GIRLS TRIP 2012

SUMMER

So it's here!  Summer is here!  How about May is the craziest month ever?  Well...I say that about almost every month.  But truly, there were SO many things going on - so much school stuff and all that jazz.  Cache had something every day: western day, marble day, field day, pirate day...is there a reason they cram those all in the last month of school?  I mean, really?  Cache does make a handsome cowboy, however.

And speaking of Cache, homeboy finally got himeself some glasses!  Poor dude can't see a thing.  He LOVES his glasses - I actually wanted him to get some that looked like Buddy Holly glasses, but these are flexible and look great on him.  Doesn't he look so handsome?

Cole had a little Preschool graduation which is always so darling.  He took his 'graduation walk' very seriously, he walked very slow and with purpose.  He also kept his hands in his pockets, looking smooth. Miss Melva always announcing what each child want to be when they grow up, and Cole wants to be a Baker.  What?  I have never heard him mention that.  It wasn't until his crush Kate was called up and we heard that she wanted to be a Baker that I understood why he chose that profession.  My son the romantic.  Here he is with his bestie,  Jack.

Memorial Day brought the Leavers and it's always so fun when they're here.  We went to see 'Men in Black III' (super great) and on Sunday they came to our ward and joined us for lunch afterwards.  It was fun having them over and just hanging out.  Can't wait for them to come back for the 4th of July!

I love driving past the cemetery on Memorial Day because there are so many flowers...it's so pretty.  I tried to capture it, not sure I succeeded, but it's one of my favorite sites.

The biggest thing happening this week is the GIRLS TRIP!!!  (panicked scream) Friends, I'm freaking out.  The trip is here and I'm super excited about everything, but you know the rad packets I create?  Yeah, they are FULLY lacking.  Ugh, and I hate that.  I have some fun stuff, but gone are the years when I seriously had to curb my spending because they would be filled with so much wonder.  I haven't done a 'themed' year in like...ever and apparently I don't operate well if there's no theme to guide me.  Any ideas for next year?

All is not lost - I have some great playlists and our sweatshirts are cute.  And goodness knows we always have a total blast!  I never posted pics from last year, but rather than clog this post up with photos, here's our little slideshow:

Man, that trip was super fun.  I hope this year is up to snuff!

With Summer officially here our schedules are filling up super fast...I do hope August takes it's time!

Moms

Marvelous day.  Marvelous day!  I have been so taken care of, just marvelous.  Cody has cooked all the meals and taken care of the boys, I even got a nap.  Like a nice, looong nap.  The kind where you wake up and you don't know what day it is.

I came in the kitchen this morning to find 2 dozen orange roses from Cody.  That man knows what he's doing.

Although it's hard to top the daises Cole ripped out of our yard.

And I have to share these pages Cache brought home from school...

Love it.  Then there's this one:

 (I.D. is Investigation Discovery...where I watch all my crime shows.  The secrets out).  And apparently I don't help him 'wright' often enough.

Cody smoked some delicious ribs and roasted some veggies for dinner.  YUM!  Cody's parents stopped by and had dinner with us, it's always great to see and visit with them.  I made an apple pie which we're about to dig into...

Finally, I saw this commercial last night and got misty-eyed.  Maybe it's the hormones.  Whatever.

I love being a Mother.  I LOVE my mother.  I LOVE my mother-in-law.  I'm so grateful to be surrounded by friends who are all wonderful mothers.  So here's to you!  A Happy Mother's Day, indeed!

Ketchup

You know those people who can go weeks or  months without posting on their blog and when they finally return they get like 600 comments in 24 hours?

Me neither.

I haven't posted in forevers and (as I've lamented in previous posts where I complain about blogging) it's SO hard to get the motivation to blog.  I want to, I really do.  Sometimes I'll think, "oh man, I have to blog about that" or "that's a great topic for my blog".  But when I get home I don't really want to sit and type it out.  Why is that? (Yes yes, this is the same question I pose just about every time I do this.  Which, apparently, is once every 3 weeks).

A lot/nothing has happened in the past bit and I wondered if I should create 8 separate posts about each event OR just put them all together in this post.  And here is why: I keep thinking, "I freaking need to catch up on my blog and I should do that before this happens so I can blog about that before this other thing happens that I need to blog about that before then."  So here - here's a condensed post about what's been going on in my world:

Right around the time I last posted, Cody was out of town for 10 days.  Ten. Days.  Pretty sure we haven't been apart that long ever.  How did I survive?  Pretty well, actually.  That's when Rosey came to play, I had other friends stop by and hang out with me to pass the days.  I was REALLY nervous to have him gone that long, I for sure thought I would lose my mind and abandon our children. Surprisingly? I did  just fine.  I even tackled some projects (and finished them!  Gasp!) to surprise Cody with when he got home.

