What it's all about!

Joey's Birthday Party

2012-02-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a video taken of Joey's Birthday Party...with some modifications and music!

Someone to Celebrate!!!

2012-02-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated the birth of my second son! What an amazing little boy! I am so proud of Joey, and I am so blessed because he is mine! Today he is five years old! How crazy time flies! I remember the day he was born. I was huge! We dropped Jake off with my Mom, so I could go to the hospital and have him. We were scheduled for surgery at 1pm and we needed to be at the hospital by noon. We got to Cottonwood Hospital and got to the desk to check in. It was quite surreal actually, everyone was so relaxed, directing me to sign here, and Here, and HERE! Oh and here are the risks of C Section deliveries... make sure you read those. As we went through the paperwork, the nurse at the desk said, "We are running behind schedule. We need you to come back in one hour." Okay... I was thinking, so what do you propose I do??? Apparently the nurse had mind reading powers and suggested that we go take a stroll around Fashion Place Mall. So that we did. We looked at a real estate kiosk, we stopped so Justin could have lunch, (meanwhile I was starving and totally salivating at the sight of his cheese stick and Lemonade!)

We head back to the hospital after we had been gone about an hour, they had me strip, put on one of those sexy hospital gowns, and off I was wheeled to have my little Joey!

I remember laying on the table and thinking... I wonder how big he will be? I can't believe i am going to meet this little guy face to face! I wonder what he will look like? Will he have his daddy's big brown eyes? Dark Skin? Fair Skin? Just picturing him in my mind seemed to take the nerves away. Suddenly, I felt a shift in my abdomen... all my insides that had been pushed to different places were suddenly shifting back, and then I heard it! My little boy Cried! I was so excited. Justin was beaming in his Marshmallow Suit! They told me his weight and all I could think was... "That's my BOY!" He weighed 8 lbs. 9.6oz, and 21 inches long! He was so handsome! He had the sweetest little face, cute little hands and toes!

It's crazy to think five years have passed since that happy day. Each day with Joe is an adventure. He is always asking questions. He is very inquisitive. He loves to know how things work, and why they work the way they do. He is a spitfire like his mother... never a doubt what he is thinking or feeling about something or someone. He is witty and makes me laugh all the time! He is a smart little kid that absolutely adores his big brother and little sister! He loves his friends and talks about them often! Goodnight prayers are a big deal to him. He loves to say his prayers and loves to give his mommy loves!

I am so proud of my Joe Joe! He makes me one happy momma, EVERY SINGLE DAY!

I love you Joseph!

Three Months ...

2011-12-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

I just noticed I haven't posted anything on the blog in 3 months. Where the time goes, I have no idea. I don't think people really read blogs anymore, but I am going to pretend people read mine, and update it!

It amazes me just how much my kids are growing up on me. Jake is becoming more and more independent every single day. Second grade means a lot for him. It means no more kissing mom before he gets out of the car. It means friends are a bigger deal to him. It means, he has to look good when he goes to school, hair has to be combed, pants have to be fresh out of the drawer and shoes... only certain shoes are acceptable! I love that he is taking such an active role in his preparation for school.

Joe has a one liner at least once a day. One day he tells me, "Mom, I am a little kid, I know everything." The next day he is telling me he doesn't like Courtney's attitude! I love it. How grateful I am to be home and raise my little people. Joe is doing very well with preschool. He loves his Teacher Becky, and truly gets upset when I don't let him go because of illness or whatever. He has a new friend at preschool that I have heard is quite the good match for him. His name is Drew and Joe talks non stop about him, and of course Maddux!

Courtney is growing up before my eyes! The older she gets the more she becomes just like her mother! She is very opinionated, and don't mess with her book of coupons because let me tell you, she will let you have it! She is more and more attached to her "babies" and will not go to bed without at least one or two around her. She is talking a lot more. Her favorite word is Stuck! She doesn't say no or yes... rather she shakes or nods her head. She keeps me on my toes. I am loving this stage with her just about always... the grocery store is not one of the times!

Justin is enjoying his new car. He got rear ended on Halloween. That was tough. Brand new car, 8 weeks old and .... CRUNCH! I really think this is our trial in life. It is the one way that Heavenly Father keeps us from putting our material possessions too high on a pedestal. Justin was pretty bummed about the whole situation. If he had been driving the civic I am sure duct taping it back together would have been acceptable, but with the new car the thought of bondo was just too much! Luckily the car is back and looks wonderful! Kuddos to Hinckley Dodge Body Shop!

I am crazy keeping up with the family. I love what I do. I love being mom! I love it so much that I have borrowed children everyday! While it does exhaust me, frustrate me, and cause me moderate headaches at times, I wouldn't trade being home for anything. I am grateful that Justin has a job that allows us to have me home! What a blessing!

Big Changes...

2011-09-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

Crazy how time flies!

It seems as though Summer just started. Now it's over! Bummer! On a lighter note the boys are in school and love it for the most part.

Jake started 2nd grade (am I old enough for a second grader?) on the 29th of August. So far he is diggin' it. He has a good buddy Jayden in his class, and that makes the world a better place! He loves his friendship with Jayden. They both love to ride their bikes to school. They love to play Wii... typical Boys!

Jake has loved his new school at Fox Hollow. I thought he would struggle with the change in schools. Turns out, it is me that is struggling with not knowing anyone at the new school! Go figure! The homework Jake brings home is quite a bit more than last year. He doesn't love the homework, but he loves reading each night. At least he likes that! He is reading his first chapter book, and he loves it! He is reading Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary.

Joe started his second year at preschool! That kid is a character and a half! In the first week, he walked down to the preschool room called out to the teacher "Teacher Becky!!!!! The MAN is here!" (The Man is a title he earned last year.) He then proceeded to point to himself and say, "I am THE MAN!" Goodness... he gives us a good laugh! And a run for our money!

Courtney and I are enjoying some running time together while the boys are at school She is quite lost without the chaos in the house. But we are having fun playing dolls!

Pictures to come!

New Funny...

2011-09-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

It seems as though Joe provides quite a bit of humor in our house... I thought I would share the recent conversation.

The other night we were driving home. Justin said something and Joe says...

"What in the Hell is that supposed to mean???"

Dad's response, "What did you say????"

Joe says rather emphatically... " I said, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"

Video of our fun in July!

2011-07-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

A little Late...

2011-07-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

I have really neglected the blog lately. I have read other blogs, but not really taken the time to update mine. My kids are so precious to me, I need to share the memories we have made!

At the end of June, the boys finished up Baseball. It was such a fun sport to participate in. Jake and Joe both did really well. By the end of the season Jake was able to hit, do some fielding and even catch a few balls. Joe was all about swinging that bat at the tee. He really enjoyed it! He became more familiar with what to do, where to run, and some of the rules! I had a great time watching the boys! It was quite the riot at their games.

It is hard to believe Jake is already done with first grade. He had a remarkable year! I am so proud of my Jake! He started the year at a level B in reading. He finished the year at a level I! Very VERY impressive! He loved his teacher Mrs. Jacobson, I loved her too! She was great to work with him, and let me help out in the classroom as well!

Joe finished his first year of Preschool in May! He absolutely LOVED Teacher Becky and often asks why he doesn't have school! I am so excited for him. He really loves to learn and he does so well in the classroom setting! He is getting so close to starting to read! I don't want to push it too much since he is only 4, but I know when I do, that kid will take off!

Courtney is growing up ever so quickly! I often tell people that she is a little "hot head" like her mother. The older she gets the more this rings true. Just this week, I had made waffles for breakfast. I had cut hers up and put it on her tray with some syrup. She grabbed a piece or two and was going to rub them in her hair. I said, "Courtney, Uh-Oh, No No!" She looked at me got a huge pout, burst into tears, and then proceeded to throw her waffle pieces on the floor. I tried hard not to laugh, but I struggled not to. I am truly getting a taste of my own medicine! She decided to walk in the past week and has really taken off. She loves to walk around the house in her pink sparkly jelly shoes, they make little clink-clink sounds when she walks on the linoleum and that just gets her going!

With the baseball season keeping us running like crazy, it came time to quit my little job. While I was sad to call it quits, I am so happy to be able to enjoy being home with the little ones and not worry about whether Justin would be home in time for me to head to work. It has been great to be able to have spontaneous outings for supper, or going out with friends... I missed that being at work!

Justin is doing great as usual at work! He started running in January, and he has become quite the animal! He ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon in April and finished in 2:02. He ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar in June, and smoked it! He ran over 18 miles with an average of 8:50 miles! HOLY COW!!! I am so proud of him!

He's SEVEN!

2011-04-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

Crazy to think about how fast time flies by. Kids do that to ya. I don't think I ever aged so quickly before my kiddos blessed my life! Seems as though just yesterday my Jakester was just learning to hold his own bottle, walk, and talk... now he is all big boy! We had a special celebration with my little dude on his birthday. He picked going out for dinner at Chili's. He was super excited that Gramma Sue and Grampa Alan were coming. He was thrilled to hear that Allysha, his beloved cousin would be there too! It was almost too great for him! After supper we headed back to our house for his cake... the one he picked out all on his own... ICE CREAM cake from ColdStone! He received so many wonderful gifts from my side of the family that night! He was so incredibly happy!

Shortly thereafter we.

held a party with daddy's side of the family! My goodness he came out like a bandit! He was loaded with a new summer wardrobe and plenty of his favorite toys and StarWars characters and paraphenelia. He loved having all of his aunts, cousins, Gramma Martie, and Grampa Roger over! He stayed up past 11pm! He was so excited! He truly was on top of the world!

ILast weekend we had a little outing with a couple of friends. Jake picked his buddies from school and baseball, Zack and Greyson, and of course Allysha and Joe to go to Planet play! They had a riot! It was fun to see him go to town on all the rides and games.

I am so proud of Jake. He has grown up so much! He is a caring and compassionate little boy who wants to make sure everyone is happy! He loves his family and his friends. He loves Heavenly Father and His Gospel, and loves to say his prayers! I am so grateful for his influence on his younger brother and sister, and also the great example that he is to me!

I love you buddy!

The Big Split...

2011-04-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

I did it. I made my decision. I am going to stick it out this time. No more looking back the future is brighter now... that's right folks I have made a choice to divorce FACEBOOK! I know I will miss it. We had good times. I enjoyed the companionship of all my cyber friends. Late night chats with my good friend Kristi, catching up with old friends, checking out how all my friends have changed, oh and who doesn't love checking out the old pictures people post. As if that wasn't enough to miss... what about Bejeweled... Bejeweled, and BEJEWELED! Whatever will I do to fill the time I wasted with you Bejeweled? I will have time to finish my laundry, maybe time for yard work even.

Believe it or not, it has been a tough 36 hours. For some strange reason, I thoroughly enjoy reading updates. Random silly updates, serious updates... it occupied my time. While I loved the factors above, it caused a lot of turmoil. Things written don't always come across as you mean them. The human factor was missing. I think I made the right choice. As Turtle would say, "I don't have a Facebook account, and look, I AM STILL ALIVE!"

I think life will be better after facebook!

A Year Old! ALREADY!!!

2011-03-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

Courtney Turned ONE!!! What a fun year we have had with Sister Sue! She is so much fun! She is growing up so fast! She has her own little personality and I love it! She is a bit of a Hot Head! If she doesn't like something, she will definitely let you know! She loves to play with Magellan and her two big brothers! She loves to play in Tupperware (just like Mommy!) and loves to eat! She loves to play in her hairbows, and remove her socks and throw them! She enjoys watching others pick things up for her, so she can throw them all over again! She loves her dolls, and particularly loves dishes!

At her one year appointment she weighed 17 lbs 6oz. and was 27.5 inches long. She is very skinny and petite!

I am so grateful for this precious baby girl!

My big 4 Year Old!

2011-03-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it. Joe is FOUR!!! For the couple of weeks leading up to his big day, I begged. I PLEADED! I BRIBED Joe to stay three! Unfortunately, he didn't agree, and the boy turned FOUR! He is such a happy little four year old! To celebrate his big day, we let him pick a friend to go to Chuck E. Cheese. He took his favorite buddy Maddux. Those boys had so much fun! They enjoyed riding rides together, playing games, and of course hanging out with Jake and his good friend Jacie (Maddux' older sister.) It was so much fun watching the kiddos have a blast!

For Joe's Birthday, we had family over for cake and ice cream, and of course spoiling 101. He received so many nice clothes, a Leapster from mommy and daddy, and lots of fun new toys and gadgets!

Joey is growing up so fast! That little boy has eyes to melt your heart! He has a tough side and a sensitive side, and I just love him to pieces! He loves to learn, show off what he knows, and play with his big brother Jake! He is a great little helper to his baby sister, and the family dog! I am so proud of my little Joe Joe! Love you!

Recent Funnies!

2011-03-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

I have to share this moment, because I am still giggling, and it happened a few days ago! It is definitely share-worthy.

Tuesday Morning Jake and Joe had gotten in trouble, for what I don't remember, but they got in trouble. As soon as they were allowed out of their time out, both the boys came into the kitchen where I was cleaning up. Here is how the conversation went.

Jake: " Mom, I love you so much. I love you more than Ice Cream!" (I am thinking in my head, wow that means a lot, have you ever seen how fast Jake can devour Ice Cream???)

Joe: " Yeah, and I love Daddy more than a fork!" (that's touching, who knew this kid was attached to his utensils?)

Jake: "Yeah, well I love Daddy more than CHICKEN!" (Jake won't eat chicken.)

Joe: " Yeah, well I love Mommy more than Chicken!" (Joe refuses to eat chicken too!)

It was so funny to hear these two "one-up" eachother. Oh the memories!

The Holidays!

2011-01-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

Isn't it amazing how fast the Holidays come and go? I prepare a good portion of the year for Christmas. Between Turtle's and my family, we have lots of people to remember and think of, so it really does take a lot of time to prepare for Christmas morning, or in our case, Christmas WEEK!

We had a lovely December. Jake was out of school nearly the entire month, and I just loved having him home. I loved having all three of my kiddos together all month. Jake and Joe are good buddies. Best of friends some would say. I love that they can play just about anything together. Jake is ultra patient and wants to show Joe all the cool stuff like Lego Indiana Jones and Star Wars...(I wish I thought it was as cool as he does!)

The week of Christmas was pretty hectic. We had neighbor gifts, gift wrapping, last minute shopping for the boys, working late, family parties, along with some babysitting here and there... it was crazy, and exhausting. But it was all a lot of fun.

Christmas Eve we decided to stay home. Turtle and I decided that our tradition will be to stay in on Christmas Eve, read about the birth of our Savior, play games, and just enjoy the spirit of Christmas in our home. How lovely it was! It was quiet, relaxing, and fun to spend time together.

Christmas Morning the boys were stoked! They all had fun opening presents. They were royally spoiled, but the joy on their faces was priceless. Jake's favorite gift by far was our family gift, the Wii. He loves it, and would play non stop if I let him. Joe was thrilled with his Buzz and Woody Characters. Turtle and I both said we would not spend much on each other, thinking eachother would follow the plan, we each splurged! Turtle with a T.V and I with a Camcorder! Oh my!

Shortly after the morning gift exchange, the Grandparents came over and had breakfast with us! How fun! The children were all so excited to see them! In the evening we went over to Turtle's parents for another gift exchange. It was lots of fun, and once again my children were thoroughly SPOILED!

Principal's Pride.

2010-11-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

Jake received the Principal Pride award at school this month! He was so excited! It was a great experience for him! He is a good student at school. He received his Principal's Pride Award for his exceptional performance in addition (100 problems with 100% accuracy in less than 12 minutes!) as well as his improving handwriting! We are so proud of his performance! He has really taken off this year! With his math abilities it is obvious he is his father's child!
Principal's Pride award allowed him to have Mommy come have lunch with him and the PRINCIPAL!!! How cool is that? He saw me waiting in the gymnasium for him and he was beaming! He was so happy! When the Principal called him up to the podium to receive his certificate and be recognized, he RAN up there so quick! He was jumping up and down clapping while the Principal read his certificate! I was a proud Mommy! Here are some pics of Jake's big day!
Jake was THOROUGHLY enjoying his McD's Cheeseburger!

