a few suds never hurt anyone ~ the value of working as a family

The other morning, I went outside to find this: 

I was laughing so hard when I saw Will's face, I could hardly take the pictures.

tripping over the hose ~ soaked almost head to toe

climbing the step-ladder in the garage - he loves playing on this thing any chance he gets



It was so awesome to watch Will & Scott washing the car together. I love seeing them work together & am just reminded of how blessed we are to have this sweet boy to raise. Children really are a miracle, & I'm so grateful that we will soon have the blessing of another one in our family.

Folsom Zoo

(I would have written about this sooner, but Blogger has been acting up on my computer & oftentimes won't let me upload pictures - anyone else having this problem?)

A couple weeks ago, Scott & I took Will to the Folsom Zoo for a little field trip. We took him about two years ago, & he was pretty uninterested. Plus, the roosters terrified him each time they crowed, which was a lot! This time was another story. He ran around everywhere trying to see the different animals & chased the roosters instead of wailing every time they made a sound. This is such a fun age to see him observe & explore new things. We had such a blast with him!

Scott had to hold Will back from one of the roosters b/c Will was attempting to get a little too friendly for his parents' (our) comfort.

watching the donkeys

trying to spot the black tailed mule deer - Will was more interested in the roosters behind the fence.

Watching the huge mountain lion that was trying to escape for some privacy.

After we dragged Will away from the zoo, we went to some random (kind of gross) frozen yogurt shack. It was something cool to eat on a hot day, but other than that, we weren't huge fans. Will prefered playing with the topping scoops & was so upset when we told him it was time to go, hence the tears in the car. 

All in all it was a great day, & we're excited to find an even bigger zoo next time - something with elephants (his favorite).

Playing Ball at the Temple (outside the gate)

Last Monday for Family Home Evening, Scott & I attempted to take Will to the Folsom Zoo (to talk about the Creation & the Garden of Eden . . . there were animals there, you know :), but apparently it's closed on Mondays. Not to be thwarted, Scott decided to drive on to the Sacramento Temple where we ran around & kicked a ball in the grass (Is it okay that we did that at the temple? I assume so since people have Mutual there, & there's a baseball diamond on the grounds. Plus, we were outside the gate.). Anyhow, the temple was so beautiful, & we loved having it for our family playtime backdrop. The weather was perfect, & it turned out to be the perfect day!

Crime & Punishment - Being Distracted Can Lead to . . .

The Crime: grafitti

The Weapon: orange Sharpie

The Suspect:this kid 

The other night, I was upstairs working on a new header for my blog. I had the thought, "I should probably check on Will." In fact, when talking to Scott on the phone, I remember saying, "I just heard the barstool moving, I should see what Will's doing." Well, I was a little caught up in finally doing something with my blog that I decided Will was fine. A couple minutes later, Will came up the stairs looking like the above picture. Cute, right? I thought so (He looked like such a little thug with his arm all tattooed. And notice he only got his left arm - he's definitely right-handed).

Seeing him like that was enough to really get my attention. I took him downstairs to see the extent of the damage . . . . . & there was damage. He apparently had started out by coloring on paper (he had great intentions - but as I mentioned in the previous post, "hell is paved in good intentions" . . . my hell, that is. Next, he moved to the granite counters, then the cupboards, then the white entertainment center (thank goodness he didn't get the TV), then two of his puzzles, & finally my cell phone. At this point, Scott came home from I don't even remember where (but he'd had a long couple days, so this wasn't ideal for either of us). Scott assessed the situation & noticed more drawings on the fridge, the trash compactor, & the wall. He grabbed the stainless steel cleaner & got to work in the kitchen, while I grabbed some water & baking soda to work on the entertainment center (While working over there, I noticed some more "drawings" on the carpet, & decided I just didn't care anymore. At this point, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or pull my hair out). After a long time scrubbing, Scott finally found a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, & everything wiped up perfectly (minus the puzzles & carpet which we ignored). We just kept saying, "It could have been worse" & tried to smile.

We were tempted to make an example of Will by making him wear his crime for a while - like the big "A" Hester Prynne wore in The Scarlet Letter.

Scott had mercy & decided to clean him up, but left the orange dot on his face. That would be punishment enough.

Valentine's Day Follow Through!

It's been said that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." And let me tell you, I've always had great intentions for every holiday, but very rarely follow through with any of my ideas. Valentine's Day is no exception!

Scott's & my Valentine's Days are usually horrible! I don't know what it is - laziness, procrastination, not wanting to give in to the commercialization . . . Whatever the reason, we usually end up with brutally failed dinners (my first attempt at making the "perfect" dinner & dessert for our first Valentine's), lack of gifts (I like presents, so I'm all for them - although I never get around to buying one for Scott either), & a heart-shaped pizza for dinner since all the restaurants are booked/too crowded (the pizza is usually fine, but I can't stand it right now with this pregnancy, so that wasn't an option for Lover's Day 2011).

Well, this year was going to be different! I actually planned ahead - ME! I haven't done that in so long! I bought heart-shaped pancake molds on sale at Crate & Barrel, made sure I had the ingredients for Wheat Germ Pancakes (my favorite breakfast!), & bought fresh berries & whipped my own cream (from the carton, not the cow) instead of opting for the spray kind (my mom trained me better, but I'd fallen off that wagon long ago). I also went to See's to splurge on some sweets for my sweets - red foiled chocolate hearts for William & sour (& I mean sour) hearts for Scott.

I'd never used pancake molds before & was amazed at how fun & easy it was. I went out & bought 2 more, so I have them for next year.

I was also excited to pull out my Valentine's Day glasses that I bought when we were first married. I don't think we'd used them in five or so years.

I told Scott a couple days before the BIG day that I didn't want flowers from the store, but would rather have flowers to plant or flowers from an actual florist (not that store-bought flowers aren't beautiful, but the others are just exceptional). Since I didn't give him much warning with my request, I didn't expect much. Well I was shocked when he actually had a present for me, wrapped in a bag & everything! It was a beautiful silver necklace with circle pendants hanging from it (one saying "L & S" with our anniversary engraved on the back, & the other saying "W" with Will's birthday). I'd been wanting a necklace like this for years & was unsure if I still really wanted one or not, but after seeing it, I got so excited - it was even prettier than the ones I'd been looking at! He did such an awesome job & totally surprised me!

Now I'm just hoping I can keep up the follow-through for the other upcoming holidays. I was amazed at how accomplished I felt - like a real domestic wife from the 50's or something (I even wore a cute vintage-looking apron while making breakfast to add to the illusion of "domestic perfection").

This was by far the best Valentine's Day I've had!

WHEAT GERM PANCAKES

1/2 c. flour

3/4 c. wheat germ

1 T. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. sugar

1 c. milk

2 eggs

2 T. oil

1. Mix dry ingredients.

2. Mix liquids & add to dry mixture (don't overmix!)

3. Let sit for about a minute & add more milk if it's on the thick side.