I recovered our bar stools,

bought and painted this bookcase for the living room,

FINALLY put together our huge world map,

got this rad 1960's dresser to go under our TV,

and inherited some incredible things from Cody's great-grandma Leone.  A complete set of butter yellow dishes (I'll have to take another picture when they're all out, I'm thinking I'll use them for Summer!)

and these gold nesting tables.  LOVE!

Cody's parents took the older boys both Friday nights and let them sleep over and kept them for most of the day on Saturday to give me a break.  My besti neighbor Celine helped with my kids and projects, I even had a night to play with Amelia, Tanya came to hang out...I was great.

The weekend after Cody came home we went to Park City with some friends for a 'Spouse Check In', if you will.  Just a weekend where we could spend time together and talk about things.  Cody and I aren't great at confrontation and sometimes it's hard to tell the other person what we need and what we want.  Taking the time to just get away (even if it was only for 24 hours) was a breath of fresh air.  We were able to talk and get some things out in the open.  It's still a process, it's not like we had this little weekend and suddenly everything's perf (disclaimer: Cody and I are super in love and we're doing great, it's not like we're on the edge of parting or anything like that, lest you be concerned.  Are you?  Don't be.), but we're doing better.  And I love that.  And I love him.

How were we able to leave Baby Cruz overnight, you may ask?  Because he's a rock star.  Little dude is almost 12 weeks and he's pretty much been sleeping through the night for the past 3 weeks.  He falls asleep around 8:00 and stays asleep until 6:30 or 7:00.  Win!  I mean, we got a sitter (thanks, Katie!) and it's not like we're going to go out of town every weekend, I'm just so glad we were able to take that time.  Speaking of the newest Jolley mister, he is the key-utest thing ever and I'm overly obsessed with him.

He is starting to coo and make cute sounds, he kicks like crazy - seriously, it's like he's air running.  I've tried to film it but he senses the camera and goes into frozen stealth mode...the sneaky devil.  We are all showering him with love (Cole has to come see Cruz first thing in the morning and Cache is great and calming him down when he cries).  But seriously, can you blame us?  Could he BE any cuter??

Last weekend Cody and I were invited to go a fight at UVU.  Now...we're not "fight" people.  At all.  And this night was a confirmation of that.  Friends?  That whole 'fight' world is this underground mecca of crazy.  I have no idea where all those people are in normal life, but man...they came out in droves for this event.  I've never seen so many guys wearing tight black t-shirts in all my life.  I've also never seen so many girls wearing...well, let's just say some got pretty creative.  Just gussied up people that want nothing more than to be seen.  People watching by far out-entertained the fighting, but it nevertheless was a night out with friends and Cody.  Still...super hilarious.

Probably the biggest news?  Cody's gym is moving to a bigger, better,  badder location - we're so excited!!

Cody and Jason

It's the old Harley Davidson building on 800 N in Orem.  TONS of space, it's just what they need.

Isn't it amazing??  They will start training there June 1st.  Soon!  It will take a while before they are able to get the space into what they want, but it won't take too long and I'm over the moon about it.  I'm so proud of Cody.  Come see us in June!

The weather has been soooooo fantastic and we've been planting flowers like crazy.  Last night we were out planting and the boys were building hideouts in the front yard.  The light was so pretty and it was such a warm, pretty evening.  Just perfect.  I'll post pictures when we're done.

Let's see, have I covered everything?  Probably not.  But it's a start.  I have tons of other things to post and will get them up here as soon as I can.  Let's just hope it's not another 3 weeks.  Because that's when school gets out, and we know I won't have any free time then.

Slipper and the 'Rosey'

I'm not sure if I have disclosed my love affair with the movie, 'Slipper and the Rose'.

Friends? I LOVE IT.

My Mom had recorded it off TV and I grew up watching it...loving it. It's witty and hilarious and deliciously sprinkled with 70's flair. It's romantic, cheesy, the music is catchy and I will never, ever be sick of it. LOVE it.

Now let's talk about my friend, Rosey. Darling girl. I met Rosey when I started working for my Dad forever ago and we became fast friends. Amongst the things we had in common was none other than our mutual love for 'Slipper and the Rose'. It's a small group of people that know about this movie, so we were destined to be besties. We would quote it at work and watch it for movie nights (I mean, we quoted other movies too and had other interests, we're well-rounded. Sort of.). Amongst our favorite films to watch together:

Pillow Talk

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Anchorman

High Society

White Christmas

Never Been Kissed

Singin' in the Rain

(Just to name a few....)

