What to read this summer....

Last summer I was so pregnant, the closest thing I got to a vacation was a trip to the water park. I'm making up for it this summer with a very packed schedule. Lots of travel equals lots of reading! I'd love some suggestions of what to read since I kind of read my entire summer list in the last couple months :) Good thing about that, I have some fun reading suggestions for you. 

I don't like to share too much of the plot, since I personally like to be surprised by a book when I read it. Click the link to read more info.

The Glass Kitchen - Linda Francis Lee

Just out this week, The Glass Kitchen is a fun read about a women rediscovering her hidden unique gifts. A tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family. 

If you find solace in cooking and a romantic read, this book is probably for you. (Warning, a little more language and sex than I usually like.) 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling

Hilarious. seriously hilarious. I'm not sure why I haven't read it until now. Can Mindy and I be best friends? (Really Mindy, call me! ) My favorite part is her chapter called "Don't peak in High School" this chapter should be required reading for every single 14-year-old in the United States. (Really, truly young friends. 2 weeks after graduation, none of it will matter anymore.) 

Wonder - R.J. Palacio

Such a beautiful, enjoyable, important book. The world would be a better place if everyone took the time to read it.

The Paris Wife - Paula McLain

 Hard to read a book that you know will end in heartbreak. Obvious since Hadley was the first of Hemingway's 4 wives. But an amazing story, especially the detail of the "Lost Generation" in the 20's in Paris. I'll never read Hemingway the same way again.

Return to Tradd Street - Karen White

The fourth in the series is as fun as the first three. If you haven't read them, this would be a great summer series to start. Romantic but clean, spooky but not scary. 

Sweet Salt Air - Barbara Delinsky

A good summer chick read. Friendship, betrayal, coming to terms with the choices in life....all the big stuff. Nice setting on a quaint island. Found it predictable. I guessed the love interest and what his "secret" would be before he was actually introduced into the story. A little more sex than I prefer, but nothing crazy. Liked that a blogger was a main character. In all, entertaining read.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate Dicamillo

Beautiful. Would be a perfect book to read aloud to your kids.

Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews

Andrews is always good for some good crack-lit. I was hesitant to read a book called Hissy Fit, but I was pleasantly surprised. Wanted a fun southern read and this was just the thing. Loved all the details on home interior design. And the bonus recipe for grits and greens looks awesome.

The Fault in Our Stars. - John Green

Well duh. If you haven't read this yet, where have you been???

What have you read lately?

 

Insta-Saturday #57 - Just laying low

Sometimes it's just too nice an evening to do anything other than swing naked, don't you think?

Thirty minutes until we have to leave: 

"Mom! Let's go get dressed for the birthday party!". 

"Oh, I think what you're wearing is fine." 

"No way! Everyone is wearing FROZEN costumes".... 

"What?!?!" 

We made due.

My never fail method for creative juices to flow. Dump several huge loads of laundry on the floor. Contemplate folding said laundry for 5 to 10 minutes. Guaranteed you will come up with something more interesting to do. (Vintage fabric + huge embroidery hoop + ribbon = girls only tent.)

Pretty hair with pink tips.

Twenty years from now, I hope the neighbor kids remember that Lydia and Collin's mom would serve homemade strawberry lemonade on hot days. But most likely they will remember me being mean because I have them clean up their own spills and tell them they have to stay outside when the baby is napping.

Shane and Lydia at her activity days Daddy-Daughter picnic.

The bigger the bear, the sweeter the dreams.

Elise crashed the kids swimming lessons. 

Collin found a bunch of wildflowers on his camping trip and told Shane he wanted to pick some so he could make a craft for Lydia. 

"Ok, but what kind of a craft do you make with flowers?" 

"You'll see daddy".

Grandma came to visit!

She brought along Papa too!

Thanks for all your advice on my facebook post about how to de-stress. Lots of good ideas. It was a rough day. I got myself a little pampering, drank a dirty diet coke in a wine glass and tried out my new snakeskin Tieks. I felt so much better.

I had such plans for being productive today! Not to be. But by golly, I will bake a pie and eat it in front of the TV tonight! I love being a grown-up.

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Happy Wednesday.

My baby is 10 months old this week!

I'm still alive! Just not blogging. Obviously.

