Scott's Birthday

*Disclaimer- I really stink at putting pictures on here. They are not in the right order at all and that really irritates me. But I am not going to redo it. :)

Today is my little guy's Birthday. I don't even want to think about how I felt a year ago today but this day has been a great day! We survived a year. Scott is as funny and rambunctious as ever! He is always on the move and is showing his little personality more and more... some good... some not so good! But we love him. He is also starting to stand all by himself for anywhere from 2-30 seconds. I'm sure walking isn't too far away.

I have recently come to realize why everyone says to enjoy it now because they grow up so fast. Scott has been more loving and affectionate lately and I love it. I love it when he crawls over to me and gives me a hug or leans up against me and sighs. He is so adorable! And I realize that he will not always be this way. There will come a time when he will avoid my hugs and think that I am a crazy lady... which won't be too far from the truth but that is besides the point. So I am going to enjoy every moment I can now. Okay, enough of my rambling thoughts.

Yesterday we invited all our family over to have a party. We rented to clubhouse and had a great time.

This is Scott's piece of the cake that he got to eat. The inspiration for this cake was Scott's little woobie dog that he falls asleep with every night. He always puts an ear in his mouth and sucks on it. Kind of gross if you think about how many times I have to wash this little doggy but that is where the inspiration for his cake came from.

The After picture- please scroll down to see the before. This is where my disclaimer comes in!

During- this kid only wanted the frosting. He hardly touched the cake. I was hoping he would just dive in but not this kid. We even cut it up and tried to feed him some but he was only interested in the frosting! He definitely takes after his mother! It was really funny.

The before picture- all nice and clean

Scott loves dogs and I wanted to start a tradition where I make all my kids a special cake for their birthdays. After several days of prep work and several hours of decorating, I'm not so sure I want to continue this tradition. No, that's not true. It was fun and I learned a lot watching "How to" videos on Youtube.

I made two cakes so I would have enough for everyone.

Scott got lots of fun presents. Thank you everyone.

We ate spaghetti for his Birthday dinner. Scott LOVES spaghetti.

It is so messy... but these days everything is messy during meal times. :)

This was when we first got started eating dinner. Some people in my family tend to be a little late so this is not everyone. But we started without them. :)

It was so fun to be with family. I love being a mom to a one year old. Even though church was not so fun today. It's a give and take, huh? :)

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Gordon B. Hinkley

The Busy Life.

My family came to visit. My dad has a shirt pocket full of "goodies". Scott found his calculator.

Robbie's parents came to visit. This photo doesn't show that, but it happened and we had a great time.

Turn around for one second and you find this. His reach is tremendous. That was my dinner napkin. Funny kid!!!

Fun times with his cousin Lily. They are about one month apart.

We now have a climber... oh the joys!

It's a blurry picture but you can kind of see that this kid has nice chompers... 5 big, sharp ones... consequently he is being weaned, he's a biter... definitely his mother's son... sad to say.

Eating a banana. He gets it everywhere.

He found the drawer beneath the oven... my life has never been the same.

He's good at holding his own bottle. He just likes to do it on his stomach. Weird.

He's a keeper, that's for sure!

An Update!

So I haven't posted in a while, sorry! I have been super busy. Doing what? Well, let me tell you!

Let's just begin on August 20th. It was the first day of school and I was having mega withdrawals. I love being a teacher- just thought I would throw that in, in case anyone didn't know or forgot... But I am so happy to be home all day with my little guy. Anyway, a couple weeks earlier I had gone to the Cache County Fair with my good friend Tiffany. We stopped at a Pampered Chef booth and talked with the lady. I'd actually thought about how fun it would be to be a consultant about 5 years ago but dismissed the thought. But as I was at the Fair, I thought this could be fun and be something I could do to get out of the house. Anyway, after a lot of thinking and talking with Robbie, I decided to do it! The lady just so happen to call me on the first day of school and I signed up. I think that's a funny coincidence. So I am now a Pampered Chef consultant! CRAZY... I know. But I actually REALLY love it!

This was when my kit came with all my new kitchen tools to use for my shows! It was like Christmas! I had lots of fun playing and practicing with all of them. It's taken some time to learn everything but I love the social interaction it gives me. Robbie also enjoys the food it gives him! :)
I have done three shows now and feel like I'm getting the hang of it. I've tried to find a balance between having fun and not wanting to sound like a pushy sales person. I love just getting out and talking. I also love that I now get emails and phone calls. It sounds dumb but I feel like I'm apart of something important. I also love the new people I now know! Who would have thought I would EVER do this?!!! But I am and I LOVE it!


Scottie loves the piano and could be the next musical genius! He is standing up on his own now and he will reach up and try to touch the keys. If the lid is open, then he will tap away. It's really cute!

I have been babysitting a lot lately. Not the same kid, many different ones in my ward. Yesterday, we got to play with Bridger. He and Scott are only a week apart. Scott loves interacting with other children! (Sorry Tiff that the picture isn't the greatest of Bridger!)


I do dress my child everyday. He had pulled off his pants and I didn't put them back on.


Scott's new trick- licking the fridge, the walls, the grass! ;)


Today, we volunteered at the Top of Utah Marathon. We have done it for the last three years. We handed out food at the finish line! The runners are always so grateful.


If you look behind me, you will see the Logan paramedics. We shared the tent with them. For several hours we saw many runners who ran their GUTS out and needed a little attention from these paramedics. I thought it was amazing that these people could run that far and accomplish so much. However, as I saw them, I knew that I could never do it!


