New blog, new plan

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/mommyof3boyzzz?month=201206

Valentine's Crafts

Stuff for February!

I crack myself up.....

I've thought this since the first "Twilight" movie! Don't get me wrong, I do love Twilight, but sometimes my brain just goes sideways.......

Marci's Shower

Fun stuff from Marci's shower! Maternity pix to follow :) (I'm STILL editing!)

How dare you

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/19/are-military-pensions-too-generous/

How dare you. How dare you fat cat CEOs in the PRIVATE sector dare to recommend that pensions be cut for the very people who protect your freedoms and rights to make millions off the American people.

How dare you. How dare you worthless, do-nothing politicians even CONSIDER cutting pensions for soldiers who spend 20 YEARS risking their lives, spending months and years away from their families so that YOU can sit in million dollar offices, live in million dollar homes and play God with their lives.

If they are cuts to be made in budgets, pensions, benefits, you people need to start pointing the finger AT YOURSELVES.

How dare you make six figure salaries and live off taxpayer dollars and tell the brave men and women who protect this country and give their LIVES that they don't deserve 50% of their pay for pension after 20 years of service to this great nation.

Go ahead, recommend those cuts. Go ahead, cut the pensions. And see how many Americans are going to risk their lives to protect you.

You make me sick, disgusted and sad to see what my country is willing to sacrifice so that the rich get richer.....

Brighton Wrestling Tourney

Ah, wrestling! First, let us dispense with the crappy stuff that happened. First, Jax had a bye his 1st round, which makes for a REALLY long day. We were there for almost 2 hours before Jax got to wrestle. They were awarding medals in some of the other groups before he ever wrestled! Second, I found a good seat and then a nice but annoying lady with a really annoying grandson came and sat next to me. Before Jax had ever wrestled she had us slid clear over next to another guy and there was nowhere for Jax to sit, he sat at my feet. I was sitting on the aisle at the top of the bleachers, right where the balcony seating was, so, OF COURSE, the grandson and a bunch of other kids were climbing the railing to get up....and down....and up...and down...I cannot count the number of times I was kicked in the head, shoulders, had my fingers stepped on.....Anywho, the very worst part of the day came when we were waiting for the boys to be awarded their medals. Evidently, we had the CRAPPIEST mat. They were incredibly slow getting matches started (obviously), we were way behind all the others and THEN when they had awarded almost every other group medals, one of the moms from our group asked the head table when it was going to be our turn for medals. WELL, the kids working our table didn't circle anything on the bout sheets, didn't write down scores, didn't add up anything or assign winners. So, one of the guys from the head table came over to us and asked if we, the parents, knew if our kids had won, lost, how many points they scored....needless to say, there was much eyerolling!

Jax wrestled hard but got pinned both times. He's so funny! After his second match, he says to me, just matter of fact as you please, "Mom, I suck." I was laughing on the inside, but reassured him that he didn't suck, he just needed more practice. I think it was hard for him to get focused and motivated for that 1st match after having to wait so long to wrestle. But he had a great time and we both got to be better friends with Isaac and his parents :) Luckily, he's not discouraged AT ALL. It just rolls off him and he's ready to go again. He's done with practices and now we just have three matches to go and he's done. He's having such a good time though!

The good stuff is below. Cliched though it is, a picture is worth a thousand words and the bottom photo is worth a million. Because that is what it's all about: learning, sportsmanship, FRIENDSHIP and fun.

I have the best kids ever!

Jax and Isaac, 1st match.

Jax and Gentry, 2nd match. Gentry outweighs Jax by about 7 pounds and has about 3 inches on him!

Proud of those muscles and proud to be on the medal stand!

Friends!

Rambling, mostly...

This is going to be a bit of a rambling because, quite frankly, there aren't enough characters available to put all this stuff on my facebook status.....

Charlie Sheen: W. T. F. The man has lost his mind! Where are his dad or his brother to try and rein him in? I check Yahoo! news every day for the announcement that he's either dead or been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. And good for his bosses that they fired him.