This blog is nearing 7 years old and I don't think I've ever had a month between posts. Nothing hugely impactful causing this hiatus. I'm just busy. Busy doing what you ask? Well let me tell you.

(I know you don't really care. But it's my blog. So pretend.)

1. I have three kids.

I don't know how ya'll have like 6 kids and come to church with organized purses and fake lashes and all your kids in matching clothes from Crew Cuts. Three kids is kicking my butt. I love them and honestly, they are really really good kids. But still kicking my butt. Elise, darling, I love you. But you are 9 months old. STOP pooping in the middle of the night and just sleep through already. Mommy's eye concealer isn't that powerful.

(P.S. What's with all the lash extensions? Don't you kind of want to wash them off after a couple days?)

2. When my husband travels, I have nothing telling me to stop working, so I keep folding laundry and watching Sister Wives until 11pm. When my husband is home, he's just so hot and fun, I want to hang out. We celebrated 13 years a couple weeks ago. 13! Tonight we had a date night and saw Godzilla and ate Raisinets. Then he showed me the 4 moons of Jupiter once the kids where asleep. (That's isn't some gross euphemism. He really does likes astronomy.)

3. I have a bird's nest with tiny new babies on my wreath on my front door. This is causing me a lot of stress. It just is.


4. Last month I had like 6 books that I was on wait lists for at the library come in. I keep thinking about the other people waiting to read them, and the anxiety is forcing me to read them at a frightening pace. I'll blog about my book suggestions next month. Unless any of the above mentioned reasons keeps me from doing so.

5. I bought a vintage dress from the 1940's that I desperately want to wear to my husband's Christmas party this year. Dress + 1940's = SMALL. I've been putting in some serious time at the gym to get this post baby bod back to lingerie vintage dress ready. (Dress is prettier in person.)

6. I have instagram. It's easy. (@natssentiments if you want to follow)

7. I really am immensely tired.

**********

These are my excuses. Hopefully I'll get back on this blogging train. I do miss our little chats. (Hey! Let's chat about Sister Wives! That show is so addictive!)

        P.S. Happy Memorial day!!!! 

Anniversary Countdown...two weeks of love

Two weeks from now Shane and I will be celebrating our 13th anniversary. 

With the baby still nursing, we won't do our usual night away. 

Instead we are getting the entire family involved in a little project. 

For the next two weeks Shane and I are going to show each other that we love each other with small acts of service. 

And the kids are going to help us think of them. 

Lydia is planning a special family home evening tomorrow with a game of "what shows love and what doesn't". 

We will also be showing the kids photos of our wedding day and telling them some of the reasons we decided to get married.

I started us out by making Shane one of his favorite meals tonight, ham and corn chowder with sourdough rolls. We set the table with some flowers he brought home. 

I'll post with some of the fun acts of love we end up doing. 

The kids are so excited  Should be a fun two weeks! 

Insta-Friday #56 - SLC, Easter, new cousins and sweet kids.

My little blog is a little sad and lonely. It's about 73rd on my priority list in life. Three kids doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty time consuming. 

Yesterday I fell asleep during Elise's nap. I dreamt that I was being pressured to join PTA by someone at Lydia's school. And I punched that person very hard in the face. I think I'm tired.

But, somehow in that haze of exhaustion, good moments occur. 

Though I've been trying to avoid sugar for the last three weeks. So if I snap at you, that's why.

I did make a pan of homemade marshmallows, covered them in chopped Cadberry eggs and walnuts, and handed it to my husband with a fork. I wouldn't say that I'm the best wife in the world. But I'd say I'm at least in the top 10%.

In other news, bless instagram. It's like the lazy bloggers haven.

The dining room remodel is starting to really come together. The gray walls are so soft and welcoming and Shane really outdid himself with the bead board. The table he built looks fantastic in this room. Now to figure out what to put on the walls.

We headed down to Salt Lake City to attend the LDS General Conference and see family.

That temple always takes my breath away.

My brother-in-law and wife welcomed their new baby Jude to the world and the rest of the family was all together to meet him via skype. Adorable!

(So glad Elise is no longer a newborn.)

My sister Emily was in town so we got to meet her baby Max too! 

Let's try that again.

Eyebrows!

We love cousins.

Last week was glorious and warm. Finally.

