TGIF

One thing about the start of school is that all the homework, carpools and schedules makes me really appreciate the freedom that comes with the weekends. And this weekend was a particularly good one. Friday night lights meant watching the sun sink below the mountains and good company around a campfire. Warm nights at the lake with friends will never get old. Neither will a game of grounders with the kids at the park, or resurrecting the traditional aggravation tournaments while eating oreo ice cream cake. It was a good weekend. 

But as much as I love the weekends, I love a quiet house on Monday mornings just as much. Some days I feel like I have zero energy and my patience is worn so thin, I snap at the kids for little insignificant things and I'm constantly beating myself up about it. So yeah, for every beautiful sunset picture, there's always some hard days mixed in. But thank goodness for those beautiful sunset moments because that's what gets me through those hard days.

Thirteen 

We have another teenager in the house. And he's almost passed me up on height. And his voice is starting to get deeper. And he had his first crush and used all his tickets to buy her a stuffed animal at their end of the year party at Amazing Jakes. This kid has had some big changes this year starting junior high, but he has handled it like a champ. One of the things I love about this kid is that I don't ever worry about him. He always stays on top of his school work with out any reminders, he reads his scriptures every night no matter how late, remembers his morning prayers, has such a good moral compass and always tries to choose the right and be an example to his friends. He never has friend drama, works hard at everything he does, wants to start a lawn mowing business to earn money and has his whole future mapped out. Like I said, I don't have to worry about him. He's a good kid, mixed with the usual teenage angst and emotions and younger brother tormenting, but at his core he has a heart of gold. For his birthday he wanted donuts for breakfast and we surprised him with a guitar and lessons. Kylie and Maddox were so sweet and pooled their money together and taped 12 dollar bills around a roll of toilet paper and added some chocolate candy, it was pretty creative and thoughtful. 

I tried to get a picture of her giving him the present, this is the best I got.

I took him to lunch at his requested Sweet Tomatoes. This kid appreciates a good buffet, just like his mom. I loved the one on one time with him, even though I dragged him back to Sally's to exchange Kylie's hair color. He wasn't too excited about that. Jason took him to dinner that night, they hopped around to all the free birthday food joints.

The next weekend he invited a few friends over to go see the new Spider-man movie. He's got a cute group of friends and I had the pleasure of taking them while Jason got the boat ready for the youth lake trip the next day. We came back for cake and ice cream and ended the night with a golf cart ride. I sure love this kid, he is the best birthday present I could ever ask for. I love telling him about his birth story every year, how I went into labor while out for my birthday dinner and then he made me wait another 18 hours before he finally entered this world. How precious those midnight feedings were, rocking him in the still of the night as the monsoon rains pounded on the windows. That cute little voice beckoning me back into his room every night after I tucked him in his crib, "mom, mom,mom....beeee". I never did understand what he meant by "beee", but I love that he did it every night with out fail. The way he would play monster trucks wearing Kylie's dress up clothes and tuck his transformers into her Barbie house. So many cute memories with this sweet first born son of mine, but I must say that I love the young man he is becoming. He makes me so proud to be his mom. Happy birthday, Gigi, we love you!

The time Kylie's hair hijacked my birthday

Since Kylie hadn't started school yet, I was excited to spend my birthday getting our hair done and going to lunch. Kylie has wanted to do an ombre color on her hair for a while, she saved up to pay for half and was so excited to color her hair for the first time. And then it turned into a disaster.

This definitely wasn't what she had imagined it would turn out like, I called the hair dresser back to see if she could some how blend it more so there wasn't a distinct line.