Lifetime's new show "Coming Home." Didn't catch it until today, CRIED MY EYES OUT! Which is what the premise of the show is, right? They should probably just call it the Kleenex Hour. However, I enjoyed it and will watch again. Also I LOVE the host! So glad to see Matt Rogers back in the spotlight, sans any American Idol connection. He was always one of my favorite Idols and it's nice to see him doing such a great show. Also, as Lifetime showed a million previews of "Army Wives," I think I'm going to have to Netflix the entire previous seasons and start watching that show.

March Madness: It's upon us and I love it! I'm watching BYU play TCU right now in the MWC tourney. I've watched the "lowlight" of the season so far several times--talking about the Rutgers game last night and LACK of officiating at the end. Smart move on the officials' parts by "withdrawing from further post season action" voluntarily....buncha idiots! PS--I love Jimmer.

My office remodel is FINALLY completed! Just waiting for tax money to pick up a few new things (wireless keyboard and mouse for the 'puter), but I have gone through ALL of my scrapbook supplies (hence the reason this has taken SO long) and I have a big box of supplies that I'm donating to Primary Children's for them to use. When Kati was there that last time, Shannon spent a lot of time in the craft area on the unit making things and who better to get this stuff? I won't use it, but someone there will :)

My laptop is still gone. Shane told me last week that someone called and said that it would be shipped on March 8th or arrive on March 8th; he couldn't understand the caller, big shock there, so he wasn't sure. And here we are, March 10th and still no laptop. During the day I open the blinds and the window over the sink in the kitchen on the off chance I might spot the FedEx truck. Yesterday I passed one while I was taking Jax to school. I nearly turned around and followed it to see if it was coming to my house.......Oh well, it'll arrive when it does, I suppose.

I have FIVE crafty projects on my scrap table I can work on now that the office is finished. I'm still trying to find the right supplies for one project (it's an Easter shadow box out of a ribbon box I have) but I think I know what I'm looking for now. When I do that, I'll post photos. Two projects are clipboards, one for Jaxton to hang on the bulletin board in the kitchen to put his spelling list and reading list on and one for me to put instruction sheets on when I'm putting together page kits. BRING OUT THE MOD PODGE! And the last two are something very CUTE I saw on Scrapbook Memories using Altoids tins! I'm making two, one for me and one for someone who reads this blog, so I can't tell ya who! I'll post photos of that project too. I don't usually make the leeeetle albums they show, because I think they're a waste, but this was too cute not to make....if the first two go well I might make two more, also for two people who read this blog so still can't tell ya.....

Anywho, I feel better now that I've rambled. Thanks for er, reading :) Also, if you want to read real blog comedy, go to www.jennsylvania.com. The blog she has up right now will make you pee your pants....

Loves!

It's March

Hello friends,

It's March! It's gorgeous outside and I am SO ready for spring! So what's new huh? Well, wrestling is in full swing, Jax will have his first match on Thursday. It's pretty exciting and it'll be interesting to see how much he's improved over last year. Hayden is getting bigger and more addicted to the Wii every day. We've instituted even more limits because after a while, I just can't take the Wii any more!! LOL. But he loves it, he's good at it and I'm glad. Jakey, ah Jakey. Jakey is recovering nicely from his Dad-inflicted Wii remote wound and subsequent stitches. Pictures and a separate blog on that to follow....Shane is great; work is going really well for him and he's incredibly happy with his shift change. He's counting down the days until the "draft" for Jax's little league baseball and the start of baseball season. But then, I'm counting down the days until Scrapbook Expo USA! (23 days as of today!) I'm ready for the weather to improve so the kids can play outside a little more and I would love to get started on some yard work outside! Meanwhile I've been doing spring cleaning in the house, sorting through the office and making a pile of "yard sale" items!

I've started a new project! Several people I know have done this and I've always wanted to try, so I thought my 33rd birthday was a great day to start! I'm doing a photo book, Project 365, which, for those who don't know, is when you take a photograph EVERY day. Obviously not a hard thing for me! Many of you know of my photography obsession :) It's kinda fun and some days it's easy, but other days it's hard to think of something. But, so far, so good and I've started captioning them. It's been difficult, however, because my laptop is cursed. (Again, another blog to follow later on.) Anyways, I haven't decided yet if I'm going to post/share the photos or not, but I think it'll be a fun thing to do and fun to look back on on my 34th birthday!

