Mess after mess after mess

So......keeping my house clean is a daily struggle. I spend a lot of time every single day cleaning. Usually I get my kitchen and front room (where we spend most of our time) done first and I am very lucky to get anything else done. It's not because my house is huge, it's not because I am a slow cleaner. It's because I usually have one kid going ahead of me and making a mess, and then another going right behind me making a mess. I really don't know if I will ever figure out how to keep my whole house clean. Especially because Baylee is my destructo! She loves to empty out the bottom of all of our dresser drawers and spread the clothes all over the place. She also likes to get all the tupperware out of the kitchen cabinet. So I decided to document a few examples of my problem the other day while I was cleaning. This day was especially bad because of the magnitude of the messes they made. I was working on some stuff downstairs and heard a bunch of noise in Aidan's room. I didn't go check because at my house noise isn't out of the ordinary. It's when the kids are quiet that I worry. Anyway, After a half an our or so I went upstairs to see what Aidan was up too. Apparently he got a wild hair and decided it was time to reorganize the furniture. I can't accurately describe the mess so see the pictures below. Then after cleaning his room and the rest of the upstairs I came walking downstairs and smelled season salt lie crazy. It was then that I learned that Baylee couln not only reach the spice drawer but also open bottles. Yeah! The pictures are just a small example of some of my surprises each day. Just in case any of you ever come over to my house and it's a mess, it's not because I don't care or try.....it's because I have two cute little monsters!

Here are my two monsters in the morning watching cartoons together. They look so sweet. I am pretty sure they are secretly planning how to cause trouble though, as soon as I walk away.

So here was my first surprise. Does he look remorseful to you?

Believe it or not it actually looks a little better than when I first saw it. I couldn't actually open the door because the mattress was in front of it. I seriously just stood there and tried to take in what I was seeing.

The finished project. I don't know why he was so set on moving his furniture but it turned out okay. I won't be as accomodating next time though!

And here is what Baylee added to the mayhem. She decided to spread papers all over and sprinkle them all with a little seasoning.

I had made a few cards earlier and left my tote out. It was covered. The worst part is that I am out of vacuum bags so now every time I vacuum it reaks like season salt. Ugh!!

Husband Tag

1. Where did you meet your husband? At Murphy's, on St. Patricks Day.

2. How long did you date before you got married? A long time, about 3and 1/2 years.

3. How long have you been married? It was two years last August.

4. What does he do to surprise you? I know this is suppose to be about the cute little things he does when I am not epecting (which he does) but it is way more common for him to scare me, then surprise me. He probably does it daily, and I scream like a baby each and every time.

5. What is your favorite feature? His eyes.

6. What is your favorite quality? He is amazingly motivated and dedicated. He is studying for some new certifications and spends endless hours studying and working to better himself in his career.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? he calls me babes

8. What is his favorite food? Anykind of meat, Salmon, and cookies! He is extremely picky about veggies though and that drives me nuts!

9. What is his favorite sport? He's not really into sports. He loves to Mountain Bike and Snowboard though.

10. When & where was your first kiss? At my house.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Anytime we get to just spend time as a couple we have fun. We usually just go to dinner or a movie though.

12. Do you have any children?Yep, Aidan is four and Baylee is 15 months.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? The first thing that comes to mind is that he can make this crazy bobcat sound. He loves to do it when we are camping or at Lake Powell and it always freaks people out.

14. How old is he? He is 38.

15. Who said I love you first? He did.

16. What is his favorite music? Country

17. What do you admire most about him? That he is such an amazing dad and such a hard worker. He is constantly trying to o better for is family.

18. What is his favorite color? Blue or green

9. Will he read this? Not unless I pull it up and show it to him

Who do you tag? Emily, Lori, Lindsay

Grapes, Grapes, and more Grapes!

So, last year I had my first canning experience. I spent a day canning peaches and decided that day that canning is not something I will ever be doing at my house, or by myself. This year my mother in law asked if anyone was interested in helping can grape juice. I have been stealing grape juice from them for years so thought I should do my part to replenish the stock. ( I had also been told that it was a lot easier than peaches!) So I went to my in-laws house last Thursday, along with my niece Alicia. We spent a while picking grapes from the rows and rows of vines in their garden. Meanwhile, Baylee and my nephew Caden were planted at the buckets eating them as fast as we could pick them. I am not exagerating when I say that Baylee probably ate well over a pound of them. I kept trying to get her out of them but then she would just hide in the vines and pick them herself. She is such a cute little pig! So then it came time to make juice. The process goes something like this....wash a sinkful of grapes three times, put them in the steamer contraption thingie, wait about thirty minutes, get a jar of juice, wait 15 minutes and get a jar of juice, wait 15 more minutes, get a jar of juice. Empty the steamer and start again. I quickly learned it is NOTHING like canning peaches. There is a whole lot of waiting and it is a long process. We spent 11 hours that day and got 34 jars. We also went back up on Tues. and spent another 7 hours or so and got about 20 more jars. It was fun to spend time with the family and learn how to make it. I also have a whole bunch of the best grape juice ever. I will definitly can again, but only with fun company and someone to entertain the kids. This is a look at a small portion of the vines we picked grapes from. And yes that is Baylee getting into the grapes.