She suggested adding highlights, which seemed like good idea, but it turned out even worse. This is literally the look that I envied when I was in high school. But that was almost 20 years ago and the chunky highlights aren't really the thing these days. There were so many tears shed. She was starting school on Monday and her life was officially ruined. She was never leaving her room and was going to home school until it grew out. Or so she thought. I spent hours researching options, texting and calling friends and family that did hair to see what they would suggest and since it was bleach I was getting so many mixed recommendations and I wasn't quite sure what to do. I really didn't want to spend another $100 to get it fixed but I know how important self image is at this age and I wanted her to start her first day at a new school feeling confident and beautiful. Jason took me out to Joes' Farm Grill for my birthday dinner then we went to Sally's afterwards where I felt semi confident that we could fix this on our own. 

In between the tears she was so sweet to put together a little spa for me and gave me a pedicure. It was very unexpected and definitely the highlight of my not so spectacular birthday. She also used her money to buy me a new wallet, phone case and watch band. It meant so much that she was not only thoughtful enough to use her own money but that she thoughtful enough to notice things that I needed. She has great taste and I really loved it all.

The next day Addi came over and helped dye her hair back. I should be offended that she would rather have her fix it then me, but I figured if it got messed up she would probably hate me for at least one third of a lifetime, but she couldn't stay mad at Addi for long. It just so happened to be Addi and Jayden's birthday that day, so now this whole hair saga had managed to hijack two more birthdays. But thankfully it worked! That was a lot of time and money to get her hair to look exactly like it did to begin with. But I'll tell you what, she has never appreciated her natural hair color more than she did at that moment. She went from lowest of lows to the highest of highs and I was glad to see her back to her normal happy self.

So that's the story of how I spent my 37th birthday. I didn't get a single picture, there were no cake and candles, no lunch and no shopping spree, but it was definitely a memorable one. I was grateful for the home made cards and family and friends who called, texted or dropped by treats and gifts and for sweet friends who took me to lunch the day before. I'm still hoping to get a picture with my kids that I can add later, but for now here's a mental snapshot of what 37 looks like: Smoothies for breakfast, Gossip Girl on the treadmill, on-line grocery pick up, black toenail polish, Inside Edition and Fixer Upper, blueberry cheesecake ice cream, Friday night movies in bed, Thai Chili, home remodeling plans, white Vans, Young House Love podcasts on cleaning day, wondering if I'm too old for ripped jeans, Magic Tree house bedtime stories, eyebrow pencils, Young Womens, black white and gray wardrobe, photography, gold accents and quinoa bowls. Just to name a few.  Here's to 37.....

Best pets yet

One day Maddox decided he needed a plant in his life. And he needed that plant RIGHT NOW. It was all he talked about for days. When it was his turn to go on a Mommy date for school shopping instead of going out for a treat he wanted to go buy a plant instead. After walking up and down the plant aisle at Lowe's he finally settled on "Planty". He opens the blinds each morning to give him sunshine, waters him when the soil is dry one inch below the surface, polishes his leaves and measures him once a week with a growth chart. For a while he would set him next to him on the couch to watch TV or set him outside to enjoy a good rainstorm. I love this kid. He saved up his money and had his sights set on "Cacti" which we brought home after an orthodontist appointment. Ryder didn't want to be left out of the fun so he saved up for "Ferny" (we are very creative in the name department) and now they have a botanical garden displayed on their dresser among their souvenirs and soccer trophies. It's freaking adorable. And I have decided these are the best pets, they teach responsibility and there's no poop to clean up after, it's a win win. 

 

Endless summer

I'm going through some inner turmoil. The season of freshly sharpened pencils and crisp lined paper naturally gives way to thoughts of pumpkins and sweaters, candles and baked goods. But this time I find myself longing for a few more lazy summer days at the lake. I guess for my sake it's not always a bad thing that summer temperatures stay until late October so that we can drag out these precious summer memories just a little longer. We spent a Saturday at the lake with some of our favorite people. I didn't take too many pictures, but I had to document these cute friends because I met their mom on the bus 9 years ago while chaperoning Kylie's kindergarten field trip. We were both pregnant and it has been fun to see these kids grow up together. And besides, Ava is Maddox's betrothed future wife. So yes, days like this need to be in the books.