the grocery store

have you ever been to the grocery store while you are hungry, starving even?

well if you have then you know that it was a mistake to shop on an empty stomach. in my case, it always results in about $50 of treats/snacks/crap food.

last week i headed to the grocery store, hungry, and left with enough junk food to last me a week (that is a lot of junk in my case. i could eat junk food all day long and be totally content.). when i got home and unloaded all the bags my husband eyed the food (if you could call it that) and then gave me this incredulous look that said, "what the hell is all this?"

long story short, my husband banned me from grocery shopping for a while. and now tonight, right this second, he is at the grocery store with my running list of food items that we need and few extras to gather so that we can eat real meals this week.

he is so nice to go shopping for me. it really helps lesson the junk temptation when there is no junk in the house. but...little does he know i pulled off a head fake. throughout the list i gave him and some random ingredients that don't seem like junk but once i get them home and mix them with a few other delicious ingredients they will turn into sweet marscapone filled cupcakes and brown sugar chex mix! take that corey.

but for real, the best part of him going grocery shopping is the constant phone calls from him:

~how do i know if a cake mix has pudding in it?

~they don't carry bags of chocolate chips that only have 1/3 cup in them, what should i do?

~do you want semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips?

~what are egg noodles?

~what kind of chex do you want?

~what is marscapone cheese?

and he asked each question in a separate phone call. too funny! and so sweet that he wants to make sure he gets my list right.

but seriously, i'm mostly just excited to see if he buys any junk food...so i can give him a hard time.

the friend

have you ever had a friend that makes you feel younger?

you talk with them or you hang out with them and you leave thinking that you're cool enough use phrases like "OMG" and "FML" and "oh snap". and before they leave they say things like, "we should hang more often".

well, i have one such friend. and he comes in the ever convenient form of my nephew, oliver.

he thinks i'm cool enough to hang out with (or so he tells me). and i often find myself thinking omg! if i didn't have 3 three kids, a full schedule and the brain of a crazy person i would totally hang out with him everyday.

but alas, 3 kids, a full schedule and a crazy brain later, it's hard to find time to see my friend. it doesn't help that he is crazy busy himself.

but as he is a senior and will soon graduate from high school, i found time, got a baby sitter, charged my camera and made him drive down and pick me up. i had forgotten how much i loved using my camera. here's what we ended up with, well a few of favs anyways (prepare yourself, he is fairly handsome):

oliver.

oliver's "you're seriously not done taking pictures of me" face

oliver's "i'm trying not to laugh but your camera is so close to my face" face

you're so cool and hip and fun and smart and funny, oliver. and despite what your dad says, i like your skinny jeans. thanks for putting up with my camera in your face and for letting me ask you questions about every single aspect of your life.

...oh yeah, and for making me feel 18 again.

the grandparents

i have been thinking about my sweet grandpa and grandma healy lately. they are such beautiful people and i love being able to spend time with them, but mostly, i love that my kids get to know their great grandparents.

here is my question. have you ever seen such lovely people, then and now? (of course i think they are lovely, but how can you not love black and whites from years ago?)

now

healy's, 2008

then

lester, 1936.

(22 years old.)

melpha, 1935

(14 years old.)

they were married shortly after these pictures were taken and almost 75 years later they are still so sweet to each other.

the trees

have you ever tried to fast forward life, look ahead 10 years from now, and imagine what life might be like?

well i did the other day.

teenagers.

that could possibly be the scariest word ever. i know because i can remember being one. but i had a little flashback this last week. i woke up and headed downstairs to whip up some banana pancakes for the kiddos. i got to the bottom of the stairs, took a quick glance outside and then headed for the....wait. did i see something...yellow...outside. i go back. i look across the street, and chuckle a little as i see this:

these neighbors have lots of trees (i had lots of trees)...and teenagers (i was a teenager once. i think.). and when you combine those two you get a disastrously easy target for stuff like this. their poor house always has something going on outside. if you look closely, you can also see last weeks vandalism: the toilet paper hanging in the tree. and that was just the stuff they couldn't reach.

i just kept staring at the house until after a few minutes i shuddered at the thought of someday having to deal with my own teenagers. what if they are like me? what if they are like my husband?!? what if they are not like either of us and we have no clue how to deal with them?