Giving me her cutest smile because she knows she got caught!

"I can't say cheese right now. I have a mouth full of grapes!"

Still getting into the grapes...........

Finally deciding she might as well just sit down and get comfortable.

Alicia demonstrating the fine art of squeezing a really tough metal clip and trying to keep the hose directly in the bottle.

Grandma took Aidan for a walk down the street to feed the horses carrots! Thanks mom, for being such a fun and entertaining Grandma!

Aidan on his walk with Grandma! He decided canning isn't his thing.

This is probably about one fourth of the grapes we actually bottled. By the way, those containers are a lot deeper than they look from this view.

The fruit juice of our labor!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday! Aidan called him and sang him Happy Birthday this morning but then we decided to surprise him at work with some brownies. Aidan made him a couple cards, I made the brownies and we were off. I think he was happily surprised when we showed up. Unfortunately he won't get to enjoy the brownies. When I handed them to him, he put the plate on the hood of a truck and next thing I knew it slid onto the floor and broke into a million peices. I was out of paper plates so I used a glass one, and it went all over the place. I guess I will be making another batch of brownies. Hopefully it really is "The thought that counts!" Love you dad, hope you have a great birthday!!!

Holding the cards that Aidan made for him. And yes, Aidan insisted that he wear that hat. Trust me I tried to talk him out of it!

Sweet little Baylee kisses for Grandpa Steve!

And there is part of the aftermath. The white stuff on the left is some of the glass. Bummer!

There is the glass I couldn't pick up with my hand. SAD!!!

We can't get enough of the Zoo~

My mom and I took the kids to the zoo last weekend while Barry was home studying. We knew that we probably didn't have too many nice weather weekends left so we wanted to take advantage of it. The kids had so much fun. I would think they would get bored after going so often but they seem to have more fun each time. Aidan spent most of the day running around and kept saying things like "I have lot's of energy because I excercise." And, "Look at me, I am fast like an ostrich." I also realized he does a great penguin impersonation. He can seriously keep anyone laughing. I also found that Baylee's favorite animals at the zoo are the giraffes. I don't think we made it down that far the last time I took her, and my mom and I were completely shocked by her reaction. She kept saying "Whoaaaaa", and loved imitating them eating the leaves of the trees. She was stretching her neck and sticking her tongue out. It took us a minute to realize what she was doing, but it was adorable. She was not happy when we were ready to move on. We were however able to make it up to her with an icecream cone. I think that might have been a favorite for both of them. We really had so much fun. We absolutely love spending time with my mom, aka...Nanny. The kids adore her. Thanks mom for the fun weekend! Hope you enjoy all the pictures. There are a lot but there were so many cute one's it was hard to pick. Look how excited Nanny was. Atleast someone listens to me when I say SMILE!!!

I absolutely love this picture. They were watching the giraffes.

This was Baylee doing her imitation of the giraffes. She seriously did this forever. So stinking cute, although with that tiny tongue I don't think she would be very effective.

Aidan growling like a lion. Once Nanny bought him that hat he was doing a lot of growling. By the way....that hat get's worn EVERY single day now, and was taken to show and tell today.

Big brother helping Baylee with an icecream cone. This didn't last long becasue she needed her own of course. The girl can eat. I have seriously never seen anything like it.

Anyone who know's Baylee well realizes that food is the way to this girls heart. Nanny excercises that fact well and wins lots of kisses and smiles when she gives her treats.

This is what happened when I took the icecream away. Can you say attitude?

If any of you have been to the zoo you will recognize this as the big brown elephant. This elephant has been talked about at our house for years. For the first two years of his life Aidan wasn't bothered by it at all. In fact he sat on it and took pictures with it plenty of times. Last summer however he was all the sudden scared to death of it and wouldn't go within 20 feet of it. Anytime anyone asked him if he liked the zoo he would say "Yeah, but not the big brown elephant." Finally he got over that fear this year and took a picture on it. Baylee wasn't feeling quite as brave. I guess maybe next year they with both like it!