Independence Day 2012 and an Oregon Visit

* July 2, 2012
We started our Independence Day week off with a bang! Ha! Monday night, for a big, multi-family, combined FHE we set off fireworks at the Colemans house. In true Pacific Northwest fashion, it was freezing!! In fact, we got a little sprinkling at the end. No worries, we all bundled up and the kiddos all had a blast.

* July 3, 2012
Piano recital... See post below. And then {awesome hubby and daddy that he is!} Sean insisted that Ethan and I get fireworks to take with us down to Oregon, even though he wouldn't be able to enjoy them himself.

* July 4, 2012
Sean had to work {ALL DAY and the rest of the week!!} so Ethan and I headed down to Oregon to spend some time with my family and also my aunt, uncle and cousins who were in town from Utah. First up, a big family BBQ lunch where I was in charge of dessert. Check out this little beauty...

My friend's amazing lemon bar recipe baked in a tart pan and fresh raspberries and blueberries to make the start design. The raspberries, especially, were delicious with the tart/sweet lemon bars.

And then the rest of the spread... With burgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill outside.

It was so great to see and chat with family and spend some time with my cousins, Niki and Sarah, that I don't get to see very often!

Later, after everyone had left and it had gotten dark, we broke out the fireworks!! Including the legal ones from Washington... which may not be quite so legal in Oregon!

 

Let me tell you, that "100 SHOT" one was a total dud!! But we loved the "Mighty Python" one, which we almost didn't get - Sean picked it out, though, so he gets all the credit! Besides the Roman Candles (which freaked my family out because everyone we know just holds them in their hand!) and the artillery shells, the rest were good ol', stay-on-the-ground fountain fireworks.

And, of course, some sparklers. Growing up, we always did morning glories, but in the last couple years I've discovered I really like just the plain gold sparklers.

* July 5, 2012

Ethan and I stuck around in Oregon for a few days and on Thursday we went to the lake w/ Lizzy... and her friends. Nothing like the 14-year age difference between us to make me feel really old!! The teeny-boppers hung around at the dock and my Mom, Ethan and I lounged in the sun on the shore. [Tragic side story: We found out when we got there that earlier in the day there had been a drowning. I think the kid had jumped in, but hit his head on the way down, so never resurfaced. He was finally found 54 feet down, about 5 hours after he had jumped.]

 Ethan stuck a toe in the water to test it out...

 Yep! It was a little chilly!!

 Better warm up in the sun with the Doritos chip bag that's as big as he is!

 And then spend a good chunk of time balancing on the log near us. {I apologize for the musical stylings of P!NK in the background we may have been rocking out to!}

 Bum shot!!

Digging in the sand.

Back at my parents' house we had my aunt and cousins over to play games for a while. And then I had to attempt this layered, patriotic drink. A little trickier than I thought it'd be, but we got it to work!

 * July 6, 2012
Christine's 24th Birthday!!
On Friday we kept it pretty laid back, slept in and had a leisurely morning. We went and saw the movie Brave. Yeah... That was kind of a mistake!! *Spoiler alert!* As soon as a certain family member turned into a bear (which is pretty close to the beginning of the movie) Ethan was done. He really, really didn't like that this family member had been changed. I don't think the huge bear scared him so much as the idea of this family member being changed into the bear. Like, it really bothered him. It was all I could do to keep him in the theater for the whole movie!

* July 7, 2012

After some errands and hanging out with my family for one more day, Ethan and I headed home to Washington and to finally see Sean, who we had missed a lot!

Father's Day 2012

So the day after Sean's concert (see previous post) was Father's day and even with early morning church, we got things started right with a little breakfast in bed... French toast and meat!! :)

Sean opened one of his gifts so he could wear it to church... Nope, not a new tie... A new belt!! A much-needed, new belt! Then it was off to church where they totally forgot to do something for the Dads!! What the heck?!

Back at home we kept it low-key... Sean opened his other gift - another belt, this one a brown one, more for everyday - and a selection of his favorite candies. Dinnertime was a first in the Southworth house:

Ribs, real mashed potatoes and corn on the cob! Ok, the ribs were a first. Mashed potatoes and corn on the cob are not that rare! We cheated and bought the pre-seasoned, pre-sauced, pre-cooked ribs, but they were still tasty - even if it's not a personal fave of mine.

Ethan is very lucky to have Sean for his Daddy. He is tough, but fair and loving. He works hard for our family, which sometimes means we don't get to see him much. It also means that when we do and when we go out and do stuff as a family, Ethan makes sure he stays right with his Daddy as much as he can!

I'm so grateful for Sean and the love that he has for me and Ethan. He works hard, laughs harder and complains seldom.

P.S. A shout-out to my Dad, Father-in-Law and Grandpa....Thank you for the wonderful example you are of fatherhood and thank you for being an awesome Grandpa, Papa and Great-Grandpa!! We love you!!

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day this year was relaxed and low-key. It even *sorta* started on Saturday when I got a couple hours to myself while Sean took Ethan on some "super-secret" Mother's Day errands.

