red, white and blue weekend

saturday

putting out flags at the veterans cemetery

visiting Grandma Mary and others at another

(cemeteries make Dan feel pensive)

eating lunch at Cocolito's

(Cate looks so grown up to me in this picture) 

ginormous gummy butterflies from WinCo

(Cate's choice)

sunday

cupcakes with appropriately colored sprinkles
(and the best frosting in the entire world)

monday

photo shoot in our flag shirts (thanks, Grandma!)

loving this picture
(even though Cate's face isn't all there)

I almost always wear my hair up.
When I wear it down, Danny can't keep his hands out of it.
Very cute.

ice cream in tiny containters for portion control
(promised to Cate so she wouldn't feel sad about not going to Grandma's with Dan and Danny)

hornet control
(destroyed their nest with Danny's red light saber...eek)

Cate's yard sale find
(in the appropriate colors for the day)

red paint
(finished painting finally!!)

a very late afternoon nap
(woke up grouch grouch grouchy)

loaded up the grouch in the blue bike trailer
(no way I was going to be stuck in the house with her foul mood)

off we go
(not quite a workout without the other kid but it'll do)

new snow on the mountain
(I love snow in the spring...especially when it stays on the mountain)

bad mood dissipates on the slides
(it usually does)

riding off into the sunset
(the BIG end)

sunday evening therapy session

I turned on Beauty and the Beast.
Cate got scared and came over to sit by me on the couch.
I turned off the movie and we practiced expressing our emotions for the camera instead.
She was mad about that first picture.

"I wasn't ready. I didn't have my look right."

She kills me.

*   *   *

I was watching a show on the Oprah network a few nights ago.
I don't usually watch anything on the Oprah network.
I blame the fact that we don't have Netflix and all my regular shows are done for the summer.
Bummer.

The show I watched was something about Help! My Mom is Obsessed.
Or some dumb title like that.
 Honestly, it was quite frightening.
Teenage girls with moms who are obsessed with stuff.
Weight lifting and body building.
Food.
Partying.
Being in control.

It was really quite disturbing but I couldn't stop watching.
Kind of like how I feel about Hoarders and The Bachelor.

These teenage girls with moms who just seem so horrible.
Spending no time with their kids.
Being so incredibly selfish with their time.
Not listening and pretty much not caring how their daughters feel.

It was bad.
I felt sad for those kids.
They weren't even little kids.
They were teenagers.
And they were hurting and sad and just wanted their moms to care about them.

For how hideous that show was, I think I might set the DVR to record it.
That way, when I'm feeling like a craptastic mom,
I can click it on and watch for a few minutes and realize that I'm not so bad after all.

I'm not saying I'm perfect.
Far from it.
I apologize to my kids for not being a good mommy.
Not every day but on the really hard ones when I just feel like I failed.
And you know what they say?

You are a good mommy! You're the best mommy I ever had!

(Really they just don't have anything to compare me to so their standards are just not very high.)

So maybe all those times I take the kids to the park,
or the dinosaur museum,
or the pool (which is by far the greatest sacrifice on my part EVER),
or the library,
or just outside to play
when what I really want to do is just lay down and sleep
or paint something that has been waiting to be painted for a month
and what I really need to do is fold laundry
or vacuum or clean pretty much everything...

Well, that makes it all worth it right?
They've got my time.
Some days they've got every last stinkin' minute of it.
And even though those are the hardest days for me
and I end up grouchy to them and everyone else in my path
and I feel like all I want to do is either run away from home until bed time
or just hide under the covers and cry
they were worth it.

I hope my kids never ever feel like they need to call the producers of the
Help! My Mom is Obsessed show on the Oprah network
and audition because their mom is so horrible.

I would die.

But I secretly wonder what they'd tell the show producers I'm obsessed with.

Eek. Never mind.
That's a scary thought.

insta.potpourri

I was at the shoe store browsing around. I noticed a mom with three teenage girls walking down one of the aisles. The mom pointed and said something like, "How about those?" and one of the girls replied (in that teenage girl voice that they do so well), "Those look like 40-year-old shoes. I do NOT want to look like a 40-year-old." These are the shoes the mom was pointing at. I don't blame that poor girl. I do NOT want to look like a 40-year-old either (even though I will be one shortly). I think that mom should just stick to online shoe shopping.

