California

Actually a few of these are still from Idaho, they were on our other camera and I forgot about them.
Family hiking trip. The boys actually did pretty well and didn't complain too much at all.

Roadtrippin!

We got to California late on Saturday night and Brandon had to fly back home Sunday afternoon. The boys and I really missed him but he couldn't take much time off from his new job and he had to start his classes. Even though it sucked to be away from him for so long, it worked out for the best. It was so nice for me to be in California after my injury because I really didn't have to lift a finger. I was able to keep my foot elevated and rest it and was pretty much waited on hand and foot thanks to my Mom and sisters!

Here's Part 2 of my broken foot story: I went to the orthopedist on Monday morning fully expecting to have surgery. But after looking at my foot and the x-rays, the doctor there told me I wouldn't need surgery and that my foot would heal on its own. I kept asking her if she was sure (because I'd seen how far the bone was sticking out immediately after the accident), she consulted two other doctors and they all agreed, no surgery. They just gave me one of those hideous walking boots to wear while it healed. I was obviously excited and relieved that I wouldn't be having surgery that day, so I just said thanks and left. They told me to make a follow-up appointment with my doctor a few weeks after I got back to DC. So I headed home with my Mom and spent the next 2 weeks "recovering." Every morning when I'd take the boot off to shower, though, I felt uneasy. It was much less swollen in the mornings and I could see that the bone was still majorly jutting out of the side of my foot (between that and the fact that half of my foot was covered in huge black bruises, it was a pretty disgusting sight). I kept thinking, "there's no way that's going to heal properly," but I decided to trust what the doctors had told me. Anyways, enough about my foot for now. Here's a ton of pictures from California:

My Mom took the boys to a place called Pretend City. It's exactly what it sounds like, a pretend city just for kids. Here are the boys playing at the grocery store.

Just like Mommy :-)

Me and Vi

All the cousins cooking with Nana

On the way to the pool

This is how I spent pretty much every day in California. Relaxing in the pool, keeping my feet up and playing with the kids :-) It certainly didn't suck!

All worn out from swimming

At the park with Grandpa David

Beach time!

I love this picture of Cullen with his Uncle Jon!

Sliding with Brian at the park

She's so cute, she just kills me!

Disneyland! Jack and Cullen are patiently waiting for their turn on the carousel. We got to go through the handicap lines on most of the rides, which are much, much shorter than the regular lines. It was awesome! There aren't many perks to having a broken foot, but this was a big one!

We watched Cars earlier this summer and the boys loved it! They were very excited to find Lightning McQueen and Mater at Disneyland.

My Grandma Sue with all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren (minus baby Max who couldn't stay awake quite long enough)

The whole family on my Mom's side (again, minus baby Max)

Playing cards with my sisters

More pool time, I think we went nearly every single day!

Jack doing some poolside "baking"

Auntie Rachel with her boys, we wish she could have stayed longer!

Disneyland again, we waited in line for 20 minutes for the boys to meet Winnie the Pooh and they kept yelling "Hi" from the line. They seemed super excited to meet them... until it was actually our turn of course. Then Jack and Cullen freaked out and refused to get near any of them. We held up the line for a few minutes trying to get them to agree to take a picture. No luck. As we were walking away, though, Cullen gave Eeyore a high five.

Jack and Cullen with their Great-grandpa Dennis and Great-grandma Ann who came all the way from New Hampshire to visit all of us.

Jack went around the entire outside of the pool several times just holding onto the edge and scooting along.

Cousins at the pool, there's baby Max!

Violet can't get enough of the water, she would swim all day if she could!

So brave!

Cullen loved shooting people with his water gun

The boys and I flew home early Sunday morning. We actually had a red-eye which turned out to be very fortunate after I broke my foot. The airport allowed Renee and Jon to help me through security and wait at the gate with me and the boys. Then one of the flight attendants carried my bags and held the boys' hands while we boarded. I set up the DVD player as soon as we got our seats and the boys were asleep within 30 minutes. They slept the entire flight, never needed a diaper change (good thing, because I'm not sure I could have given them one anyways) and didn't wake up until we landed in DC. Then the flight attendants carried them off, put them in their stroller and walked us out to the gate where Brandon was waiting with a wheelchair for me. I was majorly nervous about making a cross-country flight with my toddlers while on crutches but God was kind to us and worked everything out perfectly. We loved every minute we spent with our families, but it is really nice to be home with Brandon again. We all missed him a lot!

