I'm Back

It was so great to go to girls camp...especially since I only had to sleep up there one night. I will post about my trip later.

But for now...

I noticed just now that ROB is wearing the EXACT same outfit as he was when I left. Not only was it the outfit he was wearing when I left but...he put the out fit on Monday morning and here we are on Thursday and he hasn't changed once. The same outfit for 4 days (and it isn't even a cute one) How gross is that?? Cortney let him sleep in his clothes and never once got him dressed. Hahaa.

I better go give him a bath.

it's that time of year again

Girls camp starts tomorrow. I wasn't going to go this year, between Henry being little, Cortney being hurt, and not actually having a car to drive, I had decided it just wasn't going to happen. Then on Wednesday at our camp activity I started feeling pretty sad that I wasn't going to be there. So I made some calls and sent some emails and decided to just go up for the first two days and ride home with the relief society presidency. I am so glad I decided to go. So I leave in the morning bright and early. I can't wait. My boys have been clinging to me and crying all day, they don't want me to leave. That makes me feel good...they do love me. Haha.

Until I get back.

bountiful baskets take two

I think one of the best parts of Bountiful Baskets is the surprise of what we are going to get. Even the boys are totally thrilled to see what is going to be in our basket. I think I love it.

Todays basket was better then last time I think. I weighed it when I got home and it weighed in at 40 lbs. The basket total cost with tax and everything is 16.50 so it comes out to 41 cents a pound. Pretty darn good. Today we had green cauliflower, 2 tomatoes, a pineapple, 6 peaches, 7 ears of corn, a 5 lb bag of beautiful potatoes, 2 heads of romaine lettuce, red grapes, bananas, 10 plums, and 2 huge cucumbers.

I am sure 99% percent of the people that read this could care less about this (that one percent is you shane) but I am fascinated by stuff like this.

Last night the boys slept outside at Cali's house in a tent with no adults. It was their first real sleep out. They loved it. We watched a movie over there and then when we left at midnight we took Rob home with us. He was the only person asleep out there and they had been trying to wake him up...by screaming in his ears, walking on him...and stuff like that. Needless to say at the time he was ready to go home...but by this morning he was pretty ticked off, that we brought him home.

When we were getting the tent ready it was so nostalgic for me. The smell the feel of the air reminded me so much of the summer nights we used to spend on the tramp or in a tent. I loved my childhood.

As if I didn't have enough trampoline pictures here are a couple more. We really do spend a lot of evenings outside...

the boys flipping over each other. Looks scary huh?

This next picture has got to be one of my favorite pictures OF ALL TIME. Seriously it is hilarious.

I love Rob's PERFECT karate form in this picture, the pointed toe, the elbow tucked to the side. It totally depicts what it is like around here ALL THE TIME.

cute

When Rob is mad steer clear. Jack said last night that when Rob's cheeks get red you have to GET OUT OF HIS WAY. It is true...this little boy has a temper. He looks like this at least 1/2 of his day.

In this picture Oliver is actually laugh/crying because Rob kicked him in the stomach.

Oliver mastered the backflip this summer. He is so good at everything he tries it amazes me.

Henry 9 months...and crawling (kinda)

Henry's stats at 9 months:

Weight- 21.61 lbs 68.1 percentile

Height-29 inches 75.51 percentile

Head- 18 inches 63.27 percentile

Henry still only has the two bottom teeth. He is finally standing up (when I make him), sitting up, rolling over, and army crawling.

His favorite food BY FAR is sweet potatoes. He can probably eat a whole jar in 2 minutes. I can't get it fast enough for him.

He still sleeps tons...although he kept trying to wake up at 4 for a bottle. I got him over that quick though. He usually goes to sleep with the boys around 7-8 and then I wake him up for a bottle before I got to bed around midnight. Then he usually has a bottle while Cortney gets ready for work around 8 and then he sleeps in until 10 usually. Two days ago I had to wake him up at 11:30 because I was worried about him. hahaa. He usually takes two naps during the day depending on what we have going on around here.

The boys sure love him and they call him Bro bro. They run downstairs when they hear him awake in his bed. It has been so fun to watch.

Henry also claps when he hears music.

I think we are going to start calling him Hank...he sure looks like a Hank.

Untitled from ashley boice on Vimeo.

