And ordinary, everyday life is where it's at, people! Just like the sign says:
I really believe this is true! It certainly is the little experiences and interactions and moments of my life where I find happiness. And so, the following photos and comments will include some of the little things that are my absolute favorite things in life!
My Love
So, let's start with my all-time favorite, my soulmate, the love of my life, my honey, The Man, my homey (!), my Baby Daddy, my lover and eternal companion:
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| Good morning, Sunshine! One day, we actually got to eat breakfast together because he had an early meeting in our neck of the woods. Notice anything different about him? Contact lenses! For years he has said he could never do contacts because he hates touching his eyes. But, he finally decided to give it a try. And once again I have to give the guy props for persistence...learning to get them into his eyes has not been easy for him but he keeps at it! A lesser man would have given up upon discovering how difficult it can be at first. Not this guy! And he looks good, don't you think? |
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| Trey wanted me to take this picture of "Daddy's Utah Car" while it is here in Colorado. Nate loves this car and I'm so proud that he finally was able to get it after all these years! That's some evidence, once again, of his hard work and persistence. Too bad the top can't come down while it is visiting us here in CO for a while; it's too darn cold! |
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| And here is one of my very favorite things about my very favorite guy: the way he loves our babies! In this photo, he is playing a game of indoor tag with Trey. It was so comical the way Trey would try to tag Nate and then attempt to run off before Daddy could reach out and immediately tag him back. You gotta be quick with this guy! You should have heard the giggling as this game went on for a while, with Trey tripping all over himself to win the battle (which he rarely did...ha!). |
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| Ahhhhhhh, his happy place! This is definitely one of my favorite things. :) Here he is wearing his glasses again at Trey's request. Trey isn't one to adjust quickly to mom and dad making changes in appearance (he still hates my short hair) . He said, "I want you to look nice and wear your glasses." Done. Love this Daddy! |
The World's Best Kids (Our Amazing Offspring)
I know it probably goes without saying that our cute kids are among my favorite things. Duh! Of course they are! I happen to think they comprise one of the greatest collections of Awesome in the universe. They are definitely children of God who reflect some of His divine attributes. We are just the lucky parents who get to be the vessels through which they came to Earth. We LOVE these little buggers!
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| This kid is a favorite photo subject of big bros and sis, so I have a few more of him than anyone else right now. But, can you blame them? Just look at that cutie pie! Couldn't you just gobble him up? |
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| My heart! |
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| I took this photo of Trey while we were at Fantastic Sam's waiting for Chase to get a haircut. He was bored and started making goofy faces at me, so I had to pull out the camera. He's a precocious little sweetheart...just the other day he said to me (and this is a direct quote), "Oh, Mommy, I just love your face! It's so cute I could just gobble you up!" It's possible he's heard this expression somewhere before. And even though it was completely misplaced when applied to me, it still made me giggle! |
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| This girl. She is a rainbow of emotions and creativity and goofiness and sweetness! |
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| And this is Avery taking a selfie with his math books. What? The ideas that come from this talented kid's brain...always amazing! |
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| This is Chase as I was dropping him off at seminary. This guy is dedicated and disciplined and persistent and adorable, just like his dad! And he loves seminary; and I love hearing about what he is learning as we drive home after class every day. |
Food
Is it weird to think of feeding one's family as a creative work of design and art? There's just something incredibly satisfying about finding great ingredients, organizing them into a new and pleasing form, and watching my family enjoy something I made that is both tasty and full of important nutrients. Yup. It's weird. But I don't care...it's one of my favorite things! Here are some new things we have tried recently:
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| Okay, so this is not new. But sometimes I feel like I am still trying to perfect this process of making homemade bread. There are so many factors that can contribute to a good or a bad loaf of bread, and sometimes I still mess it up. But no matter how it turns out, homemade bread is so tasty, it makes the stuff we buy at the store taste like a sponge. Ha! |
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| A new snack I have added to my afternoons when I get too hungry to wait until dinner to eat: a poached egg with homemade salsa. Super easy and really yummy! |
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| Okay, this stuff is amazing! It's a "fried rice" recipe that doesn't actually use rice. This is made with cauliflower chopped into tiny bits in a food processor. My kids really love it because it is so flavorful, and I really love it because it is a great way to add more veggies to our plates! |
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| Isn't this beautiful? This is a meatless meal that is so decadent, it's hard to miss the meat. It's a butternut squash and kale quesadilla, topped with homemade salsa, Greek yogurt, avocado, and cilantro. This has so many wonderful colors and flavors, it makes both your eyes and your taste buds happy! |
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| A new smoothie recipe that we tried: Carrot Cake Smoothie! Um, okay...twist my arm! Isn't Avery a good sport to pose as a smoothie-drinking model with me? He looks like he LOVES it, doesn't he? Ha! |
Exercise
Everybody knows that there are so many great benefits to regular exercise, even if it's just a little bit. But it is super hard to make it a regular habit. Although, I have learned that once it becomes a habit, it is actually harder to live without it. I feel so great when I am exercising regularly, and I make it a big priority every week. And the good news is that my oldest boys are picking up on the habit, too, which will be a big benefit for the rest of their lives. It is absolutely one of my favorite things!
