12 on the 12th | August

This month, I only did 9 on the 12th! I was so busy with sharing time at church and Lucas's family birthday celebration that I didn't take enough pictures. Argh.

1. Lucas requested oatmeal rolls, corn on the cob, watermelon, and peanut butter chocolate cake for his birthday dinner. I was unsure how to supplement these requests for the rest of us, who actually enjoy protein and vegetables, so I looked on my blog for his birthday dinner last year. He made the same requests! So I went with last year's menu and made pulled pork and green green salad to round it all out. I put the pork in the crockpot the night before, to ensure that it would have enough time to fully cook and be soft and shreddable. (I actually hate doing that, because the smell of the meat cooking woke me up at 5am.)
2. After church. I was trying to get a picture of Lucas hanging out, checking Facebook, and he was not having it. This is his, "Are you serious?! no more pictures!" face. (His hand is wrapped due to an injury he sustained playing football with Landon.)
3. I spent the majority of the day in the kitchen. This is me wearing my Grandma's darling yellow apron.
4. Marc and Eva were sorting through things in her room to donate! Hallelujah!
5. Michelle brought watermelon. Lucas prefers it in wedges. (Not me, I like it cubed.)
6. By the time everyone was here and we were eating dinner, Lucas was in a much better mood. (Sundays are rough for him. He always gets headaches for some reason.)
7. Bob and Mim provided the corn on the cob. Delicious.
8. Lucas blowing out his 13 candles. It cracks me up that it looks like Kristen is helping him blow.
9. Even after loading and running the dishwasher, there were still a plethora of goblets and plates to wash. Parties generate so many dishes!

seventeen

Max turned seventeen on June 24th. Seventeen. I still haven't quite recovered from the shock of it.

We had a family party with a very Max menu: fried eggplant slices with soy/honey sauce, sesame-crusted salmon, Nicole's spinach/strawberry salad, fruit, and chocolate peanut butter cake.

The Denneys gave him this cow card, which he obviously loved. He loves cows.

He can never have too much dark chocolate.

A new t-shirt. We had to have a few gifts for him to open, but his main gift was a new iPod touch, which all the grandparents contributed to as well.

He's been wanting to try this soda for awhile, and he is definitely a fan.

The cake did not turn out pretty, but I remembered again that nobody cares except me.

Lucas is never sad when someone chooses chocolate peanut butter cake!

Apparently, Jack wanted to join the party. At least we were finished eating!

Much gaming ensued, Max's favorite.

Father's Day and Jessie's birthday

It was fun to be with my dad and grandpa on Father's Day, a rarity for sure. (Marc was bringing the kids home on the red-eye flight. Not a good Father's Day for him, but we had a do-over later.)

Most of the day was spent going through Grandpa's house, since he has moved to Texas to live with my Uncle Lee and Aunt Linda, but we did have a nice dinner together.

As with Charlotte's bouquet, we took Emily's to put on Grandma's grave. It was a lovely family outing.

The fathers in our group: Mark, Lee, Grandpa, Dad

I couldn't believe how many headstones have been added since the last time I visited the cemetery.

I just love this picture of Grandpa's hand on her headstone.

Later, we opened gifts. I can't remember what provoked this laughter, but I'm guessing it was Lee or Jessie.

The next day was Jessie's birthday. Again, much of the day was sorting and packing at Grandpa's house.

Jessie had a hankering for a fountain drink (Coke Zero), so Dad took us on a pilgrimage to find one. Anything for the birthday girl!

I made her favorite birthday cake: Grandma's chocolate cake with White Mountain frosting.

Actually, I made the cake, and Mom made the frosting, since I find it to be rather temperamental, and I wanted it to turn out just right!

Lee & Linda took us all out to Senor Burritos for dinner. It's a must-visit whenever we go to Denver.

Dad orders in Spanish, of course. 

Jessie with her former dog, Moosey. I think she regrets giving her to Denise in a pregnancy-induced inability to have a dog.

Denise said the cake was as good as Grandma's! So the combined efforts of me and my mom are as good as Grandma's. Maybe someday I'll do as well as she did all on my own.

The next day, we did some shopping and then I flew home (my first time flying into Provo!). I loved my visit to Denver, as usual. It's so fun to hang out with my family and to just be a daughter and niece and  sister and cousin for a few days. Jessie and I agreed that being roommates and hanging out just as sisters is a rare and wonderful treat.

seven

It's been almost two weeks since Eva's seventh birthday. And apparently, that's how long it takes for me to feel like blogging about it! I haven't felt much like blogging lately, but I have for the last few days, so I'm going with it.

Eva opened two presents before she went to school, but I had her wait on the others, as I knew the rest of the family would want to watch. She informed me that, in the future, I should hide all of the presents until it is time to open them! Lucas agreed that it is torture to see them all sitting there and have to wait.