It was perfect to eat outside. A "Ploughmans lunch" is my favorite way to get the family together, all eating off one platter. No utensils needed. Just veggies, fruit, hard boiled eggs, cheese, herbed boiled potatoes and grilled chicken. Leftovers make a great salad the next day. Planning on "cooking" this way at least once a week this summer.

Kids were shockingly unafraid of the Easter bunny.

Collin got nothing but gum in his eggs. While Lydia's age group hunt had tons of good candy.

Someone dropped the egg while planning this hunt.

Tried out some possible Easter outfits on Elise.

I love my baby!

"Guess what??? If I yell loud and long enough, mommy will just bring me into the shower instead of making me sit and play with a lot of dumb toys."

Running out the door to get Collin to preschool today, I was dressed in one of Shane's old dress shirts with a baggy sweater on top, yoga pants, ratty slippers and my hair in a pencil. When Collin saw me, he smiled. "Oh mommy. You look so beautiful." And he really meant it. You know that sweet boy got the biggest hug this morning.

Lastly, I had a wee bit of a breakdown last weekend. After another terrible night sleep with a baby who just has to scream from 2am to 4am most nights- Elise flat out refused to nap after falling asleep for 3 minutes in the car. I lost it. Sobbing into my pillow, hyperventilating - lost it. Later I walked into the guest room (where I sleep to be closer to the nursery) I found my bed made and these notes and coupons from Lydia. "Having a baby can be rough, but leave it to me- let's have a day off!" Included - nap coupon, mani pedi coupon, baby sitting coupon and house cleaning (good for three rooms) coupon. 

How did I get such a wonderful family?

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Happy Easter!

I love Easter and spending it with my eternal family. 

A entire holiday to focus on our Savior Jesus Christ. He lives. 

Easter Place Cards

I just posted this little Easter placecard holder on instagram and had some requests to post a tutorial. It's a little late to make it at home, since today is Easter, but that's what pinterest is for! And you could always put a few cut flowers in the egg instead of growing your own grass. 

For the egg, I carefully broke off the top and filled halfway with soil. Then I followed this wheatgrass growing tutorial. It took about 6 days to grow. Then I stuck a little initial sticker on the egg. 

Of course, the egg is just going to tip over on the plate.

Then I remembered some little origami egg holders I made a year or so ago. 

This is why you keep a handy box labeled "Easter" in the garage. Waste not, want not.

For the origami egg holder, I followed a video tutorial from Minted. 

Pretty cute for our Easter dinner! Now all I need is some ham and funeral potatoes and we will be set. 

Enjoy your Easter :)

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April - Month of JOY.

Isn't Elise adorable? She is so happy. She radiates joy. It's contagious. 

This month I am focusing on finding daily JOY.

Since having this little darling seven months ago, I'm been spending my time getting the absolute necessities done. Laundry gets done, meals are made, homework finished: because these are mandatory duties. Church responsibilities get taken care of since I've made the commitment to keep on top of them. And I've spent my downtime focusing on having little moments of happiness. A bath here, some crafting there. Glossy magazines, chocolate and Diet Coke for a quick pick me up. These are all great and totally necessary for my sanity. But there is a serious lack of habits that bring joy into my life. Probably because I've been in survival mode for almost a year. But I need NEED to add these things back in on a regular basis. Even if they take a bit of effort. I'm ready to get back to an intentional life. 

So, as an Easter month goal, I am going to do each of the following "Joyful routines" daily. 

If I can do something for a month, I can make it part of my regular life.

1. Exercise. - Either a trip to the gym, a long walk with the baby or a dance party with the kids. Something to get my heart rate and endorphins up.

2. Spend a quiet moment in dedicated prayer. - When I am not falling asleep. 

3. Spend special private time with each individual older kids. Away from the baby.

4. Spend a few minutes reading or listening to something spiritual. 

5. Eat healthy foods. Write down what I eat to keep track.

6. LIGHTS OFF BY 10:45pm. 

These things seem simple, but after only getting the basic things in life done for the last year, I've fallen out of practice. Being rested....brings me joy. Spending quality time with my kids....brings me joy. Having time to speak to my Heavenly Father brings me joy. I am happy. But I could be more than that. 

I'll let you know how it goes.