The Young and the Restless

Guests and Getaways

My brother, Troy and his wife were so nice to make the long trek down here from Utah so that we could see their adorable 3 week old baby boy, Brenton. He is so dang cute, although we have no idea where all that dark hair came from. Every one of the Jolley offspring babies are not only bald as can be, but also very light haired. I thought for sure I would be the first to break the mold since lots of dark hair should be reserved for half Chinese babies, but obviously that was not the case (although I've still got my fingers crossed!) I was absolutely loving having a newborn around (especially since I wasn't the one waking up for the 2am feedings) and yes, he made me very baby hungry, I was just hoping some of that baby love would rub off on Jason! The kids were really sweet with him, also, and I was surprised at how interested Jayden was with him (usually only trains can hold his attention for that long). Of course we loved seeing Brenton, but we also had fun with Troy (aka "Tush" or "Tom", which ever name Jayden feels is appropriate for the moment) and Sam. We were very limited on the activities for the agenda considering it's 115 degrees outside, we have a newborn, Sam is still recovering from her delivery and Troy is still on crutches recovering from his ankle surgery (speaking of crutches, the 5 yr old boy that Jennifer baby-sits was over and the first thing that he said when he saw Troy using the crutches was "man, those are some pretty big chopsticks!" Love it.). With all that in mind, the only activity we could really do was swim and lots of it. Jennifer spoiled us and watched the kids not one, but TWO whole nights so that we could go out (don't feel bad, she had Ivan, or should I say Eeevooon, over to keep her company :). We went and saw one of the most awesomest movies ever, "The Bourne Ultimatum" (Yes Sheba and Chelsea, Jason was a good husband to take me even though he already saw it with his friends). When we got back the boys were feeling a little inspired by the movie and tried to pull off a Bournish-like stint by parking in the driveway at a vacant house 3 doors down, then sneaking around to turn off the power and then ever so slyly entering the house through the side door and surprising Jennifer and Ivan. I'm not even going to tell you how long they planned this for, but they did manage a decent scare factor. We also went and saw Ocean's 13 and they spent the whole trip home trying to come up with a Danny Oceanish stunt, but to no avail. Jason and Troy scored some sweet tickets 20 rows up for the Cardinals pre-season opener game. They loved being so close to the players, but personally I think they were just as excited to be that close to the cheerleaders :) We had a fun and relaxing time with them, thanks guys for coming down!

Last week Jason had to go to Tucson for work and so once again Jennifer spoiled us by watching the kids for a couple of nights while I went down and stayed with him. It was AWESOME. Jason had to work the whole day and I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I seriously don't remember the last time that I had a whole day to myself. Jason was worried that I was going to get bored staying in the hotel all day and kept suggesting that I go out, but I was not about to pass up the opportunity to stay in bed all day long. I did shower, give me some credit, but other than that I just laid in bed and read, watched tv and worked on that blog book that I'm making (which by the way is turning out great). The first morning I had to force myself to sleep in until 8:30, but the second morning I had no problem whatsover sleeping in until 10:30, yikes! In the evenings it was so nice to go out and spend time with Jason, I sure love that guy! I must admit that it was great having some guilt-free lazy time and even being able to watch Regis and Kelly while getting ready instead of "Dora the Exporer", but I did miss my kids and was excited to get back to them, (just not excited to get back to the dr. appointments, carpools, school functions, meetings, grocery shopping, house cleaning....) Thanks so much, Jenz!!

For our enrichment night coming up they are doing a play and asked if Kylie could do a little part in it. I was worried that she would be too shy, but apparently that is not the case and she has taken this play business very serious. After their first practice today, she spent the majority of the day compiling this folder dedicated to the play. She has written and then illustrated every aspect of her little 5 minute part and then has written down the first line of each song that they're doing. She got too tired of writing all the words, so she filled the rest of the page with music notes. She plans on taking this to all the rehearsals incase she forgets her part (which I should probably include that her part doesn't even have any lines, it's just walking different directions across the stage and then down the stairs as she is descending from heaven). It is so cute to watch her get so excited and I can't wait to watch her big debut.

Kylie and Jayden have really been into creating their own recipes lately. They get so excited when I let them do it and they have managed to come up with some very interesting concoctions. The base of every recipe is always milk and water (in no particular order). That gives you some idea of the deliciousness of these delicacies. The other ingredients often include PB, jelly, cool whip, syrup, or anything sweet to balance out the watered down milk. I think my love as a mother has been tested multiple times as they excitedly present me with a cup to take the first drink. The funny thing is that the kids actually really do like the recipes (either that or they're really good at faking it so that I will keep letting them carry on with their experiments). At one point Jayden was even crying because it was all gone. They've also discovered that they can freeze them in plastic cups for an extra delightful popsicle the next day.
We're excited to have Jason's sister, Jessica and her boyfriend down here for a visit before she takes off to her semester abroad in China. Right now Jason's playing 5th wheel with them and Jennifer and Ivan while they're at another Cardinal's game tonight. We're looking forward to a fun week with them!