Talentless

Earlier today I was oowing and awing over some photos a friend of mine took. (Go here to oo and awe with me: http://www.ericakirbyphotography.com/.)
Well, James thoughtfully said, "Wow. You should get some talent too."
Oh gee, thanks. As if I wasn't already feeling like the only person in the world without a great talent to share with the world, my husband had to go and confirm my fear. I laughed a little. He explained that he meant I need a talent that will make us money. Didn't make me feel better. Now I'm talentless and not contributing financially. Oh bother. I love my husband. I think the things he loves most about me are the things I do that prove how talentless I am: dance like I'm five, burn everything, etc.
The only thing I was ever sort of good at was writing, but I don't write songs any more and my poems are way too embarrassing to share, so my blog is the only thing that sort of reflects my love for writing. The problem with that is... EVERYONE blogs and so many people are so great at it. And why are we so interested in other people's lives? Like strangers lives. It's a bit odd, don't you think?

I don't sew (well), paint, cook (well), take pretty pictures, dress fancy, etc...

Soo... I'm on the hunt for a talent. Wish me luck.

Swing and a Miss

We're in limbo and my back is starting to ache.
We live in a college town and yet we are both done with school.
We applied for a job on campus that we totally got our hopes up for. James seriously would be perfect for it. We convinced ourselves that we would like to stay for awhile. It seemed like most of our problems would be solved with getting this job and we have been so excited.
Welp... we got a "you're great, just not the greatest" e-mail today. He didn't even get an interview. It's so hard not to feel discouraged.
We feel trapped, but if we leave, what are we going to find on the other side?
I see so many of our friends getting great jobs. They're leaving Idaho and moving on to bigger and better things. I have friends moving all over the country for grad school or air force positions or other government training thingys and all sorts of grown-up jobs. I guess I'm just wondering when that'll be us.
I want to go back to school so badly. I have already thought of an idea for my thesis paper.
James loves his job here. It's a really great job for him and it provides for our family, but we feel like we're getting left behind when it comes to other opportunities.

How do you force yourself to fit in in a place where you just don't fit in any more? We just feel a little defeated and are (at least I am) struggling to stand up again.

Poopy Trained!

I can finally say that Ezra is poopy trained! When we started potty training, I thought it was a breeze. He caught on fast. I even said, "I don't know why parents always act like it's such a stressful thing." Then he took several steps back and refused to poop on the potty. He has been pee trained for a couple of months now, but the poop was a problem. He would poop in his underwear EVERY day. I didn't think he'd ever be completely potty trained.

 Until about two weeks ago James held him down (screaming) on the potty and the poop plopped in. It was traumatic, but he got many prizes afterwards. I may have even teared up a little because I was so proud. Ever since he hasn't had any problem. He gets excited and proud of himself and loves to say, "bye pee-pee! bye poopies!" when he flushes them away.

It's so exciting to not have to buy diapers or pull-ups any more!

And I just love that little bum in little boy underwear!

What?

 I'm a mom, we like our kids bums. It's not weird.

Here's my two cents: They'll do it when they're ready. AND it's not a race.

Congrats little Ez Man! We're proud of you.

I Love My Family

I am totally in love. I have 3 boys who feel the same about me. This thing called family is most certainly a blessing from a loving Heavenly Father.

I love my Makie Mak. He truly has a smile that brightens my world. 

(I know these pictures are blurry :( My camera is having issues including auto-focus difficulty. Not to mention I'm like the only person in the world who can't take a decent picture.)

Mix a swing with the tickles of a loving daddy and you get auto heart-melting smiles.

Mix a loving, wild daddy with an equally rambunctious 2 year old and you get joyful squeals that would put the care bears out of a job. (My Ezzy is seriously too fast to get a picture of these days. I'm working on it.)

I am totally in love with my family. Not everyday feels this way, so I'm savoring this moment :)

Kayleen's Fancy Homemade Garlic Bread

And James says I can't cook. Psh..

Yes, my fire alarm went off. I made homemade garlic bread seasoning and I was really excited to taste it, so I popped in a couple new slices and literally sat in front of the oven and watched them. It actually turned out to be delicious when it wasn't on fire.

I have been trying a bunch of new recipes lately and I have actually been getting "mmm's" and "this is really good!" and requests for encores. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but James has truthfully been enjoying my cooking lately. It makes it much more fun to cook when the people you're cooking for actually like the food :) Though I'm still getting used to my oven, so I obviously have some kinks to work out.