Anyhow, things are motoring right along, I'm getting great things done in the scrapbook room (getting ready for Expo), cleaning out lots of cupboards and closets, the kids are growing and growing and life is pretty darn good. :)

Love ya all!

Okay, okay, I'll blog!!

This is going to be a long post.....

Yes, I know. I'm not working right now, so I should be able to blog EVERY day, right? Um, well....first I couldn't blog every day, because I don't have enough to say every day to blog. And secondly, I've had bad luck with the laptop lately!! New Year's Eve morning, the hard drive crashed....AGAIN! I took it in and it took them just over 10 days to "fix" it. By fix it, I mean they forgot they had it, lost the power cord, and finally because I called every day to ask if it was fixed, they "couldn't" transfer old hard drive data to new hard drive and didn't restore all the correct programs. Highly frustrated with the shop right now, but every time I drive by or call, it's the same guy that I don't like there. Sooooooooo, just hoping that I'll get lucky one of these days and one of the good guys will be there. In the meantime, if any of my loyal readers (all three of you....) know someone or someplace that might be able to look at transferring data from one hard drive to another, let me know. The day after I got Ruby (the laptop) back from the computer guys, the kids and dog are running around and tipped the end table over. She fell, landing at a baaaaaaddddd angle. Kinda like in Wayne's World when Garth falls on his keys? Anywho, laptop was plugged in, fell and landed on the edge where the plug was and cracked the bottom housing....which involved an all expenses-paid trip via FedEx to the Dell repair shop! Which took another couple weeks and then she finally arrived home last week. Which was good, my Farmville Farm was looking neglected......

What's new and exciting here? Weeeeeelllllllll...Shane FINALLY got approved for shift change, M-F, no more weekends and off by 3:30pm :) I'm thrilled! No more long Sundays, no more "hurry and eat, it's bedtime!" and just all-around more time for me and the kids to spend with Shane! He's thrilled because now I'll let him coach Little League again! Last year he volunteered to coach Jax's team (at signups in February, before Convergys laid him off) and by the time the season rolled around, he had a new job at Wells Fargo and a crummy work schedule and missed half of the week day games! I told him afterwards that if he didn't have a better work schedule this summer, he couldn't coach. Of course, signups are this coming Saturday and the change got approved Thursday.....
Next, Carolyn and Shane agreed to swap visitation days with Shannon. Works out MUCH better because Carolyn bowls on Tuesdays (one of her visitation days) and Young Women's in our ward is on Tuesday nights, so now Shannon will be with us on Mondays and Tuesdays, she can go to YW's every week, Carolyn can bowl without leaving Shan somewhere and weekends won't change. Win-win-win for all.

The boys remain the same :) Growing, learning, beating up on each other and totally addicted to the Wii and Nintendo. Jake is learning lots of new words every day and is quickly entering that terrible two stage! Jaxton starts wrestling in a couple weeks and Hayden is FURIOUS because he wants to wrestle too, but he has to be four and he's just not old enough yet! Poor little man, he's so ready to play all these sports that Jax plays, but he has a summer birthday and has to wait one more year!

I'm still not working. I really should find a part time job; I need to get out of the house! Luckily Shane and I are doing okay financially and I can stay home right now, but I kinda would like the adult interaction!

And lastly, I may be starting another blog.....more of just a fun blog, mostly about my opinions on everything and anything and not so much about my fam :) If I do that I'll keep you (all three of you) posted!

Anyways...all is well here, I'll try to blog more but otherwise if you wanna know what's new, check me out on Facebook!

Love ya all....

Randomness

This is kind of a venting/rambling blog....I think. It's 6:30 on a Thursday morning, I'm awake, which makes for a long day, but there's no one to talk to yet. So, I'm talking to you people......

So, Kate Middleton and Prince William are FINALLY getting married. I hope they are happy and the bizarreness that was his parents' lives skips them entirely. They deserve to be happy.

