The Beals

just a little reminder.

2012-02-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

There is going to be an awesome showcase going on downtown SLC in April. I am sooooo excited for this! It is seriously the most inspiring and fun shopping you will ever do. Now, if you consider yourself a crafty diva or know of anyone that fits the bill (modern, hip, vintage-inspired handmade goods) we would LOVE for you to head on over to the Piper & Chloe Blog to get your application. We will be taking them until Feb. 14th. Don't miss out on this awesome opportunity!

sun. :)

2012-02-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hasn't the weather been so nice lately? At least it is here. We have been loving it, obviously. Today we went outside for a little mid-winter romp. It was so great to feel the sun shining on my pasty white skin. Glorious!! Here's a couple pics of the festivities.

Some rambles.

2012-02-01T04:13:00.000-08:00

(and random pictures from the week!)

It's 6:45am and nobody is awake quite yet. I don't know if I should wake Eric up or just let him sleep in...he didn't get home until 2:30am. Poor guy. I just took a nice long run. It really sucks waking up at 5 in the morn but once I'm running and I'm in my element everything is okay and I don't seem to notice the early hour anymore. I just signed up for a half marathon. I didn't think I had a full in me this time around. But I'm excited to have purpose again, motivation to run and exercise. That's always when I'm the happiest!

Eric is nearing the end of his 3rd year of medical school. I can't believe how fast it's gone. The day to day of course seem to drag on but when I look back, I can't believe how much has happened and how much of a dent we've made in this long process...we're getting there! Well along with the end of his third year is when big decision need to start being made. After much stress and trying to decide (a little pre-maturely in my opinion) what he wants to specialize in, he has decided to go the route of General Surgery. This means an additional 5 years of residency (plus 2-3 years if he decides he wants to specialize any further, ie. plastic surgery...I could use some help in the upper chestal region, if you know what I mean!) which will start after graduation. Wouldn't it be nice if it was as simple as, "I pick General Surgery" but oh no, now he spends the months of April-October doing audition rotations and they are exactly as horrifying as they sound. A 2-4 week interview where the residents and attending physicians decide if you are worthy of a spot in their program. They pick apart everything you do, remember every stupid comment...oh I would commit social suicide if that were me...luckily I'm married to a pretty amazing man that has the power to woo and light up a room. (I love him, btw) After the audition rotations he starts applying to different programs and by next February we will have results for the "MATCH" and we will know where we will be for the next 5 years! Something we have never had in all our years of marriage! We've been discussing a few different options for residency and have both fallen in-love with the idea of Oregon. The residency program seems pretty awesome from what we can tell and we love the thought of being in the west again and west coast...oh yeah. Other places we are looking into are Cuyahoga, Ohio which is a nice area. We lived there a few summers back and really enjoyed our time there. Also here in good 'ole PA. It'll be interesting to see where we do end up after all!

Bostyn starts gymnastics today! I'm so excited for her. I hope that she loves it. :) That's all that's on my mind for now.

nothing crazy/cool to post about.

2012-01-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

So I thought I'd just post some of my photo challenge pics for the month. If you're a fan on facebook, sorry for all the picture overload but you're just going to have to deal with it. :)

a church/building.

some clouds.

pic from a low angle.

piper & chloe.

2012-01-25T17:09:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to be announcing another Piper & Chloe Showcase!

It's been talked about frequently over the last 2 years but us gals have been so busy pushing out babies and other such nonsense that's it's been put on the back burner. But, it's officially happening this Spring, April 13th & 14th. If you are hanging out in the Salt Lake Valley around that time you best be marking your little calendar and heading on over. This is no run-of-the-mill boutique!! It's modern, hip, vintage-inspired and we hand pick our vendors so no nasty ones make it in...you know the kind! On that note...if you do know of any exceptionally talented peeps that would fit into our theme send 'em on over to the blog. :) And if you want an EXCELLENT playlist to do your chores to..you know where to go! Peace out, friends.

A peek at some of my favorite vendors from the past. (Sorry, the pic quality is obviously not the best.)

My idol...don't worry I was totally star-struck and couldn't stop blabbering when I talked to her.

http://julieparkerphotography.blogspot.com/

MD sparks.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MDsparks

Modernthread...everything she makes is magic...seriously.

http://modernthread.blogspot.com/

a haircut.

2012-01-24T04:45:00.000-08:00

The first official...I've given him a few in the past and supposedly it was pretty uneven, (sorry I'm not perfect!)...Eric just couldn't take it anymore so we did a little shave for the little man.

Before:

During:

After:

snow.

2012-01-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

We got a little snow storm the other day! Hasn't this winter been so weird? Goodness gracious it's about time! Other than our huge storm in October, we haven't had any snow and temperatures have been quite tolerable. I'm still excited for winter to be over, don't get me wrong, but it was nice to be able to take the kids out for a little snow romp.

Don't look too closely at Nixon's outfit...let's just say we were a little under-prepared with boy attire.

Thanks for the snow boots Nana and Papa!

Nix and I came in after a while and watched Bostyn and Eric play for a little while longer. We then followed up our winter festivities with nothing other than a steaming cup o cocoa. It's times like this that I really fall in-love with being a mom again. :)

We went to a farm show.

2012-01-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

Yep. And don't I look so excited. Well, I am, I'll tell you what.

Don't worry I was taking pictures of everything. This random guy just so happened to be in one of them. He is picture worthy, don't you think?

So let me tell you my thoughts on the farm folk. They're a different people. I say, the farm folk are a culture all their own. I remember dating a guy once who lived out in the sticks. They just think different, get excited about different things i.e. "mama goat is pregnant...wait for it...with TWINS!!!!" I don't really get it. I don't get how you can look at a cow and see that it is better than another. They all just look big, dumb and I feel sorry for them having to have there boobies milked. That sounds quite awful, although I do appriciate the milk that comes from them, heaven knows I do!

In all seriousness, this trip to the farm show really opened my eyes to farming and how IMPORTANT it is to our society. It's really unbelievable how much we depend on animals. And maybe I'm not an animal lover and it's hard for me to understand how anyone would want to live on a farm or be a farmer but sheesh! I'm glad there are people out there that do it...and LOVE it. Even though they seem a little weird to me. So maybe I'll never be a cowgirl and want to lasso a cow or whatever but I can appriciate the folk that do.

Alpacas! The first time I'd ever felt their hair. Goodness gracious it's soft!! That's what they make all those yummy cashmere sweaters out of. See...IMPORTANT!!!

And a little smile for the road. :)

Guess who had a birthday!?

2012-01-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

It was a big one too.

The big 3-0

Here's the birthday boy after a late night date with the hospital (he was on call...booo!) then the boys and the XBOX got him into the wee hours of the morning.

He was greeted with 30 reasons why I love my dee.

Finally waking up!!

Birthday cupcakes!!

A present!

A five o'clock shadow for the little man.

A ride for the Nixon.

Then off to bed again. Happy 30th. I know it wasn't great, but YOU are! I LOVE YOU!

just a couple cute pics

2012-01-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

and that's it. Too tired to write, too tired to breathe. Nighty-nite!

philly.philly.philly!

2012-01-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

The last big hurrah of the parent's stay was heading over to Philly. Have I mentioned how much I love this city!?! Goodness gracious, it's fabulous I tell you. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so obsessed with picture taking then my blog posts would be much less time consuming. And my husband wouldn't roll his eyes at me nearly as often when the camera happens to pop out. However, here we are, and I'm an addict. So hope you like all the pics and it isn't a total waste of me time!

National Constitution Museum.

Independence Hall.

The Bell and the fam.

There it is...mid roll.

Inside Independence Hall, where the constitution was signed.

Ben Franklin.

Le bell.

We had a fabulous time with Eric family! They took good care of us, provided us with some amazing meals, laughs and inappropriate humor at times! We are missing them so much and longing for some more company...anyone?

a day in scranton.

2012-01-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

While the folks were here, we spent a day in Scranton, PA or roundabouts! This is where Eric grew up. First we went to their old apartment. Isn't this forest to die for? I can't even imagine how fun it would've been to run around in those trees as a kid. A delight! So this was the view from the front of their house.

Next we headed over to hang out with some of Jeff's old co-workers from back in the day. Seriously some of the nicest people I have ever met.

We had some DELICIOUS pasta made by Tom. (Tom is the one in the Penn State shirt and he wears that shirt proudly!) Oh my heavens above the pasta...amazing. This recipe came all the way across the Atlantic with his mama from Italy. The recipe resides and will ever remain in the family...dang it! I probably ate half that bowl...

Next we went to look at Eric's old Elementary school.

Yikes, are you kidding me? It looked like a jail.

And this is the playground. He said it looks exactly the same. Good thing he had those awesome trees to run around in, eh?

After that we stopped to visit some friends of theirs from their old ward. There's some good people back here in the East that is for sure. I didn't get any pics of that adventure. My job was to keep Bostyn and Nixon contained in a very non child-proof house. Lots of glass Nativities EVERYWHERE...enough said.

on tueday...

2012-01-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

I did a fun little photo shoot and I couldn't resist posting a few up in here. They aren't quite finished but I love the way these ones turned out...

You likey?

That same day the folks were gracious enough to let us take a little over-nighter. We were soooo excited. We never really got to celebrate our anniversay this year since Eric was taking the boards in MO and I was back in UT so we took full advantage of the in-laws and had ourselves a fabulous little vaca. We went to a hotel near Philly...a theme hotel...ya know like Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Ceasars Palace suite. It was delightful. Of course a little on the cheesy side but who am I kidding? I am ALL about it! So here's some pics of our room and such.