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| This cracked me up when I saw these guys heading in to work out: notice the shirts? I bet you can guess which parent bought which shirt. Haha! Way to represent, boys! And also, they sure look cute when they're still trying to wake up! |
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| A post-workout selfie of my SUPER sweaty shirt! This is evidence that I don't mess around when I work out...I give it all my intensity! Either that, or I just happen to sweat a lot. Ha! Heck, I can start to sweat just walking past the workout room. It's not a great day unless you can work up a good sweat, right? |
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| I recently encouraged Chase and Avery to try out the PiYo workout, and they decided to give it a try! The great thing about this workout is that it is easy on the joints and is a great way to work on flexibility, but using body weight exercises on a yoga mat can be seriously challenging, too! Here, Avery is joining me in a perfect Down Dog Split. They should put us on the cover of Mother-Son Yoga Magazine, don't you think? |
School
I was a student myself for 19 years if you count everything from kindergarten through my Master's Degree. And now I have committed to run a school in my own home for at least 20 years with my own children. So, I guess I'd better love it! The real pleasure of school is enjoying the process of learning together, and that is what makes it one of my favorite things!
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| One morning, Avery decided to do a little photo shoot of Coco's math lesson. I'm not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but I like seeing this sweet smile on my girl as she carried her math books up the stairs in preparation for lesson time! |
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| See how excited she is to do math? |
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| And this is the kind of fun you get when you do math lessons with your mom. Ha! |
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| More math lessons...this time with Trey. We review the calendar every day and he is getting to be a real pro! |
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| The older boys take classes online through BYU from time to time, and when it comes time for a final exam, we have to go to the local community college for a proctored exam in the testing center. Oh, so I guess this means that, despite the U of U shirt that Nate bought, both of our boys are already BYU students. I win! |
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| This guy is doing so well with his letters and is beginning to read and spell! He is so proud when he figures something out for the first time. And he has all kinds of help from the bigger people in the house, who all love to see him learning! |
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| Check out this artwork by Miss Coco, which she created during a lesson on Arcimbolo, the Renaissance artist who painted works of art using everyday objects like fruits and vegetables and animals and plants, etc. Who knew that spaghetti noodles made such lovely hair? |
Music, Books, and Movies
So, I don't really have much time leftover after all of those other favorite things, but I can't forget to mention a few more favorites that make my ordinary days feel extraordinary.
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| One of the absolute joys of my life: listening to my kiddos play the piano every single day. They probably have no idea what it does for my soul, even when they have starts and stops and stumbles throughout their practices. Most often, someone is practicing while I am making dinner in the evening. It makes for a very pleasant soundtrack for chopping vegetables! |
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| We hardly ever get to watch movies, let alone get to see one in the theater. But, when we do...it's AWESOME to see my World Famous bro Seth's name in the credits! This was taken at the end of the Peanuts movie which we saw recently. What a darling movie, especially for those of us who grew up with Charlie Brown! At home, we are also working our way through the Star Wars series in preparation for going to see the new Star Wars movie as a family. Yes, I realize we are a month or more behind the rest of the world when it comes to that, but we don't like to follow the crowd or anything. Ha! |
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| Books! They are definitely some of my favorite things! This year, in preparation for our trip to Harry Potter World upcoming in June, I decided that I want to re-read the entire Harry Potter series. I want to have the details fresh in my mind when I visit Hogwarts! And even though I also have school books and book club books and church books and magazines that are on my reading list, I can hardly get enough of this series when I have the time. You can't imagine the thrill it gave me to open up the first book again and read these first few lines of "The Boy Who Lived." It was like starting the New Year with an old friend. I've already finished books 1-3! |
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| And finally, I love my book clubs! My Ladies' Book Club is still going strong (even though 3 of our members died within the last year...so sad!). And our kids' Heroes Book Club is still a big hit. This is a picture of Courtney and Avery working on a word search as part of our meeting about the book, Molly Pitcher: Young Patriot. We have a great bunch of kids who join us for this fun group! |
I do have one last favorite thing that I will mention before signing off: I LOVE watching Jazz basketball with my sweetie...and more recently with the loyal fans that we have created in our boys (particularly Avery). It's usually a little entertainment that we can enjoy in our very limited down time together. And it's especially fun if they actually WIN!
I'm so thankful for my husband, for my children, for food and exercise and school and music and books and other wonderful things! Ordinary, every day blessings are my favorite. When the dog bites, or when the bee stings, or when I'm feeling sad...I simply remember my favorite things...and then I don't feel so bad!
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