My little sugar cookies!

I hate to cook and I don't really like to bake, but Carter loves to make sugar cookies...so for Family Home Evening one day we made sugar cookies. Carter and Mason were such good helpers. Mason helps out by eating the measuring cups and taking up space on the counter. Carter cuts out the shapes for me and picks the color of frosting and then I eat most the cookies...needless to say we don't make these very often. Carter is not a big sugar-eater, which is great, but when he wants to make sugar cookies and then not help eat them...you know what happens. He seriously takes one bite of one and says he's done. Mason on the other hand will eat them, but he's not a big kid yet and so doesn't eat as many as I would like him to and Joel is not a huge sugar-eater either. It's definitely more work to make the cookies with the kids, but they sure are cute about it...so maybe next year we'll make them again.

Me...Alone...All by myself!

Joel is the greatest husband in the world! He let me go and have a weekend all to myself. A few weeks ago in April I flew to Utah...just me. I stayed with Doug and Jackie and it was so much fun! I wish I could post some pictures of my awesome weekend, but I was having too much fun and did not take one picture. Sorry. I needed to get away, not from Joel(I wish he could have come), but from life(mainly my kids, though I love them). It was seriously so good for me. Since I have come back I feel happier and ready to take them on. Life hasn't changed and it is still hard to take care of everything, but I feel better. I got to be in Utah when Ben and Whitney were there and so that was fun. We watched them finish the Salt Lake marathon. I got to see some friends and family that I hadn't seen in awhile. I also went and stayed with Joel's parents' for a night and that was fun too. It was so funny though, when I got to the airport I kept thinking that I was forgetting something...I mean all I had to carry on was a purse. It was so nice not to have to chase any kids around or carry a bunch of extra stuff. People would ask me if I missed my kids and I really didn't...I mean I did, but I was glad to not be with them for a time. I am so appreciative to Doug and Jackie for letting me stay with them and for them giving up their whole weekend for me. They are so fun and I really had a great time with them. Carter was so sweet when I came back. He had missed me...though I think a little too much because for the next few days he wouldn't leave my side. He wanted me to be with him all the time...in the same room with him or holding him. Mason could have cared less. He didn't want me when I came back. He only wanted Joel or my mom, which made me kind of sad, but don't worry he soon loved me again. I'm so thankful to my family who helped me be able to take a short break...Joel and my parents' for taking care of the kids and Doug and Jackie for taking care of me. I can't wait until my next "me alone" weekend.

My Easter Babes!

I couldn't resist putting in a picture of my sweet boys at Easter. They looked so cute in their new Easter outfits, thanks to Nini. I love how long Mason's shorts are...they're a little big, but he'll totally grow into them. They remind me of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes..."short pants touch my feet okay!" I do like these boys...they are so fun. I complain a lot about being a mom, but really I love these kids.







This was our attempt at taking an Easter family picture. We had come home early from church, since all except Joel were sick, and so no one could take our picture. We had Joel's camera on a timer and it was balancing precariously on the top of a chair. Turned out okay though. Who would think to look at us that we would be up all night and in the ER the next morning...?

Ah...California, how I wish I could afford you!