2012-01-06T05:02:00.000-08:00

I have a very onery little man, so these pics will have to suffice.

Here's our trip to D.C.

A piece of the Berlin wall.

My beautiful sil, Katie.

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Julia Child's ACTUAL kitchen!!! So cool.

fa la la la la...

2012-01-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

Welp here it is...the Christmas post!

Christmas Eve consisted of some sugar cookie making with Nana, Papa and Katie...gotta get those treats ready for santa!

The ballerina swimsuit was the outfit for the day...not really weather friendly but whatever.

We played our traditional "Santa Clause" where we bring the presents down and place them under the tree. We let the babes open a present...and what do you know....jammies!!! Who woulda thought?

After we has the kids snuggly in bed, we cooked our delicious Christmas Eve dinner which included grilled salmon, crab legs, gorgonzola mashed potatoes and cesear salad. Yummy! One of my most favorite family traditions! We were so dang happy to have Eric's family here. We had the biggest ball there ever was. It would not have been the same without them!!!

Christmas Morning.

Nixon got a train.

Bostyn got about a million ponies.

Eric got a MOVIE!

Nixon got some animals.

My mom made some owls for the kids...aren't they so cute! HOO!

Followed up Xmas morning with a delightful breakfast...that was more than just oranges but I was a little stingy with my picture taking.

Bostyn in her Christmas dress playing with some princess magnets before church.

We had such a lovely Christmas, super chill and relaxing. I did, however, end up with the worst headache known to man...trying to ween myself off the caffeine...not a great day to start but I am getting better.

cheers to the new year!

2012-01-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

Gosh I have so many things to catch up on but first I would like to say how grateful I am for a new year! A fresh start if you will. I always start out the year with a page long list of resolutions and a feeling like I am going to conquer the world!! Then when the newness of the year wears off and I get back into the day to day grind I lose my passion and motivation. Then I feel like a big pile of dirt when my goals aren't accomplished after all. There was a wonderful talk given in my church this past Sunday. (We could actually listen this time because the in-laws offered to watch the kids...hallelujah!) Anyway he shared an experience about his life. It was 20 years ago and he sat in the back of the chapel at a returned missonaires homecoming. He hadn't been to church for years and years, and as he sat there listening to the missionary bear his testimony and speak of the things he knew to be true, this man thought...that will never be me. I will never be able to get to that point. He left the church saying I'm never going to be able to change my life but I can make a goal to read the Book of Mormon again and I'll try to pray. He made a small and simple goal which he was able to accomplish and now 20 years later he was on the pulpit bearing his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and of our dear Savior. Anyway it was super up-lifting. Another thing he said was if you are only 10% better than you were last year, just continue at that pace and in 10 years you'll be 100% better than you are now. I thought that was a cool way of looking at it. So instead of making a list 100 miles long I'm just going to make some simple goals for myself. Goals I know I can accomplish. Those include:

Read the Book of Mormon again.
Say my prayers every night.
Continue to educate myself on the world of photography and practice!
Continue to run, be healthy and exercise.

And a couple pictures, of course!

hello friends.

2011-12-31T20:32:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile. I've become so attached to my little blog that when I don't post a feel a little guilty about it. I don't know who's out there reading but if you are...I'm glad. :) And I'm happy to do a little mini post while we set up for a little game night to ring in the new year. 2011 has been good to us and to me. I've learned a lot about myself this year. I'm glad that I am able to say that...glad I haven't remained stagnant in life and in my personality. So here's to the new year!! I leave you with a couple o pictures of our trip to DC this week:

The Washington Monument.

2011-12-24T11:57:00.000-08:00

a post for the boy.

2011-12-22T06:32:00.000-08:00

He's so stinkin' cute. He's really walking now. I love the uncoordinated, stumble walk. I will miss his cute little tank crawl but I'm sure soon enough his walking will turn into a tank run and then there will be many a trips to the ER. Anyway... I couldn't resist posting a few pics. Plus we got a Christmas surprise!!!! Eric's parents and 'lil sis are flying into town today to spend Christmas with us. WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!! Eric's family is seriously the coolest family ever. I'm so lucky to have married into it. And I inherited a little sister (well a couple but I don't consider you that little, Linds...) out of the whole ordeal and she is amazing. I love her to death. She is beautiful, smart, wise beyond her years and one of my best friends. I'm so excited to see her, well all of them! So...I don't think I'll be posting again for a little bit and the 30 day photography challenge is being seriously post-poned until I have more time on my hands. So here I leave you with some cute Nixon pics.

the temple and some abstracts.

2011-12-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we headed down with the youth of our ward to see the temple lights and go to a Christmas program. It was delightful. Well, for the most part. The temple is gorgeous! We had never seen it before so it was a real treat to be able to do it at Christmas time with all the beautiful lights. The program....not so fun with two writhing children. We had to step out a little early... Going places with young children can be so exhausting. Do you others feel the same? Or our children especially difficult. It seemed like other children were sitting quietly but Bostyn was all over the place! When I'd tell her to stop she'd say "NO!" Oh the little sassy pants! Anyways.. Here's some pictures of the temple grounds...kind of. They are mostly blurry abstracts because I'm still trying to figure out how to capture lights without them looking bland and flat so if you are thinking...that's blurry. It's because I wanted it that way...okay!

Washington D.C. Temple.

raspberries.

2011-12-17T06:41:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to eat these...but they were moldy...freaking wal-mart. I hate you. At least they made do for my challenge pic of the day: fruit.

(f5.3, ISO 160, 155mm, 1/60, exp. -0.7)

So this little photography challenge has left me feeling somewhat discouraged. My pictures thus far have left me feeling less than satisfied. They are bland, boring, and invoke no sort of passion or inspiration. I feel that my abilities are very lacking. I am solely a macro-photographer. Some people are afraid of getting too close, I'm afraid of getting far away. So if anything this challenge is helping me realize where my strengths are and the areas I definitely need to work on. So I guess that's good. I'm going to re-group and really takes these next two or three weeks and challenge myself to NOT do what I usually do...which is macro stuff. We'll see how it goes. SCARY!

goodness gracious.

2011-12-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of boogers in my nose..tmi? If so, this post is NOT for you. There's going to be lots of booger talk. Here's my pic of the day: from a low angle. A pic of our huge tree...just kidding. It's 3 feet tall give or take.

f2.8, 1/60, ISO 1600, 50mm, -0.7)

But, an even better picture and one in which I will introduce you to my best friend, is this:

a nice fat roll of toilet paper.

I.am.soooo.sick. I thought I was in the clear. The kids got sick about a week ago and it was a pretty horrific time. Lots of booger wiping and coughing in my face. So when I started feeling icky on Monday I was pretty devastated. And after my trip to Target today I realize why you should stay in when you are feeling under the weather. After living in no-where's-ville for two years I've learned to treat every trip to Target with reverence. It is a special event and should be treated as such. Always roam every isle...Be thorough when choosing childrens clothes, yes, they are all cute...be careful not to spend a fortune... Meander through the $1 bins. So when I entered Target I had the usual game plan...$1 bin then childrens' clothing. I only got far enough to grab 3 rolls of wrapping paper before the sneezes started coming in succession. No kidding probably about 20 in a row and p.s. I've given birth twice soooo ya know. A little pee with each one. :( Things were not looking up. I sadly said goodbye to the $1 bins and headed over to children clothing. I had a few things I needed to get but by that time my eyes were watering up a storm. I had some pretty blurry vision and I'm sure I looked a real fright. But I ventured on. There were adorable things, as always. I tried to be careful but I basically threw anything cute in my cart. We headed over to the toy section per Bostyn request and this is when my nose is starting to need a serious blow...sweater sleeves will only do so much. So I look in my bag for a baby wipe and of course there is nothing in there. Just cards, pens and fruit snacks. With eyes watering and boogers flowing I looked for anything I could use. I found it in just the nick of time before the sneezes started up again...nixon's sock. I hunkered down in the corner of electronic and toys and blew my little brains out into that sock...I ended up needing another. Oh how embarrassing. My trip to Target left me less than satisfied and I have serious buyers remorse. Oh bother. Cheers to the freaking weekend...oh that's still a couple days away. Boo.

craft day!

2011-12-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

But first of all the photo challenge pic for the day...

day 5: pic from a high angle.

(f7.1, 50mm, ISO 320, 1/50, -0.7)

So it really was preschool but we just ended up doing crafts the whole time and eating cookies. I, for one, had a delightful time. I stuffed my face full. Both these ides for Christmas trees I got off of pinterest. Just slightly modified versions. :) So easy and fun.

Nixon had fun too!

the end.

a 'lil bit o green.

2011-12-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Day 4: take a picture of something green. Well luckily I had these little dandies handy. Mmm...a green apple...is there anything better in this world? I dare say, maybe.

(f2.2, ISO 200, 1/125, 50mm, exp. -0.7)

(f2.2, ISO 200, 1/160, 50mm, exp -0.3)

They will be cut up and put into a delicious salad for a little family night/dinner with some friends. Wahoo! Mormons are AWESOME!! Would you like the recipe? Well, okay then. (I'm sure most people have a variation of this salad but this one is truly exceptional.)

Spinach Salad w/Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Spinach and other mixed greens
1/4c. craisins
1/4c. chopped apple
3 strips bacon, crumbled
1/4c. shredded mozzarella
1/4c. sliced almonds*
1/4c sugar

Layer ingredients in a bowl. Place sugar in pan on med-high heat. Wait until it is just starting to transform into the liquid then add almonds. Stir with fork until coated. DO NOT LET BURN! Place on a plate or wax paper...whatever floats your boat then wait for almonds to cool. Once cooled break up and place on top of salad.