You can kind of see Jake clapping in the second picture
It was a fun day for Jake! I absolutely loved seeing him so proud of himself. He was on top of the world!!! Kuddos to the school for having awards like this!

Cell Phone Funnies...

2010-11-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do!

Ragnar Las Vegas!

2010-10-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

Yup! You read it right! I headed to Las Vegas for the Ragnar Relay. It was so much fun! I left the children with my sweet hubby for three straight days, and enjoyed running, in some strange circumstances whether it be in the middle of the night, along side some guy who tried to hit on me, or running among tarantulas and donkeys (weird combination, I know!)

I joined the team of 12 runners only knowing three of the 11 other runners. Sounds odd right? It was fun! I rode in a nice suburban with three friends and two strangers. Luckily we all got along! We were in the car for literally THIRTY HOURS! That was just for the race, add in about 15 hours for the drive to and from Vegas, and well, let's just say I am done with cars for a bit!

I had a great experience on my three legs of the race. I was runner #9, so I ran leg 9, 21, and 33. My first leg was 3.1 miles, the second was 4.9, and the third was 6.2. I was pretty happy with my performance on all three. The first one I finished in 27-28 minutes, the second I have no idea since it took place at 2:30am, and the last one was finished in an amazing 54 minutes! I say amazing because it was all up hill! Hot DAWG! I was one proud girl! This was an event that I will never forget! I loved every minute of it... okay all of it except the few hours I felt sick from drinking those disgusting protein shakes!
Here are a few pictures of my adventure!

My friend and Teammate Marinda posing with the car! Our team name was 24 Feet!

Some of the ladies in the car that I rode in, from left to right, Marinda, Jana and Brenda

This is my last handoff. I was so nervous about this leg of the race, but it proved to be the best of my races!

Is this not the coolest picture? This was taken as I was finishing the last leg of my race, luckily the girls got a picture of this cute donkey. There were three of them in the middle of the road as we ran by... Quite the experience!

These are the girls I joined the team with, Marinda, Brenda and April! Wow I haven't laughed so hard in a LONG TIME! Thanks ladies!

I was FINISHED! I was so proud of self and my time! It was a huge accomplishment.

This was another aspect of the race... Tarantulas. I have never crossed one of these creepy crawlers, but how cool! And freaky at the same time!

Huge thanks to my sweet Hubby who stayed back and took great care of the kiddos for me while I went off to run and have fun! I am grateful that he is so supportive of me and my hobbies! He is joining me on the next race!!! Just you wait!!! Even if it means he has a football in his hand for the entire race! I missed my family so much, but I know the children loved the time with just DADDY! Thanks to my parents who helped out with the ward Halloween shindig, Turtle couldn't have done it with out ya! Big HUGS!

PUMPKINS!!!

2010-10-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

One thing you must know about my boys, is they LOVE pumpkins. I don't think LOVE is quite a strong enough word to describe the passion they have for these fruits! All year long they look forward to Halloween. Not for the costumes, not for the candy, not for the fun parties, but for the PUMPKINS! We have a decoration pumpkin that Jake used to take down in the storage room, just to play with!

This weekend we told the boys we would go pick out pumpkins. They were so excited. Friday night came and unfortunately we were too late, the patch had already closed. Saturday morning came and the boys were roaring to go get their pumpkins. We had my nieces baptism, and Jake had TWO birthday parties to attend, but we still made it to the pumpkin patch, (hence the reason they are in church clothes!)

It was so much fun to watch the boys in their selection. Joe was easy going. He found the first pumpkin that was the size he wanted, put it in the wheel barrow, and that was that. He was done picking! He wanted to ride in the wheel barrow with his pumpkin. Jake was a little more selective. He had five pumpkins in the wheel barrow at one given time, and he had to eliminate from those. He loved to compare sizes, shapes and whether they would stand up on their own.

As mentioned before, we were able to attend my niece Breanna's baptism. Turtle performed the ordinance and it was definitely a neat experience! Breanna looked beautiful in her new white dress, and loved having the family there to support her! After the Baptism and Confirmation we headed over the Chuck A Rama for lunch. Breanna was thrilled. The boys loved having lunch with their cousins and loved the ice cream bar (surprise surprise!) It was quite the event and lots of fun! I am glad we were able to share this special day with Miss Bre!

Poundin' Nails...

2010-09-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Turtle and the boys have had some fun this summer building a garage up at the cabin. I have only joined them twice, but the boys and Turtle have had some wonderful time up at Bear Lake spending time with family, and of course, pounding nails!

Jake, Age 6 ( um.... Child Labor laws???) Tee hee hee!

Joey, Age 3... (DCFS is gonna have some fun with this one! LOL!)

The First Wall...

Turtle and the First Truss... He loves every minute of this by the way!

Starting the Shingles...

From Left to Right, Mother In Law, Brother in Law and Turtle. I wish I was that comfortable with heights! YIKES!

Where they left off... it's coming right along!

Some stories...

The first weekend up there, the boys had so much fun with the family. They were both so excited when they got paid by Gramma! They immediately had to show me what they earned for working so hard and helping out!

Joe loved ensuring the fact that the family thought he was funny. He asked several family members several times, "Am I funny?" "I am funny, Huh!"

They loved riding on the 4 wheelers each weekend.

They absolutely LOVED playing with the cousins!

I missed them while they were gone, but I know they had a great time, and how fun it is for them to have time with daddy all to themselves!

Thank you to my sweet SIL who let me use her photography! She has been there every weekend helping as well as keeping me up to day on my boys! Thank you!!!! Love ya girl!

Aye Aye Cap'n!

2010-09-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day, the whole family went up to the Turtle's family cabin in Bear Lake. We had fun with a few little setbacks (like no running water for the first 12 hours, and Magellan picking fights with dogs twice his size) but overall it was fun to spend time together as a family.

One of the days up there, we took the children out on the boat along with the dog. This was a first for Courtney and Magellan. The boys have been on the boat so much it is second nature to them, they know where to sit, how to sit and often tell me what to do!

Courtney was not a fan. Let me repeat that, NOT A FAN! The life jacket, the noise, the bumpiness, the wind, everything, wasn't too appealing to her. Once she fell asleep she was fine, but whew! She was not happy!

Magellan on the otherhand was happy as a clam! Turtle was working on burning up the old gas in the boat, so he had a decent speed, and Magellan had his front legs over the front of the boat just taking in the splash. I guess it is all in his name!

Bow anyone?

2010-09-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

I had to share this picture. This is the boys masterpiece for their sister's hair. Jake came up with the idea, and Joe made sure to help! Forgive me for the quality, it is a cell phone picture!

Demands...

2010-09-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

I want to write this down, because Turtle and I find this humorous each and every day...
Our children are quite demanding. They have wants and they make sure we know about them. EACH. AND. EVERY. DAY.
For example, every morning, (and I mean EVERY MORNING) Joe wakes up and comes in our room, if he isn't in our bed already and makes his first request. The first thing out of his mouth isn't, "Hi Mom and Dad!," "Good Morning," or even "wake up," this is what it is verbatum...
"I want you to turn on a Cartoon and get me some milk." EVERY SINGLE MORNING.
Jake is an exceptionally finicky eater. When I say finicky, I mean EXTREMELY finicky. In fact 85% of the time I make supper, I am pretty sure he isn't going to eat it. For example.... If I am making enchiladas, he must specify that he will NOT eat CHICKEN! When I ask him why? He explains that chicken is slimy like a stingray. If I mention that he likes chicken nuggets from McDonalds, he will very politely inform me that "Chicken Nuggets is not real chicken." While I am sure there is some truth to this statement, it is difficult for Turtle and I to not bust out laughing.
Courtney is little. However, at 6 months old, she makes it very clear what is and isn't satisfactory with her. She will not just hang out in her carseat in play with toys. Instead she wiggles, and fidgets, until she has maneuvered out of the carseat (when she is not in the car of course.) If she is strapped in, and not in the car, she turns red in the face and growls until I get her out.
I love that the kids are so willing to speak their piece. While it does get frustrating and stressful at times, I am happy to be able to share the days with them.

Sleeping...

2010-09-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

I was going through the pictures on the camera, and I found some pictures worth showing...

Apparently, my boys like to sleep...together, apart, but never on their beds!

Miss Courtney at 6 Months!!!

2010-09-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

It's official! Miss Courtney is SIX MONTHS OLD!

Time is flying and we are having so much fun! I love babies at this age!

We took little Courtney in for her 6 month check up! She is 13 lbs. 8.5 oz. Just to give you an idea of how shocking this is to me, when Jake and Joe were six months old, they both weighed 18+ lbs. She is definitely small and dainty! She is 24 1/2 inches long. So, in the grand scheme of things she is in the 12th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height.

She is more and more fun everyday!

She can now sit up for about a minute or two on her own.

She loves to jabber, just like her mother.

She is rolling all over the place.

Magellan is the king of getting this little princess to laugh hysterically!

Her sleeping patterns are pretty much unchanged.She is eating solids. So far she LOVES sweet potatoes, apples and bananas, and she will tolerate carrots. Green beans, well, those are just nasty to her.

She is a bundle of fun and we just love her to pieces!

Simple life...

2010-08-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking about how things were when I was a kid. We had an Atari growing up. It was awesome. How often did we play it? Once in a while. I would guess maybe an 3-5 hours per month, every other month, not a bunch. We had the Nintendo, you know the first one. Once again, we played it very minimally by today's standards. In fact, I still have the Nintendo. It has been in the original box/styrofoam, etc. Crazy eh?

So what did we do for fun? I for one, rode my bike. EVERYWHERE! I played outside pretty much all day long. Jumping on the trampoline, riding my scooter (which I still have), riding my bike, playing "Steal the Flag" or a nice game of softball in my parent's cul-de-sac, were my personal faves. In the winter time, we would make slides in my parent's backyard. One time we made a slide that had a jump that landed in the pit where the trampoline was during the summer. We would spend hours! My mom would have to drag us inside. It was great!

I want my kids to have the same type of life. I am looking forward to cooler temperatures... where we can find changing leaves, make snow angels, snow men, and my personal favorite SLIDES!

The past few days have had some not so optimal weather. I built a little Marble run for Joe and he LOVED it! These bring back memories of what we used to do when I was a kid! Forget all the automated toys with obnoxious noises/sound effects! Give me a marble run any day! Check out how entertained Joe was with that Marble Run! He played with this thing for HOURS!

I Never thought...

2010-08-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

Lastnight I had a great phone conversation with my mom that I haven't been able to stop thinking about, so I thought I should write it down.
Five years ago, Jake was a cute little toddler, walking around, curious, just being the sweetest little boy ever. He was my only child, and I loved him dearly. I worked. A LOT! Money was good. Turtle and I were comfortable. We did whatever we wanted. We had a big suburban, (yes...with only one child!!!). Handsome and I went boating several times a month. I had my hair done every six weeks, I bought clothes because I felt like it, and never really questioned finances. My days were hectic. I would get up at 6am to do my hair and get ready to spend the day doing what I loved, my career in CMBS. I got in my little hot rod, drove Jake to the sitters, and off I went to work. I would race around all day long. I went to lunch EVERY DAY with my girlfriends. Get home around 7pm order takeout, or on rare occasions prepare supper, and put Jake to bed... and repeat. This was my life! I was happy, and I NEVER thought I could ever do anything else that would make me happier.
Fastforward to the present. I get up at 4:30am nearly every morning to feed my sweet baby. I put her back to bed. I check on my sweet sons. I love seeing them all snuggled up with their favorite blankets. I get up again at 7:15am. I eat breakfast. I go wake up my handsome Jake. I make his breakfast, and talk to him as he eats. I prepare his lunch, and my little Joey comes in, I give him a hug, prepare his breakfast and listen to the boys talk about whatever they want. It is so entertaining, I wish it could last forever, but I have to cut it short, and get the boys dressed. By this time Miss Courtney is awake, and I get her dressed. We strap her in her carseat, plop her in the wagon with Joey, and we walk behind Jake as he rides his bike to school. We visit for the few minutes until school starts. When we get home, I work on various chores for a couple of hours, I prepare lunch, which is often times a PB & J or a case of dilla as Joe would say and I spend time with my little ones. 3pm comes and we jump in the wagon to meet up with Jake and his friends. We walk home with a large group of kids (10-12 I would estimate.) A couple of kiddos come home with us, we have a snack, we visit, and I start dinner.
I NEVER thought I could be happy living life as I am today. But I am. I am so happy to spend the time with my kiddos. I love knowing who Jake's friends are, how he interacts, and what makes his eyes smile. I love being able to volunteer at his school. I love that I am able to teach Joe his letters. I love that I am the one to see Miss Courtney's firsts. It makes me happy to know that I can make stuff rather than buying everything. . I love living....THE SIMPLE LIFE!

Have to share before I forget!

2010-07-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

Monday we met Jake's first grade teacher. It was a great opportunity for the teacher to get 15 minutes of one on one time with Jake. She took a minute to ask Jake a couple of questions...
Teacher: So Jacob how are you today?
Jake: Fine, thanks.
Teacher: Are you excited for school tomorrow?
Jake: YES!
Teacher: What do you like to do at school?
Jake: Fun stuff.
Teacher: What is fun at school?
Jake: Not Reading!

Nice!

Who said my kids could grow up on me!!!

2010-07-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

As if it wasn't tough enough to send Jake off to first grade, my little ones are getting big on me!
Joey is a smart little cookie. Really smart. I am not just saying that because I am his mom either. (Okay, maybe I am slightly biased! I admit it!) But this kid is a smarty pants! The past few weeks we have begun working on letters. He is going to be starting preschool in September, so I wanted to get him somewhat started... I was AMAZED! I was amazed that A. He already knew some of the letters, and B. he knows a lot of the sounds! Here are the letters he has down pat...
A, B, C, D (usually), I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, X, Z I love it!
He has also started a new thing... if he asks you a question and the answer is, "Yes," you must annunicate YES!! It cannot be yep, yeah, uh-huh, sure... It MUST BE YES! Otherwise he will repeat the question, over and over and over and over! It's pretty funny!
Joe is super excited for preschool. He wants to be like Jake. He wants a backpack too... he even wants to take a lunch to school... *I have since informed him his school is only a couple of hours!*

Miss Courtney is now five months! What ? Where did the time go? She is super adorable as she always has been, but I am completely loving this age. Here's her accomplishments this month...
~ She can now roll from her back to her belly. But now she refuses to roll from her belly to her back!
~She jabbers. I love it! If she wakes up in the middle of the night... she jabbers. If you are holding her she will look at you and jabber. It's adorable.
~She isn't sleeping through the night anymore... I don't know why...but I think she is learning if she wakes up to call for me and I will be there.
~She loves to hold on to my hair, or anyone's hair for that matter.
~She likes to take cat naps.
~She ate Bananas... and she LOVED them!

In with the big boys!

2010-07-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

We just ended the phase... the introduction to big kid has been completed. Yep, you read that right, Jake is now a big kid. No more kindergarten for my little dude! He finished up the first week of July. It was definitely bittersweet for me! I loved his Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Parker. She made things good for Jake. She took time to work with him. She was sensitive to his weaknesses. She was upfront with me... to sum it up, she just worked! Jake's last day of school was fantastic! He got wet. He ate treats. He even discovered that a Ham Sandwich can be enjoyable! He had fun playing with his friends, it was an overall fun day for him. He made a lot of friends in Kindergarten, and I am excited to see a few of them are in his first grade class! Here are some pics of his last day...

So here comes the inevitable, Jake started first grade yesterday. He had such a fun day! We met his Teacher on Monday, and I have to say, I dig her! She is wonderful! Mrs. Parker (his Kindergarten Teacher) was phenomenal, and I think Mrs. Jacobson will be the same! Jake loves his teacher, and finds it rather cool that his name is in her name. He loves riding his bike to school. He loves the recesses. And he is really enjoying eating lunch at school with his friends. He wants to help put his lunch together, (good thing I stocked up on some lunch stuff) and he ate every bite yesterday! The first day was quite a big day for him, and he truly was exhausted by 8pm.