Harry Potter--don't get it. I know, people don't get the whole Twilight thing either. I do love Twilight, but I don't consider myself an obsessed fan. I have all the books--and by that I mean the ORIGINAL five, not the random "comic books," movie books, "special edition" magazines, etc.,--and the two DVDs that are out. I enjoy the books and the movies and um, yeah that's it. You people who know me well know that my biggest obsession is scrapbooking, but that's a blog for another time....

Casey on Channel 2 news--Is he everywhere or is it just me? I love him; he's funny, pretty adorable and just crazy enough to be entertaining, but WHEN DOES HE SLEEP???? He's on the morning show, he's on the noon show, he has his OWN afternoon show, he's here and there and somewhere else being a DJ, hosting sports viewing parties, whatever. Maybe he has a clone?? Anyway, I do love Channel 2 news in all its formats and all its broadcasters....

So, Pink is pregnant, cool; Tony Parker was stupid enough to screw up his marriage to Eva Longoria (what IS it about athletes that have beautiful wives that they always manage to screw it up??); Bristol Palin is still on DWTS? WTH??? And some dude flipped out and shot his TV and threatened his wife because of it? Really? PEOPLE, turn off the TV and get out of the house sometimes!

Hmmmm, if I wanna fly on a plane now I have a choice, appear naked on a screen in front of God knows who and risk THAT image becoming public or endure public fondling of my person? I think I'll just drive....

I think I'll clean out my coat closet today and the pantry so I can take stuff to the Day of Thanks food and coat drive on November 24th at Smith's Marketplace (90th South and Redwood or Jiffy Lube at 677 East and 400 South).

Alright, time to wake the school children and fix breakfast....

Have a good day y'all!!

Catch up

Soooooooo, I'm not very good at blogging. Now that I'm not working for a while, I'll try to do better! (But really, don't expect much LOL)

Yes, I'm home; I've been a stay at home mom for just over six weeks now. Yes, I am looking for a job :) So if you know of anything, drop me a line! It started out pretty rocky, but now we're kind of into a routine. I am loving the chance I have right now to hang out with my boys. Jake is just growing and growing and learning more words and we just giggle! Like today, I burped and Jake says, "cuse ouuuuu," which of course is "Excuse You!" We say it to Jax all the time because, naturally, he LOVES to burp really loud. Now Jake is picking it up and it's pretty funny. Hayden and I have "us time" every afternoon when Jake has a nap. We watch Phineas and Ferb or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he helps me fold laundry or clean up the house. He's got this weird obsession right now with measuring EVERYTHING. I find Shane's measuring tapes and straight rulers all over the house! Hayden calls it "his work," he finds a measuring device and says to me, "Mom, I gotta do my work now, okay?" He's such a nut. Jax is THRIVING in 1st grade. He reads really well, so far math is seeming to come VERY easy for him and he loves to come home and immediately do his homework. I'm so glad we started that routine last year; as soon as Jax got home we had the backpack open and getting stuff done. So much easier that way! By the time I get him home from school, he sits at the table and I start putting stuff together for dinner and/or cleaning up the kitchen. Jax also loves his teacher, Mrs. Hind and the principal, Mr. Howe. He has friends that he plays soccer with at recess and walks across the skybridge with. So happy that he's at such a great school! Shannon is also doing pretty well. There have been some bumps in the road with school, but things are slowly getting better. Luckily Shannon's teachers are more than willing to contact Shane and to hear from him if there are concerns. It may be a rocky road, but we'll make it :) She's smart and funny and in spite of everything that's happened in the past year, she's doing really well.

Shane is doing great, LOVING his job and doing really great at it. He's pretty amazing all around and puts up with my insanity, poor man!

As for me, it's been a weird trip so far. I miss my job, I really miss my work buddies and well, leaving the house every day, but like I said, I LOVE spending this time with the boys. Being home, cleaning, organizing, going to school with Jax, teaching Jake where is belly is, doing shapes and colors with Hayden, having time to find new recipes and try them out.....it's all happening for a reason and I'm just taking each day as it comes :)

Monday, Monday...

Oh good grief! This has not been the greatest Monday......