Sunday morning was my first-ever breakfast-in-bed!! We didn't even have a tray until Saturday when Sean picked one up at Target just so we could have one for such special occasions.

[Photo from my new phone!]

Then it was off to church, where all the moms got homemade chocolates - white, milk and dark chocolate macadamia nut turtles and different flavors of caramels. Seriously, the ladies in our ward look forward to these every year! 

After sacrament meeting Ethan proceeded to throw a major fit because he couldn't go with me to the Sunday School class that I teach. Sean even had to take him out to the car for most of 2nd hour. By 3rd hour he still hadn't calmed down much, but Sean had to go to Young Men's so Ethan came with me to senior Primary. Finally he calmed down - pretty much because he got his way by default and got to be with Mommy. In senior Primary the kids all filled out these little "I love my mom because..." flowers. Ethan refused. No hesitation - flat-out refused. 

But... 

With a little coaxing from Mommy he agreed to answer and let me write them down.

My Mom love me because:  "I love her"

My Mom makes the best: "Cookies"

My favorite thing to do with my Mom is: "Make silly faces {on the webcam}" and "Go to the park"

My Mom is good at: "Kickboxing"

My Mom is as beautiful as: "A flower"

My Mom teaches me: "To be good"

Once we got home, we changed into comfy clothes, snacked, read the paper, laid out in the sun, called our moms and just spent the afternoon/evening together as a family. Sean and Ethan got me some fun gifts and cards: 

Cookie decorating set, See's chocolates and the flour sifter I've been wanting/needing!

 Beautiful purple flowers that lasted almost 3 weeks but I waited over 2 weeks to take pictures of!

 

 Sean's card to me - he finds the best cards!

 Ethan made this in Preschool. It says: MOM - I love you because... "you are the best mommy and take me to chuck-e-cheese."

Chuck-E-Cheese. Really?? Is that supposed to be a hint?

Uhh... Yeah. Ethan has been to Chuck-E-Cheese a total of TWO times since we moved up here 2 1/2 years ago - both times were for birthday parties! Then, come to find out, Ethan didn't even say the "you are the best mommy" part - the high school buddy wrote that! Oh, the love of a child.

  

  I also *sorta* got this from Ethan... The Activity Day girls that I work with painted them for their moms and since (Sean and I both work with the youth and have to be at the church at the same time every other week) Ethan was there, he also got to paint one! The girls all added this vinyl lettering to theirs as well.

 Ethan's card cracked me up, though! It was spot-on!!

This actually happens on an almost-daily basis in our house. Usually with "Mom!" being yelled, whined, ahem, said a few more times than what's on the card.

We ended the day with a BBQ, thanks to grill-master Sean! And Ethan even got to run in the sprinklers a bit since the weather was so nice and warm and sunny. Not our typical Sunday activity, but we made an exception.

I'm so blessed to be my little Ethan's Mommy. Even though we both drive each other crazy sometimes, I am so, so, SO happy he is in our little family. Seriously, he is one of the cutest, the coolest and the smartest kids I have ever know. I may be just a teensy bit biased, though!

Mother's Day 2012

And finally, a little shout-out of gratitude to my Mom, Lynnie, Grandma Mary, Grandma Sandy, Grandma Southworth and all the other wonderful examples of motherhood I have in my life! Thank you for all you do for our family! We love you!!

Easter 2012

Easter this year was a little different than in years past. Every other year we have been in Oregon for Easter and have dinner at my Toftdahl grandparents' house followed by an egg hunt in their beautiful backyard. This year, though, because we had just barely returned from our Spring Break SoCal trip, we stayed home and had family come to us!

This proved to be a little harder than we thought it'd be, though. See, my middle sister, Christine, decided to surprise my family and flew in from Utah. We rolled into town from our long drive home from Cali just about 6 hours before Christine landed at PDX. Unfortunately, we had a heck of a time convincing my Mom and Lizzy to have Easter up here - even after my Dad was on board and knew the surprise!! He finally helped me convince them which meant running around making Easter preparations Saturday afternoon - including planning for, shopping for and preparing Easter dinner. A first for me and Sean... Yikes! But Christine went shopping with me and Sean and Ethan stayed home to pick-up around the house.

Of course, a surprise as awesome as an unexpected family member being around for a holiday requires an equally awesome reveal. Sean, Christine and I threw around a couple of ideas and finally decided on a glow-in-the dark egg hunt for Lizzy. {Side note: Night-time/glow-in-the-dark egg hunt will most likely become a new tradition. Very cool. We bought a 15-pack of glow bracelets for a $1 and put them in the eggs. With no porch light our backyard is very dark and made for great egg-hiding conditions. I highly recommend it - especially for older kids.}

Anyway.

Christine sat out in our yard in a black jacket and you couldn't even see her. I recorded the whole thing (after realizing the SD card wasn't in the camera!) and it was definitely a surprise!

Immediately after the reveal.

Toftdahl sisters and parents reunited!

