anti chunk

Eli enjoying some peas

What kind of baby prefers pasty bottled peas to freshly smashed, perfectly ripened banana?

Mine of course. We are trying to get Eli to eat table food- smashed table food of course. He's not interested in anything that hasn't been pureed. If there are chunks mixed in with his mushy food he won't have anything to do with it- spits it out, turns his head and he's been known to growl.

Stubborn child. And smart (He watches us closely as we prepare his food and he won't even try it if he sees we have sneaked in a little something under the radar). And happy. And cute. But stubborn.

And soon to be hungry as his first birthday approaches and the baby food disappears. He'll eat then won't he?

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I have the greatest mom in the whole world. I love you Mom! I had a great Mother's Day today. The kids were sweet as could be and Jason and the kids cooked a delicious meal and cleaned it all up. I got a nap and visited with Tania (she and the boys joined us for dinner). The best kinds of gifts involve removing some of the "mother load", if for just a short while. Today was a great gift!

Our garden is slowly getting started. Jason built grow boxes, hauled in dirt and on Monday we finally planted a few things. I took pictures and they are all bad. I am not a photographer! I don't have a steady hand so I rarely take the pictures. Because Jason is always hogging the camera I haven't taken the time to really learn about settings, lighting, etc. When Jason saw how dark the pictures are he looked at me and nicely said,"The first thing you need to do when you turn on the camera is turn the dial to A for Auto!" I will try to remember that.



Jason: "This week Lisa got some boneless ribs to BBQ. They were really thick and taking such a long time that I got preoccupied with something else. When I did remember, it was too late, oh, was it too late. There were flames 10 ft high coming off the grill and so much smoke and I couldn't see the stove. Maybe not 10 ft, but when you see your dinner going up in flames, 10 ft actually seems small. The BBQ had caught fire and seared the outside. Which makes me wonder if the sauce is so flammable, why is my wife cooking with it. I trimmed off the edges and the insides were actually really good. It was good they were so thick. That wasn't the end of it. First she immortalized it with a picture and second she told one of the Priest quorum advisors who is a BBQ King. He has already trademarked the name "Fat Dave's BBQ". Oh and all the priests were there as well."

I think the priests could use something to tease him about; heaven knows he teases them incessantly. Notice how much meat is on that board. There wasn't a lot left for eating! Again, the camera was NOT on auto, oops. We can't all be perfect at all things can we??


Friday Ethan had his piano recital. He had three songs and did great. When we got home he was mad because he messed up a little on the the third one. He is a perfectionist and was pretty hard on himself. I told him that we all have good days and bad days and sometimes we are just a little off. That's life, he did great and just let it go. He was having none of it. I wish he could learn to let go of the things he can't change and focus on improving things he can change. Wow, listen to me. I sound like my own parents.

Sad, sad news and few of my favorite things

This week our hearts are breaking as some friends we knew in Iowa are going through a horrific experience. Their baby died on Monday in a terrible accident. It has reminded us of a few things. 1) Be vigilant 2) Treasure every day we have with our wonderful children and 3) Don't judge others.

Here are my favorite things this week. . .

My favorite thing about Elijah right now is that he has fat rolls. He is quite ticklish and when Jason is squeezing his chub he jiggles like a bowl full of jelly.

My favorite thing about Nathanael right now is how he is suddenly "ready" for school. In the past few weeks he has been reading whatever he can (pretty much three and four letter words), writing little love notes to Jason and I and drawing pictures, like the seal (with glasses since seals clearly have bad eyesight) and shark below.



Right now my favorite thing about Ethan and Kate is that as of yesterday their soccer season is OVER! Not that I didn't love every minute of being a soccer mom every week. I am just looking forward to less running around during the week and a chance to have some free time on Saturdays. We're even going to get a weekend away, Yippee!


This is my favorite food of the week. Jason took the boys (minus Eli) on the Fathers and Sons Outing on Friday. So Kate and I went to Applebees with a bunch of moms and daughters where I discovered the Maple Butter Blondie. Where I have been? It was heavenly and did not aid in my weight loss efforts.



This was my least favorite discovery this week. When Ethan got out of the car for piano he noticed this. A wasp was diligently building a nest in our car- between the door frame and where the door closes. You could only see it when the door opened, but I am sure it could have squeezed through a little opening and joined us inside the car while we were driving. He had one little "tube " of the nest complete and was on to building another. It was so creepy!

White bread

I am trying to shed 10-15 pounds before summer. For a good month I was trying to think it away (you know how that brain power burns calories). So when that didn't get me anywhere I decided that I needed to eat less and exercise more. Novel concept, I know. I have a hard time getting on a regular exercise schedule because Jason travels a lot and I have to work around Eli's schedule. Sometimes he rocks the boat and throws everything off. But recently I have been able to run short distances a few days a week and I am trying to cut down on the treats. As of this morning, I had lost three pounds in about ten days. I was so happy this morning! Four hours later while shopping at Walmart I found some cream cheese filled croissants with cream cheese frosting on top. Do you think I passed them by? Are you kidding? I just lost three pounds so I should reward myself right? I did exercise some self control. There were five in the box and instead of eating all of them before Jason or the kids came home I only ate one and that way everyone else got one too.

So this got me thinking about how much I love white bread treats. We all use wheat bread for our sandwiches. But for me there's something about white bread that says, "treat" to me. Here are some of my fav's. . . cinnamon rolls (good ones, like the kind Jason's mom made), croissants (filled or plain), donuts, white dinner rolls (the kind Eileen Cheney makes!) with jam, Great Harvest white bread toasted with butter and cinnamon and sugar or honey or homemade jam. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

I know I will never completely cut these things from my diet. Why set myself up for failure? And why deprive myself when I know that after an indiscretion like the one I had today I can happily add an extra mile to my run tomorrow!