First, we had to leave the house earlier than usual to take my poor wrecked van to the body shop so that it can no longer be wrecked and then we had to take Jax to school and then drop Shane off at work. (PS--could not sleep last night, last I looked at the clock it was about 3:30am). Already, day not off to a GREAT start. Jake was really fussy all the way out to Wells and about halfway home a DELICIOUS aroma starts wafting from the back seat. I get us home, strip Jake (who is screaming) and place him in the tub. I try to give him some breakfast, he's not interested, so I finish my breakfast and am picking up the living room when Jake comes in and throws up all over the floor. Thus is my day...Jake throws up, I clean up, take a load of vomit-clothing to the washer, hold Jake while he whimpers, etc., etc.

After a long day of this, Shane comes home, we fix dinner (still Jake not eating, but not vomiting either) and just when it's bedtime Hayden starts to cry. When he finally is coherent enough to tell us what is wrong, we discover that he has a large piece of red crayon shoved up his right nostril. Yeah. Crayon. Up his nose. I try to reach it, nope it's really in there, and I tell him we have to go to the doctor so they can get it out. There is much screaming and crying until we're almost to the Instacare. By then I've calmed down....(kidding, but I really wanted to scream and cry a little).

I check in at the desk and, bless their hearts, they tried not to laugh, but really, how could you not? By now, Hayden is calm and pretty much enjoying the whole experience. He starts chatting with the girls. They ask him what color the crayon is: he says red, but his brother's favorite color is blue. They ask him why he put the crayon up his nose: he says, "because I was hiding it and I was gonna put it in my pocket, but then I just put it in my nose." We go back after a fairly short wait and the cute student nurse is talking to Ralphie. He's flirting with her (how much trouble am I going to be in when this kid grows up?), smiling and laughing. We go back to the exam area and soon the doc comes in. He tells her again how and why the crayon got up his nose and then adds, "you just have to make them (the crayons) into small pieces to put them in your nose." The cute student nurse is back and has him lay on the bed and tells him that when we're done he can have a popsicle. Then she says, "not because you put a crayon in your nose, but so you won't hate me when we're done." And sweet boy says, "I would never hate you." He was so good while they dug out the crayon and cute student nurse says to him, "where do crayons go?" And he says, "in the box!" "Do you put things in your nose?" "Nope, I never put anything up my nose again!" And she produces an orange popsicle. He says, "I would never hate you and maybe next time I can bring you a popsicle." And she says, "I like blue ones best!"

All in all, not my best Monday, but having 3+ people tell me that I have the cutest, sweetest little boy pretty much makes up for all the yucky.

And no, we did not save the piece of crayon.......

Dear Atheists

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=12065233&hl=5

This is my response to the above story and ruling to a very misguided 10th Circuit Court of Appeals:

Dear Atheists:
You are offended by a cross on a roadside in a state that you don't live in that bears the symbol of a state agency. You are offended that you should be confronted with a "religious symbol" as you drive past at 75+ miles per hour. You are offended that there is no separation of church and state.

I am offended that you would dare to interfere with a memorial to officers that have given their LIVES so that you could be protected and served. I am offended that YOUR beliefs seem to be more important than the hundreds of THOUSANDS of people that knew and loved and respected these officers and the ultimate sacrifice that they paid, protecting and serving everyone, including YOU. I am offended that in the times we live in where the economy and immigration and natural disasters, foreign and domestic, are so much bigger and more important to humanity that YOU would chose to fight THIS battle. I am offended that you choose to believe that there is no higher power. Will I take YOU to court? No, because you are entitled to believe as you choose. Just as the THOUSANDS of us choose to believe that a cross, memorializing the site where these noble officers died PROTECTING AND SERVING their communities is an appropriate monument.

I pity you, that you have nothing better to do, no higher purpose in this world than to challenge a memorial to the dead that hurts you in no way, save for "offending" you. You offend me, and my family, who faithfully pass a memorial cross to our own fallen hero on a stretch of highway between here and there, where he died, PROTECTING AND SERVING his community.

God bless all the troopers and police officers and deputies that serve us and bless you, Mark Shurtleff that you will win this battle over the imbeciles that believe no one has the right to "offend" them.

Summertime and potty training

I was told yesterday that I never blog and that I should blog more, so here I go! It's been such a busy summer :D There have been camping adventures at the 1/2 of Ten, 4th of July and Ute Stampede in Nephi and coming soon is Salem Days, the Juab Demolition Derby, swimming at the T-Ville pool and Cowabunga Bay.