Poppy Seed Vinaigrette:
1/2tsp. poppy seeds
1/8c. apple vinegar
1/3c. oil
1/8c. sugar
1/4tsp. salt.

Yummy Yummy in my tummy.
peace out, friends.

the clouds.

2011-12-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

Alright, here is it. Photography Challenge #3!

(f10, 80mm, ISO 200, exp -0.3, 1/800)

This is actually from awhile ago. There haven't been in any clouds in the sky for a couple days and I want to get this thing moving along for crying out loud...so no judging peeps!

a special thing.

2011-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

photo challenge:

day 2--what you wore today.
So...I usually change my outfit (pajamas) like 5 times throughout the day...it's so hard to stay in just one!! So to avoid any embarrassment of actually taking a picture of my sweet (sweat) pants and a ty-dyed t-shirt I thought I would focus on something I wear everyday. Which is this:

(35mm, f4, 1/60, ISO 150, -0.3)

(35mm, f1.8, 1/10, ISO 2000, -.0.3)

Isn't it lovely? Eric did such a good job and surprised the socks of me! I love that boy with all my heart. The diamond was in his mom's original wedding ring. I feel privileged to be wearing it now and love that we have an heirloom in the family now.

In other news...guess who's walking? Me, Eric, Bostyn and NIXON!!!!

Guess who's super sick? Bostyn and Nixon. :(
Guess who comes home from work everyday at 1? Eric
Guess who loves his schedule for this rotation (radiology)? Me!
Guess who's sleepy? That's me again!
Farewell!

my 30 day challenge.

2011-12-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

This has been on one of my pinterest pin boards for quite some time gathering electronic dust so I thought I'd put it to use and get started on my 30 day photography challenge! Perfect timing too...weather is getting crappier and crappier!!!

day 1--self-portrait.
This is me on a typical day. Minimal make-up, lack of hair do. :)

Exposure details:

focal length: 35mm

f stop: 5.6

shutter: 1/125

exposure: +0.7

ISO: 500

WB: Auto

Stayed tuned for more photo challenges!!

a cup o cheer.

2011-12-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

I got up at 5:30 today and took a nice long run. It was just what I needed to clear these cobwebs out of my head. I think I'm going to make a habit out of it. I've been lacking exercise, health and all the happiness associated with it. Quite unlike me. I've been trying to decide on a gym pass for the last little bit but the $40 a month makes me want to throw up a little bit so I think I'll just bite the bullet and wake up an hour earlier. In the grand scheme it doesn't make much of a difference. I sure do miss Exercise Group in good 'ol Kirksville though. That was lovely. Anywho. I thought I'd post a couple o pictures of our Xmas decor this year. I'm really quite proud of it.

(a wee bit warped from the sitting in a dark dank closet...but still cute none.the.less.)

I found these trees, snowflakes and stockings at Target in the $1 bin. Love those bins. Then I just glued them to some twine and put them everywhere! Adds quite the Christmas cheer I must say.

A mitten garland. Compliments of my awesome sister.

Now I'm headed to the Salvation Army to pick up some chairs. I should probably stop by our dumpster first. There is always a treasure to be found!!

a weekend Philly-style.

2011-12-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

What a busy couple of weeks! Sorry for the lame blog as of late...lots of photo shoots and editing which is a good thing but I need to be better about prioritizing my time! Since Bostyn is plugged into the tele and Nixon is slumbering away I thought I'd do a little catch up. Our Thanksgiving was awesome. We hung out around York City, did the Nixon photo shoot and had dinner with some people that we didn't know to well. There were a few awkward moments and a holiday drink that was horrifying but we muscled through and made some new friends. :) We had some of our peeps from DC come up to stay with us that weekend. We had a delightful time and headed to Philly to check things out. Philly is seriously the coolest city ever. I haven't been to NYC yet so I'm guessing that will take the cheese but so far Philly has pushed all my buttons. Awesome architecture, loads of history, CULTURE, people of all ethnicity, people people everywhere, 5 story anthropology...yes please! And I could go on and on. So on Saturday we hit up the Liberty Bell then walked through what felt like the entire city. From the Bell to City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art aka Rocky Steps and a few Starbucks breaks in-between. A delightful weekend I tell you, oh and did I mention it was 65 degrees. That's what I'm talking about, my friends! So here's a few pics of our Philly adventure.

Two very handsome men if I do say so myself!

A beautiful little Bostyn.

Some berries.

Cool picture...thank you very much.

Me and the Dee.

The Bell.

The bell and me...drrr.

more berries...couldn't resist.

Rainbow leaves.

Eric and his mistress, the iphone.

Bostyn picking up sand.

a flower of sorts.

What's a trip to Philly without a philly cheesesteak...mmmm.

Our friends, Dave + Sara and a blurry Jack.

an ornament.

Spikiness.

A new best friend.

Cool church.

A horsemen.

City Hall + Cool buildings.

I believe this is the Masonic Temple.

Too much excitement for this little man.

Occupy Philly...lamer...get a job.

So cute.

Love him!

Um...gorgeous sunset!

City Hall + Downtown

Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Flag road.

follow me to

2011-11-27T14:16:00.000-08:00

the most adorable boy in the land....

I love this boy with all my heart!! Here's to being ONE! More pix over this way.

a trip to the jersey shore.

2011-11-21T05:05:00.000-08:00

We decided to be spontaneous this weekend and go see the ocean. It's been awhile. We loaded up our car with strollers and snacks and headed out. We decided to go to the closest beach which is in Atlantic City. The three hour drive there was just a delight. PA is so beautiful right now, well always really, but it's cool to be able to see into the forests without all the leaves blocking your view. You can see all these little streams and caves and the last golden leaves holding on with all their might, so lovely! Popped in a few movies for Bostyn, Nixon slept pretty much the entire time and we arrived. We walked out onto the boardwalk and it was FREEZING! We weren't properly prepared with winter clothes and blankets so we looked out at the ocean and ooohed and awwed for a minute, then let the kids play in the park and then peaced out. We drove around Atlantic City for awhile trying to find a place to go indoors. There was supposedly a cool mall resembling the Forum Shops in Vegas but parking was $20! Screw that. So we just left. It was kind of a ridiculously long drive for an hour of frivolity but any time hanging out with the family is not time wasted! I was a little disappointed in the city itself. I mean just the looks of it since we didn't really go anywhere but Vegas is way cooler looking and doesn't look so runned down and ghetto. Those are my two cents. But still cool. You probably need a couple days to get the full experience minus the kiddos.

The pictures:

one to make-up.

2011-11-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

this is a flower

Do you regret posts sometimes? I do. Sometimes I just delete them but just to demonstrate how bi-polar I really am I will keep it up, if only to humor myself. My last post was a pretty sorry pity party and for that I am sorry. This time of our lives is hard for sure, I guess...

I mean we are living in a house, a house with a dishwasher and a washer and dryer which is lovely. Our house is light and beautiful. It's clean. We eat off of a table. We are able to shower everyday in hot water. We have a heater for frigid days like today. We have a car. We have legs and feet, all of which are working. Sure my toenails are haggard from marathoning so pedi's are out for the moment, but really....why am I being such a baby? I really do have so many things to be grateful for, so today I will share with you my happiest of happy thoughts....in all the colors of the rainbow.

I am a mother, and it is the greatest blessing in the world.
It is a blessing to have been able to conceive a child period, but for it to have been as easy as it was is another blessing all it's own. My heart aches for people who struggle so. Who after treatment after treatment are still unable to. It truly breaks my heart.

I am grateful for our amazing bodies that just know...they know when it's time to let a baby go. Let it go back to heaven when it's just not working out. That is a blessing, though sometimes a tough one to realize in the moment.

I love my family. I have two gorgeous, healthy children. I have a husband that I adore and I'm pretty sure he adores me too. :) He is going to be doing something he loves for the rest of his life. We aren't so sure what that is right now but he will, I just know it. How many people can say that? Can come home from work and actually say "I loved work today, it was awesome."

So money is a little tight right now, sometime I tire of having to be so ridiculously frugal. But luckily we are able to take advantage of all the services that the government provides...another HUGE blessing! And guess what...one day we will have money and we will be able to afford a comfortable life. We will be able to afford that honeymoon we never had. It will happen, maybe when we are old and gray but it's definitely worth sacrificing for cause it's going to be AMAZING!

I have found my true love. Eric, of course...but also photography. It has been awesome for me to have found such a fun hobby, one I absolutely adore. One I will never get bored with. Something that I can continually learn and get better at for the rest of my life. How lucky am I to have found what's it's like to be passionate about something everyday. It's not like I have to set aside a certain time. I can have my camera in hand all day everyday and no one gets hurt!

We live in a beautiful world, surrounded by beautiful things. It's gorgeous. I love the mountains, the trees, the flowers, rocks, grass, lakes, oceans and forests. Wow. Don't we live in a beautiful place? Just watch Planet Earth if you've forgotten it. Beats the heck out of living on Mars or something.

I love my other family/families. Love all the sacrifices my parents made to give me a good life. Thankful for all the things they taught me. I love my second family (the other Beals) that are just the most fabulous people in the whole wide world. I really lucked out with some awesome in-laws and little brothers and sisters I never had. I LOVE them with all my heart.

Eric is gone a lot but I really do love that that guy. He deserves the best job and the best life. He is wonderful. He is saving peoples' life while I'm crying a river! Seems a little selfish...so I'm just going to shut my pie hole and stop complaining!

this looks like a star but it is where a rose bud one resided and i like it.

a rant about surgery.

