Good Friends -Oh, How I've Missed You

This past week, the boys and I drove up to Cedar City to meet up with my best friend Brittany and her family. I've driven through Cedar, on the freeway, several times, since we moved away, but haven't been in town for about three years. It had been even longer since I'd been on campus at SUU.

 This is where a whole new world began. My first apartment in Cedar City. I consider this home a very dear old friend. So many memories are tied up in this place. I loved it. Seeing it made me want to cry with nostalgia and long for those years as a young, cute, college girl. I had some of the best roommates in this place. I'm grateful for all they taught me. And, it's the place I first met Joe! He lived in apt. #1 (far left) and I lived in #3. :)  He came over one day looking to borrow scissors. I obliged him.

On campus!! SUU is seriously beautiful to me. I loved it especially when all the evergreens were covered in snow. Breath taking! There have been a lot of changes made around campus, but it was still my campus. Brittany and I were silent a lot as we replayed many memories in our minds. Then we'd say, over and over again, "I can't believe it was that long ago."

The one and only Brittany

So, thirteen years ago, I met this spitfire of a girl Brittany Sweat. She was spunky, and outgoing, honest, and loved to talk almost as much as I did. :) We were a match made in heaven! We had the important things in common and quickly became best friends. Working a shift with her, in the Smiths video/non foods dept. was always one of my favorite things. I love this woman, who I met as a girl. (well, a teenage girl anyway.) Thank you Brittany for EVERYTHING you have brought into my life.

Here we are now with our growing families. We were lucky to have gotten married only a few months apart, and then to have had all of our children within months of each other. This means, we have been through everything TOGETHER. We were newly weds -together, first time moms -together, and are now moms with three kids -together. Each trasition -together. I have been so grateful for this. It's so nice to be able to talk to someone who is in the exact same situation as you. Our parallel lives are what continually prove, to me, that the Lord gave me Brittany as one of the greatest gifts and strengths to my life.

Carter and D. These two could be brothers!

Five boys and one cute girl walking the sidewalks where their parents walked. The cutest group of kids you'll ever see.

They climbed! 

Ben helping Carter get back to me quickly. What a great big brother; he carried Carter a long way. And, Carter didn't mind the ride.

Just a picture of campus. Picture this covered in snow! One of my favorite views on campus back then.

Kade and L. Kade waited patiently till L would talk to him. Then they became friends.

The kids enjoyed taking a tour of campus. they ran on the grass and climbed things. They enjoyed each others' company. We look forward to seeing the O family every year. We were all pretty  bummed that they couldn't make it down to St. G. But they have a lot of friends and family to see in one packed vacation, so we are more than happy with the time that we had. :)  What a great day, full of remembered, revisited fond memories, and full of new memories with the kids.

Come A Long Way -And, I Didn't Know It!

YEARS ago, Joe bought me this book, after I showed interest in hiding veggies in food for little Ben. He even bought me an awesome food processor that Christmas to help me accomplish these recipes. But, when I read through the book, I was quickly overwhelmed and disappointed. Each recipe had a million ingredients and soooo many steps to accomplish for "just one recipe". This just seemed so unnecessary and not for the normal mom/person like me. Who would actually do this many steps for one meal, and who had this kind of stuff on hand?! -Like Old fashioned oats, whole wheat flour, natural peanut butter and flax seed meal?! Ridiculousness!!
Hahaha! Well, flash forward 4-5 years and lo and behold I -ME!!- Holly Harris have all of those thing in my cupboard at this very second. AND, my cooking prowess has increased substantially, because most of my meals take "millions of ingredients and soooo many steps to accomplish" and I love it!  (mind you, the millions of steps that seemed ridiculous, are simple things, like "saute onions and garlic...then add......", or "in one bowl combine such and such, then in another bowl.....")

Growing as a wife and mom has expanded my whole world to include things that were so foreign to me before. I loved to bake before I was married and had a couple things I could cook well, and received praise from roommates for making. I loved food, and cooking shows, but it just seemed not real life. But, I have fallen in love with recipe books, and like reading through them. I frequently try new recipes and enjoy finding a good one. I also have fallen in love with kitchen appliances, tools and cookware. I literally LOVE cooking ware and serving bowls, and platters. I have rearranged a whole cupboard for my prized stone bake ware. (and yes, Joe thinks I'm a little weird. :)  )

Also, as I've learned about healthy food choices for me and my family, I have changed some of things that we have around the house. Before, everything I bought was pre-made. I had never made a lasagna. I hadn't thought to ever steam/cook my own veggies before -I bought the steamer bagged ones. On top of getting healthier, I started learning more about being frugal and watching a budget. Making your own food is SO much cheaper than pre-made stuff. (this is such a DUH statement now, but I didn't realize these things as a young -er woman.)

