He said, "Mom, it was so loud this morning I woke up before my alarm. Then I fell back to sleep and my alarm was SO LOUD it woke me up!! I couldn't help but smile a little bit and give a little laugh. I told him that was good that's exactly what it's supposed to do. That did not make him smile or laugh, not even a tiny bit. It just seemed to make him more ornery. But I just helped him choose an outfit and helped him get dressed. Took him out in the dining room and helped him choose a cereal to eat. By then Josh and Zac were ready and off we went. This was about 7:15. Only 5 minutes late, hopefully I'd still pull it all off. Dropped the boys off without too much sweat and on to work. I got there at 7:27a. Wahoo - had just enough time to unlock the doors and turn on my computer by 7:30a.

I made it through the first day and I must say, I thought that 9 hours would feel so long. But, it wasn't as bad as I thought. There were times during the day that I'd look at the clock and think, Really? it's only 9AM? when it felt like it should be 11:30a or when I got back from lunch I thought oh dear, it feels like it should be 4p and it was only 2p. However, overall, the day still went by pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised.

Hopefully I still feel like that on Friday. :D

I Put Up Pears

Tonight about 8:00p I decided that I’d make a last ditch effort with our pears. So many of them have already gone to waste. I wanted to salvage as many as I could, so I did it. I got everything out and ready. Cleaned the bottles and got the steamer canner ready. Started peeling the pears and put them up. It took me clear 'til 10:30p. I didn’t realize it would take me quite that long, but I’m glad I got it done. I only made one batch too, but still felt pretty awesome and I think they turned out all right.

What do you think?

Sunday Night Homework

This is what I saw before I went to bed. Josh had homework. I didn’t even know about it. He had been with cousins all weekend and I didn’t even think to ask him. It looks like most of it’s finished. He’ll have time to do it in the morning. I hated homework as a kid. I wish they didn’t have to do it. They work so hard in school every day. Why do they have to bring homework home too.

A Baptism and A Blessing

Today was the big day. A baptism and a blessing day. It was a beautiful day. We were so glad to be here. Gma and Gpa Nichol were here. Gma and Gpa Quick were here too. Emalee would have been here too but Kendal is in the hospital. She’s where she ought to be. We missed them.

It started with the talks in the chapel. Jacob was the only boy. There were three other girls. Jacob he was baptized first. You could really feel the spirit as his baptism was performed. He seemed happy. Then while we waited for him and Steve to get dressed, Mandy bore her testimony to us. Mostly about choices. She was grateful for the choices that had brought her to this day. Steve’s mom bore her testimony and so did Paula. You could really feel the spirit. Then Jacob was confirmed. After which Steve blessed Isaac. He gave a special blessing to him.

It was a good day. I’m glad we could be a part of it. Family is Forever and they are Fabulous.

Visiting with Isaac & Jacob

We made it to Vegas today. We took the boys out of school early, Josh and Zac on their first week of school, I might add. I felt like it was important for us to do. We were going to be able to be part of Isaac’s baby blessing and we would be able to see Jacob get baptized too. Two birds with one stone so to speak.

With Mandy and Steve living in Vegas now, we figured we could drive. I forgot how long it is to drive. Six hours is pretty long. The boys couldn’t believe we weren’t flying. Wonder what that means? Maybe they’re a little spoiled or something. But it was all well worth it.

It was so fun to see their family. The girls have grown up so much and Jacob seems so mature. The boys loved hanging out with their cousins. Josh loved holding Isaac and cuddling with him all weekend too. There wasn’t many times you didn’t see Josh without Isaac in his arms. There were plenty of people he had to share him with though. It was fun for me too. It was so much fun to rock him to sleep and cuddle with him. He’s such a sweet boy. We are glad he’s here.

Tomorrow will be so special.

Dress Shoes

I’ve been looking for dress shoes for Josh and Hayden now for about a week - while shopping for school clothes. I have had no luck. Today was my last chance. We’re going to Mandy’s this weekend for the baby blessing and baptism and Hayden just can’t wear his old ones anymore. Last week he wouldn’t wear them at all. He wore Josh’s black crocs to church instead.  That’s something I didn’t want to repeat. Today was my last day before we went to Mandy’s. We were going to leave about 12:00 tomorrow and I was going to work in the morning before we left and I was sending the boys to school and checking them out early.

We hadn’t hit the mall yet so I thought that’s where we’d go. We usually find great dress shoes at Dillard’s or Nordstroms. Only thing is we only had time for one mall. So we hit South Towne. We started at the Macy’s end so we went there. They don’t sell children’s shoes there - LAME. So then we walked all the way to Dillard’s we got upstairs and they had 3 choices. They were all LAME. So we were out of luck. Then we went over to Nordstrom Rack. More of nothing - literally didn’t have a pair of dress shoes in their size.  Then we hit Factory Stores. I’m surprised that store is around at all - there really isn’t anything left out there but a levi store and a kitchen store. Sad. Then we decided to go to Payless Shoe Source. You have to understand that I have had really bad luck at this store. But I thought we’d try. After all it was our last ditch effort or black crocs it would be.  So we ran in. In a matter of 10 minutes we had two new pair of shoes and they were buy one get one half off to boot. Wahlah!! We did it!!