Day with the Ducks

Disclaimer - I have now figured out how to add photos to my posts.  It takes forever and I still need to work on a few things, but whatever, pictures are pictures.  I have SO MUCH to post about, but I'll start with the oldest and move my way up...

The days are flying by, I can't seem to keep up!  A few weeks ago (when the weather was marvy) I took the boys to the park for a little picnic.  They ran around and chased each other, not much eating but lots of playing!  It was a beautiful day, the sky was SO blue.

That afternoon I was able to run some errands alone.   I washed the car, ran to the craft store, the grocery store and finally purchased a hanging plant for my porch!  It's huge and pink and I love it.  It of course highlights the fact that I need to purchase flowers for the rest of my flower pots, they look very sad in comparison.  Hopefully this week Cody and I can buy some plants and get to gardening!

The next day Cody and I took the boys to feed the ducks.  It was so much fun!  We got to see some extremely tolerant turtles and many ducks that were interested in our bread.  Cache was having a blast throwing bread bites into the water, he was laughing so hard.  He kept calling, "Here, duck!  Duck!"

This sleepy little guy even let Cache hold him for a minute.  Well, I mean what choice did he have, really...

I can't believe how fast the next few months are filling up!  Summer will be here and gone before I know it.  We have many things planned and while I had hoped to make it a lazy-ish Summer, I'm not sure that will happen!  Lets just hope Summer gets here.  And soon.

Frayed

I'm falling apart.  Everything is too much when, realistically it shouldn't be too much.  The little things that are overwhelming me are just that - little things.   They are things that I should be able to handle and am perfectly able to handle...I'm just not handling them.  Rather than clean up the house and put away the laundry and take care of things, I just don't want to.  I don't want to work on projects that I have promised to complete.  I feel like I'm under a huge pile and there is no escape.  No one can help me because I'm the one that has to do it all.  Could I crawl into the tub and take a long bath?  Yes.  But that accomplishes nothing - not even giving me a recharge which I so desperately need.  I would just emerge from the bath and face the same obstacles that were there in the first place...only I would have to face them in a bathrobe and we all know how that would go.   They won't go away unless I deal with them, and sadly I just can't deal with them right now.  I don't want to.  "So, Sir Grump.  We meet again..."  

Dear Mother Nature...

I understand that sometimes the pressures of controlling the harmony of the Earth can be a bit overwhelming. It must take so much energy to inform seasons when to come and when to go...that's a lot to orchestrate and it's natural that once in a while you would reach your breaking point. We've all been there, haven't we? That being said, I must ask...what is going on? I mean, the Winter was glorious and white, no complaints here. But uh...it's April now, and...well, my flowers are frozen and I overheard some birds having a pretty heated argument under the massive snowflakes that were falling from the sky.

"What the crap, Gertrude?? You said that it was Springtime and we could fly back! I can't believe I left Cabo for this..."

I now need to dig out the snow shovel and clear our walks while explaining to my son for the 50th time that no, it is not Christmas Eve. So, what do you say? Could we maybe get it together and allow Spring to...spring? Maybe?

A Good Egg

Easter was so much fun! Despite the drizzly, chilly weather on Saturday we loaded up the kids and headed over to Cody's parents house for the Annual Easter Egg hunt. Luckily, it wasn't raining while we scoured the yard for oval treasures. Cache had a blast, I love helping him look for eggs. He gets SO excited when he sees one, taking in a deep breath and saying really high, "Look! I see another one!"

His bag of loot.

Cole didn't really know what was going on, but managed to find some eggs and is still eating the treats from his haul.

Towards the end of the hunt he tracked down Grandpa and had him open the door to the magical place where the real toys are kept...

He loves the 4-wheeler.

I have to commend Cody's parents for putting that together - there are about 14 kids and grandkids that go on the hunt and they EACH have about 16 eggs. Every kid has a designated egg style to hunt for, i.e. - Cache has orange eggs, Cole has green eggs with stickers, Eric has half green, half clear eggs, etc. THEN they hide these 250 hundred eggs in their backyard in hopes that each one is found (we came across one egg that was left over from last year). After the massive hunt we warmed up inside and had a delicious lunch. Thanks for hosting, Gary and Kathy!