Here are some pics of his first day:

Father and Sons...

2010-06-24T15:42:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, Turtle took on a major feat. When I say major, I mean M*A*J*O*R!

He decided to take the boys camping with the Elder's Quorum. He did this last year as well, but here is the kicker, it was raining cats and dogs! It had been raining all week long, and he knew that the weather would stay the same through the weekend. He braved the storm, and the boys and off they went!

Anyone who knows my hubby, knows he is great at improvising, and making due with what he has. Lots of rain and a rather nice tent probably wouldn't go over too well... the whole clean up scenario would be less than enjoyable, so he decided he and the boys would sleep in the Pilot. It worked BEAUTIFULLY! They stayed snug, warm, and DRY!

My boys had so much fun! They thought it was so cool to sleep in the car! They loved playing with the other boys in the neighborhood, and most of all having their dad all to themselves! I was pretty proud of the boys, and very happy that Turtle took them out! What an amazing daddy!

Turtle got some fun pics on the way home. They took the scenic route and were able to see a moose, and some pretty nifty waterfalls, and of course play in the mud and snow!

Check out my handsome boys!

Growing on up!

2010-06-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Miss Courtney is four months old! Four months of solid fun! We are loving this little girl like crazy! What an amazing little spirit she has! Here are some facts about her...

She LOVES her binky. She won't take just any binky, it has to be the Soothie binky...you know the big rubber one that they give you in the hospital? Yeah, that's it, that is all she will take! I did find it in pink...she seems to be okay with that!

She is a good little eater, she eats about every three hours, sometimes 2 sometimes four hours, but usually every 3.

She is very easy going.

She loves to swing still! It's here favorite place to nap!

She loves to be held!

Her brothers make her smile at least a dozen times a day!

Each night she will sleep about 8 hours, then wake up, eat, and back to sleep for 2-3 hours.

She is now wearing 3-6 mos. clothes. I was quite sad to put the 0-3 size in a bin!

Her daddy is her favorite.

She has rolled over about 6 times in the past month. She doesn't do it everytime, but she is getting there.

She still let's me put bows, headbands, hats and bracelets on her!

She loves kisses from her daddy and her brothers.

She loves to be outside!

Brothers and Bicycles...

2010-05-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

This has been an exciting month at our house! Jake has learned to ride his bike with NO TRAINING Wheels, and Joe has learned to USE THE PEDALS!!! GO BOYS!

These two have such a special relationship. I am so grateful that they play so well together. Jake is very protective of Joe, and vice versa. They love to play cars, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Transformers, and most of all ride bikes together. As long as they are together they are happy! Today we went out and rode bikes while Courtney was napping. It's a little too windy outside for her, so she stayed inside asleep and the boys and I played outside in the front yard. I love watching my boys ride bikes together, so I thought I would share some of the magic!

Three months.... ALREADY?

2010-05-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Little Courtney hit the three month mark this week!

YIKES! She is growing up fast!

At this point in the game she is a sweet little baby, who absolutely ADORES her daddy and her big brothers. (They adore her too!) She weighs about 12 lbs. (this is with me on the scale and then subtracting my weight!). She still has those bright blue eyes, and the hair... wow it is coming in! She has really fine hair, and it sticks straight up! Love it! Her favorite thing to do is swing, and kick and wiggle on the floor! She sleeps pretty good, usually getting up once a night at 4AM. Sometimes she sleeps through the night, but not consistently yet! She loves to be held... and she loves to coo and stick her tongue out. She loves her binky, but she will not touch those cutesy MAM binkies... it has to be the standard green hospital binky! So cute! She doesn't mind having her brothers kissing and hugging on her all the time and will usually look around to see them if she hears them in the room! We as a family are so grateful for her, and just love her to pieces!

Being a Mommy

2010-05-19T09:09:00.001-07:00

As I sit down here in my basement, I can hear my sons' feet running across the floor upstairs. Laughter is roaring as they make weird noises, and call eachother boo-boo's. (weird I know but they are boys.) I look at my daughter, she smiles. Her bright blue eyes are studying just about everything around her. She loves to swing. Moreso she loves the animal print on cushion and surround on the swing. She stares at it, the mobile, and she has the biggest smile, I have even heard a little laugh come out of her!
Lastnight while at the gym, I thought of these things. They are simple things. Oftentimes I get annoyed when my sons are noisy, when they run around the house, when they call eachother goofy names, when they ask question after question, WHY?, How Come?, When? etc. BUT, as I was running lastnight, I thought, what a joy it is to be a mommy. Truly. I love every minute of it. Are there times I am a little frantic? YEP! Are there times I just want some quiet? Absolutely! Are there times that I WISH Miss Courtney would sleep through the night? Once again, OF COURSE!
Yesterday I was prepping a bottle for Courtney. Joe was asleep on his bed. Courtney was swinging and Jake was just a talkin'. Non-stop. Questions. Answers. Telling me about Mrs. Parker (his teacher.) I looked at him, and I just noticed, my goodness he is growing up. I see my children every day. But do I really see them? Do I really take in every moment I can? Do I see the joy in their eyes when they learn something new? Or am I just rushing through the day to get the tasks done.... I hate to admit this, but the latter is the answer for me. I rush through so much, and I neglect to see the little things.
I am extremely happy to stay home with the children. I am happy to make their three meals a day. To give them snacks. To make their beds. To kiss their boo-boos. To teach them our phone #, to teach them to put their clothes away. To bathe them. To referee fights. To discipline. To make them clean up their toys. To teach them to pray. To teach them about why we have bugs, spiders (EWW!!!), snakes, and dogs! I never thought when I was growing up, or even when I had Jake, that I would enjoy being home with my little ones as much as I do. Honestly, one of life's greatest blessings!

Not spoiled... Just LOVED!

2010-05-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

I see this phrase on license plate frames all the time, and frankly I roll my eyes. However, I couldn't think of a better phrase for this post... so there ya go!
At the end of April, I turned 31. Yes... 31! I hardly feel mature enough to be 31. I still act like I am a teenager I swear! I guess no matter what your age is, if you act young, you are young!
My family went out of their way this year to SPOIL ME! Yes Spoiled! I admit it!!!
I received new p.j's, a necklace, a great book, gift cards, and a gym membership!
I have loved everything!
Starting about two weeks ago I started going to the gym. I LOVE IT! I am addicted! I get super sore, and I LOVE IT! It's my way to gauge whether I am working hard enough! I started running on the treadmill. I am not happy to admit this, but after 25 min. of running I am totally POOPED! It's amazing what a year will do. Last April, I ran a half marathon in 2 hours... this year, I can't even make it 4 miles!
Along with all of the goods I received, Turtle bought me a BOSCH! Yep, you got it... a BOSCH! Am I spoiled? Ummmm that would be an absolute YES!!!! But I must say I have used it... LOTS! It isn't something that just sits in the cabinet... it is used at least twice a week! I started making my own bread... (Thanks Manda for the tutorial!). It is so yummy! I have to admit I am pretty proud of my little domestic self!

Jake's First Sleepover!

2010-05-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

I did something I thought I would never do... I let Jake have a friend spend the night. I know, I know, I am a terrible mother! Growing up we weren't allowed a whole lot of sleepovers, and frankly when I did have sleepovers, I was usually causing trouble! (Who me?) But I have to take into account Jake is the ripe old age of SIX and he would probably GREATLY enjoy it... so we did it! Friday night, we had his buddy Wyatt over! Talk about Heaven on Earth for Jake! He was absolutely THRILLED that his buddy didn't have to go home! They ate pizza... They had breadsticks, they played Lego Star Wars, watched movies, and Wyatt showed him how to play Ghost Busters! They had a great time!

Turtle and I decided it may be fun to let the boys "camp" in the front room. We set up the tent, gave the boys flashlights, and Voila!!! Instant campground! They had a great time! Jake loved playing with the flashlights as if they were Light Sabers, and also playing chase in the basement in the dark with them... (cuz that is totally safe!)

Here are some pics of the night!

Happy that this tent is being used for something!!!

This picture SCREAMS comfort to me... how about you?

And...homemade Cinnamon Rolls for BREAKFAST!!!

Love of Hondas...

2010-05-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

Call me silly, but we have had Turtle's hoopty for nearly 10 years. It was our first big purchase together, and it has been a great car. Yesterday it hit 200,000 miles. Seriously this car is the best! It still runs great! No major mechanical problems (knock on wood!) and still gets almost 40 mpg! Can't go wrong with this car, other than the fact that it's a theif magnet! We thought this milestone was one to remember so we took pics! Yes, we did. I know. We are crazy. It's okay, we know! No really... we do!

Check out our Hoopty!

Notice the trip meter and the Gas Gauge... if I had 258 miles on a tank of gas, I would be on E!

Courtney's Big Day...

2010-05-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful day on Sunday. Turtle blessed our little Courtney! It never ceases to amaze me how strong I feel the spirit when he blesses one of our children. I am so grateful that he holds the priesthood, and more importantly honors it. When he blesses the children, I get this indescribable warm feeling... wow, I am blessed!

We had lots of family and friends come to join us in celebrating Courtney. I am so grateful for the support that we had. Thank you to those who took the time and effort to be with us. It was a special day for Miss Courtney and our family, and that was what it was all about.

I loved seeing everyone on Sunday. It is a neat feeling to have family and friends with us to share this special day. Here are some of the pictures...

Don't they look so handsome!!! I am so proud of my boys!

Miss Courtney with Grandma and Grandpa Nadauld

My parents !

Cousin Lea with Turtle!

My good friend Breezy and I!

I have more pics... these are just a few!

Thank you to all of you who came out... it means a great deal to us! We love ya!

Peer Pressure!

2010-04-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I always thought that peer pressure was a bad thing! The attitude was always "Ooooohhh don't hang out with those kids you'll end up drinking/smoking/sluffing/ whatever..."
Maybe it's because I idolized my brother growing up, and let's just say... well, let's just leave it at that!
This week we had an experience with my Jacob. No, he didn't get in trouble... this was a good thing! Monday we were over at my friends house who happens to be the mom of one of Jake's good friends, Ethan. The boys go to different schools, but are both in Kindergarten. Ethan's mommy, Kristi, told Ethan he needed to do his homework. Jake saw this, and said, "Hey! I have homework TOO!" (Yeah, he was excited about it!) He sits down with Ethan without a fight and starts writing his spelling words.
As the homework session goes on, he hears Ethan reading. Jake decides to take out his reading book and starts going to down. The kid was READING!!! Like READING!!! Sounding out the word, blending it... the whole nine yards! Man I am proud of him! He has made some amazing progess!
I think I need to have him do homework with his friends more often! Talk about PEER PRESSURE!

Singing Joey

2010-04-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

Seriously, My boys are both so much like their mom...always singing. Jake is a little performer as we have seen in the past, but Joe has the bug too! I oftentimes find him in his room just singing away...here's a little sample of what he likes to sing!

Happy Birthday to Jake...

2010-04-11T20:25:00.001-07:00

Yep, it's true... My first born son is SIX YEARS OLD!!! Boy how the time flies!!!

So to my little guy, I have to write this quick letter...

To my little Jake...

I am so proud to call you my sweet boy! You have such an amazing heart! My goodness, the world would be a better place if everyone was as caring as you are! I am so proud of you! You try so hard to be the best you can be. At six years old, you usually put other people ahead of yourself. You are a thoughtful little boy who wants everyone to be happy! You love your little brother and sister, and you are SO protective of both of them. (Even if you do pick on Joe on occasion!) You are good to share with others, and that's not always something even mommy can do! Thank you for being the phenomenal example that you are! I love you to pieces and pieces and I am so proud of you!

love,

Mom

To celebrate the big day, we took some friends of Jake's and had some fun at the Chuck E Cheese! It was FABULOUS! Who knew it could be so much fun to have four 5 and 6 year old boys run around and tell stories and jokes to you and each other! We had pizza, pop, Cupcakes and of course, LOTS OF FUN!!!! Here are some pics:

Jake with the Mouse! Seriously, I remember this guy from when I was a kid!

All the boys earned these rockets with their tickets...they had to launch them after a countdown!

This pic was taken at the end of the night when we were leaving Chuck E Cheese... the boys faces say it all!

Yesterday we took the boys to see "How to Train a Dragon." It was such a great movie! For the first time in a long time I finally saw a kids movie that didn't contain any innuendos of any sort! It was extremely entertaining to see that movie with the boys! I loved watching their facial expressions! They were so well mannered! I was proud of both of them! Thank you to Gramma Martie for watching Miss Courtney while we went to the movie!

After the movie we took Jake and Joe to the toy store so Jake could pick out his birthday toy! Believe it or not, it was so much fun! The boys did great in the store! Jake had lots of options, but ultimately picked a Light Saber and some Star Wars guys for his birthday toy! He was so excited to open them, and wasn't too thrilled when we made him wait til his birthday to enjoy them!

Tonight we had family over for Jake's favorite home cooked meal... Beef Enchiladas (or Red Enchiladas as he calls them!) Lots of good food, family and gifts! Seriously, my kids are so lucky to have great family who loves them!

Happy Birthday To TURTLE!!!

2010-03-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

I just have to give a shout out to my Hubby and wish him the HAPPIEST of Birthday's today! Words don't adequately express how much I LOVE and ADMIRE this guy!
Just a few of my favorite things about my sweet hubby!
~ Doting Daddy!
~Hardworking
~Driven
~ Willing to go without so me and the kids get whatever we need!
~ Handsome as ever!
~Physically active... I mean really is there any sport you don't participate in Turtle?
~ Easy to shop for... pretty much anything in REI will suit his fancy!
~Good with our finances.
~Not afraid to change some pretty nasty diapers.
~Takes all three kids so I can have some "Girl Time!"

Overall... just the best all around guy! Love ya babe!

One Month, are you Serious?

2010-03-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe it, but Miss Courtney is ONE MONTH old!!! Time is flying! She is super sweet, and the boys dote on her like you wouldn't believe! I love how protective they are and how much they love to hold her, feed her, pick out her hair bows, clothing, pajamas, diapers etc. She is very well taken care of.

~At this point in the game she gets up between once and twice a night to eat.

~She loves to be held. When I say love, I mean REALLY and truly love it... that's all she wants somedays.

~She weighs about 9 lbs, that's just an estimate using my scale and weighing myself with and without her.

~She is growing out of Newborn size clothing way fast, 0-3 month clothes actually don't swamp her anymore.

~She likes to swing (like the boys!) but not for as long of duration.

~She loves her daddy, and personally I think she has him wrapped around her little finger, but I could be wrong.

~She loves those Soothie Binkies and wants nothing to do with the cute little MAM binkies that I paid SIX BUCKS for!

All in all, she is a bundle of love and we are grateful she is healthy and happy just like our fabulous sons!

My Big Boy!

2010-03-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago, Jake came to Turtle and told him that his tooth was bugging him. Turtle being the fantastic dad that he is decided to feel it, discovering that Jake had not one but TWO loose teeth! We have been talking to Jake about it over the past couple of weeks to let them know that his teeth would fall out and the tooth fairy would come! I wanted to make sure Jake understood this so it didn't scare him... blood and stuff tends to make him a bit nervous! Fast forward to lastnight...

I was working on finalizing everything for a get together at my house. Jake comes in the kitchen and says, "Mom, I think I'm bleeding, and it's yucky!" Turtle was home looked in his mouth and told Jake it was time for that tooth to come out. They went in the bathroom, Turtle worked his magic and VOILA!!! The tooth came OUT!!!! Jake was so excited about this that he wanted his other one out too. So... Jake lost his first and second tooth in the same night! Talk about luck!

I asked Jake how much he thought the tooth fairy was going to bring him, he replied, "One hundred dollars!" I don't know where that tooth fairy lives, but I am pretty sure she doesn't live on Imperial Oak!

