Bowling Boys

Last week for Family Home Evening we went bowling.


This is me holding an 8 pounder. And a bowling ball.


Max had been bowling before at a classmate's party, and announced when he came home that his talent was bowling (they had learned the Parable of the Talents in his church class). Ever since he begged us to go bowling again. He especially wanted to teach Benny how to use the stander-thingy to help get the ball going down the lane.

Benny watches his ball go. He got a strike that night, too!

Benny's favorite spot, watching the balls return.

My boys.

Max bowled well. I told him he was talented at bowling. He said, "No, a talent just means you like something." Benny thought the shoes were awesome. I was never a pretty bowler, but the tummy really added something I think!

Decoration

I have a few secret desires. One is to be a hip hop and/or ballroom dancer but that ain't happening. Another is to take a cake decorating class.

I would love to be like The Good Apple or my friend Meredith, who has worked in bakeries around the world. My mother-in-law gave me an icing kit, and occasionally I try my hand at it. Last week I took cupcakes to a baby shower. To the left is how I usually frost cupcakes -- quickly, and with a butter knife. To the right is my attempt with my icing bag and tip.

I was trying to go for something like this from Little Birdie Secrets:

Except my attempts with my brown peanut butter frosting ended up looking like a pile of -- well, something that an animal leaves in the grass.

PS Benny gobbled down his cupcake. Max turned up his nose. He only likes the frosting on cake anyway, but he doesn't like peanut butter.

Self

(A self-portrait taken with my phone at work after what happened below. Boy I look tired. 4 AM and pregnancy don't mix)

A new gal at work breezed into the newsroom to introduce herself. She said to me, "Oh yeah, we've met before. But you were blonde." I kind of stammered out, "I thought I still was!"

I will admit that I gradually stopped highlighting my hair a while ago. I would blame the money, but it's really laziness. I just kept putting off going back to the salon every 8 weeks to stop the roots from showing. But still, I identify my natural color as blonde.

I think.

Mousy blonde? Light brown?

Hmmm.

At least she didn't say "I've met you before. But you looked different." Because I immediatley would have stood up and showed her my third-trimester tummy. I may have a chubbier face now, but it's for a good reason!

Football fans

My sweet Benny LOVES sports. He would go nuts if we took him into a sporting goods store. That's why he had such a great time at a recent University of Utah football game with two of his favorite people, his daddy and his Papa.



JB says Benny watched the game most of the time, but became distracted by a big bag of kettle corn that once purchased, he proceded to devour. Papa would ask for some, and Benny would hand him a kernel.

Speaking of food and football, while that game was going on, I took Max with me to the BYU home football game. I didn't have the camera with me but we matched in blue. Just like last year when I brought him to a game, he pretty much wanted a snack every quarter. But then again, so do I.

Max and Nona's date

Nona (JB's mom) took Max to the Lion King last week. Here they are before their date.

He was a little nervous beforehand, and wanted to know all about the show and where he would sit and if it would be scary. But he came back full of excitement and talked our ears off about it.

After the matinee she and Papa took Max to eat at the Rio Grande Cafe. This also caused much excitement. Our little boy LOVES chips and salsa. Loves quesadillas, bean burritos, rice -- he cleaned his plate.

Thank you Nona and Papa!

It begins

My sweet Max has been bugging us about eating school lunch. We tell him that it's cheaper for us to send him with a packed lunch instead. We also talked with him while packing his lunch about what he wanted to bring, with a nice side of healthy.

I thought he was getting the message, until I picked him up at school last Thursday. He excitedly told me "I had chicken nuggets and milk today for lunch!" Then he handed me a piece of paper that said essentially, "Dear Max's mom, you owe $1.35 for a school lunch purchase."

We have decided to look ahead at the school lunch menu with Max and decide if there's a meal he wants to eat at school once a week or so. This week it's a corn dog. He has been telling EVERYONE he meets about it (maybe he needs to visit Aunt Suzanne. She has been experimenting!).

It's also time to have a better discussion about money.

Friends and hot dogs

Once a year we go up the canyon with Darren, Melanie, and their young Mr. Awesomeness (JB's nickname for their son) and roast hot dogs and marshmallows.

Max was a good helper with the wood (but stayed a good distance from the fire). Me, I like to chat. This picture below makes me think of Genie from Aladdin. "Look at me from the side, do I look different to you?

The boys loved the creek. Which meant I hovered over and stuck to them like a glue helicopter.

I was musing about this the other day. Why is American food so good? Hot dogs, marshmallows, fried chicken, ice cream, meat, potatoes. I love it. Sure I like "foreen" fare but lately I'm all about comfort food.