More August

We had a playdate with Sunni's kids. This pic sucks, but it was of the boys in their teepee & it was SO cute. All I got was Tate's smile. I totally want one of these!! Much easier to set up than a tent but nowhere near as roomy ;) AGAIN! I AM GOING TO HAVE TO FIND AN ALTERNATE MEANS TO STORE & POST MY PHOTOS. I KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE A MESS, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA IT HAS TAKEN ME ALMOST AN HOUR TO GET IT TO LOOK EVEN THIS DECENT!!! AAAAaaaaah!The only way I can post these pics is via HTML mode & you can't see them, & it moves your words EVERYWHERE! I'm ready to give up on labeling any of these! ********************************************************************* I got creative & found a new way to mow the lawn since Lola went from LOVING to HATING the hiking backpack: Lock them in the caged baby tramp, throw some gogurts in, mow til they are both wailing to get out, then transfer to the sandbox & hope Lola is not hungry for sand today. She was a hot mess by the time I was done, but it was a success! We had the sister misssionaries over for dinner. I called beforehand to make sure they liked the menu. One did not. So I switched & she apparently did not like the alternative either! She did like my bread though. Haha. It's the thought that counts right? A new construction crew I found to help with some minor home repairs & such. They're pretty cheap labor preferring to be paid in popsicles or fruit snacks ;) Tate said he was building a house for Mommy, Daddy, Tater, Lola, & Sissy. It was so sweet. Things like this make me want to cry though. I feel bad that my kids can't grow up in a classic happy home like I did. Dakota's 7th birthday party! I can't believe this little angelboy is SEVEN! I am so grateful to have his sweet little spirit in our family. We are so blessed. Happy birthday Kota!! The kids absolutely LOVED the giant slip & slide. I was so shocked at how brave Tate was!! Lola loved it too. Yes I went down in my dress. I hadn't planned on swimming but it was too fun to pass up! Group photo everyone was thrilled about *********She might have the cutest bummy & body I have EVER seen!***** ****************This is what I want to show my counselor at therapy tomorrow. I was supposed to work on meditating. I am terrible at it. Technically it's not entirely my fault since he thinks I have ADHD!**** Playing catch with Grammy & Poppy. I found an awesome tiny mitt & it even has VELCRO! That's the kind of mitt my athletic abilities require! Doesn't everyone bake while in their underwear?

Happy August Birthday Month!

Our week in photos:
P.S.-I am using a new storage system for my photos & am obviously having a tough time with the arranging it chooses to do for me. Uggh! I swear I will never get the hang of this stuff! Props for trying??
  My cute littles out for a drive/bike ride. Tate is SO big! He rode 2 blocks like a ROCK STAR!

Oh that squishy face! SO precious <3 Our 2nd time to Beus's Pond to feed the ducks. Our jogging stroller flat for the 2nd time as well. Thankfully we had a back up. No run for Mommy tho. Again :( This time did NOT end in tears though haha! :)
Oh well. Tate had fun pushing Lola around. He drives like his mother. And has her grace. He tripped at least 3 or 4 times while we were there. I had tripped up my front porch steps earlier. Sometimes I'm amazed I function haha!

 Who doesn't love a little naked yoga right?

  Poor TaterSalad. His hand was a swollen mess. I think a mosquito bite had gotten infected. Double antibiotics. Waited for diarrhea to destroy our already utterly failed attempts to POOP in the toilet. (He has the pee thing down. Mostly ;)) he hasn't gotten the runs yet, but HAS pooped his pants several times though -_-

I don't even want to try to delete the duplicate here! On our walks we have passed this sweet ride several times. Yes! It IS a Honda Nighthawk just like I used to have!!! Mine did not have a bug shield which could have came in handy ;) Oh the memories though. Speaking of memories, remembering the great monsoon of '03 Vincie & I got stuck in that summer haha!

OCD at age 3? I believe so. He's screwed between his father & me!

Sorry for the ridiculous selfie. I loved this look though complete with the lipstick. "Very Breakfast at Tiffany's." Would have looked even better minus 15 lbs ;) A few friends would have loved this look, but alas I was only headed to church where fashion does not & should not reign. A lady at my ward liked it though! ;)

I take screenshots or photos of things I read or see that I like. Usually from the scriptures or Ensign, but I saw this post & loved it. Very true! Sometimes I get completely overwhelmed with my problems & forget the simplest solution. Prayer is so powerful. All we have to do is ask!

Tate has mad skills in the school department. Well, I think. I am a proud biased mama though :) He traced Logan's name & his own (Yes he was losing interest by the time we got to his). We made this for his cousin Logan who is at the MTC. He is going to Wisconsin, but is going to an area with their own dialect of Mandarin Chinese or something. What an odd combo!

These photos are in no apparent order. Saturday the kids were with Bobby. I hiked Waterfall Canyon. Man how times have changed. It was fantastic, but I felt like I was on a freaking walking tour. It was SO packed. I am terribly impatient & was trying my hardest not to get annoyed. There were people EVERYWHERE! I prefer more alone time in nature, although I did see the cutest little family with their kids & it made me hopeful that I might have that too one day. I think about taking my kids all the time, they are just WAY to little for one person to handle right now. One day!