Almost Springtime...

2010-03-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Today was BEAUTIFUL outside! It was irresistable!! We had to get out! The boys wanted to ride bikes so I decided, I would do it! I would venture out with all three kids, and the silly canine! I bundled up little Courtney... I will let the picture speak for itself, and the boys in their jackets and off we went! It was so pleasant outside! Not even a BREEZE! It was great! Magellan loved being out in the open air for a purpose other than pottying, and frankly, I loved the walk! (Can't wait to run... but hey the walk was FABULOUS!)
Who Said Eskimos don't live in Utah!

Yesterday the boys were invited to Gramma's and Grampa's for some much needed fun with their cousin! They had a BALL! They were so excited to go play with their cousin and as if that wasn't cool enough, they got to go to Grammas with out MOMMY! How cool is that? (apparently my parents are much cooler than I am!) When we got there they were expounding some pent up energy on the trampoline! It really brought back memories of when I was a kid. I would play outside for HOURS! Whether it was riding my bike, or jumping on the tramp, or playing steal the flag with the neighbors, I remember being outside from the time my chores were done (okay maybe not always!) til when my mom yelled for me to come in! I hope my boys have the same active life. I had so much fun as a kid. I am motivated to get them outside to do some exercise everyday! (probably be more proactive when little Courtney is a bit older!

After dinner with my parents Joe passed out on the couch! (his preferred place of resting!) Jake decided to build a tower. The temptation was great. It was tugging at Turtle with a force that was undeniable... so yes, the two of them built a massive tower.... Like father like son??? You be the judge!

Milestones!

2010-03-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week in our house! We have had lots and lots of fun... okay not all fun and games, but a good mix of good and bad.

To start off the week, Turtle and I went to see the doctor about some complications I was having. After some minor torture, several tears on my part, and several FOUR letter words being exclaimed in my head, I am happy to report things are getting better, and I finally feel like I am on the mend. No more pain medicine = one happy mommy! I really don't like feeling dopey... and let's be honest just a little bit and I am completely off in my own little world.

Miss Courtney has also hit the two week mark. Holy cow! I can't believe it! It doesn't seem like that long at all! She is such a joy to have home! We all love her to pieces. The boys have been PHENOMENAL with her. I truly mean that. I couldn't ask for better boys! They have been great little helpers! They love to pick out her outfits, help give her bottles, help change diapers, and pick out hair bows! I am so BLESSED! Three children that LOVE eachother! What more could I ask for! At her most recent Dr. appt. she is proving to be a tiny little girl, but she is growing with the best of them! We are having so much fun!

Turtle and I celebrated 10 YEARS of marriage! No Really! TEN YEARS! (Feel free to send Turtle your condolences! he he he!) We celebrated by purchasing a nice camera and going out to dinner without children at a nice little restaurant downtown! IT WAS SCRUMPTIOUS! We had a great evening just being together! I am so grateful for my fabulous hubby. He does so much for me and our children! LIFESAVER is the only word I can use to describe him! After having Miss Courtney, he has been there for everything to help me get back on my feet. I am grateful he has the patience to tolerate my high strung, high stress self! Man I love this man!

Tonight we decided we would take the boys and have a little date just the four of us! We left the princess with Gramma and Grampa and we took the boys to the mall to ride the carousel, and of course the Elevator and the Escalator! SIMPLE JOYS! I love that my boys are completely thrilled for a simple night of cheese sticks, fries and elevator rides! They bring me so much happiness. I am so grateful for my boys! It was fun to just do whatever would make their day! Even riding the escalator 7 times each way... just the joy in their faces was enough to make my night! I have felt guilty for the past three weeks since I haven't been able to really do much. It was fun to just cater to what they wanted and see them get out of the house! Man I love being a mom!

Little Courtney is Here!

2010-02-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

We are happy to introduce you to our new little princess! We have all just fallen in love with this sweet little girl! We are so blessed! The boys are so good with her, and they were super excited to meet her and have her come home with us! It's been a great experience! The boys have loved having one on one time with daddy while mommy recoups in the hospital!

We have had so much support from our family and friends, and I am so overwhelmed with gratitude! What a blessing it is to know your family will stick by you and help out, even if it means babysitting all day long! Or, cleaning my house, or making dinner, or doing laundry for me... I even had a little angel go buy me a Cherry coke and Starbursts super late at night! What a SWEETHEART! MY GOODNESS, I am so incredibly humbled.

Delivery of this little princess was a little more difficult. We had a repeat Cesarean. It went well for the most part. I have a couple of issues that I never had with the other two C-sections, but overall I am doing okay. It's definitely more painful, but I am happy to say we are healthy and safe!

Just plain GROSS!

2010-02-18T14:49:00.001-08:00

Okay, I have to share this experience. Think of it as my own personal "Public Safety Announcement." Today, a friend & I, decided to take the kiddos & let them play over lunch at Burger King. The closest one to our house is on 9000 South and just East of Redwood Road. The kids were super excited to play, & frankly it is awesome to hear them laugh & play so much with their buddies.
On with the story.... The kids played for a few minutes while Kristi & I got lunches ordered & brought back to the play area. The kids come back to the table, & we lathered them in hand sanitizer. (Which I am very happy that I did!) It is a crazy habit of mine, to clean their hands. Okay, maybe not a habit, an OBSESSION! There I said it. I admit it. I am fine accepting the fact that I am EXTREMELY OCD when it comes to germs, dirty hands, and eating.
The kids ate their lunch. (This is one of few things my kids will eat til it is gone. It's deep fat fried... how can you go wrong?) After they ate their lunch, they all got their happy meal toys out (Man I hate those things!) & decided that they would start to play again. Just as they were getting ready to enter the playground again, a mother walks in & was trying to lure her little one out of the playground. (I've been there before, NO FUN!) I was watching her, & I saw her look down at the floor. She saw something, grabbed a napkin & picked it up... (this is where the gross part comes into play!) As she picks it up she pulls a nasty bitter beer face, and yells "OMG! (She said the whole thing... c'mon kids read this!)"
I look over and ask her, what it was. I really shouldn't have asked, because really & truly I am ruined for life. She looks at me & says. "IT'S POOP!!!!"
Faster than fast, Kristi and I, as well as the Poop discoverer, grab our kids & get them out of the playland. The other lady runs to the registers and grabs an employee...(this is where I should start feeling better about the situation, right??? WRONG!) The employee comes out, he has his little bottle of cleaner, & proceeds to clean up a small spot on the Playground floor where the FECES was. As he was cleaning, I mentioned to him that I thought the entire playground should be cleaned. As a parent, and someone who has had family members IN THE HOSPITAL from Rotovirus, I think all measures need to be taken when something like this is discovered. He looks at me like I am a complete MORON... (which okay, maybe I do sound stupid!) and says, "Oh don't worry about it, our playground gets cleaned ONCE A WEEK!" He stands up after cleaning up the one spot on the floor, and walks away.
I was so disgusted. Actually, far beyond disgusted. I lathered the boys at least three times in hand sanitizer and we left. We got home, I changed their clothes, and I called the manager of the establishment. I told her as a food establishment more measures need to be taken to ensure that they have cleaned up the mess. She agreed with me... but still, that left an extremely bad scar in my brain, and I WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER!!!!! allow my kids to play in a playland again....
And I am pretty darn sure I will not EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER return to that Burger King Location again! If you do go to that location, just beware... they are flippant about the cleanliness of their joint...
There... that was the public service announcement, I found worthy to share with EVERYONE I KNOW!

Fabulous!

2010-02-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

This weekend was one of those that you sit back, take a deep breath and say... "Ahhhhhhhhhh."

Yes, it was that good!

Friday night we had all the fam over for supper to celebrate Little Joey's third Birthday! I can't believe he is going to be three tomorrow! My goodness! What happened to my little baby??? He had a great time being the center of attention! We had Lasagna, Salad and Garlic Bread for dinner. My favorite kind of meal, and definitely one the kiddos enjoy! Then it was time for gifts! Talk about major SPOILAGE! My kids definitely don't do with out with the amount of family who loves them! Joe loved getting new clothes, new toys and of course a small handheld fan that lit up. Not only was it just a fan, but it had a Sucker attached. No really! I am serious! Joe was pretty fascinated all night!

Then it was time for Cake and Ice Cream. Anyone who knows my boys, knows they don't waste their cake. It's not a subject they take lightly either. When they get cake, they dig right in... completely devoured in literally 30 seconds flat. Joe loves the Bumblebee car. He has seen the Transformer's movie, but let's face it, he's is only three... not likely that he actually understands the movie... (Okay maybe he does, but I surely DO NOT!) So I decided to make him a bumblebee cake. It's kind of a poor excuse for a cake, but hey I free handed it... so I am giving myself a little pat on the back!

What the family and the boys didn't finish, Magellan took upon himself to devour which was about the rear 30% of the cake. What TWIT! He's working hard to move out on his own, I'm telling you!

Yesterday, we took my Sister In Law to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. One word sums it up... YUM! Totally delish! Loved every bite. I even liked the small amount of cheesecake that I tried. (Yes ladies and gents, I am so not a fan of cheesecake! GASP!!!)

After I got back from lunch, I headed off to Bunco for a good time with good friends! I really love these girls! We have been playing just under 10 years now (Time Flies!) and it is always a riot. There's at least one of us that almost loses control of their bladder from excessive laughing! The best part... NO ONE IS DRUNK!~

From L To R: Shelisa, Me, Brandy, Nicole, Amber, Sandi and Leslee! We missed you Jen!

The Knack

2010-02-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

This is a funny video that we have had for a while, but I thought I would share.

What a difference a couple weeks makes....

2010-01-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

Jake went back on track for Kindergarten at the beginning of January. I thought he would be so excited to go back to school. He loved school... he loved his friends, his teacher, being away from home, being the big kid... he loved everything about school. But to my surprise, he wasn't too excited. Every morning was a fight. He would squawk, he would squirm, he would tell me he didn't want to go to school, he wanted to stay home, he didn't have time for school. The list goes on and on.
I started resorting to bribery. Terrible I know, but hey if it works, I am so going to do it! So every morning, I would tell him if he went to school, he could play Lego Star Wars with dad on the PS2 when dad came home from work. This worked for a couple of days, but he still just wanted to stay home. Too bad for him, I am a tough momma and he HAS to go to school, that is unless of course he is ill, then I would let him stay home.
Fast forward to this week... he has been back in school going on a month. I don't know what happened but Tuesday I went in to wake him up for school. He rubs his eyes, lifts his head from his nice warm pillow and asks.... "Is it Kindergarten today?"
I am prepping for a huge fight and I said, "Sure is Jake!"
He jumps up looks at me and says "YESSSSSS!!!!"
Yesterday, he woke up early, I didn't have to go in and wake him. He got up, came and got me and told me he wanted to have Oytmeal for breakfast (that's how he pronounces it, it makes me smile so I don't correct him! BAD MOMMY!) I go to the kitchen, and prepare his breakfast. He comes in a couple minutes later, fully dressed, shoes and socks are on, and ready to go. He sits down, eats his breakfast and asks me to comb his hair.
I don't know what happened to change his mind! But frankly I am happy as ever! He is back to his old self when it comes to school. I hope it lasts! This is by far the hardest part of Year Round school!

Do you see what I see?

2010-01-12T21:11:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I had an appointment with my OB. It went really well. My Little Girl's heart was beating strong, and she was swatting at the little tool he uses to hear the heart beat! (Fiesty like her mother!) These past few weeks, I have had some pretty bad anxiety. I worry about just about everything. What if she is born a boy (not that I would love her any less, but I have been preparing for a GIRL!) What if she has a heart defect? What if, What IF, WHAT IF!!! To top it off, I have had a cold that has lingered for the past three weeks or so. With it came congestion and that yucky gooey throat feeling, add Little Missy pushing up on my lungs and I start freaking out that I can't breathe! Needless to say I have been a bit of an emotional mess. (Trust me, I have been, you can ask Turtle or my Mom, I am pretty sure they will back me on this one!)

Back to the appointment, I told my Dr. about this anxiety I am having. It's unreal! I broke into tears in his office, and he told me that the best thing to do would be to let me see this little girl via ultrasound. He got me right in with the Sonographer, and VOILA! I got to see this little princess. She is Healthy! She moves alot (although I don't feel her like I did the boys!) and she is growing... FAST! In fact they estimate she weighs about 4 lbs 12 oz. right now! Ummmm YEAH, I still have 7 weeks til the due date! She is going to take after her brothers!

The sonographer was FANTASTIC! I love this lady! She has done all the ultrasounds for all three of my pregnancies, and honestly, she is great! She lets me ask questions (nothing is too dumb to ask her!) she even took a 3D pic of my little girl! This is what she looked like yesterday!

Breaking News!!!!

2010-01-07T13:47:00.001-08:00

Warning!!!! Potty talk is contained in this message!
Yep! That's right Joe is Potty TRAINED! He is doing AWESOME! We started the week of Christmas. (Yes, I had completely lost my mind!) As if all the hustle and bustle of getting everything ready wasn't enough, I decided that was the week to start working on saying goodbye to the diapers. Turtle and I knew Joe was ready... he didn't think he was, but we were pretty certain he was. Something about him going in his room, closing the door, and doing his business then coming out when he was done gave us the hint that it was time.
I decided to do something I didn't do for the Jake man. I decided to buy one of those fancy shmancy musical potties. You know, the one that plays a cheer for you everytime you go potty! Joe had had some bad experiences with the "Big" potty, so I thought this was the only way to go. Luckily it worked. He completely dug it! It would play a cheer and he would just beam with laughter and pride! He learned how to make himself go, he thought that was pretty nifty.
For the next week or so, he would have accidents. Each time he would come to me and say, "It wasn't my fault!" I secretly laughed inside, because I could see myself saying that as a kid too! But he was still trying, and he would go #1. Now for the other half of business. This really scared him. I don't know why he was so frightened, but he was. He would hold it for DAYS! Like three days! I would put a diaper on him just so he would go because I didn't want him to get sick. That worked for a couple of days, but then he was back to holding it in. Finally... he DID IT! It was 12:55am on Tuesday of this week... but he DID IT! I was so excited! I thought! YES!!! We have made a breakthrough! Tuesday he still struggled with it... but Dad came home, and worked some magic and he DID IT AGAIN! Then Yesterday, he became a full fledged, self proclaimed "POOPIN MACHINE!" He has done phenomenal. He wakes up when he has to go to the potty. He does this all on his own! My goodness! I am so proud of him!
A special thanks to big brother Jake.... he would entice and bribe Joe with anything he could to get him to do the business! He would offer his Optimus Prime for an entire FIVE MINUTES if Joe would do his business! Jake would cheer and clap and celebrate Joe's every accomplishment!I am so proud of both my boys!
And to add to all the excitement! I AM DIAPER FREE!!! For another 6-8 weeks!

What do Engineers do for fun?

2010-01-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had some friends from Turtle's work over for dinner and fun. It was completely entertaining! We had such a phenomenal time. They brought their wives and their adorable munchkins, and my boys were in H-E-A-V-E-N Heaven! They loved it! Jaker got to hang out with another boy named Jake who happened to be about a foot taller than him, but who's gonna let that stop him from wrestling with him! Jokester met a Sophie.... a very cute little girl that has just about as much spunk as he does. Seeing those two interact was worth the entire evening! I loved it!
The guys and the wives enjoyed the socializing. The kids, well... they entertained themselves doing just about anything from playing the trains, the playground downstairs, blocks, and of course, wrestling! To me, there is no better way to spend an evening than having lots of good food, good conversation and of course...

ROCK BAND!!!!

Building towers...their dads are engineers ya know!

Sophie with the magnet letters, & Jaker and Jake wrestling in the background!

Thank you all for coming out! We enjoyed it and hope you all did too!

One Bed...Two Beds...Who got BUNK BEDS!!!