The most exciting thing happening right now is that Hayden is FINALLY potty training! We've been trying for about 4 months now and finally this weekend he has started to get it! With Jax it seemed so much easier, but it's seemed like such a struggle with Ralphie. It started this weekend while we were camping; he was VERY willing (like all boys are) to pee on trees. And since we've been home he's been pretty good about going potty, with reminders of course, but just a little bit ago he was sitting on the couch and all of a sudden jumped up and said, "Mom, I gotta go pee!" Off he ran to the potty and SUCCESS! We've been using the reward method and so far, so good! If all goes well this week, I'm taking him to buy "big boy" underwear! We just celebrated his birthday on Sunday and he is only three, but he's so smart! We had to have a Buzz Lightyear birthday and he loved it. The other kids are doing great as well; Jax just spent a week in Nephi and when I talked to him on the phone about midway through his visit he said, "Mom, I miss you, but I'm not coming home ever." According to all, Jax had the time of his life and yes, he did come home with us on Sunday :D Jake is growing and growing; he's walking and getting into EVERYTHING and loves to be in the middle of whatever Jax and Hayden are doing. Shannon is doing great too; she's getting ready for junior high and is really growing up. Her new thing lately is cooking :D I bought her an apron at the craft show in Nephi and she LOVES wearing it and helping in the kitchen. Last week she made homemade oreos (almost) all by herself. She was so proud of those cookies and I was so proud of her! And of course, my "baby" Bella is getting somewhat bigger :D She had her first haircut 2 weeks ago and she hardly looks the same!

Anyways, things are busy but good :D The first half of summer has been fun and busy and the second half promises to be the same! I'll try to blog more, haha, but in the meantime here are some pictures of the summer so far:

Jax and Hayden at a Bees Game

Hayden at the 1/2 of Ten

Jackson, Jaxton and Austin, conquering the mountain

Hayden all worn out and having a nap in Grandma Phyllis's lap.

Jake at the park in Nephi on July 4th.

Kenna and Shannon showing off their 4th of July prizes (the hats!)

Bella with her cute new haircut :D

Nostalgic.....

I had a bit of a nostalgic moment yesterday. I went to pick up the boys from Grandma's and Jaxton made me "close my eyes!" Finally when he let me open them both he and Hayden were standing in front of me with flowers that Grandma let them cut from her rose bushes. They even picked one "from Jake." So I brought them home and got a water glass from the cupboard to fill it with water and I had a moment of nostalgia......When I was a little girl I remember picking flowers for my mom. And she always got a water glass from the cupboard, filled it with water and saved my flowers until they died. It made me smile to think that some things never change. I'll probably keep these flowers on the table, in a water glass, until they die......

Jaxton

Fair warning, picture overload! Yesterday my sweet Jaxton turned 6! I can hardly believe it myself! I love you so much buddy!

Jaxton's 1st field trip!

Ah, today was such a fun day! It was zoo day for Jaxton's kindergarten class and I went with to "chaperone!" I had the best group :D Jax, his best friend Gavin and this cutie named Emily. It was a pretty quick trip around the zoo (least amount of time I've ever spent there!) but the kids were great and we had such a fun time! At the end I asked them what their favorite part of the day was; wanna know what Jax said? Riding the bus!! Here are some pictures of my adventures with the backpack brigade:

Emily, Jax and Gavin at the beginning of our "walking tour" of the zoo.

Doesn't that face just say it all? We were watching the tigers stretch and play at that point.

The backpack brigade watching the giraffes. The giraffes are my favorite!

Three buddies at the end of a great morning at the zoo! This is my favorite picture :D

Thoughts on grocery shopping

Today I did what I dread....I went grocery shopping, on a SATURDAY! Usually I have planned well enough that I am going on a Tuesday night or something, but I had no choice, today I had to brave the crowds. While I was at Walmart (yes, I know, they're evil, but I am a creature of habit) I had some startling thoughts:

When you're buying frozen foods do you ever wonder if the item you've just put in your cart was that random item that you always see shoved onto a shelf in the cereal aisle? I wonder, when the good folks of Walmart find those items after 8 or so hours spent NOT in the freezer, do they just throw them back into the freezer? Or do the responsible thing and throw them out?

