Thirty, flirty, and thriving.

Zak turned 30 on Sunday. Gettin' old, though he loves to remind me, not as old as I am.

His entire family was in town, so we celebrated together with a dinner out at Tepanyaki and an ice cream cake. I think Zak ate 1/4 of it by himself. We weren't able to find someone to watch the kids, so they came along to dinner. With food cooking right in front of us, I figured it would go one of two ways-Jakson would either by totally entertained or have a complete meltdown. As soon as we sat down, he immediately covered his ears, a sure sign that he was incredibly nervous. Fortunately, after the chef made a volcano out of vegetables, he warmed up and even moved over to Grandma and Grandpa's table to watch their "food show." The only issue came when the chef tried to throw some food into Jak's mouth and he dived under the table to avoid it.

Storey, on the other hand, completely jumped out of her high chair when the flame went up on the cook top. Oops. We were so focused on Jak's anxiety, we didn't even think about her. Poor neglected child.

Overall, it was the best behaved they have ever been at a restaurant. Their birthday present to Zak, maybe?

Zak posing for the camera with his cake.

While he was smiling for the camera, Jakson snuck in and blew out his candles!

Life with Jak

One of the few survivors of the graduation memory card debacle.

Jakson: I know how to read.

Me: I know. Tell me the words you can read.
Jakson: And, the, I, to, yea..... But 'yea' is my favorite word. Like 'Yea, behold!'

Me: Jakson how many times have I asked you not to stack those up and jump off of them?

Jakson: 100?

If I have, in fact, told him one hundred times-why doesn't he remember???? Why child, why?

A couple of days ago Jakson decided to use almost an entire roll of toilet paper to wipe himself and when he flushed the toilet, it flooded the bathroom. Remember before I had kids and never had to stand around in poop water yelling about the advantages of using 10 squares rather than 850?

Jakson informed us that he may or may not have pooped in the backyard because he was pretending to be a dog. We have been working on pretend with his therapist, but it looks like we'll have to tone it down. After a thorough investigation of the yard, we're pretty sure he made it up (very unlike him-we deal in concretes around here), but I'll be sure to step lightly.

*If we're friends on Facebook, some of these anecdotes may be reruns for you, but I'm documenting them here so they end up in our next Blurb book.

Just my luck

In the past three weeks:

Zak got a call from a firm in Houston wanting to interview him over Skype. We were quite confident that he was going to get the job and that the interview was more of a formality.

The day before the interview, he got an email explaining that the hiring manager was not going to be available and the interview would be rescheduled for the following week. Annoying, but whatever.

After hearing nothing for a couple of weeks, Zak received another email basically saying, Sike. We actually aren't going to interview anyone until August. Maybe not even then.

Frustrated that this out of state move seems to always elude us, we put a bid in on a HUD home here in Utah this past weekend. Not our dream home, but something we could live in for a year, fix up, and make some money off of. Mainly, we are sick of the limbo state and would like a little permanence. I spent upwards of ten hours on the phone with the lender and gathering paperwork to send off to the underwriters.

We lost the bid. Back to square one with the home search and back to limbo.

Jakson's preschool graduation was yesterday. He did a fantastic job and I managed to hold it together the entire time. But, after uploading the pictures from the event, I found that 28 of the 30 photo look something like this Apparently, unbeknownst to me, my memory card had gone bad. Awesome. Couldn't it have done this when I was taking photos of the kids riding bikes rather than a cannot-be-repeated type occasion?

Also during this time our scanner quit working (something I determined while trying to scan our info for the loan), I discovered that somehow half of our taxes got thrown away, our power steering went out, and watched as the lady in front of me purchased the perfect Moses basket--the exact item I've been scouring thrift shops to find.

We have the worst luck.

Bountiful Baskets Dinner One

We purchased a Bountiful Basket for the first time this past Saturday and we will absolutely be doing that again. It's great because we received a variety of fruits and vegetables and only spent $15! This week we are trying to menu plan around the produce, which is kind of fun and exciting. Meal planning = excitement = we're really lame.

Here's what we made last night.

Cashew Chicken Salad Lettuce Wrap and Mango Lassi (recipes below)


Homemade Cheesecake with Blackberries

Used 3 mangoes, container of blackberries, and romaine lettuce from the Bountiful Basket.

Now if I can just figure out what the heck you do with swiss chard.

Cashew Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

• 1 head romaine lettuce (I'm sure iceburg would work as well)
  
• 1 T mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. curry powder
• 2 cups skinless roasted chicken breast, chopped (we used a rotisserie chicken)
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cashew pieces

Combine mayo, sour cream, and curry powder in small bowl with whisk. In medium bowl, combine remaining chicken salad ingredients, gently tossing with spoons until well blended. Cover bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to serve. When ready to serve, spoon amount desired into the middle of the lettuce leaf and wrap.

Mango Lassi (served at Indian restaurants, kind of a mango smoothie)
Serves 4.

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cup chopped mango (peeled and stone removed)
• 8 teaspoons sugar, to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender for two minutes. Chill and serve.

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Saturday Snapshot

Today I took photos of my niece, Norah. I figured since the whole family was accompanying me and I would have the backdrops handy, I'd try to get a nice photo of all three cousins together. Preferably, one where Jakson was not dry heaving over baby feet.

I had an exact vision in my head of what I wanted the photo to look like. In fact, earlier in the week I staged it with just Jak and Storey to sort of "prepare" them for things to come. It wasn't going to involve Jakson touching Norah, just being within 2 feet of her (no passing out allowed), but bribes were involved and I hoped it would go off without a hitch.