2009-12-29T21:24:00.000-08:00

Yep...you read it right, I caved and the boys got bunkbeds! The bedrooms in our house, while adequately sized, don't really fit two twin beds, a dresser and a nightstand all too well so we decided to get the boys bunkbeds. They are LOVING IT! and I mean LOVING IT! Jaker got up this morning and was excited to make his new bed! He told me I wasn't allowed up there...(I secretly think he heard Grampa Al tell Turtle that I shouldn't be making the bed up there in my bloated state!) So Jaker did it! He made his bed, without being asked and he did a pretty good job! Jokester actually stayed in his bed all night, didn't come in our room at all! I think this will be a good thing! Or at least I hope so!

This sounds silly, but it was a little emotional for me moving Jokester into Jakers room. (Can you tell I am pregnant?) I am so not ready for him to not be a baby anymore. The boys are both growing up way too fast! Is it too much to ask for them to stay little a bit longer? Jaker is already in school, learning to read, sounding out simple words, and playing video games on his DIDJ. Jokester is already potty training! He has #1 down pat... almost 100%, now if I could just get that #2 under control... that would be nice! Any suggestions on easing a kids fear of going #2 on the potty?

Without further ado, I unveil the pics of the boys new room! They truly do LOVE it!

Festivities!

2009-12-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

How was your holidays? I can sum ours up in two words.... BUSY and FUN!

We had so much fun and we got SUPER SUPER spoiled!

Jaker with his prized Optimus Prime

Me looking bloated!!!

Joker and his cars!

Jaker and new clothes!

Joker really REALLY LOVED unwrapping...anything!

We had a week of festivities! Christmas Eve we had opportunity to spend some time with my Uncle Bob and Joyce! We had yummy homemade Clam Chowder, cheese ball, and of course my favorite wedding recption cookies! After about an hour of visiting we headed to the Nadauld's for a get together!

Christmas Morning, was great! We had a great time watching the boys open their gifts! Then we had the grandparents over for brunch! Waffles, sausage, scrambled eggs, muffins, the works! Then we headed to the Nadauld's for more fun! I think we made it home at midnight!

Saturday it was another Christmas party with more family!!! Breakfast with German Pancakes, sausage, egg nog... all the goods!

Needless to say we all gained probably 10 pounds!

Entertainment!

2009-12-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

We had the opportunity to see Jaker PERFORM! If you know Jake, you know he LOVES the stage! Anything he can do to be in the limelight, he will do HAPPILY! He is so good at it! He doesn't have a shy bone in his body... contrary to popular belief! Lastnight was his Kindergarten program at the Little Learner's Academy! We thoroughly enjoyed it! Last year he had a program there as well, and I saw a side of My little Jake, that I never knew existed! HE'S a HAM!!!! Here are some pics of the event last night. They aren't the best since I am photographically challenged, and well, let's just say the camera has had it's better days!

This is a video of Jake telling what makes Christmas special to him...in case you can't hear it well... he says, "When Santa brings me Presents!" Yep, that's my boy!

Today I had the opportunity to meet up with my girlfriends from Jr. High and High School. We went to lunch at the sandwich shop we all worked at our Sophomore year! So many laughs! So many memories, and lots of inside jokes that our old boss, the owner, had no clue what we were talking about! It was a FANTASTIC Day! Here are some pics!

Thanks ladies for so many years of laughter and fun... and thank you to Super Grinders for HEARTBURN from Hell!!!

Home??? What's that?

2009-12-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

We have been SO SO Busy this month! It seems as though we have something going on pretty much EVERY NIGHT! Okay, I am exaggerating, but wow, we have been busy. Between company parties, parties with friends, hosting Bunco, a night of Kurt Bestor, Awards Banquets, who has time to shop for Christmas!
We have had so much fun this month. The company party this year was at the Flagship OC Tanner store (the store that won the award for Turtle!). It was truly exquisite! What a beautiful building inside and out. It was so enchanting! Being around jewelry of that caliber was....BREATHTAKING! After looking at some price tags, we could sell our home, and maybe be able to afford, A NECKLACE! Yeah, it is that expensive. But very beautiful nonetheless.
We had a great time spending last Friday evening with Turtle's ole buddies from High School. In the 12 years Turtle and I have been together, I have gotten to know these guys, and their wives. They are all so dang funny! I was able to witness first hand the six (YES SIX!) grown men watch the screen saver for the DVD player. Honestly, I think we all have gotten our healthy dose of The Office! The food was fabulous! The home was even more beautiful than I imagined! It was a lovely evening, full of great food, fun company, and of course lots of laughs! We had the chance to see a small clip of what the guys were like in 1999.... let's just say, they haven't changed a bit.
Saturday we saw Kurt Bestor at the Abravenel Hall. Every year, I am amazed at this man's talent. I love his music. I remember when I was in High School, my mother would blare his music through the house, and I couldn't STAND IT! UGH! (sorry Mom! It's true!) I thought it was so annoying. But now, I LOVE IT! He is so talented! Watching him perform truly is entertaining! What an amazing musician! His music just gets me. He has one song that literally brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it... any guesses on which one?
Between babysitting, school work and of course the shopping, in addition to the extra activities of December, my house has pretty much been neglected! It is pretty dirty, and I am pretty embarrassed about it! But hey, at least we are having a great time!

Kuddos to Turtle!

2009-12-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

Lastnight, we had the opportunity to attend the ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) Awards banquet at the Hilton. Turtle had submitted a project that he worked on for an award. The project was the new OC Tanner Flagship store in SLC. Many of you may remember the building as the Hansen Planetarium. The work completed on this building was AMAZING! At the banquet I was able to see what they did to the building to retrofit it and make it what it is today. Simply AMAZING.

We had a great time socializing with the Architect he worked closely with, as well as the president of the RE &A (Turtle's employer) as well as the foremen from OC Tanner. It was a fabulous evening and experience. It was great to hear these men talk so highly of the handsome hubby. I have always known Turtle is a smart man. But to hear and see others tell me how great he is, is... well, gratifying. Turtle works really hard, and I am so proud of him!

As we sat through the awards, the projects that were submitted for awards were pretty dang cool. At the end of the evening, it was time for the announcement of the Grand Finale of Awards... the Grand Conceptor Award. We sat patiently, and I asked the hubby if he thought there was any chance his project would win it. He looked at me and said, "Probably not." Within minutes, the announcement was made.... Turtle's Project had won!!! It was so exciting! I am so proud of him! Here are some pics of the project. These are from the Deseret News in Sept. but it gives you an idea of how beautiful the project finished up!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

I am so excited for Thanksgiving. I have many things to be grateful for... and trust me when I tell you, I have been thinking of my many blessings this past month.
1. My amazing hubby, Turtle... what would I do without him!
2. Two amazing little boys... who always keep me on my toes! Love ya boys!
3. Baby girl... I am SO excited!
4. My mom! I talk to her more than anyone else outside of my house!
5. My dad! I am grateful he survived his scare in June!
6. Turtle's fam... without them, what would Turtle be?
7. A Home. May not be the fanciest, but hey, I love it!
8. Turtle has a job.... HUGE BLESSING
There are many more... but these are just a few!
I wish there was more emphasis on Thanksgiving. Personally, it urks me when I go into a store, and Christmas music is playing the day after Halloween. It urks me to see Santa Clauses ALL OVER the valley when we haven't had one of the most important holidays of the year! I saddens me that kids these days ignore the holiday that we reflect on what we have, and only focus on the holiday where we get what we WANT! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas too. I love the season, I love the family get togethers and parties etc, but I think Thanksgiving should be made a little more important~
In honor of THanksgiving, I have added the Turkey Song by Adam Sandler. It always cracks me up!
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Time for an update!

2009-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

We have had a fun past couple of weeks! Crazy busy... but nevertheless, FUN!

To start out, I began babysitting a couple of cute kiddos to make a little extra cash. I watch a little boy and a little girl. The boy is 4 1/2 and he fits right in with Jaker and Jokester. They are all so much alike, it's hard to believe they are not related. The little girl is just over a year, and an absolute sweetheart. I am seeing first hand the differences with having a girl in the house. She definitely rules the roost with the boys. But I can tell that my boys love her to pieces, and are even kind of protective of her.

As if having four kids isn't enough, I decided to help out a fellow Little Learner's parent and began chauffering Jaker's little classmate Lucy to school everyday. She is a smart little girl, and she definitely has her own opinion of things but she keeps me laughing. Needless to say, my car is filled to capacity lately, and honestly, I LOVE IT! I have the toddler tunes on, (yep, I forfeited my stereo to the kiddos!) and we all sing along and the kids have a great time. I told Turtle it is time to get a license plate or at least a Frame that says "KID HAULER!"

Halloween was a riot for the kids! The boys loved being Pirates! They even let me put some makeup on them to finish the effect. Jaker loved the festivities at both schools. We had quite the party at both schools and of course Jokester didn't mind being part of the action.

This past week, Turtle went to his very first Parent Teacher Conference. He went alone so he could talk one on one with the teacher, and I stayed home with the kiddos. Honestly... JAKER IS DOING FABULOUS! He LOVES going to school, and he is socializing so well! His teacher has nothing but great things to say about him, and I am so glad he thriving. I see major improvements with him each week, with handwriting, being able to tell me what a word starts with etc. He really is doing great. I was so worried about how well he was going to do. I really thought Oakcrest wasn't going to work out, but it is! And he LOVES IT! I am so grateful....

Here are some pics of the past couple of weeks...

Joker being Mummified!

Jake had so much fun making these scary hands, he made TWO!

ARG!!!!! Jaker's costume was made my AWESOME MOM, and Jokesters was made by me!

This is the little guy we have over every day. As you can see, he and Jaker have lots of fun together... and I am learning you never leave two little boys unattended with Pudding cups!

Everything is AMAZING...

2009-10-22T17:09:00.001-07:00

And nobody is happy.
I saw this on Facebook.
I LOVED it. So I had to share!
Let me know what you think!

Slump...

2009-10-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

I am in a major slump. I hate to admit it, but... I am. I have motivation to do absolutely nothing, except maybe eat! I have been this way since we got back from Disney last month. It's almost like a depression in a way. Like, "Oh, now we are back to real life!" Bummer! I can't say my house has ever been in more disarray than it has been thise past month. I try to pick up the pieces, I try to make it presentable... but I just have that "Bleh!" feeling. I need to snap out of it pretty dang quick. If the house isn't tidy, I ain't happy!
We have had a hectic couple of weeks. Doing what I don't know, but boy have we been busy. Between taking Jaker to and from school twice a day, taking him to swim once a week, and of course reading and homework everyday, I have quite a bit of time occupied... then you add in all the house work, running errands, grocery shopping, etc, it's almost like the days need an extra hour or two.
While we have been super busy, we have had some fun too. The kids had a playdate with their fave friends Ashton and Ransom. That brightened up their month. They keep asking when we can go see them again! They also had a playdate at McD's with Ethan and Logan and of course that was a huge hit... but other than that, their schedule is pretty full... at least Jaker's is.
Sometimes I feel bad because he doesn't have much of a social life being in school all day. I feel guilty because his playtime during the day isn't much since he has two schools worth of homework. The homework is fun of course, but it's with mom and dad, not with his buds. I know we are doing the right thing for now. He is thriving like it's no ones business. His teachers are impressed, and he is doing well.... maybe I am just a worry wart!
Anyhow, that's our life in a nutshell!

Meet my li'l Dinosaur...

2009-10-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for a friend of a friend. I have had lots of fun over the last couple of years making cakes, not only for my family, but my friends too. My good friend Brandy, referred her friend to me, and I was given the challenge to make a Dinosaur cake. I looked online, and found the cutest ideas. I decided 3-D was the way to go! Check him out....

I had a great time making this cake. It was a challenge, but only because I had never done it before, but I sure had fun! The boys loved it too. I think having cake in the house with Jaker, could be compared to having an alcoholic in a liquor store... sometimes it was a bit tough for Jaker to resist the urge to have a taste or two.... Thank heavens for Cupcakes!

Super Speed...

2009-10-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

Today has been one of those days... You know the kind... the ones where you run around like a chicken with your head cut off. You race to get everything done by a specified time! Then you get to that specified time with a HUGE sigh of relief! You finish the event you were working towards and then realize... Wow, why was I so stressed out about this???
Today I was prepping for having dinner ready for the missionaries. I don't know why I was so stressed about it... but I was pretty wigged out about it. All day today, I have cleaned... cleaned the bathrooms, mopped the floors, vaccummed, folded laundry, ironed, straightened, and then straightend yet again (I do have two sons you know!), prepare a meal, and then of course teach P.E up at Jaker's school. It was CRAZINESS. I was so worried about the house being perfect, about the meal being fabulous, that I didn't realize just why I was doing all of this... almost like I was just zoned in on the tasks to be done, without realizing the purpose.
When the missionaries showed up, (super cool guys by the way) Jaker and Jokester were so excited. Jaker's eyes lit up... like, "Wow, you're a MISSIONARY!!!" We have talked about missionaries to Jaker, he knows that his daddy served a mission, and of course they learn about missionaries in Primary, but wow, having a missionary in the house... now that is COOL! I am glad I had the opportunity to have the missionaries over. I am sure the children scared them away for a while, but it was a good experience nonetheless!
The other bonus is,.... Hey... My housework is done for tomorrow! YAY ME!

First Photos....

2009-10-05T17:01:00.001-07:00

Last week was an exciting week for our family. We had our first ultrasound of our li'l bun in the oven. It was a great experience. Turtle and I took the boys with us and they got to see their new sibling. Jaker was the most excited. He was absolutely positive that we were having a sister. Joker followed Jaker's suit, and was also pretty certain that we were having a baby girl.

I was pretty sure we were having a son. I have always felt that I was going to have my own little team of line backers. Turtle, well I am not sure what he thought, I am pretty sure he thought it was a boy as well.

As I laid on the table, I was amazed, just as I was with the boys, at the beauty of this child. It is absolutely amazing to see this little person moving all over the place. We saw every part of this baby and everything looked great! SUCH A BLESSING! As we watched the ultrasound on the screen, the Sonographer said, "Do you want to know the gender?". Of COURSE I thought! I am not one for surprises. With the boys, I was pretty sure I knew what they were since they were in perfect pose to show us what they were. This baby was no different, but I wasn't sure what the gender was. That's when the sonographer chimed...

"IT'S A GIRL!!!"

Justin and I looked at eachother with a look of "NUH UH!!!" I was really surprised. We are all so excited for a little girl to soften up our house. I am sure the sea of pink and lavendar will be lovely in our house! I am looking forward to sharing all the fun things I had with my mom and still have. The sewing, the shopping, girl talk, all the good stuff! I know the boys will be happy with a girl.

As of today I am about 18 1/2 weeks along. I am feeling good for the most part. The biggest challenge I have is INSOMNIA! What to do people do at 3am? I find it to be the perfect time to catch up on all the shows that are on my DVR. I also get to watch some documentaries that I otherwise would never know existed... and of course who doesn't love spending a couple of hours playing Solitaire on their cell phone! Good times! Here is a picture of me as of today! Jaker is the photographer!

Come, Come Ye Saints....

2009-10-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as Turtle and I sat and watched conference, Mo-Tab sang this song. I have heard this song a gazillion times before.... no really a gazillion. It is actually one of my favorite hymns. Why? I don't know, but I have always enjoyed singing it, and listening to it is fun too.
As I sat there, I really paid attention to the lyrics of that song. Now, I know that the pioneers went through a lot, okay, sheer Hell, I know that. But I never realized just how strong they were til I paid attention to the verse which states:
Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
’Tis not so, all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward,
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take;
Our God will never us forsake,
And soon we’ll have this tale to tell,
All is well! All is well!
I don't know why this verse hit me with such an impact this weekend, but nevertheless, It Did. So many times, I find myself in my own little pity party. Poor Me, so and so is angry with me, why can't my family work issues out etc. etc., but in the grand scheme of things my trials are so simple and meager compared to what the pioneers endured. Burying their young, spouses, family and friends. Experiencing the worst of weather conditions, not to mention the labor they endured.
These people were amazing. Just had to share that!