Why is it that out of at least 4 carts to choose from I get the one with the crazy wheel that spins and squeaks? I even try testing them in the grocery cart selection area and inevitably the one I judge to be fine there has some sort of break down once it hits the grocery store area.

How come some cashiers appear to be fast and efficient when you're at the end of the line and once you commit yourself to that line everything breaks down? I am the WORST checkout line selector in the world. This is your warning, if you see me at the store DO NOT GET IN LINE BEHIND ME. Invariably the person in front of me will have no less than three items that do NOT have prices and/or barcodes on them and the price checks take HOURS. Or, like today, we have a minimum of four ads from various grocery stores and must price match EVERYTHING. Also, when it's finally my turn we must change cashiers......

I sound pretty whiney, don't I? So, here's why I'm glad I went to the store today:

I don't have to go back for at least a week. Just kidding! I was able to go to the store without kids, unlike some harried moms I saw. I had money to go to the store and buy groceries for my family. I now have a stocked fridge and cupboards and the fixings for two weeks worth of meals.

Coming up next: Jaxton's very first field trip! We are heading to the zoo on Monday and that should be an adventure! Take care friends!

Coping, a birthday and Bella

Hello my friends! It's been a long, strange, good week. We're hanging in there, trying to get back into a routine. We went to the drill team parents' banquet Tuesday and it was nice to be there with the parents of such wonderful girls, but it was so hard to be there without our own Kati. It often surprises me the number of times every day I think of our sweet girl and it's still a shock to the system to realize that she's gone. The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that she is in such a better place now and that we were so lucky to have her for the time we did.



Of course, we had a VERY special birthday this week! Thursday, April 22nd, our Jakey turned 1!! We celebrated a bit early in Nephi on Sunday and it was so fun! Gramma Phyllis gave Jake his most favorite, by far, present:





I love this picture because it almost seems like he's saying, "Ohhhhhh, streamers on the handlebars, NIIIICCCCCEEEEE!" Even though his feet don't QUITE touch the pedals, he thinks this bike is just the best thing ever! I can't keep him away from it at home :D

Of course, no first birthday is complete without the CAKE! I got really lucky with the bakery at Walmart (I know!) and the sweet girl who took my cake order made a cute "smasher" cake for Jakey that matched his birthday cake AND had his name on it! Obviously, he enjoyed it very much :D

And finally, Friday found us adding a new member to our family. I've been bugging Shane for a few months now about letting me get my own little baby girl dog to spoil and finally, he agreed! I found this little sweet girl through a friend and the minute I saw her I knew she was mine! She's a purebred papered Shih tzu and her parents are so sweet and cute. She'll only get to be about 10lbs at full grown and that's just what I wanted. Yes, her name is Bella, but not because I'm obsessed with Twilight! I've always liked that name and I tried SEVERAL names on her after I picked her up and finally I called her Bella and it was just perfect! She is totally a diva already :D, but she's so smart! I started pad training her as soon as we got home and she's catching on so fast! She was home alone today while we went to church and when we got home, no accidents on the carpet, just on her puppy pad! She's so playful and she LOVES chasing those sweet boys of mine! She likes to cuddle with me and she's so funny! She will climb up onto my shoulder like a little bird or something and cuddle in.

It's been nice to have her this weekend and talk silly to her and think about making bows for her hair and all those crazy things people do. She's so sweet and fun and I'm so glad we found her and brought her home! She's been a comfort to me on a weekend when I'm the only girl in the house! I can't wait for Shannon to come home Wednesday and meet her :D

Good night my friends, I love you all :D

"normal"

Hello friends,

Just a quick blog to say THANK YOU! for all your love, prayers and support over the last few days and weeks.

Things are slowly getting back to a normal pace. Shane and I have both gone back to work and we're adjusting to the changes in our life.

It's strange to think that Kati is really gone, but at the same time, we're so happy that she is out of pain and dancing across the heavens......

I love you all so much and I know that we would not have made it through the last two weeks without all of your love and prayers.