I wish we could live in California and be warm...duh, why is California so expensive? Just because the weather is the most desirable, well, dumb. So, let me tell you a little about our trip. Let's start with Sunnyvale and call it Part I. I finally got a good picture of my brother Ben. If any of you have been graced by his presence after about 7 or 8 at night you will recognize this picture. This kills me. This is what he looks like every night and you can't have a serious conversation with him because he just looks so funny and crazed. At night he starts pulling at his hair...I think to get the hair glue out or something, but this is the end result and it is so funny. (by the way, Ben was also in desperate need of a haircut and so this picture turned out even better) I love Ben!
Ben and Whitney so graciously let me and the boys stay with them. They were wonderful hosts and their apartment is darling. Whit has decorated it so awesomely. I love it...love the colors...and my favorite chair, which I spent the entire time in...I should have taken a picture of it. The boys had so much fun together. Feeding time was always...hmmmm, what's the word...
Kadin is such a sweet kid and I love how this picture turned out. He just has this sweet look and he's holding his blue dinosaur that had gone missing earlier. What a kid!
Ah, Carter and Joel just love each other. They really do have so much fun playing together. It makes me sad that we don't live closer to each other...maybe someday. Joel and Kadin were so good about sharing their fun toys with Carter and Mason. We love the Shafer fam so much! Thanks so much you guys!
Oh, yeah, for the bad part. So during California Part I, I got sick...um, sicker than I have been in years. I was so mad. I had come down to see Ben's family and my Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt and Uncle. Well, my Grandpa is getting older and I couldn't really be around him being so sick. I was so bummed. My Grandpa is such a sweet and loving man and I always loved his hugs and I couldn't hug him, even goodbye. Yeah, I cried. I had what I'm sure everyone has had, that awful bug...achy, tight chesty cough, sore throat, lost voice, headache, exhaustion...misery.
So, I'm pushing myself to make it through the airport with two kids (which I'd love to talk about later) where I know Joel is waiting on the other side...and I make it and we fly to Palm Springs (Part II)...where I am still sick. Luckily it is like, 80 or 90 degrees there and so I can be miserable outside and at least be warm. We stayed with Joel's parents and his sister Kelly and her family came while we were there as well.
The kids loved going to the pool. They had so much fun. Carter HAD to wear the float the whole time and was not nearly as brave in the water without Dylan there. We spent most of our time at the pool...eat, swim, nap, swim, eat, one more swim...you know.
This was Mason's spot of choice in the pool. He had more fun playing on the steps. It was hilarious. I should post these other pictures I have. All of them were so cute. I just want to eat him up...
Here is Troy, Todd, and Alex at the pool. Todd showed us a new trick...how to totally splash in a pool. It is seriously awesome and it is seriously the biggest splash I've ever seen. I mean he almost moved the entire pool of water to another location. Amazing. Alex is a brave little guy and he loves the water. He would just walk right off the edge into the water, whether someone was there for him or not.
By Easter Sunday we had almost the whole Thompson family gathered in Palm Springs. It was so great to see everyone, though we were so sad that Cami's family and Connor's family weren't able to come. We had a little Easter egg hunt and Nini got each family an Easter basket of treats. For dinner Nini made a traditional Easter dinner...lamb, lentils, unleavened bread, Bulgar wheat...everyone had to try a little bit and then we had ham and potatoes. Nini and Poger finished off the night talking about the week of the Resurrection. It was great. They are so good about keeping the right perspective and teaching their children and grandchildren.
By Sunday, Carter was getting what I had. He was sick. We were up all night Sunday night...I mean it, all night. He was coughing, or trying to cough and trying really hard to breathe. It was the scariest night of my life. After a whole night of sitting outside with him, taking him in and out of a steamy shower, we were at a loss as to how to help him...so we took him to the ER. Sweet, I know. The poor kid couldn't breathe. It was the scariest, most heart wrenching thing. We would just watch his chest cave and listen to him gasping for air. I wasn't sure if we should take him to the ER, (I guess I just thought, if we just wait another minute it will get better) I figure you only go to the ER if you've been shot, right? Let me tell you how excited I am for that bill to come. Anyway, they gave him a shot of steroids and a breathing treatment and sent us home with a prescription for more steroids...we figured we should put him on a weight lifting schedule while he's on them...you know, take advantage...just kidding...though the steroids caused me much grief. That kid was the most ridiculously out of control kid while on them. I asked the doctor at his follow up visit if this drug could by chance cause behavioral problems...and he said yes...seriously (Hmm, ever heard of "roid rage"?). Don't get me wrong, we had a great trip. We loved the warmer weather and being with family. Though I would like to go back and actually have a vacation. Joel was able to get in some golf and tennis and the night before we left I finally had a little more energy and was able to play a little tennis. Joel and Mason did things right and waited until we got home to get sick...so now we've all had it...well Mason still has it.
By the way, the day after we got back from 90 degree Palm Springs...IT SNOWED! I'm done...seriously.

Is it too early to be a snowbird?

I'm sick of the winter...sick, sick, sick. I hate being cold and I am cold all of the time. So I have decided that I am going to start living in Arizona with my friend Kristyn from about October to April. I hope she's okay with this...I don't cook, in fact I will be expecting a nice meal most nights...I will organize, but not clean...and I don't babysit...I'm not sounding like that great of a roommate, sorry. I am still deciding whether or not I'm bringing my family...maybe Joel, probably not the kids. They can come and visit. I tell Joel almost everyday that we are moving to Arizona or that he needs to take me to Hawaii. I love the heat...bring it on. This is totally weird, I know, but, I am so cold all the time, even in my house...I essentially have frostbite on my toes...apparently I also have a circulation problem. The point is, I'm freezing and would like to be in a coffin of heat. The boys and I are in California visiting Ben and Whit and the boys, and my grandparents and aunt and uncle. It's warmer, but not enough...we are heading to Palm Springs this week! Hopefully that will do the trick for a bit.

Terrible 2s...I think not, 3 is bad!

Is it just me or are 3 year olds really hard to deal with? Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, even the one who is three, but he is causing me much stress lately. It's getting a little better, but I keep anticipating another horrid couple of weeks.

