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Life is very good. I’m not quite sure how it could be any better. Yesterday, I was able to go to my Grandpa’s 80th birthday party. I took along my other set of grandparents with me. It’s amazing, but I still have both sets of grandparents alive and well. I was thinking that Peter actually has five sets of grandparents total. Lots of my family was there. It’s always fun to be with my family: everyone is amazing.

Spring is well underway. I realized I didn’t need a jacket today. It is so nice outside! With that, I’m busy out in the garden. I love all the projects I have going on. I love watching Peter grow up and explore. We met new friends this week. I’m always outside with him and found another mom that also takes her kid outside a lot. Fun. I’m not sure why I don’t see more moms out there: I love spending time outside. This morning I went out on the patio to read my scriptures. The birds where making a fairly loud chorus. Most people miss the morning outside, and I’m glad I’m in a position to enjoy it.

Peter is very much a joy. He eats with a spoon now but can still be pretty messy especially with fruit loops, his favorite. He copies tons of words, woofs like a dog, trumpets like an elephant, and growls like a lion. He is still an explorer outside: today he even got to pet a few dogs. Joe is super busy with finals, but after this week we have a three week break. I’m excited for that.

Guess what I made today?

Homemade corndogs

They weren’t that hard, but a little more time consuming than I’m used to. (I like crock pot meals that take 15 min.) They tasted pretty good as well, even though they didn’t look amazing. Combine it with hash-browns, and it was a great way to get rid of any sort of fast food craving. My stomach is not liking all the oil loaded in everything and the lack of vegetables (I was lazy and counted the hash-browns.) Peter didn’t really eat it and had a tortilla instead.

Between last night and tonight, I am convinced that cooking at home isn’t always healthy. Yesterday was veggie stroganoff, with a sauce made almost entirely out of sour cream, and not low-fat.

I’m being quite horrid at taking pictures: no pictures today.

I went on a 15 mile (about) bike ride with my little brother so he could get his scout merit badge. It was downhill. So it was a lot of fun. We went on the Provo Rive Parkway. I decided it was a great trail to see Provo on. We start in Provo Canyon, go down through the riverwoods, BYU, and a couple other shopping centers. The best part is following the river (which was very full) and passing by tons of parks. It took us less than two hours (not exactly sure how long…). It would have been faster but there was a pretty good headwind the entire way.

Peter did this cutest thing tonight too. We were playing and I asked him, “Where’s your hat?” (It was on his head.) He opened his eyes wide and shook his head, looking around for it. Than he got this huge smile on his face and brought both hands up on his head, where his hat was. It is so cool to see him understanding me and making new connections.

So I’ve been super busy with everything this spring. Gardening is like that. For instance, today I worked on a landscape design, got gas for the lawn mower and started it up (it has a battery and ignition which is pretty cool), hauled a load of branches broken off from the wicked snow storm on Sunday, cut up enough for a second load, checked on the garden, and went grocery shopping. Loads more I could have done…but I decided today I needed to spend lots of time with this guy:

We dunked basketball, ran baseball bases, rocked on the teeter-totter, laugher, smiled, cried a little, ate lots of crackers and hot dogs, read stories, swung on the swing, chased each other, made loads of funny sounds, danced, ran, walked, pulled wagons, rode, and of course, wandered. It is so fun being able to play all day long, and feeling like I did better than yesterday when I worked all day long. It’s a joy seeing him learn how to talk, and getting bigger and stronger ever day. He is happily not nursing to sleep for his nap, which means I’m down to once a day at bedtime. And we both quite enjoy that. We were outside playing a bunch today, and the only thing that got him to come inside was mentioning “sleep.” It’s usually either that, cookies, or  daddy that gets him inside without crying. I’m lucky that he likes bedtime and nap-time.

And just because he’s awesome too, here’s a little about my husband. Joe me when I made it to the grocery store 15 minutes away without my wallet (this is the second time this week I forgot my wallet at the store). He just dished me ice cream And he’s working 40 hours this week due to extra training with finals two weeks away. Go Joe!