I bought this dry shampoo because the internet told me I should. I have no idea how to use it. I don't think it does anything for my fine, straight hair but good grief it smells delicious. Like Hawaii. I sure wish I knew how to do something to my hair besides big messy bun (that Cate draws as a big circle right on top of my head) and ponytail. But now that summer is almost here that's all I'll be doing anyway so who cares.

This might be my favorite picture from Dan's birthday. How adorable are those two? Blurriness and all.

Dan let me buy some new chairs for Mother's Day. I got them across the street at the yard sale so they actually aren't new, just to me. They're strong and heavy and the seat is a little slopey. I love them. Now I've got all 8 dining room chairs around the table and these up at the counter. There's two more in the front room. I shall be painting them someday. They're added to the list of things-to-paint-once-I-get-my-act-together.

A few years ago Uncle Tim and Aunt Kym gave Danny these cardboard bricks. I pretty much hate them. They take up a lot of space and are one of the hardest things to clean up (just ask Danny, he complains ferociously when it's time to put them away). But the kids love them so I haven't thrown them away yet. Well, I bought more. I blame the curse of the yard sale. Look! A big bag of those cardboard bricks that I hate so much! In colors that we don't have! Only $3 for a huge bag! We need them! They're only $3! Ug.

I made wedding cupcakes this week for a young women's activity. It was supposed to be a wedding cake but instead of letting my worry about making a wedding cake get the best of me (even though I volunteered for it) I made wedding cupcakes.

I tell you what. They were delicious! Probably better than any wedding cake I've ever eaten. I used a vanilla cake mix (that I made taste a little more like homemade) and topped them with the best frosting I've ever had. Seriously. I'm not a frosting lover. I usually scrape it off (unless it's that chocolate frosting from Dan's birthday cake). This frosting is light and smooth and heavenly.

I'm making another batch today since I ate the last two cupcakes at 12:38 this morning. I couldn't sleep and they were just begging to be eaten. They were being saved for Danny and Cate so now I feel bad that I ate my kids' cupcakes in the middle of the night. So much for losing 4 pounds. Ha.

(Yes, Mom. Those are the cupcake liners you sent me. I'll still use the other ones for Cate's birthday.)

We played a game of dominoes before dinner one evening. Cate won it, fair and square. When we were cleaning up Danny said, "This is kind of like Candy Land, except it's with dominoes and you don't pick a card." So...not like Candy Land at all then. Funny kid.

These two enjoyed a popsicle yesterday afternoon. It was windy and my phone showed that it was 61 degrees outside. I'm surprised they didn't ask to run around in the sprinklers too. I absolutely love spring in Utah. Rain, wind, warmish one day and chilly the next. I seriously do love this. I try to have a moment of silence every once in a while and be thankful for this weather because I know without a doubt it can change quickly and I'm left cursing the sun for the next 3 months.  It's cloudy and rainy and windy out right now and oh, I think this is going to be the best day.

Cate loves raspberries. She came to me this morning and asked if she could have some of those "red bumpy things" for breakfast. I think we need some raspberry bushes in our backyard.

I'm headed to the Veterans Memorial cemetery tomorrow morning with the youth to put flags on the graves. I'm hoping they can be a little more reverent than their normal selves and understand the significance of what those men and women did for us. I think we're headed out to decorate graves with Grandma too. And we'll be sure to take Danny and Cate to pay a visit to my grandma and grandpa on Monday. Mums for everyone!

*   *   *

So I guess we know that I like this instagram thing right? Did you also know that I like tiny things? I used to make tiny books when I was a kid. I'd cut little squares of paper, staple them together and write riveting stories on the pages. I remember that I wrote one called A Worm in Hawaii. I sure wish I could find that one.