For the first time, I had a child who went to school on his/her birthday (Max and Lucas have summer birthdays). So, obviously, I played the cool mom card and took her Wendy's for lunch. We shared our fries with all of her friends. I enjoy being the cool mom. (And heaven knows, there is a small window of opportunity there, so I say live it up while you can!)

After school, she invited her friend Lindsey to go to a jump/bounce place. I had purchased a 2-for-1 on Groupon earlier this year, and it seemed like the perfect day to use it. When we arrived, however, it was about the saddest place I'd ever seen. What you see in the picture takes up about 1/3 of a warehouse, and the rest is just concrete. We definitely won't be frequenting that establishment!

After about 40 minutes, the girls were finished with Jump Around Town, so we went to what we call The Wooden Park. Much better.

I had my book and it was a beautiful day, so it was a win/win situation.

Finally, it was night, and Eva could open the rest of her gifts! She requested chocolate angel food cake, and no one was sad about that.

Her party with friends was on Wednesday. She invited seven friends, and was delighted that they all could come — especially Whitney!

First, we did bubble painting outside. It was a hit.

Then, I gave each girl a canvas and a paint palette.

They chose the paint colors they wanted, and got right to work. I was so glad that Marc was there to help with the party, because it was busier than I expected, getting everyone the paints they wanted, wiping up spills, etc.

Some of the girls finished their canvases before the rest, so I took them into the family room and played that game where you draw a head of some sort and then fold your paper down and pass it to the next person, who draws a torso, then pass it to the last person to add the legs. My cousin Ashley and I used to do that when we were little. Eva and her friends thought it was hilarious.

colorful cupcakes — I really thought the frosting was thick enough to pipe on, but apparently not, so I just pretended like I was going for the dripping paint look all along...

I spread out a long piece of butcher paper and everyone worked on a mural together. Eva loved it so much, she was slightly heartbroken when we had to throw it away a couple of days later...

The best thing about art is seeing the way that everyone comes up with something unique!

The masterpieces:

Savannah

Whitney

Ava

Lindsey

Gates

Riley

Sammie

And, I only just realized that I forgot to take a picture of Eva with her painting! Oops.

When the party was over, I did a little bit of cleaning up, then decided I'd have to save the rest for the next day as I was utterly and completely exhausted! It was 7:30 and I was literally wishing I could go to bed. Am I too old for birthday parties??

I kissed Eva goodnight and asked her if she had had a good party, fervently hoping she would sigh with contentment (she did). Because, really, that's the only thing that makes all of this worth it.

thankful

Yesterday, I made the best pie crust of my life! (Recipe here.) It must be the chilling of the water and the dough that makes it roll out beautifully - no tearing! And delightfully flaky. I forgot to take a picture of the finished pumpkin pie.

While I was thus engaged, Eva decided to make a "thankful list," and then she went ahead and made blank ones for all of our family members, to be filled out after Thanksgiving dinner. I can't find it right now, but I know that it included family, Jack the dog, feet, and knees.

I sent Max to Target to look for chocolate stars so we could make our chocolate turkeys (I ran out of time on Wednesday), but they were closed. Drat! (But great for their employees.)

We went to Grandma & Grandpa's house for dinner (at noon). It's a bit strange, and also delightful, to not have a lot of cooking to do for Thanksgiving. We all ate too much - except for Lucas and Eva, who ate only cornbread muffins, fruit, and broccoli. Huh.

After dinner, Eva called us all in to watch her movie: Animal Life, The Life Cycle. It included this badger, who is apparently a fruitatarian.

And these squirrels in the Egg Forest. The movie dragged on rather long, and ended with all audience members sprawled on the floor and the couch. They may have been carrying on whispered conversations as well.

Then we all went to the Muppet movie! I have such nostalgia for the Muppets. I watched that show every week and had a Kermit the Frog puppet that I adored. I started to get a little misty during The Rainbow Connection! It felt very holidayish to go to a movie and it was one that all ages could enjoy (even though my kids didn't even know the Muppets).

After the movie, we had pumpkin pie and peanut butter chocolate torte (Marc's birthday dessert). Yes, it was his birthday on Thanksgiving this year. (Not his favorite, but we celebrated on Wednesday.)

The birthday hamster, who sings the Beatles' birthday song. A Winegar birthday tradition. Strangely, I didn't get any photos of the birthday bear and hat.

Bob and Mim had prepared soup and sandwiches for dinner! But none of us could eat another bite.

But there's always room for See's.

Here's what I wrote on my thankful for list:

indoor plumbing
a warm house
family
DVR
chocolate
peanut butter
conditioner
books
Amazon
dishwasher
iPod
socks
yarn
fabric
Pinterest
cameras
temple
soft sheets
tea
KitchenAid
nail polish
hugs
teachers
ice water
stretchy pants
homemade cookies

Eva laughed at many of the items on my list, but then she had to admit that they are all pretty great. So much to be thankful for.