Untitled from ashley boice on Vimeo.

pavlova

Have you ever had pavlova?? I had never had it until right after I had Oliver...my friend Molly made it for a party. I tasted it...and then practically ate the whole pan all by myself. She even made me one this last time I was pregnant. Ohhhh it has got to be one of my favorite desserts. Creme brulee and Pavlova. For sure my faves.

We had gotten a bunch of fruit because I decided to try out bountiful baskets. It is a produce co-op and you get a bunch of fruit and veggies for 15 dollars. I can't decide if I think it is a stellar deal or not. I know you get the produce for cheaper than it would cost in a store...but...I probably wouldn't buy white asparagus, or blue berries because they are too expensive. On the other hand...my kids loved having something other then bananas and apples which is the produce we usually have. The first week I did it this is what I got.

7 ears of corn, bananas, cherry tomatoes, cantaloup, brussel sprouts, summer squash, white asparagus, lettuce, oranges, grapes, blueberries and nectarines.

We have ate everything we got in a week (except for the brussel sprouts...I want to roast them but it has been too hot). It was nice to have tons of produce.

Anyways back to the pavlova...I had some fruit and I thought it would be a perfect time to try my hand at making a pavlova. I have always kinda been scared of them...because it seems like the shell could be tricky to make...plus you have to have parchment paper, which I never have.

I used this recipe from allrecipes.com. It was easy and turned out delicious. It is the perfect summer dessert...making fresh produce the star. I used what I had but it would be yummy with just about any fruit (besides banana...yuck). You should do yourself a favor and make this.

Next time I make it I am going to follow this recipe.

p.s. Mine was a little overdone...so next time I will probably cook it 5 minutes less (it shouldn't be quite so brown). I also sweeten my whipped cream with a little powdered sugar and almond extract (I love almond extract)

Even though it was a little overdone it was still so good...even better the next day for lunch.

Now here are a bunch of pictures of my boys playing on the tramp...it might seem dangerous but I was right there and I wasn't letting them jump with henry on the tramp.

This here is a pretty typical summer evening for us. Lucky for you guys...you can hear just how loud it is. hahaa. Looks peaceful and relaxing...pictures can be so deceiving.

Look at that happy face...and you can kinda see his two new teeth.

we have been having shish kabobs like crazy. To me it is the perfect summer dinner. (don't mind the totally dirty grill...yick)

They kept saying that henry looked just like baby Jesus wrapped up like this.

It surprised me just how much Oliver and Henry's profiles look the same in this picture.

They have the exact same eyes...and ears...haha.

Poor baby...he always has someone in his face.

It looks like Henry has had enough.

I don't know what my boys are doing here.

Have I mentioned lately how great Cortney has been doing lately. SOOO much better. He still is really sore (crazy that he can still be hurting) but he is sleeping better at night...and able to help me around the house A LOT more.

We are so grateful and so blessed. A young mom was riding her bicycle this last week here in Draper and was hit by a truck...she died and left behind two little girls. It breaks my heart.

It scares me to know how close that was to being Cortney.

Seriously, it sucks that he is hurt and it has been so hard, but we are SO blessed.

I am grateful everyday that Cortney is getting better. He is such a good dad. My kids are always asking which arm is hurt so they know which side they can climb on. It is pretty cute.

sunday

Today we all happened to match for church. How cute is that? I couldn't resist a couple of pictures (of course after church when we all look a little frazzled).

A couple weeks ago Henry was sick and I had been up all night with him. When our alarm went off at 7:20...I wasn't having it...there was no way I was going to church. Cortney got the kids ready and headed off alone...leaving me to watch baby Henry. When they came home hours later and I saw what Oliver was wearing...I promised myself that my boys would get church clothes...pronto. Oliver looked like a teenage skater kid...whose parents were making him go to church. I wasn't having that. So for the first time ever I went and bought my kids everything. Usually I just get a church shirt on clearance but I don't have good church pants or church shoes. Rob wore yellow crocs to church for a whole year. I have committed to be better. So yesterday I went into a store...bought the sale uniforms they had and I got the whole outfit. I was so excited.

Waking up this morning with clothes for my boys changed the way we get ready for church. Usually I am trying to pull some crazy outfit together. The only set back we had today was when Henry peed all over Cortney's tie shirt and pants. Ooops. Oh and Oliver was freaking out a little because he had to tuck his shirt in. He said it "isn't in fashion".

Oliver said...that picture is gross.

haha...I kinda agree. :)

As we were getting ready to go inside Rob said..."one more picture this time with mad smiles"...this is what he came up with. I think it is my favorite one too.