Back to my point. I have been thinking a lot about Carter and his incredibly picky tastes. He's hit and miss with veggies. I remembered this book that has been gathering dust on a shelf all these years. I remembered how unrealistic I had thought it was, but I figured maybe there was something I could do. Reading through the recipe, I can honestly say, there is NOTHING unrealistic to me! Everything sounds pretty simple and easy enough to accomplish. And, I have most of the ingredients already and just need to make the purees. I actually laughed to myself thinking, "Wow, I've come a long way, and I didn't know it." Until now!! I'm so grateful for the slow and subtle changes. I am grateful for this new awareness to my improvement. :) Just had to share my gratitude and giddiness.

Fun Day Part 2! Art!

Today was our Fun Day part 2! We used paints and got a little messy. It was a lot of fun! We had six friends over -so eight boys in total. Boys are so fun. Carter got to spend the morning getting spoiled and playing with grandma at the water park. He came home very happy. Thanks mom!

We started with fun painted drinks....sprite with Kool-aid ice cubes! The ice will melt and color the sprite. Fun and tasty. :) And, when do the kids get this stuff, if not at a party. Awesome! 

Both boys chose Batman -it couldn't have been anything else. :)

Kade found The Hulk.

 Our first project was finding hidden pictures with homemade watercolor paint! I had drawn pictures of a few of the boys' favorite characters (Batman, Hulk,  Superman, Mario and Luigi, Phineas and Ferb, and Capt. America) with white crayon. Once the boys added color to their paper, their pictures appeared.

 Next the boys painted with regular gel watercolor paints and then used spray bottles to "see what happens". It was fun to see each of the boys' different pictures and what they thought to paint. I'm very surprised that with all these boys none of them squirted anyone else. :) Pretty good boys!

 Our third project was Paint filled Balloon Popping! It was SO fun! The boys each picked a balloon, and told me where they wanted me to hang it. Once every one's balloons were up, they started POPPING! Do I even need to write that they LOVED it?! They loved it! I loved it. We did four rounds of balloons. It was the prettiest mess I'd ever seen. :)

I used this recipe to make paint -well, it turned out not so much like paint. But! It made a perfect gooey, colorful concoction that was perfect for filling eggs! Whoo! And, yes, since joining Pinterest, I've become a mom that saves egg shells. -What?! (just for this specific day, I won't be saving them anymore)... as well milk jugs and other random things to use for project. (notice the milk carton full of goo?)  But, I like that I'm looking at things to find other uses for them.

  The bombing commences! The boys showered the backyard patio (as well as the dogs) with the goo filled eggs, and then washed it all away by bombing water balloons all over the mess. (Did you notice how I basically had them clean up their mess and they didn't know it? He he he. ) The only thing left for me is to sweep up balloon parts -but I'm not feeling too motivated to it just yet.

 After everything was done and moms were on their way, we ate these tasty colorful cookies. The boys enjoyed them, and the treat was helpful to encourage sitting and waiting. But they only waited five minutes or so.

Kade and Ben both had paint randomly splattered across their body or face. Kade was by far the messiest of all the boys. It has a lot to do with his keen ability to seek out and enjoy a good mess. It was proof to me that he had a great time. :)

I sent the boys home with their masterpieces and these fun papers, so they can keep painting at home. I am glad the kids had a fun time. They are all incredible and well behaved kids! It's amazing!  I totally wouldn't do these big messy things if it wasn't serving more then one purpose. Having more kids involved justifies the mess for me, so I don't mind it. (plus my cleaning basically  consisted of me hosing the entire patio -EASY.) Plus my boys get to be with friends and the kids do something they wouldn't normally be allowed to do. Get messy. I, also, get to give other moms a break. And, I make these days as low stress as possible by doing a little prep here and there when I have the time over a few days, or weeks. ;) All in all it was another fun day. NOW, what can I do for next time?!