booooorrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg.....

I'm so bored. I don't know why. I have plenty to do and am busy but I've just been feeling bored every day this week. So bored that all I can think about is shopping and making cookies. I made cookies last week. They were delicious. The whole double batch of them. I can't make cookies again. June has enough clothes and I'm out of money. I can't go shopping any more. Cleaning the house is boring. Weeding the yard is boring. Cooking is boring. Blogging is boring. I'm in a rut.

So in that spirit, here are a few random things that have been going on around here the past few days. I'm too bored to tie them together in a meaningful way or come up with an over-arching theme. (I'm also too bored to try to tie in that picture at the top. I just thought it was cute.)

OH NO!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BACK YARD? THERE'S MUD EVERYWHERE!!!
--Trey Widtfeldt, age 5

We're starting plans to work on the back yard landscaping this summer. It will be a scaled back version of our master plan, but will at least be nice to have some grass and no more dirt. I mentioned to the landscaper that I'd like to have a garden plot so we scoped out locations and he said, "well then it's time to get your seeds started." I've never planted a garden from seeds -- always just get the starts from the nursery. But figured I'd give it a try this year when I realized how cheap seed packets are. Oliver helped me plant some herbs (Cilantro, Dill, Basil, Parsley, and Mint) and his special request was pumpkins. We also did some tomatoes, spinach, peppers, squash, beans, onions, and carrots. I have no idea what I'm doing but hopefully some of it will work. I hope by the time they are ready to be transplanted to the garden, there will be a garden for them to go into.

I LOVE corn on the cob

I was so excited when I saw unshucked corn on the cob at the grocery store the other day. This is my absolute favorite summer treat. (That and wearing skirts are about the only good things about summer.) Just throw one on the BBQ until the husk is charred (about12 mins). Then peal the husk back (the silks should just fall off) and butter and salt away. My favorite topping is celery salt. (BTW this technique also works in the broiler.) Eating corn this way reminds me of our happy Thursday nights at the South Pasadena Farmer's Market.

It's about time

June finally discovered the bathroom, complete with toilet paper unravelling and toilet water splashing. Totally gross.

Two-by-two

Oliver is excited because he's finally started playing chords on the piano. The boys continue their lessons every week and despite all the complaining about practicing, are progressing quite nicely.

More about June

Here is an impressively wild hair day. And June's new favorite activity.

Girls are dumb

The other day when Brenden, Oliver, and Chandler went out to play in the cul-de-sac, 8 girls emerged from the various houses around to play with them. That's pretty good odds for us. There are two girls in particular who seem quite in love with Brenden (both second graders). They were doing the typical chasing, hitting, teasing that girls do when they like a boy. Then they wrote something with chalk on the sidewalk then Brenden got a water bottle and sprayed them then they ran away acting mad which made Brenden feel bad and he ran inside in tears. He was very upset. The girls came to the door to apologize but he didn't want to see them. I suggested they could write him a note. I tried to talk to him to figure out what happened or why he was so upset and turns out they wrote "We hate Brenden and Chandler" on the sidewalk and that had really hurt his feelings. So then I had to have "the talk" with him. (Well the talk that comes before "The Talk.") The one about how when a girl likes you they will hit you and tease you and tell you they hate you but really they like you. Oh man. What are we getting into here?!

About a half hour later he'd calmed down and they came to deliver their notes. He apologized for throwing water on them, they apologized for being mean. It all ended nicely and he told me they'd decided to play together again tomorrow. I came into the office to find him feeding the notes to the shredder. I missed the first one, but asked to read the other and he handed it over. This is awesome.

Brenden gets some air

Scott took the boys out motorcycle riding on Friday and Brenden found an area to learn/practice some jumps. They're having a great time with this new activity.

Other misc things to report for which there are no pictures...

* I've continued with the yoga, practicing about 5 mornings a week. I'm still enjoying it and hopefully getting stronger and better. It's been fun having Rachel & Christine come along a few times (even if I have to wake Christine up when I'm in the parking lot) and I miss them now that they're both off on various summer adventures this week.

* Scott's been working hard this week finishing up a new lullaby album (non-religious/more traditional lullabies) for Deseret Book. It's sounding really awesome so far. He's picked some great songs and singers and come up with beautiful arrangements. I'm very excited to have a new standard baby gift to give out. He's supposed to turn in the master on Wednesday so hopefully he'll get to take a bit of a break after that. (The artwork has gotten even worse for this one, so once again, please don't hold that against it -- it's a fantastic album.)

* Memorial Day is almost here! I'm very excited since June and I both have new white skirts which you can bet we'll be wearing on Monday!