"If my ears start bleeding..."

You know those guys, the ones who are super tough? They can work a full day, landscape the entire yard, drive a tractor while lifting 200 pounds with a single finger, and then come in a make a 5 star dinner. They never complain about anything, BUT then they get sick, and they turn into the BIGGEST BABY in the United States of America?!? Yeah, well, I married one of them.

The last few days Bryan has been sooooooooooo sick {mind you, I have been dealing with the same cold for 3 weeks, and both boys have had it equally as long}. I swear not 20 seconds has gone by without me hearing a grunt or moan. He purposely breaths at an nonhuman volume, much like Darth Vader. Bryan walks around the house hunched over, repeating how he's surely going to die, or his head is going to explode, or his ears are going to bleed... I sure wish something would happen already to put us all out of our misery. I haven't slept in 2 nights because apparently his "restless leg syndrome" also acts up when he's on his death bed. I get kicked 20 to 30 times a night followed by prolonged bouts of completely unnecessary hacking and sniffling which is then accompanied by more moans and groans. All I can say is bless the gene pool for giving me Caden who does not act at all like his father. Parker on the other hand suffers from an intense case of Bryan-itis. Like Parker, I'm sure Bryan would have been begging, "up, up," all day long if that were physically possible.

This is all said with the greatest amount of love any wife could have for her husband in his deepest time of need. Once the cold finally does him in, like he's sure it will, I'll make sure to only say the nice things I started out with at the beginning of this post when I deliver his eulogy.

Mother's Day.

Take One:Take Two:
Take Three:
Things might not always be picture perfect but I love these sweet little boys with all my heart and count myself among the luckiest people in the world to be their mother.
I'm sitting on my present; lets just say Bry scored MAJOR points with this gift. If you come knocking at my door and I don't answer you'll know why...

Hope all my beautiful friends had wonderful Mother's Days. You are all an inspiration to me! Xoxo.

I had a nice long conversation with my mommy on Mother's Day, and then had to text her again that night to tell her how much I love her. I got an "o" response. Followed twenty minutes later by an "o k". Let's just say my dad took a sorry shot at texting, that same response would have only taken my mom five minutes. :)

Major Massacre

Caden and I put on our farming boots & went out to collect our eggs for the day.

When we opened the gate I noticed some feathers, never a good sign.

Caden skipped up to the coop, stopped in his tracks, & examined the scene.

Feathers, tons and tons of feathers, in every direction.

It left me with a very vivid, unwanted picture. Poor Ferdinand.

"Where are all my chickens mom?!?"

I wanted to lie.

The animal kingdom is a cruel, cruel place.

So I told him another, bigger animal must have stolen them.

He kept searching for his chickens, got bored, & decided it was time to watch Mickey Mouse.

Thank goodness.

I'm mad; I had just barely started to appreciate cooking with fresh eggs everyday.

That aside, we put a lot of time and effort into those darn chickens.

With a sad heart I cleaned the last of our eggs, & plotted my revenge on the animal that stole our chickens.

Latest Project.

The mirror. Steal of a deal. With a coat of paint, some sanding, and some more brush strokes it's exactly what I wanted.

Bryan's on-call tonight for his dad's business. I always get lots of questions about it since it's such a, shall we say, unique business. I just try not to think about what he's actually doing and focus more on how grateful we are for the extra income. :) So, I'm home alone and since I already cleaned the entire house I figured it was time to sit down for some good old catharsis.

Mitt Romney announced his presidential candidacy. As I was reading about it, I landed on a page listing the pros and cons of each candidate. On Mitt's cons list it stated something along the lines of other Christian faiths not accepting him because he's Mormon.

This boggles my mind. It makes me mad. mad. mad. Not because I automatically support him because we share the same faith but because some people still choose to cast him in a false light because of his faith. This motivates me to be better--to be more like my Savior.

I hope there is a day that the majority of people will understand that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are Christian. Our lives and our decisions are always influenced by our belief in the Savior Jesus Christ. I hope that people of any faith will see us for the good we are trying to spread instead of the awful, untrue rumors that so often circulate about our religion. {Why can't we foucs on the fact that our church's humanitarian services provided more than $1.01 billion to assist the needy from 165 countries or that there are over 50,000 missionaries, many 19 year old boys, from our church that give 2 years of their lives to go serve others and bring people to Christ?}

In highschool one of my closest friends brought me a flyer his church had sent out, inviting me to come hear why I was going to Hell. Yup, lovely. He said he was joking, but deep down I always hoped he wasn't one of those people in that congregation that believed those malicious words. Ten years later, I hope that my friends of faiths besides mine are not numbered among the people that wont vote for Mitt Romney simply because he is LDS. I know better than anyone that I am no where near perfect, but I hope that I have been a good enough example and open enough about my faith that my friends will trust in me over the cruel falsehoods that will undoubtedly be said during this election. Now, if you just don't like the guy because of his politics, I will not be hurt.

On to less heavy subjects. Why is it that the Biggest Loser is so addicting? I made it 9 seasons without being sucked in. I couldn't understand how it could be all that exciting to watch people lose weight for an entire season. Well, guess what...it is! One night, probably much like this one, I was bored and started watching. I haven't missed an episode since. And why is it that I bawl through every episode? Like a big, big baby.

Tonight Caden gave me a recap of his day. "I went into the woods. It was scar-rey! And then I saw an alligator. Good night mommy." What I wouldn't give to be little again...

I don't wanna get married!

Complete side note: Could this face be more of an Ashley face?!?! After watching General Conference Caden announced that he wanted to go to the "that temple" {Salt Lake}. So we decided to make a trip to the Sacramento Temple. He was so excited, until we pulled into the parking lot. He started bawling, uncontrollably. When we asked what was wrong he wailed, "I DON'T WANNA GET MARRIED!"

We walked around the temple grounds with the kids. Parker hobbled. Poor daredevil's latest stunt didn't end so well and he's been limping ever since. The doctor assured me that it was nothing; I just feel so bad for him. "Hey look, it's angle ron-i." Afterwards we had a picnic. There were two Caden sized geese that joined us, which the boys thought was awesome. And it was, until we ran out of food and they started hissing at us. Caden was extremely protective of Parker, giving him a nice shove every time he tried to get in front of him.

Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds & an Easter Wreath

I've been looking for some more tasty Quinoa recipes for awhile now. The nutrients found in this stuff are mind blowing! I tried this one last night. Thank you Martha Stewart's wholeliving.com; You did not disappoint.

Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds:

1/4 cup slivered almonds 1/2 cup (3 ounces) quinoa 4 teaspoons olive oil 1 yellow bell pepper, ribs and seeds discarded, cut into 1/2-inch chunks 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 scallions, thinly sliced 1/8 teaspoon red-pepper flakes 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish (optional) 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick 1 large celery stalk, diced 1 lime, halved

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast almonds until crisp, lightly browned, and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Meanwhile, place quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear; drain well.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat. Add yellow pepper, garlic, scallions, and red-pepper flakes; cook until the pepper is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in quinoa, thyme, 1 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 7 minutes. Stir in zucchini, cover, and cook until quinoa is tender but not mushy, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Remove the saucepan from heat.

4. Stir in celery, almonds, and remaining 2 teaspoons oil, season with salt, and fluff with a fork. Cool to room temperature before packing into two containers and refrigerating. When ready to eat, squeeze lime over salad, if desired. Serve with additional lime wedge and thyme, if desired.

And our simple Easter project for the boy's doors. Yes, I like wreaths.