On a side note Robbie just shot Oliver with a blow dart gun. Like a real blow dart gun. Oliver told him he was going to have to go to Juvie. With a kid like Rob why do we even have a blow gun?? Rob has deadly accuracy. Yesterday he was shooting water balloons. I told Cortney that there was no way the kids were responsible for something like that...he didn't believe me. Turns out I was right in the end.

All day today I felt like I am going to have a daughter next. Am I crazy to get my hopes up??

I taught in church today...and despite my brain being super scattered from lack of sleep, I think it went well. I took a bowl of cornstarch and added water to it...to show the girls how if you work on your testimony every day it stays solid...but the second you stop it turns liquid. It was REALLY messy but I think they got the idea. I told them "if I obey I'll be happy all day"...and I told them if they obey they will get whatever they want. The lesson was on Testimony through obedience. I was glad to teach today...that meant Cortney got Henry during his bad part of church. :)

Came home and took a long nap.

what a great sunday.

despite the blow gun incident.

Rob.

I just went in to the kitchen to find Rob had made himself 5, yes FIVE pieces of toast. I can't decide if I should hope he eats them all or not...if he doesn't what a waste...if he does though...that seems a little out of control. Raising a household of boys just got a little scary for me...if he is eating me out of house and home at 4 years old what can I expect of him at 16??

I've hit an all time low

Even for me this is amazing...

Today I was yawning and stretching and I threw my neck/back out.

I have got to get in shape.

I don't know where to even start...

so I guess I will just start where I left off. Joslyn Miller was born hmmm like June 26th I think it was...I was so happy that she made it here safe and sound...although it was pretty scary for the first little bit.

Me and all the boys (including Cortney) left Wednesday night for Rexburg. We were supposed to be going in our car but earlier that day Cortney was driving to Cabela's (of course) on his lunch break and the car broke down...indefinitely. The transmission is out so our car is done-zo. We have had that car 10 years. I have been driving for a total of 13 years and 10 were spent driving that car. I don't know how to drive anything else. I have been really sad about it.

The lucky part was I had planed for months now to drive to Moses Lake to see my best girlfriends, the week that Cortney got hit by a car. I obviously didn't go because he was hurt. Boy oh boy am I glad I didn't go...it would have been so stressful/scary breaking down with my three babies in the middle of nowhere all by myself. Thank heaven in broke down close to home.

So anyways...we made it to Rexburg around 11. I was so happy to be "home" and so glad to see all of my Boices. Tyler and Nicole had come up for the weekend (from REno), along with Cameron and Leah (from SLC), and Whitney and Bodin(from pocatello).

We got there so late but I was so giddy to see Tyler and Nicole that we stayed up laughing and talking until LATE (oh and I had been up at 4:30 that morning to see Eclipse so I was WRECKED). I love them.

Anyways the next morning I got ready and flew out of the Idaho Falls airport. The tickets to LA were like 50 dollars each way. Cheap. It worked out perfect because I was able to go see Sam....and Cortney had plenty of help with the boys.

I got to the LA airport and called my mom and aunt Vicki, they were on their way to pick me up but stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. I just sat and read and relaxed. It is amazing how wonderful just being alone is...how relaxing it is, when you are NEVER alone. I waited about an hour and then when I saw them I was so EXCITED, it was wonderful to see both of them...it had been forever. I can't even say how awesome it was to see my mom...their mission is going by so slow.

We headed back to Sam's house and this time drove along the ocean the whole way...with the windows open. It was beautiful. Of course I took my camera out to take a picture and the battery was dead. Oh well.

Sam's house was so cute and just as I expected. I loved just being able to help her. To play with her kids and feed them lunch and take them to the store. Usually when we are together there are so many kids I can't even get to know them. It was great to be kidless.

I had a wonderful but short visit. Cali flew in on Saturday 12 hours before I flew out. We did however manage to sneak in another showing of Eclipse.

You'd think we were obsessed or something...I think I wore the exact same outfit to both showings...which isn't hard considering all I wear is white t-shirts.

Here she is Josi...so cute.

Henry is freaking out so my update will continue later.

Bieber fever

I have been gone...it was wonderful...more on that later...

I just heard Rob tell Oliver "Oli, it's okay to like Justin Bieber."

Oliver always says he hates him...because all the girls at his school sing his songs all day long and it is annoying.

Rob is trying to tell him it is okay to ADMIT that he likes him. hahaa. Rob LUVS him.