Ash the gut buster

Ash (fooling with my coupon file) "Mom, why do you keep your coupons in here?"

Me "So I can find the ones I need when I'm shopping to save money."

Ash "So you can save money?"

Me (folding laundry and half paying attention) "mmm hmm"

Ash "Save money, live better, Walmart!"

Ash "Mommy is this macaroni the cheesiest ever?"

Me "Uh, yeah."

Ash "Good! Cuz I like it cheezy!"

Me "Why are all these toys in the closet?"

Ash "Emma's kids are sleeping in the storage room for the weekend and I'm watching them."

Ash "Mom, did you go shopping without me again?"

Me "No."

Ash "Good. If you go shopping, be sure to bring me!"

Ash "Lightning stuck!"

Proud Parenting Moments

Anyone with kids knows the feeling of pride when they see their kid do something great by their own choice. For example, a month or so ago Emma asked, "Why do you read your scriptures at breakfast?" I responded, "Because it is usually quiet then and it gets my day off to a good start." The very next morning I came down the stairs and there she was reading her scriptures with her cereal. She has been fairly consistent with it since then too. What a cutie!

Though Katie disagrees with it being a proud parenting moment, this next example was priceless! We were at Emma's soccer game and Camille, Ashley and Nathan were not in to it. They asked if they could go play on the bleachers about 20 yards behind us. There were a couple of boys playing over there (one 7 and the other 4.) After a minute or two I glanced over to see how everything was going. Just then the older boy takes a swing at Nate with this toy sword looking thing and stops just shy of his head. I know the older kid and he is usually really nice to our kids so I decide to let it play out for a minute before I go over to separate them. Then, the younger kid (about 4 and a head taller than Bubba) runs up to Nathan, growls and makes clawing gestures right up in his grill. (According to Camille he was pretending to be a dinosaur) Nate has a curious/scared look on his face and at this point I have just about seen enough of this. As I stand up to walk over there, Nathan clinches both fists, puts his head down and starts rapid firing punches to the kid's gut. After a few seconds both kids take off running. So fast in fact that they left their sword behind. Nathan quickly picked it up and started chasing them with it. A teary-eyed moment for sure.

CRAP!

I'm so mad. It is fast Sunday, and at the risk of being struck by lightning I'll say that I hate fast Sunday!

I struggle through lunch, feeding the kids stuff that in my desperation looks delicious, like ramen noodles and ritz crackers with processed cheese. I lay down for 10 minutes after lunch because I'm exhausted and then get up to start making dinner so we can eat early.

I spend an hour and a half putting together my shepherds pie. I doubled the recipe, but I was worried there would not be enough with everyone coming to eat with us. (Dale, his 3 kids, Tammy Adam and their daughter.)

I put the two pans in the oven, then decided to lower my oven rack so they would cook faster. I set the bigger pan on the oven door and then grabbed the rack with two hands with the smaller one still on it to move it down real quick.

You see what is coming here. The smaller pan slides off the rack and bumps into the side of the oven before tipping over and crashing on the tile floor, as I yell "____!" Nevermind that.

Now it is dinner time, I'm starving, grumpy, and facing a night of cereal after all my hard work so I can feed my guests a decent dinner. DANGIT! I feel like crawling in my bed to cry I'm so hungry and tired.

Soccer and Jelly Beans

Justin is currently holding a jelly bean draft in our kitchen. He dumped out a bunch of jelly beans and the girls take turns picking which one they want. When they take too long he says, "This is rapid fire draft! You gotta be thinking three turns ahead which one you want." Camille jumped the gun a couple times and had to sit out a couple rounds.

He worked out a deal with them this morning: for every aggressive play they made--steal the ball, assist, score a goal--they get one jelly bean. I've never seen Camille play so hard. Each time she got in the middle of play she would glance over to see if he was looking with a big smile on her face.

Now they have a time limit on eating their jelly beans and then it's bedtime. I love this man.

I love watching the kids play soccer. I was excited this morning to go to their games. I hate all the time it sucks up: practice, driving, three times a week interrupting dinner. That stuff is a pain and by the end of the season I'll be dying for down time, but for now we enjoy watching their excitement at their own progress.

A few of my favorite things

Lunch with a friend
A good song on the radio
A mountain view
Cool sunny days
A new recipe that turns out well
Getting in my bed at night
Lingering in my bed in the morning
The look Justin gives me when we think something is funny
Baby pouting lips
A good book and some time to read it
Chapstick
Baby clippers
A good pair of jeans
My new washing machine
DVR
Laughing with my family around the dinner table
My kids doing what I ask the first time I ask it