2011-11-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

I hate it. There, I said it. Eric is in the final week of his surgical rotation... hallelujah! This has been one of the worst months of my life. boo freakin' hoo, huh? I'm sure no one feels sorry for me but it really is hard to have your husband be gone all day. He leaves at 4 in the morning, works hard all day, stresses out all day because there's so much dang drama or I guess pressure is the better word here, then comes home around 6. (a wee bit grumpy mind you) We put the kids to bed and he falls asleep right along with them. I've been missing my bestie that's for sure. We've spent zero quality time together this month. It's so hard to know what my role should be in this whole ordeal. Of course I want him to be happy and I want to support him in whatever field he may choose. But, he just hasn't seemed too happy this month. He's disappointed. He always thought he would be head-over-heels in-love with surgery but he's just not feeling it. He doesn't know if it's just the hospital or the peeps he works with or what but it's just hard. I feel like if we're going to be putting up with this lifestyle for the next 5-6 years he better love the crap out of it and come home smiling ear to freaking ear. Sorry, I told you it was a rant. So...I don't know. All I know is that we have 2 1/2 more days of this rotation and then we're gonna party like it's 1999 because he has Anesthesiology next which is super easy. :) And why not a few pictures while I'm at it...

Not the best pictures but with a super cool lens that I rented this week. It's super fun and I wish it was better weather outside so I could get some better practice in but I used it at my photo shoots this past weekend so stay tuned to the photo blog to see some of it's sweet effects! Peace out, friends.

a party via pinterest.

2011-11-10T07:26:00.000-08:00

Here's the cutest birthday boy in all the land...

Post crayon munching and cutting your face on a sharp object...it's not a birthday without a few accidents, Am I right?

And thank you pinterest for making my party a success for under $20! I big huge heart you!

Simple party streamers out of construction paper...for less than $2...you can't tell from this pictures but there were a lot of them. Such an easy, fast, cheap (and super cute I might add) thing to do!

Pictures taken throughout the year...such a great idea!

sun cupcakes for our favorite son. :)

Yummy fondue!

Nixon spent his time climbing up the stairs during his party...

While his guests partied on downstairs...we need to work on those manners little man!

This was his facial expression pretty much the whole party. I think he was a little bit sleepy. :)

No loves!?!?!?!

Loved his new manly presents. We actually have boy toys in the house now!

some berry pickin'

2011-11-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Oh what a week! That poor little Nixon boy has been feeling pretty under the weather. Not only does he have his four front teeth coming in but he is sooo congested and boogery from his awful cold. I took him to the ER yesterday and double ear infection. So so sad. He is just beside himself, not knowing what is going on. I really hate when babies are sick. He has never had a problem going to bed. I just plop him in his crib, walk away and he is out within seconds. But with this cold the only way he'll fall asleep is if I hold him and rock him to sleep. I have LOVED it, I'm not going to lie. I love being able to spend those few minutes with him before bedtime and watch as his eyes get ever sleepier and finally close. It is so tender to watch the ones you love fall asleep, there's just something about it, them being vulnerable or something, watching them surrender after all the fights they put up all day...to see them in their most relaxed state is, dare I say, one of the best parts of parenthood. So after finally getting Nixon down for his afternoon nap, Bop and I headed outside to run around and get some good old fashioned Vitamin D. I couldn't resist taking a few pictorials, of course. So here there are:

Such fun we had! There's nothing better than a sunny day and being able to run around and enjoy it.

a weekend full of scary things.

2011-11-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

Scary thing #1:
Our friends celebrated their 5th anniversary this year with a quick get-away to NYC, that's not the scary part. The scary part is that they left their two kids with us! I mean who in their right mind would ever do that? That means I was in charge of 4 kids for the whole weekend, that's enough to scare the pants off of anyone! We surprisingly all survived and had a delightful time to boot and would gladly do it again!

Sorry, Felix for the Nixon bum.

Scary thing #2:
Ward Halloween party with 4 kids...enough said.

Scary thing #3:
Saturday morning greeted us with a huge blizzard for the next 10 hours.

our sorry little pumpkins.

still coming down...

Scary thing #4:
My glow stick party in the bathroom.
I was reeeaallllly excited about this. Back during my freshman year at Dixie State a few peeps and I headed out to Snow Canyon where there are these awesome caves. I was pretty terrified hiking into them...super claustrophobic girl over here so I was close to hyperventilation through every small crevice. Oh the things you do in college! Anyway once we got through the small parts it opened up into this huge room probably the size of a small house. It was awesome but the next part was even cooler. We busted open probably about 50 glow sticks and sprayed them all over the cave and ourselves. After the flashlights were off all you could see were moving dots, which were really people...totally radical! So...our bathroom party started out with us breaking open our glow sticks shaking them around everywhere excitedly exclaiming "Ooooo...look how cool this is guys!! Oh this is so fun!"... and oops there goes some in my eye! Oh my horrifying pain!!! So I sat there and rinsed out my eye for 10 minutes crying while the kids just looked at me like "what is going on with this crazy person!" Anyways kind of a let down I'm not gonna lie.

Scary thing #5:
Bedtime on Saturday night. Let's just say having a really fun glow stick party didn't help settle the kids down by any means. We finally got 3/4 of the kids down and started off Bostyn's nite-time routine with a shower. We usually just let her hang out in there for awhile and play with her toys or what-not and about 5 minutes into it the power goes out because of massive storm so she's screaming and comes running out of the shower into our dark house scared to pieces and hysterical. This starts chain reaction and all kids (except for sweet baby Felix, who was seriously the most chill baby I have ever cared for) are up and crying again. It takes a good hour to calm everybody down again. Nixon and Bostyn came down with awful colds so were up throughout the entire night with them, add that in with a couple bed wettings and we basically got about an hour of sleep. SOOOOO SCARY!!! BOO!

Scary(really annoying)thing #6:
Saturday night was our "scheduled" Trick or Treating event but like I said...blizzard. Who takes their kids out in a blizzard for trick or treating? Not this parent. But people were honestly bringing their kids by our house that night.... psychos. Why don't you just go buy them a bag of candy and let them dress up for crying out loud!! Anyway since we didn't go out on Saturday, we decided to go on the ACTUAL Halloween night and got some serious scoldings.

Scenario:

Kids: Knock knock knock, trick or treat!! :) Super happy anticipating faces!!!
Home Owner: Awkwardly, grumpily peeking out the door like....who could this be. Recognizing trick or treaters.
"Oooooohhhhhh this was ACTUALLY on Saturday....didn't you get the memo? So we aren't going to participate tonight".....suuuuppper condescendingly. "Sorry!"...sweetly. Slam.

X a few.

Seriously. Seriously?! Who does that? A simple "oohh we ran out of candy" would suffice! And honestly I am being super judgmental but why would you take your kids out in a blizzard? And why would you make people few bad for trick or treating ON Halloween.

my sweet little Rapunzel face

1,2,3,...

2011-11-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been a slacker on my preschool posts. Probably because the last few have been pretty lame and I could probably come up with something WAY better next time around but this is what we did last week: Numbers!! Because you can never be reminded about those enough, am I right? I really want Bostyn to learn these so when I tell her it's 5 in the morning and she can't come out of her room until 7...she'll understand. Ugh. Early mornings are the worst. So as my children slumber away upstairs I will blog, while I scarf down their Halloween candy with my zipper down...I'm just noticing this...how embarrassing but appropriate for the way I'm looking and feeling. Sorry people I past on my walk today. Anyway, onto numbers.

1. Talk about the numbers on the wall. What do we use numbers for?

2. Have them touch each one as we count through them three times.

3. Hide & seek fishes. Number fishes 1-10 and placed them around the room. Had the children find the fishes as they count out loud how many they had.

4. After all the fishes had been found we took turns putting them in order. We did this about 3 times and they used the wall of number for a reference.

5. Then they got to feed the fishes to the shark.

(does that look like a sharks mouth, cuz it is.)

6. Read a number book.

7. Sticker match. Had each sticker labeled with a number, they would find the number that matched and put their sticker on it.

8. Jar Toss. Had 5 caps labeled 1-5. Before they threw the cap in the jar they would have to tell me what number was on the cap.

10. Sang the "1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive" song.

11. Snack: Muffin tin sort and count.

rainy dayz. (so ghetto :)

2011-10-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

We took a little walk around in the rain the other day. I got to snap some pics of some signs of fall that surround our little abode before our HUGE snowstorm yesterday. I'm so glad I did too because now everything is lying warmly under 10 inches of new snow. BOOO!!! It's true...let the coldness begin.

Oh and p.s. I put all the nature pics I took over on the photo blog. I think I'm going to just start putting all my nature work and abstact-ies over there. I have so many pictures that I want to post or share or put up somewhere but I'd like this blog to remain my own personal one so if you are interested in looking at my photography work that is where you'll be finding most of it. I'll throw in a few pretties over here from time to time don't you worry. But, go ahead and link up to my photo blog if you'd like updates. Oh and if you haven't become a fan on facebook...get on it.

goodbye, sweet lens.

2011-10-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

I rented a lens this past week for some engagement photos I did on Saturday. It took me awhile to get the hang of it...manual focus and all. Gosh it really made me appriciate the sweet little song of the auto focus beep that assures you that everything is going to be okay...everything is crisp and clear and in focus... The VR doesn't hurt either..this girls got some pretty shaky hands! But, after some practice I learned to love that little lens with all my heart. Now I have huge enormous crocodile tears running down my face after having to give it back today. Boo. Leave it to me to pick the most expensive hobby under the sun. I could spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on camera equipment and not even blink. Luckily we are only rolling in pennies around here so no ones going to get hurt. Anyway. Since I did a little Nixon post the other day I thought it would only to fair to put up a few pics and commentary of my sweet Bostyn girl.