Ha. Did I forget whose kids I was dealing with?

Yeah, so needless to say, my vision did not become reality. Norah was a perfect angel. The other two....

In this one, Storey is reenacting a scene from Gone with the Wind. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. And Jakson? Your guess is as good as mine.

Unfortunately Storey was laughing so hard that she forgot about Baby Norah, who had to be rescued from an accidental shove. Thankfully, no babies were harmed during the photo shoot.

More Norah, sans other obnoxious children.

Quirky, but cute.

Auntie Beth. That has a nice ring to it.

In a few minutes, we are off to meet my new niece Norah. I'm an aunt!

Since this is the kids first cousin, it's quite a special occasion. We've spent the last couple of days talking to them about meeting Norah and while Storey is excited, Jakson is just a little wary. He insists that Norah is not his cousin because she "is a baby" and says he doesn't want to hold her. Oh, Jakson. We hope he changes his mind once he sees how cute she is.

Storey and I went to pick out some flowers this morning for Norah and her mommy. She was disappointed not to find any pink ones, but settled on the happy daisies. After we got home, I realized I didn't have a vase and handing someone flowers in the hospital without a container isn't very nice. Because I didn't want an extra trip to the store, I used a crafty idea that's been floating around on the internet.A spray painted canning jar. I love how it turned out. I'll be making one for myself as well. It's amazing how creative people can be.

The kids drew pictures for Norah as well. Jakson's is a rainbow. I'm not sure what Storey's is because she kept changing her mind-at first it was a picture of Storey brushing her teeth and then it was a rainbow, so who really knows. Storey also insisted on writing her Aunt Suzy (Norah's mom) a letter. It reads (as dictated to me by Storey): Suzy, I want to play with you and Baby Norah. Can you paint my toenails someday? I want to brush my teeth. (at this point she also went off on a tangent about her bedtime routine-I want to read scriptures. I want to say prayers and go to sleep.-but I didn't write all that down. It was just too random) I love Baby Norah. -Storey

Update:
So I didn't have a chance to publish this before we went to the hospital. Baby Norah was very cute, Jakson was terrified, and Storey, well, she thinks that she is Norah's true mother. Thankfully Jak held it together and didn't vomit, although he looked pretty close a few times during the visit. We were trying to get him to see that Baby Norah was just a small person like him (seriously, he was ridiculously frightened) so took the blankets off to show him her toes and I think he dry heaved a little. For a minute, I thought he was going to pass out. It was drama. Who knew that baby toes would set him off? Needless to say, he spent the entire time keeping his distance.

Storey was totally in her element. She asked to wash her hands every time she wanted to hold Norah and was very gentle. I think she would have attempted to smuggle the new baby home with us if we would have turned our backs for too long.

Baby Norah, Mom Suzy, and Storey

Yay for cousins!

Saturday Shot

Jakson's new "cheese!" face. Great, just great.
Taken on his field trip this week to the fire station. He acquired a plastic fireman hat that has turned into one more thing he and Storey fight over. It's currently smashed and in time out in the pantry.

Spring?

Jakson got an awesome (green-his favorite!) Razor scooter for his birthday, but we haven't been able to use it much because Utah's weather has issues (Snow in May? C'mon).

We purchased his scooter from CSN, though I was tempted at first to go with a cheaper version from Walmart. Then I realized that the less expensive Razor scooters don't have adjustable handle bars, making it really only appropriate for a couple of years. This scooter should last until Jak is a teenager (if scooters are still "in" that is). He also has a skateboard, but the scooter seems to be so much less frustrating to learn to ride. I assume that this is a great precursor to help him learn balance so that later he can "do jumps on the skateboard," something he often talks about. Hence, the helmet. This kid does not know the meaning of danger.

As always, working with CSN was great. Quick shipping, great customer service, and a fantastic product. Can't wait to see him ride it to kindergarten next year!

While Jakson was riding his scooter, Storey was busy pedaling her trike (she's tried the scooter a couple of times but doesn't seem to excel in coordination, just like her mom). She really takes her role as her preschool classes "Star of the Week" seriously. The paper hat has been donned literally every minute since I picked her up yesterday. She even asked to sleep in it (the answer was no). Storey is nothing if not dedicated.


Disclosure: CSN Stores provided me with the scooter to review. All portions of this review are 100% my opinion. Pictures don't lie people-obviously the kid loves it.

Lately

• Jakson's been perfecting his George McFly laugh. Now Biff....


• There were a couple of days last week when Utah represented every season in one day, including a morning of unexpected snow. So. annoying. How are you supposed to dress for that? Shaky fist to you, Utah.
  


• I've been spending hours on the internet and phone trying to figure out all of the ins and outs to an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for Jakson's kindergarten year. Thank goodness I have an amazing advocate to accompany me, but I'm still feeling quite lost. Sorting through all of the laws and my rights is basically my full time job right now. I'm also having a lot of internal debates. P.E. or no P.E.? Lunch with the other kids or a pull out? Jak is so unpredictable in large social situations that he'll either do great or meltdown. I wish I had a crystal ball. Maybe I'll pick up a Magic 8 Ball on my next shopping trip and make all decisions based on its answers. Signs point to yes.
  


• A couple of nights ago, Zak turned on the radio after dinner and Jakson asked him if we could listen to Dave Ramsey. Raising my child right. Check.
  


• Storey's current favorite phrase is "Don't talk to me like that, Mommy." To which I reply, "Oh no you didn't." Yikes. What will her junior high years be like?


• We had so much fun canning jam that we've decided to can again this week. We think tomatoes might be next. Any suggestions? Canning is so romantic.