My cute husband filling up cups of Gatorade!


We needed LOTS of fluid for the runners!

Well, that is what we have been doing lately! Oh, and I am now tutoring a 5th grade boy in my ward everyday for a 1/2 hour. He's a cute kid and I love getting a chance to feel kind of like a teacher! Robbie is busy at work and is also busy supporting his crazy wife! He's been wonderful with all my crazy adventures! :)

Strawberry Amaretto Pastries

FYI- I did not put the almond extract in it. So I guess you could just call it Strawberry Pastries. This recipe is easy, looks elegant, and tastes SO good!


Strawberry Amaretto Pastries
Recipe by The Pampered Chef

1/2 package (17.3 ounces) frozen puff pastry sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1/2 cup sliced almonds, divided
1 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 orange
1 container (8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups thawed, frozen whipped topping
12 large strawberries, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Unfold pastry dough onto Large Round Stone. Chop half of the almonds and combine with the sugar; sprinkle evenly over surface of dough. Lightly press almond mixture into dough.
2. Using Pizza Cutter, cut dough lengthwise into three strips; cut strips crosswise into four squares for a total of 12 squares. Using Mini-Serving Spatula, separate squares evenly over surface of baking stone. Bake 16-18 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from baking stone; cool completely.
3. Saute the other 1/4 cup almonds for 2-3 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring after each 30-second interval; coarsely chop using Food Chopper and set aside. Zest orange.
4. Whisk sour cream, powdered sugar and almond extract in Classic Batter Bowl using Stainless Whisk. Fold in whipped topping using Small Mix 'N Scraper®. Slice strawberries using Egg Slicer Plus®. Split open each pastry square; arrange half of the strawberries into bottom of each shell. Top each with about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Top with remaining sliced strawberries with orange zest. Place tops of pastry shells over filling. Serve immediately.

Grandpa and Scott

My Dad came and visited us a couple weeks ago and we took some cute pictures. I just haven't posted them yet. So here they are.

He had just taken a drink of water. He is really good at drinking from a cup or water bottle for that matter.

My Dad is an Industrial Electrician and always wears these Carhartt overalls. My mom bought us a matching set for Scottie to wear.

I was just thinking that my Grandpa (my Dad's Dad) used to wear these certain overalls. They were blue and white striped. Every time I see any person in these I think of my Grandpa who has since passed. I'm sure Scott will always think of his Grandpa when he sees someone in Carhartts. I guess the apple does not ever seem to fall far from the tree. :)

SAD

Tomorrow is the first teacher work day in my district. And to be honest... I am so sad that I am NOT working. Yes, I may sound like a bad mother at the moment but please just let me be sad this ONE day. And yes, I know that there are MANY who would give anything to switch me places so just bear with me...

All my life I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I made sure I found a man who knew that after we got married and had children that he agreed to be the one to "bring home the bacon" so I could stay home. But the truth is that since I was in fourth grade, I wanted to be a teacher. Going to college and becoming a teacher was something I had control over and was something I was so excited for and worked hard for. Getting married and having children I did not have control over. So all the years when I was single (and a little hopeless) I could rely on the one constant in my life... teaching. Yes, I was single a lot longer than I thought I would be but now I look back and am so grateful because I was able to do what I loved for six years. (That kind of sounds selfish, I guess that's what this post is all about though)

I'm not saying I do not love being a mom. I do. It is definitely something I have grown to love. I didn't love it at first. But who would... first, with the body aches and healing from delivery, the sleep deprivation, those dang bowling balls ;) , the soreness from trying to feed your child, not to mention the anxiety of the unknown. I wondered if it would ever get better. Thankfully, it has and I love it. Scott is the most gratifying blessing in my life besides having Robbie forever. But with that said, I think motherhood requires ALOT of sacrifices. Things I didn't realize and am so thankful to my mom for doing for me. But anyway, just to let everyone know... I love my child and I love being a mom... But I also LOVE being a teacher and am sad today that I am not.

Lewiston Elementary is my favorite place to go. I love the people I worked with there. I loved the kids there. I taught in a rural school. Many of my kids lived on farms. I even had a little boy ride his horse to school several times last year. You might wonder what he did with the horse... well, the back fence of our school faced the rodeo grounds. He would put his horse in one of the stalls and come to school. It was so fun in the spring when we could go out to recess and watch the jockeys practice riding their horses around the track.

My students made me laugh. They were so fun to teach. I especially loved the beginning of the year when they were SO not excited to be at school because summer was over. I loved convincing them that school WAS the place to be and who needed summer... it was boring anyway, with nothing to do. I was able to teach 1st, 4th, and this last year I taught 3rd grade. I liked 1st (kind of but was happy to go back to the older grades ;) ). I loved 3rd and 4th grade. Last year I realized how fun 3rd grade was because they get so excited to learn cursive and multiplication. It was SO fun!

But one side note. I know you are all thinking. Anita, you are a teacher. You get to teach your children now. Yes, I know. But can I be honest and say I LOVE being a PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER! (That is for all my relatives who are ANTI PUBLIC SCHOOL!) I love getting the classroom ready. I love getting the desks and name tags ready. I love meeting all my students' parents at Back-to-School Night. I love that the kids are nervous that first day and it is my job to help them be comfortable and happy to be at school.

Now I know that there will always be 3rd graders going to school and I can be their teacher later. But my own children (or child right now) will never be small again and so I am going to stay home and enjoy being a mom right now. But I'm just SAD today.

Whew! Sorry that was so long! :)