You are 3 and a half. And the most crazy, dramatic little spit-fire I have ever known. You keep us on our toes for sure but you are also the most thoughtful and sweetest little thing. This age definitely has it's challenges but we make it work and I really hope I'm doing things right by you. Things you love to do right now include:

Playing with your bestie, Oscar.

Love playing at the park.

Working out with me.

Coloring both in coloring books and on my iphone.

Playing dress-ups.

Playing with My Little Ponies. Watching My Little Ponies. Basically anything with a pony in it will steal your heart. You read us your pony books every night and then we take turns telling pony stories. Oh it's hilarious. Your stories go something like this: "Once upon a time there was a beautiful pony with hair all the colors of the rainbow...red, orange, green, blue, purple and pink and she has a paintbrush on her bum, and her name was Bessy. And she.....heard a sound...and she was scary. And they all lived happily after...The End."

You love doing your chores. Your chores include: emptying the garbage, cleaning the baseboards, dusting the t.v. and window ceils, washing off the doorknobs and making your bed. You are really good at doing all of them and require only small amounts of assistance. When you are all finished you get to put a sticker on your chore chart, then at the end of the week you get to pick a toy from the dollar store. You really love this responsibility and frequently remind me by saying, "oh no, mom!!!!! I forgot to do my chore!"

You love to snuggle. You ask me many times during the day if we can sit on the couch and snuggle. So we do quite a bit of cuddling on a given day. You've become scared of the dark as of late, I don't know what brought this on but you won't go to sleep without the lights on and you have to fall asleep in our bed now. We let you fall asleep and then carry you upstairs to your room.

All in all you're a pretty good girl. You are sweet. You have good manners for the most part. You are still a very picky eater but have been trying some new things. Everyday I'm grateful for you. Grateful that you came to us when you did. It was definitely a challenge having a baby our first year of marriage but I wouldn't have it any other way. You have bound us all together and we adore you sweet pea and love all that you are, and all that you bring to our family.

It's official.

2011-10-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Nixon's first little pearly white poked through today! I thought it was definitely worth putting up a Nixon post to celebrate...plus I got some really cute pictures of him at the park today. (none of which can you see the tooth...but ya know...no one's claiming perfection.)

Nixon,

Today you are exactly 11 months and 16 days old. You have been alive for 30,336,400 seconds. Have we made every one of those seconds count? I sure hope so. Time is a scary thing, 'the single element that destroys youth' some would say. One thing is for certain...time goes by so so quickly. One day you'll be a grown man. So hard to imagine.

I remember those last weeks of my pregnancy, I was huge, uncomfortable but more than anything...so so excited to meet you. Nine long months of sickness, stretching and an internal beating...it makes one very curious to know who's been growing in there. You were a kicker and flipper up until the end, it makes sense that you are such a wiggly little man. It's so funny when you are crawling around sometimes you'll just stop and kick your legs. Maybe a case of Restless Leg Syndrome...who knows but those legs are kicking pretty much non-stop. It makes changing your diaper boarder-line child abuse, I have to hold you down and flip you around probably about 10 times per changing.

Sometimes after I put you to bed I'll peek back in and your legs are hanging out of your crib kicking at the air uncontrollably. It is a very quirky Nixon thing. :) You have pretty much given up on baby food. I don't blame you. Who wants to eat nasty goo? Not this girl! So I've been trying to give you little pieces of our food. You've been doing pretty well with it too, considering you haven't had teeth to munch with but those gums have been doing wonderfully.

You are into e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g right now. I leave a cupboard open for 2 seconds, turn around and all contents are scattered about the floor. Books are constantly off the shelves, all blocks out of their baskets, art supplies....scattered. We really need to look into some more storage space.

You are jabbering lots. You say ba-ba and da-da and hi. It's just precious and I've really seen your adorable personality come shining through more and more over the last couple weeks. When I walk up to your room in the morning I can hear you jumping in your crib excitedly. I whisper...niiiiiixon boy.....and poke my head around the corner. You give me the hugest smiles and immediately dive into your favorite blanket all bashful-like. Then I walk with you down the stairs and you jabber non-stop...dadababba dee deee....little grunts and huffing excitedly knowing you are going to see Bostyn soon. Oh...I adore those special moments. You love your daddy soooo much. It's very apparent you are a daddy's boy through and through. Whenever he comes home from the hospital you do your fastest tank crawl over to him and won't leave his side for the rest of the night.

You love bathtime. Absolutely love your sister. You love playing outside, putting rocks and wood chips in your mouth like they're going out of style! You give high fives and the sweetest, most delicious kisses. I love you so much Nixon, our lives would not be the same without your sweet, loud, manly personality that you add to the mix. It's hard to believe a year has come and gone. So many changes we've had since then. We adore you little man! We are thankful everyday that you came to us from heaven above. Loves.

we went on a nature walk.

2011-10-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

It was a delight I tell you! The trees out here are incredible...seriously. Pictures absolutely do NOT do them any sort of justice. They are huge and golden and scrumptious. So here are a few pics of some beauties we saw along the way. Oh...and we'll start with the most beautiful of all, my sweet lil Boppy.

Remember that flooding we had a few weeks ago...so here's an example of some of the damage that was done...

Before:

After:

Yikes! There was so much damage along this little trail. Tons and tons of trees uprooted and the banks of the river are totally destroyed. So sad, but still so so pretty!

bath-time for a little man.

2011-10-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

All clean!

some thoughts for a monday.

2011-10-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

My back is freaking killing me. Would you like to know why? Okay well I'll tell you... yesterday I was up in the kids' room aka the loft at the top of some really steep stairs. We were getting ready to go out to some friends' house for dinner so I grabbed a jacket and headed back down the stairs and well...my foot missed and I came thump thumping down those stairs...babe and all. Man, that little Nixon boy is lucky to be alive with such reckless parent(s). I thumped by tushy pretty good. I think the head of my femur is somewhere around my ribs now. Eric is going to have to do some serious OMM on me.

Speaking of Eric, he is loving his rotations. I keep telling him to do a post on here to write about some of the amazing experiences he's having so maybe he will, most likely he won't, so you'll have to settle with the second hand, slightly distracted versions. His first rotation, Internal Medicine was totally awesome. Think "House" on steroids. He loved working in the hospital and loved the puzzles. Next he had Family practice which was a total bore. But, he was on call a few times and witnessed his first "code blue" aka immediate resuscitation needed. They were in the middle of an MRI or something (see this is where I suck) anyway he was wearing a lead vest that weighed about 20 lbs and he had to start doing chest compressions. He said he was the most tired, and exhausted he had ever been. Ribs were breaking under his hands that's how much pressure he was putting into it. So scary to know that an actual life is hanging in the balance. Thinking...if I stop, this person could die. Anyway I don't think I should be getting into the specifics of everything that went down but it was a pretty crazy night. One he won't soon forget and I was sobbing by the end of the story, pretty powerful responsibility they have as a doctor. Anyway...the rotation he's been on for the last 3 weeks is OB/GYN. He is loving this one as well, surprisingly. I'm so happy that's he's being surprised though! He's always just thought surgery would be the only thing that would make him happy, it's good to know that there are other possibilities out there. His next rotation IS surgery and he is sooo excited for it. I know he'll love it, but it'll be interesting to really see if it's something he could do for the rest of his life. Not really excited to be a single mom for the next month though...or the next oh....7 years. But I can be happy for him if I know it will make him happy. The paychecks can't hurt either, right? It'll beat the heck out of being on food stamps for the rest of our lives. Oh we're so ghetto!

We went to the 'wood' park today. It's awesome. It's like this castle thing with tons of slides and fun stuff to do. Have you ever been to the Discovery Park in Cedar City...yeah, it's like that. Bostyn and her bestie, Oscar had a ball. We hung out with some new peeps. It was good to get out and see the world again. Nixon was being a screamer. He really is getting some teeth this time though. I see the bumps. I bet tomorrow he will have a brand new little tooth and we will celebrate with a piece of cereal!

We finally had to give our talks in church yesterday. It was super scary...I so hate public speaking! Bring on the awkwardness! I'm so glad it's over. :)

There's a few new photo shoots over on my photo blog if you would like to take a peek. :)

The end.

bring on the melancholy.

2011-10-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's gray, dark and rainy out today. I hate days like this because it reminds me of what the winter brings...cold, dank, isolation. I just haven't been myself lately. There's a series of factors affecting my mood as of late but I'm glad to say that I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I've been awaiting it for quite some time now...stupid pa medicaid...grrrr. I think it's about time for some good old fashioned SSRI's. And I will welcome you, friends, with open arms. Do you ever find it downright nauseating to find some motivation? I sure do. I hate when my daily lists include things like: take a shower, put on mascara, open the front door at least once. I feel like Quasimodo shut up in my house. Peeking out all awkwardly if someone chances to ring the doorbell. It's a fright. I'm a fright!! Here's hoping for some better days.

caterpillars+butterflies.

2011-10-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

For preschool today we:

1. Talked about caterpillars. (what do they do, what do they look like, what do they eat..)

2. Looked at lots of different pictures of caterpillars online. This one is my favorite:

3. Talked about what a caterpillar changes into...a butterfly!!
4. Watched this video on youtube.
5. Showed them lots of different pictures of butterflies online. Like this beauty:

6. Made a little caterpillar of our own. Instructions here.

7. Then made a little butterfly of our very own. Instructions here. (As always, they turn out a tad more hideous than expecting. This one took a l.o.n.g. time so we skipped the head and accessories. :)

8. Went on a caterpillar+butterfly scavenger hunt.

9. Read this:

10. Butterfly snack.

safari, pa style.

