Ayres Insanity

  Oh my! My sad neglected blog. All of the time I think to myself "I should blog about that!" Why? Because my kids are hilarious and they give me plenty to blog about, what they don't give me is the time to do it, and to be honest, by the end of the day I'm so exhausted I can hardly remember to brush my teeth, let alone everything funny that happened throughout the day.  Today was no different other than the fact that I'm making a point to remember some of this day.    It's 10:30pm and I just tip toed into my kids rooms to kiss them goodnight, they're so stinking cute when they're asleep and now I'm going to take a much needed moment for myself and blog about my day instead of wasting time watching another one of those train wreck reality shows like last night.   It was rainy and dreary from the moment we woke up and I can still hear the rain pounding on the windows now. I knew it would be a rough day since we'd be cooped up inside all day, b...

  Taevin informed me the other day that he was a "grown man" and that I should stop treating him like a little kid. While I'm not so sure about the grown man thing (and I'm certainly not ready for it!), he does have somewhat of a valid point, after all, he is 8 now.   This post is clearly overdue, but Taevin turned 8 on January 16th and was baptized on February 2nd. Eight is a big birthday! My parents made sure that my 8th birthday was extra special so it was important to make sure Taevin's was too.   Grandma Airplane (my mom) came into town for the big event and got him set up with everything he needed to start the scouting program and although we opted to not do a big party with Aspen still being so little, dad took the boys out for a fun filled evening at classic skating.   The baptism went perfectly, we were surrounded by supportive family and friends and Russ did a great job with the baptism and confirmation, Taevin was such a big boy. I couldn't have ...

  This is not a recipe blog, however, I have a few recipes that are staples at my house. The kind of stuff that when you make it, people gobble it up and ask for the recipe (yeah, it's THAT good).   Well, this particular recipe that I'm about to share is one that I got while I was on my mission and it's one of my favs! In fact, every year I celebrate the coming of fall by making this soup, buying a new sweater and warming my pumpkin spice scentsy. I started this tradition several years ago because I'm so in love with the fall season.   Anyway, my sister Jenny called today and asked for the recipe so I figured I'd share it with whomever might be interested. Enjoy! Lemon Chicken Soup 12 C. Chicken broth 1/3 C. Lemon Juice 1/4 C Butter 1 Pint Heavy cream 12 oz. Bowtie pasta (or whatever you've got) 1 1/2 C cooked chicken 1 1/2 C. Sliced carrots 3/4 C. Chopped celery 1/4 C. chopped onion (optional) 1/2 C. Flour 1 1/2 C Water In  a...

  What a crazy month! So many changes in our lives, Aspen being the biggest change, but by far the best. Despite her being fussy, high maintenance, and the cause of sleepless nights, we love her to pieces!   Christmas was... well, not what we'd hoped for this year but such is life. Russ has been working 70 hours a week and with a newborn it was hard to get out, but somehow we managed to get the Christmas shopping done (thank goodness for online shopping).   Zoey got sick a with croup a few days before Christmas but we got her in to the pediatrician and got her treated and figured we'd be OK to go to my big family party on Christmas Eve, (which I really didn't want to miss since I had been working on my grandma's gift, a picture quilt, for the last 3 months and was dying to see her open it) anyway, that would've been the case, but despite my best efforts, she got Aspen sick. I took her in the morning of the 24th assuming that the pediatrician would give her a l...

Aspen's birth story, the slideshow     She is here!!! Our beautiful little Aspen Whitney Ayres arrived on November 30th 2012 at 8:14pm.   The following is the birth story for anyone interested.   She was due on November 26th. I hate due dates, because I, along with most women, get so hung up on the one specific date, that if nothing has happened by that all consuming date, will start to lose my mind. And that I did. As the 26th came and went, I got crazier by the day and was convinced that somehow I would be pregnant FOREVER! This was unacceptable so my midwife (Rebecca)encouraged me to be patient and agreed to strip my membranes and give me a little herbal concoction if nothing was happening by Friday. By Thursday night I was melting down, so Rebecca scheduled me for 12:30 the next day.    I went in on Friday knowing that our efforts may not actually work, but hopeful nonetheless. I drank my nasty little cocktail around 12:40, had those me...

  Thanksgiving was lovely as always. We went to my grandmas house at noon and enjoyed a delicious meal and some good time with the fam. Russ had worked the night before and hadn't slept much so after dinner he went and slept in the spare bedroom for a few hours. I took full advantage of the quiet time after everyone else left and spent a couple of hours reading my grandmas history and journal. My aunt had compiled her journal from back before I was even born so I skimmed through and read everything that involved me and my family, it was so sweet! My favorite parts were when she spoke about my grandpa, every single time she referred to him as her "sweetheart". Cutest thing ever! Maybe someday Russ and I will be that cute.   Later that evening we went to Russ' sisters house for leftover turkey sandwiches and more pie and enjoyed the rest of the evening with his family. Overall, a great holiday.   Next on the agenda, new baby. Only a few days left and I can't wait ...

  Yesterday as we were getting ready to take the kids to Cornbellys, it happened...   The boys were playing outside while Russ and I were getting Zoey ready, I walked downstairs to find a very terrified and sad looking Taevin sitting quietly on the couch. He said with his little voice shaking "mom, I feel really stupid". Thinking surely some kid had been mean to him I was ready to go outside demanding justice but I could barely ask why when he burst into tears and told me he had been throwing rocks in the road when one accidentally hit Tasia's car and broke the window. I tried to calm him down to gather the whole story but he was inconsolable. I finally said "well let's go take a look and talk to her."   We walked up there to survey the damage (Taevin sobbing and clinging to my arm the whole time) and sure enough, the window was broken. (turns out it was actually big dirt clots he had been throwing to break them up and one had flown up and got the wi...