We went to IKEA & picked up Aunt Julie on our way. SO fun! We got to see her new house in Sandy. It is darling. We had a great time :)

Cute outfit picture day! Bobby bought her these little tennies in hopes of helping her learn to walk. This is the only outfit they match. It is a pretty comical combo usually :)
We went to see the Wegelin's new house in Farr West. It was beautiful! Jen & I have similar eclectic style so of course I loved it! ;) Tate & Oliver were so cute together too! I love to watch Tate interact with other kids. He is so stinking cute & a love bug. Just like his mommy <3


Oh goodness. Doll overboard! We had an accidental drowning at the duck pond. Navy's doll which was left in our stroller found herself face down drowning in duck poop at the duck pond by Grammy & Poppy's thanks to Miss Lola Lyn. I've been trying to run a lot more & we have ran to the duck pond a few times lately. Tate was seriously upset about the situation though & I think he truly wanted me to jump in & save her. I don't do POOP!

Lucky

Wow. Heavenly Father is in tune. Even when I feel I don't deserve it. I was feeling lonely, sad, guilty, hopeless (yes welcome to the pity party thrown by yours truly ;) I DO love a party! Ha ;)) It's 1 AM. I can't sleep. I was exhausted at 9 pm, yet here I am...Lola started crying. She is usually a pretty good sleeper these days, waking up semi-frequently, but I usually make her self-soothe (thank you all the critics & self-proclaimed baby experts at work). FYI i DO sneak in & give her back her bink & tuck her in-take THAT! And it works too-quickly might I add! I'm up, why not? Tonight I went in & held her. Yes, my little manipulative princess immediately stopped crying. Tonight, I think she knew her mommy was the one that needed to be held & loved. I am so grateful for my kids. What blessings. They enhance every area of my life, they bring out the best in me, & make me want to be a better person. I pray that I can find that in a husband & partner one day. For now, I am grateful & happy with the fact I have a lil best girlfriend. She belly laughs & her face lights up when she sees me. I need that. I ADORE her. Every single part of her is so beautiful & pure perfection. Her painted on baby doll lips, her perfect chubby brown body, her 11 (yes count them) dimples all over her head & neck. She makes me feel so loved & special. She likes me near her all the time. She smiles when I look at & talk to her. Heavenly Father has given me my best girlfriend in her.
And my perfect little man Tate. My dream come true of a boy. He has the most enchanting smile, charming personality, heck he can get away with pooping his pants & I still adore him! ;) He is sensitive, loves to laugh, is thoughtful, funny, silly, so handsome, tons of fun, loves to snuggle, & enlightens me to all the fun details of being a boy. While I can't sword fight with him over the toilet, he still likes me. We may not always see eye to eye, but we always end the day with a little Goodnight Moon, scripture story, hug, a back tickle, a  request to "Sing me song Mommy," a  prayer, & a lippy kiss. I quiz him before bed: Are you my sweetheart? Are you the cutest & sweetest boy in the world? Does Mommy love you more than anything in the universe? Yes, yes, yes he giggles. Sometimes I make him tell me I'm his favorite mom, & I'm pretty haha! Bobby thinks I'm ridiculous. Sometimes a girl just needs to hear it yo... I melt when he tells me he loves me. His face is sunshine to me. I see my family in him & I love it. He has some of my qualities & habits, which in him are actually quite endearing & adorable.
So how can I be sad when I have the perfect man & the perfect girlfriend? When I take a minute to appreciate those facts, I'm not!  Thank you Heavenly Father for your tender mercies & immense blessings! I will try harder to appreciate them every day.

The Weekend

The weekend was great!!! Crappy night at work so I didn't run the F2TF race but I did make an appearance & get my t-shirt :) We puppysat Kenai, I mowed the lawn, I invited Bobby to come up to the Oaks & get ice cream. The kids LOVED it & LOVED looking out over the river. We (excuse me THEY) had naked swimming & swinging, we played in Tater's hut. Tate & I baked muffins (notice he poked holes in 10 out of 12 muffins while I stepped out of the room for 2 seconds). Hope my visiting teaching gals don't mind! Haha :) Livy & Bobby came over the next day just to say hi. I love getting to still see Liv. I miss her a lot. She is a good kid & a good sister & although we have all had some tough times, I love her very much & am so grateful she is still in my life. Anyhow great weekend! Tate was successful in nursery AGAIN!!!! Hooray! It makes my heart melt to hear Gina tell me he loves singing time & says "My mommy sings that to me!" Maybe I DON'T suck!...Church was great! I sure don't follow all the rules, but surprisingly I LOVE it! I wish Sunday School was a few times a week. So many genuine & inspiring people in there. I love hearing different takes on the lessons. I love it when people admire my chubby lil Lolagirl & she is quite a source of entertainment too. She is SO beautiful! Everyone is so nice about it too. I love my ward, it is so eclectic & diverse. Old, young, money, not so much money, just all very special people with very big hearts. So yes I suck at blogging lately. I ran out of storage space in dropbox & started a new account with onedrive. I have finally successfully figured it out. kind of ;) I am going to attempt more frequent little posts, which should be fairly easy since I document most of our doings on instagram already, usually with a collage of pics since I have to include everything (shockingly I do leave a ton out!). Easy enough I can continue making a family journal, print a book of it if I like, or not. I document EVERYTHING! The kids have a million scrapbboks each, I use IG & blog, & have flashdrives & cyberspace folders full of pics. A little excessive. I really need to more efficiently organize. Talky talky talky-sorry! Great weekend & here's to a great week!