A young man in our ward made some chocolate bars for a kids entrepreneurial convention. The bars look so real down to the square blocks and foil wrapping! Plus I wanted to try his special recipe of adding Pop Rocks to each chocolate bar, which adds a fun tingle.
Chase never likes eating dinner and prefers chicken patty sandwiches or chicken nuggets every single night. But on the night where we were having rotisserie chicken & rice, I put my foot down. (Plus I was exhausted and felt completely sick to my stomach after not getting enough sleep...he woke me up twice during the night because of nightmares. Yes he's 7... and hauling 8 tons of rock the day before). The issue with his hunger strikes is that he's willing to throw a temper tantrum forever (that kid can commit like no other), and he's so tiny! I really need him to eat calories so he can grow!! I knew it was going to be a battle, so I was pretty proud of myself when I honored his Type 1 personality and make it fun. I got out ALLLL the sauces and had him pick one at a time to taste with the chicken. I sold it well. Heidi & Grant bought into it too, which I appreciated because Chase can't say no to An Audience. He showed off choosing hot sauce and oyster sauce too. But in the ended declared BBQ sauce the overall winner. I even got him to eat a few mouthfuls of rice because, you know, it's covered in the sauce! He was happy. I was happy that he had eaten a handful of chicken. :)
Chase has been a little monkey lately having fun on the power rack in our bedroom. I suppose it's a decent substitute for not having access to our Colorado play set anymore.
Friday May 10th - Anderson's school field trip to the Boise Basque Museum & Cultural Center. (lunch at Julia Davis park afterwards)
I know Anderson appreciates me chaperoning field trips (and I like spending time with my kiddos), but this one in particular was a struggle for me! Apparently Boise had a large population of Basque immigrants, so thus the only thing really "old" and worth talking about historically speaking is the Basque people. But I had never heard of them and wasn't really getting the point of learning about them. I think it's because we've been to so many amazing historical sites that I just found this one way more boring and uninteresting. I think they could do a way better job making targeting their information to be interesting for younger children. I mean, it wasn't bad and another mom seemed to really like it, so maybe I'm just spoiled. It wasn't helped by the fact that it was super stressful for me to park and so my mind was so preoccupied by that; I just wanted out of there!
Backyard Update:
The first 12 tons of rock we bought turned out to be ROUND rock...not packing rock. So we had to remove it and re order 8 tons of very expensive (~$70/ton) decorative large rock that WILL ACTUALLY PACK...grrrr. I guess Idaho just doesn't do xeriscaping like Colorado does, so they don't have the rock resources and prices like Colorado.
My IG caption 5/7/24: I am so so SO incredibly sore right now, but we moved 8 TONS of rock to the backyard in less than 12 hours!🎉 Pat is the non-stop hard working, but I'm quite proud of the effort Grant, Heidi, and I put in. 😊
5/11/24
I needed a picture of each of my kids for singing time. Heidi has changed physically so much since our last family photos, so I had her snap a selfie for me. A couple months ago, her YW leader asked me to share some of her interests, strengths, and a favorite thing about her that most people don't know about for a Spotlight that Sunday. Here is what I wrote:
Favorite thing about Heidi: she is quick to forgive and is very independent.
She reminds me of Tinkerbell from the book Peter Pan. In the book it says that fairies are so small they can hold only one emotion at a time, and Heidi is just like that, to me. She's passionate & fiery, but also quick to forgive, hug, and smile. She stands up for herself and is willing to take risks for what she wants.
She's my go-to baker, making irresistible applesauce snack-cake, blueberry muffins, and pizza dough.
May 18, 2024 Ward Campout/Service at Camp Ee-Da-How
Our ward was asked to come help clean up the church camp for girls camps this summer. They turned it into a ward camp out. Even though over 10 families said they were interested in going, only about 6-7 ended up actually going. I thought it was great. It was absolutely freezing, so I feel bad for everyone else who stayed in tents. But for us in our trailer... it worked out well. I was especially glad for the camper because Chase became ill that day. Instead of having to cancel plans (or me stay home with him) we just tucked him into bed the next day. He had a warm cozy place to rest while we could still clean up camp and have fun. I love being in the trees and letting the kids run wild. It's especially fun to camp with other families because I get someone to talk to, the kids have a bigger group to play with, and I don't have to cook breakfast (woohoo!). Sadly Heidi couldn't join us because she was at her friend's birthday party, but she got to sleep over at Tegan's, so I don't think she was too bummed to miss out.
