squished boys

my sister hailey pointed out to me that i haven't posted very many pictures of my kids lately. so here's a few of the boys eating apple jacks (don't judge) and pineapple for dinner after an afternoon at the pool in march. they love to sit on these high bar stools at the counter just off of our kitchen. we only have two stools and all three of them squish onto both of them for almost every meal. its one of my most favorite sights ever...

a better day than yesterday....

i woke up earlier than usual, started some laundry and did a little cleaning around the house.

watched some general conference.

went with some awesome friends to get pedicures and lunch.

wrote some thank you notes for baby girl gifts while watching some more conference.

but this i think made my day: after the second session of conference i was getting ready to run some errands when joel runs in the house and asks if he can go to the pool because some of his friends were going. i told him it was too cold, plus dad was was taking a nap and i had to go to costco. "sorry kiddo, there's no one to take you to the pool right now." he ran away for a minute and then came back holding a piece of paper and a pen. "okay mom, what are you getting at costco?" i started naming a couple things and he started making a list for me. it was completely adorable, tickled my funny bone, and made me totally giddy with happiness. here's my costco shopping list by joel:


p.s. we call broccoli "trees" in our fam, just in case you were wondering...

i'm so grateful that we can wake up every day and be a little better than the last day. and thanks for all your encouraging and justifying comments.... a girl needs to feel like she's not the devil sometimes.

on a roll

a bad roll that is...

i haven't had the best day.

yelled at my kids a lot (they haven't been on their best behavior either).

called out a lady on craiglist for falsely advertising a baby bouncer i was trying to buy from her.

grumbled and complained to ben about the little girl that lives at our apartment complex who is always bossing my kids around.

and last but not least, i said something pretty rude to this guy who lives in our complex. this man, and older guy, lives in the apartment right next to the spa at our pool, so he often comes out and complains about the kids being too loud or other such nonsense. and EVERY SINGLE TIME i have a conversation with him, i'm not exaggerating here, he gives me at LEAST one piece of unsolicited advice about how to parent my children. here's our conversation today:

man: "wow, those kids sure don't mind the cold water."

me: "nope." (i always try to keep it brief with him hoping he'll get the hint... no such luck)

man: "you know i've lived here 5 years and i have the only pool side apartment in the whole place."

me: i just kind of nod. uh huh. i'm thinking, here it comes....

man: "you know you should really make sure that those kids don't jump into the spa or they could crack their heads open..." (are you kidding me? do you think i'm an idiot and let my kids jump into the spa?)

me: "i can take care of my children on my own, thank you."

he kind of just looked at me stunned and then hobbled off after a minute. why whitney? why? why couldn't i just say, "thanks, i appreciate your concern for my kids." or "yes, they already know they aren't allowed to jump in the spa, but thanks for looking out for them" but no, i couldn't do it...

do you ever feel like you've become the worst version of yourself? i just feel so angry and confrontational today. i think i just need to go to bed and start over tomorrow. and thank you one and all for listening to my negative rant.