Sunday the weather looked and felt more like Spring, it was gorgeous. We took the boys on a little egg hunt in our backyard and then surprised them with more loot when they were done. Cache was looking at all the treats and toys, taking everything out and looking it over.

Cole wasted no time unwrapping and devouring a chocolate bunny. Good thing it was hollow!

I invited my family over for dinner and instead of dining on traditional ham, Cody made his famous Lasagna. Ever had it? It. Is. SO. Good. We also made cheesy garlic breadsticks from a fantastic dough recipe, courtesy of our friends Marc and Jessica. We ate while the kids played around downstairs. It was so fun to just hang out with the family! We need to have them over more often...

I'm still working out at CrossFit whenever I can - I have a love/hate relationship with that gym! It's hard work, but I absolutely love it. I don't know if I will be able to become a certified trainer this year (it's pretty spensy), but I want to be as close to a real trainer as I can! Marty has started working out and it's so fun to go to the gym when he is there. He is doing so well! He's a fast learner, I'm totally impressed with him. We moan and complain together, but we cheer each other on. It's also fun to be at the gym when Brett is there (who is ALSO making great strides). The people at the gym are what make it so rad, you must come check it out sometime.

And FINALLY, you all must come see the Thrillionaires show this Saturday! It's the the main, huge theater and we're doing a "90's Rock Musical". Oh yes, it's going to be stellar. The cast is so great and the tickets are half off!! The show starts at 8:00, see you there.

Here's What I Know...

Just because you are the owner of your company does not mean you should be the spokesperson for it.

I want to be 'the girl' in a movie.

Really? Advertising a tattoo parlor with a mini van? Nothing screams "Lets get inked!" like a beige Honda Odyssey.

There are days that I get all excited to clean my house and get things organized and taken care of. Today is not that day.

I'm working on becoming a Crossfit Trainer. It's ok, I'm just as surprised as you are.

The fact that we can't move ahead on anything until our house sells is too much for me to handle, sometimes.

Is there such a thing as good hold music?

Cody doesn't give me enough credit when I'm funny.

I'm not as funny as I think I am.

Sum Up

The past week has FLOWN by! We've been keeping busy with a myriad of random things. Last Thursday I took Cache and his BF Drew to a matinee. They were SO excited, it was so cute! Our first stop was to pick up some wee beverages for them to sneak into the theater - aren't I just the best example?

They were very serious when they handed their tickets to the ticket guy, then it was on to the candy case...After our purchase we got settled in the theater - we were the only ones there! They each had a pretty great set up - bug juice, cup o' popcorn and a treat.

The movie was 'Monsters vs. Aliens' and it wasn't great, but the boys were totally entertained. It's a good thing we were the only ones there because they would talk about the movie or yell out, "Whoa!" after a huge explosion or something. After the movie we picked up Cody and Cole and headed out to the gym. Came back home, had dinner and when it was time for Drew to go Cache was beyond sad. He loves his little friend! My favorite thing is hearing them talk to each other. It's hilarious to hear them carry on a conversation...I need to get that on film. They get to spend the day together tomorrow and I don't doubt they'll have a blast!

The house is STILL for sale and last week we had 4 showings. That's a lot! I think the best part of this whole 'selling' experience is that I have mastered the art of cleaning my entire house in one hour. Oh yeah, it's something to see. Sometimes I wonder if Cody has Adam call me and say that someone is coming through the house just so I'll get into a cleaning frenzy. Hmm, curious.

Easter is coming up! I haven't decorated as much as I usually do, but I am in love with these golden eggs. I think they will hold a special prize on Easter morning! This Saturday is the Jolley Family Easter Egg Hunt and I already know that the boys will make out like bandits - they get spoiled every year! On Easter Sunday we are having my family over for dinner...what should I make?

