One of those days

The sun was shining and we had lots to do! We ran errands. We bought vegetable starters. We planted them in my mom's backyard. Owen helped me fill the holes with water. Miles loved playing in the exersaucer outside. I dropped off treats to my visiting teaching girls. We went and took pictures of my nieces at Daybreak Lake. We came home and I mowed the lawn. I was feeling all warm and fuzzy because Steve was spending his Friday night helping the neighbors lay sod. Owen and I watered all the bushes and flowers. Miles was taking an extra long nap due to all of the earlier activities. The day felt especially colorful and perfect. The night ended with Owen and Steve "camping out" in a tent in Owen's room. I was writing the easiest talk I have ever written on "baptism." I am beaming. It was a good day.

Shhh....It's a Surprise!

We celebrated 50 years of my mom's life! I started planning in March for her birthday in May. I decided a surprise was definitely in order. I had in my mind an idea for what I wanted to do, so little by little I got it all together. I wanted to keep it colorful, fun and summery, so I avoided the black/grey/silver cliches. My aunts were a big help with most of the food: Chile Colorado (my mom's favorite, and one of mine), chile con queso, Abby's rice: I don't know what this dish is technically called, but it is the bomb. Rice mixed with sour cream and corn topped with chiles and cheese. DELISH. Chips, salsa, quac, and lets not forget my mom's other fave: WINE. haha. I was left with desserts and punch. I had invited the family of course, but also a lot of friends and co-workers. Unfortunately, not many could make it, but we had a good handful. Also, this was in the middle of May. My aunt has an awesome backyard and I was so excited to do it outside, but of course, it was raining. Either way it was fun. My mom is really awesome. She is always giving of her time and talents. She is an awesome "Kika" to my boys, and they adore her. She is fun and active and fun to be around. If anyone deserves a celebration, it is her. For her gift I made her a book, which I will have to post pictures of later, but it was a fun project for me. I little by little got learn about my mother's child hood, teen years and into adulthood. Some things I learned: my mom's grandmother, brother, and father all died in the same year (1970) My mother lived in a convent for a while. My mom was a daddy's girl, possibly the favorite (shhh). My mom moved to the States kind of on a whim. She had come to visit her sister and decided not to go home. One of her fist jobs was selling encyclopedias, and (so she says) everyone was jealous of her. Ha! That really made me laugh. My grandma traded their home with someone in the city (after my grandpa had passed away). She changed her mind and was able to trade back.

I think she may have been tipped off in the end, but oh well, it was fun!

Blog Name

in my adventures as a professional blog stalker I have come to realize that I don't have a cool, funny, whitty, or even up to date "Blog Name." In fact it is currently titled Steve*Angie*Owen. There has been one more person for nearly 8 months. Oops. So I got to thinking, what should I name my blog? I thought of some ideas, some funny, some dumb, some kind of negative and whiny, and some simple but fun ones. I decided to show you some of those ideas....except any debby downer ones. I am by no means a perfect mom living in bliss with my ANGEL children while we float around on clouds, BUT I have decided that I will focus on the positive and be thankful for the blessing that is mommyhood. So here are a few ideas, What do you think? I think I've made my decision, but before I reveal it, I would love to hear some thoughts? suggestions? do I even have more than 4 people viewing my blog?
I think I'm funny. What I don't understand is how some bloggers come up with the craziest names of fruits and vegetables with linen and whatever...The closest I could get would be bruised brown banana. Actually, that fits our family perfect. There. I found a name. Just kidding. Comments, please.