2011-10-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right! Yesterday we headed up to Lake Tobias for a little adventure. We started off with a safari tour to look at all the animals. I don't know all their names but I got plenty of pictures so no worries. They got so close, I got slobbered on a couple times....ewwww. But Nixon and Bostyn loved it. When we first got started I told Bostyn to "hold on tight, you don't want to get bumped out!" What resulted was an anxiety attack every time we went on a little tiny bump. No one got bumped out so we're good.

Here's some pix of the safari.

the cutest animal of all!

Then we headed over to zoo area and petting zoo.

Eric and Ashley.

We had such a fun day! I love being able to spend so much time with my family. I love that there is so much to see around us. PA is totally awesome. We LOVE it. One more thing about our adventure that I want to remember is that Eric was told it can be a little dirty up there sometimes. So he got all decked out in his crappy clothes and work boots. He was seriously so excited to wear his work boots. I forgot a picture dang it but it was pretty stinking awesome.

a garden.

2011-10-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

My parents have the loveliest garden in all the land. Whenever I go home, I love to just lie on the grass and listen to the water running, listen to the trees blowing, and smell the beautiful wildflowers. So while I was in Utah I did a little documenting so I could take a piece home with me.

ah the leaves. Ugh. I miss Utah a lot today. :(

preschool today.

2011-10-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hi.
I feel like I'm starting to wake up from a fog that I've been in the last few weeks. Guess it's time to start living my life again. No more shenanigans. I know that word doesn't really fit what I'm trying to say but I really wanted to use it. So today think of it as meaning...no more being lazy/crazy. Alright, enough about that...onto the documentation of preschool.

Monster: cute, scary, hug-able, not real. Why does every preschool website under the sun have a topic on monsters? It really makes no sense and doesn't really teach the kids anything, but I'm too lazy to come up with my own idea so today we talked about monsters. :)

1. Played "pin the arm on the monster".

2. Colored a couple monster pages found here.

Oscar found it much more entertaining looking through the crayons and markers. He was productive though. He found a couple batteries. I don't know how they ended up in there. I was probably thinking eh...similar cylindrical shape, we'll put 'em with the crayons.

3. Listened to "Where the Wild Things Are" here.

4. Made a paper bag monster.

5. Did a monster dance off to this song.
If you could see me dancing around in front of these children it would give you a real fright. I think they actually were pretty frightened. I pretty much dance the whole time and they stare at me like "what are you doing..."

6. Read: "That's Not My Monster".

7. Spaghetti monster art.
This did not turn out how I was expecting. So I basically just let them play with paint and spaghetti for a few minutes, this was the most engaged they were the entire time.

8. Watched a clip of "Monster's Inc."

9. Snack: reese's pieces because that's all I had.

Oh and look at my cute boy! He's adorable AND standing all by himself!!

a life remembered.

2011-10-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

Love you forever my sweet grandpa.

doctor day.

2011-09-24T04:09:00.000-07:00

Preschool this week:

1. Talked about what doctor's do.
2. Showed them some of the tools Dr.'s use. Otoscope, stethoscope, thermometer, band-aids...etc.
3. Made a Dr. bag and put some supplies in it. (band-aids, cotton balls, Q-tips, bandages)
4. Listened to our heartbeats. (Luckily Eric was home so I could use his stethoscope)
5. Ran through a few Dr. scenarios. Then let them put band-aids and bandages on each other. Eric was also a patient. :)
6. Talked about how important exercise is for our bodies and if we take care of ourselves we won't have to go to the doctor.
7. Taught them how to do a jumping jack, push-up, and sit-up. Then we played musical dance party/workout. We would dance when the music was on then when I would turn it off I would shout out an exercise to do.
8. Made a Dr. headband.
9. Played "Dr. May I"
10. Sang "five little monkey's"
11. Snack: Apple Turnover because an apple a day keeps the Dr. away.

the greatest generation.

2011-09-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

My sweet grandpa, Virgil Anderson, passed from this life yesterday morning to the great here-after.

If I could sum him up in one word, that word would be:

Integrity.

What a man.

He was the most caring, thoughtful, and compassionate person I have ever known.

My grandma battled Alzheimers for 10 years and he was there patiently by her side every step of the way. I've never known a man to love a woman as much as he loved her.

And I am so happy to know that they are walking hand in hand now.

It gives me some comfort, but it doesn't make it any less hard to lose him.

When my grandma started getting especially bad my parents decided to move in with them and give some extra help and support.

I was seventeen at the time and very put-out about the whole thing.

I was as self-centered as it gets and did not want to move my senior year, away from all my friends.

I wasn't very pleasant that first year of living with them but after I got over myself, I was able to become very close to him.

My parents have lived there with him for 11 years now.

I'm so thankful for his life.

For his example.

For all the special walks up to the candy store where he taught me about the light of Christ.

I have a wall dedicated to the plaques he had made for all the grandchildren with sayings like:

"There is no substitute for Integrity."

"Revere forever those people who have fought and died to obtain and protect the liberty and freedom we all enjoy."

"To prosper in these times a spiritual light must burn within us. Remember no empty chairs."

There's a reason why they are called the "greatest generation."

While I was living in Utah, my sister and I decided to write a life story for him so we were able to conduct interviews and find out about his early childhood in detail.

He was raised through the depression.

They learned to live on nothing.

Living in a small house in an orchard.

His first job was picking strawberries.

He got fired because too many of them were smashed.

He's always had the best sense of humor, making me smile when I was feeling blue.

He fought all over Europe in WWII.

He loved this country more than anything.

His generation struggled, they fought and then they succeeded with a vengeance.

It was a strong bunch of people and I hope I can always remember the struggles they went through to ensure our world is a better place.

He was old, but he was as strong and as stubborn as it gets.

If he hadn't been in the car accident I'm sure he had a good 10 years left.

It makes me wish I would've sat with him a little longer, held his hand just a little longer, maybe talked with him just a wee bit little longer.

You can never really know when it's someone's time.

It's a good lesson to remember.

You have to take advantage of every moment you have with people.

Life is too short to get hung up on anything.

Just try to live the best life you can right now.

Don't look back and harbor bad thoughts, feelings, regrets.

That's just a thought wasted.

Don't stress about the little things..ie. Bostyn not going to bed easily...does it really matter?

She'll grow up one day.

Love my husband, be patient, he's only human and he's all I've got.

Make our bad times good and our good times better.

Don't wish away moments.

Don't look too far ahead.

It's a beautiful time of life.

My Grandpa lived his life to the fullest.

He was happy.

I will do the same.

I will see him again some day.

Until then, I will love and miss him with all my heart.

My uncle, sweet baby Anders, and Grandpa.

I stole this pic from my cousin, Krista. (hope you don't mind, just cleaned off the hard-drive....)

a bostyn+nixon picture adventure.

2011-09-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to do some pics of the kids for awhile, so this morning we loaded up the car and headed to my new favorite place. It was freezing cold but we attempted it. Not my favorite photo shoot that's for dang sure. Like pulling teeth trying to get Bostyn to give me a decent smile, the two of them together...close to impossible. Nixon trying to put everything in his mouth. He got a mushroom in there at one point. Oh the joys!! But here's the results:

storm.

2011-09-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

We had a huge storm last night. Here's my attempt at catching the lightning:

I think it looks kindof cool...the water tower looks like an eerie spaceship or something.

As I was out there with my camera, Eric and Bostyn were sitting next to me watching the storm come in. Bostyn loved the lightning and even more loved being able to stay up late with us. It started out far past that water tower, the bolts were small and there was barely a rumble after the lighting. It kept creeping ever so slowly until it was right upon us. This is the last picture I took before going in. I started the exposure and during those 30 seconds the rain and wind starting blowing like crazy, as soon as it snapped, I ran into the house to save my camera and get out of the downpour!

There's been a storm of sorts in my heart lately as well. My dear grandfather, who seriously means the world to me, was in a horrible car accident a few weeks ago. He had a series of injuries and a couple surgeries and seemed to be on the mend but I talked to my parents last night, they said he wasn't doing well and nearing the end. My heart is breaking. I hate being so far away from him and thinking that my last memories of him over the summer will probably be my last. It seems unfortunate to me that after living such a beautiful, healthy life that something like a car accident has to be the thing to take him. Yet, I don't want him to suffer anymore. I don't want him to be in the excruciating amount of pain that he is in. I want him to finally be reunited with his sweetheart that he lost to Alzheimer's 6 years ago. I know he wants to go home. It's just hard letting him go.

And it's funny how death has a way of sneaking up on us, just like a storm. It seems so distant and far off but suddenly it's right upon us.

Anyways...I'm a boob and crying up a storm so better go.

a is for apple.

2011-09-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to say this week my preschool experience was much much better. Today we learned all there is to know about apples. Here's what we did:

1. Made flash cards depicting the life cycle of an apple, ie. tree, bud, flower, fruit, seed. I had them color the flash cards and put them in order.

2. Colored an apple on a paper sack and went outside to hunt for apples.

3. Apple discussion. Talked about the color, shape, size, taste, texture, etc..

4. Wrote out some letters on a piece of paper. Had them find all the A's and circle them.

5. Aa worksheet found right about here.

6. Played the Aa game on starfall.

7. Read: Autumn is for Apples.

8. Craft. Glued chocolate chips to the insides of 2 paper plates, then painted the outsides red. Taped it together so they could look in and see the 'seeds'.

9. Apple snack. peanut butter apple slices with choc chips.

The kids only ate the chocolate chips but don't worry I ate all the apples. And found these beauties along our nature walk.