HAPPIEST Place ON EARTH!!!

2009-09-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a family Vacay in CALIFORNIA! It was FANTASTIC! The boys have been looking forward to this trip for quite some time now.
In March we were invited by Gramma and Grampa to go to DISNEYLAND & stay in their timeshare with them! We immediately jumped at the chance! What a perfect EARLY Christmas present to the boys! They have been so excited! Not only about going to Disneyland, but going with GRAMMA AND GRAMPA! Can it get any better???? Absolutely not!!!!
We started on the journey last Sunday. We got up bright & early... okay maybe not bright, it was 4:30AM. The boys were great troopers! They got up & were excited to go fly on an airplane! So off we went! We boarded our flight & took off at 7:15am. Jaker was awake for the entire flight! He talked and talked and talked to his Gramma and Grampa! He colored Pictures, read stories! It was great for him! Jokester did great too, he took a quick cat nap in the middle of our flight!
Once we landed we had a good 6 hours to kill before we could check into the timeshare. We stopped and had breakfast and then it was off to see the L.A LDS temple! It was beautiful! So clean, beautiful flowers, amazing trees, and the of course the calm quietness of the temple grounds!
We spent two days in Disneyland! The boys were in HEAVEN! Absolute EUPHORIA! Jaker had his favorite rides. Some I am quite surprised at because they scared me... but not my boy... he loved the scary stuff... like Tower of Terror (seriously this kid is a small version of his FATHER!), Pirates of the Carribean, the Madderhorn, Splash Mountain, and of course... STARWARS!!! Joker loved the Buzz Light Year Ride, Pirates, Teacups, and It's a Small World. Both the children LOVED meeting the characters. They had no problems waiting in line to meet their favorites like, Pluto, Mickey Mouse, Minnie, The Incredibles (who doesn't love them!), Sulley, and many others! They had such a great time! Disney was FABULOUS!
Then it was off to California Adventure! What an ADVENTURE! Turtle and the Boys talked me into going on this massive Ferris wheel. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't dig heights. I am not a fan, I can handle the scariest of roller coasters, but put me on a ferris wheel, and it's not pretty. Anyway, we get on this ferris wheel, and we decide the boys would probably be most entertained by a "swinging Gondola". Entertained they were! Holy Smokes! They were laughing HYSTERICALLY! They LOVED IT! I on the other hand was ready to toss my lunch... but at least the boys had fun! This Gondola swung so much that Jokester fell flat on the floor, but he was laughing so hard he couldn't cry! It was great! (Although I will NEVER ride a Ferris Wheel again!)
We spent a day on the beach. It was Beautiful. We watched a lot of surfers! It was fun to watch. It was great to take in the ocean air, and play in the sand. I have never loved having sand between my toes... but there is something about the BEACH.... the ocean beach... it's different. That sand is amazing! I loved it! We played in the water for a bit until it proved to be way over our heads. Jaker and I had a really scary experience, and let's just say, I will think twice before I EVER let the children play in the ocean, or myself for that matter.
We also had a fun filled day at Knottsberry Farm! I have only been one other time, and honestly it was so much fun!!!! It was great the day we went! We literally walked on to everyride! No lines at all! Jaker once again proved to be just like his father and wanted to ride all the massive Roller Coasters! The one he could ride on was quite intense, but boy did he love it! It was called the Sidewinder! We were able to see video of him during his ride, and he was just ROLLING with laughter! The boys loved the Log ride there. They were very excited to get wet... it was pretty hot that day!
All in all the trip was AMAZING! I can't thank my parents enough for inviting us to go! I know my boys will remember it for years to come! The boys are already missing their grandparents! We had such a phenomenal time!

Another First!

2009-09-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Yep... Jaker started his second Kindergarten at Little Learners Academy. Honestly, I am SO excited for him! He is going to learn so much with Miss Christiansen, and at the same time, he is going to have so MUCH FUN!!!! I am really excited for him. There are 14 students in his class. If that isn't the most optimal situation, I don't know what is!!!! He is already making friends in his new school, and he still misses his Mrs. Parker at Oakcrest! (He's off track.. yeah ALREADY!)

People think it is crazy to have him in two schools. I get reactions like... "Oh you must really be trying to ship him off." I assure you, that is not the reason at all! There are benefits to both schools.

Oakcrest Pros:

Going to school with friends in the neighborhood.

Becoming familiar with large crowds, and assemblies (which he is not too fond of.)

Getting extra help he needs with speech and occupational therapy.

Learning to adapt to a public school setting. (Heaven knows we can't afford Private school forever!)

Little Learners Pros:

Super small class size. (14 students in a class??? BEAT THAT!)

Musical based learning... Jaker digs it!

More one on one teaching.

Here is a picture of him at his new desk. He was able to choose where he wanted to sit. Notice he sat between TWO cute girls! He's a flirt, what can I say???

If I could be a personal spokesperson for Little Learners, I would. They worked so hard with Jaker last year and he made phenomenal progress! It was amazing to see the improvements in his speech, letter recognition, sounds, and socializing skills. I am so grateful that I am able to have him in there for another year. It wouldn't be possible if there weren't angels out there (you know who you are) helping us! THANK YOU!

We have Handrails!!!!

2009-09-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that we have HANDRAILS!!! YAY!!!! Turtle has done such a great job! It is so nice having a perfectionist for a husband!

Facelift...

2009-09-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Just on the blog, not on me. Besides if I were to have any plastic surgery, I have a few areas that need more help (i.e toosh...gut.. you get the picture!)
I just found a new website that I LOVE! Its www.shabbyblogs.com. Have to admit, I love their styles. Simplistic, cutesy, feminine, and absolutely ADORABLE! I found some awesome backgrounds and voila... here's the new blog!
I put some tunes on from my younger years. These are songs that bring back memories. Some from when I was just little... you know the good stuff that my parents listened to. Neil Diamond, Air Supply... they always take me back to the road trips we had. My sister and I used to drive my parents CRAZY asking them to replay that song... after about 10 times of listening to the same song, we had to change it! I wish I could say I have outgrown the need to replay the same song over and over... but... NOPE! Still do it! Now I drive my husband crazy!
Other stuff reminds me of Jr. High and High School. Cranberries is huge! I loved them back then. I rediscovered this love last weekend when we were flipping through channels on the way back from Bear Lake. So I had to add them too! If you hate the tunes... sorry. I'm not changing them anytime soon!

Going through the archives...

2009-09-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

Look how CUTE!!!

This is Jake when he was 18 months old. I had just put him in his crib because he was climbing up on the table. He was crying for about thirty seconds and then all the sudden I heard a big THUD! I ran to his room, and he was LAUGHING! He figured out how to escape the crib!

Fun trip to the Lake!

2009-08-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a Spur-of-the-Moment trip planned! It was FANTASTIC! I mean that in every way possible. It kinda was talked about last Friday, but nothing really set in stone. Turtle talked to his best buddy Oli Monday or Tuesday, kinda kicked a few ideas around, and bam, by Thursday, we are planning the last minute details in time to take off for Bear Lake on Thursday Night. (Yep, you read that right, Jaker missed a day of KINDERGARTEN! I am so going to H-E-double Hockey Sticks!)
We stayed at our friends cabin which is right by the lake. Super cool, Super Fun, and Super Convenient! The boys loved it! We had great food, great friends, great WATER (oh yes, talk about temptation for me!) and of course great scenery. Ang, my good friend really knows how to cook! I had salmon steak for the first time, and I LIKED IT! It was AWESOME! We really got spoiled this weekend!
Luckily my parents took in the pooch. He had a great time with them, frankly I think he enjoyed the R & R, that came with the peace and tranquility of the G-parents home! He got a little depressed that we left him, but my parents made it up to him! G-pa is great about letting Magellan follow him everywhere he went, they have a bond. Every animal loves my dad I swear (okay maybe not our cat Peach we had when I was growing up... but you know most animals!)
We got back this afternoon! It was such a nice weekend! We are so lucky!
Here is a quote from the weekend I had to share....
Jake: "Mom, put your ski on!"
Me: "Jake, I'm not skiing, I have a baby in my belly."
Jake: "So, what's it gonna fall out???"
***I cracked up quite a bit at that one!****

Justified.

2009-08-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

This morning was my second appointment for baby # 3. How exciting! The whole way to the doctor's office (trust me I had time to think in rush hour traffic!) I kept thinking, what if's! What if we are having twins. What if I am not really pregnant, and I just made these symptoms up these past 12 weeks. What if he can't find a heartbeat... what if what if WHAT IF!!!
As I was driving, (I am telling you it took a while to get to the doctor!) I thought wow, I am SO LUCKY! Why you ask???
1. I don't have to work anymore and therefore no longer have to try to fight traffic to get somewhere on time!
2 I get to spend all day with my sweet little dudes who make life so much fun!
3. And last but not least, I have an amazing hubby, who is not only fantastic to me, but fantastic to my kiddos!
Kay.. so back to the appointment. I get there, and I am of course I am 12 minutes late. To me that is on time, but to everyone else, that is considered late! (good thing I can't get fired!!!) I sit in the waiting room and I wait... and I wait... I wait some more, and finally they call my name! YES!!! I get to hear the heartbeat! I am so excited, I swear I am GIDDY! So off I go... to pee in a cup, and find out how much I weigh! Then it is back to the waiting room! Talk about wrecking my morning! So I wait a little longer and then it is FINALLY my turn! YES!
I go in my room, and I wait. And I wait a little longer, (are you starting to see a trend with the waiting???) and finally Dr. Quinn comes in! YES! I finally get to hear this little baby! So he gets that little radar thing out, squeezes out the goo on my gut and starts moving it around looking for the heartbeat. It probably only took a couple of minutes but to me, IT WAS HOURS!!! I admit, I was nervous! What if the baby isn't in there??? What if I made it all up! Then finally... BAM! I hear it! This fast paced little thumper just ticking away! It was at that moment, I got teary eyed. (I am really emotional can you tell?) I was so excited to hear this little heartbeat! It was fast and it was strong! And the baby was moving all over the place! (sounds like a true Nadauld!)
It was at that moment, I had a total feeling of JUSTIFICATION! I really haven't made it all up! This nausea and exhaustion and weight gain???? There is a reason! It's not all in my head and I am SO HAPPY!! I can't wait to meet this little spirit! We are all so excited!!!! But boy, I am going to have my hands FULL!

Signs Your Kids are Growing Up...

2009-08-19T12:30:00.001-07:00

1. Your five year old gets embarrassed when you come to volunteer in his kindergarten class.
2. Your Two year old insists on doing everything himself. (i.e. getting in and out of the car, putting on shoes, folding blankets and putting his clothes on.)
3. Your five year old tells you that he doesn't like the shirt you picked out, it isn't cool.
4. Your five year old tells Gramma while at the store that he doesn't need anymore toys, he has plenty.
5. Your two year old insists on putting his milk cup in the microwave... afterall, mom might spill it.
6. Both your boys tell eachother what to do... and it is an exact repeat of what you always say. (ex. "don't jump on Bed Jadub," "Joey, you need to share with your brother." and the best one is to eachother, "We don't say shutup!")
7. Both boys offering to help one another out... if they drop toys etc.
And my all time FAVORITE!!!
Your five year old tells you it is too late to go to dinner with Gramma and Grampa, he has school in the morning and he still needs to shower.

Naughty 1 and Naughty 2...

2009-08-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Don't misunderstand, they are both EQUALLY NAUGHTY, but I used numbers to distinguish between the two.
Tonight I made the error of taking two children to the grocery store. WalMart of all places. The most cluttered, toy filled, little gadget, piece of candy here and there, store in the UNIVERSE! I take my kids to the grocery store all the time... but tonight... let's just say it was an experience that will plague me for a VERY LONG TIME! They were naughty... no really... like strangers staring at me with that "Holy crap woman, CONTROL YOUR KIDS!" look. Yeah,.... it was one of those experiences.
I only share it because frankly, I am miffed...REALLY REALLY REALLY MIFFED! Here's the rundown....
1. Walk in the store... Jake wants in the cart, so I put him in, keep in mind he is 42 lbs, not exactly light!!! Then 2 seconds later he pitches a fit because now he wants out!!!! (I should have known I was in for it AND RAN!!!!)
2. We go to produce (I don't like the Walmart Produce...but never the less it was convenient) I pick out some nectarines that were pretty good, and of course the boys fight over who gets to hold them.
3. Off to frozen foods... Jake decides this would be a great time to try and hang upside down on the cart as if it were a jungle gym... he gets grease ALL OVER his hands and starts pitching a fit that his hands are dirty... (yeah cuz I didn't warn you about that along with the fact that you are going to fall and bust your face!!!!)
4. After a few more minutes we end up in the Health/beauty aisle. By now, Joe has thrown enough of a tantrum that I agree to let him walk instead of sit in the cart. BIG MISTAKE! He runs up and down the aisle knocking stuff on the floor then refusing to pick it up!!! (this is where those nasty looks come in!) After getting firm with him and his ignoring me... I tap him on the toosh. Yes I really did that in a store!!!! HE LAUGHED!!!!
5. Finally we go to the checkout... this should be peaceful right???? NO!!!! Joe takes my nice nectarines out of the cart and decides to bowl them down the checkout aisle! So now, not only have I checked out and didn't notice that he had taken them out of the cart... but now I get to pay for BRUISED FRUIT! (Insert SCREAM HERE!)
Essentially the kids were locked in their rooms when we got home til Turtle got home... unfortunately that was less than 5 minutes later!!!

Changes...

2009-08-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

I went to the District today to do some shopping. Thanks to the OODLES of construction on New Bingham Hwy (c'mon people...when you see cones merging your lanes...why wait til the last minute! DUH!) I had lots of time to think. The boys were both conked out ever so peacefully in their carseats. I thought about change. Things are changing pretty quick in our house with Baby # 3. For example...
1. I used to run 4 miles several times a week (does 3+ times constitute several???) That was my exercise... and boy it felt good! Now???? My exercise consists of walking Jake & Joe to Oakcrest Elem. twice a day. Not quite the intensity...but let me tell you, I am BEAT!
2. After doing the "fat club" thing last year, I have been super duper conscious of what I eat. Now??? Not so much. If it doesn't make me nauseas, I am totally gonna eat it.
3. I used to eat (or try to anyway) 2 fruits a day. Now... not gonna happen. Don't get me wrong... it is a great idea, but man the smell... why does it have to SMELL so strongly!!! GAG!
4. Before I was content with the Pilot. Now... minivan sounds really super duper nice right now. (Too bad Turtle isn't taking the bait!) Don't get me wrong, I love the Pilot, I really do. It drives, it's comfortable, it's a nice car... but man whoever engineered those back seats, didn't take account the size of American Car Seats... they are about two inches TOO WIDE! So when Jaker sits in the back, I have to hang upside down over the back seat, full view of my toosh out the back hatch (not pretty I'm telling you!), lift up one side of his booster seat, while trying to finagle the seat belt with the other hand. Yeah... really...it is that tough! By the time I am done, I am hot, sweaty, my hair is a mess (oh wait that's normal!) and I am in a bad mood!
As I was thinking of these changes... I can't express how excited I am. Absolutely ECSTATIC! I am gonna have three little angels... and I can't tell you how blessed I feel. I am so happy, and I know how lucky I am. Jake mentions all the time how fun it will be. I think the boys will be FANTASTIC big brothers! Jake has had lots of practice, and Joe... I think he will catch on pretty quick!

To Do List...

2009-08-09T13:00:00.001-07:00

I found this on YouTube. It slightly resembles my day... okay a little more than SLIGHTLY! Pause the tunes on the right!

Back To School...

