A REALLY Good Discovery

Okay, so I know that Jenny has been giving some good baking soda and vinegar tips and I know there a lot of other people out there that have better ways to clean and good ideas to save time and fun things to do with your kids, etc. I have just decided that eventually I will probably give all of the ideas of "things that you shouldn't eat but that taste REALLY good". I was looking for a little somethin' to eat tonight and saw some vanilla ice cream in our freezer. I wasn't really wanting just plain boring vanilla ice cream. So here is my really good discovery that I made tonight: Scoop some ice cream into a cup and then grab a packet (actually, I only used half a packet, but I think either amount would work) anyway, grab a packet of hot cocoa and mix it up in another cup with a tiny bit of hot water (maybe a tablespoon or so) so that there aren't any lumps. Then pour the hot cocoa mix into the ice cream cup and stir it all up. Or you could probably do it all in a blender. It tastes SOOOO good. It's like a hot cocoa milkshake. Some of you might have tried this out before but I was very excited about it. What can I say, I love my sweets!

Daddy Fun Time

I just really liked this picture a lot.:) Jaiden loves riding on his Dad's shoulders.

Bathtime in the Sink

I just realized a while ago that I had never taken any pictures of Jaiden taking a bath in the sink. We only have a shower in our apartment (which Jaiden is afraid of) so we have to give Jaiden baths in the sink. We're just glad we're moving before he gets too much bigger or else he wouldn't fit anymore. He was too busy playing to look at the camera.

A Little Thought

What is success?
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
I've been switched over at church from being in the Young Women's Presidency to just teaching the class. This a big load off my shoulders and I really love teaching the girls every Sunday instead of just once a month but I do miss going to all of the fun activities. Anyway, I found this poem a week or two ago while I was getting a lesson ready and couldn't get it out of my head. I really loved it so I thought I would share it. It just reminds us that the little things in life can sometimes be the big things to others.

Our Little Boy's Big Boo Boo!

I have one thing to say about these pictures, this is what happens when you don't have any carpet in your whole apartment. This is why the world needs carpet. Poor little Jaiden has had a rough time on these floors of ours. This afternoon, he took quite a tumble and ended up with this giant bump on his head. Just a couple of weeks before this happened, he slipped and hit his face on the floor, cutting his lip and his gums and getting a humongous fat lip. The poor kid keeps getting beat up here but he's hangin' in there.

We love Chocolate!!

Okay, I will let you all know this is how I over did it with chocolate at our house. Justin thought he could get away with trying to eat healthy on Valentine's Day but he forgot what kind of woman he was married to. hee hee So we had good intentions when we went to Walmart a week before Valentine's day and only bought one bag of Valentine's chocolates. Then throughout the week I was thinking to myself how cute it would be to have the pink whoppers for Valentine's Day. So I snuck over to Walmart again and bought those. (Justin didn't know about the Whoppers until the day of) Then I was trying to think of something cute to make for Josh and Jenny and maybe some other people if I got ambitious enough. I thought of making brownies and cutting them into heart shapes with frosting designs. They turned out really cute. I only made a plate for Josh and Jenny and then I had a lot left over so I put those on a plate for us too. Oh, and I put the leftover brownie that wasn't heart shaped in the freezer for future brownie sundaes. Then on Valentine's Eve, I went to the Young Women's activity where the boys from church had a surprise for all of the girls. They gave all the girl's in our Young Women's group a teddy bear and a chocolate rose and gave all of the Young Women's leaders a pretty big box of chocolates. SO I also had that chocolate. My mom also sent us a bag of chocolate to add to all of that. Anyway, that is how the great chocolate festival in the Lyman household came to pass. Justin and I also spent our Valentine's eating scrumptious food at Denny's. (One of the safer places to eat in Douglas) We had a lot of fun!

Mmmm..Ketchup

I think it is an understatement when I say that Jaiden likes ketchup. He LOVES ketchup and he can never get enough of it. When we have fries for dinner we give him a couple of fries and a squeeze of ketchup and let him do his own thing, which would be to grab a fry dip it in the ketchup and then suck it all off without actually eating the french fry. All that is left when he is done is a bunch of soggy french fries.

Glad to Be Here

I just wanted to write a note today just to say that I am so glad to be living in Arizona right now. It is so beautiful outside today. I took Jaiden for a walk in his new stroller this morning and I didn't want to come back inside. Then we ate our lunch outside in the patio area and played a little soccer with Justin across the street. It is supposed to reach 71 degrees outside today according to the local news. I was so excited that I went and put on flip flops before I went out.

Little Boys are Bundles of Joy

Here are some pictures of Jaiden that Sara took during Thanksgiving last year.


He was always trying to sneak into the cupboard that Sara and Joe kept their soda in. Sara decided she wanted to catch him in the act.

Baby It's Cold Outside

We were lucky to be in Blanding for the first snow of the season the day after Thanksgiving. I tried to get Justin to come outside with me to take a picture but I guess he's just lived in Arizona for too long and doesn't like the cold anymore. :)