My sister is amazing and I totally copied her idea once again.

this is what we did on sat. night.

2011-09-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

The first two years of medical school made it quite impossible to have a full weekend together...at the most, one day was allotted for relaxing and playing and I usually felt guilty for making him stay home with me...because there was no way we would be making the 1.5 hour trek to the city, aka Columbia, with so little time, those type of adventures had to be saved until his breaks. I'm so happy to be out of that first phase! So now that we finally have weekends together we are trying to find a balance. My perfect weekend would consist of backing up my bags and driving until we came upon a cool or interesting place. Then we would plop our sleeping bags down where ever and explore for the next two days. Eric is a little different. He would prefer to just hang around, relax, watch some sporting events, eat some snacks...to me this is super duper lamer. But we are learning to give and take. So this weekend was the US Open. Around here that means Eric is all but glued to the t.v. So we made it fun by eating lots of snacks, bringing pretty much all the toys out of the playroom and just kickin' it in the front room so we could all be together. At the end of the day I had had enough sitting so we got into the car and drove around for awhile. About 10 minutes later we found this awesome state park that is at the top of the "mountain." We could look down and see the Susquehanna river...which just so happened to be at record levels from all the flooding. It was so pretty, it made me feel somewhat 'at home.' I miss those mountains man, but it was nice to have a view, be able to breathe, see the sky and the sun set. There was some trails around for possible hiking, lots of little parks with swings and the like. Lots of cool spots for picture taking and possible marathon training. I'm so glad we found it and am thankful for a sweet husband who puts up with all my craziness!

The pictures:

lots of randomness.

2011-09-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

Man! We've been having some crazy weather up in here! It's been raining non-stop for 48 hours. There is flooding everywhere. Luckily we are in an area that is pretty high up and we aren't next to any crazy huge rivers but I'm just throwing it out there...Is the world ending? An earthquake, hurricane and flooding all within 3 weeks. I dunno...seems a little fishy.

Well totally disorganized post but bear with me...here goes.

Eric's been on his family med rotation for the past month, Mmmmrrr mmmmrr (do you understand the sound I'm trying to make? Think sound on a game show when you choose the wrong answer...) He's totally bored by it, not to mention the last two weeks have been crazy because the doctor he's supposed to be with slipped a disc in his back while cleaning up hurricane debris...so sad, so he's been out of the office. What that means for Eric is that he hasn't had much to do the last week and a half and nobody else seems to know what to do with him either. He's been floating around the clinic and with some other randoms but ends up the bibliotech most the time. It wouldn't be so bad but we are paying $43K for him to sit around...lame.

In other horrifying news:

Bostyn was acting really funny the other day and we could NOT figure out what was going on with her. Talking 100 miles per hour...non-stop. Earlier I had told her that we were going to have daddy take the big balls of wax out of her ears when he got home so I thought she was just really nervous or something, acting really anxious. Well, Eric got the wax out and she did awesome. But she was still acting really funny. It was time to put her to bed and she was still just wired. Then Eric came into the bedroom where I was trying to get her to fall asleep and said, "Did you see one of my pills on the counter today?" It all came crashing down in a wave of clarity. She had taken one of his Adderall. It all made sense. We finally got it out of her that she had found an orange piece of "candy" on the counter and eaten it. Ugh. What a nightmare. The next few hours were filled with lots of show watching. She didn't start coming down off of it until 2am and then crashed and when I say crashed...I mean it like someone on drugs crashes. There was crying, whining, fits of despair. I knew exactly what she was going through so I could empathize with her and tell her what to expect, but I finally had to go to sleep so left her to watch a show on the couch. I left at 4am and she was up in my room at 6am. If I had to guess, I would say she didn't sleep a wink. We have DEFINITELY learned our lesson about keeping meds out. Yikes!

Now onto Nixon. The other day we were all just playing around the house. He's learned to climb up the stairs with no aid at all so we usually have the stairs blocked off. Eric, Bostyn and Nixon were upstairs and I was in the kitchen doing something and all the sudden I heard it...the most awful sound in the world...boom...cry...boom...boom...cry....boom boom....slam...scream. I guess Eric had walked into our bedroom thinking Nixon was going to follow him and instead he bolted for the stairs. Oh, I was horrified. I ran over and there he was at the bottom of the stairs, smashed against the wall. I grabbed him and yelled at Eric and then ran away from him. He's like, "Ash! Stop cuddling him and running away from me, we have to make sure he's not hurt!" So I eventually did and surprisingly he was just fine. There was a tiny little bruise on his head but nothing significant. I'm so thankful! Babies are so resilient, thank the heavens upon because there are a lot of accidents around here.

I guess that's it for news news.

As for me, my obsession with photography is ever growing. I'm working on how to master the manual focus of my camera. So here's my practice pictures:

love this texture.

peace out.

my thoughts on preschool.

2011-09-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

I was having a hard time deciding whether or not to put Bostyn into preschool this year. But I decided to keep her home with me for another year after all. Why send them off a year earlier for the world to damage their sweet innocence? (Well money was a big factor too!) Anyway my friend and I have started doing preschool together twice a week, I take a turn then she takes a turn. Pretty easy, right? Well some would think so. I always forget, always! So about an hour before I'm looking online to find any ideas and then run around trying to scrounge up some supplies. No glue, how bout some jam! Those kind of scenarios which are ridiculous, let's be honest. It's about time I have a glue stick on hand! Luckily my sister is awesome. Her blog is riddled with great ideas for teach me mommy ideas. So I headed over there today and found this idea. I pretty much followed every instruction with only a few variations. But afterwards I thought inside my wee little brain...that was really fun, I liked having easy to follow instruction. So during nap-time today I am going to plan out my preschool days for September. You won't find me using jam as glue again ladies and gents! I plan to document every preschool lesson I do from now on just like my sis so I will have a bank of ideas when we start this with Nix. Alright...I'm off!

my battle with Bostyn.

2011-09-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

(warning: there is no rhyme or reason to this post.)

It's a fight around here to get a picture of Bostyn. A fight I tell you! So while we painted outside yesterday I tried for a few...

...she's beautiful so we make it work.

I love this swim suit.

Target $5...um, yes please! I wish I could wear it, but I'm sure nobody would appriciate that...especially my darling husband. Why can't grown-up girls wish to be ballerinas too?

a tree/weed.

I was feeling a bit uninspired surrounded by my box of a house and box of a life. So I finally entered the world of Pinterest and feel that it compliments my life like a sweet song, not the addiction I was thinking it would be, but just enough. Enough to inspire and get my blood moving again. Thanks to Ben and your lovely team.

straw..weeds...whatever.

a pigeon..?

hey friends.

2011-09-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Would you do me all a huge favor? Head on over to my photo blog. here. (No excuses that you missed it) Then become a follower and then proceed to click the like button. I would greatly appriciate some support...I know I'm not amazing, but I will be someday and you'll be able to brag that you helped me get my start! I love you all. Muah!

And I like these two new pictures:

wicked cool.

a post for me boy.

2011-08-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

{nine months}

Where has the time gone, my little man? Weren't you just a wee little babe? Weren't we just snuggling in the hospital? I'm afraid life is moving too quickly and these sweet baby moments will be but a flutter in this expanse of time. I am enjoying every moment of it though...don't you worry. Time is not being wasted.

Who would've thought a boy could be so much fun? It was a hard thing to imagine after growing up with all sisters and your big sister being as much fun as she is, I wasn't certain a boy was all they were cracked up to be. But you, my little Nixon, have proven me wrong...boys are the best!

Well Nixon, right now your accomplishments include: standing, climbing the stairs, climbing into the dishwasher (naughty, naughty), teasing your sister, loving your daddy, giving the stink eye, being a very, very, very loud boy. I am certain you get that from your loud daddy. You have such a cute personality. You are a man through and through. You love loud grunts, showing off your big muscles, and crawling around running into things like a little tank. You like to punch my face. (naughty.) You like to pull my hair...ouchy :(

Right now you put every little scrap of anything into your mouth. Oh, it makes for a lot of excitement for your mama! Always a surprise what's in there...oh it's a bunch of grass...oh there's a wood chip...is that my hair?! Cotton balls, q-tips, onion peel...today you were in the shower eating soap...and enjoying it!! Man you're crazy and you keep me super busy, but I love it.
Still no teeth...maybe one day.

I love you so much, my Nixon boy.

I'm so happy I get to be your mama and watch you grow.

evidence.

2011-08-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

I survived my first hurricane!!!

The power went out for about 30 minutes.
The fire alarm kept beeping all night....?
Church was cancelled!!! sshhhhhh! I know I shouldn't be excited but we were supposed to speak and our ward is really on top of it so we probably won't have to give our talks until October....
anywho, i guess that's it.

the day we wait for the hurricane.

2011-08-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

I've been following the little charmer known as Hurricane Irene for the past couple days.

Am I just a silly housewife?

Maybe, but me personally...I like the fact that people are making a big deal out of it.

Why wouldn't you?

Would you really rather be surprised by a devastating storm...some people seem to think so.

So what if people are hyping it up?

For me, I would rather be over-prepared than under-prepared.

So yes, I will stock up on water while the check-out guy rolls his eyes at me.

Don't come to me when all you have to drink is flood water...sucker!

Though we are quite a ways out from Philly, there is no knowing how this will effect us.

So me, I'm prepared.

Except for all the crap on the porch...maybe it's better that it gets blown away.

Anywho...

We took what will probably be our last swim for the season.

Bostyn is a little fish I tell you.

She has never once in all her 3 years of existence ever been afraid of the water.

So we bought her a life-jacket this year but she's really only used it a couple times because she is pretty much swimming by herself now.