after reliving a few teenage moments and imagining the teenage moments i get to deal with in the near future, i pulled myself back to reality and thought:

note to self: trees are not a part of my dream yard.

the boy

have you ever had a conversation with my 5 year old?

if not, i highly recommend it. he will make you laugh out loud with not only his amazing ability to talk non-stop (by non-stop i literally mean it. n.o.n.s.t.o.p.) but also by saying some very funny stuff.

here is just a taste of the goods that come out of his mouth:

"daddy and g.rant have stinky bodies.....{pause for thought}.....i think it's cause they fart so much."

K: "did you know that my two balls are in a sak?"

me: "um...what?"

K: "my two balls are in a sak...daddy told me that."

K: "i love you sososososo much mom!"

me: "awww. i love you too buddy."

K: "good. now can i have a sucker since i'm so nice."

K: hmm hmm hm hmmmm hmm, hmm hmm hm hmmmm hmm (humming "follow the prophet")

me: "what are you humming bud?"

K: "um. i have no idea. maybe i'm humming 'poker face' "

K: "mom, i think daddy is a little bit more fun to cuddle with."

me: "rude! what about me?"

K: "sorry, but he is a little bit softer than you are. sorry though mom. sorry. sorry."

oh to be a kid again....and to be able to say what you are actually thinking as opposed to saying what you "should" be saying. no judgement, no critisim. just the honest truth. just stating the facts.

i love this bug!

the tub

have you ever put your kid/kids in the tub and left the room, even for just a moment?

here's a confession: i do it all the time. i leave the bathroom so that i can get a towel or to get jammies and diapers out and ready or so that i can see how the one on one date is going on the latest episode of the bachelor. sometimes i leave and i am gone only a few seconds. sometimes i leave and i think to myself as long as i hear them splashing and playing then all is well....

this week i have been given a huge reminder (by way of a tragic accident) about why you never leave the bathroom when your kids are bathing. a family in my stake, a house just a couple blocks from mine, some friends of a friend are dealing with the repercussions of leaving the room for just a few minutes. i read her blog, explaining the whole ordeal. i had to take a break in the middle of the post because my eyes were sweating.

we all do it. we all leave the room every once in a while, even for just a moment. why this family and not mine? why did chance pick this family instead of yours?

i don't know why...but here's to hoping that peace and comfort and miracles can find their way to this home and this family.

you can read the loooooong blog post HERE if you'd like. imagine yourself in her position and get your tissues out...and remember to get the towels and set the dvr before you even start bathtime.

the truth

have you ever been offended by the truth?

let's all be honest here. the answer to that question is yes.

well NEW RULE people. you don't get to be offended by the truth! you just don't.

the grocery store

it's 10:30 at night. (this is relevant information, i promise.)

have you ever been a little judgmental of the lady that brings her two toddlers (barefoot toddlers i might add) to the grocery store at such an hour?

since night is my preferred grocery shopping time this happens to me each time i venture out. and each time i find myself thinking things like shouldn't those kids be sleeping or why would they bring their kids to the store in the middle of the night or where are those kids shoes...

...basically i am admitting that i am occasionally the judgmental type. but no longer!!

one of my new years resolutions is to be a little less critical of other people; give people the benefit of the doubt.

so i have replaced my negative grocery store thoughts with the following:

(just fyi: this entire conversation/run on sentence takes place entirely in my head. :0)

why is that lady at the store with such young kids at this hour? maybe she is divorced and works all day and this is the only time she can come and since she is single there is no one to watch her kids at night but they obviously need food to eat so she has to come at night...or maybe she lets her kids stay up really late hoping that in turn they will sleep in really late so that she can get some crap done in the morning instead of getting no crap done...or maybe she doesn't care what other people think of her decision to bring her kids to the grocery store at night because she realized they are her kids and she can raise them however the hell she wants...or maybe she and her husband got in a fight and she just needed to get out of the....ooooohhhhhhhhhh ~ caramel bugles! yes please....wait, where was i. . .

happy new year (by way of the 14th of january)! here's to hoping it's a good one.