As you might guess, adding four extra people to our two-bedroom place made for interesting sleeping arrangements. Ethan slept on his old crib mattress in our room. My mom got Ethan's twin bed. My dad got the couch (which is very comfy) and my sisters shared a queen-size air mattress we borrowed from some friends.


Church was at 9am and Ethan wore a purple tie that my friend Jenn had made that matched the Easter skirts of Sarah and Maddy - two of Ethan's friends. We tried for a good Easter Sunday shot, but this was the best I got - a little goofy and shadows on his face.


The Easter bunny came by sometime in the early afternoon - he knew we had church so he could be a little late. Here's Ethan searching for his basket outside {in our jungle of a backyard - it was finally mowed this week thanks to our landlord} and toward the end he thinks he hears some hopping. So cute!

We try to keep Easter baskets pretty simple and go with the guidelines: something he wants (Cars movie cars), something he needs (special batteries for an early birthday toy from Nana and Papa), something to wear (new shirt and he especially needed new shorts), something to read (Max & Ruby book) and a treat (his favorite candy is licorice plus one Easter-themed candy). I think I spent about $25 for everything in the basket and $15 was for clothes that I would have given him anyway because he outgrow most of his shorts from last year.

Dinner was a group effort between my dad, Sean, Christine and I. Sean did the ham (complete with cola/grape juice/pineapple juice glaze), Christine made broccoli casserole, I made twice-baked potatoes and this yummy "festive" salad with fresh-made poppyseed dressing. We also had rolls, though we took the easy route with those and got the Rhodes frozen dinner rolls. My dad did the dishes, cleaned the counters and took out the trash.


After dinner Ethan got to open some early birthday presents from my parents, Toftdahl grandparents and Christine. And also a bag of goodies for Easter from Nana and Papa. Pictures to come.

We said goodbye to my family and then Ethan got to have an evening egg hunt by himself.

Not the usual Southworth/Toftdahl Easter Sunday, but still fun and good to be with family.

Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine's morning started a little rough in our house. Ethan came into our room demanding a "Valentine's dinner" (meaning breakfast) EARLY in the morning. Rude! I don't remember what time it was, but it was definitely not the way to wake this mama up! So I forced a compromise. I let Ethan go watch cartoons in the living room, made him promise not to bug me for a little while and I went back to bed. In exchange, Ethan got his Valentine's breakfast. It did not disappoint. Heart-shaped pancakes, scrambled eggs and attempted-heart-shaped bacon. All of Ethan's favorites and worth the wait!

If you'll recall from last year's Valentine's Day post, Sean and I try to keep it pretty simple for the holiday of love. I have told Sean {on several occasions, just to reassure him!} that I am perfectly happy with the cliche flowers or chocolates or both. That's just how I roll.

For Sean, I tend to lean toward the corny, but cute. Last year I went the candy bar card route (see link above) and this year I wanted to do something similar. This is what I came up with:
The "You're Da Bomb" was an idea I found on Pinterest and loved the moment I saw it! So cheese-ball and funny, I couldn't resist. Just took Rolos and wrapped them in red construction paper and then added a black pipe cleaner to complete the dynamite look. Originally I had hoped to find some Crush soda in glass bottles for the "I've got a major CRUSH on you", but they didn't have any at Winco when I went, so I settled for cans. And finally, Reese's Pieces is a favorite candy of Sean's and from there it was easy to add the "I Love You to Pieces" tag. Corny. Cheap. Cute. Love it!

And it looked great on Sean's desk when we went and delivered them {in secret spy mode so we weren't caught!} at work. I'm hoping it was fairly unexpected since I had sent him to work with a huge plate full of triple chocolate chip cookies to share!

I also made/gave him this:

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone's whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."
- Dr. Seuss

Back in December, I found this quote on Pinterest and thought it was cute and pinned it to my "Inspiring" board. Not more than a week later Sean posted the same quote on Facebook and tagged me. It was meant to be, I tell ya!! So I downloaded a "Dr. Seuss" font, printed the quote on cardstock and printed a picture from the day we were sealed for eternity in mutual weirdness. :)

Now, in past years, I have also told Sean that he can even wait on doing flowers until the day-after when they go on sale. This year he surprised me, though! With a beautiful bouquet delivered to our door on Valentine's day. {I had horrible lighting when I tried to take these pictures, though, which doesn't do these flowers justice!} I LOVE the dark fuchsia roses!
Throughout the day, Sean sent me texts saying some of the different things he loves about me - they were so sweet and really made my day. And that night, after he got done with work and piano lessons, he surprised me again with a box of chocolates - which we shared.

I had to laugh a little when I opened the card from Sean... Notice any similarities between the one he got me and the one I got him?? Apparently we had a love bird theme going on. It's the mutual weirdness. ;)

I attempted to do "fancy" with dinner that night... Steak, twice-baked potatoes, green salad, crusty bread and sparkling cherry juice. Ethan got FM deli mac-n-cheese. I figured it was a holiday and he should get to eat one of his favorites, too!

I am so in love with these two boys of mine and I loved our low-key, fun Valentine's day!