Idaho 2011

Seeing as how it's been a month since I've last blogged, I thought it was about time. We just returned on Sunday from our 3 week trip home. We flew to Idaho for a week, drove to California and then flew back home. Like always, it was an adventure, a little hectic at times, but totally fun to spend so much time with our families. We had a great time in Idaho at the O'Malley's new ranch (that they had just bought and moved into the day before we arrived- surprise!). The boys loved having so much outdoor space to run around and play in. Brandon and I were having tons of fun too... until I broke my foot. It happened on Thursday afternoon and we were scheduled to drive 15 hours to California bright and early on Saturday.

How did it happen? Well, we'd been spending a relaxing day by the creek, just hanging out on a sandbar, reading and playing with the boys. Then, Brandon and I and his parents decided to head up into the mountains on the ATVs for a quick ride before heading home. Brandon was driving a little too fast, missed a turn and we were headed straight for the steep embankment and right over the side of the mountain. I freaked out, thought the ATV was going to flip on us for sure (my biggest fear) or that we were just going to fall all the way down the side of the mountain (either way, I thought we were going to die), so as soon as we went off the road I went with my first instinct and jumped off. Unfortunately for me, we were on a very steep hill and I was wearing flip-flops (yes, I realize how stupid that was now). I landed on a log, twisted my foot the wrong way and broke the base of my little toe. I didn't realize it was broken at first, I thought/hoped it was just a broken blood vessel or something. But it hurt pretty badly and I couldn't stand up or walk on it at all. The ATV had crashed into a tree about 10 feet down the side of the mountain (it came away with only a small dent in the fender) and Brandon had jumped off too and was a little bruised and cut up, but he was fine.

Thankfully Sari spotted us from the road and she and Brandon carried me back up the hill. Gary and Brandon winched our ATV back up onto the road and we drove them down to the car. Then Brandon and I drove to the hospital in Ketchum where they x-rayed my foot and confirmed that it was indeed broken. The bone had rotated nearly 90 degrees and was jutting out of my foot- sorry if that's TMI. They said it would probably need surgery but there wasn't much they could do until the swelling went down (by the time we got to the hospital 2 hours after the accident, the swelling was the size of a baseball) so they splinted it, gave me some Vicodin, and told me to have it looked as soon as I got to California. That's Part 1 of my broken foot story, there's more to come but I'll share the rest later.

Anyways, aside from the terrifying ATV accident and resulting broken foot, we had a fantastic time in Idaho ;-) No really, we did. Even after the accident, we had a lovely last day at the lake and fun family game nights. Here are the pictures- for some reason blogger uploaded them backwards so we'll start at the end of the trip and work our way back to the beginning.

Blurry, yes, but this picture was taken about 5 minutes before the accident.

The boys playing in the sand at Redfish Lake. One benefit of a broken foot: I got to sit in the sand, soak up the sun, and take lots of pictures of my boys.

Boat ride with Daddy. They didn't hate it but they certainly didn't love it. Maybe next year...

Brandon and Jack, I love this picture!

View from the O'Malley's new cabin. If you look closely, you can see a herd of elk in front of the trees and bushes.

Right after we got home from the hospital. Cullen thought my splint was awesome and wanted his leg wrapped up too. Hence the dishtowel.

The rest of these pictures are pre-accident. Jack eating ice cream by the river.

Spending the day at Stanley lake, we had such a great time! This is one of my favorite places in Stanley.

Cullen

Loving on Uncle Scott

Brothers :-)

Hounding Auntie Ashlee to see the pictures she'd just taken of them.

Grandma and her boys

Jack

Helping Grandpa collect firewood, the boys loved having fires every morning!

An animal bone we found after an ATV ride one day.

Fishing with Grandpa

The boys spent a lot of time playing outside the cabin

Their neighbors have horses so we walked over to the fence to visit them every day.

Giving the boys a ride up the driveway on the ATVs.

Next up, our California pictures!

My Funny Boys

I forgot to mention that the boys had a mini check-up at the beginning of the month. Jackson is 34.5 inches tall and weighs 26.4 pounds. Cullen is 35 inches tall and weighs 27.4 pounds. They're both still in the 25th percentile (as always) for both height and weight but I was surprised to see how much they'd grown since their last check-up in January. They've each gained about 2 pounds and grown nearly an inch in just 6 months! A few months ago I thought Jack's arms were freakishly skinny. They still might be, but he's definitely looking better. It's weird how you don't notice all the little changes and then, all of a sudden one day, you realize you're looking at a completely different kid! Sometimes I'd like a pause button on life.