2009-08-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Lastnight Turtle and I loaded up the kiddos and went to Back to School Night. It was a great experience. I have heard lots of things about the school my boys will go to. Some good. Some Bad. I, being a self proclaimed pessimist, usually run with the negative and don't give anything a chance unless I have heard raving reviews from absolutely everyone, oh and their dog too! Many of you know that I have Jaker enrolled in a private school for Kindergarten! We are still planning on taking him there. It starts in September, and I KNOW he will LOVE it and he will be FABULOUS there! I had absolutely NO intentions of sending him to public school this year... mainly because he has some issues with learning and I was certain that he would fall behind. (Hey I totally admit I am a pessimist alright!!!)
So what changed my mind? Here it goes... last week, Jake's teacher Mrs. P called. She wanted to know why he wasn't at his assessment. I talked to her on the phone for a good 15 min. She is fantastic! I totally mean it too! So I decided to take Jake in to meet her. She really worked with him. She would ask him a question, and when she could see he wasn't quite getting it, she would ask it a different way... seeing how she worked with him, listening to her talk to me, I was sold. So that is how I decided to take Jake to TWO schools. I know, he may get exhausted and if it is too much, we will make changes...
Back to our evening last night. We were sitting in an assembly setting, (Jake did awesome BTW!) and we watched a slide show of the kiddos up at school last year. They genuinely had fun! You could see it in their cute little faces! I have to admit, I got a little emotional even. I am so excited for my Jakeman! He loves school so much! I am so happy that he does! I am excited for him to make friends, meet teachers, have recess, doughnuts with daddy, breakfast with books... gosh... there is so much for that little kid to experience! I can't wait to cheer him on every step of the way!!!! I still can't believe I am old enough to have a school aged child, but that's another post in and of itself!

It's official!

2009-08-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

Jake is a Kindergartener!!! I know! I can't believe it either!

This morning it was like he was an old pro! I went in to wake him up at about 7:30am. I was ever so sweet and told him it was time to get up for school. Half asleep he lifts his head up, looks at me, and says..."Mom, It's kindergarten, NOT SCHOOL!"

Okay... whatever makes you happy buddy!

So he gets up and dressed. He was quite excited to wear one of his new "Kindergarten" shirts. He has been wanting to wear them since I bought them about a week ago. Today was the day... and boy was he happy!

As we headed out the door he insisted on riding his bike. After all, Derek (our neighbor) is riding his bike, and Allie (our next door neighbor) is riding her bike, so of course, he has to ride his bike too! He was so cute! In fact he was so cute, I forgot his HELMET! Duh!

We almost made it up to school when Daddy came to join us walk him to his class. He was so thrilled! It means a lot to him when Daddy is there! He went right to his class and yelled, "BYE MOM! BYE DAD!!" No problem leaving us at the door! I am happy he is so comfortable!

I miss my little guy! But I am so excited for him too!

Here are some pics! Forgive me, I am nothing close to a photographer, but ya get the idea!

Kindergarten... WHAT????

2009-07-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, the day is quickly approaching. My Jaker is going to KINDERGARTEN! No that isn't a typo... KINDERGARTEN! I can't believe it myself! I was just sitting here looking at all the fun pictures of this little dude, and I still can't believe Kindergarten is in the 30 Day forecast! Is there a way I can stop time and just enjoy him as a little kid a little longer??? I am so not ready for the school business. Preschool was tough for me. Call me overly protective, but I don't like being away from my Jakester! He seems so young!

He is so excited to start school! In fact, tonight he said the blessing over supper. In his prayer, he thanked Heavenly Father for Little Learners (the school he will be attending) and prayed that he would be able to listen and learn good. So dang cute!

I bought him some school clothes yesterday at the OshKosh Outlet (Great deals there I'm telling ya!) As I was going through the racks, I kept thinking... I remember buying baby clothes for him here... it seems like yesterday when I was making sure he had a onesie on, and he had little frogs and bugs embroidered on all of his clothes. His shirts all had coordinating socks. Now??? He's wearing "Big Boy Socks" no designs, no colors, just basic white socks with HANES on the bottom. What happened to my little boy??? I can't believe how fast time has gone!

Here are some old pics of him... Such a cutie!

What is he Doing???

2009-07-25T14:56:00.001-07:00

Okay friends and neighbors...some of you may have been asking yourselves, what is going on over there???
Why is there the constant pounding of hammers?
Why do they keep parking their cars outside??? HELLO??? it's hot outside!
What is with all the saws running constantly?
Do ya'll have a new obsession with Lowes and Home Depot???
And why on earth are you not up at the lake every weekend???

Here's your answer folks... (No we are not adding on to the house!)
Turtle has designed and is currently in the process of building a deck. Not a small one either... it's not the little joke of a deck we had before... this is a real DECK! And if I had my guess, knowing Turtle and his engineering skills, you could park a car on it with no problems whatsoever. (Don't worry, I won't try it!)
The deck is coming along quite nicely! I am excited to have a nice deck made with Trex! Something about not having to maintain every year puts a smile on Turtle's face!
So here are some before pics. Our backyard was UGLY! Don't worry you can agree with me... I won't be offended! I think the backyard was a HUGE deterrent to this house selling.... Now that we have decided to stay we are doing something about it! (Thanks honey!)
Once it is done... Turtle is getting a new car... Just kidding!

Fun times at LAGOON!

2009-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had the great opportunity to join our good friends at LAGOON! They had some discount tickets they were willing to share with us... and boy did we take them up on the offer! It was FANTASTIC!!!! We met up in the morning and had some good times at Lagoon-A-Beach. The kids LOVED it! Jaker was having so much fun going down the waterslides as fast as he could with Asher. I think they were racing against time! We all loved the Lazy River. Jokester thought sitting on my lap in the tube was very nice, and Jaker... he just loved practicing his swimming skills down the river. We made sure the boys had life vests on... I think it made everything more comfortable!
After the water fun, Jokester went with Mindy to take a nap at her MIL, and I took Jaker to a Dr. Appt... Then it was off to pick up Daddy! Jaker was SO EXCITED to ride on rides with DADDY! I have to admit I didn't think he would really love the rides... I thought he would be nervous and uncomfortable. BOY WAS I WRONG! He LOVED IT! The bigger the ride the better! His favorite ride was the Lady Bug Drop. I went on this ride with him, and it scared me... but he thought it was great! He insisted on sitting next to a cute girl on the ride, not his MOMMY! He is growing up! He also loved the Bat. He is quite the little daredevil!
Both the boys loved the Rattlesnake Rapids! They thought it was great that we all got pretty wet! Jokester was a big fan of the cars, and also Puff! He would just Giggle and Giggle and GIGGLE! No fear... just fun!
It was a great day! We are so grateful to the Francis fam for invitings to join them! Here are some pics (courtesy of Mindy!)

You might be _____ if...

2009-07-21T22:43:00.001-07:00

1. You eat a small amount of ice cream and suddenly feel the urge to vomit.
2. You are super way hungry, but nothing sounds appealing.
3. You are extremely happy one moment, and crying or angry the next.
4. You could sleep 10 hours each night, and still have the need to take a nap in the afternoon.
5. You are hot and sweaty when your house is at 70 degrees.
6. The thought of eating certain foods kinda makes you heave.
7. Things that never bothered you in the past, all the sudden DRIVE YOU BATTY!
8. You feel overweight, but you haven't gained a pound.
10. You can drink a liter of water and you are still thirsty.
11. You get excited to take your kids to Chuck E Cheese, then you get there and you are ready to go home.
12. You suddenly have the strong need/desire for PERSONAL SPACE!!!
13. Exercise sounds like a good thing to do, but you know you have no energy to do anything.
14. You look at your children and are reminded how much you love them.
15. Suddenly a Mini Van sounds like the way to go! Let's be practical!
16. You take a pregnancy test and it comes out POSITIVE!

Yep... you got it... We are expecting our third child. We are super way excited. I am just about 8 weeks, and it is super early. I am not feeling all that great, okay not great at all... but I am still surviving and enjoying every minute of it. Hopefully we have a healthy happy baby! We are very grateful for this pregnancy!

Good Readin'

2009-07-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

I have been reading this book for the past couple of nights. I can't put it down! One night I stayed up til 1:30am reading! Okay.. it doesn't help that I didn't start reading it til midnight, but you catch my drift!

This story is phenomenal! What's even better is it is TRUE! The author is writing his experience after being involved in a head on collision with a semi truck. He is a baptist minister and he talks about his experience right after the crash, as well as the following months in recovery.

I haven't finished this book yet, but I am pretty sure it will be done tonight. It is so good, and I HIGHLY recommend it! My mumsy told me about it, and it is better than I thought it would be! It is more than just a true story. There is so much wisdom this man shares with his readers... things he learned through the service of others!

Flustered....

2009-07-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

I have to say I am at my wit's end. My kids won't eat! They won't eat anything I make unless it is Peanut Butter and Jelly, Mini Corn Dogs, or Beef Enchiladas, other than that they turn their nose up to everything! You would honestly think I am feeding them dog food or something by the way they behave. What do I do?

I am losing patience. I worry about their nutrition. Let's face it, the kids can only eat so much McDonalds, and Burger King, before they started becoming FAT!

The only somewhat healthy stuff they will eat is Applesauce, Granola Bars, Cheese Sticks and wheat bread. Not exactly a balanced diet! I don't know what to do to get them to eat a meal. Any suggestions... come on, I am DESPERATE HERE!!!

Best Feeling...

2009-07-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

Last night we had the opportunity to have my brother's four children over for a few hours. We had a great supper, and I was happy to see that some children will actually eat what I prepare. (Keep in mind it wasn't my kids, But still!!!) After supper, Turtle decided to take the children up to the park to play, and allow me some time to clean up. It's amazing how many dishes you use with SIX kids, as well as the cleaning up! WOW!
Back to the story, Turtle had been gone with the kids for about 30 minutes when I got a call to come and get Jaker, he needed to come home. So I get in the car and get Jaker. We get back home, he starts feeling better, and wants to join the kids again. On the way back up to the park, Jaker says, "Mom, are you gonna come play with us?" When I told him I wasn't, I was making some treats for when they got back, he responded, "I think I would have lots of fun if you came to play."
This is a simple conversation. To most it probably doesn't mean a whole bunch, but to me... it's priceless. Jaker and I have a little bond. He has so much confidence in me, that I will take care of whatever happens, I will make him feel better, I will make sure he has fun etc. etc. It makes me happy to know that he is so sure of this. In the daily grind of things, I do my best to make sure the boys have all the attention they need, all the fun they can have, and still take care of my responsibilities in the home. Hearing this last night made me think, I guess I am doing something right!

Father Sons Campout!

2009-07-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Turtle was Brave. VERY VERY BRAVE! He decided to take both the boys to the Father and Sons Campout with the Elder's Quorum! I had the house all to myself! I missed the the boys and Turtle immensely, but I enjoyed sewing until the WEEE HOURS of the MORNING! It was fabulous!

Turtle and the boys thoroughly enjoyed playing in the dirt! The boys totally dig sleeping in a tent! In fact, I think Turtle's status with them has increased three notches because he let them sleep in a tent, in the WOODS!!! With all the excitement, they didn't get much sleep! Jokester had lots of fun playing with his nursery buddy M. Jaker of course played with some buddies from primary and even let Jokester tag along!

In addition to sleeping in a tent, the boys got pancakes for breakfast (Definite BONUS), roast marshmallows, get glow sticks, and drink hot chocolate. It was a dream come true for them. Best of all they got Daddy all to themselves! Here are some pics from the event. Turtle had his hands full with the boys, so there aren't many... but here are some cute ones!

Thanks for being the best daddy to the boys Turtle. They LOVE YOU to pieces!!!!

$100.00.... I'll take that!!!

2009-07-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today, I sat down and really looked through the ads. I used to use a service that did it for me (which was awesome by the way.... http://www.dealstomeals.com/) but, I decided I could save myself the $5 a month and do it myself. I just wanted to see if I would be successful. While looking through the ads, I had my trusty pen and paper, and wrote a list... yep, that's right a list! No more spontaneous shopping for me... we are going by the list and that is that! Before I tell you the great deals I got, check it out for yourself!
Take a guess how much all this cost... Keep in mind my entire table is covered in groceries....that is a ton of food!
Do you have your guess?
You Ready???
Just under $120.00! No really, I am serious! I just saved myself $100.00!
Here's the breakdown:
Coke Zero (cuz you know I live on that stuff!)
9 BIG boxes of cereal
6 jars of Skippy Peanut Butter
Two loaves of Bread
Two Gallons of Milk
Dozen Eggs.
2 Loaves of Tillamook Cheese
2 bags of Lays Potato Chips
2 Bags of Doritos
1 bag of Cheetos
2 6packs of applesauce
2 bottles of Hershey Syrup (Turtle and the kids dig Choco. Milk!)
1 half gallon of Breyers Ice cream
1 DiGiorno Pizza
10 Bottles of Gatorade (Awesome for workin hubby's and sick kiddos)
7 Cans Refried Beans
2 Loaves of Gramma Sycamores Bread
16 oz bag of Marshmallows
5 bags of Goldfish Crackers
Box of Capri Sun (Boys dig it!)
2 gallons of milk
2 Boxes Pasta Salad mix (super yummy)
2 Bottles of Vitamins for momma
1 Can of Tuna Fish... (tryin a new brand that is on sale.)
2 Boxes of Pop Tarts (great for breakfast on the run!)
1 Cantaloupe
1 box Wheat Thins
1 Box Triscuits
I am pretty stoked.... I am stocked up on a lot of items that our family uses. I have to admit it is gonna take us til October to use up all the chips... but I know they will be used up!
I am sure I can do better... but wow it is amazing what deals you can find in the ADS!!! GO ME!!!

Do you Ever???

2009-07-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the question...
Do you ever look at your kids and think... How in the Stars did you get so BIG???
Yesterday as we were hanging out with friends I looked over at Jaker and thought, holy cow you are HUGE!!!! Not just in size either. He is huge in spirit, in maturity, in intellect... he is getting so SMART!!!! I am so ultra proud of him!
Lastnight was of course the 4th of July. Anyone who knows my little Jaker knows he doesn't do well with Fireworks. When I say he doesn't do well, I mean... HE REALLY DOESN'T DO WELL! Last year we were in Steamboat Springs at a Rodeo for the 4th of July. The fireworks were AMAZING! Where was Jaker? Curled up in a ball in my lap, burying his face in my chest, head covered up with my sweatshirt (it was chilly), covered again with another layer of daddy's sweatshirt, all the while shaking in absolute fear, crying and just begging to go home.
This year... He did pretty good. Does he love fireworks. NOPE! Does he want to light them??? NOPE! Does he like watching the display in the sky??? That's is an absolute HECK NO!!! However, he did maintain composure. He was calm. He asked politely to leave, but didn't have a meltdown. He sat with dad or I and watched them, pointed out the colors, and overall observed the fireworks, for about 25 minutes... then he decided he was DONE! Huge improvements! I am so proud of him!
I look at both of the boys, and I am so proud of them. They are so much alike but so DIFFERENT too! They look alike, they like the same things (particularly any toy that the other child has in his hands at the moment) , they love their daddy like he is a SUPER HERO, and they love me too... most of the time! But at the same time their reactions to things are so opposite. Jokester has no problem with commotion. I honestly think he tries to cause it just to be funny. Jaker on the other hand... would prefer to have a quiet setting. Jaker gets heartbroken if you reprimand or discipline... Jokester thinks it is funny...
Moral of the story.... I definitely have my hands full!

A little Close and Personal...