And finally, I must chat about how beautiful the day was yesterday. It was in the 70's! Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here! I got to spend the whole day with Cody and the boys, it was perfect. We bought some fruit, chatted in the front yard with our neighbor George, grabbed some lunch and played at the park near the Fire Station in PG.

We even got to visit with Chase and Natalie who were driving past the station - it's always good to see them. We all got a little sun kissed from spending so much time outside! Last night night Cody and I went to dinner (we should have eaten outside, now that I think about it...) and did some car shopping. Today? Well, today is gloomy and cold. Summer will get here...it must!

Egg Cartons and Paper Cups

There is a special feeling on Friday nights, isn't there? When you're little it's the most magical night - you can stay up late, have friends sleep over, no school the next day. Even though I am grown up and mature (ahem), I still feel like Friday night should be celebrated. It's purely for my benefit since my children don't even know or care what day of the week it is. Cody is working this weekend so the boys and I had the house to ourselves. I wanted to do something fun with the boys...I was craving cupcakes and Cache loves to put the paper cups in the pan - fun for everyone!

What started out as a simple task turned into hysterical laughter in no time flat. I began to drop the paper cups on their heads like huge, billowy snowflakes and the boys were laughing so hard they got hiccups. Cole kept squeezing his eyes shut as a paper cup would touch his nose and he would bust out laughing again, it was the cutest thing. My floor was soon littered with my makeshift blizzard and Cole promptly began to stomp and kick them around. He also got ahold of an empty egg carton and was entertained with that for while. Room full of toys? Boring. Egg cartons and paper cups? Best things in the world.

First BBQ!

Last week we had our first BBQ of the season! We wanted to take advantage of the warm weather, so Cody and I invited some friends over to grill. It was so great to see everyone, it's been forever since we've been able to get together. The boys hung out outside during the grilling while the ladies sat around the table catching up and enjoying some chips and dip. This picture is pretty lame, but it's the only one I have of (almost) everyone! Memo to me - snap more pictures next time.

It was Morgan's 3rd Birthday so I made some pink cupcakes and even brought out my ice cream maker! I love that machine, it's been too long. The ice cream was SO tasty, I think it needs to permanently stay on my counter top! After we were full of dinner and dessert, we called it a night. Thanks for coming over, everyone! We'll have to do it again soon...like when the snow melts.

Weekend in the 80's

It was SO balmy in Vegas this past weekend, absolute Heaven! I drove down to spend the weekend with Sara for her Birthday and had the best time - Kate and Rhonda drove up from Phoenix and we spent the weekend eating, shopping, talking, staying up late and laughing our heads off. I can't even remember the last time I laughed that hard, it was so much fun! I got there on Friday evening and that night we went out to eat at BJ's and did some damage at Target.

We woke up Saturday morning and had candy for breakfast. I may or may not be kidding. We quickly got ready and then headed out to do some shopping at the Town Center shops (best shopping in the world). It was the perfect day - clear, warm, a light breeze...how I adore Vegas. AND I fully scored! I bought a beautiful dress to wear to Rich's wedding (at least, that's the reason I gave myself to justify the purchase), a rad jacket from BR and a silky dress from H&M. See? See?? Aren't they great!

This sassy little number came from Martin & Osa.

Isn't the stitching great? It's so glam, but will look even better with light blue heels.

This jacket is so great, with that zipper? And I'm huge fan of that dusty blue color...

This dress is SO comfy. It's thin and silky, I love it.

It might be considered tacky showcasing my fashion finds, but whatevs. After lunch we shopped a bit more and then headed over to Fashion Show Mall. Surprisingly, none of us bought anything there. But we did window shop and peruse many stores! We had Cafe Rio for dinner, got in our PJ's and settled in to watch 'Twilight' which is delicious in every way.

On Sunday we loaded up our cars and went our separate ways - so sad! But the Girls Trip is coming up, so until then...I drove away from the blue skies and 84 degrees. When I hit St. George it was 74 degrees and 10 minutes after that? 43 degrees. Ugh. There have been two storms since I've been home and I certainly hope we get them all out of the way to make room for the warm weather!