Anyways, here are some funny stories from around our house lately:

- Yesterday the boys brought their legos bucket over to play with. When they took the lid off, I was instantly assaulted by a FOUL smell. I held my nose, peered inside the bucket and saw white gunk all over the legos. "What is that?" I asked them. They got real quiet and walked off (this is their typical response when they know they might be in trouble for something) but I quickly realized it was rotten milk! Apparently one of them had decided to pour an entire cup of milk out over the legos in the bucket, close the lid, and let it sit for a few days. Yum. You know that smell when you open a sippy cup of milk that your kid stashed under the couch for a week? Well, it was like that, but stronger. And please don't tell me I'm the only one who's had that happen. Because it's happened quite a few times... Anyways, in case you were wondering how in the world to clean up a gross, rotten mess like that, it comes right off  if you soak the pieces in bleach water overnight and then individually scrub and rinse them for an hour. That's how I spent nap time today!

- The other day, Jack asked to watch a Thomas movie. Actually, he specifically requested Thomas and the Jet Engine but I was too lazy to switch the DVDs and didn't think he'd actually know the difference anyway. Boy was I wrong. The only thing that was on the screen was the menu when Jack suddenly melted down, shrieking "NO! NO! NOOO!" I asked him what was wrong and he threw himself down on the floor and sobbed "Not that one! Watch Thomas and the Jet Engine!" I was just standing there in disbelief wondering why it mattered and how he even knew the difference in the first place. He may be watching too much Thomas...

- Cullen fell off the couch the other day and started crying. When I asked him if he'd hurt himself, he nodded, pointed to his bottom and said "Mommy, kiss the bottom."

- Lately, when I change their diapers they'll tell me "There's a big poo poo in there." Awesome. If a kid is old enough to tell you exactly what's in their diaper, aren't they too old to be wearing diapers at all????

- Cullen is using his slightly larger size to his own advantage and turning into quite a little bully. Last week, during naptime I heard a crash and then loud crying. I ran in and found Jack on the floor with blood all over his face. After I cleaned him up, I saw that it was only a bloody nose and fat lip. I asked him how it happened and he said Cullen had pushed him off the bed. When we went in to ask Cullen if he'd pushed Jack off the bed, he told me Jack had fallen off. I'm still not sure if he was lying about throwing his brother off the bed or if they were really just saying the same thing in different ways. But I've started separating them for naps if it sounds too rough in there.

- A few weeks ago at bedtime, Brandon asked the boys what they wanted to pray for. Jack replied that he'd like to pray for God. Then we said "No, we don't pray for God. We pray to God." Jack said, "Oh, two Gods! Two!" We're still working on that one with him...

-Today Cullen was pretending to stir something in a bowl. Jack came over and tried to play with him and Cullen said very matter of factly "No Jackson. Go away. I working."

- They can translate for each other. We were in the car running errands and passed an ambulance, which is always a highlight for the boys. Five minutes passed and Cullen started whining something that I couldn't make out. I told him I didn't know what he was saying and that he'd have to use his big boy voice. He continued to whine. Then Jack piped up "Am-bu-hance (Ambulance) come back! Cuhen, Am-bu-hance back!" I don't know about you, but I'm pretty amazed they can understand each other so well!

- They love talking about how they're going on an "airpwane" to Idaho and "Cowie" (Cali- I tried to get them to say California but it wasn't pretty). They keep asking if we're going "after nap?" I really need to learn my lesson and stop telling them anything more than 24 hours in advance. Otherwise I hear about it endlessly until it actually happens- in this case, for weeks!

- They're really good with directions. They tell me which way to turn, whether I should go, slow down, or stop at upcoming traffic lights, when we're about to get on the freeway, when we're about to pass the tractors and construction equipment on the freeway, when we're getting close to Daddy's work, they even announced that we were at Target the other day as we pulled into the parking lot. I seriously think they might have a better sense of direction at 2 than I do at 26.

Pentagon Visit

I had the surgery yesterday and it seems to have gone smoothly. It only took a few hours from start to finish, we picked up some Chipotle on the way home (my favorite fast food, yum!) and I've been resting with my foot elevated ever since. It's pretty swollen and painful but I've got some strong painkillers and it's worth it for the sense of relief I have that the surgery's over and my foot can finally start healing once and for all. It's in a splint for now and next Friday I get my cast on for 4-5 weeks. I already can't wait to get it off though!

Brandon's home for the holiday weekend and Sari flies in on Monday night or Tuesday so I've got plenty of help caring for the boys and keeping the house in order. Praise God for letting the surgery go well, for providing practical help for us, and especially for protecting Brandon and I so well when the accident happened. As much as it sucks to have a broken foot, I am always mindful of the fact that we easily could have been seriously injured or worse. I am so thankful He's watching over me and holding us in his hands. I needed a reminder of that!