This post is because I have the best little son ever.

He loves riding in the truck borrowed from my parents. Unless it is home from McDonald’s

He loves playing outside while I work on gardening. He’s a little pink now.

He doesn’t like the sun in his eyes, or dirt/rice in his sandals.

He loves cars, trucks, and especially dump trucks. He points them out when we drive.

He’s a wander, just like his mommy. Two wanders keeping track of each other is not a good idea. But we have yet to lose each other. (In other words, I need to keep an eye on him better sometimes, but nothing bad has happened.)

His loves cuddles with mommy. He seems to know when I need them.

However awful I can feel as a parent, he’s turning out okay. Hopefully this trend will continue the next 18 years.

He is cute. Doesn’t look that much like either parent, but his blue eyes and smile are adorable.

The highlight of my day was my dad sending me a tip about a Chrome add on that helps limit time on wasteful sites on the computer. I hate how much I can get distracted by this thing. It is very useful, but very distracting as well. Check it out–it’s StayFocusd. This is how my computer time can go (as it did today). Decide to look up information on removing sod, because it is the project for Saturday. Then I got wondering about tiller rentals/purchase. I looked up some rental prices and checked KSL. While on KSL I looked for lawn mowers and other garden equipment as well. I have classifieds on there, and noticed they were started a local page for business. I added my business. Then I hoped over to my site to get some information to add with my business listing. (Including my phone number that is not entirely memorized. It’s a google voice number, which I must say google voice is neat.) Still on the marketing kick, I went ahead and checked my google ad campaign. (The only reason I’m doing that is because they sent me a free trial. I’m a big fan of free advertising, not so much paying for it. But all I’ve gotten from google ads is solicitors. Oh well.) Then I decided my site could use improvement and started overhauling it.

Did you make it through all that? Crazy how much the computer can just lead from one thing to another. I didn’t spend all my time on the computer, luckily. I cooked, cleaned, and played just as a good mommy should. I also went outside, since it is the only day with decent weather. Oh and I donated/sold plasma with the resolve to never do it again. It hurt; my veins are just too small. We aren’t completely desperate for money, so I will protect my elbow from now on out.

Today was a happier day. Peter is getting better, and even when he was grumpy I was able to stay happy. That’s hard to do but also important as a mother. Nothing too eventful happened today. I did make a new dish that I quite enjoyed. Last week at the grocery store, I bough some new ingredients and this is what I came up with.

Mix:

• 1 box couscous–Cook according to package directions.
• 2 cups bean sprouts–I boiled mine for a couple minutes because they looked a little old, but I think they would work raw.
• 1 can tomatoes, drained
• 8 oz tofu–Fry until slightly browned
• Large squirt Asian sesame dressing

Serve cold

I just made this up, and looking back at the recipe it appears “ethnic” but of no specific ethnicity. Couscous is Africian/middle east. A lot of the other ingredients are more Asian. I have no idea if this even resembles how couscous and bean sprouts are usually prepared. I’ve never used them before. But it tasted good. Peter even ate a bunch. Today’s grocery trip didn’t involve any new ingredients. It is cheaper that way. And by the way, if you really want to save money on groceries and go to the store less often, cook from scratch using a few basic ingredients. Pasta, tomatoes, rice, chicken, and a variety of vegetables are my staples. There’s really no end of what you can do with them.

Peter has a cold today, and it has tried my patience. I was very ready for him to go to bed at 7:00. He isn’t eating well, and is very tired. He has this pathetic little cough and sneezes out snot rockets. But he also knows to not touch such snot and let mommy or daddy wipe it off before doing anything else.

On a completely unrelated note we went to the doctor. A cold is a cold…but a red swollen hand is something to get looked at. He seems to have cut it or got a sliver at some point (I have no memory of him hurting it), and last night Joe and I realized something was amiss with it. He is on anti-biotics now for that. But my poor Pete has had a rough time lately.

Didn’t do much today. Sesame Street was on a lot, because it was often that or crying.