2009-07-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted a whole lot. We are still here, I promise.
I'll be honest. I'm struggling a bit. I have decided to try to get off my "Happy Drugs." I have been taking medication for depression and OCD for nearly 9 years. I got off for a bit while I was pregnant with the Jokester, but after I had him, I went WACKO! I really struggled in the hospital, and BAM! Jumped right back on the medication. They don't do a whole bunch, mainly take the edge off. I am a little more pleasant, a little more patient, a little more easy going (I SAID A LITTLE !!!), but it doesn't make the whole world seem like roses! If I took more maybe it would though!
I hate being dependent on medication to handle emotions, and anxiety. It's almost like I feel weak for taking it. When you hear the statistics of how many people are on medication like me, it makes you wonder... Are there that many people with problems? or is it just an easy way out of dealing with reality????
When I first started taking the medication, I really did need it. I couldn't handle things, simple things like driving up the canyon, would send me over the edge. The anxiety was unreal! I was constantly begging Turtle to check the brakes. I washed my hands to the point they were raw. If I got a drink at the gas station, I couldn't use the first cup on the stand, I had to use the third or fourth, I mean what would happen if I got germs!!!! I couldn't bare to think of trusting Turtle to make the money... I had major control issues. MAJOR!
Fast forward to now. Do I still struggle? Absolutely. But not to the point I did before. I am on a 1/4 of the medication I was on before... and I have been for over two years. I don't think I am "CURED" by any means, but I think I am older now, and I am able to think things through a little more. I can usually think before I speak, I try to speak rationally when upset (I said TRY!) and I think I can manage life without medication.
So now, I am going through the motions of getting off. It STINKS! I mean that! IT REALLY DOES!!!! The withdrawal symptoms are TERRIBLE! It's Vertigo, times TEN! It feels like my brain is disconnected from my body. I am emotional, and edgy, and I just don't feel great. I try to go a few days without medication, then take it...etc etc. I am hoping that eventually the symptoms get better and I can go longer and longer without taking it... We shall see!

To the Pops....

2009-06-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

This post comes a little late, but if any of ya know me, you know I am late for EVERYTHING!
We had a great Father's day weekend! Nothing too spectacular, but we spent time together as a FAMILY! That's always the best way to spend time in my HUMBLE opinion! Turtle spent a LOT of TIME working on the Deck outside and made tons of PROGRESS! (Don't worry neighbors... we can't see in your yard, I have heard that was a concern!) It looks PHENOMENAL! I should post pictures... and I will soon!
Sunday morning the kids and I got up and made daddy breakfast! It is so adorable how much my boys LOVE their DADDY! He is the ultimate super man to them. He is MR INCREDIBLE, SPIDERMAN and LIGHTNING MCQUEEN all wrapped into one! Can he get any better than that?
After church I went to visit my pops. I left the munchkins home (eventhough they REALLY wanted to come with). We have to be careful with Grampa... his immune system isn't all there, and he isn't in the best shape for coughing or being sick! It was great to visit with him. He continues to improve... he looks fabulous! He is up walking around, and still NOT SMOKING!!!! YAY DAD! It has been 22 days and he is still going strong! It's a tough habit to kick I am sure, but what can't GI JOE conquer!!!
In closing, I just have to say... thanks to all the pops in my life! Ya'll are WONDERFUL! and I love ya!

Too bold?

2009-06-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Would it be too bold to say,

My kids are the cutest kids ever!!!

I just had these pictures done of Jaker for his 5 year pics! He is such a little charmer!
I need to scan some pictures in of Jokester, but in the meantime...

Graduated??? REALLY???

2009-06-14T20:59:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, we attended Jaker's graduation from Little Learners! Holy cow this year has flown by. It is amazing to see how much this little boy has learned! He has grown up so much! I am so proud of him! Before the passing out of certificates, all the children performed songs... they were songs from the 50's! Seriously, it was the cutest performance ever! Jaker loved every minute of it! I am telling you... that kid LOVES TO ENTERTAIN! (I secretly think he got that from his mother!)
I had so many favorite moments of his program, so I will just name a few!

All the children walked on the stage one at a time. As they came on stage, each of them went to the microphone to introduce them self. Some were really shy, but not my Jaker, he talked right into the microphone and said, "My name is Jacob NADAULD!"
He loved singing the song about the five power letters. He would shout out and over accentuate each vowel.
He was waving between songs to his grammas. He even pointed out to his classmates.... "Look, there's my GRAMMA!"
When each child went to get their certificates, the teacher, Miss Lani would say one thing about each child. She mentioned that Jaker had the hots for a little gal in his class. He was once overheard saying "SHE'S HOT!!!" (no he didn't learn that from me!)
He was also crowned most improved student!

I am so proud of my little Jaker! He has made amazing progress! He works hard and is learning lots! I love ya little Jaker! Keep up the good work!

A dose of Reality...

2009-06-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

I heard a story lastnight about a young boy. He was the eighth child of ten. He had eight sisters, and one brother. They grew up on a farm in the midwest. His father wasn't real close to the boy, and struggled with alcohol. The family was really poor. When I say poor, I mean, rationing food poor. In fact, his Mother would cook up a chicken, and each kid got a small portion of the chicken, but it wasn't ever much. Mom always got the breast, Dad always got the wishbone, etc. etc. Multiple times in this boy's life he was sent to live with his older siblings because his parents didn't have the money to support him.
The young boy in this story is my Dad. At supper lastnight, I had the opportunity to visit with my Dad, my Uncle, and my Aunts Joyce and Diane. Diane flew in from Kansas this week to help my Mumsy take care of GI Joe. My Aunt Diane and Uncle Bob (Dad's siblings) talked a bit about life growing up. Hearing more details of my dad's childhood really put things into perspective.
I was a spoiled child. I really had it good. I had two parents who loved me, A LOT. They supported me and my siblings in everything we did. We were always involved in extra activities like dance, organ lessons, singing, gymnastics, softball, track meets, musicals etc. They both tried very hard to be at every recital, program, performance etc. My Mumsy always made sure we had new clothes for school each year. We always had a Christmas. We always had birthday presents, a home, food on the table, and a bed to sleep in. How grateful I am!
I hope I never take that for granted, I hope I can teach my children how to appreciate what they have. They have a lot. Listening to my Aunt lastnight made me realize, I have taken a lot for granted. I am so GRATEFUL!

Prayers....

2009-06-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

I feel it necessary to share my confirmation this past week. I have always had a strong faith in prayer. It has always worked for me. My first memory of prayer occurred when I was a young girl, maybe 10 or so, I remember being involved in the Nutcracker. My best friend Nicole was coming with my parents and I to see the big performance. We were messing around talking in my room, when all the sudden she discovered she couldn't find her money to get into the show. I remember we sat down and said a quick prayer that she would find it. We kept looking and looking, and I remember saying that maybe it was in her shoe. It was a random thought, but sure enough, that was where the money was. I remember that night... and many times since then that prayers have been answered for me. I'm not a huge spiritual giant. In fact, I am not real spiritual at all. I try to do the right thing, and I pray in my heart all the time. I read scriptures every now and then, and I do my best to stay focused at church, and learn what has been prepared.
But this week, I have to say, I know that God has heard my prayers. Truly he has. There is no doubt in my mind that He has. For instance, when I got the phone call on Tuesday morning.... I remained calm. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a calm person. Quite the opposite actually. But I was calm. I told myself, things are okay right now. Dad is still here, he is in a great hospital, and they will do whatever they can to make him whole again. Later in the day, got more news. It wasn't good, but once again, I had that reassurance, things were gonna be okay. Was I upset? ABSOLUTELY! But I prayed, in my heart that things would be okay. Jaker said a little prayer for Grampa. I told him Grampa had a broken heart, and Doctors were gonna fix it... we said a quick prayer. Jaker was at peace. He is only five, but boy that kid has a lot of faith in prayer... it's like he knows it's gonna be fine, because he prayed.
Fastforward to tonight.
I went to visit my Dad. Wow! He looks FANTASTIC! He is energetic. He is eating! He is feeling great! (considering the circumstances.) As I was visiting him, his boss and her husband came in. We all chit chatted. I visited with her and she told me about how there were so many people praying for my good pops. So many people had him in their thoughts! Wow! There are lots of people who care about my dad!
As I drove home, I thought about prayer. There were lots of different people praying for my Dad. All of which are different religions. I know his boss is Greek. His sisters are Jehovah Witness, and Methodist. I am LDS. My Mother is a spiritualist. My sister is Christian. My brother is as well. I am sure there is a whole plethora of different religions... but you know what... prayer worked! All different faiths, and they all prayed for one result, for my Dad to be healthy. I can't help but be amazed! There is so much power in prayer. I keep saying how lucky my Dad was. And he is lucky... but I am so certain that God had His hand in my dad's outcome. For that I am truly Grateful!

GI Joe....

2009-06-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy couple of days. More scary than anything I have encountered in a long time. Monday evening, my pops, A.K.A GI Joe starting having severe chest pains. He was doubling over in pain. Anyone who has met my pops, knows that he must have been in extreme pain, cuz my pops is TOUGH! My sweet mumsy, rushed him to the E.R thinking it's a HEART ATTACK! Luckily I-Med is right around the corner from their house so she made it just fine. Turns out my pops was lucky. No heart attack. BUT (I really hate to throw this word into the mix) He had SIX clogged arteries to his heart. SCARY!!!! Yesterday he had Open Heart Surgery. He was in surgery for SEVEN hours. I was there with my mumsy for most of the wait. It was tough! We tried to talk about light subjects to pass the time, but both of us were on edge. It was like watching a high suspense movie where you are on the edge of your chair waiting for the next scene to happen. ONLY IT WAS REAL!

My dad proved to be a tough guy and made it through surgery with flying colors. We saw him after surgery and it was tough to see him hooked up to all those machines. I'm not gonna lie, I cried like a baby. Even got a little faint seeing how much he was hooked to. By the time we left, he was off the "Vent" and able to talk a little bit. That was really comforting. He's got a lot of life changes to make, but I know he can do it!!! After all he is GI JOE!

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. They worked! Joni, you are an absolute lifesaver! Not only did you allow me to spend the day where I needed to be, but, you also gave my boys a great day. They love you, and frankly so do I! Thanks for everything!

lately...

2009-05-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty crazy at our house... between cars being on the fritz, computers on the fritz and everything else that goes along with being a mommy, I haven't had a minute to update the trusty old blog.
First thing I want to share is a priceless conversation I had with little Jaker:
Jaker: Mom, can I have some Chocolate Milk Please?
Mom: Sure Jaker, Just a minute.
Jaker: Can I have some right now Please?
Mom: Here you go!
Jaker: Thanks Mom.
Mom: Who's the best Mommy in the whole world???
Jaker: Gramma!!!

At least he is honest!

I had a fantastic opportunity to run in the Race for the Cure last weekend. As always it was extremely touching! I love that race. It is worth every minute!
Jaker is doing good in Swimming. He loves it! He is very close to passing Tots II. Jokester is full of energy and keeping me on my toes! He has recently learned how to roll his eyes... he does it alot. As much as it makes me laugh, I hope it is just a phase... not a good thing to do to people!

Wah Wah WAH!!!!

2009-05-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

Okay... it's 10:30 at night, and I have to vent! Honestly, I think the kids are gonna drive me to DRINK! What is up with all the whining??? It's as if one is doing it, the other has to too! If one is upset the other is upset too, just to compete with the other! What is the deal???? I am ready to be committed!!!
Tonight we went to Lowe's. I really wanted some new plants for my sad planter in front of my house. I was going to do the trip to Lowes with the kids all alone, but luckily Turtle got out of EQ early, and so he joined us. I kid you not, the boys were so whiney when they were together... separated they are fine, but together, oh Heaven HELP ME! Luckily Turtle took one and I took the other and we went our separate ways...but once we met up at the end, it was really time to go! After the excursion to Lowes I got a frosty. Really, is it too much to ask to have a frosty all to myself??? Do I really have to share the one treat I get in a week? I was so frustrated. The whole way home all we heard was... "I want some. Mom, can I have some?, I really really want some mom! I wanna bite, want some mommy..." The WHOLE way home! Never mind the fact that they had their own icecream earlier! Am I a bad mom, because I don't always want to share? I have to share my soda with them, my Crystal Light, if I have anything... they get some too! Sometimes, I feel guilty because I DON'T WANNA SHARE!
There, I got that off my chest! WHEW!

One Proud Mommy!

2009-04-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today was the day for the monthly Field Trip at Little Learners. Oh how I dreaded it! Any of you that know little Jaker, you know he doesn't exactly thrive on new environments. He isn't one to love being in a HUGE crowd of people, with lots of noise and commotion. Usually the field trip days end up in a conversation something like this...
J: Mom... where you goin?
Me: We are going to your Field trip.
J: But I don't WANNA GO! (in the whiney voice, hence the italics)
Me: Jaker this will be so much fun you will love it!
J: No, I wanna go to preschool.
Me: This is preschool.
J: Can we go home now?
Me: We haven't even gotten there yet.
J: But I don't WANNA GO! (now with the water works included.)
And on and on it goes!
This month the preschool was learning about the solar system. This struck some interest in my little dude. He loved learning about the planets, and rockets. He will even inform you (very politely of course) that the sun is not a planet, it is a REALLY HOT star. He also likes to tell you that we live on earth, and that Mercury is too hot to live on....Yeah tell me my kid doesn't like to learn!
So today was the day. Destination: Clark Planetarium.
I decided to get smart, and invite Gramma Sue. She's amazing and for some reason if she is around my kids are angels. Jaker was so excited! He was happy that a.) Gramma was coming with, b.) he got to see the planets, and c.) really happy that Gramma was coming along.
We got to the Clark Planetarium, opened the doors, and holy cow talk about massive amounts of PEOPLE! I was expecting a MELTDOWN! A FIT! A "I wanna go home right now!" conversation. But... IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Jaker did FANTASTIC! We even went into the theater room where they do the shows, perfect scenario for a meltdown with Jaker, and you know what... IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! I was so proud of him! He was happy as can be! He was happy to be with all of his friends from school... Boy, my kid is really growing up on me! He is such a little superstar!
After our fieldtrip adventure, it was off to swimming lessons. Both the boys were ZONKED in the car. I contemplated just taking them home to snooze, but decided Jaker would be very angry if he missed his time in the pool... So off to swimming. Jaker did great! He has passed TOTS I and is starting TOTS II next Monday! What FUN!

Thanks Mumsy for joining me on the adventure! You made the adventure so much fun for the boys!

Thoughts on Thirty...

2009-04-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

I hit a landmark in life this past week. Okay... maybe not a landmark, but I definitely entered into the next decade of life... So long to my twenties, hold on for the thirties. I have thought recently about everything I have done in the past ten years. My first thought was, did I accomplish enough in the past ten years of life? Did I help enough people, am I mature enough to be 30??? Thinking back, I have done quite a bit in the past ten years...

married my sweetheart, Thats a big one.
Graduated from College... another big one.
Bought a house... okay that's an accomplishment
Brought two beautiful children into the world... THAT'S HUGE!
Worked in a career I loved.
Made lasting friendships that I am so grateful for...
Learned a great deal about the importance of family

So what's next? I hope the next ten years bring much more knowledge. I hope to learn and develop new talents. I hope to be more kind, more genuine, and definitely more compassionate to others. I hope to be more in tune with other people and be able to help when needed. I hope to be a good mother to my little ones, and good wife to my sweetheart. I don't know how I will accomplish this, but I am giving myself kuddos for thinking about it.

I thought my birthday would be a depressing day. I thought... oh man, I am turning thirty... BLEH! Honestly, it was a fantastic day. Turtle, my sons, my parents, and my in-laws made sure that my day was uplifting and positive. It all started the night before the big day when my mom and friend threw a party for me. It was great to visit with my friends. What was great about the evening too, was that it was all done in the theme of Breast Cancer awareness. I run in the Race for the Cure each year (okay this is only my third year) and it's something I really care about! Thanks to my girlfriends that donated to the research. I hope we can kick this disease out of the park.

The day of my birthday... I was awakened by Breakfast in bed. The boys helped Turtle make waffles with Fresh Cut Strawberries! DELISH! Loved every bite! Then we headed off to church meetings... the boys were unbelievably well behaved (compared to the norm.) We came home and headed off to my parents for some yummy supper and gift giving! I was given my DREAM MACHINE! Everyone pitched in and purchased a Bernina Activa 240 for me! I busted it out of the box yesterday, oh my... I AM IN LOVE!!!!!

I am so grateful for my family and my friends. What would life be without you all in it! I am so grateful, so happy, and I feel so SPOILED!!!