7/31/09

A day at the zoo. Mylie "driving" the Jeep!

7/30/09

A 4-mile bike ride with the kids.
Playing and laughing.
Jeff coming home early from work.
Mylie and I making cookies.
Much better day!

7/29/09

The no good, very bad, terrible day.
I ran out of patience long before the day was over.

7/28/09

Work.
Oil change.
Lunch with Linda.
Getting ready for our trip to Iowa.

7/27/09

Work.
Lunch with Janelle.
Shopping with the kids while Jeff was at a soccer coaches meeting.

7/26/09

Blake enjoying an ice cream cone after some backyard swimming. Yep, I know he looks a little girlie in one of Mylie's tank tops.

7/25/09

Just a laid back Saturday. We watched Brax this afternoon. Went out for tacos tonight and then grocery shopping.

7/24/09

Alicia and I are both good at lots of things, self portraits apparently is not one of them. But it makes me laugh so I am keeping it. We had a FABULOUS girl's night out tonight. We went to dinner at Macaroni Grill and it was a much needed break from kids and life. We talked and laughed and ate and laughed some more (and ate some more). She is a super friend!

7/23/09

Note how Blake is sleeping in his port-a-crib. Note the back rail of his crib.

I'm not kidding when I call him incredible hulk baby.

{Thank goodness Jeff was able to fix it!}

7/22/09

My super cute new camera strap. Love it!

7/21/09

Well to follow up on my Sonic post from yesterday, today I'll share my favorite salad. Mango chicken salad at Costa Vida. Not exaggerating, I could probably eat this every night. So delish!

7/20/09

I have a recent obsession (perhaps unhealthy) with Sonic. Something about a nice cold drink from there (preferably during happy hour) with that perfect ice ... yum! My newest to-die-for drink creation is a diet sprite with mango. Try it, believe me, it is delish!

This is my dollar hiding spot in my car. Always ready for happy hour. And did you realize that often times on their receipts there will be a call in survey and if you do it (takes all of about 2 minutes) you get a free Route 44 drink! Considering drinks are the only think I ever order at Sonic, it works well for me.

Mylie is very familiar with happy hour. She is a fan of the slushie and prefers to try new flavors every time ... most recently pineapple. I taste tested it for her, yum! She often asks (in public), "Mom, is it happy hour?" I hope other mothers are aware of happy hour.

7/19/09

I took this same shot, many different times today, but I think this is my favorite one. I really love going to visit Temple Square. It is hard to put it into words the way I feel when I am there. We spent a great morning there today with Sarah, Thayer and the kids.

7/18/09

A few interesting things I learned today at Hogle Zoo ... elephants have eyelashes (thanks for pointing it out Bailey) and that elephants are pregnant for TWO YEARS and their babies weigh 200 lbs! Yikes.

7/17/09

Familes pass on all sorts of things, political views, religious affiliations, recipes, hair color, eye color, sense of humor, names ... and restaurant selections. Another perk of decending from the Hammond family! Yup, I had a chicken fried steak for lunch at Maddox today and it was yummy!

7/16/09

I'm bummed! Today I took my Intro to CJ class to the prison for a field trip. I threw my little camera in my purse for a prison picture ... and forgot. Sigh.

7/15/09

My classroom this semester (well, I have 2, but they look identical). By the end of this week, I will have spent 96 hours in these rooms! Yikes.

7/14/09

Someone at this house is learning about timeout.

7/13/09

Someone got a new bike at our house this weekend! Its funny because at the beginning of the summer we noticed that Mylie's bike seemed too small so we had her try a bigger one, but she was just too little for it. We had her try again last week and it fit just right. Could she seriously have grown inches already this summer? She is pretty excited.

7/12/09

{Sunday mornings} I woke up this morning to Mylie telling me that Daddy had breakfast all ready. Jeff had got up with the kids and made waffles and bacon, yum! Our church isn't until 11, so sometimes Sunday mornings involve a morning nap. We were watching cartoons in the living room ... well apparently Mylie was the only one watching cartoons. I dozed off in the recliner and when I woke up I found my boys like this on the couch. They are so cute! Jeff is really such a super Dad.

Photogs ... does the flash look OK in this? I have so much to learn about my external flash!

7/11/09

It started out as a pretty normal Saturday morning. Jeff was in the garage working on his bike, the kids were in the back playing, and I had just sat down to check my email. I noticed a large bird flying low in the backyard and thought it was a bit weird. 10 seconds later I thought it was really weird WHEN IN FLEW IN OUR HOUSE. I RAN to the garage to get Jeff (because seriously - what was I going to do about the situation).

Turns out it was a CHICKEN! Apparently they can fly. Our neighbor behind us I guess had chickens. Jeff rescued it (it was so scared) and returned it to its home. Mylie and I have not stopped laughing.

7/10/09

I scored this sweet new basket yesterday. I need to accessorize it. The kids and I took pinkalicious (my bike) out for another spin today. We rode over to visit Alicia and I am pretty sure the sight of my on the bike pulling the kids made her whole day. I love Fridays. I did not think about work or school, I did not check my work email or voicemail all day. We went to Costa Vida for yummy mango chicken salads tonight. It was an ideal day!

7/9/09

A little sore today from the bike ride (I know - lame-o!)
The kids had a teenage babysitter this afternoon, for the first time ever. Needless to say, Mylie had a spectacular time. Maybe Jeff and I will actually get to date ... dare I hope?

7/8/09

Alrighty! Today was our first trip on the new bike/bike trailer combo. Blake was a little unsure about his helmet. We rode 2.75 miles. Jeff rode 19 miles today, but I am pretty pleased about our 2.75 miles.

7/7/09

Back to work. School. Life.
Sigh, vacation is nice.
We bought a bike trailer today! This could be fun.

7/6/09

We made it back home today from our trip. No pictures though, but here is one I snapped at Mesa Falls on Friday.

7/5/09

Another shot from our 4th of July celebration. Blake was celebrating an ice cream sandwich. So much that I had to change his outfit shortly after this picture.

7/4/09

It was tough to just pick one picture today. We had the parade, BBQ, rides in the URAL, playing, ice cream & fireworks. But goodness ... I have cute kids!

7/3/09

I took so many beautiful scenic photos today on our trip to Mesa Falls ... but really, this one just melts me. Cute boys.

7/2/09

Laundry. Car appointment. Errands. Teach. Pack.
Getting out of town is never easy!

7/1/09

Look what came home from Target with us! Sweet! I even got a silver and pink helmet to go with it. Mylie really wanted me to the get the princess helmet though. Lets see if I can remember how to do this. I know that "its like riding a bike" is a pretty common statement, indicating that anyone can do something ... right?

Jeff is totally into cycling and of course Mylie likes riding her bike. So Jeff and I talked about it and decided to go ahead and get a new bike for me and a seat & helmet for Blake so we could join in the fun. Last night we were at Walmart testing bikes and I nearly crashed in the aisle. Yikes. Jeff, the kind man he is, just casually mentions that perhaps he'll put Blake's seat on one of his bikes first.

I kind of have this flashback of me at about 6 years old with a different pink bike and the entire blacktop playground of my elementary school. My Dad had just taken the training wheels off, we were at the school, tons of room to ride around ... and what do I do? Crash into the yellow dumpster. Let's hope I'm not in store for a repeat.