Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Kites, 4-wheelers, Snow Canyon, & Mac & Cheese?


To start things off, I have a question, and I don't really care to hear your answer if you are against me, only if you're for me (that is how we all really feel when we ask for an opinion, right) :) Recently I was with the group of Young Women leaders I serve with (no offense I know you meant well, and you are all wonderful mothers, and I love being with you guys, you are some of my bestest buddies, and it didn't really offend me it just made me think) We were discussing food.... and one lady said something along the lines of I was in such a hurry to get to YW's tonight that I fed my family a frozen pizza.... so that put us on the subject of unhealthy foods! So hear is my point... I try to make well balanced meals for Jack, Shawn and Myself. But there are times that we do have roman noodles or mac and cheese for lunch, he is a kid I think it is normal, well at least I thought it was. For the next ten minutes, they were telling me how bad they are for you and so on and so on and so on.... So I guess my point is not that I didn't know that they weren't considered healthy foods, duh, but I am not going to deprive my child of being a kid, I loved mac and cheese and roman noodles when I was young and actually I still do. So, Jack and I just finished a big helping of Mac and Cheese and we loved it and we don't feel a bit guilty!


Since I started with the last subject in my title first I will stick with it and go to the next. We had such a great time with our old buddies from the past neighborhood we lived in. I am so glad that you guys still call me to hang out, it means so much to me and makes me feel loved and special! Snow Canyon was so beautiful and the perfect temperature. We enjoyed a quick picnic and chatting, then we headed to the sand dunes. Jack had fun playing with his little buddies that were just his age, too bad there are never any boys. He is always surrounded by girls, which I am sure he will not mind the older he gets. Especially if they are this cute.

Before that adventure we, meaning Shawn's siblings and spouses and parents and parents friend, got to go on a fun 4-wheeling ride for the afternoon. We hadn't done anything like this for a long time, we kept saying to each other this feels like we are dating. It was so fun other than my helmet was so tight, I thought it might leave lasting damage to my head, but the pain was worth the fun!

And last of all kite flying! This was over a week ago but I loved the pictures and the event so I had to added it. We went to the Dixie Escelantie Kite Festival, Jack loved it and so did we.

15 comments:

♥Shally said...

I think as a mom, you do the best you can feeding your family. Mac & cheese every once and a while is not going to hurt anything! I think it is just as important to teach your kids that everything needs to be in moderation. It's okay to have dessert!! Just don't over do it.

davenportreport said...

Hayley, Jack is so stinkin' cute! And about the mac n cheese, seriously, who are those other moms fooling? We all try our best and that's what is important. I don't think a little mac n cheese ever hurt any of us, did it? Try the Annie's version - it's organic and supposedly better and the macaroni is shaped like little bunnies. But most importantly, don't beat yourself up over little things. There are too many and we would all be black and blue if we did! Sorry about my soapbox, it is what it is! Love, Molly

Errin said...

I dont know what I would do withouth mac and cheese, its easy fast, and good. And thats about the only thing Ali wants to eat these days.

Avree said...

Cute pictures, Jack is such a cutie! In some of those pictures I was shocked at how blond his hair is! Maybe it's because he's more tan now or something.

As for the mac'n'cheese, I think it's just fine to give kids foods that aren't especially healthy every once in awhile. I'm a dietitian and I don't tell people to never eat unhealthy foods, there are no "good" and "bad" foods, you just have to reach a good balance of nutrient-rich foods with other less nutrient-rich foods. Plus, studies have shown that if parents try to limit unhealthy foods too much their kids actually end up eating less healthy when they're older because they feel deprived. Haha, that's probably more than you wanted, I'll get off my dietitian soapbox now!

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I hope you don't mind that I follow your blog. I still wish we hadn't moved when we did. There are a lot of great families in HVH. I know you all moved soon after, but it's good to stay in touch. Anyway, I happened to look at your blog today and TOTALLY agree with you on the mac and cheese thing. I know that and spaghettios and pizza are not the healthiest, but at least there's a little something in them that's good right? It's hard to cook a full blown meal every meal. As long as you're conciously trying to eat healthy and exercise I think the kids (and us parents) will turn out ok :) There's too much taboo against fast food and boxed meals, shots, etc, etc. that make moms scared of everything. You've got to LIVE without fearing everything. That's my motto.

Kimberly said...

I feel your concern!! I had a similar experience this past week. My good friend in my ward was talking about how she is going to be gone this weekend and how her husband will probably "just feed them chicken nuggets or a sandwich" hey...that's high quality eating at our house...so I guess I'm a pretty bad mom...the rest of the pics are so great! I'm glad you guys are able to do so many fun things!

Tones Bones said...

I LOVE that kid's hair! Pitch-white! I think as he gets more tan it will look even cooler! ...and, yes, you will be going to hell for giving those foods to your boy...sorry. We would never think of such a thing. We're more for processed chicken nuggets and chocolate chips.

jodi said...

That looks like so much fun- I love going 4-wheeling! You have an adorable family...

JustLivingMYLife said...

lol, well you already got tons of comments about the whole mac n cheese thing, but ya i agree, that is so dumb, i could see if you were feeding him twinkies and ding dongs with every single meal...that might be bad hahah
but kids deserve to be kids and eat the fun foods! (and we still deserve to feast on them every now and then too) hahaha
as for the 4 wheel date, i wanna do that haha, my hubby and i need more dating time...but theres not much to do in mississippi :(
lol
your little boy is so stinkin cute! i love love love the platinum blonde hair! haha

tiffany and darren said...

It looks like you are having so much fun!!
All I have to say about mac and cheese is to give him as much as you want. It has been around forever and there haven't been any serious related diseases and we all seemed to turn out okay (right?) I remember eating everyday, sometimes twice growing up, in fact I still eat it pretty regularly and I feel fine :)

Ryan and Donna said...

I hope Mac-n-Cheese is not too unhealthy because we live on that stuff! It is affectionately known in our home as Yellow Death, a little nickname we used for it in the mission field. I barely recognized the buzz-headed Shawn! Congrats on the Triathalon.
--Ryan

JT, Carly, Boston, Jocelyn and Snuggles said...

If it makes you feel better, Boston had Ramen Noodles and Edemame for Dinner last night and he had dino-nuggets and tater tots and an apple for lunch. I always figure as long as you throw in a little healthy, it's all good. Don't worry about it.

Clint, Brielle, Molly and Maggie said...

I am all about the Mac- and CHz. Molly loves it and it is something she will actually eat all of. Somedays she is very picky or I just dont have time so you go girl eat that mac and chz.

Darci said...

So fun!!! I love Shawns new do!! You are looking great Shawn.

Ryan and Donna said...

I wish we didn't have to do everything perfect as moms. It creates a huge burden. Since I don't want to spend money on eating out on the nights I really don't feel like cooking I have a cheap meal on hand. My personal fav is totinos pizza! I think we all get tired of cooking. It can be a lot of work. Like others have said it's ok probably just not every night. But we all know that right. You are a great mom, even better you know how to be a great mom! Believe me there are more important things then Mac n cheese!-P.S. Sorry I'm long winded!