Thankful Thoughts

Today I found myself in Idaho Falls with a few extra minutes, so I walked along the greenway by the falls. I was thinking about all sorts of things, one of which was how grateful I am to be the age I am right now. 31, (almost 32!) seems to be a good age. I am an adult, and can make my own decisions and do what I feel like, am young enough to have young children and enjoy my time with them. I have inhabited my body long enough to know it well, yet it is still young enough to run hard and recover quickly. I have aquired a certain amount of wisdom, and still have a while to use it. All in all, a good age to be. (At least until I remember that I injured my back whilst closing the toilet lid. Ok, honestly, I probably hurt it in yoga and only noticed it right then, but still.)

Birthday Bash

Ok, so these pictures are all backwards, but I don't want to change them around, so there you go! Anyway, we had fun celebrating Payden's, Corrines, and Marlene's birthdays this past weekend.

As you can see, our good friend is teaching our child a good life tool; how to make faces out of frosting. At first, Brian was seated across from Ava, and she was watching him play with his food with wide eyes. She said to him, "You are not supposed to play with your food!" and had us all laughing. But given the chance, she had a fun time doing it herself!

Payden and her grandma share a birthday, so they are sharing a cake and blowing out candles together too!

Watching a baby eat cake is always fun. We had everyone standing around holding cameras and video cameras, all documenting the event. We looking like the paparazzi. (SP?)

She dove right in to the frosting, staying pretty clean until my mom showed her how to put cake on her head. She ate some of the cake, but mostly just tore it apart and threw it on the floor.

I will try to get some video on here for interested family members. I always feel sort of bad giving my children their 1st birthday cakes. Here they are, just one year old, never had much treats before except maybe a taste here and there, and then I go giving them a bellyache on a plate. The only saving grace in this situation is that children this age have not learned the American talent of overeating; they stop when they are full!

It looked like Christmas at our house with 3 birthdays. Payden loved the MP4 player we got her.

Corrine liked opening her packages, but I think was already getting tired (this was before cake!) and was overwhelmed.

I had a GREAT birthday, Mom and Dad!

Here is Corrine's little cake.

Fun was had by all, with serious clean up the next day.

Happy Birthday Corrine!

Corrine turned 1 on June 20th!

One year is a birthday both sad and exciting. Exciting because your little one is growing just like shes supposed to, and sad because it marks the end of tiny babiness. I know, she is still a baby, but the tiny little baby is gone, and I will miss that.

Corrine has a smile that is blindingly bright, and we will do almost anything to make it appear. Luckily, she is a smiley baby and it doesn't take much coaxing to make her grin. She has a great sense of humor and is very smart. Corrine is extremely determined, and won't quit when she wants something, which I am sure will be a good quality later in life! She is my biggest cuddle bug, she hugs me often by grabbing my neck or face with both her pudgy hands and leaning in to me. (I don't mind that at all.) She LOVES food and seems to have a very sophisticated palate for a little one; she will eat marinated artichoke hearts, avacado, gazpacho, and really just about anything I give her, the more seasoned the better. And it appears she is going to be our only little redhead!

We are so blessed to have Corrine as a part of our family. We love you Corrine!

Happy Birthday Payden!

Payden is 9!

Our Payden turned 9 on June 19th. She was so excited for her birthday, she was counting down the days. And then because she knows she was born at 12:45, she watched the clock until that time because thats when she was "really" 9!

Payden is full of energy, and is in constant motion. She is bursting with a zest and enthusiasm for life that is rarely matched. We are all touched by her compassionate nature and she loves to share and be helpful. Our family is brightened by her smile and her inquiring questions. I am certainly kept thinking with Payden around. She excells at school and makes friends easily.

Happy birthday, Payden! We love you and are so glad we get to have you as part of our family.