I love this little princess girl and her cute daddy.

a wee bit cold.

ruffle bums are the best.

the coldest littlest one.

Here is my hideous sun-spot riddled face...thank you tanning beds! Wahoo!

And just so we don't leave Nixon out, here's his pic for the day!

our nation's capital.

2011-08-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend we packed up our bags and headed to Washington D.C. for the weekend. What an awesome experience, what an awesome place. One of my friends just so happens to live super close so we were able to stay with them. They were great hosts and so much fun. I haven't laughed that hard in a long long time. Me and Sara were besties back during my freshman year at Dixie. (I can't believe that was 10 years ago!) We were roommates for only a semester but we became such great friends. We lost touch over the years and I randomly ran into her at a mutual friends' wedding reception. So we were able to re-connect a couple years back. Anywho, it was so great to play with her again and meet her awesome husband. They live less than a mile from the metro so we were able to take that right into the national mall, no battles with parking for a mere $3.85...quite convenient indeed!

Waiting for the metro.

Washington monument from afar.

bostyn pointing to a helicopter flying over the white house.

Natural History Museum.

Bostyn loved this...no surprises there, Eric was so good to walk with her through all the animals and be excited. Sometimes I fail in this category. My favorite part of the museum was the Photography exhibit which was so unbelievably gorgeous. I did tear up a couple of times, the photography is that good...amazing!

the actual costume. :)

photography exhibit.

National Archives Museum.

Luckily we got there early in the morning and since we had strollers they pretty much let us right into the viewing hall for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It was a reverent experience. The hall is dim, people spoke in hushed voices and there underneath the glass are the actual documents that were held and signed by our forefathers.

What could they have been thinking at that moment?

Did they have any idea how significant those papers would be?

It was an awesome experience and I was overwhelmed with pride. I'm so grateful to be an American and am so thankful that we are able to enjoy the very freedoms that were spelled out on those pages of our history.

The White House.

We took a loooong walk over to the White House from the Archives. Sara was an absolute trooper, walking all day long, eight months preggies. Man, I am such a complainer, I don't think I would've been too excited about that if it were me! But the white house was super cool, beautiful. There was security everywhere!

There is definitely a feeling of power in DC. Huge stone buildings that resemble Roman architecture, you can't help but feel the grandeur of what our government is.

It's beautiful and incredible and you definitely need more than a day to experience everything!

We hope to go back soon...thanks guys!

tennis bostyn.

2011-08-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

Last night we went and bought Bostyn her first tennis racquet. She was soooo excited! She requested that it be a princess racquet, so we bought her a pink one but it was a little too big so she settled for the Dora one. (Dora is lame, but whateve's)

Then we took her out to the courts for her first tennis lesson compliments of el daddy-o. It was really quite adorable to see those two together. Eric, getting to teach his little girl something that he loves. You could just see his excitement and could tell he was so proud of his little Bostyn girl. He kept saying "you're a tennis Bostyn!" She loved that and was saying it the whole ride home...

Mom, I'm a tennis Bostyn.

Yes, you are my sweet pea.

if i close my eyes, it won't hit my face.

Nixon hangin out, enjoying the show!

la la la...I'm a beautiful princess tennis Bostyn!

the proud daddy and his girl.

photo shoot.

2011-08-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

more pics for your viewing pleasure over here.

one picture.

2011-08-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

A view from our backyard in HDR. Oh I am so addicted. Sorry children...find someone else to feed you and play with you.

Just kidding, by the way. They are clothed and fed, played with and loved. :)

look at this.

2011-08-09T16:38:00.001-07:00

One thing I absolutely HATE about our new apartment is that we have to take the trash all the way over to this trash compactor out by the office. It's definitely not close enough to walk to, especially with a stoller and two kids...can you imagine with a huge garbage bag...ugh. Ridiculous. Well one day I took a trash run over to the compactor and found this little number hiding behind a few boxes!

A gem, right!?

So I hauled that little sucker into the back of the car and did me a little make-over. Not bad for free ninety nine!! Guess those days dumpster diving at USU did pay off!

And look who's standing. Oh I love this little man. He's growing way too fast though.

a trip up north-ish.

2011-08-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

Eric is on-call tonight...boo :(

I haven't had to sleep without him for over a month now.

That was a record. Sad, but true.

So I thought I'd do a little bloggity bloggin'

You know you're married to a medical student when: on their day off they want to drive around and check out all the hospitals. Last week we checked out York Hospital, which is totally dope.

Yesterday we went to Hershey to check out their hosptial/fortess/community. Another donation from the super inspiring man, Milton S. Hershey and the foundation he left behind. It was massive. This picture isn't even including the brand new ER, Cancer center and Children's hospital. It's huge!

After that we drove around Hershey and ended up in this neighborhood with an awesome little walking/running trail. It was gorgeous. The trees were massive and the air was full of this eerie little mist.

A little perspective.

A little fungal infection, I believe.

It was fun just chillin' in the trees and hanging out. I love days off. I love my family. I l.o.v.e 3rd year! YAY!

our {almost} backyard.

2011-08-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

I discovered this nice little area back behind our house a couple days ago and it was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure we would be able to find a field for frolicking so close, but I happened upon this little gem, a mere hillside away. A nice long row of evergreens. I stepped into the shade of those huge trees and for as long as I could see there were trails and trees...perfect conditions for a three-year-old imagination to run wild. And run wild, she did.

I was a little hesitant after running into a cobweb....ewww...nothing creeps me out more, but I told myself to get over it and enjoy the moment. So, Bostyn and I ran as hard as we could through those trees. Laughing and sweating up a storm.

Nixon was content as could be. Eating huge mouthfuls of grass...yum yum.

I love being out in nature. Oh, I love it. I LOVE IT! I love {there it is again} being able to capture sweet and simple creations such as these...

I'm so glad we found a place to play. I did, however, draw the line when during one of my bolts into the trees, I saw a little black spidery thing swing right next to my face. I almost threw-up I was so scared. Upon closer inspection I found this little number:

AHHHH! That was my last venture into the trees.

My cute new shoes that took me running today, thanks marm!

a pretty sunrise.

2011-08-02T07:45:00.001-07:00

the end.

a rainy day.

2011-07-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

We needed it.

It has been sooo dry here.

So we spent the day chillin' out.

We inherited tons and tons of scrapbook paper and stickers from our dear friend, Brandy, who passed away earlier this year. So we decided to pull out all of the dinosaur stickers and place them on bright-florescent paper and then cut them out so she could have some dinosaur friends to play with.

Then we named every.single.one. It was a little time consuming but it was a rainy day so... we had plenty of time on our hands. It was a fun mother-daughter activity that I'm happy we did. I feel like I haven't been spending as much quality time with her as I'd like, so I'm really going to make a goal of doing something with her everyday. Something fun, something different and something where I really sit down and talk with her and look her in those sweet, eager, three-year old eyes that will be gone soon.

In other news. Bostyn refuses to let me take pictures of her lately. I have to sneak up or surprise her. It's quite annoying. So I've been taking lots of pictures of Nixon...who is just adorable so it works out okay. Here's a few that I'm loving.

Taking a joy ride in the wagon.

Look who's starting to climb! Scary...

I think 3 things...

2011-07-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

1. This is the stupidest movie that I've seen in a long time, DON'T SEE IT!!

2. These books are hilarious! READ THEM! You can make it through one in like an hour. That's my kind of book.

3. My sister is gorgeous and so is her family. Pictures here.

the day I almost died.

2011-07-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

It's been bloody hot here the last few days, so we've been hittin' up the pool quite a bit. Well the other day was no exception so we decided to head to the pool for an afternoon dip. I loaded up the stroller with the usual pool necessities, i.e. life-jacket, bag full of towels, sunscreen, Bostyn's toys etc. When I opened the door there were a few clouds in a sky. One was pretty dark but we ventured on. As we walked those few blocks to the pool the clouds were ever looming and getting a wee bit darker, but now that I had been walking for a few minutes in that hideous heat and humidity I needed a swim or in reality a quick bath. I opened the gate to the pool and the wind started picking up and the landlord people were cleaning things up, putting umbrellas down, you know the drill. So I asked if they were closing up shop. I got the stink eye from Ugly #1 and a very rude, very sassy retort saying that there was thunder and when there is thunder there is lightning. Boo on your face! Thanks for the science lesson. Jerk. Sometimes I wonder why people are so mean and manner-less. A simple, "yes" would've done fine. I should've re-worded my question by asking if it was okay to sit under that nice balcony and wait out the storm but I was so put off I just turned around and headed home. No sooner had I closed the gate, the rain started coming down in sheets. So I've got the stroller with Nix, Bostyn holding my hand and we've got a few block til we're home. The thunder starts clapping like nothing I have ever heard. Then the wind! Oh the wind! It was bending trees all the way to the ground. The lighting was seriously right on top of us. So I pick up Bostyn who by this time is screaming in terror and I try to cover Nixon with a towel but he's pretty much drowning in the rain that is slamming right into his sweet little face. Then I just start booking it home. The stroller was not very aerodynamic with me running behind it like a crazed drenched monster. It was creating so much drag that we were moving at a turtles pace, so I finally put Bostyn down when we are about 10 houses away and said "run baby run!" It was scary, I was seriously so scared. I was praying with all my might that we would make it home before we got struck by lightning. Luckily we did and we're alive. Whew. Definitely underestimated that storm...still not an excuse to be mean to me, maintenance worker. You should've offered me a ride home, jerk! Anywho, when Eric got home from the hospital he said that there was a tree broken just a few houses down from where I was! Yikes, so glad we made it home safe.

The End.