Changing the subject, a few weeks ago, Brandon told me he could take me into the Pentagon and give me a tour. I was pretty stoked because I've always wanted to go there but after 9/11 they stopped giving public tours. Now you have to know somebody who works there to get in. I told him how excited I was to finally see it and see his office.
Brandon: "Oh, I'm not taking you to my office."
Me: "Why not? I want to see where you work."
Brandon: Silence
Me: "Is it because you're embarrassed of me?"
Brandon: More silence

He went on to explain that it's because he's just an intern and is trying his hardest to make a good impression and not seem unprofessional. He said he wasn't even sure he was allowed to bring anybody in there at all, even during business hours. I understand but I can't keep myself from teasing him about being embarrassed of me. Especially after he asked me to email him instead of calling his office during the day ;-)

Anyways, the boys and I met him there after work a few weeks ago and he took us inside and gave us a tour. The first thing that surprised me was how big it was! It's probably the biggest building I've ever been in I don't have many pictures because you're not allowed to take any inside. There are signs everywhere outlawing phones, laptops, iPods, pretty much any electronic device inside any of the rooms. All of the rooms are like triple-locked with several different types of security and Brandon couldn't get into any of them anyways so all I really saw were a bunch of non-descript hallways. But since photos aren't allowed anywhere inside the building, I didn't even get any photos of those.

Brandon did walk me by the door of his office. He said there are a few different locks and he has this futuristic ID card that he has to scan that keeps track of where he goes in the building and what he does on his computer. Creepy! I guess you really can't take security too seriously these days, though. The highlight for me was walking through the hallway where the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are and seeing all the crazy security measures. I've only ever seen stuff like that in movies. The boys love to talk about how they went to the "Pent-da-don" with Daddy. It was certainly a hit with them.

In the courtyard

Kitchen Experiments

Well, my jam making adventure was a success! It was a lot messier and harder than I thought it would be, though. I used a cooked jam recipe (as opposed to the easier freezer jam recipes because I don't have enough room in my freezer) and I had so many berries that I ended up making two batches. I used the recipe on the back of the pectin package I bought which was simple but had a TON of sugar in it. The directions said not to reduce the sugar or else the jam wouldn't set properly so I didn't risk it, I went ahead and used the full amount. It turned out delicious, but a tad sweet for my liking so the next time I attempt to make jam, I will definitely use a low-sugar recipe. Plus, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of making your own jam as opposed to buying sugary store-bought jam? Yes... but I didn't realize how much sugar I'd be using until I was already underway. And I made 8 big jars for a grand total of around $4. So I'm happy overall. I've since discovered a few canning blogs that have some amazing looking recipes and I'll probably use one of those in the future..

I had to use a skillet to cook the jam in because I only had one stockpot which I used to process the jars. Unfortunately, the jam recipe barely fit into my pan and resulted in a big sticky mess all over my stove and counters. It probably didn't help that I also don't have a funnel and had to ladle the jam right into the jars. And I will also definitely invest in a pair of those jam jar tongs to take the jars out of the pot next time. I used regular tongs this time and the jars kept slipping and splashing my arms and shoulders with boiling water. Not fun. But hey, no pain, no gain right? At least I got a ton of dirt-cheap jam out of it.I also got the immense satisfaction of making my own jam, something I've always wanted to do!

This week I also tried to make homemade yogurt and, to my great surprise, it actually worked! I used this recipe here and was totally convinced it wouldn't turn out because I either wouldn't follow the directions perfectly, used 2% instead of whole milk, or because I don't have a big cooler to incubate the yogurt in. Instead, I put the jars in my oven with the pot of boiling water underneath and added more boiling water a couple times. I could not believe my eyes when I realized it had actually turned out!

Brandon asked me what that "white stuff" was and looked at me like I was crazy when I told him. Then he gave me the same look later on as I jumped for joy that my milk had actually turned into yogurt. He's a little suspicious of it, but I've used the yogurt all week and nobody's gotten sick yet, so I'm chocking it up as a huge success and will definitely keep making my own yogurt in the future.

Anyways, the whole point of this post was just to brag about my canning and yogurt-making skills! Mission Accomplished. I hope you all are as impressed with me as I am! Just kidding ;-) If I can do it, anybody can! Also, I've heard that if you strain yogurt using a cheese cloth, it turns into Greek yogurt and then eventually cream cheese? I'll let you know how it turns out if I actually try it...