Geoffry the Giraffe

A long time ago, we signed our girls up for the Toys R Us birthday club. Every year on their birthday, Geoffry the Giraffe, the stores mascot, calls and wishes them a happy birthday. It is the same recorded message year after year. The girls used to think this was cool, but now that they are older they think it is just stupid.

It is now a family joke, waiting for Geoffry to call.

This morning my dad called to wish Payden a happy birthday. Jason teasingly said "its Geoffry" before he handed her the phone, thinking she would recognize her grandpa's voice.

She spent about 5 minutes on the phone with him, not being very sociable. She kept answering in one sylable answers, kind of snotty. I kept telling her to be nice.

She hangs up at the end of the conversation, and says "Who was that?"

I said, "It was your grandpa! Who did you think it was?"

She says " I thought it was Geoffry."

Ahem.


I called my dad back and explained the mix up, which he laughed quite heartily about. We all did, as a matter of fact.

No wonder she wasn't enjoying the conversation. She thinks Geoffry is stupid.

Enough.

We. Have. Too. Much. Rain. Did someone forget we live in the desert? My garden is not growing because it can't get enough sun. My kids can't leave the house because it is pouring. (Please help me.) I can't run or bike outside and have to be a hamster at the gym. We had filled the pool up once only to have it turn green with rainwater and had to empty it. Haven't filled it up again yet. I can't wash my car. The grass grows exponentially and we can't get out to mow it. And this may or may not be true, but it seems that all my clients who were making progress have regressed, perhaps due to the RAIN!!!!!!!

I love the rain in small doses. A day or so of rain and thunderstorms make me feel safe and comfy in my home. But three weeks straight of the wet stuff is a bit much.
I am grateful; we were in a drought. But I just had to get that off my chest.

I feel better now.

Handy little tip

So one of my very smart friends recently solved a problem I had been mulling over for the last 6 months or so.

Or, I should say, I had actually solved the problem but was waiting for my hubby to carry out the solution. (And waiting, and waiting.)

Maybe I should tell you what I am talking about.

My parents had a gorgeous table that I coveted for many years. It is a nice big table with two leafs (leaves?) that is very old and pretty. I always told my mom that when she died, she better leave me the table in her will. Well, as it worked out, I got to have my table and keep my mom too. (Always a good thing.) When she moved, the table was WAY to big for her space, so I got it.

I love this table. Wait, I already said that. Well I do, and I was worried about the damage the kids would do to it. Four kids eating 3 meals and a few snacks a day can wreak havoc on a kitchen table, add into that all the times you have to wipe it and use cleaner and it can start to look pretty worn. My mom always protected the table when we came to eat with padded table clothes or place mats. I love place mats, but they are just not very fuctional with kids. Unless you use the ugly plastic kind, which are functional but look awful. Anyway, when I got the table, my mom also gave me the padded table cloth along with it. She would usually use it under a pretty table cloth, which I did for special occasions. But washing a table cloth everyday is just not on my list of fun things to do, so I just used the padded table cloth by itself.

It was ugly, had a pattern that trapped food and (though I couldn't see it I knew it was there) bacteria and germs. I bleached the thing often. Also, it was too long for the table without the leaves, so it hung almost to the floor on one side. If any of you know me well, you know that bugged me. A lot.

So I thought the solution was to order a glass top. With a glass top, you could see the pretty table, I could get it clean, and the table would be protected. I asked hubby to measure and order one.

And waited.

And reminded.

And waited.

And then, a marvelously smart friend told me she had seen someone use clear vinyl on their table, and it didn't look to bad. So I headed right over to the fabric store to check it out. I bought the right amount, and we put it on the table tonight.

I should have taken a before picture, but I didn't and I really didn't feel like putting the table cloth back on just for a picture.

It looks so good! I can see my table! We stapled it to the table underneath. I can clean it, it protects the table, if it gets ripped or something we can easily buy more. It saved us about $100 too.

Which is nothing to sneeze at.

So I actually thanked my husband for procrastinating. I am quite sure that will never happen again.