Grapes today...

September 12, 2010
Grapes today... juice tomorrow.

Twenty quarts of it to be exact. And we haven't even picked a fourth of our vine yet.

Are you ready for some football?

September 11, 2010
Today marks the beginning of six months of bliss for Jeff.... the start of Aggie sports. First there's football, which Jeff goes to alone. Well, not alone, just with the guys. I'm not about to freeze my butt off in Logan with a baby come November! Plus, this way Jeff feels no obligation to keep his mouth in check with the officials and opposing team's coaching staff if myself or our children are near him. I do however attend all the basketball games. And dress in Aggie attire on football game days, as does Pearl and Cole. It makes Jeff happy. He was overjoyed to see that Cole can finally fit into a game day shirt. And boy oh boy did Cole look cute as a future Aggie!

Since it was such a beautiful day, we all headed up to the tailgate party before the game - hence the "tail gating" family photo on our "tail gate." I would have actually loved going to the game but had already told my brother I'd take Pearl over to play with Ruby. So we ate dinner together and walked around a bit. I was lucky enough to see Tai Wesley (basketball team)... yum! But we missed Big Blue, much to Pearl's disappointment. The Aggies won, we all got new game day shirts for the 2010-2011 season, and Jeff is in Aggie heaven!

Movie Night

September 10, 2010
I don't know who was more excited about the sleepover at Aunt Kimmy's... me, Pearl, or my sister. I'm guessing my sister though, she misses us. Anyway, it's great having my sister around because she actually ASKS if Pearl can sleep over. There's no pleading from me at all! And Nick seems to enjoy it too. Although Pearl is convinced he sleeps on the couch with their dog, Juno, all the time and not just when she's there.

Whenever Pearl sleeps over at my sister's she insists on watching one of two movies - Peter Pan or The Nightmare Before Christmas. I have no clue how or why she picks the second one because I'm not sure if she's ever made it through the entire movie before. I think she just likes to say "Pumpkin Jack" over and over. I personally think it's weird. Needless to say, Pearl was thrilled to be at Kimmy's and Jeff and I were just as thrilled to get a chance to watch a non-Disney movie for once! Seriously, the only times we ever watch a "mom and dad" movie is when Pearl is at Grandma and Grandpa's or Kimmy's.

So we hunkered down to watch Avatar. We must be getting really old because it was a difficult decision... go to bed early or stay up until midnight watching a movie. Avatar won. I thought it was really good. Jeff thought it was so-so. But it didn't really matter what either of us thought - it was just nice to feel "pre-kids" again watching a movie and staying up late together.

Bath time

September 9, 2010
Cole loves bath time. He can be fussy and grouchy seconds before but as soon as you lay him down on the rug and turn on the water, he starts kicking and squealing with delight. That rug must have magic powers or something because now that I think about it, anytime you lay him on it he is happy, not just at bath time. Pearl typically enjoys bath time too, except that she's now figured out this means she will have to go to bed. In fact, she was laying behind me as I took this picture screaming something about not wanting to get in the tub and go to bed. Of course both kids hate having me give them a bath. Seriously, they both would rather have Dad do the honors. Jeff must be more fun than me.... remember this incident? But even Cole enjoys bath time with Dad more than Mom. Apparently I'm just the after-party snack.

It's time

September 8, 2010
Our counters were already stacked with tomatoes from our neighbor's garden before I went outside and picked an entire crate of fresh ones tonight. And we thought we wouldn't get enough of them at once to bottle. I guess I know what we'll be doing for the next two or three days.

Day's Recap

September 7, 2010
6:30 am - Feed Cole, go back to bed.

8:30 am - Wake up for real this time with sore throat and exhaustion from getting home late, feed Pearl, shower, put in load #1 of laundry.

9:30 - Wake Cole up. He really is my best friend... he loves sleeping in! Feed Cole, change Cole, play with Cole, feed Pearl again, get dressed, put on makeup, write grocery list, fold load #1 of laundry, put in laundry load #2.

11:30 am - Go to the pharmacy and head over to the grocery store.

12:30 pm - Unload groceries and children while trying to decide who to feed first... Cole or Pearl.

12:45 pm - Feed Pearl and listen to Cole scream.

1:30 pm - Feed Cole, put in laundry load #3, fold laundry load #2.

2:00 pm - Pack up the stroller and head to the park. (Pearl also had to take along her "kids" in her baby stroller... two bunny rabbits and a unicorn). Watch in amazement as Cole talks to the trees, squeals with delight to be outside, and looks as adorable as ever. Push Pearl and her kid "Corver" (apparently all her stuffed animals were named Corver today) on the swings.

3:30 pm - Find Pearl a snack and give in to her repeated pleas for a pink lemonade. Take load #3 out of the dryer, put in laundry load #4, feed Cole, and watch Pearl build a "water park" out of the couch cushions.

4:30ish - Finally get to pee, put laundry load #5 in, fold loads #3 and #4.

5:00 pm - Fix dinner, listen to Cole scream for attention, help Pearl mix up a plum crisp for dessert, and wonder when hubby will be home.

6:00 pm - Give up on hubby coming home for dinner, feed Pearl, stack dishes in sink... it's a mess.

6:30 pm - Visit the neighbors and wait for hubby to come home.

7:00 pm - Feed Cole.

8:00 pm - Begin bedtime routine... baths, brushing teeth, feeding Cole. Pick up remaining toys in living room and fold laundry load #5.

9:00 pm - Work on Pearl's Christmas stocking since hubby is on the computer. Treat myself to plum crisp and wonder why I even bothered making a nice dinner and dessert since no one ate it or said thanks.

10:30 pm - Against my better judgment, upload pictures from the past week and blog. Think about making lunches but then decide not to (bad idea). Shower, brush teeth, and dread waking up in the morning.

12:30 am - Wake up to strange noise. Check back door to make sure it's locked. Check on both kids to make sure they are still breathing. Try to fall asleep but then hear thunder and lightning... silently freak out because I hate storms. Worry about canning all those tomatoes on the counter and finding time to go to Costco before all of our coupons expire. Wonder if there was any important meetings I missed at work today and how many emails I'll have in the morning. Roll over and finally fall asleep.

How is it possible that I felt under-appreciated after all this?

Pancakes

September 6, 2010
Pearl wanted pancakes for breakfast every day at Bear Lake. Every, single day. I myself am not a huge pancake fan so these are a special treat when we go on vacation somewhere. On day one she almost didn't get her wish... we couldn't get the propane tanks to fire up in the trailer. But Jeff saved the day. On day two we had no glitches in satisfying Pearl's pancake cravings. Breakfast was made even more exciting when Grandpa made tiny, Pearl-sized pancakes just for her. She ate about 20 of them. I thought for sure we'd have something else for breakfast on day three because we had used, what I thought was all, the pancake mix the day before. But Grandma saved the day and found some mix. And Pearl ate another 20 or so of these little pancakes. I guess she got her fill of them because she hasn't asked for them since. Either that or she knows her mean mom won't get up early and make them.