What I wrote on social media:
Even though it was a tad cold overnight, we had a blast camping together & cleaning up Camp Ee-da-how for our YW Girls Camp!
We learned...
🏕️ Time flies waaaay past bedtime when you're swapping stories around a warm campfire
🥞 Bishop is an expert at making perfectly golden brown pancakes
🙌🏻 Many hands make light work! All the raking was completed in just a couple hours
🌲 Kids have waaaay too much fun running wild & free, and eating their fill of marshmallows
What I didn't write on social media:
It was interesting to find things to talk about with people to don't have a ton of similar interests. Bro Garcia is so friendly, but he's super into sports so I feel like a lame conversationalist because I literally no NOTHING about any sport. It turns out he worked at In&Out for 10 years so we talked about that a bit (the secret menu, some stories where the nicknames originated). Bro Bennett had some anecdotes to share - he's a funny friendly guy.
It was a little awkward with figuring out where to set up camp Everyone arrived at such different times so we set up camp in one place... but then the Whites set up camp across the road. I was picturing everyone hanging around 1 big fire, but then there were 2 fires. It was a little awkward and Bro Garcia and Bennett politely split time between the 2. Then we had to leave our camp to hang out with the other families for a bit. I wish it could've been smoother there.
I brought a watermelon to share and I was so glad I did! Most everyone didn't bring extra food since it was late. The children ate up the watermelon. And we shared hot dogs with Bro Garcia and Bennett because it was late and we had all our hot dog fixings out while they just hung around. I'm glad I had plenty to share.
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| Running wild and free |
Monday May 20, 2024
I made an apple pie for the first time. I've never really liked pie. But we had the Thomson family over for dessert & games and she brought an apple pie. Sarah noted that the apples didn't soften, hypothesizing that it was because they were Cosmic Crisp. Well, that was the first time that I thought an apple pie was quite delicious. So I got her recipe and bought cosmic crisp apples. I had pie crust in the fridge already from the holidays when I was deluded enough to think that I'd actually make pies with my kids as a "fun" activity (ha!).
I cooked the pie too long and the apples definitely softened. I was bummed, but it was still good because of the way the pie was made (with a caramel sauce instead of tossing the apples with sauce first). I ended up making 2 more pies trying to have firm apples each time. Each time they softened, but I enjoyed the pies anyway, so I call it a win!
Thurs. May 23, 2024: Ashley turns 41!
IG: I had a great day. Pat as thoughtful and informed me ahead of time that he wanted to take me shopping and out to lunch: sushi!
Because of a primary activity,, I got to spend some time at the park chatting with moms, which always fills my soul (and is a rare occurrence now that my children are older).
Usually I don't love the fact that I'm getting older, but I recently found out about an utterly heartbreaking tragedy that happened to a friend. I'm struck with the truth that life is SO fleeting and precious. Despite the wrinkles (and other not so fun things), I am filled with gratitude to have had 41 years on earth. Here's to many more! 🥂
Here's a closeup of a 14 year old that has been asked to take too many photos, haha
Kisses for the birthday girl! My kiddos are such good sports (it took Pat quite a few tries to get just the right shot). Love them so much. I had the kids go around and say when they loved/liked about me, and I was so pleased that they had matured so much in their answers. (I had previously stopped this tradition because I didn't like hearing "she makes me food" oveer and over.
Grant: Mom is really fun to cuddle with and watch movies with, and she let's us do fun stuff
Pat: we can have deep meaningful conversations and she's always thinking of new goals and things we can do as a family to improve
Anderson: likes cuddling with Mom
Lydia: Mom is always there for us and does fun stuff for us, even when we act like we don't want it or shouldn't get it, and is always there to help us with any problems we have
Chase: Mom is fun to cuddle with and watch movies with, and she let's me watch a short show before school
Heidi was in a grumpy mood and I guess I never got a video of her answering the question. Oh, being 14 years old is hard sometimes.
I must be getting older because I picked sushi that had a wasabi sauce on it, and even though it was quite spicy, I handled it! The fancy Albertsons seems to have everything, so after sushi, we sauntered over to their gourmet bakery and got a German Chocolate Cake brownie to share with the kids (see first photo). It was super yummy!
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