beany thing

i hate when i go a whole month between posts. it's like i have no proof that i did any actual thinking in july 2013. i often do feel like i sometimes go hours, perhaps even days between rational, coherent thoughts. but, monthly roundup posts sound like i was just scrambling to get through each day(okay, true) and that there wasn't much room for reflection. so, here's to momentary reflection on what i felt like was a priority to do, july 2013.

july was sort of big. visitors, projects, rain, swimming, birfthdays, anniversaries

blythe became a mobile monster. nothing is safe. nothing is off limits. no holds barred.

we constantly have to have all kitchen chair lining the walls or corralled in a circle int he middle of the room, as far away from any climbing surface as is possible.

 

that's been a ton of fun.

i also assigned myself about a mabillion projects around the house. a few got done. cleaning out the garage was a 2 day event. i've offered this gargantuan tv to anyone who will haul it away. we've yet to have any takers.

i found this darling and sophisticated blouse from my college glory days in a box. i was a big fan of the "this shirt is waaaay too small" look popular in the late 90s early 00s.

fourth of july i pulled together the requisite strawberry/blueberry gellatine dessert/pie/sugar coma. 

and actual live kids in actual coordinating outfits!

this may just be the best pictures of the two big kids that i've ever taken.

ever. really.

for our 11th anniversary i told thomas that i wanted to work together on a landscaping project. the copious amounts of rain we've received over the last 2 months nearly washed away all the mulch and previous weed maintenance efforts we had implemented in our yard. 

we would do yard work for HOURS each saturday and then the next saturday we would go out and find this again. 

over the course of the summer we removed 5 giant, dead shrubs and put in beautiful new hostas and hydrangeas and all new super-duty weed repellant midnight black mulch. very romantic.

the couple that works together stays together. or has more to disagree on. for the record, i really like hostas while other people may not find them as lovely.

we also had my roomate from college and her brood spend the night with us one night. scarlett was over the moon ecstatic! we have a family policy of no sleepovers so she thought it was INCREDIBLE AND WONDERFUL AND MARVELOUS that we were going to have a real live slumber party! she still talks about it in reverence and awe. 

not our best picture. but it was wonderful to pick right up where we left off 11 years ago when we last lived together. i was absolutely amazed that while jessica has 5 children, she never once raised her voice at them. it was inspiring. i don't think my own kids would recognize my voice in anything but a screech.

11 years of complete and total bliss. unadulterated love in it's highest concentrate. we've never fought, we have zero flaws and we agree on absolutely everything.

we went on our annual anniversary date to the garden of olives. on the way we saw this epic rainbow. it was a sign! we will never have a year as hard as this past year(and it was a hard but glorious year). 

after our gourmet, chef prepared meal we took a stroll around a neighborhood we'd like to live in someday. and then it rained cats and dogs on us. we are so in love, we were completely unaware of anything but each other. lightning could have struck the ground next to us and i would have thought it was simply the twinkle in my lover's eyes. (isn't LOVER the most uncomfortable term of endearment in the english language?) go ahead, refer to one another as such front of your kid's friends.

AND then we saw and awesome puppet show at the library. blah blah blah. stay with me.

thomas read my mind and brought me a chipotle burrito on an especially stressful day. 

uncle steve came to visit and my kids LOVED him. LOVED him like i've never felt accepted in my own home before. he was here for a few days and we did all sorts of fun things that i never want to try and do on my own with 3 kids. 

i only remembered to take photos when we went to the children's museum. it took be a few minutes to realize the summer theme is Be Anything and not beany thing. 

uncle steve and reagan even wore matching star wars t-shirts! nerds across the age spectrum!

uncle steve was so helpful. and tirelessly fun. we are all so glad he came and scarlett went and named one of her stuffed bears "uncle steve" after he left. sometimes when i see "uncle steve" the teddy bear, i like to give him a few punches in the gut for old times sake. i still have a bit of childhood angst to work out. the nickname "hideous hide" still stings.

we started the wonderfully brutal experience of back to school shopping. reagan put this ensemble together. his favorite color is?

wait for it...

green. always and forever green.

it's rained like the dickens but we have tried to fit in as much swimming as possible when the skies are remotely clear and the toxic chemicals have disintegrated the barf in the pool. it's definitely those moments when i love science the most.

and when it rains,

wii sports has to count for actually physical activity.

i took scarlett out for a girls afternoon of shopping for dresses to wear to my brother's upcoming nuptials. we're still a few years off from enjoyable mother/daughter shopping trips. the plastic tasting frosting on mall kiosk cookies was exciting for her though. i'm glad i've mastered homemade buttercream frosting so i don't have to lie to myself and say that mall frosting was good.

further proof that our walmart is the worst:

lots of the shelves at our walmart look like this. all choices of the items i need are completely sold out. expensive brand and cheap brand. i feel like i'm in communist russia every time i go there. do they not understand capitalism? basic economics? supply and demand? basic math? we supplies get low, REORDER!

thomas celebrated his 37th birthday. he doesn't want presents, so i made him 2 different cheesecakes. oreo and dulce du leche. 

this was also his birthday breakfast. 

my other gift to him was cleaning his office. poor thing wasn't that excited for that one. lawyers have these really intricate filing systems where things that like look garbage are actually legal documents.

it sort of resembles this:

i wasn't able to actually throw anything away and i did spent a good amount of time sorting trash so that he could make the final call on the actual garbage. 

next year he may ask for a real present that i have to wrap.

this is our latest go to dessert. homemade peanut butter bars. they are divine and simple. like me.

this recipe works for us. i can only halfway follow directions and it still works out well.

the end.

no really. the end. go read your scriptures. fold some laundry.