Fast forward many years. Rosey and I no longer work together, we're both married and she's lived in other states or other cities, but we always manage to find time to hang out or talk on the phone and every time we do it's like no time has gone by. Do you have friends like that? I hope so, those ones are the best. Where it's months later and you can pick up right where you left off. She and her dear husband are moving to Mississippi for the Summer, so before she left we decided to have a movie night and watch our favorite. She came over Saturday night around 9:00 armed with bevs, popcorn and Nibs. YUM. We talked and laughed for 3 hours before starting the movie.

Then of course we quoted during the movie and sang and gushed and squealed and laughed (because another thing we have in common is the fact that we're both hilarious). I mean, can you see these wondrous costumes? The ball scene looks like it's been showered in sherbet. Fantastic.

Even though we've seen the movie a thousand times, it's still so fun to watch it together. It was seriously the funnest night ever! She left...around...4:00am. Yeah. "I'm not even mad, that's amazing" (Rosey might be the only one who gets that). Ahh, I love her. Truly one of my bestest friends. Best night ever, so good for my soul. I will miss her terribly this Summer, but when she returns in the Fall? Movie nights filled with shenanigans are sure to ensue. I believe a screening of 'Phantom' is in order...

Sigh...

Easters

Happy Easter! We had a GORGEOUS weekend and we celebrated in all kinds of Spring splendor. As is customary with Utah Springs, the weather is totally unpredictable. This is not new info, but I have to admit that this year the weather has been all kinds of random. Fer rills. Example? Friday morning there was a full on blizzard blowing outside. Wha? Sideways snow, frigid temps...just brrr. THEN Saturday morning is all clear and blue and warm and marvy. Whatever, Spring.

I'm so glad the weather was great because Saturday was the annual Easter party at Grandma Kae's. I don't know how this woman does it, but she single-handedly fills and hides eggs all over her lawn for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. There's like...312 kids. Each kid gets like 15 eggs, they all have their own color/pattern to look for, they each have their own special bag to collect eggs in. Again, I don't know how she does it, but every year she pulls it off. After the little ones get their haul we sit down for a yummy lunch and visiting with family. The sun felt soooo good, it was such a pretty day.

Cole getting down to business.

Cache and his cousin Erik enjoying their spoils.

After the party we ran some errands, came home and sent the boys to bed so Cody and I could set out Easter. Last year I went all out for the boys, but this year? Yeah...that didn't happen. I feel bad I didn't do more, I feel so unorganized. Next year, right? We filled eggs and made a trail for each of them from their bedroom to their baskets that we put on the bar, then we hid eggs in the living room. Cache wondered why there was a trail of eggs and I explained to him that I told the Easter Bunny I didn't much appreciate him leaving muddy footprints all over my house last year for me to clean up, so I made him wipe his paws before leaving their treats. He bought it.

Oooh! A wee cherub!

Then we made a big breakfast with bacon and....well, eggs. Duh. Easter.

Late this afternoon we went to Cody's parents for dinner and yet another egg hunt. Dinner was DELISH, complete with deviled eggs and red punch (my faves).
The kids ran around the yard finding as many eggs as they could, which was about 15 each. Again, seems like a daunting task to me - well done, Jolley parents!

Then we just relaxed in the backyard, chatting and relaxing. It was fantastic. I love that family, let me tell you what. The day was so, so beautiful and we hung out outside until the sun went down.

I think I've sort of taken Easter for granted the past...ever. But man, what a great Holiday. It's like a second Christmas. Not only do you get to surprise your children and do fun things for each other, but you get to focus on the Savior and the wonderful gift of the Atonement. It's like a refresher. It's this wonderful feeling of starting new and fresh. You get to spend time with family and reflect on what's really important. Best Easter ever.

Back in the Crossfit saddle

Some find that when they're pregnant they have this glow, this beautiful sheen of lovely that comes with creating life.

I do not have this glow.

I have more of a...a manatee/walrus appearance...large and upset that I'm awake. Now that I have a beautiful little cherub, I intend on doing something about my bigness. The solution? One being the fact that I've returned to Crossfit.

My friend Ann had a baby boy two weeks before me and has started with me, and dare I say - we've started a fitness motivation revolution! Our friend Becky is starting to join us, my sisters-in-law (Jen and Steph, who were already coming but now want to come when we're there because we are the awesome) are going to go when we're there, my friend Mindi and her friend Brittany are coming now and my other friend Britt (are you still with me?) wants to start coming, too. How great is that? Misery for all! Not going to lie, I've been sore and it's not easy doing this stuff after being sedentary for...well, ever. But I am determined and we've been 3 times in the past week. Cody is helping me with diet so hopefully I will soon resemble the fox he married.

So what's stopping you? Come join us.