Well, I found a way to put together my love of instagram and tiny books. Printstagram. You can make tiny photo books using your instagram pictures! I'm totally doing this. Like real soon. Hello, stocking stuffers and perfect grandparent gifts!

how the green monster smoothie changed my life

I came across this recipe for the Green Monster Spinach Smoothie. 

Top Secret Diet Weapon? Hmmmm.

Spinach is an excellent source of lutein which may help prevent dementia? I'm sold!

Twenty-one grams of protein for lunch? Holy moly. That's way better than boring old salad for sure.

I've been eating one of these smoothies every day for lunch since last Monday (well, except Sunday...day of rest from green monsters).

I've lost 4 pounds.

That's why I added some sparkle to the picture.

That smoothie is magical.

It fills up my belly and makes me way too full to snack all afternoon (I guess if I was eating carrots and celery all afternoon snacking wouldn't be an issue).

Know what else I like about it? No thinking required. No wondering what's for lunch. Sometimes I don't have a spare brain cell in my head to plan what I want to eat. Or I can't seem to find any healthy options that don't include celery or carrots. 

Dan can't wait to be out of school for the summer so he can slurp his lunch through a straw right along with me.

We'll be wearing our bikinis at the splash pad in no time!

p.s. Maybe the green monster didn't really change my life...just made it a little simpler. And made my pants a little looser.

p.p.s.  We don't wear bikinis. Maybe just a speedo for Dan.

bragging

The kids were playing in the sprinkler yesterday. Danny walked over to me and said, "So, Mommy, now I know why 15 plus 15 makes 30."

Random. So that's what his little brain is doing while he's out having fun in the yard.

I asked him why 15 plus 15 make 30.

"10 plus 10 makes 20 and 5 plus 5 makes 10."

Yep. He's a genius.

*   *   *

He climbed up on the counter while I was prepping dinner (these individual pizzas that are really yummy and super easy and after making them I'm pretty sure I'll never make a big homemade pizza ever again).

I had already smooshed the dough into twelve circles, six on each baking sheet.

"So, Mommy, looks like we're having pizza for dinner."

He starts a lot of his conversations with "So, Mommy..." nowadays.

I told him to count the pizzas and tell me how many we would each be able to eat for dinner.

"So six plus six makes twelve. So hmmmmm...that means Daddy gets three and Cate gets three and you get three and I get three."

Just like that. Maybe the hmmmmmm lasted for about 3 seconds. He was quick.

Know why?

He's a genius.

*   *   *

He can count by twos up to one hundred. He can count by fives and tens and on Sunday he counted by twenties up to two hundred. I think we'll start working on counting by threes and fours. Just while we're driving around though since I don't think he cares much about me trying to teach him stuff when it feels like I'm actually trying to teach him stuff.

*   *   *

Now, lest you feel badly that your kid (who hasn't even started kindergarten yet) isn't as mathletic as mine, don't. He hates to write anything. Sometimes he'll write his name but that's usually with a lot of moaning and groaning. He can recognize all the letters and numbers but getting him to write anything is a chore. And he holds his pencil wrong. And his crayon and his marker. He prefers to clench his fist so he can color really hard. We're working on that one but he is very resistant. 

He doesn't read very well yet either. I'm especially horrified by that one, seeing as how I'm an elementary school teacher (well, in my heart I am and on paper I used to be). He can recognize lots of words but I don't count it as full on reading. But like I've said before, I'm pretty sure that kindergarten teacher of his is going to need something to do all day so she might as well spend some of her time teaching my kid how to read.

*   *   *

And also, those pizzas really were delicious. You can make it super yummy by whatever toppings you use right? But the crust was really good.

We have leftovers because two kids didn't eat their fair share.

I'm thinking pizza for breakfast is in order.

preschool graduation

It's official. They graduated. 

Cate will be back in the fall but Danny's gone for good.

The program was adorable. One little boy stole the show with his extremely loud and enthusiastic singing. It wasn't Danny in case you wondered.

Miss Kristi has been great. I'm glad we found her. 

I'm also glad Danny and Cate were able to be in the same class. 

Those 5-ish hours a week I had all to myself were heavenly.

And they even learned stuff from someone besides me!