Carter was the sweetest and best baby ever and then he turned one and it was the pits. I attribute his bad attitude towards not being able to communicate. He would scream at me and we would just be at each other all day. I didn't know what he wanted and he didn't know how to tell me...it was rough, but by 17 months life got better and I liked him again. He started talking and we could help each other and life was good. When he was two he was great. We had so much fun together, singing songs, running through fields of tall grass...wait, no, that was Little House on the Prairie...anyway it was fun, seemingly carefree. Three started out blissfully and as the year came to a half-way point it started going downhill. I don't know if Christmas and being spoiled with toys triggered this bad behavior or what, but the last couple weeks have been bad.

I've been afraid that I will be on the 5 o'clock news...woman snaps and does something terrible...I can't even finish it, but I've been stressed. Let me tell you how I spent Valentines Day. So, bad day at home with the kids, obviously, and then poor Joel, comes home from work and disagrees with one thing I said and I flipped out and said, "I'm out of here." I dropped off the garlic mashed potatoes I made (which were a pain to make) for the ward dinner and then drove to Home Depot to pick up some "specialty" light bulbs for our stupid light in our bedroom that had been out for forever (annoying, because I had checked like 300 places for these dumb light bulbs and nobody carries them). Anyway, at Home Depot this super cool guy helped me find the light bulbs and then we sat at the patio furniture and talked about rotten kids and how hard it is to be a parent and then he asked me to do him a favor if I had some time. I told him I had all night. He asked me to walk around the whole store and tell him how many employees don't say "hi" to me and ask if there's anything they can do for me and he gave me a card for a discount next time I come. I did and they have a pretty friendly store. I wasn't ready to go back home yet, so I went to Starbucks and had a hot chocolate and a cupcake (nice dinner, I know). I sat there for about 2 hours just staring at the wall and enjoying being alone and listening to the nice music. As I was sitting there I will admit, I had a few bad ideas crawl through my mind...like maybe I should start drinking...wouldn't it be nice to just drown my stresses with a nice...okay, I'll stop there. I was a good girl and pushed those thoughts right on through...

I shouldn't just pick on Carter...Mason is a little annoying right now too. He is super sweet, but he is into everything! He drives me up a wall. I hate having to shut doors and move things around just because there is a baby around, but I can't keep up with this kid like I could with Carter. He is busy. Just recently he got into my paint and managed to spill almost an entire bottle of white paint (at least it was white) all over our carpet and himself, all within a matter of minutes. No worries (well, there was stress, but) we got it all up and out, we hope, with a rug doctor we rented. So, Carter - flip outer...Mason - annoying.

My point was not to have anyone feel bad for me or think I'm bad for having bad thoughts or think my kids are bad...I guess my point was just to vent. Kids are tough...little stinkers, mouthy little stinkers, stinkers who flip out every time you say anything. But sometimes they are wonderful...maybe I'll have to do a post about a nice time we had once...awhile ago...when life was good...it'll get better, right?

...and a Happy New Year!

Ah yes, what follows Christmas...(which I just finally posted below)...New Years. We went to Mom and Dad Shafer's house for New Years. Doug and Jackie were visiting and it was so much fun to be with them. Jackie and Doug gave Mom some kids super-hero capes that Jackie's mom makes and sells on etsy (they're pretty cool, so you should check them out)...and Carter had fun with it...we put one on Mason and he didn't seem to care one way or the other. He would just walk around doing his thing with the cape on.

Sweet Aunt Jackie was so nice and would play with Carter...meaning she had to run around the kitchen about three trillion times as they chased each other in their capes. Carter had so much fun with Doug and Jackie and like I said, they were so nice to play with him as much as he wanted.


Doug is so funny. This is him trying one of the kids' capes...I wish I had gotten a picture of Joel when he tried them on, but I didn't...sorry Joel, I need to take more pictures of you. We also went to my cousin Stacey's wedding in Portland, which was really cool. We're so happy for her!

We also went to the Mt St Helens Museum just down the road from Mom and Dad's house. It was cool to watch the videos and realize that Joel and I are probably going to die due to volcano eruption, seeing as how we live right next to Mt Rainier, which is next in line to blow!...supposedly. I don't know who we're standing next to...he's covered in ash though...maybe an explorer who was around for a different eruption, not the 1980 one because he looks like he's from another time.




Here is Carter outside the museum. I just thought this was a cool picture.





Mom, Dad, Doug and Jackie, and Joel went for a walk on the trail around the museum...I took the kids home for their naps. I think this is a cool picture...poor Joel didn't have anyone there to hold his hand...what a fun time though. We sure do love being with our family. We wish that Ben, Whit, and the kids could have been there too. We really had such a great time. Seriously family is the best.